A Baby Day

Today was all about the babies in my life! My 6 month old and our new little "neice" Ella Jean Krauth! We woke up and got going right away today- which is unlike our usual sleep in, stay in our p.j.'s until 11, lounge around & play at the house Thursdays! Baths, breakfast, and out the door by 9:45 a.m. It's a lot of work to get 2 little ones and myself ready in the mornings! We dropped off Nolan to play with Payton and Brady and then Heath and I were off to his 6 month well check!

All is looking good and we got some advice about his frequent spitting up and issues with the other end too! The Dr. recommended that we try soy formula for a week or two and see if that makes Heath feel better. He is such a happy guy when he is not puking or plugged up, so we are just trying to help him feel more comfortable and increase those joyful hours of the day! We are praying that this will work! He's just been a little trickier to figure out than Nolan! They are each so unique and special in their own ways!!

So here are his stats at 6 months and 5 days:

Height: 27 1/2 inches @ 85%

Weight: 17 pounds 9 ounces @ 55 %

Head Circumference: 44.3 centimeters @ 60%

After Heath's appointment it was off to pick up Nolan, pick up Mark from his crazy busy day at work, pick up lunch, and head over to the hospital to meet little Ella Krauth! Our good friends Ernie and Kim Krauth had a beautiful LITTLE girl early this morning! We have been waiting for her arrival and were so happy that her mommy actually went into labor on her due date!

It is wonderful to finally have friends who now have kids! We were by far the first of all of our friends to enter into the parenting world. So now it will be so nice to have another tiny one around and especially a GIRL!

We look forward to praying for her sweet self and loving and spoiling her just like her mommy and daddy do for Nolan & Heath. She is so stinkin' adorable! Congrats Ernie & Kim! We love you guys!

And now after a busy morning, both boys are sleeping, taking a late nap- woo hoo! And I finally have a minute to myself. Blogging, watching some GH, and drinking a Coke! I probably have another 30 minutes...then on to feed Heath his first veggies, fold yet another load of laundry, and cap off the evening with Nolan's swimming lessons! Oh, the life of a busy mom! Wouldn't trade it for anything!

Last day of school tomorrow- then Summer Break! Yes!

Landscaper's Challenge

Our Landscaper's Challenge is not to determine what to plant & where to plant it, finding the time to do it, or how to create the best looking yard on the block.

Our Landscaper's Challenge is how to mow the lawn, edge & trim, pull weeds, plant flower beds & pots, water the grass, and fertilize while entertaining a 6 month old, reigning in a mischievous 2 year old, applying generous amounts or sunblock, providing snacks, wiping off dirt, and rescuing worms.

This weekend we took the challenge. We tried hard to avoid running over toy cars, stumbling upon rakes & watering cans strewn about by "helping" hands, all the while attempting to get everything done in less than the ENTIRE weekend.

I think we managed to do it! And I think it all turned out pretty nice! Mark, of course, is our primary landscaper. I am child wrangler and weed picker extraordinaire!

Heath stayed out of the sun most of the day. He is fascinated by his feet! He loves grabbing them and sucking on his toes!

Here he is practicing his standing inside during a break in the yard work.

planting pentunias

What a good helper boy!

"Wingo" the worm as named by Nolan

His hair looks like a little Qtip right now!

lunch at his picnic table

in the back yard

the front bed

side of the house

Now we are just waiting for everything to grow & bloom! And for our MONSTROUS water bill!

Future Artist?

No explanation needed.

Mama's Takin' Us to the Zoo Tomorrow

The title of this post is the title of one of Nolan's favorite songs which is sung by one of Nolan's favorite artists- Raffi! And it was the inspiration for our Mother's Day plans. From the second he heard the song he was constantly asking me to take him to the zoo. So we set the date for Mother's Day. We were all set to go, but due to Heath's double ear infection we couldn't make it. So Nolan had to wait a whole extra week for his promised Mother's Day zoo outing. He did a great job being patient and to him the wait was well worth it!

The zoo to Nolan is a little piece of Heaven! Animals in every direction! From the second we got there he was on the run. He didn't even want to sit to eat lunch. He stood by a rope literally about 4 inches from a goose and ate his Subway sandwich. It freaked Mark and I out a bit to have him so close to such an unpredictable and poopy animal! But he loved it! A chipmunk even came right up to his feet to nibble the crumbs from his food.

And after we ate he ran through the zoo, shouting the name of every animal he saw, singing Veggie Tales, saying "knock, knock who's there?" at every door and "come on guys, follow me" or "you can't catch me" as he went. He was hilarious and was making all the people around him laugh at his comments. When looking at some rare bird he said, "Look Dad, a heron". And when he saw an alligator he started singing- "A-L-L-I, A-L-L-I, G-A-T-O-R, G-A-T-O-R, Alligator, Alligator, Eat 'em up, Eat 'em up". (Just a little cheer mommy taught him from her good ol' St. Peter days!)

Here are some pics from Nolan's BEST DAY EVER!

Pointing out the giraffes

Daddy with his big bubba! It was a beautiful day and very warm- Heath got so hot that we, once again, had to strip him down to just a onesie! Wearing as little as possible makes this boy happy!

Checking out the polar bear lounging on the rock

I love his sweet little profile!

Can you see the jaguar on the rock?

My cute boys!

His first ride on the carousel. He chose to ride on the tiger but he wasn't so sure of it at first. He had a few looks of terror but by the end he didn't think it was half bad! It did go pretty high!

Heath has the biggest smile! Love it!

And not even 5 minutes into our drive home...this was Nolan! Exhausted from his BIG day!

heavy hearts

This week our family had a big loss...Mark's Uncle Ken passed away suddenly from a heart attack early Friday morning. It was very unexpected and has shaken us all deeply.

Uncle Ken was a wonderful man! He taught Mark his sharp sense of humor and straight face when telling a joke. And Mark loved going to CU games with him! He welcomed me into the family instantly and always made me feel so welcome. He was so interested in knowing who I was and what was going on with Mark and I. And he loved our boys so much! He wrote the kindest notes in every card. He made the drive to visit us in the hospital at the births of both Nolan and Heath. We always enjoyed staying late at every holiday or event to sit and chat with him and the family once most of the crowd had gone on their way. And he gave Nolan tractor rides at the cabin.

He loved life & he loved people! He will be greatly missed. So although we have heavy hearts today, we know that we were so blessed to have him in our lives and to call him Uncle.

And we are celebrating his life that he lived as a servant with a HUGE heart for others!

Uncle Ken & Aunt Peg got Nolan this CU jacket for his first birthday. He has outgrown it now, but Heath will wear it proudly this winter in remembrance of Ken.

This is where you would often find us with the family and Ken...sitting around a table at the cabin- chatting, laughing, catching up on his latest travels, retirement projects, & events with the grandkids! And swapping stories about our boys!

One of the many tractor rides up at the cabin. Sad that Heath will not have a picture like this...but he will have his 1st ride on the tractor this Memorial Day.

Ken driving the truck for the Indian Hills 4th of July parade. Look at that smile on his face! He loved it!

Visiting Heath...just one day old. Ken & Peg stayed late, keeping us company, and chatting about our new little bundle of joy! It was such a nice evening.

Spring Fling

April showers bring May...snowstorms? Yep...if you live in Denver that is! We are so ready for Summer! So we have been spending our rainy days doing some fun indoor activities and getting outside in the sun every chance we can!

Doing some tummy time on a cold and snowy May day!

Burning some energy at the Cherry Creek Mall play place!

He told me he was taking a nap on the waffle!

Some brotherly love- Nolan is reading a story to Heath!

At the Antelope Ridge Spring Carnival: Nolan LOVED his cotton candy!

My teammate Tara and I with our little ones! Heath looks about the same size as Ava and she's about 15 months!

Here we again...eating our way through the day! He had cotton candy, a sucker, a hot dog, and these little chocolate balls.

Nolan loved the "Road Kill" and "Rat Race" games. He threw a stuffed raccoon into the mouth of a semi truck and his robotic rat won the race winning him 2 pieces of candy at each game! Hence the sticky hands and red mouth!

His favorite event of the day was probably the Pinewood Derby! He played about 10 times! He liked the green and yellow cars the best...and won 2 times with the yellow car scoring him 2 beanie babies: a snake and a "stegasaurus"!

He also ran around in the field, played on the playground, checked out the bouncers, danced with the band, ran away from me a couple times, & had a few little melt downs, but all in all had a GREAT morning!

Minute to Win It!

For our friend Rick's 30th birthday, his wifey Mandy, hosted our very own version of the popular game show "Minute to Win It"! We had a blast last night trying to perform some fun, crazy, and goofy tasks in under 1 minute or in some cases, the fastest. We kicked our competitive spirit into drive and got nervous, strategized, had a blast, and laughed until we just about peed our pants.

The birthday boy himself! Yum! Funfetti!

On the Nose: transfer 5 cotton balls across the room by only using your nose and petroleum jelly in the fastest time! This is a sight to see!

Stack Attack: Use 36 plastic cups to erect a triangle shaped structure, then move them all into a single stack. A steady hand is key!

Elephant March: be the quickest to knock down all 6 water bottles by swinging a baseball inside of pantyhose worn on your head. The girls rocked this one!

Johnny Apple Stack: Stack 5 apples on top of each other...sounds pretty simple- BUT it is not!

Face the Cookie: Be the first to roll 3 Oreos down your face from your forehead to your mouth- no hands... of course! HILARIOUS to watch!

Noodling Around: Pick up six penne noodles placed around the perimeter of a table using only a piece of uncooked spaghetti in your mouth. Just get low!

Defying Gravity: Keep all three balloons in the air for as long as possible. Mark rocked it with approximately 20 seconds...it sounds short, but just you try it!

Paper Dragon: Unspool rolls of party streamers using only your hands and arms. Murphy wanted to get in on the action.

How's it Hangin': Using a banana dangling from your waist, roll oranges across the floor and inside a basket. Mark sure worked up a sweat doing this one!

And look who stayed up WAY TOO late to join in on all of the action! Nolan loves being a part of our group of friends...for so long he was the only kiddo in the mix. Heath has joined in and baby girl Krauth will be here soon...however, I'm pretty sure that on most days we are all just a bunch of kids!