BIG week for BLAKE!

This week was a BIG week, developmentally, for our BIG boy, BLAKE!  I just can't believe just how quickly he is growing up.  He started off early in week with getting up onto all fours in the crawling position, and clapping his hands, then by the end of the week he decided he wanted to sit up all by himself! 

Since he is sitting on his own, we decided to get him into our toddler chair...he LOVED it!

He is still not crawling, but he is inching towards things, so it won't be very long before he is mobile!  Another one of his favorite things to do is flop around like a fish out of water while he is getting his diaper changed (one of his new tricks that I don't really appreciate, but I think he likes it)!



Happy Halloween

I kind of like it when Halloween falls early in the week.  Then we are able to make a whole weekend of it!  On Saturday morning we got up early to head down to Longmont for their annual Halloween parade.  The kids get to dress up in costume and parade down main street.  Afterwards, many of the shops are open for trick-or-treating.  Kyler got to hang out with his cousins.  Between the four kiddos we had a puppy dog (Blake), Superman (Kyler), a fairy (Jillan) and Snow White (Madi).  Unfortunately I left the camera at home and my phone was about to die, so this is the only picture I got.

 Then that evening, we had some friends over for our annual pumpkin carving party.  This was Kyler's innagural year...he carved his very own pumpkin (with lots of help from mommy of course)!

It was so nice to have relax at our own house with good friends, good food, and a fun, festive activity! 

On Monday, Kyler had his Halloween party at Debbie,s.  We made cake pops for Kyler to bring and share with his buddies.  In the afternoon, Debbie took them all over to St. Michael's square to go trick-or-treating. They had a blast!



We ended our Halloween celebrating with our very own trick-or-treating in our neighborhood.  Thanks to Mema on candy duty (for the 200+ trick-or-treaters we get), Josh and I were both able to take Kyler out!

What a fun, extended weekend!

Seven Months and a SNOW DAY!

Yesterday Blake turned SEVEN months old!  Where 'o where does the time go?  As I have mentioned before, he is a happy little fellow.  He is "talking" a ton, still spinning in circles, and is now pretty darn good at feeding himself a bottle.

A few of his favorite things are his bouncer, his brother Kyler (still), and snuggling with Mommy and Daddy.  He LOVES finding and playing with the tags of things, so the last time we were at Target we found a tag blankie!

This morning at about 5:00 I woke up and took a peek outside...I know we were predicted to get lots of snow, but I wasn't imagining 8+ inches!  For some reason, I couldn't get back to sleep, so I decided to get up and start shoveling.  The snow was extremely heavy and wet, but it ended up being a great workout.  Partway through my "workout" Josh peeked his head out of the door and said that Windsor School District had cancelled school.  We hadn't heard anything about Greeley, so I finished up shoveling and continued with my morning routine.  As I was finishing up with my shower, Josh told me that my school was cancelled due to the winter weather conditions as well as numerous power outages across the city.  SNOW DAY!

  

My little snow angel!



Helping Paul finish up his shoveling.

Playing in the snow with Daddy!

Hot Cocoa...YUM!

Unfortunately, it was a little too cold for Blake to join us for the fun in the snow. He stayed bundled up in the nice, warm house with Mema. It has been so great having an extra day to spend with 3 of my favorite boys!

Fall Foliage

When we purchased our maple tree for the backyard last year, we nicknamed it Kyler's tree.  And when we planted it we thought it would be fun to take a picture of him by his tree every year so that we could watch each of them grow together.  We chose fall to take the photos because the tree's leaves turn such a pretty red color. 

Fall 2011

Fall 2010

Our Little Pumpkins

Yesterday we decided to head just outside of town to Tigge's Pumpkin Farm.  It seems as though every year we find a different place to get our pumpkins from.  This year, Josh chose the place.  He wanted Kyler to be able to actually pick his very own pumpkin off of the vine.  And that's exactly what he did (well, not his own pumpkin...it was one for Blake).

After scoping out the situation, we found some pretty great pumpkins.  Kyler loved picking them up and trudging through the field.  He even said, "Here's one more little one for the baby that is going to come out of your tummy Mom!"  Josh and I had a chuckle and told him that that probably wouldn't be happening, so he should probably put it back.

The weather was amazing and we got there just before all of the crowd.  We had a fabulous family fun-day!

Clowning Around

ONE ticket to see the Ringling Brothers...$52 plus taxes and fees

Traveling into the "Mile High City"...approximately 50 miles

Lemonade in a commemorative cup...$10

A box of popcorn at the circus...$8

Witnessing your 3 year-old watch the circus in awe...priceless!

The opportunity for Kyler to go see The Ringling Brothers Circus arose, so he and Josh headed down to Denver to make a whole day of the event.  They had a fabulous time!  After doing some research, Josh discovered that they do a pre-show in which they get to see all the animals up close before their actual appearance. 

Josh said that Kyler was in awe of the entire show and seemed to love every minute of it!

Josh was a skeptic about the whole thing, but after he watched the show he admitted that it was pretty amazing!

I'm just a little jealous that Blake and I didn't get to go, but the time spent with Blake is pretty darn priceless too!

A Published Author

That's my hubby, and I couldn't be more proud of him. Upon completing his master's degree in Secondary Mathematics Education in May, he found out that one of the articles he co-wrote was up for publication in the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics - Mathematics Teacher Journal. This week we received the final product, and it looks great!

There was no doubt in my mind that Josh is an amazing mathematics educator, but this just proves his creativity and drive for students to learn and love math. Josh, your students are so very lucky to have you as their teacher! You make a difference in so many young people's lives!

Fun Photos

Kyler has really been into taking pictures.  When I picked up the camera the other day, I found some of his fine photography!  What a pleasant surpise...happy viewing!

A convoy

Super Heroes!

Captain America (this photo isn't half bad)

Spidey

Army guys

Silly boy!

Say Cheese!

Happy Baby

Blake is a very happy baby. He only really cries when he needs the next thing in his routine. It is really easy to get him to give you a grin. And he LOVES to laugh!

Six Months Stats

Thursday's visit with Dr. Ripley went really well! As we suspected, Blake is growning like a weed! He weighed in at 17 lbs. 4 oz which fell into the 48th percentile. His head circumference is still falling into the 16th percentile at 16 1/2 inches. Just like his older brother, Blake is tall! He measured 28 1/2 inches long which is longer than 84 percent of six month old boys! Dr. Ripley concluded that he is very healthy and we totally agree! After his four shots he simply winced and went on like nothing really happened. He is a happy little baby!

The BIG 3-OH!

Yup...I will the BIG 30 on Tuesday! Sometimes it really hits me hard, and others it's not that big of a deal. Yes, I now have too many grey hairs to continue to pluck, but that's what hair dye is for, right? Even though I am going grey and don't have the metabolism of a 16-year-old any longer, I am very thankful for all of the experiences that I have had to get to this point. When I was younger, I thought 30 seemed so far away, but here we are. 30 years old...happily married, secured in a worthy career, 2 beautiful boys, a mortgage, a cute little puppy dog...livin' the American Dream. I wouldn't have it any other way. Just another birthday, and with the life expectancy at 78.7 years, I will (hopefully) have many more!

Photo Courtesy of Kyler - GOOO! Look at all those wrinkles!

Half a year...

...that's how old Blake is! It is simply amazing just how time has flown by since we've welcomed this little bundle of joy into our lives! A bundle of joy he is! He adds such happiness to our family and we couldn't imagine our lives without him. A lot has happened over the last month. (Since I have been back to work, it has been difficult to find time to blog.) Not only has Blake grown a TON over the last month (he has his well-baby check-up on Wednesday so we'll see then just how much he has grown), but he has been moving all about by pushing and rolling around...it won't be long before he's crawling. He has also cut his first tooth, tried rice cereal and bananas, found his voice, is strating to really recognize his family, and has been weaned from breastmilk to formula. With the many changes he could have become very cranky, however, he is quite the opposite. He is such a happy baby that enjoys mostly everything! A few of his favorite things are his brother, Kyler, bathtime, and his feet (he LOVES playing with them and LOVES when they are tickled).

We LOVE Blake James!

Five Fabulous Months

I can't believe that Blake is five months old. Time really does fly, and it seems to be flying even more quickly with the second child as compared to the first. I am back to work full-time, therefore, my time with the boys is limited. Every minute spent with them is so special.
Blake is getting so BIG! He loves to roll all about the living room and when he is on his stomach he kicks in circles in an effort to crawl. Cooing is another one of his favorite things. In the morning when he wakes up from his 7-8 hours night's sleep he is very happy and coos a TON! As long as he is kept to his 3-4 hour routine of eat, play, sleep he is an extremely happy baby! My mom was commenting the other day that she has never met a baby that doesn't cry when water is poured over his face during bathtime...that's Blake for you. His cries just signify he is ready for the next step in his routine! No well-baby check at five months, so we'll just have to wait until next month to see how much he has grown and where he falls amongst his peers. We are very thankful for Blake James...we can't imagine our lives without you!