Charlie's 6 month pictures

Here is a little sneak peak from our photographer of Charlie's 6 month photos.

Charlie's 6 month photo shoot

I'm never going to be able to decide which ones to buy!!!

Videos of the kids

Just a reminder that I try to post cute videos of the kids from time to time on my YouTube page (link to the page is on the upper lefthand side of this blog). I posted a new one today and just had to share... so fun to see Charlie interacting with us!!!

Go Pack Go!

Mark and I are rooting on our GB Packers from Denver... here's a few pics from the recent watch parties. This weekend we are doing it up right with Beers and Brats! Our Wisconsin cousins would be proud of us!

Ella's 1st ski trip

The day started like this:

And ended like this:

It was a success! We started off on a bad foot but Ella totally exceeded our expectations. She actually pleaded with us to take her on a lift! Who knew we had such a skier on our hands! We were so impressed! And she isn't even 3 years old yet! Wow.

Thanks Uncle Tom for joining us for such a momentous occasion!

Here's a few photos from our day...

(Head on over to my you tube page- link on the upper left of my blog- to see a couple of Ella's ski videos.)

Charlie = 6 months!

Charlie is 6 months old and sitting up all by himself. (Still a little bit wobbly so Mom has to stay close by!) He is growing so fast we can hardly believe it. Charlie is now eating pears, sweet potatoes and squash along with the rice cereal he started eating last month. He has also be starting to get up on his hands and knees so we know that crawling is coming next!

Our 6 month doctor visit went great and here are Charlie's new stats:

Weight- 18lbs 6oz (60%)

Height- 27.5in (85%)

Head- 17.875in (90%)

Charlie gained almost 3 pounds in the last 2 months and he is still measuring almost exactly the same as Ella at 6 months. Pretty crazy. We have TWO big kiddos on our hands! Ha!

Happy 40th Birthday Mark!

This past Friday, January 7th Mark celebrated his 40th birthday! Happy birthday to the best Dad and husband around! Congrats on 40 great years! Here's to 40 more... and a wonderful celebration trip in Mexico next month!

Christmas 2010

We wish you a Merry Christmas, we wish you a Merry Christmas, we wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!! Better late than never... right?

I don't exactly know how to describe our Christmas vacation other than to tell you that after returning from our trip, I vowed to never ever ever travel with my children again. I know I will be taking that statement back in a few months when the memories have faded and we begin to miss our families... but for now... that's all I have.

We arrived in sunny, warm Florida to find that it wasn't so sunny and warm and it was actually COLDER than Denver! What!? We enjoyed a couple nice days with the family and then it exploded into a sickness-filled, germ infested vacation. It all started after Ella & Mark went for a swim in the heated swimming pool on one of our few nice days in Florida. Ella woke up from nap with an awful cough and runny nose. What we thought was an allergic reaction to the sunscreen turned out to be croup. We had Ella in the ER that evening (Dec 23rd) for about 4 hours. The nurses and doctors were wonderful and so sweet to Ella in the emergency room, bringing her popsicles and stuffed animals to soothe her while she got a steroid shot and breathing treatment. Poor baby.

Luckily the croup improved quickly, but unfortunately turned into a nasty cold which Ella passed along to most of the rest of the family. We were back at the hospital on Dec 27th (this time in urgent care) with BOTH kids sick- Ella with a left ear infection and Charlie with a pink right ear and a nasty sore throat. Both kids were put on antibiotics and sent home. I SHOULD have had them check me out too as I was also feeling bad, but I went on to suffer for another 5 days before I finally took myself to the doctor (once we were home) to be diagnosed with a nasty sinus infection that I am finally starting to recover from.

We didn't get to enjoy enough time with the family... but the kids still had a wonderful Christmas topped off with a special visit from Santa AND celebrating Poppa's 70th birthday. Here are a few pics from our trip.