A Boy and His Ba-Bas

Nobody loves his BA-BAs (pacis) more than our little Michael. Probably not good for his speech therapy (in fact, we have to hide them away when the therapist comes over). But, for now, we let them have them in peace. As Katie was getting ready for bed tonight, I found Michael in his crib, sucking on one BA-BA and holding at least five. Should be a fun transition...

In other news, the kids and Traci went bowling again today with friends. Two big pieces of news: 1.) Michael got his first spare! Yep, he loved pushing the ball off the ramp, and he was a natural! 2.) I introduced Katie to the fun world of air hockey, and she was hooked. She didn't quite get that she was supposed to block the puck from going into the hole, but she loved hitting the puck as hard as she could.

In Da Crib

The kids are finally getting to that fantastic age where they want to play with EACH OTHER! (Can you hear the angels singing on high?) Basically, Michael worships the ground that his sister walks on; and she tolerates him as long as he attempts to play HER way. You can always hear him mimicking everything she does and her laughing her head off. Today, the two of them wanted to hang out in his crib while Traci showered. Just hoping they don't bounce a hole right through it...

UPDATE: By the way, we survived Hurricane Irene with little fanfare. We did lose power for about nine hours, but it was daytime and no big deal. The most work we had to do was cleaning up a lot of leaves and debris on our porches. Prayers go out to those who were WAY more impacted than we. Now our kids can claim that they survived an earthquake and a hurricane in one week!

Come On, Irene!

Of course, the big news in our area is the impending doom of Hurricane Irene. We've done our best to prepare: buying non-perishable groceries (check!), finishing all laundry (check!), moving all of the stuff off of our patios (check!). Now, we are just watching and waiting. But, that gets old after awhile, you know? So, Mike and the kids went out for a little stroll in the rain this afternoon. They came back absolutely soaked, but pretty happy. We immediately put the kids in a steaming bath, and they were the happiest they had been all day. It's currently about 7:30PM, and we still have our electricity. The worst is yet to come overnight, so we'll see where we stand in the morning. Wish us luck!

And the Mystery Destination was....

BEAVER CREEK, CO!!!!! For those of you who may not have known or recalled, Traci and Mike celebrated their tenth anniversary on August 18th. As the most awesome gift ever, Mike planned a surprise get-away, for which Traci would not find out the destination until she swiped the credit card at the airport. The surprise was so much fun, but the packing was unbearable! (Warm/cold? Dressy/sporty? Does it rain at all there?) Well, Mike went above and beyond, finding us a spectacular resort and spa in Beaver Creek, CO (just outside of Vail). Obviously, this location is better known for its skiing, but the summer hiking views were absolutely spectacular! We went on some tough hikes, lingered over delicious meals, and just relaxed as much as we possibly could. A special thanks once again goes out to Grammy for allowing this to happen for us. According to both Grammy and Katie, Michael had a grand total of ONE (yep, just one) tantrum the entire week, which is a new world record. Hooray! If you would like to look at our trip pics (along with a few Grammy extras at the end), please browse in the album to the right.

Super Sitter

Guess who is in town?? None other than super-sitter, Grammy! She's going to watch the kids for Mike and Traci while they take a little anniversary break. She arrived yesterday; and, of course, Katie already had to take her to her favorite place in the world, the Nature Center. We hope they have a smashing week. Shouldn't be too hard for Katie...she's literally counting down the hours until our departure. Michael?? Hmmmm...might have a rough day or two, but we hope he settles in. Bon voyage!

Welcome, Tyler!

A huge congrats goes out to our friends, Kelly and Rose, on the addition of their son, Tyler! Mr. Kelly and daughter Megan (3-years-old) stopped over this evening to borrow some baby supplies, and we invited them to stay for some play. (We know how tough it is to be a new big sister, so we think Megan was delighted by some play time devoted to her.) We haven't yet met the little guy, but we look forward to invading their home once all the family clears out. Congratulations again!

Achtung, Baby!

Michael finally found something as orange as his hair. They became fast friends soon after.

Katie-Eye View

This evening, while I was preparing dinner, Katie was whining about being bored and wanting to play. So, I challenged her to tap her creativity. I gave her our digital camera (yes, the decently expensive adult one), and asked her to take whatever pictures she liked. She had a blast being in control of one of Mommy and Daddy's toys, and we had fun seeing what caught her eye. Here are just a few...

Goggle This!

Katie just never ceases to amaze. Every time we think we have her pegged ("timid," "unwilling to try something new," etc.), she pleasantly surprises us. Take her attitude with the swimming pool, for example. Her swim lessons this past winter/spring were an absolute disaster. Yes, she was "that kid" who balked and screamed at every teacher request. So, we figured we would work with her here and there on our own this summer at the pool. Obviously, when Traci has both kids at the pool by herself, she can't focus on Katie's swimming needs. Everything she does, she basically learns on her own. We bought her a pair of goggles this week, thinking they might make her less afraid of going underwater. She tried them this week, and she was a pro! She sucked up her fears, plugged her nose, and swam all around the pool with her goggles and floaties! It was as if she had been "swimming" her entire life. Now, don't ask what would happen if we removed the floaties, but we'll get there soon enough. Hip, hip, hooray for Katie!

Jumping on the Bed

Our home life gets more dangerous by the day. We now have two kids willing to jump on the beds, jump off random furniture, and pretty much throw themselves everywhere. Yep, Michael can't say the word "jump," but he can definitely accomplish it!

Lunch for Two

The same day that we went to Rocknoceros (see two posts below), we also went to lunch with Kim, Patrick (5-years-old) and Colleen (2.5-years). We got to Chipotle a little before the lunch rush, so there were tons of tables available. Patrick and Katie decided that they wanted their own table. Kim and Traci looked at each other, shrugged their shoulders, and said, "Why not?" It was such a cute sight to behold!! The kids were off on their own; enjoying their food; and keeping a steady, happy conversation. We would speculate that it went better than most teenage dates. (As one of our friends commented, they would merely be texting each other if it was a teenage date.) Meanwhile, the moms were content to only be in charge of the little ones at their table. We could get used to this...

Corolla 2.0

We finally got our film rolls back from our Corolla beach vacation. They show a bit more of the entire vacation crew and prove that Michael actually had fun. Please take a look at the photo album to the right!