Lesley and the three pieces of lawn equipment

Once upon a time there was a little girl names Lesley. She went for a visit to Grandpa Keith's shop. Pretty soon, she came upon some lawn equipment and decided to try them out...

She tried the Cub Cadet lawnmower first but soon proclaimed, "this seat is too far from the steering wheel, I couldn't possibly get the yard mowed with this."

Then, she tried to the Kawasaki Mule but soon proclaimed, "this one is too big and scary. I can't reach the pedals and couldn't haul the fencing gear."

Then she tried the Kawasaki four wheeler and proclaimed, "this one is JUST right. Grandpa and Grandma have the perfect fit and I can help track the deer with this one."

We took a trip to Iowa this weekend and Sunday morning after breakfast, we took a ride down to the river to scope out some hunting spots for my dad. Lesley rode with my parents and had a great time on her first four wheeler adventure. Grandpa Keith has very strict rules when either of the girls are on the four wheeler. The river was really high due to some heavy rain recently and we even got to see two bucks swimming across the river at one point. Pretty neat!

Lesley had so much fun she feel asleep on the way back.

Friday night we walked down to the river so the dogs could take a swim. Lesley was wide eyed the whole time enjoying and learning about nature - deer, turkey, and raccoon tracks and field corn. You can see she is missing a sock in the photos. Luckily Susie's (the dog) tracking skills found it on the way back home. Hank (the other dog) is not in any of the photos because he was swimming pretty much the entire time we were down there.

Grandpa Keith pulled out Clip-Clop from the garage. Aimee, Andy, and I spent many hours on Clip-Clop while growing up. Hopefully someday Lesley will be able to hold on for herself and have as much fun as we did.

Happy Birthday Grandma Nancy! I'd like to say that this is the best looking 51 year old grandma I've ever seen.

Great-Grandma and Great-Grandpa Holtz with Lilly and Lesley. Not the best photo since we couldn't get the girls to stop looking at or reaching for each other....better luck next time. (Also notice how Grandma's shirt is super wet - Lilly was drooling all over her. Maybe this is a sign she'll get some teeth soon.)

Lesley was showing off her TWO teeth to Aunt Aimee.

At one point during dinner, I was holding Lilly and my dad was holding Lesley right next to me. Lesley first started glaring at me and soon began whimpering. Shortly after that she started reaching for me and pulling on my shirt. We decided she was jealous of Lilly. As soon as I handed Lilly to my mom, Lesley calmed down and was fine. It was funny! I quickly threatened Lesley that I was going to take Lilly home and send her with Aunt Aimee and Uncle Mike since Lilly sleeps through the night (most of the time) whereas Lesley is still waking up twice a night. That didn't make her happy, and it certainly didn't work since the last few nights I've still seen 2am and 5am on my clock.

Overall we had a great trip to Iowa! My favorite part was a trip to the Spaghetti Works. It was just what I needed after a somewhat crazy week for me.

The ladies at yoga called this her tea party dress. Too bad the other 7 babies at yoga were boys this week, she had no one to have a party with.

Around the house

Just a few snapshots from the last couple days....

Lesley still LOVES the kitties. We have to remind her daily that we don't eat the kitties.

"What did you find daddy?! This is cool. Can I eat it?"

"No, Lesley you can't eat the giant mushroom that grew in one day in the backyard."

Lesley's current favorite toy is this barnyard with various animals and cool animal sounds. She's figured out how to make the chickens cluck and the fence spin by pushing with her feet. Here she is just lounging and pushing on the pig to make it squeal (similar to the sounds Lesley makes lately).

Not sure what this face represents, but I thought it was funny. I think I caught her by surprise. Her second bottom tooth is starting to emerge, probably another couple days. Well, let's hope it makes an appearence by then since Lesley has been Miss Crankypants for a few days. We made a trip to the dermatologist today. Got some prescription cream, more suggestions on lotions and soaps to use, and another "plan" for attempting to keep her eczema under control. The doctor was really nice, asked a lot of good quesitons, and was very thoughtful in coming up with a plan. I'm so glad I finally made an appointment with an expert.

There's nothing sweeter...

...than hearing your baby giggle and laugh with daddy (sorry for the amateur video skills).




By the way, we have decided that Lesley is ticklish like her mommy.

On the go...

This week started with Lesley deciding it wasn't so bad being on her tummy. She figured out how to roll from back to tummy, over and over again. The living room has now been converted into a playroom with blankets everywhere. Her head still hits the hard wood floor sometimes. Ouch! We just tell her she needs to toughen up. Yoga was interesting this week as she just kept rolling and rolling. Luckily the class was small so we just put more and more blankets out so she could keep on going.

Aunt Denise continues to spoil her. We love the BC bib since it's so big and catches all the squash. We introduced sweet potatoes tonight. It went pretty well although seems a lot messier than squash and a lot ended up in her nose. Oops.

The highlight of this week was a visit from my college roommate, Lauren. We squeezed in a lot of, well....eating. We decided that since Lauren is on vacation from making movies (seriously she really does make movies, she just wrapped up her job on Ironman II, she's the assistant to the production designer) and I'm still on maternity leave, there was no reason to go crazy in the kitchen. So, we hit Sakura for Sushi, Harry's Country Club for lunch and a beer, Baby Cakes for tasty cupcakes, OK Joe's for some bbq she can't find in L.A., and the Diner for brunch. Lauren did make us some amazing crab dip with fresh crab from her parent's home in Virginia. We went on several walks (necessary given all the yummy food we ate), visited the WWI museum, watched some movies, and checked out the Farmer's Market downtown. Lots of fun! It was so great to have Lauren visit. Thanks for coming!

Daddy and Lesley finding some good deals at the farmer's market.

She's so proud of her tooth. :)

Lesley, what is that shiny white thing in your mouth?

A TOOTH!

One has emerged....

This was the not-so-happy Lesley that we've been dealing with for about a week. She hasn't wanted to take naps and has been a little more fussy than usual.

You probably can't really see it in the photo, but there's a tooth in there. Exciting! (And sad, our little girl is growing up fast.)

I decided awhile back that I wanted to try and make baby food. I think it has potential to save us quite a bit of money since those little baby food jars will add up. My first attempt included green beans and spaghetti squash. The green beans were from my mom's garden which made them free! It was relatively easy to cook the produce and send them through the food processor. We then put the mashed up goodness into ice cube trays or muffin pans to freeze in single servings. Piece of cake!

Just today Jason and I made butternut squash, acorn squash, and sweet potatoes. According to the doctor, you start with the orange/yellow vegetables first then go to the green ones and add fruit into the mix as well. Now that she's done pretty good with the rice and oatmeal cereal, we are starting on squash. The doctor also said to give each new food 4-5 days before introducing something new. With Lesley's eczema, she has a greater chance of an allergy so we really need to stick to the 4-5 day rule. Eat up baby!

Baking the squash

Sending it through the food processor and putting into the ice cube trays. Lesley even wanted to help. She liked taste testing the food!

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That was Lesley, she was trying to help Mommy blog. She really is intelligent, just hasn't gotten the words down yet.

These were the green beans we made a while back. We'll probably wait a few more weeks to give those a shot since we're just starting with the yellow/orange vegetables this week.

My mom and Aunt Denise suggested introducing a sippy cup for her. They say it is good to wash down the food after she eats. Well, she LOVES the sippy cup. She's actually pretty good at it and can grip the handles and get it into her mouth by herself, she's just being lazy in this photo and leaning against the table. This is a portable high chair we take to restaurants. It works great since she can be at the table with us and fits down into it pretty well right now. Plus we don't have to worry about germs or safety of the restaurants ones. The other night she didn't want her real highchair so we got the traveling one out so we could sit and enjoy our meal. It worked!

We usually just put water in the cup, sometimes a little watered down apple juice. It's weird how she'll chug ice cold water from the sippy cup but insists her bottles and cereal are warm before she'll touch them. Picky girl!

First taste of squash! She ate the whole bowl. She also likes potatoes, we've been sneaking her a few bites when we eat them.

I thought this photo was especially cute since her pacifier matches the flower on her shirt. She has been loving the pacifier the past few weeks. She'll put it in her mouth and pull it out, over and over again. We think it feels good on her gums. It keeps her entertained for quite a while and is the "toy" of choice when we go on walks.

A Ride on the Ferris Wheel (Sort of)

The day my parents went on their hike along the Colorado Trail, the rest of us took a short excursion to Monarch Pass and rode the tram to the top of the mountain. We then drove across Old Monarch Pass for some more scenic views. Here are a few photos from the day.

To get to the top of the mountain, there is a tram which reminds me of a Ferris Wheel with enclosed "buckets". Lesley loved the ride and especially liked looking behind as we got further and further up the mountain.

This is fun Daddy!

Here come Mike, Aimee, and Lilly to the top of the mountain. We thought it was funny that when we paid to ride the tram, we got a ticket, walked 3 feet where the same guy who took our money punched our tickets and we got in the tram. He then reminded us to not lose our tickets because we would need to get down the mountain. The weird thing is there is only one way up and down the mountain, i.e. the tram, and the observation deck was very small. So, we couldn't figure out why the tickets were so important. It's not like we could have snuck up or down.

Lesley sitting on the continental divide. It went right through the observation deck. Water flows either to the west and the Pacific Ocean, or to the East and the Atlantic Ocean.

Mount Shavano in the background again, this time from the southwest so it looks quite a bit different from the other photos.

Lunch break.

Lesley was just cute in this photo. -- I love the polka dot outfit with her

capri yoga pants and flip flops!

Babe the Blue Horse....

...Wait a minute, that doesn't sound right.

Wasn't it Babe the Blue Ox, you know, Paul Bunyon's companion?

Anyway, we found this rocking horse on a garage sale while on vacation. Yes, we even had time to go garage saling. It's one of my dad's favorite things to do. You never know when you'll find an old Schlitz beer stein.

Since the horse was blue and you don't see many of those around, we decided to name him Babe. Lesley was a huge fan and even figured out how to rock with it although her face did a few face plants into the horse's head.

We tried to get both the girls on the horse at one time, but Lilly's belly wouldn't squeeze in.

Lesley is still enjoying Babe and now has a special place in our playroom, I mean living room.

Buena Vista was having their summer festival while we were in Colorado so we headed up to check out the street vendors, burro race, and yummy carnival-like food.

Lesley liked petting the donkeys until...

... he started petting her. :) He actually just wanted to rub his nose on her which she wasn't so sure about.

No pictures of Lilly with the donkey since they did not interest her. Why would they, she has several horses and mules at her house. There is just no reason for her to get excited about these old donkeys.

Out of the Office

Yep, I've been "Out of the Office", for two reasons really. First, we went on vacation with my family in Colorado. We have been going to Colorado just about every summer since I was 7 years old. Some of my favorite childhood memories are from Colorado. I still hope someday that I can call the mountains my home.

It was so much fun having the girls there to share some of our favorite Colorado adventures with. Grandma Nancy and Grandpa Keith loved having them around as well. There are lots of photos, I just couldn't choose so I included many. Enjoy!

Jason and I drove to Limon on Friday night and rendevued with my parents, Aimee, Michael and Lilly in Colorado Springs the next day for a late lunch at the Phantom Canyon Brewing Company. While we waited for them, we checked out the Garden of the Gods and Historic Manitou Springs. We both decided there were too many people in those places and wanted to get to our "mountain" where we knew it would be much more secluded.

Ummm, Jason...she's not quite ready to go on any hikes yet. You are going to have to carry her.

Mommy ane Lesley both sporting their shades. (Lesley, where is your hat? Your head will get sunburnt!)

One day after we got settled into the house, we headed to the west side of the mountains, over Monarch Pass to find the road/trail leading to the Alpine Tunnel. The tunnel was used as a railroad pass from about 1880 to 1910. The ride up to the tunnel is very gradual as the slope needed to allow for trains to maintain their speeds. In some places, there is only enough room for one vehicle with a BIG drop off the side of the mountains. That's why I like the 4-wheelers, you get more distance from the edge. The tunnel was caved in abot 20 years ago as it was becoming dangerous for people to explore. There are still remmants of the telegraph building, engine shop, boarding house, etc. On any given day between 250-300 people were working on the tunnel in order to build it and I believe it took 18 months to complete. Very interesting!

The place where the tunnel used to be is behind us. It was cold and rainy up there.

On our way down from the tunnel, Aimee wanted to try and take a trail called the Quartz creek path. Well, we all started, but soon my dad decided he needed to turn around. The road was too much for the jeep to handle. He was bummed, but after we met up with him on the 4-wheelers at the end, we had to tell him turning around would have been the only option down the mountain. There was a fallen tree across the path, a beaver pond in the middle of the road, and a place where we had to push over a tree so the 4-wheelers would fit. The girls who were fastened tightly in the back seat of the jeep thought the higher road was best too. My mom called them "bobbleheads" for part of the trip, we had to either hold their heads or put blankets around them. Actually though, they took their best naps while in the back of the jeep on the bumpy roads.

This is about where the jeep turned around. The trail only got worse.

Mike riding through the creek to get off the trail. This was after we had to divert a beaver pond and many, many cuss words were said by myself and Aimee. Boy scout thinking came into place. Aimee and I came up with all sorts of tactics on what to do. We had already gone about 45 minutes down the road, both 4-wheelers were running out of gas, and it was getting late in the day. Aimee waded out into the pond to see out deep it was and soon we realized that there were other 4-wheelers on the other side of the pond so we knew there was a way out (and hopefully some extra gas if needed). We turned around, found a different path, pushed some trees over, and drove through a messy creek to get to the other side. We even managed to get some extra gas to get us the remaining 7 miles down the mountain to the truck and trailor. Whew! That was a close one. My dad plans to go back next year and take the trail on the 4-wheeler since the jeep couldn't make it. He also purchased an ATV trails guidebook and we noticed that trail wasn't even in the book - so it must have been worse than the easy, moderate, and difficult trails included. Note for dad - take an extra gas can next year!

No Lesley, you can't ride the 4-wheeler this year - especially not with your father. He is a daredevil on that thing! Next year, Grandpa Keith is thinking about taking a mule - Kawasaki's 4 wheel drive utility vehicle. Maybe the girls can get strapped into that.

All buckled in and ready to go up the mountain!

Dad's fish at North Fork Resevoir. Fishing wasn't so great this year, just like every other year.

:(

If you look closely at this photo, you can see the outline of a sleeping Indian in the rocks above us. Growing up, this was always our favorite place in Colorado - Sleeping Indian Mountain is what we called it. We ended up walking all the way around the resevoir and stopped in a few places to let my dad, Aimee, and Mike do some fishing. Jason, my mom, and I juggled the girls and kept them happy. Lesley wasn't so sure about "nature" at first, but we soon convinced her it was neat and by the end of the week, all she wanted to do was be outside with the trees and wildlife.

"Grandpa and Grandma, you guys get in the back of the jeep. We can handle navigating down the mountain."

Jason and I got the better ride of the week - the 4 wheeler that didn't run out of gas. :)

Aimee showing Miss Lilly the ins and outs of fishing. Maybe Lilly should consider learning from someone else though, Aimee didn't actually catch any fish.

Such a happy family!

Mom & Dad - as we were driving home, Jason commented on how much my parents seem to enjoy being grandparents. We both agreed that they are very good at it too. The girls love being with their Grandma Nancy and Grandpa Keith, and we know they will get into plenty of trouble with them.

Dad showing the girls a replica of the "beast" he shot last fall. They were not nearly as impressed as he hoped they'd be.

My mom taught Lesley how to give kisses and hugs back in early June when she stayed with us during the Challenge Walk. Now, Lesley only gives kisses to Grandma Nancy and Mommy. They are open mouth, slobbery kind, but still super cute and sweet.

Here are several shots taken at the Dixon house. We are thankful to the Long family and their lawnmower distributorship for letting us stay for so many years. It's wonderful to have a place to really call home for the week.

The girls took turns taking baths in the sink this week. Lilly really enjoyed bathtime as you can see above - so relaxed!

Lesley loved playing with Lilly - she wanted to touch her all the time. Lilly just smiled at Lesley a lot. It was fun that the girls actually notice each other now.

Jason and I watched both girls one morning when Aimee and Mike took my parents to Marshall Pass for their hiking trip. Luckily, Lesley slept late and shortly after she woke up, Lilly was ready for a nap. Having twins would be a piece of cake, right? I'm sure that's not true, we just got lucky.

Grandma was reading the girls a book before bedtime. Notice that Lilly is wearing blue - we called her Lyle when she wore those pj's. Aimee says they were a gift, had cute animals on them, and had a zipper up the front which we've learned is key in the middle of the night, so she kept them and will have to explain how Lilly got her nickname later in life.

The peak in the middle is Mount Shavano and probably holds the most memories for me. You can see Mount Shavano from the house we stay at and it was the first 14,000 foot mountain we climbed as a family. Someday I hope Lesley has the chance to climb the mountain and experience nature in such a unique and challenging way. But, I'm also hoping that her Uncle Andy will escort her to the top as I'm not sure my body would be up for the challenge any longer. That's one of those things I've already checked off my to-do list and at this point don't have much desire to attempt that again.

So, that was our vacation. The car ride back was by far our least favorite part. We were tired and Lesley was cranky. I don't blame her, that was a lot time spent in the carseat. All in all, it was a great week and we hope to do it again next year!

The second reason I am "Out of the Office" is because I'm off work for the next 5 weeks to finish my maternity leave. The next five weeks is what has gotten me through the summer, knowing I'd get to spent the time with Lesley before she starts daycare and while she's a little older and more enjoyable. Jason thinks next time we have a baby, I should go back to work the next day and take my maternity leave when the baby is 5-6 months old. Good idea, right? Well, I am thankful for the time I had off earlier when parenthood was so new to me, and I'm super thankful for the next 5 weeks.