Hello Axel!

Axel Joseph Elser

July 16th, 2015

7:47 pm

7 lbs 14 oz

20.5"

Welcome to the family, Axel! 

We love you!

Whiz, Bang, Pop

Yeah I know, this post is getting to be pretty late. But the Fourth of July is a favorite holiday around here, so I can't let it go by without mention.

The 4th usually means three things at this house: fireworks, bike racing, and (drum-roll) Austin's birthday! This year the weather was soooo hot (we're talking triple digits) that it shortened some of our holiday activities, but we still had a lot of fun!

First came the bike races the weekend before the fourth of July, with the Tour of Lawrence. Austin planned on participating in all three days of races, but with temperatures soaring into the triple digits it was just too hot on Friday and Saturday. Sunday was a little cooler - you know, like 97° - so he did race in the downtown criterium, and he did really well! He rode very strongly throughout the whole race. Check out a couple laps of the race in this video. Austin is #167 and he has white arm coolers on.

Next up was the 4th. We had plans to check out some of the festivities going on at the local park, but again, it was crazy hot. We ended up hiding away in the AC most of the day, but we did manage to get out for a while in the afternoon to do some grilling and shoot off a few small fireworks of our own.

Here we are hanging out inside munching on some frozen treats - that's my favorite way to beat the heat. Notice her pose. She had just started thinking it was really cool to lean against the wall like mommy. She loves to do this all the time now, especially when I am leaning against the cabinets in the kitchen. :-) 

Wow! Poppers! How fun!

And of course there had to be a tank or two.

After shooting off firecrackers Austin did a little grilling for us.

And shot off a couple M-80s in the process. Oh Boy! Attia thought that was pretty exciting!

Later in the evening Austin and I managed to see some of the city fireworks too. Attia doesn't stay up late enough for us to go down to the riverfront to watch them yet, but luckily our house is close enough that we can see them from our street. That is really nice!

We wrapped up the summer holiday festivities with Austin's 29th birthday. His birthday fell on a Friday this year, so unfortunately he had to work, but we had a yummy Wheatfield's lunch, Austin's favorite chinese for dinner, and Attia was super excited to celebrate with him when he got home!

Who's birthday is it again?

Oh yeah, daddy's. Let's feed him.

Cupcakes, scotch, a new bike seat, and a happy baby - what could be better?

Happy Birthday!

Attia's Sixth Month

And that bring us to August. We were still suffering through the heat, but August brought more fun times, as well as some changes for us to get used to.

School was starting up again at the end of the month, and that meant that Attia would be starting daycare. We decided to use a home daycare, run by a German lady that I had met at the LMH mommy group. She has a five year old daughter who is in school now, and a 4 month old son that she watches with Attia. (Her five year old speaks fluent english and german, which we thought was very cool.) Attia's first day was on the 22nd, and leading up to it I was really nervous but after the first day we felt really good about it. Her first two weeks have gone very smoothly and we really like the provider and her set-up. Yea!

Getting ready for her first day of 'school'!

Attia and her buddy Daniel playing grabby feet.
(They were holding hands before this, but
not for the picture of course.)

She even brought home her first daycare artwork!

Throughout the rest of the month we...

Celebrated my 28th birthday...

Went downtown to see the Buskar Fest spectacle (Lawrence's street performer festival)...

Went to South Park for the Fiddling & Picking Championships...

Saw Opa & GiGi for a couple of hours when they stopped by on their way home from Colorado...

Captivated by the mobile from Colorado!

Attia started really liking to pet the pets...

And she learned to sit by herself! She started doing this at the end of the month for about 30 seconds at a time. By a week or two later she was sitting unassisted on the bed and in her playpen for long stretches - like 10 mins! This really helps with laundry!

Sitting a little wobbly - August 15th

Sitting with confidence! - Sept 3rd

Here are some random photos taken throughout the month...

Attia also got to act as a model for a friend of mine who is taking photography classes. Her little photo shoot turned out great - I'll post those pics next!