Hello from Disneyland!

more info to come...

"Hi Santa... I did not cry!"

We enjoyed a wonderful santa brunch at Glenmoor Country Club with the boys and Grammy and Poppa.  There was wonderful food, great carolers and of course Santa.

The Belitz Fam

Santa, "I did not cry!"

Cute boys!!!

First Santa Picture!

 Poppa Paul and Wes

Listening to the carolers  

Happy Turkey Day 2010: The Price of Sugar Rolls

Thanksgiving dinner, as many know, is an affair that requires hours and sometimes days of preparation, planning, and cleanup.  Done properly, many family members are involved at each stage, especially the eating of the meal, which typically takes about 20 minutes.  This year, however, we found that the sugar rolls, long a staple of holiday indulgence in the family, took an extra, unexpected toll.  As the rolls we baking inside the oven just before dinner, a substantial amount of sugar spilled over the baking tray and caused no small amount of smoke to belch forth like oil from the Macondo Deepwater well.  This brought Joanne into the role of the cleanup/dance artist as we tried desperately to wave the smoke past the dinner table and out of the open windows (see picture below and remember, we were at 8,200 feet in late November and temps were in the high teens that night).  This was marginally successful and we were able to have a nice family dinner (Luke mercifully was overcome by holiday joy and fell asleep - see picture below).  Later that night, and actually early the next morning, however, the burning sugar resumed.  This was because of an unexpected decision by Joanne to set the oven to its "cleaning" cycle while everyone went to bed.  Needless to say, the sugar still had plenty of burning left to go and proceeded to fill the kitchen, plus the rest of the house, with A LOT of smoke by about 1:30 AM.  So much smoke, in fact, that the smoke detector went off and began shrieking in its electronic voice: "EVACUATE! SMOKE IN THE HOUSE! EVACUATE!"  And of course, the detector in question was 15 feet off the floor, so Nick needed to get the ladder out of the garage and run upstairs to get to the detector to disable it.  It should be noted, that EVERYONE, especially Nick, was in a particularly delightful, restorative, deep REM sleep cycle at the time the alarm sounded, and response time was not at all quick on anyone's part.  After a frustrating 15 minutes spent arguing with the detector, Nick removed the batteries and silence was restored, leaving the now wide awake family to focus on a house full of smoke and now 10-degree temperatures outside.  Thankfully, after a few hours, a number of open windows, and some skillful use of blankets, the smoke was cleared, the oven was cleaned, and relative peace returned. Happy Thanksgiving!

Our boys with the Hilty family

The entire gang

Luke decided to get his Thanksgiving food coma underway 1 minute before dinner started. We ate in an unusual degree of peace.

Joanne trying to diffuse the smoke from the sugar rolls baking in the oven.

Aunt Jill, me, Wes and Joanne

We headed up to the mountains for Thanksgiving to enjoy some rest, relaxation and the best Thanksgiving snow since the 90's.  I was really looking forward to getting on the mountain since I had to take last season off.  Unfortunately for me, my ski clothes, which Nick thought we up at the Vail house, ended up being stored at home.  So no skiing for me but we did end up making it to the rec center pool in Avon to play with the boys.

Wes is 6 months old

Wow, I can't believe that my little guy is already 6 months old now.  I guess time flies when you are busy with a 2 1/2 year old as well.  I remember thinking that the first 6 months seemed to go by quick with Luke but this is no comparison.  The 6 month mark officially means that me going back to work is coming up around the corner.  I have mixed emotions about this as I know that I will really miss my boys but enjoy being with my students.  It would be ideal to work part-time but that is not in the cards at this point.  It also means that 6 months from now Wes will be 1 year old and I will have my boys back for the summer.  Working 5 months, I know, will fly by!

So Wes is doing great and the doc has no concerns.  He still is going to physical therapy because he is still working on sitting (up to 5 seconds now) and also working on staying longer on his tummy.  She said that I don't need to have him be seen by PT in January and gave me lots of exercises to do with him.  Below are his stats...

Height:  26 1/2 in - 50th percentile
Weight: 17 pounds 1 oz - 50th percentile
Head circumference: 44 1/2 cm - 75th percentile... my Dad thought that he had a big head just like he does!

I just love my Johnny jump-up!

Luke gets a "big boy" bed!

These are the sheets that Dad slept on when he was a boy.

We have been blessed to have a wonderful friend let us borrow her toddler bed this past year.  It has been perfect for Luke and was a great transition from a crib.  Her younger son is now in need of it and so we are giving it back to her soon.  We needed to find a twin bed and got a great deal yesterday so Luke slept in it last night.  We did not have any sheets for him so we are borrowing some from my mother in law.  These are actually the same sheets that Nick slept on as a boy. How fun is that!  When Luke saw his new bed he said "I love it!" and "Thank you so much."  He had a great nights sleep on it and thankfully did not fall out!  Whew!

Milk and Stories

Every night, Nick gets Luke ready for bed by brushing his teeth, putting PJ's and sleeping socks (fuzzy ones) on and reading to him.  It is great for me to get a short break and nurse Wes down to bed.  Occasionally he reads to both boys but that usually does not last long as Wes is tired and wants to go to sleep.  Nick has been reading Luke some Sleepytime Bible stories which are shortened versions.  Luke loves them and then immediately falls asleep.  Perfect....

There might be hope for more sleep!

For about the past month or so, Wes has been waking up eating and I mean nursing lots every 2 hours on the dot.  At first this did not wear on me too much but lately I have been exhausted.  The fact that at the same time Luke has decided not to take regular naps has been difficult as well.  (no nap for me!).  So, yesterday, Wes ate a great lunch of peas followed by a great dinner of peas and brown rice.  It was amazing how much he ate.  Then last night he was up only twice to nurse.  I can handle that.  Here's to hoping that he eats a great dinner and sleeps more at night.

P.S.  My dear high school friend Bekka, see post below, has decided to move to Denver.  To say that I am excited would be an understatement.  It will be wonderful to have a friend here from back home.  When I told Luke that Bekka would be moving here he said, "Do you mean my friend Bekka?"  I guess he has already bonded with her on her quick visit.  He also randomly said, "Mom, remember when we picked up your friend Bekka at the airport?"  I love how he is really thinking in our car rides about things that have happened awhile ago and then telling me.

eating update

Yum!

So since my last post about Wes not really liking his sweet potatoes I decided to wait until he was closer to 6 months to try again.  Yesterday and today we had great success with him eating rice cereal mixed with breast milk.  Yesterday he ate a few bites and even took the spoon into his hand and put it in his mouth.  That did not last long since he was close to choking himself!  Tonight I mixed up 3 small batches and he ate like a champ.  He even was slurping/sucking it down.  Boy he was hungry!

Leaf clean-up!

Luke showed a startling and yet encouraging interest in yard work this weekend as he followed Dad around cleaning up leaves (and yes, Dad usually takes the path of least resistance and uses the lawn mower for leaf removal).  As soon as this kid is big enough to operate the mower, the job is his for life!  Or until he leaves home.

Beautiful fall day

Last weekend we went to play in wash park and I took this picture.  I just love how the fall leaves are a beautiful contrast to the snow capped mountains.

Bekka comes for a visit!

My dear friend from high school, Bekka came out to visit last week.  She had not met Wes yet and had not seen Luke since he was 15 months old.  It was great to see her and just hang out.  Well... it was not so quiet here because both Belitz boys were in pain.  Wes was teething and Luke had a stomach ache.  Thanks for a great visit!

Bekka and Luke in the bubble room at the Children's museum

Boo at the Zoo 2010

Sloan, Everett, Courtney, Luke, Lorraine, Bryce, Nick and Wes

Sloan and Luke

Ah, life with small children: one stands as a 24-hour witness to the pursuit of truth, fun, and candy.  In this case, we joined the Nelsons and the Rufners for Boo at the Zoo, which is another way of getting candy in front of kids loosely disguised as a zoological outing.  The weather was good and the crowds were thick...it was, well, a zoo.  But the mission was accomplished, as Luke found candy, saw elephants and gorillas, and had his picture taken jumping around like the curious monkey he was dressed up to be.  And again, the trip led to the sign of a successful weekend: the glorious afternoon nap!

Trek or Treat and a visit to Buffalo Bills gravesite

Happy Wes and Dad

A family photo at the top of Lookout Mountain

A view of Golden below

Buffalo Bill meets my boys

Howdy partner

Saddle up!

Check out these chaps

Buffalo Bill's gravesite

And of course, a stop at the gift shop (by the way... we did not buy these hats)

[Posted by Nick] In COLORADO, we make our kids work for their candy.  Back in my day, Halloweens were habitually the day of the first or second snow of the season, and most of my trick-or-treating was done with the temperature below freezing and the snow falling.  It built character.  Now, with the weather 75 degrees and sunny this weekend, it was time for some other type of child character-building. So, the whole family piled in the car and drove to Lookout Mountain in the Front Range, which offers a view of all of Denver and, on a clear day, a view to Wyoming.  (The flagship Coors brewery is also plain to see, for those of you who are interested).  Here, in the high alpine environment and amidst the pines, we marched Luke forth dressed as Curious George up and down hills, over rugged trails and the occasional dry stream bed in search of free candy.  And he was rewarded after a hard-charging 0.7 mile walk.  I am proud to say that he was able to walk the whole way.  Wes, on the other hand, needed to be carried the ENTIRE way.  Perhaps, at 5 months, he truly is just a babe in the woods...

Halloween fun has already begun!

Curious George in his habitat!

We have begun our jammed packed weekend of Halloween fun.  First, we went downtown to Poppa Paul's office for a Halloween lunch and trick or treating.  What fun we had visiting Poppa at work!  Everyone was so nice to us and gave us lots of candy.  No pictures because I forgot my camera.  :(

Next, we went to the Honeybees Halloween party hosted by mom friend Karen.  The Honeybees is the playgroup that I have been in since Luke was 6 months old.  It is amazing to see how much our kiddos have grown since our first Honeybees Halloween party two years ago. Our group has gotten smaller but we have a blast together meeting once a week.  I will miss this when I go back to work in January.

Also... Luke has been saying everyday that he wants to go skiing in the mountains.  This is great because as I told Nick we are a skiing family and I can't wait for all of us to be on the slopes together.  Our plan is to wait until next season to really start him in lessons but play this year.  Any thoughts on an almost 3 year old playing with skis?  I was thinking there must be something that he can wear his snow boots and slide on the snow in.  Need to google this...
L also insisted this morning that he does not have nipples like dad, they are just freckles.  Need to write more things down like this to remember them.  My girlfriends who blog lots do a wonderful job of keeping track of the cute things their kiddos say.  I do remember that the first time L noticed his freckle on his arm he thought it was an ant.  Can't remember how old he was.

Wes is being too cute lately.  I was playing peek a boo with him last night and he had the biggest belly laughs.  I am loving this stage of his.  Feel out of the woods and the truly hard part of the newborn stage is over.  His PT is going great and he is becoming so much stronger.  He is tripoding (sitting) more and more each day and can now be on his tummy and look at a 90 degree angle.  This is huge improvement. We also talked to a feeding specialist who is helping us having him take a bottle of breast milk.  She almost got him to suck the bottle.  Just praying that he will be a champion bottle drinker by the time January comes around.  I should be off sleeping since both boys are and it is 10 at night.  Ok... off to bed.  :)

Adventures in the corn maze

Corn, beautiful, corn!  Perfect to feed a village or, if you are the Denver Botanical Gardens, perfect for making a maze out of and charging people to get lost.  And get lost we did, if only because we had a precocious 2-year-old leading the way while seemingly taking directions from his babbling baby brother.  But we did find out way out without cheating too badly by leaving the designated trails, and Scott and Courtney were good sports in letting Luke lead us into the depths of corn field, in which very few other patrons seemed to be.  But most importantly, we got a good dose of exercise and wore out the little ones, setting the stage for the highlight of every weekend for the foreseeable future: the family afternoon nap!

Sleep...

used to be a beautiful thing until a week ago.  Wes has decided to wake up like clockwork at 12, 2, 4, and 6 AM.  Before that, Wes woke up at 4 and then in the 6 o'clock hour.  I guess one blessing is that when he wakes up I just have to nurse him back to sleep which I do in bed.  That way, I don't have to wake up completely.  I told Nick last night that I just wish he had boobs sometimes so that he could help put Wes back to sleep at night.  I don't have the heart to have him cry it out yet but might have to do something if this does not change.  Definitely nap time today!

Off to the pumpkin patch!

Off to the pumpkin patch we went today.  It was a beautiful, warm, sunny day... perfect for picking pumpkins.  On our way up Luke told me that he did not want a cow to lick his hand.  Fortunately for him, the cow was fast asleep.  What a fun way to spend time together!

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