Life at 4 Months

 Life at 4 months is pretty fun for Joel.  He loves to suck on his fingers, put toys in his mouth, grab anything and everything within reach, and play and hang with his family.  He sleeps 11 hours straight at night but naps are another story.  He gets lonely and wakes up sad after about 30 minutes at best in his crib.  When we go in to pop his binkie back in his mouth he grabs our hands as tight as he can, closes his eyes, and drifts back to sleep for another short while.  Some days I count going up and down the stairs multiple times over two or three naps my exercise.

Joel's Stats:
Size 3-6 month clothes
Size 2 diapers
Weighs 15lbs 7.7oz (48%)
2 feet 1 inch tall (70%)

Yes, life at 4 months is pretty great and exhausting.

Apple and Pumpkin Picking

We headed up to Apple Ridge Farms and Denver Dans in Apple Hill again this year.  Rachel got brave this year and petted the goats and donkeys.  She even asked to feed the goats.  She loves to talk to the animals, telling them what she is up to and that they should come over to the fence and see her.  I think if we let her she would spend all day with the animals. 

After taking some pictures in the cutouts and seeing the animals at Apple Ridge Farms.  We headed over to their pumpkin patch.  Yes, the pumpkins are a little bit more money than at the grocery store, but we decided we were paying for the experience and made sure to get our moneys worth making Rachel walk through the whole little patch to find the perfect pumpkin.  To her the perfect pumpkin is the current one she has found, so Brian helped to pick out the final pumpkin. 

After pumpkin picking we went to pick apples at Denver Dans.  The apples were a little sparse this year making apple picking a treasure hunt.  We managed to find enough apples to make apple butter and have some just to eat.  Brian lucked out this year because the Granny Smiths were ripe, and Granny Smiths are his favorite.  It was a day full of fun and we all enjoyed a good nap when we got home.

Pink Bunny Parachutes

Baby Giggles

A Very Hungry Party

We had a Very Hungry Caterpillar play date party to celebrate Rachel's 3rd birthday.  I love the Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle, and I had a great time decorating for this party.  We had caterpillars lining the walkway, a giant caterpillar made from balloons (we forgot to take a picture of this before taking it down), and a birthday banner.  The food was things the caterpillar ate.  We served  apples, pears, plums, watermelon, salami, cheese, and pickles.  Since we were having cheese and salami I also included crackers.  Like in previous years I made cupcakes for Rachel's birthday.  I think cupcakes are a great way to go for kid's parties because they don't require cutting and serving.  I made the caterpillars for the cupcakes using  m&ms for the body and chocolate frosting for the antennae.  It was super easy and super cute.

Since the party was a big play date I didn't plan any games.  Planning and executing organized games is not one of my strengths. We did have lots of fun toys to play with.  Rachel's friends could run around inside or outside.  Outside we had all her backyard toys including chalk, slide, sand table, and water table.  Inside her kitchen, play doh, and dress up box were big hits.  I love seeing how she has blossomed over the years.  She is so sweet and good at sharing her toys and taking turns especially when given gentle reminders to make sure her friend has a turn.  She really enjoys playing with her friends.

 

By the time the party was over and we cleaned up I think we all felt like Joel.  We all had a lot of fun and felt blessed by all our friends who came over to help up celebrate our special little girl.

Almost 3 Photo Shoot

We had grand plans to do Rachel's 3rd birthday photo shoot at Capital Park, but the weather had other plans.  It rained almost all day.  In between showers we dashed down the street to the park instead.  We got some cute photos and a little play time in before the sky opened up again.  Here are some of our favorites:

The Pictures You Have Been Waiting For

Hello Everyone, Brian Here.

Things are finally slowing down a little bit here. At least enough for me to finally take some pictures. And guess what? Joel smiles quite a bit now so we finally got some good smiling pictures.  So here they are. Enjoy!

Joel loves his Mommy!

Something is wrong with the camera, it makes the back of my head look as if there were less hair there.

Peek A Boo!

He's a happy baby.

There's his tongue.

He's all smiles.