Thought I was making things easier...

(Editors note: this is the first post by Kari. For a while now Shawn and I have encouraged her to share some of her stories and she today she finally did!)With a new baby, we decided that it would probably be easier to have
the dog food we get delivered (being that we need 2 x 36 pound bags
each month). However, today may have proved that it is not in fact
easier. I called to order the food and instantly my card was declined
(only to find out after 20 minutes of being on the phone with the nice
gentleman with LT crying, that he had put in the wrong numbers!)
Problem solved, food would be delivered in 30 minutes time. In 30
minutes, I look outside to see the man pulling the first bag out of
the trunk of his car and decide to leave LT in his exersaucer and open
the door to help him. However, I had momentarily forgotten that Bowen
has to be tough and bark and jump when anyone is near our house.
Needless to say, as the man was opening our gate to put the bag of
food in the yard, Bowen jumped while barking quite loudly, nearly
escaped, scared the poor man to death and caused his younger brother
(LT) to begin crying hystarically... Getting everything under control
I was wondering to myself "maybe it would be easier to just go pick-up
the food after all...?"

Pumpkin Patch

On Sunday Landon had his first trip to a pumpkin patch (mine too). It was a group trip that kind of took on a life of it's own and before we knew it we were all standing around in a dirt field in the cold with some pumpkins (and we didn't even need a pumpkin). The toddlers and younger kids around us seemed to be having fun but the consensus was that our babies were a little young to really appreciate to finer points of the full pumpkin patch experience. So we took some pictures...

Whenever I hold LT it seems like Kari manages to find another baby to hold.


Some babies enjoyed posing for pictures...

more than others.


Hey, my wife's holding another baby!


No babies were injured during the preceding photo series.


I think he's genuinely concerned about his brother.

And here's Kari with yet another baby.




After standing around in the cold for a while and taking all the baby with pumpkin pictures we could stand, we decided to take the party inside at a nearby Woody's Pizza.

Landon waited until Zach fell asleep and then went into high gear flirting with Mia. Kari called me over to see the little guy in action and I noticed she referred to him as "your son" again.

"35 Degrees and Still Sold Out"

Although technically I think it was closer to 40, "35 Degrees and Still Sold Out" was what the homemade sign a few rows in front of us said last night as the Rockies won game 3 of the NLCS in the rain and cold. One more win and they'll make their first ever World Series appearance.

To be honest, I'm not really a baseball fan. I like to say the reason I'm not a fan is because the games aren't that exciting and the season is way too long. Really though, it probably has more to do with my less than distinguished little league career that was marked by strikeouts and lots and lots of time in right field (maybe LT will be better than me).

I guess it makes me a "fair-weather fan" but how could we say no when Kari's parents generously offered us tickets to the game AND babysitting? To prepare for the weather we packed our bag with hats, gloves, jackets and even a waterproof blanket (made in Seattle where they know a little something about rain). Without thinking much about it, I also threw in two cloth diapers to wipe down our seats but it would turn out that they would be used for more than that. We sat in the cold and rain with 50,000 other fans and when everyone else would waive their white Rockies towels we'd waive our baby diapers. Even a night out without the baby isn't without it's little reminders of just how much the baby has changed our lives but that's exactly how it should be and I wouldn't have it any other way. So call us fair-weather fans (although I'll remind you that the weather was anything but fair) and I guess you'd be right but we rooted for the home team and really had a great time doing it. It's hard to argue with that.

Saturday Brunch

LT getting ready for a nice little Saturday.

Saturday brunch with Papa at Racines. I must say that my breakfast burrito was excellent!

Two more from Mass

Not only didn't Landon cry but he even smiled and laughed!

Rollin'

Landon's mom is crazy. But as it turns out, so is his dad.

For a few weeks now Kari has been telling me that LT has been rolling over more and more frequently. However, I hadn't see a full blown unassisted rollover yet - it's not that I didn't believe her but I just hadn't seen it. She really wanted me to see him do it and kept trying to facilitate the event while I was around. It got to the point where I accused her of being a crazy mom and told her to leave him be and that he'd show me when he was ready (I did this in a nice and joking kind of way - I'm not that big of a jerk).

One day I was doing tummy time with LT on his play mat and he finally rolled over for me a few times. Well, I got very excited and grabbed the camera to document the event. I also yelled to Kari and demanded that she come witness it all. Which, of course, she did and enjoyed it like any proud mother would. But then she pointed out that I was being just as crazy, if not more so, than she had been about the rolling over thing. Touché...

No!

Sunday morning we were leisurely having our coffee when Kari reached to attend to Landon (to clean a booger, reset a pacifier, clean some spit, or something of that nature) and accidentally spilled some of her drink. She grabbed the cup and in racing to clean up the mess she set it down right next to LT sitting in his Bumbo chair. I went to the kitchen to get some paper towels and on my way back to the table I noticed that Landon had grabbed the cup and was rocking it back and forth. Foolishly my reaction was to calmly but assertively say, "Landon, No!" as though he would understand me. In fct, rather than understand and heed my charge, he flipped the cup over and spilled the rest all over the table and floor just moments after the words were out of my mouth.

Reading the baby

I'm learning that the face LT is making above means that a change of mood is impending. It would be great if I knew *what* mood was coming but I haven't figured that out yet. I just know something is about to change.

And this time...


It's happy!

Early Halloween

After crashing everyone else's parties and play dates we finnaly hosted a little event of our own. On Sunday we had an Early Halloween / 4 Month Birthday Party for all the little ones. The weather was a little touch and go but it ended up working out - it wasn't too bad but chilly enough that all the babies were comfortable in their big fuzzy costumes.
LT dressed up as a dog. Is anyone really surprised?



For some reason this picture makes me think of when I was little and would watch the Charlie Brown Great Pumpkin Halloween special every year on TV. Maybe Z is the Great Pumpkin? Or maybe he's just doing a great job of sticking his tongue out at me.


All the moms with their babies.

And all the dads taking pictures of the moms with the babies.

And, of course, all the babies lined up on their backs for pictures. For the record, Joss was the first to cry and Eric proclaimed themselves the winners as he picked her up.



Mia arrived fashionably late.


Kari commented that Sarah is very photogenic...


But it looks like Joss is the one in the family who knows how to work the camera.

The doggies weren't invited to the party and had to stay upstairs behind bars. Bo just hung out and Hailie cried most of time - sometimes I think she cries more than Landon.

Our living room looked like a day care center.


Parting shot of Sofi and her dad Mike.

Thanks to everyone who spent their Sunday afternoon with us and we hope you had as much fun as we did.

Da Bar

Late last week Steve got the official word that he had passed the Colorado Bar exam (not that we were ever worried but it does take a long time to get the results). So LT helped him celebrate with a big night out on the town at Stella's. We were out until almost 8!

Sometimes

Sometimes we sit still for pictures...


and sometimes we don't...

Mom & Baby

More picts from Mass

Kari, LT, Joyce and LT's great aunts Jayne and Karen (I think I got that right - Joyce's sisters would be LT's great aunts, right?) took a little field trip to a pumpkin patch and apple orchard.


Here LT is just hanging out at his great grandparents house.

Old School

LT shown above in his great grandfather's convertible highchair/stroller and below going for a walk in what Kari describes as a "Mary Poppins" stroller.

Four Generations

If you've been following along, you know that Kar took the little man back east last week and she took the camera with her and even took some pictures.
Shown here are four generations of family together - LT with Kari, grandma Joyce, and great grandparents Robie and Edna.

Robie said that, except for his own children, he's never been able to hold a baby without it crying. Well, as you can see from the picture, Landon broke that streak!