Family

How is it that we're already in the last week of October?  I don't know if it's because there's 2 kids now but life has seemed to fly right past.  Good thing we just got family pics taken so we could capture how much Brooke and Connor have grown in just 5 short months.

This last week both Troy and his brother, Shane, spoiled us.  Heather flew out for a few days and we were able to have a wonderful girls' week/end.  There was a lot of shopping, eating, and just plain 'ol relaxation.  Hopefully this becomes a yearly thing whether it be for my birthday or hers.  You know, I am turning the big 3-0 next year...hmmm.

 Brooke has enjoyed being the big sister in the family.  She is always ready and willing to keep Connor entertained and I know that both Troy and I really appreciate it. 

She even instisted on feeding Connor.  Unfortunately, that only lasted for 5 seconds but it was still cute to see her ask to feed him.

Up until now, Connor has enjoyed everything that we've given him to eat.  Yesterday was his first time with peas.  I think you can determine what his thoughts were about it. 

Lastly, for those that have been dying to find out what is happening in November, here's a little hint:

All of what you saw in the basement, will be put into our guest room for the next 3 months.  Brooke has already enjoyed the 3 storage bins that we've brought up with toys and our front room is a disaster.

Come February we'll all be able to breath a sigh of relief.  I'm so excited!!!!!

Yum!!!!

I thought I'd start off by making ya'll drool over this delicious dinner that we had Saturday.  I found this recipe for bacon burgers with an onion, bacon, balsamic jam and decided to be ambitious and make it.  I guess it wasn't really ambitious until I decided to make homemade hamburger buns.  Yes you read correctly, we made homemade hamburger buns.  I wouldn't call myself a baker but I'm definitely expanding my horizon.  And I would have to say that it was all worth it...even the homemade garlic parmesan fries.  (I may have gone heavy with the parmesan cheese but who wouldn't?  Really??)

 My dad is headed to Hong Kong and requested some pictures so I thought it would do a mini shoot of the kiddies.  Connor is definitely a happy baby and Brooke is a great big sister. 

Connor likes to show his distaste of having his pictures taken sometimes.  Sometimes he would prefer to chill without a flash going off every 5 seconds.

Last Sunday, I caught Brooke drawing with a pen on the wall.  She got a very stern talking too and I thought we had made it clear that it was NOT okay to use a pen or any drawing utensil on anything besides paper or her art board.  Well, clearly I was wrong.  I went into the guest bedroom to open the windows and turned around to see this.  I think I even let out an audible gasp.  Brooke had found my stamps and stamp pad and proceeded to ink the closet door.  Not cool.  Luckily, with the help of the Magic Eraser, I was able to get most of it out.  If you look closely you can see a hint of blue but for the most part it's invisible to everyone but me.

 Lastly, I thought I would include this picture of what I call organized chaos.  Obviously Brooke has a specific idea of how she wants her toys layed out but to the inexperienced eye it just looks like a crazy mess.

Troy thinks that she gets it from me.  I don't know what he's talking about...

Winter, Spring, Summer, and Fall

So I think we can officially welcome Fall to Colorado.  The leaves have been changing colors these past few weeks and it's gorgeous to look at.  Along with the leaves changing colors we were able to make our last harvest of the season.  We are (finally) done with our zucchini and yellow squash.  We got a ton of tomatoes and have a handful of pumpkins.  The big surprise was the last of the carrots.  Not sure how we grew such a giant but man oh man I think it could win a contest!

Luckily we had been watching the weather so we knew that snow was in the forecast at the end of the week.  Saturday morning we woke up to snow.  It was great snow for Brooke and Troy to go out and play.

 Troy thought he would teach Brooke the art of collecting snowflakes in the mouth.

 Building a snowman.  We used one of our carrots for the nose and a cucumber for the mouth.

Meanwhile, with all the playing going on outside in the snow Connor and I decided to stay indoors.  He has taken a great liking to his jumper and his bottom lip.  What a multitasker!!

Like all weather in CO, it only lasts for a short while.  By late afternoon the sun had come out and our poor snowman did not last long.

Today, the snow has all melted except for a little mound where Mr. Snowman used to be.  By the end of the week we'll be back up in the mid 70s.  Gotta love Colorado!!!! 

And...

We're back.  Much apologies for being gone for so long.  I know that everyone has been on the edge of their seats wanting to know what we've been up to so here, in a nut shell, are the goings on:

Last weekend we made our second road trip as a family of four.  One can never start a road trip without getting a nice "light" breakfast from good 'ol mickey D's.

 Both Brooke and Connor did well on the trips there and back.  The first couple of days we stayed at Shane and Heather's.  Brooke loved the freedom of being in a fenced-in backyard and took advantage of their trampoline and slide.  So much so that she fell asleep before dinner time and did not want to be disturbed.

It probably didn't help that she shared a bed with the girls.  The first night we were there the girls were up until 11:30 and were up by 6.  Brooke was definitely the one to blame for late night and early morning.  We moved her to her own room the next night.               

Connor got to meet his cousin, Easton, who is only 5 weeks younger.  I think they'll love being so close in age as they grow older.

The rest of the time we were in UT was spent with my family.  Will and Kristin took us to a place called Kangaroo Zoo.  It's a place with a bunch of inflatable slides and bouncy houses.  It tooke Brooke a couple of minutes to warm up but when she did she was off.

  The reason for the trip was to celebrate our niece's, my dad's, and my birthday.  It was fun to have the whole family together and I know that my parents loved having all the grand kids together. 

Besides our road trip, here are the things going on at home: 

Brooke loves reading whether it be to herself, Squishy, Connor, or Bear.

 She also likes to document her mad artistic skills (photography and drawing) 

Brooke is usually a willing participant when it comes cleaning the house.  Hopefully that is to stay as she gets older. 

Connor turned 4 months old on Sept. 14.  His dr. appointment went well and here are his standings:

Weight:  14 lbs. 1 oz (45%)

Length:  25" (50%)

Head:  16 1/2"  (75%)

The doc gave us the go ahead to start Connor on rice cereal.  Not surprisingly, he's a big fan.  I think it's because we mix a little apple juice in it to sweeten it up. 

Connor has found his toes and I think they come a close second to his thumbs and fingers.

In a matter of a week, Connor has become pro at rolling over. At the beginning of September I did tummy time with him.  He was not a fan.  The following week, I did it again and left to go throw something away and I came back to find him on his back.  Then last week, he started rolling completely over (from back to front then back).  Crazy how quickly they learn things.

Our garden is producing stuff.  Luckily the yellow squash has died down but we're still getting plently of tomatoes and some zucchini.

We were able to finally pick our very first apple.  We planted our apples trees 4 years ago and this is the first year that we had an apple grow.  Just one but we'll take it.  It was quite delicious.  Hopefully next year will bring more than one.

The kitties have been surviving with the craziness of last month.   

We're excited for a more mellow October but even more excited for November to come.  Stay tuned!!!

Friends

This was a week full of friends. On Wednesday Tracie hosted 6 kids from Brooke's playgroup. Playgroup is a lot of fun when you are the one dropping your kid off. When you are hosting, it's a little different. Especially when the high for the day is 60 and they can't play outside.

Tracie and the kids did survive, and one thing is for sure. We'll never have 6 kids!

On Thursday, Tracie met Robyn at the zoo. They had a lot of fun on the carousel.

And on the train.

Not so much sharing the front half of the double stroller.

It was a lot of fun, and Brooke always enjoys have companions her own size.

Even Connor was having a lot of fun, can't you tell?

Thursday night, we had our friend Kristin over for dinner. Brooke was getting antsy, so I told her to go look out the front windows to wait for her. This is what it turned into.

Labor Day

To kick of the Labor Day festivities, Troy and I went out on a date to see the 25th Anniversary production of Les Miserables.  We had both seen it before and it was fun to compare the differences.  Regardless of the minor changes, we loved the show.

Over the weekend, we decided to check ou the Denver Parade of Homes.  Specifically to see what $1M+ homes look like.  They were a bit much for more (which I'm sure is music to Troy's ears) but I did like the idea of a vauilted kitchen.

Labor day was spent laboring around the backyard.  We headed over to Home Depot early in the morning and bought some flowers to add some color.  It's my first attempt with annuals I like how they look so maybe it will become an annual thing for me to do.  :)   

  In the afternoon, we had friends over for a not so typical BBQ.  We decided to do Dutch oven dinners complete with chicken and potatoes and to finish it off homemade vanilla ice cream to go with peach cobbler.  It was delicious.


Brooke loved running around with her friends.



And we can't forget Connor who was perfectly content hanging out in the jumper.



Besides the the weekend, we have been up to pretty much the same old thing.  Brooke has taken to be quite the artist.  Hopefully her drawing of the family is not to scale although I'm sure she thinks she's the boss of the house. 

We've started teaching Brooke to ride on a big bike.  At first she was a little apprehensive but she's shown us that she's a pretty quick learner.

 We pulled out the real jumper and I think Connor approves of that decision.

Tummy time is, well, tummy time.  He doesn't love it and he doesn't hate it so I guess that's a good thing.

 This afternoon Brooke was being silly.

 

 If you look closely you'll see something underneath her.

 Lastly, here's a cute pic of Connor in the tub.  He is a lover of the water and loves to kick and splash as much has his sister did at that age.

Connor at 3 1/2 months



Brooke at 5 months.

Just thought you'd like the comparison in size.