Sneezes & Pleases....

Zzzzzzzz's

We're finally catchin' em round here!  I've been very hesitant to blog about this...but Lillian has become quite the sleeper lately.  I'm afraid God is going to punish me for gloating (Please God, don't take this away from us....please!!!)  A few weeks ago, I confided in Mike that I was a little, ok very, tired.  The getting up to feed every 2 - 4 hours was tiring, and my feedings were lasting close to an hour.  My clever, and dare I say slightly more rested, husband went straight to the computer and googled "how to get your infant to sleep".  After a little research and some Kerschen Family Planning 101 time, we came up with a system that satisfied us both.  We let our two month old daughter cry herself to sleep.  And it worked.  She cried for an hour and 5 minutes that first night, nearly breaking our hearts.  We went back and forth being the strong one, saying things like, "10 more minutes and I'm going in".  But ultimately we outlasted that little 63 day old peanut. 
   Now, 2 weeks later she's got the hang of it.  She cries for a few minutes almost every time we lay her down for a nap or her overnight bedtime.  But....she's sleeping between 5 and 9 hours consistently and going right back to bed after a 20 minute feeding.   I, of course, have to get up and pump still, but I'm building quite the freezer supply of milk for daycare!
    Last weekend, our little sleeper was still asleep at 9 am and Mike and I were ready to start our day.  We snuck into her room, which is very dark thanks to the blackout shades Mike installed.  We couldn't see if she was awake or not, but she heard our voices.  When I snapped this picture for the blog, we were pleasantly rewarded with a very happy Lillian.  I'll never forget her innocent smile as she recognized her parents in the dark and was so happy to hear us.

The reward of a good night sleep....

Mike and His Chicks

Mike is living in a hen house....literally!  Our recent posts have been very Lillian-obsessed (can you blame us, she's a whole lot of fun!).  But we've neglected to update you on our baby chicks.  They aren't so little anymore! 

Mike built the "girls" a fancy house (I'd like it to be noted that the chicks have a second story on their house and we don't!!)  We first moved the chicks out to the garage in the spring once he completed their house.  The nights were still cold so they slept with a heat lamp. 

Then shortly after Lily was born, Mike completed the coop and moved them to the backyard.  He takes special care of these chickens!   I now keep a can next to the sink for all my vegetable scraps, which Mike gives them for treats.  He vacuums out their house and replaces their bedding, anxiously awaiting our first egg!  The chicks are between 18 and 20 weeks old now and should start laying eggs around 24 weeks of age.  Mike lets the chicks out in the evening so they can "free range" in our backyard.  As the sun sets, these birds innately return to their coop and we lock the cage.  I thought for sure Mike was going to have to chase them around the yard to get them to return home! 
Here's a video of them exploring life outside their coop.

Five Minutes of Sunshine...

The Kerschens struck out on camping this weekend!  We left this morning and headed north to Fort Collins to explore a new area in the Poudre Valley.  The drive was beautiful, but shortly after arriving to our destination the clouds rolled in.  As if Denver hasn't had enough rain this month, (6 inches in July so far) now the rain followed us camping!  So we packed up our picnic lunch and our sleeping baby and drove on a little further, then a little further, and further....long story short we drove and drove and never found dry land!  We decided it wasn't worth getting the dogs all muddy just to end up hanging out inside the camper all night.  So we enjoyed 5 minutes of sunshine and headed home.  On our travels we did see 4 moose, 3 deer and an elk!  Not bad...like Mike says, the worst day camping is still better than the best day working!

Happy 30th Birthday Casey!

In case you can't read the wiggly T-shirt Lillian is sporting, it says "My Aunt Loves Me"! And Lillian loves her Aunt Casey too!

Welcome to the next decade baby sister! 

Kelli Comes to Town!

A good friend told me she was nervous when her best friend came to visit shortly after her daughter was born.  But in the end, she was so grateful that that friend helped her overcome her fears about getting out of the house with her newborn.  Kelli was equally supportive of my hesitations and I'm so grateful that she came for a three day visit!  We spent the whole weekend bouncing from one event to the next!

Saturday morning, Casey, Kelli, Lillian and I hiked Mount Glabraith in Golden (Lillian slept the whole hike in her backpack carrier!).   

Saturday afternoon we enjoyed Rock the Block, an outdoor music festival on Pearl Street in Denver with some friends (again Lillian snoozed).  Sunday morning we strolled the path along the Boulder Creek and shopped the Pearl Street Mall.  Lillian must have reached her max because she cried the WHOLE ride home from Boulder!

But she was happy again by Sunday afternoon.  And the rain stopped long enough for us to enjoy a picnic at City Park Jazz, our weekly Sunday evening summer ritual. 

Thanks for a great time Kelli (and for helping me get out of the house)! 

Lillian at 2 Months

Michigan in the Summer....Everything I was Promised!

For years Mike has been telling me, summers in Michigan are the best! And he proved it to me this past week. We had the most beautiful weather, saw all of our family and still had time to visit quite a few friends and show off Lillian!

Cathy's new backyard pool opened a week ago. Mike & I got the kids these cool towel / sweatshirts!

Emily & her boyfriend Riley with Lillian.

The sun sets around 9:30 pm in Whitehall, we enjoyed after dinner bonfires every night in front of Clive & Laurel's house.

Cousins getting to know each other!

Grandpa soothing pint-sized Lily!

Lillian's first boat ride!

I took a lot of sunset pictures - is there a better way to end a good summer day?

S'mores! 

Lily loves her time with Grandma!

Grandma bought the girls matching firecracker dresses (Lillian's bloomers were so big - when we stood her up they sunk to her ankles!).

More s'more's and bonfires!

The s'more experts and ultimate hosts, Grandma and Grandpa Cooper.

Relaxing after a beautiful sunset and a belly full of s'mores -waiting for the fireworks!

Finally meeting Mark & Joanne Cooke - they happened to be in Michigan with their three kids visiting from Clearwater, Florida.

Maggie Evans holding our "whoopi cushion".  Lillian was letting out some loud gas bubbles right on Maggie's lap!

All the Evan's kids meeting their "shirttail cousin" Lillian.

Lillian wrapped around Grandpa's finger.

The most beautiful fawn right in Grandma's backyard.

And finally, dinner with "Cousin" Phil - who drove all the way from Troy to see us.  We missed Marla and the boys!