Happy Birthday Emily!

There are 4 little boys who have a message for their Aunt Emily!

Liam: Four Months Old

Time to break out the onesie again. I'm pretty proud of myself - we've been in Iowa for a few days and I remembered to pack it for our monthly picture. Yay me! Yay Liam for being four months old and just a lot of fun! Yay for exclamation points and the overuse of the word yay!

"Hey wait mom, I wasn't ready!"

"This is my good side."

"Yay!"

Feet

Beckett has an imaginary friend of some sort: my feet.  I don't remember how it first started, but all of a sudden he was having a conversation with my feet!  It took me awhile to figure out who he was talking to, but now that I know I play right along.  Beckett has given my foot a bath and washed its hair in the pool, kissed my foot (I know), hugged my foot, offered to share snacks with my foot, and tried to carry my foot around.  One of our recent conversations:

Beckett:  Hey feet, do you want to play the fishing game with me?
My Feet:  Sure Beckett, how do I play?
Beckett:  You have a fishing pole and catch this fish.
My Feet:  OK, I'll try!

Chad has always been creeped out by my toes and how I can move them (I also think he's secretly envious).  It's not a talent - I'm pretty sure Chad is the only one who doesn't have control of his toes.  But anyway, it sure does come in handy while playing with Beckett!

See, even Beckett can manipulate his toes!

But then he decided it was easier to use his hands.

Fish on!  I caught two fish with my feet, not too shabby.

Liam's Laugh

Liam's Big Day

Liam had quite the day on Monday. Sunday night he slept through the night for the first time - including not having to have a Nuk put back in his mouth. I put him down at 9 and didn't hear a peep from him again until 6. Maybe he was getting his sleep for the solstice... or maybe he was getting his sleep for all that he accomplished Monday!

Liam rolled over from his tummy to his back for the first time. I attempted to get him to do it again so I could tape it, but the video is just a baby who is mad about being on his tummy. I did snap a picture when he was finished - he looks so proud!



Then while we were at the park with the Kleinhans family he laughed for the first time! And we actually got that on video (will post once I get it from Rissa's camera). Liam, you are growing up so fast!

Bloggity Blog

I have a love/hate relationship with this blog (hmmmm, much like other things in my life!)  I love that I'm documenting the happenings of our family and it helps keep me accountable for not falling off the face of the earth. I hate taking time to do the posting - wouldn't it be great if it just magically wrote itself and ended up fabulous and witty? 

Several of my friends have blogs that are fabulous and witty and I love reading them.  A few of them are taking a hiatus and while I miss reading what they are up to, I can completely understand the break.  You may have noticed a new link on the left for my sister's blog.  She is another witty and fabulous person (apparently I have surrounded myself by such people!)  You can read her blog here ... or do not read as one of her posts says!

Let There Be Lawn

After weeks of having a dirt yard we now have sod.  And with the lawn now comes taking care of it, so Chad borrowed the riding lawn mower from his parents and mowed our new lawn for the first time.  And what 2-year-old could watch his daddy do that and not want to join in?  So Beckett helped too.

Beckett's choice of lawn mowing attire.

He must have talked daddy in to switching hats.

Thrilled to be on the John Deere!

The front of our house now that we have plants, trees and grass.

D is for Dad

Happy Father's Day everyone!  Remember that touching video I made last year for Chad for Father's Day?  Well, I hope you liked it because there isn't one this year!  This year Beckett made dad a card, I made Chad an omelette (wishing I had the skills of the college cafeteria people) and Liam gave Chad big smiles and was cute.  'D' was also our letter of the week which worked perfect for dad, a visit to the dentist and donuts. 

Chad just left today for his yearly fly fishing trip in Wyoming and we miss him already.  Beckett is especially a daddy's boy and gets a bit gloomy when he doesn't see him for awhile.  I'm going to do my best to fill the void and we already have plans to visit Grandpa and Grandma, Nana and Papa, and Great Grandma Ardis. 

Daddy and his boys.

Happy Father's Day Daddy!

The Porch

The best decision we made when building our home was the addition of the screened porch.  I thought I would like it mostly for keeping out bugs.  I was wrong.  The best thing about our porch is that it allows my children to be outside, but I can keep them contained.  It's like a big play pen!  And since I can't have a fence yet (although seriously considering donating plasma to get closer to having one) the porch is the next best thing.

Lots of trucks and cars are played with on the porch.

Trains too.

Whatchya doin' Liam, just chillin' in your bumbo seat?

Liam is content to bounce in the porch while outside....

Beckett fishes in his new water table (thanks Carin!)  See all the areas he could run off to in the yard?! He's a good kid, but your average curious toddler who needs to be contained.

We're Back!

Well, OK, we've been back from our Colorado trip for some time now.... but I needed some time to catch up on my sleep, housework (ha!) and spending time with my family.  Why does it always seem like I need a vacation after taking a vacation??

Our trip to see Emma was so much fun.  The boys had a blast spending time with her and the great outdoors.  Emma got to meet Liam for the first time and I'm pretty sure both of them are in love with each other.  I was a bit nervous about how it would go traveling with the boys, but thanks to help from my sisters it went very well.  Translation:  I only cried several times during the trip!

The boys ready to go.  All of them were bouncing off the walls with excitement.  We boarded the "magic van" and hunkered down for a movie and then the boys went to sleep while Rissa and I split the 11 hours of night driving. 

Our first night in Boulder we head downtown to eat.  There was a wait, but as you can see everyone waited patiently!  I was still feeling pretty jet-lagged at this point!

Liam's sleeping quarters for the trip:  the closet. 

There's a Salberg park in Boulder!

We took a mini trip to Allenspark, CO where we stayed in a cute little cabin.

Marissa and Emily share the Beckett hauling duties during our hike in Rocky Mountain National Park.

And Liam hung with me in the sling.  What was supposed to be an easy hike turned somewhat difficult due to a snow-packed trail.  Seriously, in May?!?

The night wouldn't be complete without roasting marshmallows! 

Back in Boulder we spent a great afternoon at the park, complete with butterfly swinging and a rocket slide.

I told you these two fell in love!

Emma's apartment has a pond on the grounds and Beckett would have happily spent the entire time throwing rocks in it. 

The boys get to play on the drums during our visit to Pearl Street in downtown Boulder. 

Best stroller ever!

After a night of story telling, cookies and milk, the boys are ready for their last night in Emma's apartment.

We swim one last time in the pool at Emma's and capture Liam's first time in the water.

My wonderful mother-in-law came over the morning we got back so I could take a nap, and it was the best 3 hours of uninterrupted sleep I've had in a long time.  1,600 miles later we are home again and hopefully back to posting on a regular basis.  We shall see.  =)