Erica's Monster Voice

The Willis Boys

Rowan, Evan, Caylor (and Isaac)

Luckily I at least snapped a quick picture this morning when we went over to Lisa and Jim's for a Memorial Day breakfast. The food was fantastic (as always) and we enjoyed the nice weather while the kids played with their new chickens. It has been so fun to visit with family!!

Greg and Family

Greg, Erica, Josie, Kylie, Alyssa, Mom

Erica, Josie, Greg, Elaina (& Isaac in the sling), Mom

Greg and Alyssa were awesome and brought dinner over to Mom's house. I can't remember the last time I had a good old fashioned weenie roast. Erica entertained us with her 'monster voice' and we enjoyed s'mores and the beautiful weather. It was so much fun!!! (and I didn't even smell like camfire after because I managed to avoid being in the smoke all night...bonus!)

The Sanders

The Sanders Boys' "Hole Project"

Taya, Grandma, Anna, Isaac, Elaina (photography by Bennett)

Bennett, Taya, Beck, Kohl, Anna, and Isaac

(photography by Kohl)
We had fun visiting the Sanders and seeing the hole the kids have been digging in the back yard. We were graced by the presence of Spiderman (a.k.a. Beck) and got to watch a little baseball and some dancing by the boys (always entertaining).

The Bryants

Isaac (4 months) and Courtney (6 months)

Hands off, buddy...

Lauren and Isaac

Isaac got to visit his Kristin and Brock's kids while we were out there. I was surprised how close in size he was to his older cousin, Courtney. I was glad to see that Lauren seemed to be doing well after her surgery to remove her kidney and her chemotherapy. She still has as much energy as ever!

TWINS!

Isaac, Ty, and Lizzie

The boys.

Isaac and I got to hang out with Jill and her twins, Ty and Lizzie, during our trip to Utah. They are growing so fast (see post from end of March). It's still hard to believe they are only 5 weeks apart. The kiddos also got to hang out a little during the Tour de South in the 'nursing van.'

Tour de South

It was the 3rd annual Tour de South in May, hosted by our friends T.J. and Jill.  We had a longer drive than normal (7 hours each way from Denver).  Isaac was an angel and slept most of the way there and amazed us by sleeping through the night every night even though he spent the majority of his days in the carseat.  Lance and I had to split up the 333 miles (and we still weren't able to ride them all...my how things change).  I rode all of the downhill sections and left the rest to Lance.  It was interesting having to nurse him and change his diapers in the car all day, but we had a fabulous time.  Hopefully Isaac likes this kind of stuff when he's older.

Bumbo

Isaac is getting to the point where he always wants to be sitting up, so I did my craigslist thing and found him a Bumbo. I hope he doesn't mind that it's purple...

Smiling Boycott

So I set up a time at a studio to have Isaac's pictures taken and he was such a stinker. He didn't smile once during the 30+ minutes they were trying to take pictures of him, so we scrapped the whole shoot. I tried to at least snap a few photos at home, but he still wouldn't smile. Lance is trying to join in on the boycott.

Barkin' Dog Duathlon

I did my first duathlon this past weekend and was the first place winner for my age group! It was a 2K run follwed by a 18-K bike, then a 5K run. I got this fancy cup as my 'trophy'. It's too bad we forgot the camera on the counter because I guess I was in such a hurry during the first transition that I put my bike helmet on backwards and rode the whole 10 miles with it on the wrong way!! Thank goodness there was a "sprint" distance to sign up for because I'm pretty sure my body couldn't have handled much more having had a baby 14 weeks ago (and my recent history of knee problems).
So, I've decided that women don't do this kind of stuff right after having a baby NOT because they physically can't, but because it is such a royal pain in the butt to figure out the logistics! The night before the race I didn't get much sleep. Allison slept over so she could borrow the Tercel to bring to work and I woke up to her alarm at 2:15 am. Then, Isaac decided he wanted to get up at 4 am to eat. I was supposed to be to the race by 6:30 am, which was a little too soon for another feeding, so I pumped in the back seat on the way there to make sure he had something to eat since my heat didn't start until after 8 am and I wouldn't be done racing until well after 9 am. I then tried to feed him once we got to the parking lot so I would have to run with one full side. It took too long to try to feed him and pump out the rest so I missed the race course orientation. Luckily he slept in the stroller the whole time during my race, but he started waking up before the awards ceremony. We couldn't have our own car anywhere near the start/finish line and it was cold and windy, so I asked one of the sponsor tables if I could nurse Isaac in the back of their cargo van. Luckily there was a Rubbermaid tote in the back amidst all of the cardboard boxes/debris so I could sit on something to nurse him. I had put thermals on under his PJ's so it was a real pain to change his diaper. I changed it up right before I started feeding him (with the Rubbermaid tote as his changing table), but of course he filled it up again before he was finished eating and spit up all over my biker shorts while he was eating. I couldn't bring myself to put his thermal pants back on under his PJ's after the 2nd diaper change (thus, no pants in the above picture), but we survived the whole thing and I'm glad I did it!

Beatles and Bottles

Lance and I had a fun date night last weekend.  We got tickets to a Colorado Symphony Pops Concert, THE MUSIC OF THE BEATLES: SGT. PEPPER’S LONELY HEARTS CLUB BAND.  Curt and Allison were sweet and volunteered to watch Isaac again.  We went to dinner at a restaurant near their apartment, then walked to the Boettcher Concert Hall.  It is a unique venue with 360 degree seating.  It was so nice to get dressed up and have a night on the town!

Well, part-way through the concert I had a near panic attack;  I didn't remember packing a nipple for Isaac's bottles and just imagined Curt and Allison having to run to the grocery store with a furious baby.  I told Lance I had forgotten to pack the nipple and I think he got a good laugh because he could see the horror on my face.  It turns out the reason I didn't remember packing it was because Lance had gotten all of the bottle stuff ready this time.  I honestly felt like I was going to pass out; the adrenaline was that strong.

So the funny thing is, we got back to Curt and Allison's and the first thing Curt says is, "We had to go to the grocery store to buy Isaac a bottle; you sent the wrong nipple."  No joke.  That is some serious mother's intuition.  It turns out it really was the right nipple, just one that was a little tricky to attach to the bottle and because it was a different brand than the bottle base, they assumed we had just packed the wrong one.  To make matters worse, I had changed where I put his diapers in the diaper bag since the last time I was over there and the entire contents of the bag were strewn all over the floor.  It's a miracle she still agreed to babysit on Wednesday and Thursday while I picked up a few shifts at Target!!

3 Month Photos

If you can believe it, Isaac is already a full 3 months old. He loves talking/cooing and is smiling much more frequently. It is so fun to have little conversations with him. We're so excited to see what he learns next!

Ready for Church