The Honeymoon Baby Blog

Christmas continued...

2012-01-08T08:18:00.000-08:00

As promised a few more pictures from our time in Montana. The laundry basket is always a great place to play.

We helped my mom celebrate her 60th birthday!

Charlie riding James which has become a new favorite game.

Kaylynn and Charlie snuggling in the morning.

A random cute shot of Charlie.

All 3.

Christmas 2011

2012-01-06T20:32:00.001-08:00

We started our Christmas vacation off in South Dakota with Doug's family.

Snuggling with Grandma Kay

Going for a night-time walk with Aunt Jeanene and Aunt Susan

Susan reading to the boys - they were well entertained by all of their aunties!

Doug's uncle got married a couple days before Christmas so we got to see lots of family. This is the boys playing during the nuptials.

James and Sophie during the wedding dance.

Charlie liked all of the attention he got from Jeanene....

and Susan and Todd.

The whole (most of us) family at the wedding.

We also celebrated Nathan's birthday again which actually falls on Christmas Day. It was a good excuse to decorate cupcakes and eat more sweets. :)

On Christmas Eve, the boys sprinkled reindeer food on the lawn.

Then Santa showed up at Papa and Grandma's house! All 3 boys were so surprised! It was great.

The tree and all of the presents ready for opening on Christmas morning.

After Christmas, we drove to Montana to see my family. Cory and Kaylynn were there too. These are all scenes from the night we opened presents.

Uncle Pete and Uncle Cory trying to help James open his new tractor.

Kaylynn admiring a gift.

James helping Grandpa with a big one.

Mom, Charlie, and Kaylynn

Also, we celebrated my mom's birthday but those pictures are on a different camera! So stay tuned...

Nathan's 4th birthday!

2011-12-19T11:47:00.000-08:00

We celebrated Nathan's birthday last night with a fabulous "Spiderman" birthday party. Tricia gave Nathan a great party!

The cake was the highlight for all of the kids...

Sophie

James
Nathan

It doesn't get much cuter...

2011-12-12T20:01:00.000-08:00

than 4 kids under 4 in a bathtub!

James and Charlie with their cousins Nathan and Sophie.

Family Pictures

2011-11-15T10:29:00.001-08:00

Kellie Coughlin took some great family pictures of us a few weeks ago. Enjoy!

http://www.kelliecoughlinphotographer.com/blog/2011/11/kroetch-family-portraits-2/

Halloween!

2011-11-01T06:38:00.000-07:00

We had a lion and a dragon on our hands last night for trick or treating!

We went out with some neighbor families - here is a picture of all of the kids. It was a great night - the kids had a great time and the weather was perfect!

On Saturday night, my friend Carmen and I went to a Halloween party and got all dressed up for the occasion. I was Cruella Deville from 101 Dalmatians and she was a lady bug.

And we carved our pumpkin last weekend with lots of help from James and Charlie.

SNOW!

2011-10-26T20:07:00.001-07:00

The first snow of the year fell today. We got about 6 inches at our house. James and Doug had lots to shovel.

Then James got distracted and decided to pack some snow in around Charlie.

This tree looked so pretty with snow covering all of the berries.

We came inside for a fire and put the boys in their matching snowflake jammies for bed!

Pumpkin Patch

2011-10-26T19:54:00.000-07:00

We took our annual trip to the pumpkin patch with Kaylynn this year and managed to get a decent picture of the three cousins.

It took Kaylynn and James some time to find the perfect pumpkin...

Finally we landed on this one! We haven't carved it yet so stay tuned.

Grandparents

2011-10-26T19:47:00.000-07:00

My parents came to visit last week and we had two very excited little boys on our hands. One of the highlights was going to the park to show Grandma and Grandpa where we spend a lot of our time.

Charlie is a huge Grandma fan.

Grandpa and James checking out the bridge and water.

A visit from Aunt Jeanene

2011-10-10T19:07:00.001-07:00

Doug's sister Jeanene came to visit last week and the boys thoroughly enjoying their time with "Auntie Jean". One day we took a road trip to Estes Park with Tricia, Nathan, Jeanene, Carmen and Sophie. This is the time of year for good fall colors in the mountains as well as the elk come down from the mountains and congregate in the town - mostly on the golf course. We saw plenty of them and even heard one male bugle before the sun went down (and we got too cold).

Me and all of my boys in front of a large male elk.

Sophie, Nathan and James checking out the herd.

Charlie was fairly photogenic that day.

As was Sophie.

And finally a random pic of the boys from a couple of weeks ago.

First Day of Preschool

2011-09-08T20:06:00.000-07:00

It was James' first day of preschool today! He was very excited and had a great day with Ms. Suzanne and his new friends.

Walking into school...

And we had to get some pictures of both boys before James left for school.
Aren't they cute?!

Happy Birthday Charlie and James!

2011-09-01T09:22:00.001-07:00

We celebrated the boy's birthday this past Sunday with a party at the park. It was wonderful to have so many family and friends with us. We are now the proud parents of a 1 year old and a 3 year old!

Of course, we had cake...

which both boys enjoyed!

And there were lots of presents to open!

One of the favorite new toys was this "excavator" - very popular with 3 year old boys.

And it wouldn't be a birthday party without balloons! Thanks to everyone who helped make the day special for James and Charlie.

Yard Project

2011-08-31T09:26:00.000-07:00

This summer we decided to embark on a major yard project and give the boys some grass to play on.

Here are a few "before" pictures:

And a few "during" pictures. These were taken after all of the rock had been removed and the trim had been put in.

James was a big helper during the rock moving process.

And finally we have grass! It is so nice and the boys LOVE it!!

One Last Trip

2011-08-17T20:13:00.000-07:00

Cory and I decided to take a quick trip to Montana last week before school started. So we loaded up the mini-van with the 3 kids and 10 1/2 hours later, we were there.

We did lots of fun things...
including a trip to "the lake" for Dad, Cory, and I to see the spillway which was open for the 5th time since Fort Peck was built in the 1930's.

We launched rockets that Cory and Kaylynn built this summer.

We celebrated Charlie's 1st birthday! With chocolate cupcakes!

Mostly the kids just loved being outside.
I love this picture of Kaylynn, Charlie, and Maggie...something about the wide open prairie and ever present farm-dog.

Kaylynn loves Charlie.

All 3 kids in front of the Wolff Corp sign.

And we got to see Paula and her kids in Sidney!
Charlie, Kaylynn, Elliot, Whitney, and James

What a fun trip - I'm so excited we went.

Charlie gets a haircut

2011-08-17T20:00:00.000-07:00

Charlie needed a haircut....so we went to visit Grandma and I talked her into giving Charlie his first haircut.

Before.

And after!
I think it turned out great.

Summertime

2011-08-07T20:04:00.001-07:00

We have had a great summer of being outside. Here are some pictures of our favorite activities:

Playing in multiple parks...

Charlie has learned how to crawl on concrete without hurting his knees.

He goes straight to the rocks...which go straight in his mouth.

Swimming!

The boys at the Farmer's Market...

which also has a great water fountain to run/crawl in.

Playing outside on the deck with the water/sand table.

And picking vegetables from the garden.

Visitors

2011-08-05T19:47:00.000-07:00

My good friend Linzy and her family came through Colorado this past week and we were lucky that they had the time to spend a couple of nights with us.

The big kids roasting marshmallows by the fire pit - James, Guildy, and Hadley.

Hadley and James playing in the yard with the sticks that we used to roast marshmallows.

And the babies...tired and dirty, but still cute.

Linzy and I and all of our children.

Boating

2011-08-01T19:38:00.001-07:00

We have been out on Tricia's boat a few times this summer which has been the best way to beat the July heat. The kids have a blast every time we go. They love the water and swimming off the boat. James is turning into a fish!

A picture from last weekend - James, Mia, and Sophie and Nathan in the back.Charlie loves riding on the boat and gets in the water occasionally too.

Charlie also enjoys napping on the boat.

Me and my boys.

Kaylynn and James

2011-07-22T20:41:00.000-07:00

These 2 recently spent a few days at Grandpa and Grandma's (thanks again Mom and Dad!). They loved their time there and my mom took a couple of cute pictures.

What We Did on the 4th of July

2011-07-11T19:29:00.000-07:00

We had a wonderful long 4th of July weekend with family. Sondra and Keith came to visit from Minnesota and we really enjoyed having them there. We spent a lot of time outside on Tricia's boat and on the lake. Keith even taught James and Nathan how to fish! They were thrilled.

Swimming in the lake was another highlight of the weekend.

Doug and James camped out with the rest of the crew which involved a nighttime boat ride to watch the fireworks.

The boys enjoyed marshmallows by the campfire.

Charlie's favorite part of the weekend was sliding with Sondra.

I threw in this one of James, Keith, and I because everyone is always telling me that I never post pictures of myself.

Charlie

2011-07-08T19:46:00.000-07:00

Charlie is almost 11 months old! Here are a few high-points of his life thus far:

Weight - 19 lbs at last check
Height - almost 30 inches
Teeth - the 2 bottom ones finally made an appearance.
Eating - good. He is starting to like table food. French fries and yogurt are 2 of his favorites.
Happy and loves to play with big brother James.
Crawling - Yes! He is very mobile now.
And pretty much over the top in the Cute department.

My Boys

2011-07-04T07:49:00.000-07:00

Just a couple of recent pictures of my boys...

Wolff Fest

2011-06-29T10:52:00.000-07:00

The Wolff family met in Breckenridge, CO this past weekend for what was fondly dubbed "WOLFF FEST 2011". It was fun, fun, fun...as you can see from the pictures below.

I am having trouble with blogger (hence the underlined font that I cannot seem to fix) so the pictures are not in order and I have spent way too much time already on this post. I apologize for the lack of organization (and those of you who know me know this really bothers me).

Anyway, family pictures!

My cousins

The next generation...as we were taking this picture, my aunt Anne remarked "Is that all? I feel like there are more of them."

My aunt Cathy's family

My aunt Anne's family

My Dad's family

Charlie, Kaylynn, and James

My aunt Ellen's family

White water rafting was a favorite activity of the weekend.

Troy and Joel hanging out.

Jamey, Leah, Misty, and Brylee

Charlie and Jordyn

Kaylynn

James

Charlie and me

Jamie and Anne

Colin, Jeff, and Brittany

We are all excited for our next reunion next summer at Jeff and Brittany's wedding!

Action shots of rafting!

Pictures from the farm

2011-06-12T06:54:00.000-07:00

These are pictures taken during our stay with my parents during the last part of May. The boys sure had a good time on the farm thanks to Grandpa, Grandma, and Uncle Pete!

Checking on the horses with Grandpa.

Hanging out with Uncle Pete.

As is tradition...pictures by the Wolff Corp sign.

Going for a walk with Pete's dog, Sloan.

Enjoying Grandma's tulips.

Hanging out in the laundry basket is always fun!

Sunny Day Pics

2011-06-08T20:12:00.000-07:00

We spent last Saturday with Tricia and Nathan. It was a beautiful sunny day so I took some pictures of our boys.

Charlie was a great model for me.

Lindsay's Graduation

2011-05-30T17:39:00.000-07:00

This past weekend we celebrated my cousin Lindsay's high school graduation in Billings. It was a fun-filled family event.

Me and my favorite 6-year-old niece!

Below is a picture of the whole fam family:

My mom holding Charlie, my uncle Mick, Grandpa & Grandma, Cory, Kaylynn, Jamie, my cousins Lindsay & Casey, my aunt Cheri, and me holding James (who had just woken up from a nap and wasn't too excited about taking family pictures).

Casey & Lindsay

What beautiful sisters!

My grandparents

Jamie and Kaylynn

And FYI - I got a new camera that is really nice and should be fun to play around with so stay tuned for some more pictures!

Bethany Graduates!

2011-05-20T09:07:00.000-07:00

Our niece Bethany graduated from Philip High School this past weekend. All of Doug's siblings were present and we had a great weekend celebrating Bethany's accomplishments!

Papa and Grandma with all of their grand kids.

Me and my boys

The graduate! (and Charlie...)

The cupcake display was amazing...and very popular with Nathan and James.

Grandma and Charlie

Philip boasts a very nice playground which James enjoyed.

And the boys with one of their favorites aunts, Jeanene.

What have we been up to?

2011-05-08T19:30:00.000-07:00

Well...Easter came and went and I didn't get a single picture. The boys looked adorable in their matching outfits and we had a great day with Cory, Jamie, and Kaylynn. Since Easter, James has taken up painting.

And the weather has been so nice (a little on the warm side!). We have spent lots of time at the park, swinging, and going for walks.

8 Months Old!

2011-04-17T18:15:00.000-07:00

Charlie turned 8 months old this past week! He celebrated by wearing his new sweater vest and matching socks from Auntie Jamie. He is getting more and more active and we think he might actually crawl! James never did so we're excited at the prospect of having a crawling baby. In the meantime, he is content to sit and play with toys and roll around alot.

Temple Grandin

2011-04-11T19:15:00.000-07:00

I was so excited today to get to hear Temple Grandin speak and to meet her! What a honor to listen to somone who is so genuine and honest.

The Boys, Chickens, & Quilts

2011-04-04T14:03:00.000-07:00

Could this post be more random?! First are 2 pictures of the boys recently. Notice James is sans pants in both pictures....we are potty training! He has been wearing underwear for a week now and we've had our share of accidents but overall he is doing great. I am loving having one kid in diapers!

We spend some time at Cory and Jamie's over the weekend so we could see Kaylynn's spring project - baby chicks! They are getting big and are heading to an outside chicken coup soon. James didn't want to touch them but liked to watch them perch on Kaylynn.

The evening ended with all 3 kids in their p.j.'s.

And lastly are a few pictures of Jamie and my hobby. We have been making these taggie baby blankets for gifts and are actually selling a few too.

Since we are selling them in Circle, we have made several John Deere themed taggies. Jamie even made a yellow and green back for this one!

Running

2011-03-27T20:04:00.000-07:00

We were so proud of Doug today! He ran a half marathon in Boulder in about an hour and 45 minutes. The boys and I were at the finish line. Doug ran in the race with his cousin's wife, Wendy. Here they are after the run.

Charlie and Doug after the race. Good thing the run started and finished at the Boulder Reservoir which was complete with a sandy area. The kids had a great time digging and playing in the sand.

Fun on the farm

2011-03-10T14:43:00.000-08:00

We are spending the week at my mom and dad's since I have the week off for spring break. After a long drive in the van, we finally got to Grandpa and Grandma's house! Both of the boys were very excited to be here. There is LOTS of snow in Montana and we have been outside enjoying it and the nice weather.

James and I built a snowman.

And found lots of snowballs.

There have been lots of baby calves born in the past few days and James likes to check on them in the barn.

And there have been 4-wheel rides. That's my mom and dad and Charlie driving while James and I rode on the sled behind. Both of the boys thought this was great fun!

Charlie has been his smiley self the whole time.

I even managed to get a decent picture of the kids - trapped in the playpen!

Butterflies!

2011-02-27T19:53:00.000-08:00

We spent our morning at the Butterfly Pavilion with Tricia, Nathan, and Mike. Nathan and James really had fun looking at all sorts of spiders, bugs, fish, crustaceans, and of course, butterflies!

Tricia and Nathan getting a closer look.

And Charlie enjoyed the view of the butterflies from the Snugli.

Charlie recently graduated from the baby bathtub to the bath chair. He loves his baths!

Look Who's 6 Months Old!

2011-02-14T14:50:00.000-08:00

Our little Charlie is 6 months old! He now weighs 16 lbs 12 oz and is 27.5 inches long. And as you can see...he is adorable!

Doug took this picture of a racoon eating a piece of pizza right outside our front door. Since it was broad daylight when the sighting occurred, he called Animal Control because we thought the coon might be diseased. Animal Control assured us he was not rabid and that someone was obviously feeding him. We're not too excited about having racoons this close to our house...

Sitting and Sledding

2011-02-08T18:58:00.000-08:00

Charlie mastered the skill of sitting up in the past week....just shy of his 6 month birthday!

James wanted to be in one of the pictures too.

We have quite a bit of snow right now so Doug took James sledding on one of the warmer days. I made them pose for me before they headed out.

And off they go!

Happy Birthday Daddy!

2011-01-27T11:10:00.000-08:00

It was Doug's birthday this week and James was very excited to help Daddy open his presents!

The boys gave Doug a handprint and footprint on a plate from a pottery studio.

In their jammies and ready for bed!

Us

2011-01-25T18:14:00.000-08:00

Our life, much like our blog, is 99% about our kids and 1% about us...but we decided to celebrate that 1%, got all dressed up, and went out on a date. It was a great night out!

Christmas Vacation

2011-01-06T15:41:00.001-08:00

We spent Christmas Eve and Day in Colorado before packing up and traveling to South Dakota and Montana. Christmas morning was really fun for all of us this year especially for James! You can see that Santa was really good to the boys. We opened our presents on Christmas morning before Doug had to go to work.

South Dakota had lots of snow for the boys to sled on. Doug is pulling Nathan in a sled and James is making snowballs with Aunt Susan and Aunt Jeanene.

Doug and James opening a new Thomas puzzle from Grandma.

Charlie loved to take naps on Aunt Susan.

My wonderful sister-in-law Jamie did a wonderful job of blogging our time in Montana so I will direct you all to her blog. (http://www.yestertime.blogspot.com/). Enjoy!

Professional Pictures

2011-01-06T15:24:00.001-08:00

We had Kellie Coughlin (www.kelliecoughlinphotographer.com) take our family pictures before Christmas. She posted some good ones on her blog. Check them out!

http://www.kelliecoughlinphotographer.com/blog/2010/12/family-portraits-the-kroetch-family/

Santa Baby

2010-12-20T19:34:00.000-08:00

Our little Charlie posing in front of the Christmas tree...

Nathan's birthday

2010-12-20T19:28:00.000-08:00

Nathan turns 3 on Christmas Day so Tricia had a little birthday party for him this past weekend to celebrate the milestone. Nathan was so excited for his party - he loves Toy Story so it was a Woody and Buzz themed party.

Tricia, Mike, and Nathan

James was really excited about the cupcakes!

Zoo Lights

2010-12-20T19:23:00.000-08:00

The Denver Zoo puts on "Zoo Lights" every Christmas season so we decided to go this year with Cory, Jamie, and Kaylynn. Kaylynn and James had fun riding in the wagon, staying warm under lots of blankets. It was a really neat display and the kids loved the lights.

Charlie and I stayed nice and warm too!

Must Be Santa

2010-12-11T14:00:00.000-08:00

Our attempt to see Santa yesterday was wildly unsuccessful and hilarious all at the same time! Charlie had doned his "Baby's 1st Christmas" onsie for the occasion which he completely soiled shortly after getting to the mall. Luckily, the matching hat and socks were not harmed in the explosion. Then he fell asleep in the line to see Santa. Sophie and James were very excited to see the jolly old man - even waving at him from the sidelines. However, that all changed when it was our turn to get near him. Both kids did not want anything to do with Santa. James melted down and clung to me for dear life. Since my 2-year-old would not even think about being in the picture I had paid for, I woke up Charlie and sat him on Santa's lap. The resulting photograph is actually pretty cute. We got a print so I am not able to post it here, but these are the pictures of us waiting to see Santa. Hopefully next year it goes better!!

Light Parade

2010-11-30T20:47:00.000-08:00

We also spent a night with our friends Janna and Rod in Rapid City on our way home. It was GREAT to see them and their adorable kids - Taylor and Molly. While we were in Rapid City, we went to the Light Parade downtown. It was good way to get in the holiday spirit and the kids really enjoyed it. Here is our little family all bundled up for the parade.

Janna, Molly, Taylor, and Rod

All eight of us!

The kids eating a cookie after the parade...

Thanksgiving in South Dakota

2010-11-30T20:23:00.000-08:00

We spent Thanksgiving weekend in South Dakota this year with Doug's family. The boys were all dressed up for the holiday.

Charlie bonded with Papa, Uncle Toby, and cousin Lane. He also was a big fan of Grandma - I just didn't get any pictures of the 2 of them.

Nathan and Lane helped Aunt Sondra put up Christmas lights on the house.

We also celebrated Christmas with Sondra and Keith since we won't see them at Christmas. Nathan and James were very excited about the early Christmas presents.

And last...our beautiful nieces - Bethany and Kelsie!

Charlie smiles!

2010-11-08T06:18:00.000-08:00

Charlie has been giving us smiles for awhile now but I hadn't been successful in catching any on camera until this weekend!

And 2 cute shots of James and Kaylynn from this weekend too.

Great Grandma and Grandpa

2010-11-01T07:42:00.001-07:00

We visited my grandparents while we were in Montana. We had a great time with them and Charlie enjoyed getting held by his great-grandparents.

Grandma Tookie still had some great vintage toys including a Mr. Potato Head and some cool bath toys!

Happy Halloween!

2010-11-01T07:35:00.001-07:00

James wore his pumpkin shirt for Halloween and Charlie looked festive in his "Baby's First Halloween" pajamas. We had fun trick or treating last night with Grandma!

Bless Charlie

2010-10-27T17:50:00.000-07:00

Charlie was baptized this past Saturday at our church. We had lots of family and friends with us to help us celebrate his big day. My mom, Cory, Jamie, Kaylynn, Pete, Paula, Whitney, Doug's parents, Tricia, Mike, Nathan, and Jeanene were all with us. It was a very special day!

Charlie's godparents are Pete and Jeanene.

James had fun during the baptism playing with his cousins.

The obligatory baptismal cake.

Pumpkin Patch

2010-10-25T14:02:00.001-07:00

Paula and Whitney came to visit us last week and one day we took the kids to a pumpkin patch near our house. Whitney and James had a great time playing and picking out pumpkins. Charlie was with us as well although we didn't get any good pictures of him. He mostly slept and rode around with me in the sling.

There were jumping castles at the pumpkin patch which were wildly popular as well as a haybale maze that the kids ran through.

It was a great day and a wonderful few days with Paula!

What have we been up to?

2010-10-19T09:45:00.000-07:00

We spent a day with Nathan - James and Nathan play so well together. They both love trains so the majority of the their play time is spent talking and playing trains.

James can put together his Elmo puzzle all by himself now.

And in our spare time, we do a little potty-training...

Meanwhile, Charlie is such a good, content baby. He weighed 11lbs 3oz at his 2 month check-up last week. He smiles alot now although I have not been able to catch that on camera. He loves to sleep in the swing during the day and when he is awake, he like to watch James play, loves to be held, and tolerates tummy-time fairly well.

Me and My Boys

2010-10-03T12:26:00.000-07:00

We were all dressed up for church today so I had Doug snap a couple of pictures of us after we got home.

Trip to the Park

2010-10-03T12:21:00.001-07:00

A trip to the park is now quite the production getting the double stroller out and loaded, but we are sure enjoying these beautiful fall days in Colorado.

Charlie likes riding in his car seat. Although you cannot see the logo, he is sporting his University of North Dakota Fighting Sioux onesie from my aunt, uncle, and cousins - thanks Mick, Cheri, Casey, and Lindsay!

James loves the slide at the park!

All By Myself!

2010-10-03T12:18:00.001-07:00

A sure sign of a 2-year-old is "I wanna do it myself!" We hear this alot from James. His most recent attempt at independence is putting on his shoes by himself.

The Kids

2010-09-27T18:21:00.000-07:00

We went to Kaylynn's soccer game on Saturday and cheered on the "Butterflies". Kaylynn did a great job! She's the one in the pink shorts.

And a few random pictures of my boys - playing outside on the deck and in the bathtub.

Charlie is 6 weeks old already! Although I'm not sure what he weighs because we haven't been into the doctor since he was 2 weeks old, I know he is gaining weight because he is already out-growing his clothes. He is also awake alot more and has had some nice sleep stretches at night.

Birthday Party

2010-09-19T14:46:00.000-07:00

We went to a birthday party yesterday for James' friend Madilyn who is the granddaughter of our nanny, Jackie. James hadn't seen Madilyn for quite awhile so he was excited and the birthday party was really fun.

There was a clown who did balloon art.

James asked him for a monkey...

and then I had to wear it!Charlie hung out in the swing and on the floor during the festivities.

Here are James and Madilyn eating cake and opening presents.

James had lots of fun seeing Jackie and playing with Madilyn's new toys!

Swimming

2010-09-11T19:16:00.000-07:00

The day before my mom left, we wanted to do something fun with the kids so we took them swimming. Kaylynn and James both LOVE to swim so this was a big treat for them. Cory, Mom, and I all got in the water with them while Charlie watched from the sidelines.

Charlie at 4 weeks old. He is starting to fill out and likes his bouncer chair!

Any Resemblance?

2010-09-07T19:04:00.000-07:00

Can you tell which one is James and which one is Charlie?? Each picture was taken at 2 weeks old. Scroll down for the answers!

Top photo = Charlie
Bottom photo = James

Happy Birthday James!

2010-08-31T19:24:00.000-07:00

James turned 2 today! We celebrated last night with a BBQ at our house with my Mom, Cory, Jamie, Kaylynn, Tricia, Nathan, Carmen, & Sophie. James had a great time playing with all of his cousins.

The biggest form of entertainment was the ever popular sandbox.

Charlie had a good time getting held by his uncle and aunts.

The kids all ate at the picnic table.

After dinner, James needed alot of help opening his presents.

Thanks to everyone who made this birthday for James a great one!

Link for Pictures

2010-08-29T20:26:00.000-07:00

My talented sister-in-law Jamie took lots of pictures of Charlie, James, & Kaylynn yesterday and posted them on her blog at http://yestertime.blogspot.com/. Click on the link to see our beautiful children!

More Pictures

2010-08-23T14:27:00.000-07:00

Jamie took some pictures yesterday of Charlie which turned out really good - they are definitely blog-worthy. And a couple of Charlie's proud uncle Cory and cousin Kaylynn. James was much too busy to sit still for a picture.

The 1st Week

2010-08-22T08:50:00.000-07:00

Our 1st week at home has been gone by fast! Charlie is starting to get settled into some resemblance of a routine and James is getting used to having a baby brother.

Charlie's favorite place to hang out is in the bobby pillow.

He also likes the swing and James likes to push him in it!

Charlie has been battling jaundice all week and after 3 trips to the doctor to check his bilirubin levels, it finally started to go down. He was the most "orange" the day I took this picture.

And a proud Auntie Jamie!

It's a Boy!!

2010-08-13T20:22:00.000-07:00

Charlie Allen Kroetch was born at 6:25am this morning (8.13.10) weighing 7 lbs and measuring 20 1/4 inches long. He is perfect!

Doug's sister, Tricia, brought James to the hospital a few hours after he was born. This is one proud Daddy!

Tricia and Nathan holding Charlie.

The hospital provides a complimentary sibling party so we ordered a cupcake for James and Nathan to share when they were visiting.

And one more picture of Charlie to round out the blog post.

Ready and Waiting

2010-08-09T19:36:00.000-07:00

I am 37 weeks pregnant now and we are ready for this baby!

I had to post this picture of James eating his corn on the cob for dinner tonight. (Although it looks like it, he doesn't like mustard, he just needed it on his tray.)

Our Little Fish

2010-07-29T19:23:00.000-07:00

James has become quite the fish this summer! We've been swimming alot and James has gone swimming with Sophie and Nathan quite a few times.

James and Sophie

James has learned how to blow bubbles.

Nathan and James playing in Nathan's pool.

We went to a small waterpark too and James went down the slide - only once though - it was a little scary for him!

The best picture I got at the waterpark of all 3 kids - James, Sophie, and Nathan.

I love this picture of James and Nathan playing with Sophie's pink water tubes!

Quick Trip to South Dakota

2010-07-23T19:42:00.000-07:00

Doug and James took a quick trip to South Dakota this past week. James had a great time playing with his cousins!

Kelsie and James

Bethany and James

Wade and Lane helping James go down the slide.

Riding the 4-wheeler with Lane

James also enjoyed looking at grasshoppers and playing baseball with Daddy and the boys.

Of course, Grandma got lots of time with James to snuggle and read books.

Minnesota Lake Vacation

2010-07-19T13:34:00.000-07:00

James and I went to visit my friend Paula and her family in Minnesota this past week. We spent most of our time at Paula's mom and dad's lake house which was so relaxing and comfortable. It is on a peaceful, quiet lake and the water was warm and shallow on the beach - perfect for the kids! In this first picture, you can see the beach that they put in to the right of the dock.

All 3 kids love the water and enjoyed swimming right off the beach.

Paula, Whitney, Elliot, and James

We also took the kids to a sprinkler park in town.

After playing in the water, the kids picked Paula and I a bouquet of flowers.

We took Todd's fishing boat out a couple of times for a leisurely stroll around the lake.

It was a great vacation - thank you to my second family - Paula, Grant, Elliot and Whitney & Todd and Peg!!

Camping Trip

2010-07-17T19:52:00.000-07:00

We decided this was the summer to expose James to camping so we packed our pick-up and way too much stuff to go camping with Nathan and Tricia. Since the boys are still little, we camped only about an hour away from home.

Doug and Tricia set up the tents with lots of help from James and Nathan.

We set up a tent for the boys to play in which they loved.

Other fun activities at the camp site included swinging, playing in the rocks, and eating hot dogs and fruit.

This is just a random picture of James riding his trike in our driveway that he got earlier this summer as a hand-me-down from Kaylynn. He loves it!!

Happy 4th of July!

2010-07-04T19:35:00.001-07:00

We spent the 4th at Boyd Lake near Loveland with Doug's sisters Sondra and Tricia and our nephew Nathan on Tricia's boat. The boys loved going tubing with Doug!!

James also liked to swim off the back of the boat with my help of course.

All 6 of us really enjoyed the day - we had beautiful weather and were out on the lake for almost 6 hours. The boys even got naps on the boat. Despite minor sunburns, it was a wonderful day.

Prego Pic

2010-07-04T19:32:00.000-07:00

Here I am this weekend at 32 weeks pregnant! I know some of you like to see the growing bump and I like to share it. :)

A BIG Boy!

2010-06-28T20:59:00.001-07:00

We moved James into his new room last week which included moving him from the crib to his big boy bed (which is a double bed). Overall, he is doing really well sleeping in there. I love the way it turned out after we moved everything in there - it is very bright and happy just like James! Enjoy the pictures.

Montana!

2010-06-22T19:52:00.001-07:00

James and I drove to Montana earlier this month to see my folks and also to take in my friend Charity's wedding. James stayed home with Grandma and Grandpa and missed out on the wedding bliss. This is the best picture I got of the bride and groom (Chris). Charity's dress was really amazing!

Me and my friends from high school - Kristi, Linzy, and Charity.

Linzy and her family - Josh, Guildy, and Hadley

Kristi and her family - Kevin and Miya

The rest of our time in Montana was spent in Circle mostly on the farm. Although we also took in another wedding while there. James liked watching the wedding dance and dancing with Grandma!

James loved all of the animals including the baby kitties which were in abdundance, the horses, and Sunshine - a baby calf that my parents were bottle-feeding.

James had the chance to go to a couple of parks in Circle and Glendive too. We met Linzy and her girls at the Circle school for some playground fun and also went to a park in Glendive with Grandma and Uncle Pete.

He loved the swingset at Grandpa and Grandma's. Thanks for the new swing seats Grandma!

Uncle Pete showed James that hours of fun can be created out of an empty Coke can and a stocktank.

Mostly, as you can see, James loves to be outside. He also found fun in riding on the lawn mower with me, throwing rocks in puddles on rainy days, and enjoying the sunshine on sunny days. It was a great time for both of us!

Race Day

2010-06-06T18:45:00.000-07:00

Doug ran a 5K today and took 2nd place in his age group for men! He was 7th overall and we were there to watch him cross the finish line. This was a much smaller race than the half marathon he ran a couple months ago which I appreciated. It was much easier to navigate to the finish line especially since I had both Kaylynn and James. Kaylynn came to our house for a sleepover this weekend. We needed a little Auntie-Kaylynn time.

Here is Doug getting his award.

The kids had a great time eating all of the food and enjoying the sunshine.

We spent some time in the afternoon running through the sprinkler on the driveway trying to cool off. The kids would race up from the bottom of the driveway after I counted and yelled GO! James was a little slow out of the starting blocks but then would catch up later. They had a great time getting really wet!

Trip to South Dakota

2010-05-27T19:56:00.000-07:00

Doug and James spent the past few days in South Dakota. Jeanene was home visiting so James got to spend lots of time with her as well as Papa, Grandma, Toby, Amy, Bethany, Kelsie, Lane, and Wade. He sure had a good time!

Jeanene gave him a bubble bath with LOTS of bubbles!

Daddy let him pet horses out at Toby and Amy's.

Grandma's house has great light switches which is one of James' favorite hobbies.

James with 2 of his favorite cousins - Kelsie and Wade!

And finally eating breakfast with Jeanene before coming back to Colorado to see Mommy. I sure missed my boys!

Papa and Grandma

2010-05-22T08:05:00.000-07:00

We got to see Papa and Grandma this past week when they came to Colorado for Nathan's adoption finalization. James enjoyed playing toys with Grandma.

And playing in the water with Nathan.

We had the boys pose for a picture with Papa and Grandma.

Kisses before we left!

25 Weeks

2010-05-16T20:01:00.000-07:00

I'm officially 25 weeks now and am ready for the third trimester! I had Doug take this picture of me this weekend since I was all dolled up for graduation at the college.

Swimming

2010-05-13T08:48:00.000-07:00

I've been a slacker at blogging recently - James has been sick and I was finishing up school for the semester - these are a couple of my excuses. :) Anyway, all three of us were home yesterday so we took advantage of the family time and took James swimming. He is becoming quite the fish!

And here is a final shot of James sporting his "wife-beater".

Boy Cousins

2010-04-22T18:28:00.000-07:00

James got to hang out with all of his boy cousins last weekend - Nathan, Lane, and Wade. The little boys loved crawling and sitting on Lane.

We tried to get a good picture of all 4 boys together and this is what we ended up with.

And James loves playing in Nathan's house on the deck!

21 Weeks

2010-04-17T20:46:00.001-07:00

For those of you who have been asking to see a prego picture of me - here I am today at 21 weeks. The bump really decided to make an appearance in the past week...all of a sudden I popped!

Go Daddy Go!

2010-04-11T18:49:00.000-07:00

Doug ran a half-marathon today and James and I were at the finish line to cheer him on. His official time was 1:46:56 - we are so proud of him! Here he is with James right after he finished the race.

A few of Doug's co-workers also ran the race today.

It was a beautiful day today so we spent most of the day outside. James had a blast after the race - there was lots to do in the area they had roped off at the finish line including lunch. Then we all 3 went home and got to spend the rest of the day together - that is a rarity on a Sunday for our family so we really enjoyed it!

Easter!

2010-04-05T05:49:00.000-07:00

Happy Easter! This is one of the best Easters of my adult life - I had such a fabulous day. It started by going to church which is always packed on Easter Sunday and is entertaining because of the sheer volume of kids who are just waiting until the service is over so they can go to the Easter Egg Hunt. We skipped the hunt this year since we figured James wouldn't notice (he didn't) and I had to get home and finish getting dinner together. Cory, Jamie, Kaylynn, Carmen, Sophie, and Stephanie came over to our house for dinner. We had a great meal and over-ate as is tradition with a good American holiday. After dinner, Kaylynn and Sophie watched "The Princess and the Frog".

Sophie, Carmen, and Stephanie had to leave after the movie. And after we all woke up from good naps, Kaylynn and James dyed Easter Eggs. I probably wouldn't have attempted this with just James but Kaylynn showed him the ropes of dying. He was more interested in banging eggs together and dropped them forcefully into the cups of dye.

Of course, after dying, we had to have an Easter Egg Hunt and the weather was nice enough for this to occur outside! Cory and I reminisced about the days of spending Easter at our grandparents and how we used to hide eggs all day long. Both kids enjoyed finding the eggs and we had several rounds of hiding. As I said, it was a fabulous day!

James & Nathan

2010-03-29T08:44:00.000-07:00

Nathan spent the day with us yesterday and the boys were VERY busy. After church and brunch, they helped me wash my car and the car seats which turned into them playing with the hose and a bucket of water. They were both soaked after this and probably cold. It was in the 60's yesterday but it is March!

So they had a bath to warm them up and Doug put their hair in "dippety-dos" when he washed it.
After naps, we played on the deck. Doug built James a picnic table last week that is just his size! I am always impressed with my handy husband - I married well for many reasons and this is one of them.

Steamboat Springs

2010-03-23T18:32:00.000-07:00

The three of us headed up to the mountains - Steamboat Springs - this past weekend for another little vacation. Cory and Nathan (Long) had rented a condo up there for a few days and they invited us to spend some time there as well so we decided to take advantage of the opportunity. Nathan's parents, Derry and Marlyce, were there too.

Doug skiied one day with Cory and Nathan so James and I took to the town. Steamboat has a great downtown area with lots of shops and things to look at. James was entertained as was I! Later on that day, we met up the guys for lunch at the mountain. I took one picture of the resort from a distance.

The rest of these pictures were taken in the condo where we stayed which was very nice and modern. It was a wonderful way to spend a couple of days!

Derry and Marlyce

Nathan and Cory

Mary Poppins

2010-03-14T19:10:00.000-07:00

To end the week of my spring break, I took Kaylynn to "Mary Poppins" at the Denver Performing Arts Center in downtown Denver. It was quite the production and we both loved it! We both got all dressed up in "pretty dresses" to go to the theater.

James wanted to be in the pictures too.

Cory and Jamie stayed home and took care of James while we were at the play...I'm not sure what they did besides let him drink some chocolate syrup as shown in this incriminating photo.

Spring Break!

2010-03-11T19:15:00.001-08:00

I had the week off from work because of spring break so we went up to Estes Park for a couple of days. We spent alot of time swimming and James worked on his floating skills.

We also ate really good the whole time we were gone including lots of treats like the giant Snickerdoodle James is chomping on.

While we were wandering the streets and shops of Estes, it started snowing pretty hard...

And we also went bowling while on vacation - Doug pointed out that we could do this at home however I brought up the fact that we never do! So we went bowling. James had a good time watching the balls come back up and trying to lift the balls.

"Gun Show"

2010-03-11T19:11:00.000-08:00

Doug has been teaching James how to flex and show his muscles. So now when Doug says "Give me a gun show", James flexes, grunts, and looks like this. It is pretty comical!

Park time with Kaylynn

2010-03-11T19:07:00.000-08:00

Last weekend, Cory, Jamie, and Kaylynn came over for an afternoon and we took the kids to the park. James did his best to keep up with Kaylynn.

They both loved the slide, of course.

And this was the best one of the 2 of them together.

Best Buds

2010-03-04T18:42:00.001-08:00

James and Nathan have gotten to play a couple times in the past week and we took some pictures of the boys having fun together - goofing off in a restaurant, playing in playland at McDonald's, and swinging in the park.

Bathroom Revisited

2010-02-22T07:56:00.000-08:00

After more than a month and about 50 trips to Home Depot and Lowe's, our bathroom is almost done. It has been functional for the past couple of weeks and we are almost done putting the finishing touches on it. James is showing it off pre-bathtime.

He loves his new bathtub!

Kaylynn and Zowie snuggling on the couch last weekend.

James next to his new rocking horse that we got second-hand from a friend. In the next picture, James is telling me what a horse says..."Neigh!!!".

This post is for Grandma Tookie

2010-02-08T18:55:00.000-08:00

Pete came to visit this past weekend. Here are all of us doning our "Montana - The Last Best Place" T-shirts the day of the Super Bowl. Grandma Tookie gave us these for Christmas. Pete got something else since he lives in Montana.

Part of the reason for Pete's trip was to drive back a new truck. Kaylynn and James enjoyed playing in the new semi and can't wait for Uncle Pete to teach them to drive it!

Cousins

2010-02-06T08:09:00.000-08:00

Nathan spent a day with us last weekend and I managed to get one good picture of both kids in the wagon.

Video

2010-02-06T08:05:00.000-08:00

Finally a new post!

2010-01-30T06:57:00.000-08:00

I've been such a bad blogger lately...my reasons are two-fold. One is that I went back to work after a very nice (and long) semester break. It was hard getting in the routine again! And two, we are working on remodeling a bathroom in our house so it seems that all of my spare time ends up being used on the bathroom. The bathroom project is coming along and I can see the end of our hard work.

First, here a few pictures of James in the past month. He got a red wagon for Christmas (thanks Grandpa and Grandma!) and he loves to ride in it.

And a few pictures from a couple of recent trips to the park.

Just goofing off...

And some bathroom pictures. I was gone when the destruction took place and Doug took pictures on his cell phone but I failed at uploading those to my computer. Doug tore everything out of the bathroom down to the studs, and then re-sheetrocked and put in a new bathtub/shower. These first pictures are during the taping and texturing process.

Next came painting (my job!) and tiling the floor. So this is what the bathroom looks like now.

Christmas - Part III

2010-01-07T10:25:00.001-08:00

Finally our last installment of photos from our long Christmas vacation. We had a great time in Montana despite a round of stomach flu (thank goodness somehow James was spared of this) and cold, cold weather.

Doug, Dad, and Pete installed a new screen door with a little help from James.

Uncle Pete took James outside on a huge snowdrift in the front lawn.

And James loved spending time with Grandpa and Grandma. Grandpa took James sledding...

and on the new tractor...

and in his spare time, they petted the dogs in the garage.

Christmas - Part II

2009-12-28T09:14:00.000-08:00

We spent Christmas in South Dakota this year with Doug's family. The fun started on Christmas Eve with a visit from Santa Claus. Nathan and James were unsure of the whole situation.

Then we opened a couple of presents. Nathan got a rocket-launcher which kept everyone entertained!

Our beautiful nieces on Christmas - Kelsie and Bethany.

And our nephews - Lane and Wade.

James' favorite part of Christmas was the candy canes...

and the bows...

and the new toys.

We even took the boys out sledding in the blizzard.

Now we are in Montana - the final installment of Christmas pictures will be posted soon!

Nathan's birthday

2009-12-24T19:32:00.000-08:00

Nathan turns 2 tomorrow but we celebrated his birthday yesterday at Papa and Grandma's in Philip. Tricia and James in front of his train cake made by Aunt Jeanene.

The boys eating cake - Lane, James, Nathan, and Wade

James and Nathan playing with Nathan's new barn.

Tricia reading to the boys after the party.

We're godparents

2009-12-24T19:18:00.000-08:00

Doug and I were asked to be the godparents to our good friends Janna and Rod's little girl, Molly Kate. The baptism was yesterday in Rapid City. Molly is 6 months old.

Janna and Molly

We tried to get a picture of all of the adults and kids but Taylor (2 1/2) and James didn't think that was a good idea so we just took one of the 4 of us and Molly.

Doug and James after the baptism.

Christmas - Part I

2009-12-21T18:04:00.000-08:00

We celebrated Christmas at our house tonight since we are leaving in the morning for South Dakota. James got to open his presents early so we don't have to cart them to SD and back. He really doesn't get the opening part of presents yet and needs lots of help - good thing he'll get lots of that from his cousins on Christmas!

Showing off the coasters he made Daddy for Christmas - notice the handprints...

And here he is sporting his new Christmas sweater and playing with his table and chair set from Santa.

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year!

2009-12-17T08:17:00.001-08:00

I absolutely love this time of year (I always have) and having kids makes it even better. We spent last weekend in Longmont watching Kaylynn's church Christmas play and seeing her sing in the church choir. Afterwards, Jamie took some pictures of the kids all dressed up for the holiday. She is a great photographer and has a way of capturing their true personalites. Here are a few of my favorites of Jamie's photos from last weekend!

And last night, we got together with Cory, Jamie, and Kaylynn again to celebrate Cory's birthday and Christmas with them since we won't see them on Christmas. Kaylynn was very excited to open presents which was so much fun to watch. James still needs help opening presents and loved his new blocks!

And finally, here is James modeling his new outfit that Auntie Jamie picked out for him. He also got his haircut yesterday so he is looking pretty cute!