Mesa Trail

David, Noah, Jonathan (David's brother) and I went for a hike up the Mesa Trail near Boulder.  I huffed and puffed my way up while David carried our huge son up the mountain.  It was Noah's first hike and he did great!  He didn't make a peep the entire time and just looked all around.  Meanwhile, I thought I was gonna die of heat stroke and from a lack of oxygen.  I was slapped in the face with a huge dose of reality of how out of shape I'm in.  It's so sad.  So, here’s to getting in shape and many more hikes!  And here’s to my awesome husband and Uncle Johnny for carrying our son! 

We're In Trouble!

9 months old.

Noah,

Well it's hard to believe that you have already been around nine months but as of this past Wednesday it's true.
It's amazing how fast the time has gone by and yet it's nearly impossible to imagine our lives without you. You are a very fun and exciting little guy.

Here are some of your recent developments. Not only can you crawl, now but you can crawl extremely fast. If we turn our heads for one minute you are in the next room and getting into stuff in a blink of an eye.
You are talking a lot more, you are working on your consonants and we hear a lot of mamamamamamama, dadadaddadadadada, bababababababa etc. You also like to make funny pop's and girgles with your mouth and of course there is still the raspberrys that we hear quite consistently.
You are getting pretty good at climbing up to your knees against walls, coffee tables or whatever is in front of you. If whatever you are climbing is low enough to the ground you will stand up on your own and lean on it. You have a small play table that you love to do that with. You've received a few bumps on the head on your dismounts, but you are now learning how to fall into the seated position instead of falling on your pumpkin. You can also get from crawling or laying down to the seated position. A pretty handy trick to have in the bag!
You are still eating very well although you have yet to discover the joy of our table food, you very much prefer the gerber foods to the yucky stuff we eat. We think it's because you don't like the texture. You make the most hilarious faces when we give you stuff from our plates. I think you are starting to explore more of those foods but as of right now you are a gerber food man all the way. You love your veggies and fruits and eat those very well.
You love when we read you bedtime stories, that is one of your favorite times. Also you are in love with both of your sisters. Sara takes very good care of you and loves you so much. Anna has the ability to make you smile and laugh like no one else. I think she's your favorite family member, you two are hilarious together.
Your other favorite family member is Momma, she takes such good care of you and loves you so much. She's currently the only person that you'll cuddle with which makes the rest of us jealous. You are a very smart guy and we love your laid back personality. You'll be one before we know it, hard to believe.

You had your 9 month Dr. appointment today and everything was good and normal. Well maybe normal isn't the right word but you are very healthy and doing great. Here are your stats from today's visit.

Weight 21.9 lbs (75th%)
You've been in the 75th% on this at every checkup so far.

Height 30 In. (97 - 100%)
Are you going to fight off those short genes from your mom's side and be tall like dad?

Head 48 cm (97%)
This for sure comes from moms side of the family. We gave you your middle name after someone else with the same predicament. :)

So you are tall, fairly skinny and have a big pumpkin.

There are a couple other things of note that you've done in the last couple months. You went on your first big road trip and visited 8 states. On that road trip you had many firsts but some of the memorable ones were meeting tons of relatives you hadn't met before, taking your first boat ride, first jet ski ride and your first trip to my home state of Minnesota (Go Vikings).

Also you've been growing a bunch of teeth, right now you have four, two on the top and two on the bottom but we can see at least 2-3 more about to pop through.

You are getting big son. We love you more and more each day.

Love you,
Dadadadadadadadadadadada

Here are some pics taken on your 9 month birthday in your favorite chair.

We're Still Here!

I've been a little slow on updating since we got back from our road trip. Though I'm not ready to post yet, here's a sneak peek of what's to come:

8 Months Old
Look What I Can Do
Longest Road Trip Ever...2009

P.S. Once all of the above are colored, you can click on them and go directly to that post.

Road Trip 2009…8 States, 12 Days, 3 Kids and 2 Tired Adults

July 14, 2009 – Left Westminster, Colorado at 6pm.

We decided to take a picture at every state line we crossed. This was our first one.

Arrived in Oakland, Iowa – 2 am(We didn’t get a picture of the state sign this time into Iowa). Exhausted and tired. We spent one night at Grandma Coleman’s house in Iowa.

July 15, 2009 – Left Oakland, Iowa at 10:00 am to drive to Chicago, Illinois. We decided Noah should take a turn driving. :)

Arrived at Aunt Jeanie and Uncle Woody’s house in Illinois @ 4 pm.

July 16, 2009 – Tourist Day in Downtown Chicago

Can you find us inside the bean? We’re all in a circle.

We visited The Sears tower on the day that it’s name was changed to Willis Tower…how appropriate!

July 17, 2009 – Made the trek to Fremont, Michigan. Had to go through Indiana… …To get these…

We continued on our journey to Michigan…

…Where we made another stop at the Dutch Village in Holland, MI

We left the Dutch Village to continue onto my Grandparent’s Lake house. We finally arrived at our destination around 4 pm. We stayed in Fremont, MI for 5 days where we played and played and played. Noah and the girls also got to meet and hang out with several of my family members. This is a very special place to my family and I. My Dad and I have both been going there since we were kids.

July 22, 2009 – We drove to Ludington, MI and took a ferry across Lake Michigan to Wisconsin.

When we got off the boat, we were now in Wisconsin. We were only in Wisconsin to drive through it, so I don’t have many stories from there. However, from a distance, we did see Lambeau field where the Green Bay Packers play. I am happy to report that David nor Noah did not whiz on the stadium like David had wanted to do! Nor did we stop for any cheese…which is a bummer!

After driving through Wisconsin, we finally reached our next destination, Minneapolis, MN…David’s hometown. We arrived at the Krussow’s (David’s sister and her family) house just in time for dinner. Our whole focus of this portion of our trip was to hang with the fam and to meet the newest member, Clara Grace Krussow.

July 23, 2009 – Minneapolis, MN – Mall of America and a Slider eating contest.

On the day we were there, Ashley Tisdale just so happened to be performing. The girls were ecstatic!

And of course, no trip to Minnesota would be complete without going to the Vikings store.

After the mall, David and Pete decide to have a slider eating contest. They each ate 13.5. Nobody won because they ran out of sliders. So, the contest is to be continued at a later date!

After the contest, they decided to make a White Castle Christmas tree and pose with their creation. Then at the right moment, they set their masterpiece on fire.

July 24, 2009 – Packed up, said goodbye to the Krussow’s, went to Minnehaha Falls (nothing got stolen this time around), showed the girls David’s old house and headed back towards Colorado.

After the falls, we had one last stop in Iowa. On the way back to Grandma Coleman’s, we met up with Cousin Luke and Aunt Ila to have some ice cream.

July 25, 2009 – Left Grandma Coleman’s, saw Grandma Gross and headed home.

So there you have it. Our trip in a nutshell. We had a great time seeing all the sites, meeting and visiting with our family and spending time with our own family. Until next year…