Happy 5 months, Mason!

Mason won't technically be five months until next week but here is his monthly snap shot at nearly 22 weeks:

Mason's has turned into such a happy little baby! He is easy to laugh and loves to be entertained. He is a pretty nosey little guy, wanting to where every noise comes from. Though he still has some fits of crying at times, he likes to be out and about, any where there is action. He still loves his daily walks and being the center of his sister's attention. He can roll but isn't happy about it and must more prefers to be sitting up right so he can see what's going on. Just like his sister, he likes to be jostled and tickled. He now knows his name and when you say " ELLIIIEE!" or " Here, kitty kitty!" he looks to find the beckoned animal. He is getting better at using his sippy cup at dinner and has tasted carrots, peas, butternut squash as well as rice and oat cereal. It's hard to remember what life was like before our little boy was here. He is the perfect completion to our family!

Welcome, Fall!

Obligatory photo on the bridge

We spent the last day of summer having ice cream with my mom , dad and my sister and family. Today, we spend the first day of fall in Estes Park. Mike and I both said we are disappointed that we live so close, yet don't venture up very often. We all had so much fun , I think we will be going more often. Here are a few snaps from our day. I could have spent the whole day taking pictures! Looks like I might need to make a trip especially for that before the snow falls.

How every good day trip starts

There wasn't much by way of color just
yet but we did find a bit. The day was
gorgeous none the less

Mack was ready to go!

She did not want to take pictures but I managed a few

Tossing rocks in the water is all she really wanted to do

I'm not afraid to get my feet wet for a few pictures

Piggy Back ride for Macky

Proud Michigan fans. Mason had a great time, too!

How we roll....

Our daily walks have evolved! Mason now enjoys riding in the backpack carrier while Mackenzie peddles along on her bike:


Mack has loved riding her bike but it's obvious she has out grown it. She has decided to practice diligently and in a few months, we will get a new bike and work on riding with out training wheels!

Show time!

Mackenzie and Mason have established a sweet evening routine where Mackenzie puts on a variety show for Mason. Mason rewards her with his delicious little laugh and they carry on like this for about half an hour  before Mason heads off to bed:

The Entertainer

Swinging buddies

Someone's always got somethin' to say

Big boy!

Mason is set on learning to sit up! For now, it's only for a split second before he face plants but it won't be long before he masters another skill. When he's in his crib or playing on the floor, he can use his little baby abs to get himself halfway up!

Strange taste

Ellie must have an iron clad belly.  The list of interesting/maddening things she's eaten in her short little life continues to grow. This week, Ellie tickled her taste buds with the flavor of tempura paint left on Mackenzie's art table. It's too bad she didn't think of something a little less obvious to sneak into.

An up hill battle

Growing up in the dry Colorado plains, we were accustomed to lots of different types of  nuisance plants. Not much else can survive in the compounded clay earth topped with sand in a region that doesn't get much rain in the summer. For us, there was no greater nuisance than the puncture vine, better known here as " goat heads". Puncture vine is a highly invasive, ground covering vine that looks harmless until late summer when it sprouts " berries". Berries...how bad could that be, you ask? Not so bad until those nasty little things drop off the vine, dry out ( now taking the shape of a goats' head ) and get tracked through out near by , previously goat head free areas, and, inevitatebly, into the house. Not only that, each little " berry" is actually four seeds stuck together. Where one berry lies this year, a whole tangled mess of puncture vine will show up next year. I grew up scanning the carpet for the little devils , trying my best to avoid having one embedded into my foot. Towards the end of summer and early fall, it's nearly impossible to go barefoot anywhere.

So imagine my utter disappointment when I wandered barefoot into the yard of our newly purchased house only to be rewarded with that familiar piercing pain. Goat heads. In our yard. In the CITY! How could this be? We had inherited a big problem. Immediately I knew that we were in for a fierce battle.

Fast forward one year and add to that a new baby , a very busy husband, a severe drought ( killing our grass which is one of the only things that can crowd out the blasted plant), a preschooler and a dog , both very helpful in spreading the seeds.We hardly had any time to care for our yard ( one that both of us are anxious to plow under and start from scratch as it is) . And now we have a giant mess.

Exhibit A:
This is ONE puncture vine that I pulled from our yard


Exhibit B:
The "berries"


So Mike and I speak several times a week ( usually after one of us is forced to hop on one foot while trying to pluck a goat head from the other with out leaving one of the "horns" embedded under the tender skin of a foot) about how we plan to attack the goat heads. It's going to be a long battle but we're prepared!

Cat trainer extraordinaire

Rapunzel no longer

 Mack decided late in August that she no longer wanted Rapunzel length hair. Maybe it was the long string of 90+ degree days we suffered through or the fact that not even overly ample amounts of spray on detangler could combat the tangles that adorned her head after a long nights sleep. Either way, she was persistent in her requests so I finally gave in and trimmer her mid-back length hair to her shoulders, a length that made us both happy.

Our little beauty

My little helpers

Seems I have more hand for helping than I can keep busy these days!

Mason is no longer the passive eater. He has to have at least
one hand at the bottle at all times. He is set on learning to
feed himself.

Mackenzie helping to wash Mason. She was so excited when she
realized Mason could play with his bath toys ( finally!)

Go Blue!

Add caption

Just a matter of time

Mackenzie is still loving preschool. It's a shame she hasn't been there in two days! Our poor girl has been bombarded with preschool germs and this virus got the best of her for a few days.

Poor little sickie

Once she was feeling better, Mike treated her to a trip to
the aquarium where, apparently, she turned into a
giant green squid.