Willy in Colorado!

It's been a while since we've seen our friend Will...actually since Tim and Krista's wedding. Needless to say we were very excited to hang out with him again! He wasn't alone however, he recently had his "little brother" Anthony from the big sisters big brothers program move out to Maine with him! We met Anthony for the first time about 7 years ago. He certainly has grown up a lot and he is a very cool kid to hang out with. Below are pics from our adventures...



Just arrived from the airport



Grey loves uncle Willy!



Down at the Capitol



We went tubing down the clear creek canyon...can't believe we have never done this! It was a blast!



Went camping on Dillon reservoir for a few nights...this was a normal sight when Anthony was around.



Grey loved camping...he was dirty the whole time.



Love this picture...thanks Uncle Timmy!



Gondola in Breck



Grey liked Anthony too



?



Top of the gondola



Hanging out by the lake, weather was awesome



View from tent



Another normal Anthony sighting



Due to all the fire bans is Colorado for obvious reasons, we ha to settle for this to roast out s'mores.



Waking up on the tent...he slept great on the hard ground.



Happy Family



Grey loves when Uncle Timmy plays for him



Random mountain pic from one of our nights. The colors we amazing.

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Kira's Shower - the start of Chicago Weddingpalooza!

I (Mary) left for Chicago the day after the last day of school to start a summer of Chicago Weddingpalooza! Maria and Kira are getting married 6 days apart, and I am happy to be a part of both weddings! Last Saturday was Kira's shower, and my summer master's class schedule allowed me to attend her shower. Maria and I planned a lot of special shower events to make Kira's Chicago shower great. 

I was able to spend 5 days in Chicago, getting ready for Kira's shower and helping as much as I could for Maria's shower, which is this Saturday. I had a great time, but it was the longest I have ever been away from Grey, so I was also a little sad the whole time. But, it was good to spend some quality time with my college friends! Hope you enjoy these pics!

 Manis to prepare for the shower! 

(Kira, Maria, me, and Kira's mom)

 Matching patterned tops!

 The set-up: Maria putting little toothpick decorations on the homemade chocolate chip cupcakes (yumm)

 We even put Maria's fiancee, Jerry, to work! Good job, Jerry!

 The set-up: wine and cheese themed party! It was very classy.

The set-up: more wine and cheese. I made the patterned table runners underneath, and Maria painted the plywood with chalkboard paint.

 The set-up: crackers and cupcakes. We borrowed the little chalkboard signs from Kira (she bought them for Maria's shower haha).

 The set-up: a finished table. I made the table runners and favors; Maria decorated the wine bottles with ribbon.

 The set-up: the favors I made up close! Four handmade wine charms, with beads in blues and greens. (One is shown on the wine glass. Why is the picture sideways? :/)

 During the shower: Maria's mom, Kira's mom, and Maria.

 During the shower: playing a cute shower game Maria came up with- passing around a little rhyming poem book that broke the ice and helped us learn some things about everyone there.

 During the shower: Kira opening presents.

 After the shower: Tom came and played the same version of one of the games Kira played. We asked Kira questions about Tom before she opened each gift, and if she got it wrong, she had to eat a piece of gum. When we played it in the opposite direction, Tom had a lot of gum to eat (haha)! (Game credits: Aunt Jenny and Aunt Christine at my bridal shower a million years ago. Thanks!)

 Random events: Maria and Jerry in front of their apartment building.

 Random events: brunch with the Martin-Bowmans.

 Random events: cool car in the Denver airport. Any guess what is decorating this bug?

 They are beads!! Millions of tiny beads!!! SO cool to look at!

 Random events: I couldn't find my pic of the invitations, but they looked similar to this. I made matching thank-you notes for each girl's showers. This one is for Kira's wine shower (obviously).

Random events: the shower favors up close.

We found out who Grey looks like!

I think we all knew this...Like his Uncle Joe!





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Look what I found!

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Who does he look like?

Trying to get opinions on the most recent pic of Grey. He looks like a boy as opposed to a baby in the picture, and we can't decide who he looks like! What do you think?




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Funny story

I figured we all could use a laugh right about now...

On Thursday, Justin, Grey and I arrived home after a long, hard day. I got some bad work news during the day, and then heard about grandpa on the way home from work. Needless to say, I was mentally exhausted.
At home, we changed Grey's diaper to find a little diaper rash on his bottom, so we started some open-air time to air out his rash. During his open-air time, Grey was "helping" papa unload the dishwasher. As I was putting his clothes away in the nursery, I heard Justin yell, "No, no, no! Oh, no!" Yup, you guessed it, Grey was peeing. The only thing was that the dishwasher door was down, and it happens to be at the perfect peeing height for Grey right now. Yup, you guessed it again, Grey's pee was pooling in the door of the open dishwasher.
As I ran to get the camera, I hear one of the dogs in the kennel hacking. Yup, you guessed it, as Grey was peeing into the dishwasher, Sam threw up in our bedroom.
So, I started to clean up the dog throw-up, and I hear Justin yelling, "Oh, sh*t!! Oh, sh*t!!" Yup, you guessed it, Grey was pooping!! With no diaper on! It got EVERYWHERE- on the floor, on his legs, everywhere. So, I finish cleaning up the dog throw-up, and went to help Justin clean Grey.
We got Grey into the nursery, got him relatively clean, and I left the boys alone in the nursery so I could clean the poop from the floor in the kitchen. Only, when I got to the kitchen, there was no poop to be found anywhere. Did you guess this one? The dogs ate the poop!!! We don't know which one did it, but they both were licking their lips, so who knows.

We hope this story made you smile! We definitely got a good laugh out of it!

Blah blah blah


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Grey's food

Now that Grey is back to eating regularly, Mary has been having fun creating yummy snacks and meals for our Grey dog. As you can see, Grey loves eating!

Of course, he usually eats the food we eat.

But sometimes, he is hungry and our food isn't ready yet. So, Grey has "helped" Mary make a lot of yummy food.

Here are squash bites. Mary roasted and pureed the squash, mixed it with some herbs and an egg to help it set up, and baked them in mini muffin tins so they will keep their shape. These, along with sweet potato bites, are some of Grey's favorite treats!

 Here is extra special spaghetti, made with whole wheat pasta, bulgar wheat, pureed squash, zucchini, and tomato. Helps get in an extra serving of veggies when he is low for the day. We originally made this recipe for us, but it makes so much that we then bake it in regular muffin tins for freezing. 

Nut butter balls are featured next; we realized that Grey needed to be eating more legumes (to help form complete protein since he eats as a vegetarian/semi vegan), so Mary found this recipe in the Super Baby Food book that both Amy and Becky sent her (THANKS!). They are very easy to make, good to freeze, and another favorite treat since they are so sweet. These are formed with any nut butter (duh), broken up shredded wheat cereal, and wheat germ. 

Last, but not least, are Grey's breakfast: oat muffins. Mary found a baked oatmeal recipe on Pinterest that had only 1/4 cup of oil for 4 cups of oats! These also feature mushed bananas, pumpkin puree, and applesauce. Mary added some cinnamon and nutmeg to spice it up. Grey LOVES these- he eats them just about every day for breakfast. They make a lot at a time and freeze well, so they are great for those quick mornings. 

Other things not pictured: 

mexican bake (sweet potatoes, black beans, quinoa, soy cheese and salsa), 

egg cups (quiches in mini muffin tins), and 

veggie muffins (banana bread type of muffins made with carrots, zucchini, and broccoli, and sweetened with bananas and prune juice.
 Two servings of veggies in every muffin, and Grey can't get enough of them!).