Dogs, Swingin' and More Park Fun

Yesterday Lauren bought two harnesses, a two dog connector, and a hefty leash in hopes that she would be able to walk both dogs and push Blake in the stroller at the same time. Sounds like a disaster waiting to happen, right?! Amazingly, WRONG! Our dogs are pretty well behaved, and they listen well - not that we would be biased or anything :o) Anyway, Lauren got the whole crew together this morning and walked down to the park. They took a ball to play with the dogs, and of course, Blake got to play in the playground. It was in the upper 50's/lower 60's, so we were kinda bundled up. Here's Blake sitting in the grass watching the dogs."DOOOOOOOG!" That's what Blake yells when she sees the dogs now. She has reverted back to the word "dog" lately, but she does say "Copa" and "Maddie", too. I'm not too sure why all of a sudden they are both "dog" again. O WELL!Here's our cutie practicing some walking on a little more uneven ground than she is used to.She kept trying to get the ball so that she could throw it for the dogs. Both dogs are really patient with her and don't take the ball away from her. You can tell that they really want her to hurry up and throw it though. It's pretty entertaining.Sometimes Blake just tries to hand the ball to the dogs. Again, neither one of them will actually take it out of her hand. They both just usually look at us like why is this little thing trying to tempt me to do something I know I can't do.The dogs got a little tuckered out after playing ball for a while, and they just plopped down by Blake. They were even letting her crawl around on them a little bit. Blake thought it was great.Here's an action shot of our pups playing fetch. Well, Copa plays fetch, and Maddie herds Copa.Another pic of Blake going after the ballThis was Blake's first time on a swing set. She had a blast. The dogs kept walking under her while she was swinging, so her feet would hit them every once in a while. She thought that was the coolest thing ever. What a weirdo!Not to brag too much, but we are REALLY proud of our pups...Copa, especially. As soon as she figured out that she was attached to Maddie, she really took charge and made Maddie go where Lauren wanted them to go. They both caught on quickly, though. We don't have ramps up to the sidewalk when you're crossing the streets on the way to the park. The dogs quickly picked up the routine to stop at the curb until Lauren said go and then slowly walk until she said stop (so that she could get the stroller off the curb) and then they would go again and repeat so Lauren could get the stroller up the curb on the other side...so proud of our four-legged babies!

In other news, Grandpa and Great-Grandma DeCoteau are on their way to visit, so we should get to see them tonight. We're excited to visit! Hope all is going well for everyone. Hugs and squishy cheekies to all! Don't worry if you don't get the squishy cheekies thing :)

Big Kid Steps

Well, she looks more like a little Frankenstein, but she's finally showed interest in moving around like a big kid...without the help of the furniture. It probably won't be long now that she's off and running...not really sure if that's good or bad :) She started trying to walk across the living room last night, so Lauren decided to shoot a little video this morning. ENJOY!

First Boo Boo

Well, Blake got her first "boo boo" the other day. She was attempting to walk on the linoleum in the bathroom with a footie sleeper on. The sleeper did have the little grippies on the feet, but they didn't work. Blake hit her head on the corner of the cabinet under the sink. Of course, she cried, but much to Lauren's surprise the old who's that in the mirror game quickly brought on laughter...who knew?! All in all, it wasn't too bad. She was quite the trooper. But, she did end up with a war wound. Here's a picture with her "boo boo"..."my room's that way," she says.We're not too sure what's going on here, but it looks like she's getting ready to bust out a boy band dance :)Blake & Lauren headed over to the mall today to meet Amity, Bria and North. The kiddos got to play in the play area for a little while. We didn't get too many pictures because the camera ran out of batteries...O WELL! Here's a picture of Blake hanging out in her stroller getting ready to go play.And, here she is playing.We'll probably attempt the mall play area again, so maybe I'll get pictures then. We hope this finds everyone loving life. Speaking of, CONGRATS to Shell & Craig on the recent marriage! Sorry we couldn't make it.

OOPS!

I was just informed that I'm losing track of time :) In the last post, I accidentally put August instead of September for the birth of little Jackson Orr...my bad! I guess time just flies when you're having fun. I've changed it now but just so everyone knows :)

College Mommas

Lauren got the chance to hang out with some of her friends from college yesterday. They are all now proud mammas, and it was SO great that they got the chance to hang out, shop, eat and catch up on all the recent happenings. Jess was able to leave her two kiddos behind in Wyoming and head to Billings to get some shopping done. Suzi and Lauren tagged along with Claire, Gracie and Blake. The girls were awesome! They were so well behaved that we actually got a full day in with the whole crew :) Here's a picture of Claire & Gracie hanging out in the burb waiting to get ice cream at Cold Stone.Claire giving a big cheese for the camera...too funny!After a full day of running errands and visiting, we were even able to take in a nice dinner before calling it a night. Thanks to some random passer by, we were able to get a decent shot of the whole gang.Sorry Suz, but it was just too cute when we were headed out of town and Claire had to potty. Claire was being such a big girl and was doing great at letting Suzi know when she had to potty. So, we pulled over on the side of the road and got business taken care of...it really was too cute and somewhat reminiscent of a few road trips we took in college. My, how things have changed!

Jess crashed at the house with Lauren. And, of course, she got roped into more pictures. Here's a really good one of her and Blake before bedtime.Overall, it was just such a wonderful day! Jess, since we were talking about how sappy you can be on your blog, we'll post a quote on our blog, too :)

Things are temporary, relationships last forever. Nothing can replace the time we spend investing in the life of another. - Roy Lessin

In other news, CONGRATS to Casey, Amber & Gracie Orr on the arrival of their new baby boy, Jackson Lee. He weighed in at 8 pounds 11 ounces and 21 inches long on September 21st. Mom and baby are home from the hospital, and we sure hope them the best!!!

Pizza Rolls

Blake is really starting to move about and talk (although she's still difficult to understand). But, you've probably seen that for yourself in the last video posted. She has quite the personality, and she is just tons of fun to hang out with...when she's not fussing, that is. Overall, Blake is a pretty happy kiddo, so we can't really complain. Here are a few pictures from the last week or so. Blake had some pizza rolls for the first time the other day. As you can see, she really dug in!And, here's our pretty girl in a new outfit. You probably won't see the bows anymore as Blake pulls them out and hands them back to you as soon as you put one in now...O WELL! At least they lasted a few days, right?!Bob was nice enough to watch Blake while Lauren took a nap this weekend since Blake decided to get up at 4:45 a.m. that particular morning. As you can see, it was really tough work for him.And, a cute shot of our flexible baby girl.We had a pretty lazy week last week, so we're making up for it this week. Lauren tackled most of the laundry today and even got the living room carpet shampooed...HOORAY! Blake usually plays in the living room, so Lauren had a little helper while vaccuuming and shampooing...and she thought she wasn't going to workout today. Blake likes to be toted around, so Lauren got a workout and got to clean without a fussy kiddo - somehow it's still just not right calling it a win-win :)Well, that's it for now. Hopefully, this finds everyone happy, healthy and enjoying life!

Cruising Little Kiddo

Blake has mastered "cruising" the furniture. She even lets go every once in a while, but only for a step or two. We have some pictures to post from the last week, but Lauren thought she'd get this cute video posted first. "What will I see in this video?", you ask:

1. "Hi, Grandma"
2. A little head shakin' after being told NO
3. Another "Hi, Grandma"
4. Babbling baby
5. Cruisin' the furniture
6. A little dancin' with a spin move
7. A little step without holding on to anything :o)