Freeman Family

Monday, June 8, 2009

This and That

Not much new to report from the Freeman camp! Just thought I would post some updated pictures for everyone. We do have some fun things coming up this summer so my post should be a little more exciting! For now we are just hanging out and enjoying the weather, playing with friends and working as little as possible. Carter started his summer program at preschool on Friday. At first I was a little nervous as this is also the time of year that they move classes around. Since his birthday is in September, he happens to be the youngest in his class. Everyone else has turned 4 already and will move into a different class at this time. Luckily he still gets the same teacher and with the reshifting of classes now gets to hang out with some of the other 3 year olds in the building, including his friend Mya (on the right). Mya and her sister Alyx also live next door and like to frequent our backyard for Popsicles!

He gets to do some really fun stuff there this summer like go bowling, to a different park each week for a picnic, bicycle day, bounce house day, sprinkler day, the list goes on and on.

Speaking of neighbors, we went to a party last Saturday night for our dear friends and neighbors the Summers'. They are our backyard neighbors and we have grown to love them so much! Unfortunately, their time in Iowa is soon coming to an end and they are moving on to the next step in their journey. Carter and Sam have been friends for nearly 3 years now and it has been so much fun to watch them grow up together. We have been having many "talks" lately about Sam moving to prepare Carter for this event. I don't think he fully understands as he will say, "We'll just go visit him at his new house, or he can just move in with us." He is awfully worried about where all of Sam's toys will go too. We have been blessed to have had the chance to know them and are so grateful our paths have crossed. We are praying the next family that moves in their house will be just as great as they are and put up with us just as they have! Here are some photos from the party.

9 little boys and Claire!

Carter, Sam, Claire and Jack

Claire and Jack...I know if they weren't moving these two would be the next Waukee High School Homecoming King and Queen!

Megan and I....I'll miss you!

Besides being a great friend, Megan is very talented and made this superhero cape for Carter. It is reversible with batman on the other side. Carter has worn it to bed nearly every night since she gave it to him! I wonder if he dreams of being a superhero?

Claire continues to grow and grow and grow! She is getting braver and attempted the stairs last week! I guess it is officially time to get the baby gates out!

She is beginning to cruise around furniture as well. She is pretty slow and cautious at it and gets "stuck" in the standing position sometimes and whines because she can't figure out how to get down.

Cleaning out the Tupperware cupboard!

Mommy's helper!

Cruisin in a box!

Lately Carter thinks it is fun for the both of them to play in Claire's crib. He likes to fill up the bed with every stuffed animal he can find, then they play "zoo" They do kinda look like caged animals don't they?

Blowing raspberries!

Claire turned 10 months on May 27th!

And lastly, the furry Freeman's at attention patiently waiting for a treat! Have a great week!

Sunday, May 17, 2009

Freeman Adventures

Okay, so we have actually been quite busy this last month, so that is my reason for taking so long to post something new! We have done some fun family things this past month and Jeremy and I were able to spend some much needed alone time together. We spent the last weekend in April celebrating Jeremy's birthday with some indoor fun at Adventureland Resort. It ended up being a great weekend to go as it was yucky and rainy all weekend. Carter was so excited to stay overnight in a hotel. He had his swimming trunks and goggles on before Jeremy got everything carried in from the car and he was the first one in the water the next morning. He also liked staying up "late" and the cool game rooms they had there. Claire really liked the water and didn't seem to mind being splashed by Carter.

We made our first trip of the season to the Blank Park zoo a couple of weeks ago. This is such a great little zoo. The kids love it because there are lots of cool things to see and parents love it because you can get through the whole thing in roughly 2 hours! Great for a quick morning activity!

Claire turned 9 months on April 27th. She weighed in at 18lbs 9 oz and was 27.5 inches long. So big!

She has gone very quickly from learning to crawl to pulling herself onto her knees, up onto her feet and now has actually taken a couple of steps holding onto something. She LOVES to play in the Tupperware cupboard, the lazy Susan and the pantry. She has a whopping 7 teeth now and is learning to chew up new foods as well as bite her family when given the chance. I am sadly in the process of weaning her as she thinks I am a chew toy instead of the milk maid! OUCH!

Now that Claire is all over the place, Carter is finding the need to hide all of his most prized possessions. He has always like to play in the "secret hiding place" under our bed. He is starting to realize that Claire follows him around like a shadow and no place is secret anymore. He was attempting to stash some treasures under the bed when I caught her quickly following him under there one day. Some of the sayings we are hearing more and more of at our house are " Mom, MOVE HER! or Mom, MAKE HER LEAVE ME ALONE! " Oh I fear this is only the beginning. Then I will hear him talking to her sometimes trying to soothe her saying, "It's okay Claire, I'm here, you don't have to cry." He even says prayers for her at night because she doesn't have enough teeth to talk yet, so he tells God. He makes me so PROUD! He is such a great kid!

Carter got a special surprise from Aunt Darcie and Jill...a trip to the circus! His favorite parts were when they shot an "adult" out of a canon and the clown with his pants on fire. He talked about it for days! He even sported this clown nose for several days afterwards, only taking it off if he needed to blow his nose!

I had a wonderful Mother's Day! Carter made some great gifts for me at preschool including a picture frame with his picture in it, some coupons to use for special treats like back rubs or taking out the trash, and he planted some flowers for me. Claire's caregiver made a flower out of her footprint with a poem attached about her. Jeremy got me a new watch ( my old one was very gross) took me out for breakfast and cleaned the entire house for me!! WOW! I am so blessed. We each were able to spend some time with our own mothers that weekend as well as my grandmother. What a great day to reflect on our mothers and thank them for shaping our lives.

Lastly, Jeremy and I made a quick trip to Chicago this week to see Bruce Springsteen in concert at the United Center. What an amazing concert! If you have never been to see him, put this on your list of things to do! He is truly amazing! I have never been to a sold out concert before where everyone stood and danced the entire time! It was well worth the trip. We got to enjoy some great deep dish Chicago style pizza and did a little shopping along the way. Thanks to my sister and Jill for taking care of the kids and dogs so we could get away!

Until next time!

Monday, April 27, 2009

Happy Birthday Jeremy!

Jeremy celebrates his 36th birthday today! Although he is "at that age" when birthdays aren't as important anymore, this post is all about him! I have to admit, this was a great way for me to reflect on him and why I love him so much! So here goes, 36 things you may or may not known about him!

1. Jeremy Patrick Freeman was born 4-28-73 in Atlantic, IA to Nancy and Beryl Freeman.

2. Jeremy is the second of 2 boys in his family ( his older brother Al is 13 years older..whoops!)

3. He graduated from Iowa State University in 1996, however has always proclaimed himself as a true Husker vs Cyclone.

4. Jeremy always has chapstick on him!

5. His musical favorites includes Bruce Springsteen, Metallica and Guns N Roses.

6. Jeremy grew up in small town Iowa in the days where you left home in the morning on your huffy and didn't come home until dark and nobody wondered where you were.

7. Jeremy AKA "budget master" can pinch a penny better than anyone I know..this is seriously hard for me at times!

8. He has had 3 wardrobe changes in the last 36 years. See #7 for reason why. I have threatened the fashion police on him several times.

9. He loves pizza and steak but only on special occasions and certainly not during the week.

10. His hair is as stick straight as it comes.

11. He can name the group who sings any 80's song within seconds of hearing the first couple of notes.

12. Chips are his downfall..seriously he can put a whole bag away in one sitting.

13. Jeremy took me on our 1st date to the movie "Santa Claus" with Tim Allen. I remember sitting in gum at the theatre and he was so nice to help scrap it off my bum!

14. He had LONG hair in high school and was forced each year to cut it for wrestling practice.

15. He is a HUGE germaphobe!

16. His idea of dessert is FAT FREE SUGAR FREE ice cream ( this is also very hard for me)

17. He's not afraid to eat tuna straight out of the can.

18. He hates it if you don't close the cheese wrapper tightly!

19. He loves to lecture his family on the evils of sugar and the value of protein to the body.

20. He is a wizard at chess.

21. He watches Sports Center every night before bed.

22. He adds Tabasco sauce to almost all of his food.

23. His favorite movies are Gladiator and Pulp Fiction.

24. He makes a mean breakfast! His french toast and omelets ROCK!

25. He loves movie night with his family.

26. He loves to read, mainly biographies of historical figures like Abraham Lincoln, Julius Ceasar, and Augustus.

27. He currently works at Wells Fargo but has dreams of doing other things.....

28. He loves wine!

29. One of his favorite jobs was working construction one summer during college. I think he did more girl watching and beer drinking than working, he would disagree.

30. He has a 5:00 shadow at 10 am!

31. He is a huge Chicago Cubs fan!

32. He drives a 1996 dirty rusty Ford Explorer full of dog hair that has 200,000 miles on it and probably the original tires. Only 2 of the 5 doors actually open and none of the windows roll down anymore. It totally grosses me out..see #7 on why we still own this hunk of junk.

33. He could watch an entire day of football without thinking twice about it, only leaving the recliner to use the facilities and grab a cool one.

34. He values a gym membership as a necessity!

35. Jeremy is such a great dad! He loves the kiddos so much and they adore him. He is the fun guy with all the patience in the world. He's not afraid to give bathes, change diapers and never complains when I leave the kids with him for a weekend to go do fun girl stuff.

36. He is the love of my life. He is my better half, my balance, my soul mate, my teammate.

Sunday, April 12, 2009

Random stuff

Hi all! Although I apparently have been too busy to post anything for over a month now, I really can't think of anything exciting the Freeman family has been up to to post about! I am having writer's block as well, so I thought I would just post some random pictures from the last month. Happy Easter everyone!