A plea from Landon

"My Mommy thinks I'm very, very cute. Tonight she submitted my picture to The Rocky Mountain News for a photo contest. I don't think you win anything, but bragging rights are enough! Would you please go there and vote for me? A 5 is the best! You'll have to go through other baby photos before you find mine though. Keep clicking "rate photos" until you see me, then vote! Thanks guys!"

http://cfapp2.rockymountainnews.com/uservote/index.cfm?cid=231

Fort Collins Fun

It's no secret that Ron and I love Fort Collins. We miss living there, eating there (yummy restaurants), drinking there (yummy beer), and of course, CSU! Well, after Ron's long trip last week, he took Friday off and we drove up to the Fort for a family day.

We started out the day by having lunch at Pickle Barrel. It was great, as usual. Landon wanted to eat our food but who could really blame him. Milk and milk alone for almost six months would be a little boring. He'll be getting some "real" food in a couple weeks though.

Mommy and Daddy then took Landon to walk around the campus at CSU, their Alma Mater. Here's a photo of Landon and Mommy at the lagoon on campus.

After lunch and a stroll around CSU, we all went to the Anheuser-Busch Brewery. Mommy worked there while she was in college but that was almost 8 years ago! We went on a tour and Landon got to see the Clydesdales and take a picture with Daddy. He was such an angel on the tour (Landon, not Daddy), that a number of people complimented us on what a good baby we have. Of course, we already know that.

On the way home, we stopped to visit our friends Rob and Heather. We talked at their place for a while and then decided to go out to dinner. Landon had a long day and didn't get too many naps because there was so much to see. He crashed on the way to the restaurant though. What a cutie! The day was all a little much for such a little guy.

NOT Sitting Up

Tired Tummy Time

First baseball game

Landon went to his first baseball game on Saturday with Mommy and Daddy, Uncle Ryan and Aunt Jen. His Aunt Theresa, Uncle Jeff and Cousin Sammy sat in the row behind us as well. It was the Colorado Rockies vs. LA Dodgers. Rockies won! All in all, it was an "okay" experience for Landon. He loved looking at the people, but everytime the Rockies did something good, people would yell and that was scary. We're going to have to invest in baby earmuffs before football season rolls around!

Landon's Blog: Landscape Edition

Drumroll please....
The landscaping is done!

Finally, after what seems like an eternity, the yard is finally complete. EVERY weekend for the last three months has consisted of landscaping in some way, shape or form. Poor Ron. He has taken on the lion's share of doing it himself, but now, Landon has his Daddy back and I have a husband again!

The sod came yesterday. Of course, it DIDN'T get installed without a few problems. They were supposed to deliver and install the sod yesterday afternoon. At 3:30, they still weren't there. We called the sod company and they told us they were on their way. At 4:00 a semi truck arrives with our sod. He starts unloading it but there wasn't any installation crew. Again, I called the sod company and we were told the installation crew was on their way but not to worry, the sod WOULD STILL be installed last night. At 5:00 the installation crew shows up. They proceed to tell Ron that they wanted to do the installation Saturday morning instead. Nope. Not going to work for us. We ordered an install on Friday because we wanted installed on Friday. The install crew still said no. Again, we call the sod company and talk to these guys' boss. A little bit of yelling occurs and they begin the installation. They finish the front then two of the guys (there were three in total) take off because they said they need to get lunch. WHAT???!!! They leave the one guy alone to do the back yard and Ron has to haul all the rolls of sod to the backyard for him. Meanwhile, I was in the front yard picking up all the scraps of sod they left all over the front yard. An hour passes and Ron asks the guy doing the back where the other two disappeared to. They guy says they went to do another installation! Okay, I'm pissed. Why did we pay an installation fee when more than half the crew took off? Believe me, I'm going to be calling the sod company again on Monday and getting a discount on the installation!

Anyway, it DID get done though and that's what's important. Thank you to EVERYONE who helped with the landscape. This truly was a collaborative effort. Ron's mom and her boyfriend Terry drove down many times to help and Terry tilled the yard (twice), planned our sprinkler system, and along with Ron, dug the trenches and installed it. Ron's brother Ryan also helped out quite a bit along the way. My dad helped Ron dig two of the holes for the trees and my nephew Kevin moved a lot of rock in the beginning and helped trench as well. Amazingly, I even dug a tree hole, put in edging, installed the planter box, pulled A LOT of weeds, spread rock and leveled the yard. Pretty good with a 5 month old baby, huh?

Here are some pictures, but first, a photo of Landon and his reaction to the new yard...

Front yard

Another view of the front

Backyard

And another view of the back

Water is NOW yummy!

Okay, a week ago, water was like poison to Landon. As of Sunday though, he likes it! Crazy baby. Here's a photo of Landon drinking Daddy's water from the Budweiser cup. Starting the kid early...