We just grilled some burgers last night for supper.  There is just nothing like food from the grill.  We also do the propane grill (I had been previously unaware that John Deere made grills, but we have one!)  Chicken, steak, burgers, pork chops, kabobs, corn on the cob, and of course, brats.  We love brats and I'm sorry, but they are just NOT the same if they are not grilled. 

Despite the fact that MN winters get a little...chilly...we never stop using the grill.  Yesterday it was pouring rain, but we still had to grill.   I do have to say, Randy is AWESOME with grilling.

"I will praise you, O Lord, among the nations; I will sing of you among the peoples.  For great is your love, reaching to the heavens; your faithfulness reaches to the skies.  Be exalted, O God, above the heavens; let your glory be over all the earth." -Psalm 57:9-11. 

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Congrats Karen!  YAY!!!

"I will praise you, O Lord, among the nations; I will sing of you among the peoples.  For great is your love, reaching to the heavens; your faithfulness reaches to the skies.  Be exalted, O God, above the heavens; let your glory be over all the earth." -Psalm 57:9-11. 

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I do hope that this makes some sort of impression on them and shows them that their actions and decisions do have consequences.

As parents, I think that is one of the most important lessons we can teach our kids.  They need to know that the things they do and the decisions they make have consequences.  It is easy to want to try to protect our kids from consequences, especially when they're young, but it is such an important lesson!

"I will praise you, O Lord, among the nations; I will sing of you among the peoples.  For great is your love, reaching to the heavens; your faithfulness reaches to the skies.  Be exalted, O God, above the heavens; let your glory be over all the earth." -Psalm 57:9-11. 

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Some terrific advice!  One of the reasons I love this site!

I have brought babies to weddings before.  One was a friend of ours in my home town (we were able to stay at my parents' house).  We just dressed Emma in something cute and comfy, and made sure we had extra clothes just in case.  I don't think it's necessary to leave if your baby is just making some quiet happy noises, but would definitely take a change of scenery if things get really loud or crying.  I also don't think that there is anything wrong with bottle-feeding a baby during the ceremony (I was feeding Timothy a bottle during his baptism ceremony- up in front of the church!), although if you are uncomfortable or just need to get away for a little bit that can be a good excuse.

Another time was when Randy's sister got married.  Randy was in the wedding, so I had both of the kids by myself.  I believe Timothy was about 15 months old, and we were having MAJOR issues!!!  Thankfully, at the back of the sanctuary they had a little separate room that had windows to see what was going on, and speakers so you could hear everything...well, if the kids hadn't been screaming I could have heard it...). 

At any rate, regardless of the actual ceremony, try to enjoy the time that you have together as a family at the hotel and make it into a fun little getaway.  Best wishes and God bless!

"I will praise you, O Lord, among the nations; I will sing of you among the peoples.  For great is your love, reaching to the heavens; your faithfulness reaches to the skies.  Be exalted, O God, above the heavens; let your glory be over all the earth." -Psalm 57:9-11. 

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"I will praise you, O Lord, among the nations; I will sing of you among the peoples.  For great is your love, reaching to the heavens; your faithfulness reaches to the skies.  Be exalted, O God, above the heavens; let your glory be over all the earth." -Psalm 57:9-11. 

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"I will praise you, O Lord, among the nations; I will sing of you among the peoples.  For great is your love, reaching to the heavens; your faithfulness reaches to the skies.  Be exalted, O God, above the heavens; let your glory be over all the earth." -Psalm 57:9-11. 

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"I will praise you, O Lord, among the nations; I will sing of you among the peoples.  For great is your love, reaching to the heavens; your faithfulness reaches to the skies.  Be exalted, O God, above the heavens; let your glory be over all the earth." -Psalm 57:9-11. 

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Emma went right after she turned 3.  It was required for her participation in the Head Start program, and they paid for it, since we don't have dental insurance.  She actually did really well with it.

I was actually just thinking about this topic in the past couple weeks.  I think it's time to bring Timothy in also.  It's hard to say how it will go, but he was with when we brought Emma and has seen what's involved, and he knows there's a little treasure chest with prizes when you're done.  So, I need to get appointments scheduled for everyone.

"I will praise you, O Lord, among the nations; I will sing of you among the peoples.  For great is your love, reaching to the heavens; your faithfulness reaches to the skies.  Be exalted, O God, above the heavens; let your glory be over all the earth." -Psalm 57:9-11. 

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I also agree!  If you feel comfortable, I would go with the ped's advice and try starting some cereal.  Timothy's ped told us to definitely start some cereal at about 2 months.  I didn't discuss that with WIC because they probably would have told us it was wrong.  We had some other issues with their advice with Timothy.  We literally went through just about every formula they make to find one that worked for him.  They told us we should give them at least 2 weeks before trying something different.  But there was no way I was going to make us both suffer through 2 weeks of him SCREAMING and refusing to eat something, and projectile vomiting anything he did get it.  Like people said, you have to do what is right for YOUR child.   (Not saying that WIC is bad- I am VERY thankful that we had that help and support available!)

But yeah, for Timothy, the cereal in his bottle just really made him gag, so we started mixing a very small amount with his formula and spoon feeding (like mommy02 said) and that worked really well.  Like she said, it takes a little while for them to get the hang of it, but just work with him at his own pace and it will work out.   Best wishes!

"I will praise you, O Lord, among the nations; I will sing of you among the peoples.  For great is your love, reaching to the heavens; your faithfulness reaches to the skies.  Be exalted, O God, above the heavens; let your glory be over all the earth." -Psalm 57:9-11. 

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That is a really great article.  I also have a long list of things that I would love to do, or do more.  I do think that it is very important to make time for the things that are important to us and help us to be all that we can be.  It really is not selfish to make time for ourselves.  It's necessary to being happy, healthy and productive moms and women (and dads and men, too!). 

Right now, the dishes and laundry are calling me.....but so is that new book from the library......

"I will praise you, O Lord, among the nations; I will sing of you among the peoples.  For great is your love, reaching to the heavens; your faithfulness reaches to the skies.  Be exalted, O God, above the heavens; let your glory be over all the earth." -Psalm 57:9-11. 

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Sunscreen/Lip balm

Sunglasses

Toys

Towels/Beach chairs/blanket

Water and snacks

The kids have been asking since February if it's time to go to the beach yet

"I will praise you, O Lord, among the nations; I will sing of you among the peoples.  For great is your love, reaching to the heavens; your faithfulness reaches to the skies.  Be exalted, O God, above the heavens; let your glory be over all the earth." -Psalm 57:9-11. 

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 This is pretty fun!

"I will praise you, O Lord, among the nations; I will sing of you among the peoples.  For great is your love, reaching to the heavens; your faithfulness reaches to the skies.  Be exalted, O God, above the heavens; let your glory be over all the earth." -Psalm 57:9-11. 

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"I will praise you, O Lord, among the nations; I will sing of you among the peoples.  For great is your love, reaching to the heavens; your faithfulness reaches to the skies.  Be exalted, O God, above the heavens; let your glory be over all the earth." -Psalm 57:9-11. 

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"I will praise you, O Lord, among the nations; I will sing of you among the peoples.  For great is your love, reaching to the heavens; your faithfulness reaches to the skies.  Be exalted, O God, above the heavens; let your glory be over all the earth." -Psalm 57:9-11. 

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"I will praise you, O Lord, among the nations; I will sing of you among the peoples.  For great is your love, reaching to the heavens; your faithfulness reaches to the skies.  Be exalted, O God, above the heavens; let your glory be over all the earth." -Psalm 57:9-11. 

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