For over a month the girls came home almost everyday asking about our plans for Halloween costumes.  The reality was I wasn't feeling Halloween like I normally do and didn't want to think about putting together costumes. With only a short time before Halloween, we headed to Zeezos, which is the BEST Halloween store in downtown Colorado Springs, and found the cutest flapper dresses and beads for the girls.  Since all the adult flapper dresses at Zeezos were sleeveless, I spent a great deal of time on Amazon trying to find something that would work for me.  I also found a cute romper that would work for Madeline.  Since I was unable to find headpieces that went with the girl's dresses, I gathered some supplies from Hobby Lobby and made headbands for the girls.  I wished the boys had agreed to dress up in our 20s theme but I know the days of them dressing up are coming to an end.  They did agree to dress up though.  Peter dressed up as a Ringwraith from Lord of the Rings and Andrew dressed up as Todd Chavez from the BoJack Horsemen show.  It was a scramble to get everyone ready on the night of our Trunk or Treat with Mike working until the very last minute and me trying to recover from an EGD I had earlier in the day.  It was pretty cold when we headed across the street to our usual scary spot in front of the horse farm.  It's sad to think that this is our last year to take pictures in this spot since there will be homes there next year and most of the trees will be gone.  

After our little photo shoot we headed to the Trunk or Treat at the church building.  Abby brought her good friend Anna and met up with her other buddies.  Emma had so much fun hanging out with all her friends from both the Cordera and Pine Creek ward.  Everyone thought Madeline was just SO CUTE.  She really did steal the show with her cute 20's romper, headband, and pearls.  Everyone had a great time, even Abby who came out of the haunted house crying because she got so scared.  

Halloween day was pretty exciting.  Madeline started walking and spent most of the day trying to become more confident in walking by herself.  That night everyone seemed to go in different directions.  Peter went with Josh and Emma met up with her friends at the Seaquist's home and went trick or treating in the Pine Creek neighborhoods.  Abby stayed behind and went trick or treating in our neighborhood with Noelle and Natalie.  Andrew graciously stayed behind for an hour to watch Madeline while I walked with Emma and her friends.  Then Andrew took off to a party at his friend Brady's house.  It was a night filled with lots of fun with friends and way too much candy.  

Madeline really loves to be outside.  With the weather as warm as it has been lately I try to go outside with Madeline everyday.  Lately, she has wanted to go in the backyard and walk on the grass while I hold her hands.  There is usually a soccer ball out there that she likes to kick around.  She has also taken an interest in getting on the trampoline.  Today I sat her on the trampoline while I gently bounced up and down.  She LOVED it.  I even had her stand up and I held her hands while we bounced very softly.  I loved watching how crazy and static her hair got just after being on the trampoline for a few minutes.  

I always have mixed feelings about the kids going back to school.  On the one hand, I tend to feel like I need to get my house back in order.  On the other hand, I love having my kids around even when they drive me a little crazy.  We had such a fun summer together.  I think the kids also had mixed feelings about starting school again.  Who doesn't love sleeping in and playing all day long?? Abby, Emma, and Peter started school on August 14th and Andrew started on August 15th.  We all determined that this was going to be everyone's best year yet.  With Emma starting Middle School, Peter starting High School, and Andrew prepping for the ACT and SAT this year the anxiety level was a bit high for the first day.  All in all, everyone had a great start to the school year and came home with smiles and excitement.  

Fourth Grade . Landsharks Cross Country and Track team . Student Ambassador at Mountain View ES . Piano . Music Dance Theater class . Trying out for the school musical 

One word the describes ABBY this year is:  SOCIAL


BEST PART OF YOUR DAY:  Recess and meeting new friends

THING YOU ARE THE MOST EXCITED ABOUT THIS YEAR:  Learning about Colorado Springs history and trying out for the school musical

THING YOU ARE THE MOST CONCERNED ABOUT THIS YEAR:  Math
​
FAVORITE CLASS SO FAR:  Writing

Sixth Grade . Cross Country Team . High Trails . Violin . Piano . Saxophone . Beginning Band .  Art . Gateway to Technology . Language Arts . Pre Algebra . Science . Social Studies .  PE . Contacts

One word that describes Emma this year is:  FRIENDLY


BEST PART OF YOUR DAY:  Meeting my teacher Mrs. Wade and getting my locker buddy

THING YOU ARE THE MOST EXCITED ABOUT THIS YEAR:  High Trails and Band

THING YOU ARE THE MOST CONCERNED ABOUT THIS YEAR:  Making and keeping good friends
​
FAVORITE CLASS SO FAR:  Language Arts

Ninth Grade . Freshman . Cross Country Team . Going to try out for the Swim Team . Trumpet . Jazz Ensemble . Honors Biology . Honors Lit . AP Human Geography .  Geometry .  German 1  . Seminary .  Working on Eagle . Contacts

One word that describes Peter this year is: HUMOR 


BEST PART OF YOUR DAY:  German and Jazz Band

THING YOU ARE THE MOST EXCITED ABOUT THIS YEAR:  German class and having the same lunch as my best friend Josh.

THING YOU ARE THE MOST CONCERNED ABOUT THIS YEAR:  AP Exam

FAVORITE CLASS SO FAR:  German

Eleventh Grade . Junior . Rapids Swim Club . Varsity Swim Team . Trombone . Advanced Jazz Ensemble .  Music Honors Society . Applying for German Honors Society .  AP Biology . US History . Sociology . Algebra 2 .  American Lit .  German 3 .  Seminary . Eagle Scout . New Driver

One word that describes Andrew this year is: DETERMINED


BEST PART OF YOUR DAY:  Saying hi to friends

THING YOU ARE THE MOST EXCITED ABOUT THIS YEAR:  Swimming and Sociology class

THING YOU ARE THE MOST CONCERNED ABOUT THIS YEAR:  The ACT and SAT

FAVORITE CLASS SO FAR:  Sociology

​We were all packed and ready to go Sunday night, but it was also our last day of the most ridiculous breakfast we have ever had at a hotel, so we went downstairs and gorged ourselves on the tasty food.   Then Mike left to get the car, which led to him walking all the way around Waterloo Station, before he figured out it was just beyond Waterloo station.  Unfortunately, when he got there, the car was too small, so he had to wait for someone else to get back with a bigger car that would fit our big gaggle of people.   He waited, and waited, and waited until suddenly, it was 12:30 and the car finally appeared.  Then they washed it FOREVER.  Or as the guy called it, “We’ll wiz it up”.  Mike sped back to the hotel and picked all of us up and then sped through London at unreal speeds defying motorcycles and uber delivery guys and deliveroos and porsches and BMWs as we raced to get to the Harry Potter experience by 2:30 PM.  We made it all the way through crazy traffic and turns and got there at 2:29 PM (after one missed roundabout and some minor yelling).  It was a rainy day, but since we were going to be inside, we weren't at all sad about it.  
​ 
The Harry Potter Warner Brother’s set was AMAZING!  It had all kinds of stuff from the movies and was really well done.  It was fun to see the wardrobes, animatronics, sets, props, and everything from the movies.  To be in the Great Hall and to walk down Diagon Alley, and to see the enormous replica of Hogwarts Castle was incredible.  The kids loved seeing the moving staircase, the fat lady, the sleeping quarters, the Gryffindor common room, the gigantic clock, Dumbledore's office, the potions area, the flying car and motorbike, all the cool doors, Hagrid's hut and the Burrow.  It was all so very cool.  The kids even got to stop and fly on their own brooms.  We loved seeing the inside of the Ministry of Magic and going through the Dark Forest which was new to the studio this year.  Inside the forest we got to see Buckbeak and Aragog.  The highlight of the tour was definitely seeing the Hogwarts Express and being able to go inside the train and see the different cabins arranged for scenes from the different movies.  When all the inside touring was over we stopped at the cafe and tried butter beer.  It turns out that the butter beer was pretty good…who would have thought.  Then we went outside to walk along the covered bridge and go inside the Privot Drive house and stand inside the Night Bus.  The kids loved seeing the life sized chess pieces and having their turn sitting in the flying car and Hagrid's motorbike.  Back inside the last part of the tour we got to see all the animatronics and were fascinated that they did the Patronus by putting a light vest on a dog.  Hagrid's head robot and Dobby were both so cool to see as well.  At the end of the tour we got to see the giant replica of the castle and then go inside the shop where you could find every Harry Potter paraphernalia you could possibly think of.  We will all remember this day for a very long time!

​Speaking of which, Sunday morning found us on the tube rushing to get to church.  We thought we were going to be late, but we made it just in time for the Sacrament hymn and the sacrament.  It was fast and testimony meeting, and we heard testimonies from all over the world.  The Stake visitor (maybe the Stake President) spoke about this and how it demonstrated God’s love for his children as the Gospel makes its way to every country and every people.  He also spoke about the need for the message of the Gospel, particularly families, to be spread through the world and the hope that comes through Jesus Christ, the peace that comes in troubled times.  I remember really liking what he said and feeling the Spirit. 
 
After Sacrament meeting, we walked over to the science museum and saw some dinosaur bones.  The best part about the museum was the entrance.  After that, it was pretty much another science museum.  From the science museum, we took the tube over to the British Museum, the largest museum in the world.  We saw the Egyptian collection, the Rosetta Stone, Dumb Dumb, and a really cool library room.  Before we went in, we ate lunch outside and let Madeline chase the birds in her stroller.  After the museum, we left mom behind as we started walking up to King’s Cross station.  This led to mom being mad at everyone for a period of time.  Pretty much on par with the wet spoon incident.  When we got to King’s Cross, we went to platform 9 ¾ and got our photos pushing the cart into the wall.  We then got some food.  Peter and Abbey had burgers and a milk shake.  The rest had Japanese curry.  We then had Mille Filleule, which was delicious.  From there, we walked over to the Biritish library and saw the Magna Carta, the King James Bible, some original Beetles stuff, the Guttenberg Bible, and other old stuff.  Unfortuantely, they don’t let you take pictures of anything, which is kind of sad. 
 
After the museums, we took the tube back to our hotel…with 10 pence left on our Oyster cards!  Pretty well planned if you ask me.  After so much walking, it was nap time for everyone.
 
 

​14 hours after we fell asleep we woke up.  Soooo, a little later than was planned.  No worries, we got up and went downstairs to the largest hotel breakfast that has ever been imagined on the face of the planet.  We were truly dumbfounded by the sheer volume of food that was present.  Waffles, Grapefruit, Sausage, Taters, Hot Chocolate, Croissants, Muffins, Breads, Jams, Bacon!  We gorged ourselves and then made lunch for the day and put it in our trusty zip-lock bags.  From there, we walked down to Waterloo Station and got on the tube to go to Tower of London.  We took the tube to Embankement station and then we were going to transfer to the District line.  However, the District line was closed…kind of awesome after walking all over the station with the stroller.  The tube is like a hamster maze for humans…many of the lines are not really that close to one another in the underground.  So we went to plan B and got on a river taxi and got a tour of London on the Thames!  It was pretty great because we got to see all the various sights from the river.  Not a bad reward for a broken subway system!
 
We got off the boat at the Tower of London and walked in to one of the coolest fortresses of all times.  While some of us were disappointed with the torture room, the crown jewels more than made up for the lack of people hanging from the walls.  While the crowns were cool, the scepters, maces, swords, and goblets were amazing as well.  Clearly, Britain’s Monarch have a flair for extravagance.  It was also interesting to see them talk about how the Monarch is anointed with oil to make them a king.  Many things to consider aside from the 3,000 carat diamonds. 
 
Mike and the boys and got to see the Fusillier’s museum with remnants of all their campaigns throughout the world.   It is interesting that Tower of London is still a garrison for an infantry unit.  Peter could barely lift up the infantry soldier’s pack!  The girls got to see the guards and get a photo with one of the soldiers.  It turns out to work there, you have to have been in the Army for at least 22 years, be retired, and have attained the rank of Sergeant Major.  Everyone except Mike and Madeline toured the white tower and saw all the armor and weapons.  Madeline got to eat baby food and get carried up and down endless stairs in the stroller.  Tower of London was not really stroller friendly.  We got some good photos of London Bridge and steered our way back through the masses to the tube station to go to St Paul’s Cathedral.  

Of course, when we arrived at the tube station, it was closed…so we hopped on the bus with our handy oyster cards and made our way down the street to St. Paul’s Cathedral.  St Paul’s is one nifty Cathedral.  Like Westminster Abbey, it is full of dead people, but the architecture is ridiculous.  From the naïve to the dome to the altars, it was amazing.  Behind the altar is a book with the names of all the American service members who died in WWII that were stationed in Great Britain (some 22,000).  It was a nice tribute to the sacrifice of so many who came to defeat hatred so far from their homes.  When we picked up the audio tours, Mike spoke in French and the guy thought we were from France, until Mike told him we wanted the guides in English….tricky Mike.
 
Of course, since we were at St. Paul’s, and we’re Wilhelms, we decided to hike up to the top of the Cathedral dome…the whole way up, with a baby, and a stroller (mostly because Mike isn’t smart enough to check the stroller at the bottom).  The staircase to the first level was wide with short steps.  It put us up in the rotundum about ½ way.  The next set of stairs was crazy narrow and steep with bonus narrow sections put in there.   This took us up and outside where we got great views of London and waited for the final ascent to the top of the dome to a little balcony on the outside that got you the best views of the city.  The steps though were tortuous with a stroller, but doable, if you’re Mike.
 
From there, we came back down the stairs all the way to the bottom and found a nice plaza to have lunch.  We ate our sandwiches that we made at breakfast and got some ice-cream from the local grocery store and sat in the plaza by a fountain and ate our lunch.  After that, we got our Poppins on and fed the birds.  Yes indeed, on the steps of St. Paul, we fed the birds.  We also lost Andrew, who stated emphatically that he had been standing there the whole time…well we had video evidence, and sure enough, he was standing by the pole while the other kids fed the birds.  This time, he was saved by the video. 
 
From St. Paul’s, we walked over the Millennium bridge back across the Thames and walked through the back roads to our hotel.  Of course, being good parents, we left all our kids in the hotel and went out to get some tasty Ramen for ourselves.  The Ramen was by far the best we have eaten since leaving Japan.  Strange thing is that as we were leaving the hotel, Mike had a bad feeling about gong out.  All was good and we made it back safely to our hotel after dinner, but that night some terrorists killed a bunch of people on London bridge and in the nearby restaurants.  We were about 5 blocks away, fortunately, we were not in that area when it happened.  We hate terrorists and the non-sense that accompanies all this stuff.  It takes something out of the fun of travelling when you have to beware of the nut jobs out there.  We were able to get our kids some Japanese food and headed home early, which ended up being a good thing because we were fast asleep in our hotel when all the bad stuff went down.  Stand ye in holy places. ​

JUNE 1, 2017
 
After almost 4 months of planning we were finally headed to Europe for our 3 week adventure to England, France, and Scotland.  After going to bed around midnight (some of us a little later), Sara got up at 3:30 AM to take a shower and get ready for the trek.  Mike was up by 3:45 and ready to go.  Emma and Abby by 4:00 AM and the boys around 4:10… with some effort.  Since we had packed the car the night before, we mostly got up, grabbed our bags and hopped in the car.  We were out of the driveway by 4:27 AM,  parked by 5:30 and were in the airport by about 5:45.  The girl in front of us was dropping off her bag and left her car running outside the airport…she then ran out to park her car.  We felt bad for her thinking she would probably miss the flight.  We checked in and checked our bags and then went through TSA pre-check…we were at the gate with time to spare.  We LOVE TSA Pre-check.  To our surprise, the girl made it back just in time!  We were on a little Embraer plane, all loaded up ready to go by 7:05, but the pilot came on and said there was a problem with the plane….so we sat there for a bit and then after about 40 minutes took off.  We had a pretty smooth flight to Toronto with some nice in flight entertainment (Mike watched Hidden Figures, Sara Passengers, Peter Sing, Abby Sing, Emma Ghostbusters, and Andrew…well who knows what he was doing).  So we got to Toronto and headed over to the International Departures.  The cleaning lady was totally infatuated with our family and kids…kind of like we were back in Japan.  Unfortunately, the Priority Pass lounge was being refurbished so the lounge was kind of ghetto and shoved into the corner of part of the terminal.  At least there was free food and comfy chairs to sit in.  I think Abby had 34 cream puffs and Sara had the same number of brownies.  No really...we all ate too much food.  Some of us slept while others just kept eating.  I wonder who will puke first on the flight!
​

Mike and his amazing planning and creative skills were key in putting together this AWESOME itinerary book that he had printed for each one of us.  Here are today's pages:

Madeline at 8 months old has been so much fun.  She now weighs 14lbs 3 oz.  This month she learned how to sit up from a laying down position and she started crawling. Halfway through the month she learned how to pull herself up to a kneeling position and finally to a standing position while holding onto something.  We will usually find her standing up in her crib when she is ready to get out.  She can stand at the couch and slap the cushions.  She also loves to slap the desk or table.  She loves to copy us when we clap our hands or wave our hands around and will still clap when we ask her to clap her hands.  She claps when she hears music or when someone is singing.  She can say da da da and ma ma ma this month but not in relation to mom or dad but just as new sounds.  

Madeline has the cutest giggle and has some definite tickle spots.  When Peter laughs at her she laughs back.  She gives kisses on the cheek by opening up her mouth and giving us open mouthed kisses.  She scrunches up her nose sometimes when she smiles at us.  It is the cutest thing ever.  Sometimes when she scrunches her nose she makes huffing sounds real fast.  Madeline loves to kick her feet and is totally fascinated with everyone's toes.  It doesn't matter whether your toes are painted or not, she loves them.  She likes it when we play, "This little piggy," with her toes.   
 
Madeline is all about grabbing things and putting them in her mouth.  Whether it's the new blocks she has been playing with or my lens cap...she likes to put things in her mouth and chew on them.  She still loves to suck on her thumb but only when she is tired and ready to go to sleep.  

Madeline is learning to love the bath a little more.  She will actually sit on her bath recliner and play with her toys.  Bath time is still a pretty quick affair but the older she gets the more she enjoys it.  

This month Madeline discovered the rocking wicker rocking horse and loves to crawl up to it and play with it.  We sat her up on top for the first time and help onto her as we rocked her back and forth all while saying, "Weeee."  She loved that.  She loves it when we make a big deal about everything.  

Madeline has been quite the active little girl this month.  Being able to sit up and play has opened up a whole new world to her.  She is constantly moving and is just so happy to be sitting and playing.  She loves the bus full of people and animals and will pull the bus by the red handle and then grab the people and suck on them.  She also loves the record player and will happily sit and listen to the music while playing with the other discs.  She continues to LOVE the rings and can now grab one in each hand.  She has learned to bang them together and we will even find her banging toys on her sweet little head.  Luckily she hasn't banged her head hard enough with the toys to hurt herself.  With the  banging of toys together Madeline started to learn how to clap her hands together.  It took a few weeks but by the end of the month she was clapping all by herself.  It was the cutest thing ever.  By the end of the month Madeline could get up on her knees and rock back and forth.  She would usually fall after that.  It is just a matter of time before she figures out how to crawl.

Now that Madeline is more active I started to notice that during diaper changes she was becoming more restless.  I came up with a great little tweak to our routine to help with that.  Before going to get her out of her crib in the morning and after nap times I would go and fix her bottle first.  Then I would pick her up and bring her over to the changing table.  I would lay her down and give her the bottle.  For the first few days I worked with her on being able to hold the bottle herself.  After only a few days she was able to hold the bottle so that I could change her diaper while she drank her milk.  It was a WIN-WIN for both of us.  

Madeline is now eating three meals a day.  Cereal and fruit in the morning, fruit for lunch, and cereal and a vegetable for dinner.  She loves to eat and when she is all finished I will always give her the soft spoon to chew on.  From the very beginning of this month I could tell that she was teething with all her chewing, drooling, and fussiness.  Her first tooth finally popped through at the beginning of April and the second one was not too far behind popping through near the end of the month.  It is so cute to see her new little teeth.  

​Madeline loves to make sounds with her mouth.  Sometimes when she is playing with a toy she will bring it to her mouth and bob it back and forth on her mouth to make funny sounds.  Madeline chews on EVERYTHING.  Her favorite toys to chew on are her plastic keys, the alligator finger puppet, the stackable rings, and the teething toys.  

Madeline's laugh is SO CUTE and hilarious.  We usually get her to laugh by making surprise faces at her, tickling her sides and tummy, blowing on her tummy, and playing little piggies with her toes.  She still is infatuated with toes.  If my feet are on the ottoman she will stop what she is doing just so that she can stare at them and even lean forward to try and grab them.  I thought it was because my toes are always painted but even without toenail polish she was still interested in my toes.   

Madeline still loves books.  She loves to grab the pages and sometimes she tries to suck on them.  She can sit still long enough for me to get through an entire small board book.  

Her favorite books are:

The Barnyard Dance
Hand, Hand, Fingers, Thumb

Her favorite songs are:

5 Little Ducks
Wheels on the Bus
Animal Fair

At 6 months old Madeline weighs 12 lbs 5 oz.  She is still a tiny little thing but she is slowly gaining weight and continues to grow taller.  She is now 25 inches long.  Madeline seems to still be plagued by some reflux so we finally got her on some zantac to help her feel more comfortable.  She continues to have nursing periods where she doesn't eat very well but we are slowly working on getting her more comfortable.  We tried using the bottle to see if she would eat better and to our dismay, she refused to drink from the Dr. Brown bottles we had initially used.  So, I made it my quest to purchase a variety of bottles to get her to drink from a bottle again.  We tried a variety of bottles such as the NUK natural simple, Tommee Tippee, the Medela Calma, and the Como Tomo.  She took the Como Tomo bottle the best and so we ordered more of those and continued to expose her to the bottle more often.  It was a painful few days just trying to get her to take a bottle for one feeding.  The first time it took her almost 40 min to get down 4-5 oz.
Madeline started out this month 100% breastfed and over the course of the last 2 weeks I sadly weaned her to the bottle full time to help her gain more weight.​

Madeline still LOVES to eat baby food.  Her favorite foods seem to be sweet potatoes, squash, pears, and peaches.  Near the end of the month we introduced the baby puff snacks to her and she loved those.  Although she could pinch them between two fingers it was still difficult for her to get them in her mouth so we just fed them to her.  
.  
Madeline LOVES toes, especially her own.  Any time she is laying on her back she will grab her feet and chew on her toes.  It is so cute.  She also loves to look at my toes.  I think she especially likes that they are painted.  This month Madeline discovered her hands and fingers.  I would often catch her just staring at her hands and moving her fingers around in amazement.  

Madeline is still a major thumb sucker.  In fact, she refuses any and all pacifiers.  Lucky for us she only sucks her thumb when she is tired and ready to go to sleep.  I still tried to get her to take a pacifier and after 5 different pacifiers I was finally able to get her to suck on the smoothie pacifiers.   I was glad to find some pink ones.  

Madeline is still a great sleeper during the day and at night.  I will often find her little bum in the air when she sleeps on her tummy.  It is the cutest.   I love when Madeline wakes up in the morning.  She usually just lays there and sucks her thumb and is pretty quiet.  Sometimes she babbles and then I know she is truly awake.  I love how happy she is when I stand by her crib waiting for me to get her out.  Madeline is really good about rolling from front to back and back to front so I let her sleep with her blanket during her daytime naps.  I put her to bed with her blanket at night but then take it out before I head to bed.  She is still a GREAT sleeper and will fall asleep rather quickly as long as I hold her for a little bit with her blanket.  Then I lay her down with her blanket and walk away.  She usually just puts her thumb in her mouth and rolls over to her side.  

We are finally getting to the end of the size 1 diaper days.  They work great during the day but at night if I don't change her diaper early in the morning when she wakes up she will soak through her pjs.  I think it is finally time to start using size 2 diapers at night. 

Madeline's biggest accomplishment this month was her being able to sit up on her own.  It all started when I would sit her up on her changing table to button the back of her shirts when I noticed how stable she was when she would lean forward to try and grab the stuff in the diaper basket.  After a few days of that I decided I should try and see if she could sit up.  The first few days she could manage to sit for 20-30 sec at a time.  I had to sit right by her in case she fell over.  After a few days of that she was able to sit on her own for a few minutes.  This was a total life changer for both her and for me.  I was finally able to take showers and do a few things without her becoming too fussy.  She has really not enjoyed playing on her back or her tummy lately.  Her ability to sit up has opened up a whole new world for her.  Her favorite toys this month have been the stackable rings and the see-n-say.  She loves to chew on the colorful rings and she loves the different animal sounds.  

It was so fun to watch Madeline grow and change this month.  Her hair is starting to fill in and it looks like it will be blond like all the other kids.  Sometimes in certain light the sides of her hair look a little more golden.  It almost looks like she has red hair from the side when the light hits it just right.  She doesn't have any teeth yet but she has a pretty good grip with her mouth so we do have to be careful.  She has bit me a few times while nursing just with her gums and it did hurt.  Madeline still loves to suck on her fingers and toes and pretty much anything she can get to her mouth.  It seems like every time I change her diaper she grabs her toes and starts to suck on them.  She is still a thumb sucker when it comes to nap time and bed time.  In fact, she won't take the pacifier very well anymore.  She loves to use her hands and is getting better about grabbing toys and playing with them.  She loves playing with the plastic keys and her spoons.  She mostly chews on her toys.  

Madeline loves sitting in her bumbo seat and enjoys sitting up to the table with us while we eat dinner.  We always put toys on her tray to play with but her favorite thing to do is sit close to the table without her tray and tap on the table with her hands.  She especially loves it when we move her hands on the table like she is playing the piano.  One thing is for sure...Madeline loves to sit up.  She doesn't really love laying on her back to play.  She would rather be upright where she can see everything a little better.  Madeline loves to play with her toys and will usually try and eat anything we put in front of her.  She is starting to like tummy time better and will play longer on her tummy than she will on her back. 

Madeline has some definite tickle spots and we can usually get some giggles out of her when we tickle her.  Her most ticklish spots are on her sides up close to her armpits and on her upper back between her shoulder blades.  She loves it when we make funny noises with our mouths while blowing on her tummy.  

Madeline loves music. She loves sitting with Mike at the piano while he plays.  She also loves to tap on the keys.  Anytime Madeline gets a little fussy or sad all we have to do is sing to her and she is completely mesmerized.  Some of her favorite songs are:

Wheels on the Bus
Jumbo the Elephant
Little Purple Pansies
Bumblebee song
All Around the Mulberry Bush
Animal Fair
5 Little Ducks
Pat-a-cake

Madeline loves it when we read her books.  I think she is more interested in grabbing the pages but she seems to enjoy some of the board books like The Very Hungry Caterpillar, Barnyard Dance, and Moo, Baa, La La La.  She seems to like books that have lots of rhyming words.  

Bath time with Madeline is finally a fun affair instead of a quick wash and get out.  Even though she still can't sit up on her own she finally learned to kick and splash in the bath while laying on her yellow foam pad.  She loves to grab and suck on the washcloth.  She also loves it when we squeeze water from the wash cloth from up above.  She puts her hands out and tries to catch the big drops of water that fall from the washcloth.  

Madeline started baby food this month.  We fed her rice cereal first and she absolutely loved it.  Then we moved onto sweet potatoes and carrots but realized after a week of vegetables that she was not nursing very well so we cut back to just the cereal once a day.  I wanted to make sure that we got the nursing under control before we added any other foods back into her diet.  I continued keep cow's milk out of my diet to help with her spit up problems.  It seemed to help most of the time but by the end of the month I noticed that she continued to spit up quite a bit.  It was very clear by the end of this month that Madeline has been suffering from acid reflux.  


​
This month's FIRSTS:

Baby Food
Bumbo seat
Going for rides in the stroller without the car seat 
Zantac medicine for acid reflux

I will usually run outside with my group in any weather except if it is dangerous for me to drive to the location where we are meeting.  This morning was one of those days where it was better to not drive very far.  The frozen fog was crazy and I was glad it only took me 5 min to get to the club to run on the treadmill.  Instead of doing a 30 min tempo on the treadmill I opted to run 4x5 min tempo intervals with a 2:30 recovery job in between.  I don't enjoy running on the treadmill but was grateful I could at least run on a morning like today.  

Madeline loves music so it is no surprise that she loves to sit on Mike's lap while he plays the piano.  Today she actually took interest in pressing on the keys herself.  It was so fun to watch her excitement.  

It is an internal struggle sometimes to get up so early and head out on a run.  Most mornings I am up at 5am feeding Madeline but the temptation to get back in bed after she is done eating is almost more than I can bare.  I am always so happy running with my group and I am usually more productive throughout the day when I exercise early in the morning.  This morning we were doing descending 400's on the track.  They were essentially mile repeats with each 400 getting progressively faster.  After my last set I jogged around the track and noticed the beautiful sunrise.  I just had to stop and take a picture.  

It is so much fun that the Murata family continues to exchange a yearly package with us. We usually send ours right before Christmas and then receive one from them in January.  This year in addition to their fun array of Japanese snacks they sent Madeline the most adorable, and very Japanese, cream sweater cape.  I can't wait until she is a little bigger to fit into it.  The kids loved the super ramune hard candies and the unique apple
​hi-chews this year.  

I LOVE that Mike is so good at cooking.  I especially love it when he has found a new recipe to try.  Tonight's dinner was a green based curry to go along with fresh shrimp.  It was absolutely delicious.  Every one of the kids ate and loved this meal.  This one will definitely be going in our recipe book.

It seems like every February we get a few random WARM days.  Today topped the charts as the warmest day in February ever in Colorado Springs.  The high today ended up being around 78F. Mike and the girls took advantage of the warm weather and went to Flying Horse to swim in the pool.  

Peter and I ran the third race in the Winter Series today.  This race was 5 miles along the Santa Fe/Greenway Trail starting down near the El Pomar Sports Complex.  The weather couldn't have been more beautiful.  If anything we were a little too warm on our run.  Both of us did well enough and were happy to check yet another race off our list.  

HS SWIM PRE-SEASON
FEBRUARY 22, 2017

Andrew's pre-season practices for the High School swim team started this week.  He was relieved to be in decent shape from swimming on the Altitude club team since September.  More than anything I think he liked being back with the boys on the team.  They really bonded last year and that is something I think he missed.  

Every morning Peter is so excited to see Madeline but she is usually still sleeping by the time he has to leave for the bus stop.  This morning he heard her and asked if he could go and see her before he had to leave.  Knowing that he was cutting it close to make the bus I told him to hurry and say a quick hello.  It was so cute to see that he would risk missing the bus just to say hi to Madeline.  He really loves his baby sister.  

We had the BEST holiday weekend skiing at Crested Butte with our good friends, The Holleys.  Since the kids didn't have school on Friday we were able to leave early enough to arrive by the middle of the afternoon.  The drive along the 14ers was absolutely amazing.  Once we popped out on the other side of the mountain range towards Crested Butte the view was equally amazing.  The cute town of Crested Butte was hard to see with the high piles of snow drifts on the sides of the road.  Mike found us the coolest little single house to rent for the few days while we were there.  The driveway was horrific to park in but between Mike and Andrew shoveling some of the snow they were able to fit the car in the driveway in front of the garage.  We ended up using the garage to store our skis and boots.  The inside of the house was pretty awesome with a gourmet kitchen and good sized living room.  The kitchen was really the selling point so that we could do dinners with our friends every night.  In the basement there were three bedrooms, two bathrooms, and even a laundry closet.  The boys shared a room and the girls shared a room and everyone was thrilled that they got to sleep on real beds...no sleeper sofas this trip.  Not only was the inside of the house amazing, but we were literally only a 5 min walk across the street from the main ski lifts.  

After unpacking our things we worked together to make dinner for everyone.  The first night we wanted something that reminded all of us of Japan so we cooked Mike's famous Japanese curry and rice.  I think everyone was transported back to the time we all lived there.  It was so good to be back with our friends again.  

The next morning we got ready for our first day on the slopes.  Mike took the kids out first while I stayed behind to pick things up and get ready for our swap at lunchtime.  Josh, Sean, Andrew and Peter took the Silver Queen Express lift so that they could do some black runs while Mike, Sam, Morgan, Emma, and Abby rode up the Red Lady Express lift to ski the Paradise Bowl.  They were all having a great time until they came to the Teocalli 2 person lift and saw the enormously long line.  Instead of waiting in the line they decided to ski down to the East River Express Lift instead.  The line at that lift was even longer and since there was no where to go except up the lift, they waited the hour wait to get on the lift only to have to ski back down the mountain to meet for lunch. It was a bit of a crazy morning. It's amazing how the sun and food can make people happy again.  After lunch the little girls were done skiing so they went back to the house with Mike and Madeline.  Josh, Sean and Andrew headed back up to do some double black diamond runs while Sam, Peter and I took the Red Lady Express so that we could ski Paradise Bowl and the fun runs in that area.  We spent a good portion of our morning skiing down Paradise Bowl and Ruby Chief which was a double blue run.  We also enjoyed the fun little terrain park that was all rolling hills and fun turns.  It was like riding on a roller coaster ride.  We ended our day skiing some of the blues near Prospect.  The homes that were over there were absolutely amazing.  When we got to the bottom we enjoyed hearing about Andrew's adventure with Josh and Sean and how they did 2 double black diamond runs.  I think it's safe to say that Andrew has surpassed my skills on the skis.  ​

This morning I took the first shift skiing with the kids while Mike watched Madeline back at the house.  Josh and Sean headed off on a backcountry tour while the rest of us headed up the Red Lady Express Lift to ski near Paradise bowl again.  We did more of the same runs we had done the day before and even got Abby to ski down Ruby Chief, a double blue run, without too many problems.  Everyone loved the hilly terrain park run and it seemed like everyone was just happy to keep doing that run.  After we took Abby on that the first time she perked up and started skiing a little faster.  She was so excited by how fun that run was.  We spent most of the time on the runs near the Paradise Express lift.  As it got closer to lunch we headed down to the Teocalli lift and took that up so that we could ski Poverty Gulch down to the bottom.  The lines weren't bad at all today.  After lunch Mike, Andrew, and Peter went back out to ski.  Unfortunately, the good weather turned quickly into snow and wind.  I'm not sure how much the boys enjoyed the afternoon skiing but they still managed to get in a few good runs while the girls and I enjoyed some girl time back at the house.  Emma and Abby played for a while in the snow next to the driveway while I introduced Madeline to snow.  I actually put some of it in her hands to see how she would react.  She wasn't really sure what to think of the snow.  It didn't put a smile on her face and it didn't make her cry.  She learned pretty quickly that it was cold and when I put her hand near the snow bank to see if she would grab it, she knew better than to touch that cold thing.  

After everyone was done skiing and showered we spent another fun evening together with our friends.  Tonight we ate Southwestern Chicken Skillet and boy was it yummy.  The best part was watching Peter and Sean being super silly as they cleaned up dinner.  

Since this was our last day to ski we packed up everything into the car and Mike drove to park the car in the free lot while I took the kids to meet our friends at the lifts.  Andrew and Peter decided to join the girls this morning and we did more runs on Paradise Bowl and then headed down to the East River Express lift to try some of the blue runs over there.  The girls took the Floresta run to Lower Treasury and skied to the bottom while Andrew and Peter tried the Double Top Glades run which was a black mogul run.  We ended up waiting at the bottom a good 5-10 minutes for those boys.  When we got back to the top of that lift Emma wanted to try that run so I took her on it.  The first part of the run was small moguls through the trees.  It was awesome at first.  Then we came to the cliff and as I looked down I realized we had gotten ourselves into a really tough run.  The pitch was steep and the moguls were almost as tall as Emma. We did pretty well for the first half of that section until Emma lost her footing and tumbled 20 feet below.  She was ok but lost her polls.  A kind skier coming down after us was able to grab her poles and handed them off to me.  I was terrified as I saw her tumble and tumble and was so relieved when she finally stopped and said she was ok.  Everyone was waiting for us at the bottom and after retelling what had just happened, I was once again so relieved and grateful that Emma didn't get hurt.  We all headed back up the lift to the Teocalli lift so that we could head back down the mountain to meet Mike for lunch.  After lunch Mike went on a few runs with Josh and all the boys before the Holleys had to leave. Then he went on a few more runs with Andrew and Peter.  At one point he got separated from Andrew and Peter and so everyone came back down to the bottom.  There were words exchanged.  Mike was not so happy about what happened, but then he put on a happy face and did another run with the boys so that they could end our trip with smiles instead of frowns.  

I was a little unsure of how Madeline would take to baby food since she is only 5 months old.  After a few days of feeding her rice cereal, which she loved, we started with sweet potatoes.  Every one of my babies makes "the face" when they first are introduced to baby food.  Usually it lasts through the entire feeding.  Not this girl.  She made the face only on the first spoonful and then it was like she just couldn't get it in fast enough.  She was constantly grabbing for the spoon because she just wanted more.  Peter was so excited to be able to feed her the sweet potatoes.  She just loved him feeding her.  Now that she is getting used to food she doesn't put her fingers in her mouth quite as much as she did the first time with rice cereal.  Occasionally her fingers will navigate towards her mouth but as long as we are quick with the spoon she isn't really tempted to leave her fingers in her mouth.  I didn't think it was possible for a baby to get any cuter but with every new stage, Madeline does get cuter and cuter.  I just LOVE this little food lover of mine.  

The winter is a hard time to be a runner in Colorado.  The weather is usually cold and sometimes snowy or icy which makes for unfavorable conditions when heading out for a run.  Sometimes we do get those warmer days but they are pretty rare.  One thing is for sure, though, it is sunny 95% of the time.  This afternoon Peter geared up to head to the track to do a one mile run for his Physical Fitness merit badge.  The girls decided they wanted to tag along and run as well.  It had been a really nice day but as the sun started to go down it got really cold.  Once at the track we realized just how cold it truly was outside.  We were all a little underprepared as none of us brought gloves or hats.  The wind was biting and so the kids quickly did their run so we could head back home.  Peter had a great run and clocked in his mile at 7:20.  With plenty of room to improve over the course of the next few months I think he was happy.  I was proud of the girls as well for braving the cold to get their exercise done for the day.