A Fourth and a First

In the last month we have had a fourth birthday and a first haircut.  Spencer turned 4 on January 26th.  It's hard to believe as the first 4 years have flown by.  We went ice skating for the 3rd straight birthday as the kid loves it.

3 generations of ice skaters

Spiderman swung by to wish Spence a happy birthday!

We had a superhero theme this year.

Today Chrystal took the kids to Kiddie Cutters.  It was Spencer's 412th haircut and Paisley's first!

The before

The during

More during

Overall, she did really well.  She watched big brother and got to play with a dolly to help distract her.  There are rumors of a Mimi visit coming up soon so I am sure more pictures will follow.

Happy New Year!

The past 4 months have brought some changes to the Townsend family.  Chrystal started working part time in October.  With my commuting to Denver we realized it was too much to have two parents working as much as we were.  

With Chrystal at home more we will get more pictures like Paisley's shouting match with Winnie.

Mimi came out and went to the pumpkin patch with Spencer.  Before picking his pumpkin he had to take some time to round up the herd.

The pumpkin patch also has hay rides!

Paisley turned 1 in October and is riding her pink cow she got from Mimi.

Looks similar to Spencer's first birthday picture only without the hospital stay.

We went trick or treating as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles this year.  Love these family themed Halloweens.  We are already working on next year's 4 character theme.

Uncle Tim got married in November and both kids were a part of the ceremony.  Paisley, a flower girl, is in her fancy get up.

Here is Chrystal and I at the reception of the wedding.

Yes Christmas has also come and gone and there are no pictures here.  We have some on some device somewhere and will work on finding them.  Thank you to all who helped to spoil the kids this year.  New Year'e Eve was quiet this year.  Chrystal and I dumped, errrr, let the kids have a sleep over and Nana and Pa's house while we went to a movie and were asleep before the celebration.  Our resolution is to try and update the blog more this year.  Spencer's birthday is later this month so that should make 2 January posts!

While Mom's Away the Boys Will Play!

So Chrystal headed out to Kentucky to see family and attend the World's Largest Chicken Festival.  She took Paisley along leaving Spencer and I at home for a boys weekend.  We started our day off today with T-ball.  Spence has been playing for a month now.  We will post pictures I promise.  After T-ball, we went and got a fishing license so I could pass my master angler skills on to him.

Green Mountain Falls has a little lake in the middle of town that is stocked by the DOW.  Spence is set up with a Buzz Lightyear fishing pole he got a few birthdays or Christmases ago.

We had some bites early on thanks to the trout nugget power bait we got at Walmart.

He was working hard to get the first fish!

Dad caught the first keeper, but Spence netted it for us.

He kept chugging along.  We ended up fishing for over 2 hours.  Amazing it held his attention for that long.

Spence caught the second keeper all on his own.  He made the cast and told me he had a fish on.  I thought he was kidding until he reeled it right up to the bank where I netted it.

I was absolutely amazed when he caught the fish on his own.  We were lake/pond fishing without bobbers and the kid hooked one all by himself!  I was a very proud dad to say the least.  We will definitely be heading back.  We just haven't decided yet if mom and Paisley will be allowed. 

9 Months of Excitement

So it's a week before she is actually 9 months, but we went in for the 9 month check up today.  The stats are 17 lbs 3 oz and 26.75 inches long.  Both are right on the average line the doctor shows on his laptop.   I obviously told an untruth when I said we would be back with Mother's Day pictures.  Here is a photo summary of the past 3 months.

We fed the ducks.

With Mimi!!!!!

We went to a children's museum where Paisley fell in love with the full length mirror.

We went swimming.  Spence took like a fish to water.

Paisley watched us swim, but did get in with Mom and Dad at point.

Spence got himself stuck in the sand at the beach.

One of Paisley's many trips the doctor's office with several ear infections.  We are on the door step of tubes.

We went to see Brave as a family and played in the fountains outside the theater.

The 4th of July brought out some baseball practice.

Gotta keep the Spencer to Paisley ratio in line here.

We went to the Renaissance Festival.  It was Ian and Kim's first trip so Ian got the joy of taking the kids on the elephant ride.

We will get better at posting as our summer is more open instead of weekend event after weekend event.  We will be back sometime soon.

6 Months of No Sleep

We have been at this family of four thing for six months now.  Paisley went to the doctor for her check up and is getting rave reviews.  Her stats are 13 lbs 12 oz (29th percentile) and 25.6 inches long (70th percentile).  Our little string bean continues to grow.

Big brother and little sister are proving to be photogenic.

Here is her latest trick.

Mother's day is right around the corner so I am sure we will be back with more pictures from Auntie Kristen's house.  She is cooking for all the moms this year!

April's Update

So we figured we shouldn't miss a month and wanted to squeak a post in.  Chrystal decided to physically scar our daughter for life by having her ears pierced. 

The Before

The "Marking/During"

The After.  Its kinda hard to see in this picture but the pink pearls are there.

Easter was a great weather day so Spencer spent some time blowing bubbles.

We also flew his kite the Easter Bunny brought him.

Again, the earrings aren't visible, but this one was cute.

Mimi made a visit and gave Chrystal and I a little time without the kiddos.  The kids loved it, as did Chrystal and I.  I know this is a quick one, but peanut hit the 6 month mark and we head to the doctor on Tuesday so we will be back soon with stats and some more pictures.

4 Month Checkup

Last Monday was Paisley's 4 month check up.  She was 11 lbs 6 oz (36th percentile) and 23 1/8 inches longs (48th percentile).  The past month has been a little hectic as I have been traveling for work during the week and leaving Chrystal to get both kids to and from daycare.  She has been a real trooper, but luckily the travel is over until summer for me.

Today the weather was amazing and let us get some time spent outdoors to burn off a little pent up energy.

Only 364 more days until tee ball tryouts!

Good thing we have a little time to work on it.

It was a big game for the Wildcats today and Paisley was decked out for it.

She is obviously the more photogenic one.  

Otherwise all is going well.  Paisley is sleeping well for 6 - 7 hours at a stretch over night.  We are getting some rest, but there is still some room for improvement.  Aunt Alex (and soon to be Uncle Brad ???) are coming down this month and Chrystal thinks they are going to take Paisley to get her ears pierced.  After consulting with Pa, I may have to veto that idea and earrings don't work well under a softball batting helmet.