A Very Loud Machine Visits Our Backyard

The stump grinder came to take out the last reminders of our aspen trees earlier this month. We were upstairs when we heard the machine turn on and the girls went straight to the window, where they stood, riveted, until the job was done.

Chew Toys Are Back

With all the biting that's been going on in our house lately, Chris had the ingenious idea to break the ol' chew toys back out of the "baby toy" box in the basement. Now when one of the girls (usually Addison) comes at you with that wide-mouthed, crazy-eyed look, you aren't completely defenseless, because you have a Sophie to offer as an alternative. The sister-biting-sister and daughter-biting-parent injuries have vastly decreased since the chew toys came back! Yay!

Hiking with Grandpa John

One of my dad's favorite hikes by his house goes up Pisgah. A couple of Fridays ago, we were hoping to make it to the top, but didn't get very far because I didn't know how to get Emily correctly buckled into her pack (it's usually the one Chris wears).

Something's not quite right, here.

She was sliding all over the place and kept saying the same thing over and over and over again in between wails of frustration, "guck, guck, guck." I think she was trying to tell me I'd done the buckle wrong. So we didn't make it as far as we'd hoped, but had a very nice picnic under a very nice pine tree and then the girls got to do some real mountain climbing on real mountain rocks. It was quite the adventure.

Before we started out for the hike, Grandpa showed off his bear horn. Here's Emily before and after the alarm was sounded:

Now that I know how the backpack works, I'm hoping we'll get another hike in before it gets too cold!

Little Works of Art

On Thursday we broke out the watercolors for the first time in our house. Surprisingly, they were less messy than crayons as they weren't immediately eaten. The girls had a great time, making one painting for Great Grandma Nicoll's birthday and one for the fridge.









Painting ended with the girls looking like this.

Happy, messy, joy

She's a master at the paint piano

It was a hit, and we'll definitely be doing it again soon!

Peekaboo!

We see you! 

The Diaper Wars

Addison has known how to take her diaper off for awhile now, but her uncanny undressing abilities really started to become an issue towards the end of August, when she decided she just never wanted to have her diaper on. 

We've tried several approaches. 

Duct Tape.

Who is this zombie child terrorizing my kitchen?

By the way, before becoming a zombie dressed in only a diaper held on by duct tape, Addison was dressed in a onesie and shorts. Not only is she a master at taking off pants, onesie snaps no longer present a challenge.

Think I'm looking cute right now? Just wait til we get home and I get bored!

And why is the duct tape necessary? Because otherwise, she'd be walking around like this, and since she isn't potty trained yet, I just don't don't feel comfortable with it.

Those are her pants tucked under her arm. For some reason she likes to walk around with her  pants and diaper in hand after she's taken them off. Shortly after this picture was taken, the diaper duct tape came out.

On this lucky day, she was taking her pajama bottoms off, but then she was putting them back on!

tah dah!

But on this other rather unlucky day, Chris got so tired of stopping her unsnapping her pajamas, the duct tape had to come back out.

We have one pair of zip-up non-fleece footie pajamas that I cut the feet off of two days ago. I put those on her with the zip in the back, and she has yet to figure out a way to get out of them. Both yesterday morning and this morning, I went in to get the girls and Addison was laying in her crib, perfectly content, and naked from the waist down. Those backwards PJs came out, and stayed on her all day yesterday and today. I do get her dressed when we leave the house, as she hasn't yet become enough of an exhibitionist to strip down in public, but she's very happy being naked at home, so it looks like our backward PJs are going to be on a lot for now.

First Haircuts!

On Saturday, we took the girls to a little place called Pigtails and Crewcuts, where they got to sit in awesome car seats to receive their first haircuts. Both girls did very well. Sitting in cool cars and watching cartoons probably helped!

Before leaving for the big haircut, the girls got to enjoy their morning snack on the deck.

Emily: Do you think it will hurt?
Addison: Not much, I've heard it isn't bad.

 And then Mom made them pose on the front porch right before leaving.

The before and after shots....

Emily got to drive the Taxi and Addie got Fire Engine number nine.

All done and looking cute!

Baby #3...12 Weeks Today!!

We're twelve weeks pregnant, almost out of the first trimester! Baby #3 is due March 24th, 2013!

Baby's first fridge pic (8 week ultrasound)

Emily is a Walker!

It became official on Sunday, August 5th, when she took 3 or 4 steps 4 or 5 times while Skyping with Uncle Mike and then again later in the day while Skyping with CeeCee and PopPop. We now have the computer hooked up to the TV so we Skype on the big screen. Seeing herself on the screen along with a cheering audience helped her stay on her feet.

The next day, she was walking all over the place. Her longest distance was from the stove to the TV in the family room. In the following weeks, she would revert to the knee walk often, but would also walk on her feet. It was probably about 50/50 knee/feet for a couple of weeks, and by the end of August, she was on her feet the majority of the time. As of today, she will still scoot around on her knees once in a while out of habit, but when reminded to get to her feet, she does!

That first week, on Tuesday evening, we spent some time out on the deck and Emily had a chance to show off her new skill!

Look Mom! No hands!

This is SO exciting!

 A couple of weeks later, Dad took Emily and Addison to the playground and got some great videos of our little walker on wood chips!

Yep! I am a walker!

Happy Birthday DeeDee!

For DeeDee's big 60th 59th birthday, we threw a surprise party at our favorite Northglenn park, EB Rains.

The Surprise

Hanging Out with Cousins

Taking a Walk to the Lake

Happy Kiddos

All Tuckered Out