Fall 2009!!

Disclaimer - all pics are in reverse order of occurrence!!
Happy Fall Everyone!! 

This has been a busy couple of months in the Mulholland Household!  We started the month with labor day fun at tiny town; the entire family took at trip to Santa Fe to visit family - including meeting Max and Gracie's new cousin- Orion (just 9 days older than Max); Race for the Cure started October with a bang; we went to the pumpkin patch; multiple play-dates with our new friends in the neighborhood (Caleb- who is 5 days older than Max); and general fall fun!!

Grace has been busy with swim lessons and started gymnastics today - she is a natural at both!!  She is constantly surprising us with her abilities and knowledge- she is sharp as a tack!   After our first snowfall, she informed me that we had to go skiing now - when I asked her where we went skiing (expecting an answer including the mountains!), she informed me that we skied on the "surface that the snow stays on!"!  She also instructed me that Chuck the Talking Truck needed a new carburetor - don't know where she got that one!  

Max is growing like crazy - he is crawling everywhere - a feat he mastered in August; crawling up the stairs, which is terrifying; standing at everything; cruising ; walking with assist (from the kitchen chair, baby stroller, or push-cart!); waving; and saying mama!  He has gone four weeks without an ear infection- yippee - he was on number five and the next would mean tubes!  He did show his daredevil side this week at daycare when he dove head first out of the play area onto his nose- giving him a fat lip and red nose!  Oh the joys of motherhood!  

All is good and we are gearing up for Halloween next week and then the holidays are right around the corner!  can't wait, but seriously, where did 2009 go?  Time flies when you're having fun!!

July In Colorado

Hey everyone!  July is a busy month in our home, lots of visitors and a Princess birthday!  Gracie turned 3 on July 26th and we had a "princess party" for her in our backyard.  I never knew there was so much princess stuff out there!  She had a blast opening up princess-themed presents including a scooter, Cinderella's castle complete with princesses and a coordinating princes etc, books, bed covers and pillows, coloring books (she even got the big crayola crayon box!), and princess tackle box!  Gracie just finished level 1 swim class and is practicing kicks, blowing bubbles, bobbing, and alternating arm movements.  She will probably take the same class again to master these skills, plus I am thinking of dance and gymnastics too!  The girl needs a lot of areas to harness her energy!

Max is in the midst of his fourth ear infection, this time with a perforated eardrum to boot!  Poor kid!  He seems to handle it well, though!  He is getting very mobile.  He has started to commando crawl- and boy is he fast (you have to be if you want to chase after Gracie!) - his poor knees and elbows are covered with rug-burns (again, doesn't seem to slow him down!).  He is also sitting up, moving a few "steps" in quadruped; transitioning between quadruped and sitting, pulling to stand on everything and playing in tall knees with support!  He makes quite a mess of his diaper basket as he is now able to get it out from under the coffee table and pull all of the diapers and wipes out!  We have to get him some boy interaction, though, he has been very busy playing with princesses with his sister!!  Guess that is okay though!

Anyway, it's been a busy July and August so far.  I am off to Seattle next weekend leaving Luke home alone with the kids!!!  After that we are just excited to be heading to NM in September for a visit with Orie (Max and Gracie's newest cousin)!  Hope that everyone has a fabulous remainder of the summer!  

April/May 2009

It's been a busy couple of months here at the Mulholland Household!  April brought us Easter with a visit from GiGi and the Easter Bunny!  Grace is becoming an expert egg dyer and hunter of easter eggs!  I also started a new job and am very happy for the change!  May had Mother's Day complete with a road trip for mommy and kids to visit Santa Fe!  While in NM, we took a ride on the new RailRunner commuter train to Albuquerque and visited the Rio Grande Zoo (first time I have been since I was a kid!)  Gracie loved the train and, as always had a blast at the zoo - she loves the animals! 

Max is busy growing and achieving many milestones - he now weighs in at 14 pounds 6 ounces (as of his 4 month check up a couple of weeks ago!).  He rolled from his belly to his back on April 8 and managed to roll from back to belly on May 15 (supposedly that one happened earlier at daycare, but I witnessed it for the first time on the 15th!)  He now has two teeth coming through (and is none too happy about it!) and is eating "real" food - so far rice cereal, sweet potatoes, and bananas (favorite is sweet potatoes, so far!)

Gracie has hit the "parrot" stage of life and we are all rapidly learning that we need to be very careful what we say with her in earshot!  I have to admit that some things are extra funny coming from a toddler's mouth!  Picture a 2 1/2 year-old singing a Pink song!!  very amusing!!   Gracie just adores her baby brother and he is enthralled with her - just perks up at every noise she makes or whenever she is in the room!!

Anyway, we are looking forward to a busy and fun summer with lots of time in the backyard pool (the small plastic or blow-up version), trips to the neighborhood pool, friday fun club for Gracie, mountain trips, bike rides, trips to NM etc etc etc!!! Plus we all look forward to the Princess Birthday Party in July!!!  

Happy Summer everyone!

March was a good month!

Hey there everyone!  It has been a good month for our family.  I started my new job in Home Health - not a big fan of the whole thing, so will likely move back to outpatient PT!  I interviewed for a position as a director/PT for a start-up clinic inside a gymnastics facility - fabulous opportunity, just the wrong time and wrong place!  Right now is time to focus on the family, plus the commute would have been 40-60 minutes one-way!  Oh well!  I do have another job lined up, so that will be where I am going!

Max turned 2 months old on March 25th and he now weighs in at 12 # 2 oz and is 23 1/2 inches long!  I think that Grace was over 4 months old before she reached 12 lbs!  Max really enjoys his tummy time and would much prefer to stay on his belly most of the time!  He also loves to be carried around so that he can take in the entire environment - and he must be held upright - no cradling him, he is not a fan of that position!!! He slept from 10:30 pm till 5 am last night, boy did that feel good - just hoping it lasts!  He amazes me with all of his personality everyday - he has so many facial expressions, and I just love his smile!

Gracie continues to grow and she becomes more and more the proud big sister!  The cats aren't her biggest fans these days, as her new favorite game is pulling their tails!  Her other favorite pastime is "reading" - she can sit down with her favorite books and "read" them to us, her babies, or the cats!!  Mostly she is reciting from memory, but sometimes she tells the story of what she sees in the pictures - very creative!!  She also loves to talk on the phone - at least to GiGi!

We went through most of the winter with no snow and we were finally blessed with a couple of spring storms - one a full-blown blizzard!  Of course, it was almost all gone two days later - gotta love Colorado!! Enjoy the pictures and Happy Easter!!

Spring is in the air!

Okay, I know that everyone thinks that the months of October thru April in Denver are jam-packed with all the snow you can stand to shovel, but that would definitely not be the case most years, and least of all this year.  We have been able to enjoy a couple of weeks with 60, and even 70 degree weather!  This is great for me since I am not working right now and we get to get out and enjoy the sunshine (it's bad, though, since we have no water here and now have major fire danger!)  Anyway, the snow is due to make an appearance this week, just in time for me to be going back to work!

Life is good here.  Max just turned 6 weeks-old and continues to grow everyday and Grace is figuring out just how far she can push mommy!  She is being a typical two and a half year old, but who can blame her - you gotta seize the opportunity to break rules when mom is feeding your brother!  We have a few Super Nanny moments, but overall, we are adjusting well!  Max is learning to sleep at night and is spending more time awake during the day - this makes Gracie very happy, cuz she gets to "play" with him more often.  

I start training for one new job this week and for another the next week (just gotta decide which one I like better)!  Both are in Home Health - a big change, but sometimes you just have to step out of your comfort zone!  One job is full time, while the other may offer me the option of per diem with a three-day-a-week schedule (making at least as much money) and more time at home!  With this option, I can also still practice my specialty out of my former office!  

Anyway, hope you enjoy the photos of the kids!  Wishing everyone well this March.