Introducing Tinkerbell and her sidekick monster

Halloween dress up began approximately 2 weeks ago when Lily decided to wear her Tinkerbell shoes to daycare.



















Last Sunday we took Tinkerbell and her blue monster to Boo at the Zoo...




























We got good use out of her Tinkerbell costume. She wore it to daycare yesterday morning. Wings, head band and all.















Harrison took a quick break from his monster costume to join me at my work party. He was my prop.



















Last night we went to Joy's house to practice trick or treating. Here is Tinkerbell and monster with their cousins Kelsey (punk girl), Payton (scary teenager), and Sydney (cotton candy).















Randy took Lily trick or treating around our neighborhood with Joy and the girls. She loved it. Lily would let Sydney and Kelsey ring the doorbell and get their candy and then she would walk up to the door, take a piece of candy and drop it into her bag. Her little nose was red from the chilly air but she had a great time. If we allowed her to eat candy all night she would have.



















I stayed home with Harrison and in between trick or treaters I did a Halloween photo shoot with him.

All about Harrison

Just because he is a boy doesn't mean he escapes mama's photo shoots...

Random pics

Pumpkin Patch (Harrison was sleeping)













The love













Lily and Randy during our day trip to the mountains













Big sis Lily holding little bro Harrison (he's really not scared of her, just the flash of the camera)














Harrison, 8 weeks old.














Lily's big girl room















Lily's birthday treat she shared at daycare

Lily says "I be 2"

Happy 2nd Birthday Lily!!!!!
















Last Saturday Lily entered the fantastic two's. After breakfast we took her into her new big girl room. In the last few weeks she saw us working in there and even helped Randy paint so she wasn't overly excited about the actual room but seriously dropped her blanket and ran to her new desk equipped with fun stool and lots of new crayons and coloring books.

















We spent her birthday playing house, coloring and part of the beautiful day outside at her cousin Syd's soccer game.














That night we hosted a dinner party with Joy, Bobby, Payton, Kelsey, Syd and Ted.















Elmo, Elmo and more Elmo...






















Happy birthday big girl! We love you so much!!!

Slap my hands, I've been a bad blogger

Hi, I'm here. My lack of posts can be blamed on family and work. Definitely not MY fault. Just kidding. We did travel across the lovely state of NE that is so full of interesting sights it's hard to sleep to visit our families. Harrison was introduced to my extended family and Lily showed off her walking and talking skills. Our last visit was Christmas 2006 when she was just starting to walk so she has changed a lot since then.

A day visiting family goes something like this...
7AM-9AM wake up, get everyone ready for the day.
9AM-10AM eat breakfast, frequently visiting mom-in-law at work to get a yummy breakfast.
10AM-12PM hang out with one side of the family.
12PM-3PM eat lunch and put Lily down for a nap
3PM-7PM go to other side of the family to hang out and eat dinner
7PM-8PM return to other family and put Lily to bed.

The above schedule is a pretty relaxed day. Other days are like this...
7AM-10AM get up, eat breakfast, bath kids, bath ourselves and visit family.
10AM-11AM visit one set of friends.
11AM-12PM visit another set of friends.
12PM feed Lily lunch.
1PM shop at Scheels for IA gear (love my new IA coffee mug and license plate cover!)
2-4PM Lily's nap time
4PM-8PM travel to other family and visit for the evening.
8PM return to other family to visit and put Lily to bed.

I left out Harrison's schedule but imagine the above schedules mixed with breast feeding every 2-3 hours and about 20,000 diaper changes (a day).

So yes, visiting family requires a vacation. Love you all but goodness it's hard work! On top of all that we never feel like we get enough time with our families. Lily handled all the traveling really well. The last 2 days were starting to wear on her and she was happy to return home. She did excellent on the drive to IA/SD and pretty well on the trip back to CO. Harrison did well both ways. The drive back to CO I spent a great deal of time wedged between the captain chairs, holding a pacifier in Harrison's mouth with one hand and playing with Lily with the other hand. Not safe at all but that's water under the bridge now.

Since returning from our trip my maternity leave has ended. I am officially working full time but thankfully it's from home for 4 weeks before getting my butt back in the office full time. It's only day 2 but I'm loving working at home. I have actually worked and snuck in a load of laundry too. I am grungy...without showering but at least my hair and teeth are brushed.

I know I comment about fall a lot but it's our favorite time of the year in this household. It's absolutely gorgeous around here. Bright yellow Aspen leaves, mixed with orange, red, brown and green. The air is crisp and the sun peaks out most days with a warm feel. We took a family drive to the mountains a few weeks ago. Most of you will see the fun we had in your Christmas cards. Yesterday we went to the pumpkin patch. Unfortunately the weekend long rain didn't make it easy on us. For some reason the pumpkin patch owners didn't feel the need to warn us either. We didn't get stuck but it was really close. Randy sharpened his mud driving skills to the sounds of my giggles mixed with occasional Lily's worries. The mud scared and intrigued her at the same time. After a $13 car wash some mud/clay remains to remind us of our pumpkin patch fun. Our digital camera was full so pumpkin patch pictures will have to wait since I resorted to our "old" camera, you know the kind where you have to take in the film and have it developed. So 5 years ago.

My husband is a superhero

Not only is Randy an amazing husband...













and a wonderful father...

































But now he has his PhD in Astrophysics...




















I'm so very proud of my husband. He has worked his butt off for many years (26.5 years of school to be exact) and this day has finally come. Congratulations baby!

For Grandma McG.

My mom told me my grandma loved seeing the pictures and looked at them over and over. Here you go grandma...some new pictures to tide you over until you can meet Harrison in person next week and see how big Lily has grown!

Future Rock Star

We have no clue where she learned this. She just started saying it and holding up her fingers last weekend.

Crazy toddler in action

Pictures!!!

Adult update

Most everyone is interested in our kids but hang in there, I will be brief in my adult update.

Jenni--
I am still on maternity leave and enjoying every minute. When I start to think about how much time I have left I get sad. I try and get those sad thoughts out of my head immediately so I can enjoy the now and not worry about the future. I am enjoying being a mother of 2 kids. It's not easy but it is easier than I thought it would be. Not only was the delivery easier (thanks again to the spinal and epidural!), the recovery was much quicker and introducing Lily to her bro was way easier than expected. Because of the ease of having a second child I frequently think adding a 3rd will be a breeze. But...I won't be getting pregnant again anytime soon. I'm enjoying sleeping on my stomach way too much! I went through another birthday, turning 31 over labor day weekend. It was a wonderful day and started with sleeping in, followed by breakfast in bed. It ended with a bbq with Joy and family which is always fun.

Randy--
Randy handed in his thesis last week. He will defend on Sept. 28. It's here...the end is fast approaching. I don't think the reality has sunk in for either of us. We had all last week together and he is to blame for my lack of blogging. I've been enjoying his company all day every day. I could definitely get used to this life...paid to be at home with my family. Randy hasn't had much of a summer since he's been so busy working on his thesis. He did celebrate the final days of summer by going fishing one day. But..unfortunately his guilt got the best of him and he's been working on his talk for his defense ever since. He is able to multi task...while working on his talk he can put Harrison to sleep. Randy has restless leg syndrome and it comes in handy with bouncing the bouncy chair to which Harrison always falls asleep. Randy does this for hours at a time.

Around our house

Lily--
Lily's personality has been around for some time but everyday something new emerges. A new way she smiles, or frowns her eyebrows, a look she will flash us, a new statement. She is such a joy in our lives. She is so full of energy and giggles. She loves to wrestle with poppa and hide under the covers with him. She loves to run away from us as we try and tickle her. She loves her new BooBah book that Ted and Kristie bought her. When Randy reads it to us, we both crack up from how silly the book is and how silly Randy reads it. When I drove Lily to day care yesterday I would look back at her and she would crack up laughing, making me laugh, making her laugh harder. When Harrison sneezes she says "Bless you baby." When he cries he shushes him, she always helps me burp him. When she holds him she will hug and kiss him. She likes to point out his facial features- his ears, nose, etc. When I take pictures of her she likes to see the play back on the digital camera. When she sees herself she will say "Cute."

Harrison--
Is currently asleep in his car seat but occasionally lets out a sigh as his next meal time is approaching. His schedule is still up in the air, eating any where from 2-3 hours during the day. A couple of times he has slept 4+ hours at night but this is mixed up with waking every 2.5 hours like he did last night. He loves to be held but is pretty good with the swing and bouncy/vibrating chair. He will flash some smiles after his meals while drifting off to sleep. He likes to lay on the floor staring all over. He is moving his head from side to side with hearing voices. He is very strong and has amazing neck strength. He hasn't peed on me in over 2 days but I know I'm jinxing myself. In the afternoons we nap together, face to face, and he sleeps so well that way. It's fun to wake up and stare right at him, sleeping so peacefully. He's been getting a lot of mama kisses lately. I like to kiss his little neck. Randy has perfected the bouncy chair with the perfect bounce combined with the vibration. It calms Harrison instantly.

Harrison is having gas issues and acts uncomfortable with feedings when is is very vocal with grunts and burps and farts. I'm trying to pin point what foods in my diet might be contributing. I figured the refried beans the other night didn't help but the gas continues. So now I'm off orange juice and milk to see if those are culprits. Why when something is taken away do you want it even more????? My mouth waters over the thought of orange juice. I can give up milk pretty easily but orange juice is rough.

I have been spoiled by having Randy at home pretty constantly since Harrison was born. Randy has been working hard on his thesis but is around if I need an extra set of hands. But last weekend was time to venture out with both kids by myself. Our first outing was to the library. Lily and Harrison did great, I didn't. I was a disorganized mess. I forgot my ID in the car so I had to lug both kids in and out numerous times, then I was dropping stuff all over. It's not easy to pick stuff off the ground with a baby in a sling. Last Sunday I got my act together and took the kids to the zoo. My fancy, new double stroller made this very easy. Thankfully Lily stayed in the stroller the whole time, only fussing about it once near the gorillas when she made a loud enough fuss we had to leave that area. Harrison fussed enough to try out the baby bjorn for his first time, only to fall fast asleep. I did have to stop and breast feed but nothing that a big blanket and sucker couldn't manage. We enjoyed a nice picnic lunch before heading home. It was a success and I have much more confidence in handling both kids in public alone.

Lily and Harrison at the zoo, checking out the bear in the tree.




Harrison in the bouncy chair.




Lily showing off her cute thigh socks.




She enjoyed modeling and did this pose on her own.

She loves her brother

I can talk about things other than poop

Our friend, Q, that recently visited us and went with Randy to the 311 concert has a super duper talent. It's unlike anything you've ever seen. It's something you have to see to believe. That is why I have a video. Our first encounter with Q's talent was in Lake Tahoe, 2 years ago, when he ate a Big Mac in ONE BITE. ONE BITE PEOPLE. This video was taken after dinner and Q was finishing my wrap. He had already eaten but when the challenge arose to eat the wrap in one bite, he didn't hesitate. Yes, Randy was the instigator.