I just told Nicole to have a good weekend as she was walking out. She's like "I'll see you tomorrow, right?" Uh...isn't today Friday? *blank stare* "The walk? You're doing the AIDS walk, right?" "Oh yeah, I'll be there....but I won't be here."

My company has their summer picnic at the Denver Zoo every year. So I got to take Zanna, Kyle & B to the zoo! After lunch we went to see the animals.

B is for BIG like a Big Brown Bear & B!

(with a Boston on his onesie!)

Monkey with a racoon tail.


C'm here little anteater, anteater, anteater...


They had a baby monkey there. This little guy reminded me of some character on a movie....but I can't remember which.


By the time we got to the Zebras, Blake was totally pooped. ...very glad we brought the jogging stroller with the reclining back.

Blake LOVES to take baths - especially since he discovered splashing! We started using the rubber duckie tub when we moved into this apartment. Since he's now eating table food, he gets a bath right after supper (before bed). We wipe off his hands & face and let him play while I draw his bath. When he hears the water running, he crawls to the bathroom as fast as he can and is usually trying to climb into the tub before I can get his clothes off.


B's begun to overgeneralize with his words. One of his first words was duckie, pronounced "D-kee" or sometimes just "Kee". Kyle took him down to the Union Depot to see the steam engine, which makes its way between Denver & Cheyenne the last week of July every year. I guess he saw the UP engine and started saying "Kee, kee!" So now anything big and yellow is a "Kee". The engineer, "Uncle Ed" loves kids and came down to talk to Kyle. He let Kyle & B go up and took their picture in the locomotive. I guess then some other people came up asking if they were giving tours. The PR person said "No, they're a friend of the family." ....so B has a new Uncle Ed.

Greg & Meka just went to the hospital to "pop the cork on [baby] Merlot"! I'm very excited for them. Unfortunately this week is crazy-busy and I won't have a chance to go see them until this weekend.

Blake loves to cuddle in the morning. So when zannahope moved in with (mid July - mid August) B cuddled with her while I got ready in the morning.

We participate in a Wesley small group at church every year. This year we're doing the "Dinner For 8" group. We've got a good group of 6 (3 couples) that meet for dinner once a month. It's very cool to get to know other young(er) couples at church. We're, of course, married with our first kid. One couple is married and hoping to have kids soon. The other couple is planning their wedding. Another couple, who dropped out without even getting together just had their first baby....the reason they decided not to do this.

In July we hosted a "Red, White & Blue" themed potluck. Kyle bought Red Hook, Blue Moon and White Ale. This is Amanda trying to teach Blake how to wistle.

I decided to tailor my own jeans sometime in July.....after the gal I took my pants to just did a jean hem to my dress pants! I took my jeans in considerably in both thighs and a little in the waist and took a few inches off the bottom. Why do they make pants so long now? Even the average jeans are incredibly long - but the short jeans are too short. This weekend zannahope and I (then studiodoctor and I) went shopping. Yesterday I scored 3 pairs of jeans and 4 nice tops!



Last night Zanna and I went down to the studio to work on cards and my scrapbook. She got creative with my pile of scraps and old greeting cards. I finished the fairy cards and the last page in a scrapbook. You can really lose track of time at the studio. I think it was about 11pm when I finally got home. Unfortunately, Blake was screaming and Kyle was fast asleep. So I didn't actually get to bed until after midnight. :(

Naptime with Daddy


Talking to Grandma on the phone.....


....will I ever catch up with the pictures? At least I'm only about a month behind right now.

I've been trying to get B down for a nap for the last hour+. I think he finally passed out. The monitor suddenly went silent. Do I dare crack the door a smidgen to check? Tip-toe, tip-toe, tip-toe. Touch door knob, pause. Turn, pause. Turn, pause. Crack open door, pause. Peek. I think so, pause. Open door. Yes! Slowly close door, pause. Turn knob, pause. Close door, pause. Turn knob, pause. Let go, pause. Quickly tip-toe back. Note time: 9:47am. That gives me until about 11-11:30am.

I went scrapbooking with Galina & Lainey a couple weekends ago and now I have the itch. Can you believe that it had been about 1 1/2 years since I'd scrapbooked?!?!? (I've made a lot of cards though.) The other day I made it over to Charlotte's to get some more tape runners. I ended up buying a 12x12 that will be perfect for my India pictures! Now I'm trying to figure out when we're going to be able to get down to the studio to work this weekend. ;) I can finishe the fairy cards I'm working on (they just need glitter) and scrapbook more.

Daddy, can we go to this concert?

After Blake's hyspospadias correction surgery in July, he got his first ear infection AND came down with something viral. Then of course, the antibiotics (for said ear infection) gave him diarrhea, which gave him diaper rash. That was counteracted with Activa and he got to experience the side effects of his Tylenol with Codeine pain killer: constipation. He was not a happy boy.


Sad doesn't even begin to describe it. :( Is this not the most miserable little face you've ever seen?

Since I began working back in June, Kyle is now a part-time SAHD in the afternoons after he gets home from work. In July Blake discovered that one of his favorite things to do is explore things on shelves. ...not his toy shelves though. No, that would be too boring. CDs, cassettes and picture albums are all fun to explore though. He really cracked Kyle up when he explored the scary sound effects cassette. Guess he didn't want scary sounds for Halloween. ...and Kyle didn't think it was important enough to rescue it.


This is B from my perspective when I get home from work.


Then we make supper. Mmmmmmm... fresh-caught Red Snapper and Blue-Gilled Sunfish.

My friend just sent out an update about Loki, the Boxer:

Just wanted to let everyone know that I made my fund raising goal for my dogs surgery! It is scheduled for this Friday. I have no way of knowing who contributed or how much-and I want to extend my thanks to everyone. We managed to raise $3,100 in less than two weeks!

Thank you!! It is through the communities we build that human potential is realized. Generosity and understanding, offered by friends and family rather than subsidized, make us all stronger and more prepared to experience true success.

I am so thankful for everyones support!

Juanita McConkey

...and a cute little boy.

One thing that drives me nuts: Mis-filed Documents!
This last site review took me at least 1/3 more the time because of mis-filed documents.

*sigh* On to COVs... Jason was going to do them this week so I could get another study done for our audit, but from the sounds of it he had a little bit of a late night last night and is "sick" today.

We bought Charlie a MolecuBall for his birthday this year. It keeps both of our babies out of trouble: Charlie rolls it around to get treats out and Blake chases Charlie. Fabulous entertainment!

Blake has no fear of exploring.... EVERYWHERE. Kyle was napping on the futon and....well, good thing he didn't fart on the baby. Of course he cried when he discovered he was stuck. With a little encouragement he was able to back up enough to turn around.

Lots to do this week - we go home to Minnesota next week!

Blake & I met up Delicia (yes, her real name) for a meetup at the Butterfly Pavillion. Blake wasn't too into the spiders, but liked the fish and trying to splash in the petting aquarium....and grab the starfishes & crabs.


We decided not to go to see the butterfly release because it was quite crowded, hot & humid in there. Instead we spent most of our time play on / in the honeycomb.