Wintertime in Colorado

It is hard to believe that Christmas is already past and we are quickly approaching the new year. Today we are enjoying a beautiful winter day in Colorado, I say this since I am warm at home and don't have to drive in the 4-8 inches of snow we are currently getting. We enjoyed a true white Christmas with about 10 inches of snow added to our backyard that day, and with the additional snow we are getting today it will be March before we see grass in our backyard! Nettie and I decided that while John took his morning nap we would shovel the driveway, and by the time we were done, it needed to be done again, but we had fun and will get to go out again this afternoon.

Christmas was nice, we spent Sunday with Ben's family including our brother-in-law Kyle's parents. The kids all had fun and by 7:30, everyone was ready for bed. The kids enjoyed seeing Uncle Ben and Daddy dressed up as Santa's helper, although Nettie was frightened by him at first, she quickly changed her mind. Christmas Eve and Christmas day were filled with Tiffany's family and some Wismer family time. Nettie's favorite part was church which made Ben and Tiffany happy. John will understand more next year, but this year he enjoyed the paper and boxes. We are hoping both kids enjoy all the time with family and friends we get this time of year. We hope that everyone had a Merry Christmas and we wish you the best in 2008.

Thanksgiving Fun

What a great weekend with family and friends! We spent Thanksgiving at Susan and Brian's house and enjoyed football, time with the kids and a great dinner. The rest of the weekend was fun as well, we went to Nancy and CG's to celebrate Nancy's birthday on Saturday and spent the day making cookies and on Sunday we went with Tiff's family to the bowling alley to celebrate Aunt Pam's birthday. Nettie got her own ball from cousin Melissa and had a BALL bowling. She actually scored a 96 on her second game! She was so excited that when we came home all she wanted to do was go again.

We are looking forward to the holiday coming up and have been decorating the house. The kids and I went to see Santa today. John was mesmerized by Santa and Nettie wanted nothing to do with him. She was excited when we got to the mall this morning, but when she saw Santa walking down the mall she freaked out and ran away. Oh well, we will try again, but it may have to wait a year or two.

November in Colorado

What a great weekend in Colorado. We enjoyed 70 degree weather (in the afternoon), and we were able to play outside all weekend. On Saturday morning, we were able to see a hot air balloon fly right over our house! Nettie and Tiffany loved it and took a bunch of pictures. And then on the way to Kohls we pulled over at Chatfield to see the balloons in the field. Nettie was very excited and wanted to know when it was her turn. On Sunday we took a walk over to Geema's and Geepa's and jumped in the leaves. Nettie was a little unsure but after Geepa showed her how to do it she jumped in. John did not like the leaves much and cried when he was in them, so Geema saved him from the pile. It was a cool Sunday morning, so the kids were bundled up. The sweater Nettie is wearing was given to her when she was one by her Aunt Linda. This will be her 3rd Christmas wearing this sweater! She is getting excited for Christmas and can't wait for the decorations! It should be a fun holiday season.

Finally a post....

So the last 3 month have flown by and obviously I haven't written! Things here have been going well. The end of the summer flew by with lots of fun with family and friends. Grandpa Jack came into town in early September for a visit which was fun. The kids enjoyed seeing Grandpa Jack and getting to spend time with him. October brought visits from Ben's aunts and uncles, which is always fun, and Nettie and John enjoyed getting to know them all a little better.

Both kids are changing everyday. Nettie turned 3 on October 10th and enjoyed her birthday so much that everyday she asks if it is her birthday. She is turning into a big kid and enjoys all the things that she gets to do now. Plus, she is a great helper around the house and with John. The best part of watching Nettie and John this that they really love each other. Every morning they wake up and smile at each other and love to play together. Nettie is starting to work on spelling words and everyday learns something new.

John is getting bigger everyday. He is starting to learn to sign which has been fun and makes our lives a little easier. He is also starting to clap which is funny to watch, as he claps he loves to scream and let everyone know he is around. He has been crawling for over 3 months, and he is still working on trying to walk. Luckily this hasn't happened as quickly as I thought it was going to, but it will happen sooner rather than later.

We are getting excited for the holidays, and will work on being more consistent with updates.

John at 6 months

John is 6 months old, which for me is hard to believe. Especially since he is trying to grow up so quickly! How is crawling and pulling up on anything he can, which is making our lives a little more difficult. Nettie tends to smother her brother with kisses and I am waiting for the day he finally pushes her away. Until then, she happily hugs and kisses him all day long and decides when he is done playing with his toys so she can play with them. She also like to have him follow her around now that he can crawl.

I took John to the doctor today and he is still growing at a good pace and has taken on eating food. He is 14lbs 3 oz (5th percentile) and 26 inches (45th percentile). The doctor is still watching his weight but isn't too concerned about it. He is active and will probably just stay on the light side.

That is it for now, I will post more later!

Kids are funny

So it is interesting to me that while I am sitting here in the house on a 98 degree day that Nettie wants to not only lay under a blanket for quiet time, but she is now wearing her gloves and her snow boots. She has convinced herself that it is snowing outside, even though her hair is soaked with sweat. (this is the first picture)

The other 2 are just pictures from the last couple of weeks, John is finally growing into 3-6 month clothes, so that may be the last time he wears the golf outfit. Nettie got ready for church last week and thought the hat and scarf (and sunglasses not seen in the picture) completed the outfit.

Here we go again

It always seems to me that football season comes more quickly each year. As we sart to look towards Nettie's birthday party, which I plan on the bye week for the Broncos, it strikes me that we are in for a LONG 6 months. Ben will tell you the next 6 months are short, but for me, they are the longest of the year. It is constant planning and trying to make sure that we are near a TV during the Bronco game. I have to say that TIVO has helped the situation, we have actually been able to do a few things during games since we can now record the games easily.
I knew all this when I married Ben 6 years ago, and I would never change it. But I can honestly say that I look forward to January!

Life in the Wismer house is grand. Nettie is getting to be more of a kid by the minute, she talks constantly and loves to play with toys that are a little more challenging now. She has started to enjoy puzzles more, and likes play dough and coloring. John is amazing. We have known from the start he was going to be a mover and a shaker, but as he is now crab crawling all over we have to be quick to keep up with him. Nettie is also learning that what she doesn't want John to get, she has to put where he can't reach. Of course, since he pulled himself up last night, I think those days are numbered as well. It is interesting to have a baby that moves this early, he can't sit for longer than 1 minute, but he can move from one end of the room to the other in 3 seconds. We also started him on cereal this last week which seems to be a hit. We take him for his 6 month check up in a couple of weeks, so I will update more soon!

Summer Fun

It is hard to believe the month is already over! We had a busy July and enjoyed every minute. The month started off crazy with Tiffany stabbing a steak knife through her hand while trying to pit an avocado. We now own 2 avocado knives and use them diligently. I was lucky and didn't have any permanent damage, I am just off knife duty for quite sometime.

The kids have had a fun summer, we celebrated birthdays, weddings and the summer in general. At 5 months old, John is giving us a run for our money, he has quickly figured out how to move around. He has been rolling since about 3 1/2 months, and is now starting to crawl. IT is hard to believe when you look at the little peanut that he can move so much!

Here are some pictures from the summer
http://www.kodakgallery.com/PhotoView.jsp?&collid=26555367403.810502530503.1185828193450&photoid=298542530503&folderid=0&view=1&page=1&sort_order=0&albumsperpage=&navfolderid=2007

This past weekend we celebrated my Grandpa's birthday with the family. This was taken at the BBQ. IT has been rather hot here (for Colorado) so John has been spending most of his time hanging out in just a diaper and Nettie spent most of the day in the pool.

I have decided that there are definite differences in life since having 2 kids. I am sure that I had to readjust to life after going back to work with Nettie, but for some reason I feel that I am a total scatterbrain now. (Yes, I do know that I was one before it just seems to have gotten worse) I think the 2 kids thing is relatively easy, except for the fact that I continue to forget to buckle Nettie in and she has to remind me to do it. We have a pretty good routine down and Ben and I are both enjoying the 2 munchkins. It is the house that is suffering. I have spent the last week trying to get everything back in order since going back to work but have realized a few things...
1. If you have been so kind and sent us a gift and are wondering if we are going to send you a Thank you note, let me be the first to apologize. I have written many and have tried to remember everyone, but in my current state of absent mindedness I am not positive. We want everyone to know that we appreciate the gifts, thoughts, prayers, kind words and every one's loving support.
2. If I am supposed to remember to get you something or do something for you, it is best to call me, e-mail me, basically tell me as many times as you ca, or I will probably forget.
3. The most important part of my day is when I am with my family, and luckily they are all understanding and I couldn't ask for anything better, so I guess for a little while longer I might just be a little ADD. ( I thought when you weren't pregnant, the pregnant and stupid went away!)
Life with 2 kids is always interesting, it makes me appreciate people who have more than 2 kids and it really makes Ben and I both appreciate our parents and all that they have done over the years. The kids keep us laughing, especially Nettie, she says the funniest things. John is starting to come into his personality. I have a feeling he is truly going to be his father's son. He is already as easy going as Ben, and his face lights up whenever anyone smiles his direction.

It is hard to believe that John is actually 4 months old. He is such a happy boy, always smiling and now laughing. He takes after Ben in so many ways, but unfortuntely I think both our children ended up with my temper. John will be happy and playing and will suddenly start screaming because he is hungry! Of course at that point you can't make the bottle fast enough. This love of food did not seem to increase his size much though. John had his 4 month check up on Friday, and he is a little man...His weight is 12lbs9oz, height 24 inches, head size 16 inches. All these sound huge, but he is really in the smaller quater of babies his age. Ben and I contribute his small size to how active he is. He has figured out how to roll over both ways, so now he is rolling aroung the room. Nettie is getting bigger every day and is loving being in the pool this summer. We had to go out and buy a pool for the backyard. This makes the hot summer days that we have had bearable for all.
It is hard to believe this month is almost over, we are looking forward to a busy July. We will continue to try to post updates every couple of weeks.

Getting ready for vacation

It is amazing how quickly your kids grow up. John is 3 1/2 months old now and rolled over from his back to his belly last night. How he decided to go for the harder way to roll over first I will never know, but my kids are stubborn. (They get that from their father:)). We are getting ready to head to Texas for Paul's wedding, everyone is very excited and can't wait for the big day. Nettie go her haircut this week for the occasion and now wants to go get her haircut everyday!

It is interesting going from even having one kid to get ready for a trip to two kids. I think that I have packed everything that will entertain both kids for the next few days, but have gotten to the point that I know every where we go there are stores and if something is that important it can be bought. Of course, Nettie's current Dora obession makes packing a little more difficult, although we do have the swimsuit and the pajamas.

The other big news with the Wismer's is that we have a new addition to the family. Her name is Stella and she is a Silver 2008 Subuaru Outback. We were very excited to get the new car, although we hadn't really considered getting a 2008 model, but she is beautiful. Betty Boop (the Jeep) was old and tired and need to be traded in before she started to cost us too much money. I will add pictures of Stella soon!

To see more pictures:

http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=c76domj.6ib34e6b&x=0&y=-wkof5w