Quick Update

Josh and I finished the basement clean-up and layed the last of the mulch this morning, so I think we are ready for the upcoming storms. It has been raining off and on since last night and no flooding so far. I think we have the problem fixed. We feel pretty good about leaving town this weekend, even though it is supposed to rain.

Gus is feeling much better! He isn't stuffed up anymore and is in a much better mood. He is super cute. The cold he had left him with kind of this grunting/raspy sound instead of his normal cry, so it is so adorable when he 'cries' for your attention. I am just glad he is better. He never had an elevated temp, but colds are no fun for anyone. Especially when you are a tiny baby that has no way to tell his mommy what hurts :(

We are excited to see everyone in Iowa City this weekend. On our way back to Iowa tomorrow, we are going to stop in and see Kamden Smith (you can check out his blog if you like). We will have to get lot's of pics to show you.

See many of you very soon!

Flooded Basement Anyone?

Oh where to start... SO Monday morning Josh got up to feed Gus around 5 am and heard the sound of rushing water, so he ran downstairs to the basement to find several inches of standing water already on the floor and water gushing in through our egress window (which was about 70 percent filled with water). Unfortunately Josh really WAS awake and this was not a nightmare.

He yelled for me to come downstairs and we started doing everything we could do under the circumstances. Rain was still pouring down and hence also pouring into the egress window, with a drain that was obviously plugged. Josh jumped into the window and started emptying it out with a bucket... as it continued to pour in. Since we are finishing the basement I got all the extra drywall that wasn't already ruined and anything else I could carry off the floor. I ran to the neighbors house and had him help me carry some furniture up and move a roll of carpet that was blocking the basement drain. And just when the rain stopped and Josh got the window emptied, we calmed down for a minute and it started raining again. The window was a quarter filled by the time Josh noticed and could begin emptying it again.

Once the storm stopped, we sucked the water out of the basement, and the 1/4 inch of mud that had somehow settled on the entire floor, even in the storage area behind the stairs, with a Shop Vac. A friend from the YMCA, Pat (you can check out his blog if you like) came over and helped us. Monday was a horrible day.

Yesterday we had a company clean out the drain, which was clogged with mud and cement somehow, and started working on the area of yard around the egress window. Much of the ground erroded around the window well and ended up in our basement, so we are building that back up. After tonight we will have laid 1000 pounds of dirt, put 200 pounds of rock in the egress window floor, extended our lanscaping several feet in the back, transplanted sod, planted grass seed and some bushes, and laid new mulch. All of this to fix the run off problem from the large hill behind our house before the four day rains come, starting tomorrow.

And, to top it all off, Gus is sick. He has his first official cold, with tons of congestion, coughs and cries. Josh and I talked last night, when we were still out working on the yard at 11 pm, about how it was only Tuesday but felt like a whole week had passed since the weekend.

Well, just thought you'd like an update. Here are a few pictures of Gus from a few minutes ago to brighten up this posting :)

Please keep up in your thoughts over these next few days and pray we don't get any more rain than we can handle.

Gettin ready for Hawkeye Season

So tired after belly time.

Working on picking that head up, and getting pretty good at it.

Mommy and her two favorite boys. Sorry daddy...

Gus getting his first feel of Buster. In a few months I think this situation will scare me much more!

Gus is now the perfect size for his Bumbo seat. He is great at holding up his head, so he sat in his chair and daddy sat on the couch while they watched football together on Sunday.

Now we're talkin! Gus decided to dress much more appropriately this weekend. Daddy still loves the Hawks, and wanted Gus to cheer them on on Saturday so he had Gus try on a bunch of Iowa stuff to help figure out what he is going to wear next weekend in Iowa City. This outfit was really cute!

He sure does love his play mat. He likes to pull on the links and make Mr. Lion sing songs. He gets his legs and arms moving so fast, it is so adorable.

Mommy and daddy about died laughing at Gus. Mommy was stretching out after her walk and daddy looked over at Gus and noticed that he was looking right at her legs and copying her every move! ...He held his legs up just like I did! It was so funny. He is getting smarter and smarter each day, I swear. Luckily the camera was close by and daddy quickly snapped a picture. You can see us both stretching out our legs, me in the background.

Flying Gus!

Gus and his bestest friend: his daddy.

This weekend went by pretty quickly. On Friday night we didn't do much, just hung out at home. We walked a couple of times around the neighborhood over the weekend. We went to church on Saturday night and then grabbed a quick bite at Danny's Grill out by Legends. On Sunday daddy had flag football and while he did that, mommy and Gus walked with Amy and her daughter Kaylyn around their neighborhood. The weather has been cooler and wonderful. Reminds me of Fall, and I love it.

We have had a few issues with Gus not wanting to take bottles from mommy this weekend. Up until this point, he has taken bottles just as well as he has nursed, and it didn't matter which one I did. This weekend he has been a stinker about bottles. He won't take them from me, and he fights daddy, but eventually gives in to him. We think he is getting too smart and realizes now that I have something better than the bottle... How does the old saying go... "Why buy the cow when you can get the milk for free..." Not the best analogy, but smarty pants Gus is definitely testing me out.

Daddy and Gus

Sorry these videos are a little dark... next time we'll have to turn on more background lights. Gus is getting to be so much fun, now that he laughs a little more and gets really excited when you give him attention. He especially loves his daddy. They are pretty good buds.

Daddy and Gus

I Love to Bounce My Vibrating Chair!

Rainy Day Inside

When I picked up Gus from daycare today, daddy had dressed him in ISU clothes (thanks Cade or should I say Jenni!). Mommy thinks Gus should wear Hawkeye stuff, but daddy, since we have moved to Kansas, is starting to like the Cyclones some too. I guess we will see what he wears back to Iowa for the game next weekend! Today though, after I changed him, we had a heart to heart about it and Gus told me that he wants to wear Iowa clothes on the 13th, sorry daddy :)

Gus was so tuckered out from playing with his toys that he fell asleep, toys still in hand. It was so cute that I had to snap a photo.

Once he woke up he was in a really happy mood. It was difficult for me to make him smile and take pictures at the same time, so these aren't the best artistically, but they sure are adorable of Gus' huge smile!
In this picture I think Gus looks exactly like my little brother Nick when he was a baby. Sometimes he looks like Josh's baby pictures, and sometimes he looks like Nick's. This is definitely a McCollom side photo.

I love this one of him giggling. His face looks so filled out and huge! He such a big little man. But still no hair. His head looks kinda like Uncle Steve's! (I told him that and that is why he is laughing in this picture!)

Well, Hurricane Gus(tav) has finally hit KC. We will always remember that Hurricane Gus hit the summer our Gus was born. We have had storms all day, and it hasn't been above 60 degrees, which has actually been a nice break from the hot weather we have had lately. It looks like the rain will stay around the area for the next few days and we should be able to stay in the 70s and lower 80s for the next week. It will be nice to have the air off for a few days and air the house out.

I have to admit, rainy weather is nice change, but it gets kinda boring cooped up inside. Gus and I have had to play lots of games and play with lots of toys to keep our minds occupied. Gus loves to be awake and play, but it makes it hard for mommy to get her papers graded! I am already behind; not a great way to start the semester, but it is hard when he is home with me half of every day. And he is just too darn special and cute to not play with or to let cry. Every time I pick him up I just love cuddling and playing with him. With each passing day I can see his dexterity and hear his vocals progress developmentally. It is oh so amazing to experience.

Labor Day Weekend

Gus looking at the camera. He loves watching the camera everytime I hold it up to take a picture. In this one he is wearing one of his warm snuggly sleepers from the Spratt's.

Gus and Daddy got lots of good time in this long three day weekend. Gus was full of smiles, laughs and conversations, so it made spending time with him so much fun and go way too quickly! We all just hung out at home, but it was nice and relaxing and we got lots of stuff done.

Gus sat outside in the garage and played with his new toy from Cade while daddy put a new headlight in the Accord, washed it, and watched mommy and daddy pull weeds. Our landscaping has gotten out of hand! Next year we plan on updating with new plants, multch or rocks, bricks and grass seed, but for now, pulling the creeping charile will have to be enough.

Gus had fun watching football all day Saturday with daddy. Here he is with his eyes on the bedroom TV; he didn't want to miss a thing! He has on a cute outfit from aunt Lindsey in this one. Hard to believe it fits him already!

Gus loves his mobile and playing with links. I attached some to the pack n play so he could have two in one.

He also loves his little mini blankets (this one we call Mr. Bear) and he loves sucking on his fingers. He can't decide which one he likes more...

Mr. Bear and Gus.

Daddy loves reading to Gus and Gus loves looking at the pictures. You can see him trying to turn the pages with one hand and hang onto daddy's finger with the other. We like this page because it teaches Gus to love his kitty, Buster.

And we have some big news... Gus is going to have a BRAND NEW COUSIN in March 2009! Aunt Lindsey is three months pregnant! Congratulations! We can't wait for a new little one to play with!

Happy in the Morning

This morning I got up and ate breakfast and when I came back upstairs, daddy and Gus were having a conversation in the bedroom. Or should I say Gus was having a one sided conversation... he just loves to hear his voice and practice making sounds.

Gus' cute big boy outfit

When I got home from work this morning, daddy had Gus in the cutest outfit! He looked like such a big boy that I had to get some pictures of it. It's a 9 month one that I am glad daddy tried on him, cause it already fits and now we can get some good use out of it.

No major plans for the weekend... just gonna hang out. Josh has a fantasy football draft tonight (last one finally!) so it will be just me and Gus. I am having some tailbone issues today, so thank goodness I had some codine (sp?) left from when Gus was born. I don't know what I did, but man does it hurt. I don't think I could lift up Gus, let alone walk up the stairs with him, if I didn't have this medicine in me right now!

I'll try to take lots of pics this weekend so you can all see what we did! Happy three day weekend!