Monkey Joe's

Today Casey had his very first dentist appointment. Basically they just let him sit in the chair and the dentist took a look in his mouth. I got some helpful hints and it was done. Casey was a really good boy and seemed to enjoy the experience.

Afterward we met up with Auntie Leah and her kids at Monkey Joe's in Waukesha. Grandma Jill and Auntie Nikki met us there as well. It was really busy but the kids had a blast jumping and sliding. They even played a few games and earned some tickets. Casey picked out a car with his tickets. The kids worked up an appetite so we went to Wendy's for lunch. What a fun day!

Merry Christmas!

It was so fun to experience the excitement and wonder of Christmas with our big boy this year (and our little boy). What a difference a year makes. Last year he could care less about the gifts and really didn't have a clue what we were celebrating. This year Casey sang happy birthday to Jesus and had birthday cake (more than once), was taught that we give and receive presents in celebration of Jesus' birth, and of course left out milk and cookies for Santa. Here are some highlights from Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.

Here we have Casey and his cousin Noah playing a Christmas duet

Caleb enjoyed snuggling with Auntie Leah while the kids were opening giftsThe big kids had their own Christmas feast at the "big kid" table

Hannah and Casey getting ready to tear into their gifts

Caleb with the learning chair that Santa brought

Casey with the garbage truck he got from Santa

The train that

Happy Birthday Jesus!

Today was the big day...Jesus' birthday party. I have been planning this party for the children of the ladies in MOPS (mothers of preschoolers) for about a month. It was originally planned for Friday but with the snow storm we had to reschedule. Even though it was snowing yet again today we had a nice turn out, about 20 toddlers!

The party consisted of story time, pin the flame on Jesus' birthday cake, create an ornament, decorate a party hat, and we ended with a birthday parade and cupcakes. It went better than I expected (probably because of all the help I got from my friends). Here are a couple of my favorite pictures from the day.

Here is a group of kids creating a baby Jesus ornament

Here the kids are decorating their party hats for the big parade



Casey enjoying his cupcake (as usual)
My good friend Gretchen and her kids (Lilly and Calvin)

Last, but not least my friend Karen and "baby Allie"


Thanks to every one who helped make this party a success. Happy birthday Jesus!

Christmas with my family

On Sunday we officially started our Christmas celebrations at Spring Creek Church. They had one of their Christmas Eve services. Casey and Caleb sat with us as we celebrated the birth of our Savior. They both enjoyed the music very much. I did however take Casey in the hall during pastor Chip's message. He was starting to get ants in his pants. Let me tell you, he really enjoyed all of the new open space! We went back in just in time to hold up our lights and sing Silent Night. As we are enjoying a beautiful moment Casey says CHEERS! and clinks his light with Matt's. My mom and Grandpa got a kick out of that one. Classic toddler moment.


Later in the day we had my mom, brother Andy, and sister Leah and her family over to celebrate. Originally we were going to host brunch right after church but plans changed. We decided it would still be fun to have brunch for dinner. So we brought up our long table and squeezed everyone into our cozy kitchen for a yummy dinner.
As the kids are getting older they are really enjoying time shared playing with one another. The girls seemed to enjoy Casey's train table almost as much as him. They could hardly finish their food because they wanted to get back to playing. So half our meal was a bit chaotic (with kids) and the other half was peaceful (kids downstairs playing). Once it was time to come up for story time and presents the kids forgot all about poor Thomas the Tank Engine! Here are Casey and Hannah getting ready for the fun.
My family went a bit overboard as usual and spoiled the boys. They both ended up with some wonderful gifts. After we opened gifts we brought the kids into the kitchen to sing happy birthday to Jesus and have some Cake. What fun!

Snow day!

On Friday we got just over a foot of snow in Milwaukee. Due to the snow and high winds Matt's office was closed so we had a SNOW DAY! Here is how we spent our fun family day:

We baked lots and lots of cookies and bread. Of course Casey taste tested them for us.

Then we took turns shoveling. The wind had created some drifts

that were almost as tall as Casey!

Snow days are perfect for doing puzzles. We thought that Caleb could use a hobby of his own.Speaking of hobbies...Matt and Casey built a new train track.
And of course the boys enjoyed some quality time together playing on the mat.

I think big snow storms like the one we got are God's way of reminding us to slow down and enjoy time with one another. They also are a good reminder of who is in control:)

Let the Christmas fun begin!

Last night our friends Bud and Jessica hosted our Sunday school class Christmas party at their beautiful home. There was no better way to kick off the Buntrock Christmas with our brothers and sisters in Christ and their little munchkins! We played, talked and shared a traditional Christmas dinner together. Don't we all look like one big happy family???

Casey really enjoyed playing with his buddies. Here he is playing a duet with Samantha.

What party would be complete without some fun with a train table?
Over all it was a great time of fellowship with our friends that we love and appreciate so much. We missed the ones that couldn't make it...especially our close friends Mike and Jamie. We love you Jamie and we hope you feel better soon!

This time of year is a great time to thank the Lord for our many blessings. Change Pointe is one of those in our lives. We are so thankful to have such wonderful friends to walk beside us in life and inspire us to be the best that we can be. What a gift!

5 months

I can't believe that Caleb is 5 months old already! Every day he seems to discover something new. He is very into watching what Casey is doing and smiles at him often. It is a matter of time before he rolls over. He did it once on accident, but hasn't done it since.

For those of you who are wondering how the 12 hours by 12 weeks is going...here's an update. We have made it to step 3 which is teaching them to soothe themselves during the night so that they will be in their crib for 12 hours. He eats 4 bottles a day and makes it the full 12 hours at night without eating. Now we just need to work on the few times that he wakes up during the night wanting his nuke or some comfort. We think that today may have been the first day of a growth spurt (8-10 ounce bottles). So we'll see how our new little routine goes!

Here is a picture of Casey at 5 months. A bit more active and chunky at this stage than his little brother. They are both so different and fun in their own ways.

Fun pictures

It is definitely December in WI. The snow is here and the weather is in the teens! Yikes! Here are some pictures of the boys enjoying the season.

Got to keep warm in our house...it is chilly!

Could Caleb get any cuter?

We had to take a picture with the other Christmas hat too~

Here is my big boy shoveling one handed. He seriously was HELPING Matt shovel the other night. By the time he came in his cheeks were as red as a tomato.

Just a quick update on Caleb. He is transitioning very well to eating only every 4 hours. Now we are on to step two...eliminate night time feedings! So each night we will decrease the amount of formula in his bottle at the night time feeding until it is gone. Any guesses on how long this is going to take us??? Step one took 3 days...just like the author said.

Casey is starting to sound more and more like his mommy everyday. Today when I asked him if he wanted to have pancakes for breakfast he replied with "are you kidding me?" Just the way I would say it!

12 hours by 12 weeks

Hmmm...well maybe by 5 months! Anyways, the idea is that your child should be sleeping (or at least in their crib content) for 12 hours.

I guess God decided to teach me yet another lesson...don't brag when your newborn sleeps through the night by 8 weeks old! Around 10 weeks old Caleb decided that sleeping through the night was not at all fun for him. So we have been struggling with sleep deprivation in the Buntrock house for a couple of months. He only eats once during the night but he wakes up a few times for comfort or his nuk. Well mamma Buntrock is tired of it!

I was speaking with a new friend of mine (Carrie) who has twin boys and she told me about a book she read that helped her to teach her boys how to sleep through the night. The idea is that your child should be sleeping (or at least in their crib content) for 12 hours. There are four steps in the program and it supposedly works for babies that are 12 weeks of age. The first step is to get your child on a four hour feeding schedule (four feedings every four hours with a 12 hour break). So we are going to gradually get Caleb from a 3 hour schedule to a 4 hour schedule. When we have accomplished this step I will let you know. I will also share step 2 with you. Say a little prayer for me!

ELMO

We had our first big adventure to the Bradley Center with the boys to see Elmo's Green Thumb. We thought it would be fun to head downtown early and check out the holiday lights and grab a bite to eat. It is so pretty down there this time of year. We got to the Bradley Center early enough to get some family pictures and get our tub of popcorn. Of course an adventure like this wouldn't be as fun without "the girls"...Hannah, Hailey and Riley. Uncle Nick and Aunt Leah are fun too!

My sister got us some pretty awesome seats way up front. Unfortunatley Casey wanted nothing to do with them so we ended up sitting up high. We still were able to see just fine and everyone was happy. We ran into some friends who graciously took our seats, that made us feel a bit better.

I really enjoyed watching the kids and how they each reacted differently to the show. Casey was a bit spooked at first. Caleb and Hailey were mesmerized. Hannah was dancing and having a great time. And Riley was talking a lot about the characters. It was a fun time. We'll probably go again next year with one more little addition (not ours, my sister is pregnant).

Turkey Day

Tuesday night we headed up to Spring Green to start our Thanksgiving adventure with my dad and step mom. On the way to their place we stopped to visit my friend Kari and her husband Scott. Casey was a bit upset because there were no toys to play with. But he soon warmed up to them when Kari gave Casey a cookie. I think they may be thinking twice about having kids!




When we got to my dad's it was getting late. So we got the boys ready for a good night sleep (or so we hoped). Casey slept in a twin bed...big stuff. He didn't really sleep all that well though. I think he was up for a couple of hours in the middle of the night. Between Caleb and Casey waking us up I think we got only a few hours of sleep. But I got to sleep in while Sheryl took care of the boys.



Matt and my dad went hunting early Wednesday morning. They saw a couple of deer but no shots were fired that morning. It was a beautiful sunny morning though and Matt really enjoyed his first time out. In fact he will be going back the first weekend in January to hunt again!




We spent most of Wednesday relaxing and playing. My sister and her family came up Wednesday night and that is when the fun really began...for the kids that is. I had taken the boys outside that day so we got a great night of sleep that night.

Thursday was Thanksgiving and my dad made us buttermilk pancakes for breakfast...yum! We had a great time playing and relaxing that morning. We put all four big kids in the bath to clean them up for the big day.

We had a great Thanksgiving dinner with my family. We all agreed there was lots to be thankful for this year. Matt is especially thankful for his trophy wife (inside joke with family)!

What's up?

Well, we are finally all feeling better. I think 4-5 different illnesses just swooped through our home in the past couple of weeks. But, we are all feeling well in time for Turkey day! We will be leaving in a couple of hours to go up to my dad's in Spring Green. Matt is going to go hunting with my dad for the first time on Wednesday. I don't know what he is planning to do if he actually shoots a deer! Anyways, here are a couple of pictures of my oh so cute boys. Have a happy Thanksgiving everyone....gobble, gobble!

Thankful heart

It is that time of year when it is so easy to get swept up in the hustle and bustle of the season. I encourage you to take a step back this Thanksgiving to really think about all of the blessings God has given you.

Maybe this has been a tough year for you and it is hard to find blessings in your sorrow. I had a year like that not so long ago. We lost our little angel a couple of weeks before Thanksgiving. Although it was hard for me to see blessing at that time, I can look back and see how God was working in my life. For starters, I still was here on Earth with a purpose and a story that would be used to bring Him glory.

This year has been a year where I can't begin to count the blessings! What a wonderful feeling that is. I have an amazing husband, two beautiful healthy boys, my health, close family, great Christian friends, a roof over my head and warm food on the table every day.

What I realized is that no matter what is going on in my life (good or bad) I always have one very important thing to give thanks for....my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Without him and what he has done for me I would not have the hope of eternal life. Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!

So as this holiday season gets started make sure that between all of the yummy food and shopping for hot deals you take time to give thanks to our amazing creator for the most amazing gift of all. God bless!

He's a peanut!

Well, compared to his big brother that is. Today Caleb had his 4 month check up and weighed in at 14 pounds 7 ounces which is 2 pounds lighter than what his big brother was at that age. He is doing great and had lots to say to Dr. West. He even giggled for her while she was checking his hips. Casey did a great job being patient and hardly cried for his flu shot. Dr. West commented on how much Casey has matured in the last year. We agree! I was so proud of both my boys today.



Here is a video of Casey and Caleb "talking" to one another and some recent photos of them as well.

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