7 months

Kacy turned 7 months old a couple of days ago and cut her 1st tooth a few days before that. She has not been herself this week (a little cranky) and sleeping poorly. I don't know whether to hope it is her teeth or that she is just not feeling well. I don't really want to go through this with all of her teeth, but at the same time don't want her to be ill. She is sitting up for longer periods of time, but still topples over. She is fascinated by Moose and tries to reach out to him.

The past 2 weeks have gone by so fast. Here is a rundown of what we have been doing:

• 
  
  My parents came to take care of both kids while Chad and I went to Sedona, AZ. Chad had to go to a conference, so I tagged along. I hardly knew what to do with myself some days when I had hours to myself! Chad and I enjoyed eating out, swimming, hiking, exploring, etc. in the evenings. It was a wonderful short week away!


• 
  
  Unfortunately while we were away Dathan had the flu and gave it to my Dad. My poor Mom had her hands full!


• 
  
  Dathan went home with my parents to Colorado for the week. His first trip without us!


• 
  
  Kacy and I went to Carlsbad for a couple of nights to visit friends. It was so very very very much fun for me!

7 month bunny picture

First tooth. Bottom right.

Kacy playing with Grayer in Carlsbad.

Just for fun

We are 3 weeks into potty training Dathan and it is going so great. Praise God! I never dreamed that potty training Dathan would go so smoothly, so I know prayers have been answered.

Kacy is able to sit up unsupported for a little while now. She usually crashes over when she reaches for a toy. She loves to play with toys and put everything in her mouth. I love to see how excited she gets when Chad speaks to her when he gets home from work. It's priceless!

It's hard to see in this picture, but Dathan put his shorts on by himself. He has the waist around one of his legs and one of the leg holes around his waist. He likes to try and get himself dressed these days.

Look at my chubby arms and legs! We think she is just adorable!

Growing Up!

6 Months

Kacy is growing so fast! I took her to the Dr. last week for a check up and she weighed 17.5 lbs and was 25 inches long.
Dathan sitting on his little toilet. We began full on potty training last week and he is doing great! He keeps wanting to throw away his diapers, but I tell him we still need them for nap time and bedtime.

Family Weekend Fun

We spent this past weekend with Chad's family. We had fun hanging out with family, celebrating birthdays, playing games and letting the cousins play.

We went to the zoo and had fun seeing all of the animals. Dathan got to see a live giraffe for the first time and was not so sure of it up close. I think it was much bigger and taller than he had imagined.

Here's a picture of Dathan jumping off the couch onto a bunch of pillows. He loved this playtime called "Pillow Monkey".

"What time is it?"

It's hard to see in this picture, but Dathan has the orange tow truck hooked up to pull his green 4-wheeler.
Dathan helping mom vacuum.
Dathan was showing Kacy his "Doggy" and being really sweet to her.

It was so nice outside the other day I gave Dathan a bucket of water and soap to wash his cars. He had fun washing the car and his trike.

"What time is it?" is just one of the many questions Chad and I are asked daily by Dathan. He asks me probably 3 times a day, "What time is it mommy?", and when I respond with the time he is completely satisfied.

I thought it would be fun to list some of the things he says, likes, and can do at this time:

• Counts to 10
• Loves to sing "Jesus loves me", except we substitute "me" for "Dathan"... Our version goes "Jesus loves Dathan this I know..." Chad started this with him quite a few months back and Dathan just loves it!
• Can pedal his trike
• Sleeps with "Doggy", "Puppy", "Humpty" dumpty pillow, "Blankey", a water cup, a special blanket...
• Knows majority of colors, but has trouble with red
• Favorite book Clifford "The Missing Beach Ball"
• Can put together a 12 piece interlocking puzzle by himself
• Likes to color, paint, cut, play with playdoh
• LOVES water and anything to do with it. Nearly impossible to keep him out of Moose's water.
  

Kacy 5 months old

Check out my chunky legs!

Dathan is usually the one playing in this, but when we get a chance Kacy enjoys it too. Dathan liked it as a baby, but now that we have set it up for Kacy we can't seem to keep him out of it.

Kacy is not too big of a fan of rice cereal or fruit, but she LOVES sweet potatoes. She gets very excited when she sees the bowl and spoon coming her way.

It's hard to believe that 5 months have already passed since her birth. We are enjoying every moment with her... well maybe we could do without the once or twice a night that she wakes up to eat, but overall she is such a delight. She began rolling over from her back to tummy on the day she turned 5 months. She loves to hold onto and put everything in her mouth.

Snow, Trains, Fun and more!

We got back this past weekend from 2 weeks of fun in Colorado. We spent most of the time at my parents house with lots of time for eating out and shopping. Some of the highlights of the trip were seeing some of my good friends from high school, college and after. Our last weekend we drove to see some friends in Grand Junction before heading back to Alamogordo. We had a great time with our friends, but our drive home was something else!!! Thankfully my parents had offered to keep Kacy while we went to Grand Junction and then brought her to our house in Alamo. for us on their way to AZ. It was a long 13.5 hour drive with 1 child I can't imagine with the two.

We loaded Dathan in his PJ's at 5:30am. Good thing we got an early start not knowing it would take us 13.5 hours.

We were so lucky to see the Durango-Silverton steam engine running alongside the road. We stopped and opened the door so Dathan could get a good look. It the highlight of his trip.

We knew there might be a little snow, but I had trusted that there would be snow plows out taking care of the road. We saw a whopping 1 snow plow during our 3 hours of driving less than 30 mph going over 3 passes. Chad did an amazing job driving, but I couldn't help but be stressed and "white knuckling" it all the way. It didn't help to see signs saying "chains required" when we did not have them. Praise God we made it home safely!
Here's Dathan after 12.5 hours in the car. On top of snow delays we got stuck in a traffic jam south of Albuquerque for 45 min. It was an inconvenience to us but most likely life changing for the poor individuals in the accident. I was not annoyed to be stopped in traffic, just thankful that God put us a few short minutes/seconds behind the car that had the accident and not with it. Back to Dathan....in this picture he has been snacking on raisins and craisins when he tells me "raisin in nose". Sure enough our first experience with our child sticking something up his nose is after we have spent all day in the car and still have an hour to get home. After trying and trying we finally got him to blow it out into a tissue. What a relief!

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas! We have enjoyed a quiet Christmas in Colorado this year. My parents spent Christmas in Kansas with my cousins and Great Grandma. That left Chad and I with Dathan and Kacy in their house for the week.

Mady and Dathan opening Santa presents.

Unfortunately we have only had a dusting of snow since we have been here, but luckily there is this pile of snow (basically a pile of ice) left out in front of my parent's house for Dathan to play on. He would climb to the top and then slide down on his bottom. I can't wait to take him sledding this winter.

Mady and Kacy at church Christmas eve. Mady had a speaking part in the children's service and did a fantastic job! She is such a good cousin and takes wonderful care of our two little ones!

Aunt Stacy

4 months and Holiday fun

Kacy is 4 months old today! She is our little Cabbage Patch doll with her chubby cheeks and extra "fluff" around her belly and thighs.

Dathan eating candy that he got at the Light Parade in Ruidoso. He LOVES candy!!!

We gave Kacy her first bites of yummy rice cereal a couple of days ago. She seemed to like it. Dathan wanted to try it too, but after one bite he was no longer interested.

Whenever Kacy is playing on the floor Dathan is right next to her. Today he grabbed her hand and said "walk" as he was trying to pull her up by one arm to stand up. Dathan has begun saying "that" when he wants to know what something is. I know the "why" questions are soon to follow. His vocabulary and things that he says constantly amaze Chad and I. There does not seem to be much that Dathan cannot say these days or express through words. He loves to dance around the house, play chase, tackle Moose, play with trucks & trains, watch the movie "Cars", and compete for attention with Kacy=) He has his moments of showing his 2 year old age, but for the most part he is so much fun.

Kacy 3 months

Such a happy girl!

Check out all the blankets in her crib for her nap! I know...it's a BIG no no!

Kacy turned 3 months a few days ago and is a smiley little girl. She is so precious and a good baby. She has had her first cold, congestion and a cough, but is doing better now. She has begun reaching for toys that are hanging above her some and is holding her head up better when on her tummy. She likes to take naps with mommy on the guest bed in the afternoons when Dathan is napping. We are getting ready for our first road trip with both kids for Thanksgiving.

Adventures in Mothering

I have to share my latest adventure with you all. First of all Chad is out of town for the week with work and will not return until Sat. The week started off with Dathan having a fever Mon. - Wed. and a cold, which lead to us being cooped up in the house trying to get him well. Thankfully he loves to watch the movie "Cars" now and is quite entertained by it. I used to be one of those parents that would never have thought I would let my child watch hours of TV in a day, but when you have a sick one and a 2 1/2 month old baby, survival takes over! So my adventure yesterday was I loaded both kids up in the double stroller, with Moose pulling us along, we took a stroll to get out of the house. The walk was pleasant and we were all happy to be out of the house. When we got home I told Dathan that we would play out back for awhile because the weather was so nice. I put Kacy in a carrier and out we went. When I tried to go back inside to grab something I found that the door was locked. Apparently, Dathan turned the lock before we closed the door. So there I am locked out back with both kids, no phone, no diapers, no bottles, and Chad's out of town. I remembered that Chad had hidden a key under a rock out front (by the way our entire front yard is rocks!), so I went to look and could not find it. I quickly panicked! I went next door to our German neighbors and thankfully they were home. I used their phone to call Chad to see where the key was hidden. He didn't answer because he had turned his phones off while he was in a meeting. The neighbors 13 year old son came out with me to help look for the key and we ended up finding it buried under a rock down in the dirt. Praise God! Be sure that I will be hiding the key myself so that I know exactly where it is!

Smiley Girl
This past weekend we met our friends Greg and Delaina from Carlsbad along with their 2 girls in Ruidoso. We had fun hiking around and letting the kids play.
What a "Big Helper"! We still have to watch that Dathan is not too rough with this baby sister, but he has come so far and really tries to be sweet to her. He likes to help hold the bottle and will put it in the sink for me when she is finished. Unfortunately for Kacy he likes to take the bottle in and out of her mouth repeatedly...I think he is just curious about what is going on???

This pictures was taken on our way up to the cabin this past weekend. Dathan talked nonstop the entire way. He always gets so excited to go to the cabin.

We finally did it! We stayed all night at the cabin! We went up to Ruidoso on Fri. and stayed until Sun. We had lots of fun and the kids slept great too! We could not have asked for more.