The true life of being a 2nd Child

It is hard to explain to people that Dillon does not crawl, instead he scoots. Payson did the same thing. I tried to capture it on video today but as you can see, Payson loves to ham it up on camera. That first child just needs to make sure that he is front and center. I think it leaves a lot of room for the second child to get into trouble!

Dillon - 11 Months

Dillon is 11 months old. Wow. It is hard for me to believe. I am busy planning his first birthday party, and excited for the upcoming celebrations, but yet, I am sad to think how quickly a year has gone by. Dillon is a kid on the go. Scooting his way across the floor he get to anything he wants. His main want is Disney the cat.


Not yet pulling up onto things, but very close and getting stronger every day. Loves music and will start bopping up and down and clapping his hands as soon as he hears any type of music. Loves to roll a ball back and forth and really enjoys walking around the block in the wagon and checking out the neighborhood.
Dillon is getting more adventurous with food, but mainly sticks to carbs and meatballs. He loves any flavor of fruit baby food, but I have not found a solid fruit that he will eat.
At night he is ready for bed so when he sees his blanket and his bottle he gets so excited he grunts many happy baby grunts until he gets all settled into your lap in the rocking chair.
As you can see, the pictures are getting harder as Dillon did not want to sit still. I attempted the 11 month picture by myself, but told Todd he has got to be there for the 12 month picture!

Another Great way to Cool Off

Civic Green Park in Highlands Ranch is perfect for a hot summer day. The fountains and creeks for the kids to play in are awesome. I was not sure how Dillon would feel about it, but he had no problems fitting right in and playing with the big kids!


We started in the creek, and then moved on to the fountains.









Payson was excited that Dillon was having fun in the fountains, but he really had fun with his friend Zane that to play with us that day!

Aquarium Visit - Great way to cool off!

We had an exciting trip to the Denver Aquarium last week with Nonnie. We had been wanting to go all summer and I think we picked the perfect day. It was 98 degrees outside and perfectly air conditioned inside!

Dillon loved the fish - I think he would of stayed in front of every exhibit for hours. Payson on the other hand, really enjoyed everything but wanted to run to the next exciting thing!
Payson did feel like a real pirate when he found this treasure chest of gold!

Then we had a good time trying on hats in the gift shop, but.....

the highlight of the visit was Payson convincing Nonnie that she should feed the Manta Rays. If you know Nonnie at all, this is not something she would volunteer to do, but somehow Payson convinced her. At the end, a Manta Ray came right up the side and splashed both Payson and Nonnie. They were soaked and I missed a golden opportunity for a good photo with that one!

Neighborhood Ice Cream Party

What is quickly becoming a tradition for our family is to host a Neighborhood Ice Cream Party. This was the 2nd annual party and we are already exciting thinking about next year. All the Neighbors bring their favorite ice cream topping and it makes for a yummy ice cream bar!
Dillon had a blast at the party - what a cutie!


Payson, Julia, and Finn loved the ice cream!




Lots of bikes and the bounce house were the perfect way to burn off the sugar!

Summer Paysonisms

I had to get all of this written down because Payson is full of great statements lately that I did not want to forget. Feel free to laugh out loud like Todd and I do!

-I had asked Payson to pick up a puzzle that was on the floor all afternoon, finally I said to him "Get your tail down here and pick up this puzzle." Payson responded with "I don't have a tail, you need to say, get your booty down here to pick up the puzzle."

-I needed to put Dillon down to make a bottle and I knew he was not going to be happy about that. So I told Payson to play with him. I set Dillon down, he started crying and Payson starting patting him on the back repeating - " It's ok Dillon, there is no such thing as monsters.".

-Getting out of the car at Costco the other day Payson was standing next to me while I unbuckled Dillon from his seat. I am looking in the car when Payson starts pulling at me and saying"Look at that man Mommy, he came to Costco and only bought Beer." I turn and look at a man loading his car of only suitcases of Coors Light from his cart. It would of been fine if Payson would not of kept repeating "Why did that man only buy Beer at Costco?" over and over again.

-In the bath the other night Payson and I counted to 50. When we were done Payson asked me if 50 was the last number to ever count to.

-Reading Nursery Rhymes to Dillon, Payson was very upset with Rock a Bye Baby. When I asked why he did not like this rhyme he asked "Does someone come pick up that baby when it comes crashing to the ground?"

-Todd put Payson to bed a few nights ago and Payson has become the King of stalling. He was working Todd for awhile before Todd told him enough. He responded back that he had to do one more then before he went to sleep. Todd asked him what, and he said - "I need to yawn and then I will go to sleep.".

-As I mentioned, Payson likes to get out of bed a few times after we leave him to check on what we are doing. Todd and I have had to come up with some pretty strong threats to keep him in his bed. The other day I put him down for a nap and I said, "I love you, I will come get you in a little bit." Payson replied, "Are forgetting to tell me something, are you forgetting to tell me to not get out of bed?"

-The boys and I went to the mall the other day and it was very crowded. I was circling around looking for a parking space when Payson exclaims from the back seat - "I can't believe we can't find a parking spot, doesn't everyone know we need to shop at the mall. I love shopping at the mall.".

-If you spend any time with Payson you know he has an amazing memory - he does not forget anything. The other day he brought up a small detail of something that happened over 10 months ago. When I asked him how he remembered that, his response was - "I remembered because I am smart." Enough said.

-Payson called for me to come see him in the family room, when I got there he told me that he needed a favor from me. I asked him what he needed and he told me that he needed a favor of me to pick up all of the toys on the floor so he did not have to.

Some great pictures to see what a crazy kid Payson is. He is now doing things and then asking me to go get my camera to take his picture.

Todd had to go to Chicago so Payson built him a family with Mr. Potato Head. He asked for me to take a picture for Todd and of course he had to pose in the picture also!

Are You Ready for Some Football?

Yes, it is August 11th - 1st Broncos preseason game. Check out this video - as you can see the boys are looking forward to the upcoming football season.

Summer Download

I can not believe that it has been a few weeks since I posted. Overall, we have had a great time. In June and July Payson participated in a summer camp at both the rec center and at the church where he will go to preschool in the fall. He really enjoyed his mornings and is really looking forward to preschool. In addition we are busy with storytime, hanging with friends, and of course lounging at the pool! I will let pictures tell our stories!
Mornings are spent watching cartoons - either Disney channel or PBS kids

Rare break from the pool and just lounging.

Best thing about pool time - the boys are exhausted!

Payson got all of his stars on his reward chart and he choose to go to the Children's Museum - fun that Zane was able to join us!


Dillon cruising in the wagon with his buddy Grayson