Food Festivities

Only in Iowa do they decorate the downtown with corn and hay!
We love it!

This weekend we attended the World Food Festival downtown with some friends. An area of downtown was blocked off and several food vendors from different local restaurants set up shop. The vendors were from several different countries. There was also some interesting entertainment...some rockin bands, a little folk dancing, and a man playing a wooden flute. The weather was beautiful! It was an all around great night! The best part was that all of the restaurants had samples of their food for $1. So we tried food from India, Bosnia, Turkey, Korea, and of course some good old American fudge and icecream.

The hit of the night for Clark and me was the sarma from the Bosnian restaurant. The sarma was almost exactly like sarmale (a popular Romanian dish)! One bite and it was just like being back in Romania...the pickled cabbage stuffed with rice and sausage and cooked in a tomatoe sauce, served with a little sample of bread and sour cream. It is crazy how a smell and a taste can bring back a lot of memories. We were fine with just the one taste!

Clark and Ethan with the bite of Romania!

Ethan had a little food adventure himself tonight! He got to try out his new high chair for the first time. We didn't realize how small he would look in it. It was pretty funny.

He also tried a little bite of peas tonight with his rice cereal. Not a fan for the first 2 bites, then he warmed up to it a little. Here is a little video of Ethan eating for his grammy.

Ethan trying peas.

Ethan trying to feed himself. We have to remind him often that he only weighs 18 pounds and that he is a baby...even when he thinks he is not.

Haka Man

Thanks Grammy Tammy for the fun shirt! We tried to get him to stick out his tongue and really look the part...he already has the growling down.

5 F's

Flag Football!

Ferocious!

Freakish Friends!

A Little Iowa Sampler

Iowa has a lot of corn...come October Iowa has a lot of corn mazes. We went to one on Friday for a podiatry activity. Clark carried Ethan in the Snugli. I don't think Ethan blinked once in the maze looking at the stars and the corn stalks.

This is what the maze looked like this year, there were 10 checkpoints and we found all of them.

Clark had a Biochemistry test earlier this morning and was running on no sleep. I think this picture is hilarious. He was exhausted...and it shows.

The second try of the picture looks a little better.

Ethan is loving his new crib. This is how we found him earlier taking a nap with his new buddy.

Big Day

If you want to read this post just keep in mind that Ethan is my first born, and I pretty much do think the world revolves around him...if you have that mind-set you will understand for sure why today was such a big day!

First of all today was his 6 month appointment at the doctor.

He weighs 17 lbs. 4 oz., and is 27 inches long. Everything else looks good and normal. Luckily Clark made it over to the clinic (which is on campus) right before it was time for his shots. Anyone that knows me knows that needles have caused me to pass out and go down in the past(the Red Cross asked me not to come back and donate blood)...so for the safety and peace of everyone involved I definitely prefer for Clark to hold Ethan while he is vaccinated.

Ethan was just grinning at the nurse when she came in the room. He got a little ticked at her when she made him drink the first vaccine. He growled and glared at her with the first shot. The second shot he growled a little louder, and the look on his face could have killed someone. By the third shot he gave up and cried for about 30 seconds. Then Clark picked him up and he just started grinning again! Why is my baby tougher than me?!

This is Ethan before the shots!

And after the shots! Both mom and baby are doing just fine.

Second of all today was the first day he tried rice cereal. He loved it!

Third of all, today we realized one of his little teeth on the bottom is finally poking through!

Last but not least, he is falling asleep on his own in his new little crib without screaming!

With all of the moving and trips he definitely was relying on someone to put him to sleep. The last couple of weeks were rough, he just couldn't settle down and cried for a lengthy time before giving up and falling asleep. I read about the Ferber method and we tried it out. It worked! Last night we read him a story, said prayers, put him in his bed and he didn't cry! Wa-hoo!!!

Vaccines, rice cereal, a new tooth, and sleeping on his own...our little boy is growing up!

P.S. Do you think little Bubba resembles a QP doll? Grammy Tammy does!

Yee-Haw!

Last Saturday we went to the Living History Farms with some friends. Ethan was mad at the beginning because he had to wake up earlier than he wanted, and he was probably ticked that his hat was just a little too big!


The first thing we saw was the 1875 town of Walnut Hill. There were several restored buildings and houses we toured. The highlight was definitely the melodrama (2 mins. of plot stretched into 45 mins. of fabulous acting). Clark is thinking of getting a job there next summer...mua ha ha.

Then we road a tractor under the freeway to the farms. Despite the dust in the eyes, and dirt in the teeth...the tractor ride was pretty fun. The rest was a walking tour through the farms. They have volunteers that work in the town and the farm doing crafts and farming with old equipment to show us what is was really like back in the day.
We saw a Native American farm...the Ioway tribe.

Then a farm from the 1850's.

Then a farm from the 1900's.

Then we went to the Visitor's Center to learn about Iowa's corn contribution to the world. I'm shocked at how much is made from corn. I also received a stamped certified PCI liscence! The volunteer even sang a random little tune (I think it was a mix of Pomp and Circumstance and the bridal march) as she presented it to me. PCI stands for Poop Cycle Investigator...I had to identify the animals that matched the poop samples, and answer some tough questions about why farmers use manure. I've never been prouder, a city slicker like me with a PCI badge!

All in all it was actually a really fun day!

Please come visit us...we will take you to the

Living History Farms!

My Personal Trainer

I have been doing a workout program called "The Firm." Anyway, when Ethan goes down for his morning nap I try to get it done before he wakes up. Somehow he is wired to know that the days I'm trying to do it during his morning nap to wake up after 20 mins. desperately needing a diaper change. So I get a little break in my workout. Then he rolls around on the floor and I try not to step on him while I finish. I think he is pretty entertained watching his mom jump around like a crazy person.

My favorite part is when I do the bridge at the end.

This is the bridge, unfortunately its not me doing the bridge...maybe after a couple of more weeks on "The Firminator" (as Clark calls it)!

Ethan gets over to me as fast as he can. He puts his little face right in front of me and does the bridge too. After a couple of seconds my muscles are screaming at me to stop...but Ethan, he can hold that postition forever. He just grins like it is the best game in the world, I forget for a second how much it hurts because I think he is so cute. Who would have thought Ethan would be my own personal trainer?

This is Ethan's smashing new outfit from his Grandma Karen. It seemed so big when he was a newborn. Now he looks like a million bucks in it!