I am way behind on blogging now. I can't even believe it. I'm hoping I'll add an entry today and then maybe do some catch-up entries in the next couple of days

Let's see.....

Lindsay just wrapped up her season of Girls on the Run. It was two months of training, finishing up Sunday with a 5K. She ran in the Pumpkin Run a few weeks before, and that was 1 mile, which was the furthest she'd ever run. So Sunday, doing a 5K (3.1 miles, I believe), it was a huge deal. Yes, she did walk a bit, but she ran a good chunk of it, finished and got an awesome medal! Jim ran with her, and I'm glad he did! We're both so proud of her!!!

Girls on the Run

Pumpkin Run
Josie is almost catching up to Lindsay already in the reading department. She reads everything she can get her hands on, provided the words aren't longer than four letters! It's especially nice when she reads Donovan's board books to him, like "Baby, Come to Church" and "How Do Dinasaours Clean Their Rooms?" We just got done with Fall Break, and Josie was lucky enough to have TWO playdates with her friend Olivia! She's a great friend! We also decorated pumpkins, did our annual Boo at the Zoo, and went to Vala's Pumpkin Patch, near Omaha.

Lindsay, Josie & Olivia

Lindsay & Josie with their Jack-o-Lanterns

Josie (vampiress), cousin Corbin (ninja), Donovan (vampire), cousin Sara (pirate), and Lindsay (demon)

At the Pumpkin Patch--the girls love these faceless frame things!

Donovan, my 10-month-old boy (can you believe he's that old already?) is now walking, as of last week -- when he was still only 9-months-old. It's a Tibbels Family Record! (At least, for THIS Tibbels family!) He's got four teeth showing through very well, and there are about three or four more trying to poke through. I weaned him to formula about two months ago, which was great for both of us! He weaned himself off the pacifier not long after, as it bothered his sore gums. (Great--one less task for Mommy and Daddy!) Aside from walking all over the house and chewing on everything, our latest challenge is dealing with severe diaper rash. Josie had problems with it when she was a baby, and we discovered it was because she could only handle a certain brand of diapers. I'm thinking that's the same problem with D--so far, it seems to be better if we stick with Pampers Cruisers (no Luvs, no Huggies, no Pampers Baby Dry, NO Target brand, which is what started the whole problem!). Like Josie's way back then, Aquaphor won't clear it up. Neither will Desitin, Arbonne's Diaper Rash Cream, or even the all-powerful Boudreaux's Butt Paste (which we all love simply for the name). Actually, the latter three are all zinc-oxide based, and Aquaphor and Eucerin are both petrolium jelly based. The only thing I've found to work is scorched or fried flour. It worked on Josie, and it's slowly working on the boy, as well. (Baking soda baths, and then letting him air dry for a while, helps.)

Goin' commando!

Little vampire

Other than that, we're just gearing up for Halloween, then looking forward to Thanksgiving, our niece's wedding, Christmas, Donovan's 1st birthday, etc., etc. Hope this autumn is going well for you all and that it's just as beautiful where you are as it is here for us!

Game Face

I can't seem to keep up with all the pictures we've been taking lately! And I'm definitely having a hard time just keeping up on current events. The girls are enjoying school--Lindsay's in 3rd grade, which seems to be much harder, but I think she's adapting well--Josie's in 1st grade, so it's her first time going all day, every day...she seems to love it! Lindsay is in Girls on the Run this fall (she'll end up participating in a 5k road race!), and she'll be starting this year's session of Brownies soon. Josie just got signed up for her own Brownie troop earlier this week, so hopefully, she'll start going to her own meetings soon! Keep us in mind when you're looking for Girl Scout cookies!!! Both girls also got to be "cheerleaders for a day" when they participated in a Booster Bash for Southeast High School (where they'll eventually go).

Lindsay is standing, 2nd from left.

Josie's sitting, far right.

Meanwhile, Donovan is growing, as they say, like a weed! He's only got two teeth right now, but I believe he's got a couple more coming in--he drools absolute buckets every day, and when he eats, he sometimes has a hard time with it, though I can tell he's hungry. Poor guy! He crawls very quickly--he's into everything--and he is already trying to walk along by holding onto furniture or someone's hands. He's long and (cough) full of muscles! We haven't decided yet if he's going to play football for the Huskers, or if he'll go off to Chicago to play baseball for the Cubs! Either way, he's a winner in our book!

First Day of School

Donovan and the girls, ready for the first day of school! Lindsay's going into 3rd Grade and Josie's going into 1st Grade. They're so excited--and Donovan's excited about 'alone time' with Mommy!

New Hairdo's

Here are a couple of pictures, in the last days of summer, with the girls in their long hair. They're both sporting some new outfits, as well. While they couldn't wait for school to begin, they were more excited about chopping off their long hair and going "short". I made an appointment with my hairdresser of about fifteen years, Wendy. The girls have gone with me several times when I've gotten my own hair done--Wendy's salon is in her house. So the girls got ready.....

...and off we went to their first hair appointment....

The result..... Simply STUNNING!!!

Thanks, Wendy! You did a great job, as always!!!

You WIENER!!!

Back when my oldest, Lindsay, was a baby, we were taking her to my sister-in-law's for daycare. It was a fantastic arrangement! Lindsay got to spend time with her godmother and cousins, we got a very good price on daycare, and we were so very comfortable with how our baby was being taken care of while we were at work. I remember when Lindsay was approaching her 1st birthday, Jim asked Mary (my sister-in-law) how we were supposed to get her to stop taking her bottle (we had switched from breastmilk to formula around 5 months, seemingly with no problems). Mary replied, "You wean her!" like it should be obvious. (Really, it should have been, but we were new at parenting and hadn't probably put much thought into it.) At first, Jim and I looked at each other with perplexed expressions. "Wiener?" we asked Mary. "No, no, no. You WEAN her." Oh... we got it then. But we've always loved remembering how we'd thought she had called Jim a wiener.

I'm just getting ready to try weaning Donovan from breastmilk to formula. I honestly don't remember having problems doing that with Lindsay, and it was actually a good thing for both Josie and me (we made the switch when she was five weeks old--breastfeeding didn't go well with her). However, I've gone much longer with Donovan, so I'm a little nervous that he's going to resist it.

It just seems to be the right time for me, though. We're going to Canada in about a month, and I think it'll be easier to have him on formula. I know--logically, you'd think it'd make more sense to keep him on breastmilk, since I have that with me wherever I go. But D has become a very, um, sensitive eater. He's very particular about his surroundings when he nurses. If the setting isn't exactly perfect--quiet, comfortable positioning, zero distractions--he gets fussy, doesn't stay latched on, cries and squirms, and ultimately, he bites. I really don't want to mess with any of that (especially being bitten) on an airplane, so I'm hoping to get him to take a bottle with ease before that. Plus, I've got a few physical reasons why it'd be a good time to wean him from breastmilk.

I'm not ready to wean him 100%, and he's not ready for that either. But I am thinking about that "wiener" comment a lot anyway. It helps me make light of the situation when I start getting stressed out. Thanks, Mary!