Life With The Bittingers: July 2008

Our Nephew

Here is proud Uncle Dan

Here is Dylan with his Dad, Charlie

I really thought Dan was taking a close up of just Dylan... :)

A New Bittinger!

Dylan Charles Bittinger was born toady just after 1pm. Melissa, Charlie & baby Dylan are doing great. He is perfect! 7lbs. 6oz.

This is the cookie cake Ali wanted to make for Dylan since I told her today was his birthday. She has been so excited all day... with LOTS of questions about babies. Some of the ones that made me laugh were... she wanted to know what color he was going to be... I said what do you mean? She said, you know, brown... or purple? Then when I told her I was going to be baby Dylan's aunt she said Oh, can you be my aunt too!?! :)

This was the nurse holding Dylan up to the window of the nursery while we watched him get his very first bath.

Sweet boy!!

Here is my big cheesey Aunt JiJi grin!!

Backyard Adventures

The morning started with Ben being really clingy. He was sick this weekend, so I understood. But he had been feeling much better yesterday. Anyway, he wouldn't take his morning nap and I really wanted him to so I could take the kids to Backyard Adventures. Instead of napping he 'helped' me fold clothes... you can see by his puffy eyes that he'd been crying :(

Then it was off to Backyard Adventures. It is a great place... and indoor - that is a huge plus since it feels like fire outside these days.

The kids absolutely loved it. It is full of huge inflatables and a fenced in toddler area. We will definitely frequent this place for the rest of summer.

Ali was brave on some of the big kid slides... the one above I went on and it gave me a few butterflies!!

I loved this pic... Ben got bounced into a face plant. He thought it was so funny.

There are many obstacle courses... Ali was having a blast. We went through her favorites so many times, I was gasping for air & water!!
We came home, ate lunch, and they are both fast asleep... life is good:)

Quick Target Trip... if that is possible

We decided to grab a few essentials at Target today on Dan's lunch break. As always I assume we can go in, get what we need, and be out the door in minutes. Most often it turns out like, ok, I know I need toilet paper and start heading that way.... Ali gets distracted by the books/dvds. While trying to explain that we are on a timeline today I get totally distracted by some incredible find that will most certainly improve our lives for years. Back on track, tp... then I remember I had been meaning to pick up a new kitchen trash can, a new scrub brush, and a few new coffee mugs... since I'm here I might as well run down those isles. On my mad dash to the appropriate sections of the store Ali spots.... the toys! Now it is a whole new ballgame. We finally get what we need, along with some cr*p that we probably don't need. I know your asking how I had time to take a few pics since we were in a hurry, but I'm a mom and multitasking is genetically encoded in my DNA.

Ali in her breast cancer awareness gardening outfit.

Ali thought this swing would go great in our house

Earlier that morning when they both found their way in our bed

Raw Milk Taste Test - 2 Thumbs Up

I had my first taste of raw milk tonight (thanks again Gwen!). It was very very good. We have always been huge consumers of skim milk, so this stuff was creamy and I want to say a bit sweet. After doing a small amount of research on the processes milk goes through I had been curious to try some of the raw delight. Our friends/neighbors have a connection with a small organic farm that sells 'Lilly Bell's' milk (that is the cow's name). They blessed us with our very own gallon given in a glass jar. But since it isn't pasteurized, homogenized, etc. it is labeled NOT FOR HUMAN CONSUMPTION, only because the FDA hasn't approved it. This made me chuckle simply because I would love to see that label on MANY foods that we see people eating everyday!!! Now I desperately want my own cow or perhaps join a co-op near us so we can have this treat on a regular basis. Ali said she loved it... even Dan (who was reluctant to taste) agreed that it was good... so fresh. I was surprised at the difference in taste the raw milk was to store bought milk. It just makes me think this is how nature intended it to be. Food for thought!

Another Fun Day at the Aqauarium

The kids were excited to go see the fish again. We usually leave around 9:30 so Ben can have his morning nap on the way to Tampa.

This was an animal show we saw with an owl, armadilla, and a skunk. Ali was excited about the skunk since we just read a Curious George story that had a skunk encounter.

This was a caged diver in a shark show we watched...yikes! Some of the sharks looked small enough to get through the cage bars... I guess they know what they're doing.

This was treat to watch because last time we were here the eel wouldn't show us anything but its head. This time he was swimming all around toward the front of the tank.

Ali got to touch these rays

Random Fun!

A & B playing in the rain.

Swimming at a going away party for our good friends Janet & Steve Gause. You will be missed!!

I was unpacking some new dishes we just got and Ali jumped in the middle of all the tissue paper.

Happy Independance Day!

We celebrated the Fourth by going to a downtown fireworks show.

This is Ali with some friends she met at Lake Mirror. She is wearing Dan's ear muffs because she really doesn't like loud noises... she wore them all day though!

Here are the Allens!

Carey with Ben

Our glow sticks... they were a big hit, but one started leaking later that evening so we threw them out. I'm not quite sure what makes them glow and didn't want our babies glowing:)