Maechen is now 7 months old...where does the time go!? She is on the go, crawling pulling up and starting to walk along furniture. We refuse to hold her hands and help her walk, we learned this lesson when Lake was 5 months old...she will walk when she is ready. :-) She has two teeth on the bottom and working on two on the top. She continues to have the sweetest personality, but does not want to miss anything!
We have been sick the last few weeks - fevers, coughs, ear infections, croup and the list continues. Lake has croup right now but the girls seem to be getting better. Our days and nights seem to have run into eachother, and we are all somewhat sleep deprived. But, with Lake off from school this week and the weather being absolutely beautiful, we hope to get back to normal.
"Chewing" on her tongue.

We started feeding her babyfood when she turned 6 months old. It is going really well!

I can not wait to start piano lessons!

'Look at me'!

Standing alongside the couch

We are moved, done painting, and somewhat settled into our new house. It was a whirl wind between Christmas and New Year but I am glad the last few weeks are behind us. We are enjoying the new house - lots more room! It's strange how much we missed the brown house, but we are all adjusting to our new home.
In the midst of all the business over the past few weeks it seems as if our baby has grown up. She is crawling, sitting up and has her first tooth. She continues to be the happiest baby I know!

Trying on Harper's tutu. Lake and Harper continue to amaze me with how much love they have for Maechen. The newness of having a baby sister has not worn off. Harper wanted to share her tutu and headband with Maechen so we got the camera out. She has a big personality for such a little girl!

It's alot of hard work...

but she loves to be able to move on her own

Harper turns 3

The morning of Harper's birthday she woke up with pink and purple balloons in her room.

Donut balls for her birthday breakfast.

We had her princess birthday party at Nana and Papa's house. It's hard to believe we have already had three amazing years with her.

A princess party wouldn't be complete without a princess cake.

Maechen continues to be the sweetest and happiest baby...she is working on sitting up and cutting her first tooth. Yesterday we found her up on her knees trying to scoot along the floor. Where does the time go...

changes...

Lots of changes are happening at the Cowman household...bittersweet changes. We bought a house, which means we have put building our "dream house" on hold a bit longer. We have to close on the new house by the end of the year, which means Merry Christmas and happy packing for me. We look forward to having more space in the new house, but will miss our current house and the friendships we have made with our neighbors. We have defiately made our "brown house" home for the time we have lived here and made many memories that I don't think even the kids will forget. So, it will be a bitter sweet move for many reasons.
We also will be moving one less Cowman. Two nights ago Jack the Cat was hit on the road. Talk about a tough night for us all! The Hopkins joined us and we took Jack out to be buried next to Layla and the many other pets that we have buried over the years. Lake cried many tears that night and is still sad when he thinks about Jack. Because of Harper's age we don't think she was bothered nearly as much by it. Her comment was "We can just get a new tat for twistmas."

Below are many pictures from the past couple months.

Our new little niece and cousin, Rhemy, came to visit to us.
Meachen is growing up way too fast! She continues to be a great baby. Working on sitting up.

Playing baby with a real baby. :) Maechen puts up with alot!

We celebrated Lake's 5th birthday with family and friends. We had a birthday party at Mike and Vicki's the Saturday before his birthday with family, and then went bowling with a few of Lake's friends the night of his birthday. That was a riot seeing 6 5 year olds bowling. :)

The pirate cake!

Opening presents at home the 5 of us.

She looks like her Daddy!

I think she has a great smile, a feature that is very different from when Lake and Harper were babies.

I found Lake in her bed yesterday afternoon, she loves her big brother.

An interrupting volcano

I don't think it gets much cuter than this! :) We didn't go trick or treating this year for various reasons, but Lake's preschool class did dress up the day of halloween. If you know me by now, I refuse to buy Halloween costumes, so two days before halloween, Lake and I came up with the idea of having him be a volcano. We were cramped for time (nothing unusual) again, so our "volcano" didn't quite turn out how we envisioned, but he didn't care. We taped volcano facts to his front and back, making the costume "educational." :) Lake introduced himself to his class as an "interrupting volcano," complete with sound effects.
Harper dug through her dress-up box when she caught wind that Lake was going to be a volcano, and Maechen is wearing an old costume from a few years ago.
They had fun dressing up that afternoon, and we enjoyed a night out with some good friends instead of trick or treating.

Fall Fun

I lumped a bunch of posts into one for the sake of time. We are enjoying fall! Lake went to a pumpkin patch with his preschool class yesterday and Josh was able to go with them.

Lake and his classmates.

Lake's buddy, Simon.

Lake, Simon, and Landon

Josh ran the Des Moines Marathon on Sunday to end his season. He did amazing with a time of 3:09. I was sick so I sent Lake and Harper with my parents because Lake was signed up for the kids run.

After Lake's run...proud Daddy :)

Before the race (pics are out of order)

Maybe someday Lake will run his first marathon with Josh

Josh's cheering section minus Nana

Josh took Lake and Harper to the Fall Festical on Saturday.

Maechen at 8 weeks old

We celebrated Josh's 30th birthday