Two sets of grandmas and grandpas

Jeff's grandparents and parents came for a quick visit this weekend. I had my firm retreat for work on Friday night in Estes Park, so on Saturday morning Jeff, Randy, Bob, and Shirley came up to meet me. We ate lunch at Mary's Lake Lodge and then drove around Rocky Mountain National Park to see the fall leaves. We didn't see any elk, but it was still beautiful.

Jack is getting so much closer to crawling. He was wiggling on his belly the other day, almost doing an army crawl. It's so much fun to watch him learn how to use his body and figure out how to move. Sunday was rainy and cold. It was disappointing for our visitors from Iowa who always have this weather, but Jeff and I loved it. We made our first batch of chili of the winter and even fired up the fireplace upstairs. Perfect!

Videos!

The time has come when Jeff and I have stopped leaving Jack alone for more than a few minutes, as this next video shows. We've started using couch cushions to create a barrier around the living room rug so he can't go very far. Once he starts crawling, we'll have to figure something else out because he'll be able to move the pillows pretty easily.

In this next video you can see Jack's obsession with tags. He loves to put everything into his mouth, but tags are definitely his favorite.

There's nothing exciting in these next two videos, other than just watching Jack be Jack, which is exciting to his proud Mom and Dad. Have we mentioned how much we love being parents? Every day we thank God for this wonderful blessing He's bestowed upon us.

p.s. This next video is blurry. I'm not good at getting it focused before the video starts, and then once it starts, it won't correct. I'll get better.

Eating like a champ

Jack has been eating like a champ. He's conquered rice and oat cereal, peas, and green beans. He's still not eating very much at a time, and gets distracted pretty easily, but it's generally a pretty funny experience. I finally figured out how to make video uploads easier by converting the videos to a different format that condenses them (and decreases the quality a bit), so be ready for lots of videos. This first video is the first time we gave him rice cereal about four weeks ago.

In this video from about a week later, he kept making raspberries every time I'd give him a spoonful. I was trying to hold the camera and feed him at the same time, so it gets pretty wobbly.

Congratulations Marc and Stephanie!

Two weekends ago we were able to sneak home to Iowa for a few days for Nike's cousin Marc's wedding. It was so fun to show everyone Jack's latest tricks, and he was a perfect traveler yet again. The weather was cold and rainy, perfect fall weather. Jack was even treated to his first real Iowa thunderstorm. We got to have a date night (to the Vine for wings), and catch up with lots of family and friends. Thanks to everyone for a great trip home!

Jack, Liam, and Haley (sitting for the first of many second cousin pictures)

Rice cereal . . . yum.

We fed Jack rice cereal for the first time yesterday. He got really shy. Jeff and I were both huddled around, and Jeff had the camera out, so we think he knew that this was a Big Deal. He seemed to like it okay, and we'll slowly get him used to eating the rice cereal before we move on to exciting things like strained peas and squash.

I tried to post videos, but it's not letting me upload them. I'll try again later this week. Here are a couple of other pictures from this weekend too.

It's football season!

At long last, football season is here! We've been waiting patiently all summer, and it's finally here! Unfortunately, our local Big Ten Network didn't show the Iowa game live, so we had to wait to tape it until Saturday night at 11. Then when we went to watch it yesterday, we realized it hadn't recorded. Luckily, it's on again today at 2, and we'll make sure to get it taped this time. Even though we didn't get to watch the game, Jack got to help Jeff put our Iowa flag out, and he was so happy to wear his Hawkeye t-shirt that he drooled all over it!

The big 3-0!

Nike celebrated her 30th birthday this week with a yummy dinner at our favorite neighborhood restaurant and a very yummy cake. Thanks to Jeff and Jack for making it just perfect!