Wile E Coyote

Last weekend daddy shot a coyote out on the driveway. There are many around & they are quite a nuisance. We saw one the week before, but by the time daddy went to the bedroom, unlocked & got the rifle, ran to the garage for ammunition, only to remember it was downstairs, the coyote was nowhere to be seen. The dogs were out back, so Alice went out the back door & was very excited to get their attention. Once I took the shot, they couldn't contain their excitement & Alice was no longer as interesting as the prospect of fresh game. They coyote was far enough away that they didn't even know what I was shooting at. Unfortunately for them, they got locked up before daddy & mommy took care of business. I'm sure our garbage service enjoys the stop at our house. Usually a skunk or rabbit, now a 40 lb coyote. What next!

Now - to the fun stuff! Here's Noah enjoying a teething biscuit (which doesn't seem to be much more than a grahm cracker). Just like a little guy should, he's got it all over his face. He is eating three meals a day with the spoon - cereal, fruits, and vegetables. He is a fantastic eater & stays much cleaner when Mommy or Daddy run the spoon.


Noah & his cousin Luke sure enjoyed seeing each other. I think they may have had more fun watching their wild mothers and crazy grandmother as they tried to get them both to smile at the same time.


Noah has been sitting up on his own for quite a while now. He sure enjoys the fact that he can see greater distances, reach for things that grab his attention & roll / scoot to get where he wants to go.


He isn't quite crawling completely, as he doesn't always coordinate the arm movements when his legs say "go". He ends up pushing his face around on the floor more than anything, although just tonight he pushed Pooh's wagon from the carpet over to the tile, but we weren't watching closely enough to see how he made it there.


Daddy has to make the blog now & then. Daddy & the group at work did the afternoon at the lake. Famous Dave's catered barbeque and they spent all afternoon & evening on the water. Here's Daddy showing off. He sure payed for it shortly during his wipeout at 40 mph across the lake. His arm ached for days.


Mommy & Daddy both have blue eyes, but neither of them are quite as blue as Noah's. He sure grabs the ladies attention anywhere he goes, especially at church. He is quite liberal with the smiles & he will make eyes at anyone who is looking in the pews behind.


Grandma & Grandpa came for a visit yesterday on the motorcycle. It was a beautiful day to be out and enjoy the weather. It is always great to see them!


Mommy & Grandma wouldn't miss the opportunity for a little photo shoot. Mommy threw his boots on & Grandma gave Noah her new glasses. I'm sure the look will bring the ladies swooning.

Noah just turned 7 months and already he is asking for a dirt bike. Daddy can't agree more ;)

July gone by...

Boy, has the month flew by. I don't have much time to write stories of grand adventures, but I did want to get a few fun photos out for those of you (if anybody does actually read this) to enjoy. We started off the month with a trip to North Dakota. Mommy & Noah had a good time while daddy helped with the roof at the new house. We also took time as a family to get out on the golf course.


Of course Noah couldn't resist the call of the rocking horse. He hasn't seen a horse before and thought it looked kind of funny. He was used to seeing his "rocking dog", a treasure that grandma had found for him.



Although he is enjoying himself here, he has gotten less excited about the exersaucer in the last couple of weeks. His attention span is decreasing quite a bit & gets bored with things rather quickly - especially those things that he has seen over & over the past few months.



We have gotten many questions regarding the color of our eyes, as Noah's sure are blue. Alice says she likes to dress him in blue shirts because it makes his eyes look even bluer - is that even a word? Daddy just likes to find something that's clean & has something fun like animals or baseball on the front.



Lastly, the reliable bathtub has gotten too small for this big boy. We tried one bath in the big tub, but it just seemed like overkill. Mommy found this fantastic ducky at target & is perfect for Noah sized guys. We couldn't decide which photo to share, so we limited it to 3. Noah likes the new tub as well, because he can sit up by himself and use the inflated sides to balance if necessary.




Finally, there are no photos to prove it (not that anyone really wants to see), but Gemma got her 4th skunk of the summer. You think she'd learn one of these times that they don't like her & really stink up the place. The hunter that she is, she brought it back so proudly & dropped it at my feet. Mommy was thankful for a sinus infection that left her without a sense of smell;) There was also one more rabbit, but we've lost count on those. She has been doing pretty good on birds, but I guess I haven't given her enough to keep her busy during the summer so she has to make her own adventures.

Day at the lake

Today was Noah's first day at the lake. We went up to Big Swan Lake with Chris & Carrey and had a great time! Noah watched daddy's poor attempt at wakeboarding. While daddy didn't have any trouble starting off or jumping the wake, his landings sure could use some work;)

Noah and mommy spent the afternoon on the beach visiting with the crew. Even though Noah was wearing some pretty potent sunscreen, he still stayed out of the sun as much as possible. Mommy was wearing sunscreen (& you can tell where she wasn't ;) and spent more time in the sun

We were excited to get Noah into his little swimmers so he could splash in the water himself. Even though the sun was out & warming things up, Daddy & Noah didn't spend too much time in the relatively cool (when compared to the bathtub) water. It was sure fun to get out to enjoy the sun at the lake!

Here are a couple of fun new photos...

I don't know why, but mommy has had it in her head that we need a couple of photos of Noah a la natual. Daddy's no photographer yet, but he is trying. I'm sure Noah will appreciate this one at graduation time ;)

Oh yeah, we still have a couple of dogs as well (you wouldn't know it if you were just reading the blog as of late). Here, Choco and Gemma are tracking down the elusive chipmunk. While this chipmunk is still bringing his A-game, the chipmunk that lived in the west boulder wall wasn't as skillful.



In addition to the chipmunk, Gemma has brought back a few other trophies. She must have found a nest of rabbits, as there was a week where she came back to the house with a bunny each night.

A day of firsts!

It's been way too long since we've gotten some good photos out on the blog. We've gotten some good ones on the kodak site that you may not have seen yet. Hope you all enjoyed your warm & sunny Memorial Day weekend.

On to the good stuff...today was a day of firsts for Noah.

As most of you may know, Noah's been growing by leaps and bounds. Last Monday he weighed 17 lbs at his 4 month checkup. I've been telling Alice that he's going to be a football player - he's at the 90th percentile for both height & weight.

This is all good, & I digress... Today marks the first day that Noah rolled over on his own. He was laying on his back on the floor in the sunroom while Alice ran a load of laundry back to the bedroom. When she returned a few seconds later, he was propped up on his elbows looking her direction! Alice couldn't believe it! She rolled him back over onto his back just to see if he would do it again, and sure enough he rolled over once more so mommy could see. When I got back in from cutting the grass in the 90°F+ heat, he was just showing off ;)

He also chowed down a bowl of rice cereal tonight after working up a good appetite rolling around on the floor. Alice has tried the cereal a couple of times, but he hasn't wanted to keep anything in & everything would come right back out. Tonight, we were able to keep well over half the cereal in & he started getting the hang of opening his mouth for the spoon, but hasn't quite got the tongue motion down yet.

We're proud parents as you can imagine. With this in mind, we'll share a couple of fun recent photos with you.

In keeping with the firsts, here is Noah's first time reading the newspaper with his daddy.

Noah sure does love his mommy!

Noah's cousin Luke was in town for the weekend. It is sure fun to get the grandkids together & see how much everyone has grown. It also makes for a full house!

Here's Alice giving Noah some love after John & Tanya's wedding this weekend. It was a fantastic day for a wedding, albeit a little on the warm side.

As you may know, we are Gopher fans through and through. Aunt Jessi found the best Gopher hat & it has quickly become Noah's favorite!

Stinky Dogs!

Not sure how well the dogs are adapting to the new addition to the family...

The other night, they disappeared off toward the creek. Alice & I had just been talking about whether they would stick with her if she took them for a run. So much for that.

When Alice came back to the house, she found quite a sight. Choco was running across the front yard, driving his face through the snow. As she rounded the back corner of the garage, Gemma was there, skunk in mouth, shaking it back and forth.

Alice corralled the two monkeys in the garage & came in to report that I had to get out there & shoot a skunk. As I cautiously approached, not wanting to get sprayed myself, I realized that there was no fight left in that rodent. I packaged it up in a very nice little bundle of plastic bags & dropped it in the trash can. I almost thought about tossing it out & letting nature take its course, but I really didn't want the animal to reappear on the front step.


Needless to say, they both got sprayed & got to spend the night outside in their kennel. Alice washed them up the next night & they don't smell too bad, but when they get wet, the scent comes back a bit. The mix that seemed to work pretty well is as follows:

• 1 quart hydrogen peroxide
• 1/2 cup baking soda
• 3 tbsp dish washing detergent

On a lighter note, here are a couple pics of Noah that I just have to share.


Noah & mommy are doing fantastic! They both are healthy and feeling well. We are enjoying our time with Noah immensely. Alice is not looking forward to going back to work, as she loves the time with our son, and is very busy feeding/changing, feeding/changing, feeding/changing. She has also been a champ around the house and enjoying her time at home. I have to remind her to take a nap now and then.


Daddy & Noah were comparing feet sizes the other night. Noah has a long way to go to catch up, but daddy's feet aren't growing any more. Noah continuous to eat well & he seems to be growing quite a bit every week.