Omaha! We miss you.

We miss you Omaha! We were lucky enough to go back for a visit at the end of July. Meeting our new niece, Ella Jude was fantastic. Nora really enjoyed meeting Ella and seeing her other cousins, Megan & Carson. Nora loves her cousins. She talks about them all of the time. She wants to know when they are coming to her house to play. Hopefully all of the cousins will be able to make a trip up to MN in the near future. Of course she totally loved seeing her Nona. She always wants Nona to come to her house to play and to “drink coffee.” Seeing Papa Larry and Patty and all of the aunts and uncles was a blast too.

In addition to seeing the Swarty side of the family, we were able to see a lot of our friends while we were in town. Pete had his 20 year high school reunion that weekend. It was awesome seeing everyone and meeting new people. Pete of course was so proud to have me as his trophy wife :)

Enjoy the photos below!

The second and more tame night of the reunion weekend.

The misfits.... Class of 1989 baby!

Nora & Camryn hanging.

Nora with her cousin Megan. Nora wasn't so sure about the water slide.

Swinging with Patty.

Nora and Nona...

Nora with Nona and her cousins, Megan and Carson

Trying to get a photo of Nona and her grandkids was not easy...

Breakfast outside at Nona's house.

We had a get together at a friends pool the Saturday of the reunion. Apparently the 10 year did not involve kids and was quite a bit different than this time.... Imagine that...

Ella Jude

More pics of breakfast at Nona's. You can tell Nora is "annoyed" that she is not getting ALL of Nona's attention....

The ZOO... OK, so I lived in Omaha for 6 years. I had a pass to the zoo for 3 or 4 years and never went. I finally had my first trip to the zoo with my little lady, Nora. It is a fantastic zoo.

Nona gave Nora a doll with a paci. Nora has been off of her paci for several months, clearly she need a pull!

We took the doll to the park.

Reunited with the cousins. They all were very excited!

Stunt Doubles! Megan and Leslie!

Just Pics

Two nights in a row!

Nora pooped again on the toilet tonight! Yeah!

"I made a poop!"

Pete was laying with Nora in her bed for bedtime tonight and she said that she had to go poop. Pete let her go into the bathroom. He was in there with her for a few minutes and then she kicked him out....A few minutes later we hear her scream "I MADE A POOP!" All of us were so excited. BIG GIRL! Yeah Nora!

Playing Ketcup... I mean catch up!

I cannot believe summer is half over... We have a ton of fun this summer! We have spent a fair share of our weekends up at the lake, we have made countless trips to the park, a few trips to the local beach in town, gone on several walks, celebrated birthdays, hung out with friends... the lost could go on. This summer has been fun thus far.

2 1/2 is by far the best age we have experienced with Nora. I realize I have made that comment many times throughout Nora's life but man alive, this age rules! Of course we have the challenging 2 year old moments but the funny times outshine the challenging times. Nora loves to ask "why?" and "where?" She still likes to shake her booty and dance with her hands on her hips. Her music of choice is George Jones the old country singer-we can thank my dad for turning her on to him. Nora has always been fairly social which is fun however the past few weeks she has really come out of her shell. She says hi to most people who walk by our house or will talk to kids she doesn't know. Of course we still have our shy moments which consist of her covering her eyes (I think she thinks since she can't see neither can anyone else). Nora's favorite store is Byerly's and same with her favorite restaurant. We drive by and she insists that we go it. We eat at Byerly's at least once a week. Thank God their prices aren't bad. Nora has a routine at Byerly's. We walk in and pick out whatever type of cart she is in the mood for. Then we go immediately to the meat counter where Doug, the Butcher and Carolyn Sutherland (Leslie and Kristina's mom) boyfriend works. Nora has to hug him and flirt with him for a few minutes. She now has the entire meat department trained. If he is gone, they tell us. If he is in the back, they get him etc.... It is comical. After her flirting with Doug it is tough to get her back in the cart. However, the bakery is at the end of our journey through Byerly's and they give the kiddos cookies.... Of course, 90% of the time Nora gets a cookie. There is one gal that always gives her a HUGE cookie which is sweet but not right before dinner :) Nora also loves to play "mommy." She has an arsenal of dolls/babies. She cares for them in such a sweet manner. She rubs their backs when it is nap time, takes them on walks (for real), rubs their feet, consoles them when they cry. It is amazing that a little girl knows what to do! She also likes real babies too. She sees them and goes and rubs their feet or says "SHHHH cute baby sleeping." I love it. She also talks about all of our friends babies all of the time. So sweet. One last thing then I will let you all look at the pictures! Nora did her first embarrassing thing to me. Nora understands that big bellies on women can mean pregnancy (one of her teachers at school is pregnant). We were at Target last week and she saw a heavy set women and yells "Baby in your tummy!" I ignore what she says then she says "Mommy--Baby in her tummy." as she is pointing at the woman. I pulled my hat down and hit the gas on the cart.... Gotta love kids!

Somehow this picture of Mirabella and Jenny is stuck up here and won't move... It is out of sequence. Darn blogger. At least they both are cute....

We went to see my Grandma last weekend in Alexandria. We had a nice visit. The girl in pink is Nora's new baby, Carly.....

Chloe chillin on the back of the boat 4th of July weekend.

Red, white and blue!

Makayla turned 1 at the end of June. We were invited to her birthday celebration. We had a nice time. Missy invited all of the kids to dig into Makayla's cake which was sweet and pretty darn funny to watch!

Of course Nora is stuffing her face!

Makayla is giving Maddie the stare down..."Whatcha doing eating my cake, girl?"

Nora was shy about eating the cake at first but warmed up in about a minute...

Daddy and Nora. Oh I forgot to write in the main area regarding this topic. Nora remains a Daddy's girl... She insists that he puts her to bed every night. After our bedtime routine Nora says "Mommy leave. Daddy and Nora sleep together." It is funny but sometimes my feelings get hurt then I realize she is 2!

Cheese!

The following photos are of Nora and Maddie and their photo shoot. So cute! Same cover ups and crocs....

Little Makayla! So sweet.

I love that Maddie had to wear her goggles.

Nora and her buddy Chloe.

Nora on Father's Day at Lola's.

Nora poopin' before Father's Day brunch. Speaking of poop.. Nora has been doing a great job of going potty on the big girl!
When Pete was in Vegas last month, Nora and I went to the beach. She was so proud to have a lunch box with her... Below, she is modeling. I asked her to go put on her shoes and look what she put on. Totally beach appropriate!