Happy Halloween

Stay tuned for some Little Vampire pictures.

Time to Baby Proof

Brian will be 7 months old soon. Gone are the days when he's happy in one place and sadly gone are the days when he can fall asleep in the car. However, after looking back over the past month and how fun he is, I'll gladly baby proof the house and put up with the car screaming to keep this little goofball around.

On the Move, cast your vote...

Here is a short video documenting Bri guy's crawling development, how much longer do you think it will take? Mark thinks he'll be crawling in less than a week, I'm thinking it will take longer.

The Ranch

My parent's Ranch is my home away from home. Not only is it full of the beautiful memories of childhood, but it is an escape from the noise, smell and busyness of the city. With my Mom there to build cozy fires and make yummy food and my Dad relaxing on a couch providing good company, the Ranch becomes the ultimate getaway. If I go more than a couple of weeks without getting up to the Ranch I get a little homesick. In fact, I think I'm a little Ranch homesick right now. Wouldn't you be?

I love the Ranch in all it's seasons and I especially love the short time when the seasons are changing. Last weekend we had summer, fall and winter all in one day. It was absolutely beautiful.

The Ranch is the perfect place in Fall, Winter, Spring and of course Summer. The following pictures were taken by my Dad and sister in July. Can a place be more gorgeous?

Four Cars and a Motorcycle

My husband is good at a lot of things, but there are two things that he knows so much about that you could call him a fanatic. One is computers, and the other is cars. This post is about our (his) cars. Yes, we currently own four cars and a motorcycle. I never dreamed that in the first 4 and 1/2 years of marriage we would have had six cars, a motorcycle and two scooters; let alone, own four of those cars and the motorcycle all at the same time! Well, apparently Mark did dream about this and lucky for him he ALWAYS makes money buying and selling and fixing up all these cars so it actually works out to be a profitable hobby. Our current car treasury consists of the following:

The Samurai
Mark bought this car from a neighbor for $100. He's planning on selling it for much more. It runs, but according to him it needs a little more work to be "worthy to sell".

The 4runner

Mark's dream car and most likely to be part of the family for awhile.

The Motorcyle
Mark's fuel saving summer adventure.

The Subaru

My dream car and everything we need, except it has a few problems and Mark is not a fan of working on it. Seeing that we want him to want to enjoy working on the car to save us thousands of dollars rather than take it to a mechanic, we have decided to sell the beautiful Subi and get a car that he does enjoy fixing, such as a Toyota or a Honda. So after much debate, he has convinced me to embrace my motherhood and we have recently bought. . .

The Minivan
Yes, I am now going to be driving a Toyota Sienna with my only passenger being Brian. I know it sounds a little silly, but we got a smashing deal, Mark wants to fix it, it's a nice drive, it's comfortable, it has great leather seats, it's convenient, and some day we'll want a minivan anyway (no, this is not an announcement). So there it is, I have told the world I now drive a minivan. Yikes!

Everyone Should Have a Six Month Old Baby

Brian is now officially six months old and I LOVE this age. He definitely has developed his own little personality and he shows it. I love that he can't get into everything yet and that he can't talk back, but he is still pretty good at communicating what he needs and wants, which I find amazing for such a little guy. He is quick to smile when I smile at him and he is so curious about everything he sees. I never knew I could have so much fun with a baby that can't even talk.

He went to his doctor's appointment and he seems to be right on track with everything. He has gone from being in the 70th percentile in weight and height to being in the 25th percentile, so he hasn't been growing as fast as he did the first few months, but at least he is well proportioned.

This morning I also noticed that his first little tooth has broken through. He is no longer the completely toothless little man he was and hopefully he will never be completely toothless again. I'm grateful he is so willing to adjust to new experiences such as getting teeth. As long as he has something to chew on he seems alright with the whole idea of growing teeth through his tender little gums.

This is just a video of six month old Brian hanging out and playing with his dad.