Monkey Joe's

This morning we spent some time with my sister and her girls at Monkey Joe's. We also ran into our good friends the Poelzers while we were there. Jack and Drew seemed to have a blast as well.

I think this place is right behind Stonefire Pizza on Casey's favorite places to go list. The amount of bouncing and sliding that Casey does there is unreal. He is such a bundle of energy. Let me tell ya, it didn't take long for him to crash at nap time today!

I have two favorite memories of today's trip to Monkey Joe's. The first happened right when the girls arrived. They found Casey in a tunnel crying. So the nice young lady that works there went to check on him for me. A couple of minutes later I see her carrying my heavy fellow as she is trying to walk on an incredibly bouncy inflatable floor. I wish I could have captured this on video. Whoever she is, she deserves a bonus. The look on her face said it all..."they don't pay me enough for this!"

My second favorite was when all of the kids were sitting on the floor eating nachos and popcorn. My sister left me alone with the 5 kids to get some water. I overheard the ladies next to me trying to figure out which kids belonged to who and which ones were twins! I just smiled and let them wonder:)

Oh, I almost forgot the part where Casey went up to a random stranger (probably 5-6 years old) and stole her entire soft pretzel and ran off! The mother wouldn't let me buy her a new one. Oh Casey...what are we going to do with you!

Here are some pictures of the boys at Monkey Joe's. Caleb loved watching the kids run around and play. His cousins loved watching him too!


Casey thought he was really racing the cars on the screen. Sorry buddy, not yet.


Matt must have taken this picture while I was gone this weekend...too cute (totally unrelated to the post though).

When mom is away the boys with play!

This weekend Joy was able to go to the women's retreat for church at the Osthoff resort, which means it was boy's time in the Buntrock house.

We spent a lot of time playing with trucks, trains, cars and blocks - all the good boy stuff.

There was a good amount of wrestling and tickling as well. It's very cool to watch the two boys already interacting and playing with each other. Caleb loves to watch his big brother play, run and laugh. Casey likes to help with Caleb and bring him toys.

Saturday morning we built a fort in the front room out of chairs, cushions, blankets and pillows. Casey was able to crawl through and drive his garbage truck through (his recent favorite toy).

Being a daddy is so awesome, the way the boys look at you can melt you heart. Caleb is sitting on my lap right now and he just tilted his head back to look straight up into my eyes, and even though he can't talk yet - I know his eye's were saying I love you daddy.

Playing catch up!

Our house got hit with two viruses during the month of January and into February so I haven't had much time or energy to update our blog. We are finally feeling healthy and getting back to our normal routine. For those who know me, you know how much I hate being out of routine. But, this time was different. I really enjoyed the quality time spent with the boys. Casey was a great helper and took very good care of me when I was sick. He fed me dry cereal and told me to "rest my eyes". Speaking of funny comments, here is a good one...Casey pooped in his pants (big surprise) and as I was changing him he said "that makes daddy, mommy and Jesus very sad". When he does naughty things we tell him it makes us sad. I think he can see the disappointment on my face every time I have to clean up his poopy pants!

We have had a couple of beautiful days earlier in the week. I was able to take Casey out to ride on the scooter he got for his birthday. He had a blast splashing through puddles and soaking his shoes and pants. Caleb loved it outside and really had a good time watching his big brother scoot around the sidewalk. Later that day the boys took a stroller ride with daddy. It is always nice to have a couple of days like that in the middle of our long WI winters.

Our little baby hit his 7 month milestone this week. He is growing and changing so much everyday. He sits pretty well. He loves his baby food and would eat our food if we let him. Today he sucked on an apple for a good 10 minutes at McDonald's. Who needs french fries?

Don't let this picture deceive you, daddy is holding him up. Amazingly enough Casey really enjoys sharing his trucks and trains with Caleb. He talks about how he can't wait until Caleb can play trains with him. Here is our famous sausage picture. We do this every month.

Here is Casey at 7 months...a bit more hair (and weight)

Happy Birthday Casey!

Let me just tell you about all of the fun we had celebrating Casey's 3rd birthday!

On Friday we had a birthday party with Casey's little friends from church. Most of these friends are either in his Sunday school class or are a part of our Friday play group. Of course his best friends (his cousins) were there as well. We had the party at a place called the Big Backyard. It is basically an indoor park which is great during the cold winter. The kids were able to climb, slide, ride bikes and play basketball. After we were done playing we went to the party room for some cupcakes and a gift exchange (every kid brought a gift and took one home). Here are some of my favorite pictures from this event.

Casey spent most of his time cruising around in the coupe car

Casey is telling Caleb just how yummy his cupcake is. Maybe next year little brother!

We like to party! Yeah Big Backyard! Yeah Casey!

Matt and I cleared our calendar for Saturday morning (Casey's birthday) and took the boys to the Domes for the train exhibit. We spent a couple of hours watching trains go through the beautiful flowers. The sun was shining down through the domes and it was very relaxing. Probably because Caleb and I hung out on the bench while Matt chased Casey around! It was a fun family time.


On Saturday night we had a family birthday party for Casey and his cousin Hannah who turned 4 the end of December. The kids had a blast running around with balloons, opening gifts and eating cake of course. It was fun to watch how different Casey and Hannah opened their gifts. Hannah would tear into hers and barely look at it before moving on to the next. Casey would take his time to look at the card and the gift before moving on. It was fun. Casey's favorite gift was the ride on excavator from Auntie Leah and Uncle Nick. You can see it in the pictures below.

Happy birthday big brother!

All of the kids loved the monster truck that Casey got.

Casey wanted a yellow cake car (he really wanted pink but daddy said no way)

Happy birthday Bubba!

I love....

...when I go to get Caleb out of his crib in the morning or after a nap and his whole body shakes with excitement at the sight of me!

....that Casey and Caleb love to be with one another

...when Casey and I read books together and he can recite the entire story

...how excited the boys get when daddy gets home from work

...how Casey says "sweet!" when he puts pieces of a puzzle together

....that I get to spend so much time with my precious children

Over the past 2 weeks we have been spending lots of time at home as a nasty cold has hit our household. I have loved the extra cuddles and play time as we focus on trying to get better. It has really made me realize how very lucky I am to be a stay at home mommy!

Dedication Sunday

Despite Caleb being sick on Sunday morning, we were still able to

dedicate him to the Lord at our church.


"We, the parents, commit our child Caleb into the loving hands of our eternal Father. To Him be all praise and thanks for the privilege of parenthood, however short or long, however joyous or trying. We desire, by the grace of God, to bring up this little one in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. May our child Caleb, like Christ Himself, grow in wisdom and in stature and in the favor of God and men."

one step forward, two steps back!

Do any other parents out there feel like you are constantly taking strides forward and then something happens and you feel like you took a few back? That is how I have been feeling lately. When this happened when Casey was a baby I got very stressed out. Now the Lord has blessed me with a sense of humor when it comes to parenting and I can laugh about it or nod my sholders and say "oh well".

We were so excited a couple of weeks ago when we had finally transitioned Caleb and Casey into sharing a room. The first week was great, so we thought. Then we noticed a trend, Casey was extrememly cranky and Caleb was waking up 5-6 times per night. We came to the conclusion that Casey wasn't sleeping as well as we thought he was and Caleb was getting nuked every time he woke up so why not scream? Since then we have put Caleb out in the front room so that all can sleep again.

As soon as we were getting a descent nights sleep Caleb got sick. So the last few nights we have been up a lot with our sick baby boy. He has pink eye in both eyes and a terribly nasty cold. Poor baby can't breath. I am trying to think positive and cherish the middle of the night cuddles because I know that before long he will be as big as Casey.

The only thing I am going to say about potty training is that we are still in training. Who knew that pooping on the potty would be such a hard thing to get a child to do?!

Despite the sickness, dirty pants and lack of sleep the Lord continues to give me patience and guidance. Thank you Lord! I wonder how I would make it through the day without prayer and my devotions. It gives me the strength and energy to get through the day with my beautiful boys.

6 MONTHS!

Caleb at 6 months
Casey at 6 months

You can definitely tell they are brothers but they each have their own cute look.

Our little baby boy is 6 months old today. He truly is changing every day. I would have to say that the biggest change that I have noticed over the last couple of weeks is how much stronger he is becoming. He can now roll from tummy to back, sit up without support for brief times periods, and he uses his legs to support his weight more and more each day. A couple of weeks ago we were a bit worried because he seemed so lazy! I guess he showed us! Here are some recent pictures of him playing. Isn't he precious?

Casey quotes

Casey is really adding some humor to my days lately. Here are a couple of his recent funny comments:

Last night at church Casey made a wise man crown. When I came to pick him up he said, "mommy I'm a princess!"

Matt has a tattoo (that he hates) on his arm of two swords crossing. Casey says that daddy has an airplane on his arm.

Lastly, when he was pulling up his pull up today he claimed to have a wedge!

The boys

If you would have asked me 6 months ago how I would feel if I were to have another boy I would have said "I will be happy to have a healthy baby". I did mean that but secretly I really wanted a little girl!

When Caleb was born I was both shocked and nervous. I didn't think I could handle another little bundle of energy like my Casey! As soon as I held Caleb in my arms and spent just a few short minutes with him I could tell that he was different from his big brother. This was going to be the calm baby that I had prayed for (yes God answered my prayers).

Over the past week I have watched my boys interact in a way that has touched my heart as a mommy. Late last week we decided it was time to move Caleb into Casey's room. For the most part it has been a success. Casey was so excited to have his brother in his room with him. The next morning when they woke up they were both excited to see one another across the room.

Unfortunately Caleb is cutting his first tooth and so he isn't sleeping all that great right now. So depending on the day, he may sleep in the pack in play out in the front room. The first night we removed him from their bedroom Casey cried because he wanted Caleb to sleep with him!

Now that Caleb is reaching out to grab things he is really into touching those who come close enough to let him. Well, Casey sure does that! This morning Caleb was reaching out for him and Casey gave him a big hug and kiss...it melted my heart.

They also have started to play with one another too. Casey will attempt to share his trucks with Caleb who really just throws them on the floor. I love it when Casey and Caleb lie together under the play mat and make all kinds of fun sounds.

My favorite moment happened yesterday during nap time (before I removed Caleb). Both boys were in their beds and Caleb was crying. I tried to give him a few minutes to see if he would settle on his own. Well, I guess Casey wasn't as patient and got out of bed and went over to his brother's crib and was petting him through the rails and telling him "it's ok Caleb, don't cry". How sweet is he?