a new one of Blake

Just a random shot that I really liked.

One Crazy Ride!

I came across this when looking for some files. It's from our trip to Lincoln this summer. We went to Adventureland in Des Moines ... it was quite fun! I wouldn't ride this ride, but talked everyone else into it! Someone had to watch the baby ;) Ugh, made me want to puke just watching it! Poor Katelyn ... she looks a little petrified on the ride! Her and Julie ... LOL!

we all miss you, Emmitt!

Everyone in the family is sad that Emmitt went to doggie heaven, even Izzy. Katelyn put Emmitt's collar on her stuffed dog and Izzy wouldn't leave it's side all night long ... it was the sweetest thing. She even growled when Nacho got close to it. We miss you, Emmitt! You were our first "baby"!

Blake ... another video

Here is Blake pulling himself up on the couch ... stinker!

He's off ...

So, really, you know, it's cute for your first baby to crawl early, walk early, talk early. But the 4th. It's just not cute, and actually is kind of a bother. Now we have to have eagle eyes out for Blake ... he's a crazy one. Maybe even crazier than Max!! He always heads right for the fireplace or to the couch to pull himself up. Max used to think Blake was so cute and sweet, now he can't stand the fact that Blake will come over and wreck his train tracks that he just set up! Now Max knows how Grant feels when he breaks all his Lego ships!! Ha, ha!

So, all kidding aside, it is fun to see Blake grow and develop ... but it just seems to soon. What happened to my little baby??? :(

max's birthday

So, this year, we're going pretty low key with birthdays ... We paid off the older kids to not have a birthday party and just gave them cash instead (don't tell them, but we got a great deal!!). For Max, we just invited a couple friends to Chuck E.'s to play and eat! Max loved it ... noise and all (he blended right in). Grant went through 60 tokens in a matter of 5 minutes (seriously!) but the rest of the kids spent an hour or so playing games and running around. Max loved his Thomas cake (and so did mom ... it was yummmmmmmy! I so look forward to birthdays just so I can have some cake!). That was it. And again, I was bad mom and took about 5 pictures! At least I took some!

Here's Max with his cake and giving us a monster face (I have no idea why!):

old man gummy

our little octopus

So, he didn't really get to wear his costume as he napped through Halloween, so we left him at home with Grandma, but I thought I couldn't get away with not taking some pictures. Doesn't he make a cute octopus ... and he has tasty tentacles :)

train ride to the pumpkin patch

So, we found this cool place in Fillmore, CA, where you can ride the train to a pumpkin patch. We thought that since Max was so into trains, this would be a great place to go and find our pumpkins for Halloween. Well, it was definitely a cool train ride but the pumpkin patch left a little to be desired. I definitely miss Roca Berry Pumpkin Patch in Nebraska, where you can pick your own pumpkin, right off the stem. Plus, these were pretty thrashed. And it was hot out :( But, it didn't matter to Max ... he was proud of his not-so-perfect pumpkin and proudly carried it to the train. The train was totally cool, and hopefully we can do it again sometime. Here are some photos from our day. The picture of Grant in the middle of the train was the concession stand ... Grant's favorite place to visit! They had some great cream soda (according to Steve and the kids) and even better grape soda (according to me)!

Oh, I'd better not forget the coolest part of the ride! If you're a Matlock fan like me, you'll appreciate this ... Cliff was on our train ride back from the patch!!! Nobody believed me at first, but I was right (of course ... ha, ha)! I was too embarrassed to take a picture of him, but I did get one of the back of his head!! If you don't know who I'm talking about, his real name is Daniel Roebuck (www.danielroebuck.com). My second star sighting!!

blake and peas

The combination of those two are a complete mess. We got a little bit of a late start on solids because Blake wasn't very cooperative (and mom gave up!). So, here we go again ... Blake definitely loves to eat, but that darn tongue does some weird things, like push the food right back out! It's kind of funny, but messy. So, today we did peas. He ate almost a whole jar! It's good ... he needs to gain some weight. He was only 15 lbs. 10 oz. at his 6 mo. appt. The doctor wasn't worried, but I sure wondered. I've always had such chunky monkeys .. Anyway, maybe all these peas will do more than make a mess on his face and in his diaper! Ha, ha!

our cool visitor

Well, Max called him a spider for most of the day, but I finally got him to say he was praying! LOL! This little guy was on our screen for most of the day, but I found him later on the side of our house. (I thought they were always green, but learned they can be brown also.) Max thought he was pretty cool, but didn't want to touch him :)

he could go all the way ...

Grant had a touchdown his first game and an almost touchdown last week. I actually thought he had one, but obviously, I was too far down the other end of the field! LOL! He looked awesome, juking his way around the players! It was exciting! Here's the sequence: (By the way, Grant's #90 on the gray team)

getting the handoff

fall sports season is upon us ...

So, Katelyn's playing volleyball, Grant's doing football and that leaves us busy on Saturday mornings! Here are some pictures of Katelyn at her game a couple of weeks ago ... They have some work to do as a team, but Katelyn's improved a lot from last year!

no reason ...

besides it was just too cute not to share!

I got some hats in that I ordered for my business and had to test one out on Blake. I have a really great hat for girls ... need to borrow someone's little girl now!

Blake - 5 months

Have I said how fast time goes by? Oh, yeah, several times now, haven't I? It's amazing to think that Blake is 5 months already. He's growing every day, doing new things and making us smile. He's getting better with his hand-eye coordination, loves to be tickled and thinks his big brothers and sister are the coolest! They definitely can make him smile.

Here he is in his Nebraska attire (thanks, Aunt Julie!!). He would say, "Go Big Red," but he's kind of mad at them right now for being soooooo pathetic! Just kidding ... that was his mom talking.

Apple/Raspberry Pickin' in Tehachapi

Grandma Gotcher has started a new tradition ... last year, she discovered that we could go to Tehachapi and pick our own apples and raspberries. This year, Blake got to be part of the tradition (Katelyn is in Lincoln with Daddy). It was a perfect day ... the weather was not too hot, not too cold. Our first picking was apples ... and then we drove up a little further to the raspberries. Max made a new friend. He was not too happy to have to leave his kitty friend. The kitty followed him everywhere and was so friendly. It's too bad Steve's allergic ;)

Here are some photos from our day!

This is so funny ... Izzy singing!

Max and Izzy are quite the pair. They are seriously like siblings, playing together all day. It's quite funny to hear Max say, "Izzy QUIET" when Izzy is barking. You can hear them fighting in the other room (or hear Max telling Izzy what to do!). But yesterday, something really funny happened. Max happened to be yelling (for whatever reason I don't know) and Izzy decided to join in. At first I thought it was a fluke, but most of the time we can get her to do it over and over. Here's what they do:

Blake - 4 months old

I know everyone's probably tired of hearing me say this, but seriously, where does the time go? How can Blake be 4 months old already. I miss his baby-baby stage, but yet love watching him get bigger and smarter! He is ALWAYS smiling (unless he's hungry or tired) and the kids really love having him around. Max is always saying, "Blake cute." He is so good with him. We haven't started eating solids yet, but make take that on later this month. We'll see!

Blake ... playing around

It's so fun to see Blake getting bigger and learning new things. He loves to play on his tummy and always rolls to it if I put him on his back. It's annoying at times (especially when he's supposed to be napping), but I'm glad he likes to play with his toys like that. He's chewing on everything and getting better at using his hands. Here he is at his favorite spot!

Where did the summer go?

I can't even believe how fast this summer went. Between swimming and hanging out with friends, it just flew by. I was sad to see summer go, but we've settled into our routine again and the kids are enjoying their new year. Katelyn LOVES her teacher ... we never hear the end of it! Here they are on the first day ...