Fall Fun!

Anyone who knows me, knows I am OBSESSED with the season of Fall. I would much prefer sweatshirt and jeans weather to a swimsuit or snow suit any day! The leaves are beautiful, the food is delicious, and everything is just delightfully cozy. This weekend we made the effort to show Vinnie Fall in all its greatness (despite the summer-like weather) by taking a trip out to the Wilson Apple Orchard in Iowa City. We opted out of picking our own apples, maybe next year, but enjoyed apple turnovers and a few pictures.


I know I say this every entry...but Vinnie continues to grow and change and we continue to be amazed by his development. I say to Jon a lot lately that he just doesn't look like a newborn anymore...he has totally moved into that "infant" look. He continues to smile at everything and is very close to giving us a giggle. His neck is getting so strong as well. After a feeding, it is almost impossible to get him to hangout for a burp...his head bops all over, looking at all his surroundings. He is settling into daycare, and we are all settling into our new normal of work/daycare during the day and squeezing all our family time into nights and weekends. We are also trying to create as much "routine" as possible with this new normal.

It is Sunday night and I am trying to brace myself for another week. I have come to just hate Mondays, it is just so much harder to go back to work after dropping Vinnie off at daycare. Laundry must be finished, lunches must be made, and someone needs to eat one last time before going to bed. Such a sweet life we live with our little Vinnie!

...until next week

God Bless Vincent Loring!

On Saturday, September 24th, Vincent was welcomed into the Catholic faith with his baptism. We had family from all over to join in the celebration. A HUGE thank you to Kelsey and Jeremy who traveled from Colorado, and the Foley, Keimig, Gibas, and Peiffer families that traveled from Minnesota. It meant so much to us to have all of you with us to celebrate. Jon and I have witnessed countless baptism's at St. Ludmila's since becoming members several years ago and it meant so much to us to participate, this time with our very own blessing.

Vinnie continues to change and grow. He recently celebrated his TWO month birthday. We cannot believe how the time has gone. Vinnie smiles and coos at just about anything and everything these days and we so enjoy hovering over him, cooing and smiling right along with him. He is growing like a weed. At his two month check up on Friday, he weighed in at 11 lbs 6 oz and 23 inches long...we were surprised he wasn't bigger. His doctor commented again how he is such a "mild mannered" baby and he didn't fuss or cry until those nasty needles came out (don't worry Vinnie...mom fussed and cried too).

He is becoming quite the mover and shaker these days too! He absolutely loves laying on his back on a blanket or his play mat and batting at toys above him or smiling and his parents silly faces and even sillier songs! I have included a short video that hopefully displays this new favorite past time! I'm hoping that once we get accustomed to our whole work/daycare schedule I will be better about posting...sorry for the delay!

The start of a new normal...

Vinnie has such a great smile and we have been lucky to catch a lot of these smiles on camera. He is just starting to accompany his smiles with a squeal or two...we think we are very close to some giggles. Hopefully when that happens we will be able to catch it on video and show it to all of you.

Vinnie continues to be a happy, laid back, easy going baby. He is sleeping through the night and just started spending his nights in his crib in his own room. He even gave his mom and dad 8 (almost 9) hours of uninterrupted sleep last night! He continues to grow and change. He is becoming more interested in toys, especially those that make noise or light up and he is now reaching for and holding onto things. My hair, jewelry, and clothing have just started taking the abuse of this new-found motor skill...and I know it is only going to get worse! Vinnie also continues to love bath time...which is a good thing, because he seems to be having a lot of baths lately! :)
As we start to enter back into the real world, this time as parents, we are finding that our weekends are our special times and we like to make the most of every bit of them. Saturday mornings have been spent either lazily preparing for a day of college football in bed, or heading to the CR Farmers Market. Below you can see Jon, Vinnie and Darby, all enjoying a lazy morning in bed!

I started back to work Thursday this week, which meant Jon spent a few days being Mr. Mom. He joked that he and Vinnie would play video games or venture to the casino. Fortunately, Vinnie spent most of the time napping and Jon helped out around the house and tackled quite a bit of laundry. My return to work was fairly smooth! Everyone was eager to have me back...I was even greeted with a "Welcome Back" sign. My days are so busy, and I was forced to dive right back into routine which prevented me from dwelling on how much I just wanted to be at home with Vinnie!Monday (tomorrow) Vinnie turns 8 weeks old (CRAZY) and will venture off to daycare. We took some time this week to visit his room and drop all of his stuff off. He has great teachers and we both left feeling comfortable...of course we left WITH Vinnie. It may be a different story when we have to leave him there. We know we've found a great daycare...we've heard lots of things about it, and this will be a chance for him to meet and make friends!
Vinnie is all decked out in his football gear today...and we are unable to watch the Vikings on TV. Instead, Vinnie is napping, mom is cleaning and doing MORE laundry, and dad is working out in the garage. We are all eager for all of our family to trek to Iowa next weekend to celebrate Vinnie's baptism! We so appreciate everyone making the trip and look forward to spending time and celebrating together.

I realized that Vinnie is usually sleeping, fussy, or curled up in one of our arms on our many Skype dates, so I am including some video of Vinnie to wrap up this blog post. This was taken this afternoon. Vinnie is propped up by some pillows and is sitting on our bed wiggling and grunting like usual. Enjoy!

New adventures!

Don't you love that smiley face?!? It is hard to imagine that just one week from today I will be leaving that face and returning to work. I am trying to soak up and capture as much of that face as I can now!

Vinnie has been very busy experiencing new things and embarking on many new adventures this past week. We have been blessed with absolutely perfect weather in Iowa, so we have been trying to take advantage of it by taking many walks...sometimes even two a day! Vinnie loves walks and while he used to sleep through them, he now enjoys the opportunity to explore and taking in all the sights that our neighborhood has to offer. His eyes are darting around, checking everything out as we travel.
Vinnie also experienced his first wedding...and it was a "Country Wedding," no less! One of my co-workers got married this past weekend, so Vinnie and Jon decked themselves in their best cowboy gear and enjoyed the festivities. Vinnie enjoyed spending time with some of my friends from work. In the picture below he is dancing with one of my good friends Jen.
Saturday marked the start of the 2011-2012 college football season AND more importantly, Vinnie's first Nebraska game! We traveled to our favorite watch spot, Beef O' Brady's and cheered the Huskers to a victory! Vinnie was great and even checked out the TV's between eating and snoozing.
Today Vinnie and I have done our usual play time. It is fun to watch him play and see how much he has changed in such a short time. He engages in his play mat and toys so much more now. He LOVES listening to music, especially Adele and Glee, and we are working on his tolerance for books (he usually gets pretty fussy), because, like his dad, he'd much rather be moving...we'll work on it!

Until next week...

Love and Miss you all!
Jon, Mackenzie, Vinnie and Darby

A successful trip!

Hello Again!

It is a beautiful Tuesday in Iowa. We have been having a spell of cooler weather (today's high is only 75) and Vinnie and I have been loving it. Today we got out for a walk, and were able to stay out a bit longer because the weather was so wonderful!

We spent yesterday recovering from our trip north. This isn't to say it was a bad trip by any means, it just took a lot out of both mom and baby. And we had the usual necessities after being away: laundry, grocery shopping, and preparing for a week ahead. Vinnie and I even ventured to PrairieWood and Target for a bit...alone and successfully! When these things go smoothly, it gives me a little more confidence to continue to venture out with Vinnie on my own. It is my goal to make a trip to Coral Ridge Mall with Vinnie before I head back to work and after yesterday, I feel it is entirely possible.

Now...for our trip up north! Jon got out of work a little early Friday afternoon and we were able to hit the road by 4pm. We traveled for about 2 hours before a break to eat and gas up, then continued north. Vinnie was content with sleeping between breaks and even slept through the night upon arriving to MN. Once in Minnesota, it was non-stop cuddles and love from so many. Vinnie loved staying at Grandma Barb and Grandpa Norm's house and had visits from Grandma Jeanne, Aunt and Uncle Meghan and Charlie and cousins Ella and Olivia. It was very exciting to meet Olivia for the first time as she is only one week older than Vinnie. They will be such great buds and have so many adventures together in their future! Vinnie also enjoyed meeting friends of his grandparents and parents and was content and happy being passed around and held non-stop for two and a half days...SO MUCH LOVE! Jon and I also had our first "night away" from Vinnie Saturday as we attended and enjoyed the company of many at Jon's 10 year High School Reunion. Sunday rolled around, and our responsibilities in Iowa called us back. We are looking forward to our next trip to Minnesota!

Over the next few weeks, Vinnie and I plan to enjoy the precious moments that remain of my maternity leave. I realized yesterday that the end is almost near. With that comes preparations for daycare as well. While I am excited for Vinnie to have the opportunity to interact with other infants and begin to play and socialize, I so wish I could continue to spend time watching him grow all day everyday!

Also on the horizon...the start of Football season. Vinnie has so many teams to cheer on, and so much team appearal to wear! :) He will be enjoying his first Nebraska game this Saturday and I'm sure the whole family will be decked out in our red. Look for pictures next week!

Until then...love and miss,
The Keimigs

A baby AND a bathroom remodel

Just days after welcoming a new baby into your home is the PERFECT time to begin a bathroom remodel, right?!? Haha! That is just how we do things around here! For the past several weeks we have been putting up with our master bathroom being demoed and almost completely re-done. It made our bedroom, and at times the rest of our house a disaster area, and forced me to spend many days of my maternity leave sitting around waiting for this plumber and that sub-contractor. BUT... it is finally complete, and we couldn't be happier with the finished product! Jon is ecstatic about the new spacious shower, and I am happy for a chance to add a little decorating flair to what used to be a pretty drab corner of our house. The space is small, but I did the best I could to capture some pictures of it in all its new-ness glory! Complete with a new: shower, toilet, vanity, floor, paint, and several decorative touches...introducing the Keimig Master Bathroom:


And as this blog is almost entirely for the purpose of updating you on Mr. Vincent...I thought I'd add some pictures of him in here as well. He and I are celebrating his ONE MONTH birthday today. We layed on the playmat and played with rattles together this morning and then sang our favorite Adele songs. :) This afternoon will involve packing and preparing for the big adventure north. Looking forward to this weekend...

Greetings Family!

As hours of travel and many miles span between ourselves in Iowa and many of our family members, this blog has now been created to keep you updated on all the exciting adventures we are encountering as a new family of THREE! We know you want to SEE Vincent more than anything, so we will be sure to include many pictures in each post. This way, in addition to Skype dates, and the occasional visits, you will always be updated on Vinnie and what he is up to. We will try to update this weekly...which should be easy while I am on maternity leave...lets hope it keeps up once the responsibilities of work return. I just figure I will update this blog when I update my work blog! If you find that you check back and it hasn't been updated in a while...let us know!

So...

Today Vincent is 4 weeks old! We are finally starting to fall into a routine which has made life much easier. Vinnie (and mom) spend most of their days at home feeding...Vinnie likes to eat a lot and often...but we also find time to go for walks, sing songs, read books, and do tummy time. Jon comes home for lunch most days which has become something that we all look forward to very much! At night we like to go for another walk, taking Darby along this time and Vinnie loves his bath time!




We are looking forward to our upcoming trip to the Cities this weekend for Jon's 10 year high school reunion. Vinnie sleeps often, so we thought this would be a great time to attempt the first of many 5 hour treks north. Please keep us in your prayers that the four of us make it up safely and in a reasonable amount of time. While there we are anxious for Vinnie to meet many new friends and family! We just wish we could stay for longer than a weekend...but, that's what the Holidays are for! Please check back next week for pictures and tales of our adventure.

Until then...love and miss,
The Keimig Family
(Jon, Mackenzie, Vinnie, and Darby)