too busy to blog??

Sorry all... life is so busy (PROOF BELOW). Lots has happened since our last blog, and we're having a harder time sitting down to post pictures and tell you about it. But alas...here's the lowdown for the past month and a half!

• Kate has 2 teeth - on the bottom! (started cutting 'em week of 8/11)
• Dandies came to visit (Denny ran the Pike's Peak Ascent w/Gene .... 1/2 marathon ... on 8/16)
• Sara & Matt came to visit (Matt was getting ready for the Leadville 100-mile race on 8/16)
• Kate turned 7 months old (August 21st!)
• CAROLYN AND GENE CELEBRATED 5 YEARS!!!! (August 22)
  
• We visited Boulder and Estes Park (we were supposed to go camping, but Kate wasn't feeling well, so we just drove around Rocky Mountain National Park and grilled out with our friends at their campsite instead)
  
• We went to Virginia Beach and visited the McCallister grandparents and Auntie Leigh (Labor Day weekend)
• Kate's tried the following solid foods:
  
• Veggies - carrots, peas, squash, sweet potato
  
• Fruits - peaches, pears, blueberries, bananas, avocado, mango
  
• Proteins - egg yolks, steak
  
• FAVORITES - peaches and bananas

And here are some pics and videos!!! Ya, we know what you're thinking .... blah blah blah, where are the pics of Kate??? :-)

Kate's cute babble chatter at 7 months

See my first two teeth??




Busted! Didn't know I was being video-taped ... woke up from a nice 2-hour nap and decided to talk to my fishees and my turtles ....


...helping Dad cook dinner

Virginia Beach -

...my 1st rock concert - Billy Idol! ... SERIOUSLY!

LOVED the boat ride!

...hanging with Gramma McCallister

...and on the beach with Grandpa!

...hanging on to Aunt Leigh

McCallisters on the beach

Boulder, Estes Park, & Rocky Mountain National Park -
Lynda & Kate, Boulder

5 years and still having fun!

Alpine Zone ... brrrr!

...just borrowing my friend's camp chair

.... chillin' in Estes Park

Pike's Peak Ascent and Visit from Dandies -

...starting in Mantiou Springs .. ahhh, great weather. It's a long story - no time to blog it. Runner Boyz, Gene and Denny survived, even though they ended up covering 20 miles rather than 13 miles...ugh!

.... summer concert in the park

Cheyenne Mountain Zoo (w/Sara, Mom, and Dad) -

...up CLOSE with friendly giraffes

One of Mom's Work Trips (Trinidad, CO) -

Kate LOVES her Doggie

She often lets out a high pitch squeal in excitement whenever she spots Shadow. It's adorable! We're glad we have Shadow to help us out...

• We'll ask Shadow to sit by Kate while we go in the kitchen to grab a snack.
• We take Shadow on car rides to entertain Kate in the back seat (when one of us cannot sit back there with her).
• If Kate is crying, we show Shadow to Kate ... and she starts smiling again

Btw - Shadow wanted me to tell you all that she had a check-up with her doctor too - 12 yrs old; 25 lbs; needs surgery to remove a small tumor in her mouth :(

Ignore our messy house -- but see how Kate gets a kick out of Shadow...

Kate: "Thanks for my fun turtle, Papa!"
Shadow: "Ya, thanks gramps, the noises that thing makes are grrreeeaat."

Kate Turns 1/2 yr old!

OMG - We have a 6 month old! Kate's changing so much! Her hair is growing in more -- looks blonde at this point. Her eyes are still blue. Here are her stats from the 6-month check-up appt with the doc:
weight: 13 lbs (almost doubled since birth!)
height: 26 inches
head circ: 16.3 inches

New stuff: rolls over both ways (belly to back & back to belly), holds her bottle, grabs for EVERYTHING - including mom & dad's food, curtains, and random leaves on trees & bushes when we're walking around the yard; moves her toys from one hand to the other; SITS UP unassisted for short periods of time!; loves baby rings (see "swim lessons" below); laughs a LOT; practices different sounds/voices (awww, you should hear how cute her voices are!); loves to play fetch with Mommy & Daddy picking up the toys she throws on the ground; AND she's eating solid foods!

Video: Sittin' up like a big girl. Thanks Sharon, for this Taggies book that I LOVE ... and thanks to Lynda for my elephant friend who catches me if I fall... and thanks, T, for Squirt!

Okay, you're too young to pose like a supermodel!

Kate's First Taste of Solid Foods ...

This baby girl got ONLY breastmilk for the first 6 months of her life. So, it was an exciting day today when we introduced solids. For now, we're whipping up some things for her at home. First, we introduced carrots -- fresh from the Farmer's Market (ground up & mushed). Next -- blueberries, and right now -- pears! OH, the things we parents get excited about these days!!

I'm ready! Let's do this!

Here's the "live" video of Kate's 1st bites of solid foods (carrots) on her 6-month birthday. Not the birthday cake she was expecting, I guess. You may want to mute it - Mom's talking "baby talk" to Kate throughout the whole thing, and it'll probably annoy you. ;-p

Carrots -- ummm, I'm not so sure about this.

Hey! Is this REALLY the same food that YOU'RE eating?! You eat this first!

Blueberries - saving 'em for later!

Swim Lessons? At this age? Sure, why not!

Last winter, we joined a gym that opened up right by our house - just a block away! They have a swim class for infants called "Star Babies". We've been trying to sign Kate up since she was 4 months old, but Kate was the sole student signed up for Saturday mornings (the only time Mom could take her) so we got bumped a couple of times ... to July.

So...here's our little swimmer girl. She's doing really well! Of course, really this is not a class that teaches her HOW to swim but more just teaches her stuff like: getting used to the water (on her back and belly), splashes, blowing bubbles, pool toys, jumping in, and even submersion! She's REALLY loving the splashing part right now.

She LOVES her baby rings

Aren't I cute in my little surfer girl swim shirt?

Swimming/reaching for the baby rings

Fun & Cute Stuff!

Hanging out at work with Mom - thanks for the quilt, Pam!

Kate & Brinlie Nosker (~10 mos. old) on Mom's B-day

Kate & Max Thomas (~2 yrs old)

Daddy plays peek-a-boo...and makes Katie giggle

Lovin' bath-time

"Butterfly Pavillion" (near Boulder) with Lynda (above, grammi's cousin in Boulder)...
and Tiana (below, mom's "little sister")

Chilling out at the pool

Still LOVIN' my "Yertle the Turtle" book from Papa!

Turtle hat from Paula & JaJones!

July 4th - Kate sleeps through the Fireworks

We celebrated the 4th of July on July 3rd. Our friends, the Hellands, boasted about how their neighborhood puts on a pretty darn good fireworks show, so we went to check it out. It was GREAT, and we didn't have to worry about going out "with the masses" on July 4th! Below are pics of good times ... baby Kate (5 mos) & baby Noah (6 mos.) both slept through the fireworks. Baby Jake (5 yrs old) was terrified! Suzette & Rick found that quite shocking since he'd been fascinated with fireworks going off right in front of him on the neighborhood streets and didn't ever mind fireworks shows in the past. Ya just never know with these little ones, do ya? We're all so mean though -- we made him stay and "suffer" though it.

Kate sleeps in her 'Ergo Carrier'

Carolyn & sleepy Kate; Suzette & sons - crying Jake & Max