Life and Times in Colorado

So, it's been a month and a half...

2010-02-21T08:44:00.000-08:00

Can't believe it's been so long since I wrote anything in here...it has been busy around here.

After our trip back east we got settled back into our routine. We had a few weeks where presents arrived from Martin Christmas which just kept the celebration going. Unfortunately Zach ended up getting really sick mid-January and was admitted to the hospital for 2 nights and sent home with oxygen for a week. He's now made a full recovery and is back to his happy self.

He's not signing more words but is definitely understanding the spoken words much better. He nods his head yes too which is so cute because it's like a total body nod. He's currently attached to any of his blankets - just has to have one nearby since the hospital. I guess it's similar to a pacifier for some kids and he doesn't use one of those. I signed him up for tumbling and he really enjoys the chance to climb up on top of things and does really well walking across the balance beam kicking yarn-balls off. He still loves to sit and read books too which is cute and now he can point out a few of the ojects in the books when asked "where's the truck? the dog? the bananas?", etc.

Avi is doing great too. She still loves school and is very excited to start kindergarten. She's very proud to tell people she's now 4 1/2. The other night she came into our room at 3am and said she'd had a sleep story - all I can think is that she had a dream and most likely in the movies "land before time" they refer to them as sleep stories. It was really cute and she fell right back to sleep. She's really starting to recognize more of her letters. We have flash cards and she has trouble with 5-6 letters - usually G, U, R, W, M and Q. She'll try to spell out signs when we're stopped at red lights too. She's very into drawing pictures of people and houses. I keep taking pictures of the drawings and can see a difference in her abilities. I just heard that her school decided on the modified schedule for her next year. This means she'll start school on August 4. We haven't heard yet whether she'll have morning or afternoon session. We head back east for our beach week August 6 so she'll get 2 or 3 days of school in before we leave. So she'll get a true "first day of kindergarten" before she misses a week. She'll get 2 weeks off in October, 2 weeks at Christmas and 2 weeks in March and then the year ends June 3. Seems like a nice schedule and better than the track system when she could have had 3-5 weeks off at a time and a really long summer. It'll be a change but we're all excited for it.

My mom and John come to visit next month. Just a quick weekend trip but Avi is so excited and wants to draw with them and read books each morning. We've booked our trip to Florida in May. Heading to Jupiter/West Palm for a party for B's mom and uncle. We'll have a nice long weekend to play in the sand and hang out a the pool. I'm sure we'll spend most of the weekends in June and July camping and it will be so much fun this year since Zach will be into exploring and be able to do some hiking this year.

Happy New Year!

2010-01-02T19:32:00.000-08:00

Well, we made it through our vacation back east. We had an uneventful week just prior to our trip which was nice. We were a bit worried about the weather because we got some rain/snow which turned to ice but luckily our flight went out on time.

We made it to Boston and met up with mom and John. Mom let us borrow her car which was awesome! We drove from Logan up to Kennebunk to Hillary and Dale's home. I don't remember much about that afternoon other than the time went by fast and before we knew it we were in bed and asleep. Zach slept until about 6 and everyone else woke up about 30-45 minutes later but he was happy in his chair eating fruit and drinking milk.

It was Christmas morning so of course once the kids realized this all chaos broke loose and we started opening presents. Everyone enjoyed themselves and by the time we were done it was near noon. Brandon, the kids and I took off for a while to explore Kennebunk and the coastline. We hadn't been to Maine in over 10 years and the kids have only seen the beach in the summer. We got a few quick photos and then headed back to the house for dinner. The food was delicious and Dale's mom and stepdad were there too which was nice. When Zach took his afternoon nap I took the opportunity to crash along with him. When we woke up it was night and everyone was hanging out around the house. It was a nice quiet Christmas night but it was great to be around family.

The next morning we had to take off for Boston. We headed to see poppy and visited with him for a while before heading to our friend Laura's. We visited with her for a bit and then back in the car to head to Alan and Karen's home. We spent the rest of the afternoon and early evening visiting and watching Jeffrey tackle Avi and Zach with his karate moves. Brandon's dad and stepmom were there too and it was great to visit with them and I'm sure they enjoyed watching all of their grandchildren playing together.

Last stop for the night was mom and John's so we drove right past Palmer which was strange and kept going to Agawam. Luke had come to MA with my mom and John and was waiting to play with Avi when we got there. They played for a bit and we ate some dinner and put the kids to bed. The next morning we woke up and got ready to head to CT for Megan and Adam's wedding. It was a bit hectic getting ready in the morning but we managed to leave on time and arrived early enough to say hello to Megan and visit with family.

The ceremony was short and sweet since it was a vow renewal. After the ceremony everyone walked across the street to the reception. It was in the old Meriden library. The buffet was open right away so we found our table and got plates for the kids before the party started. Zach ate like an animal and Avi did a good job concentrating enough to eat enough. Once the wedding party was announced the party started - we pretty much didn't see Avi the rest of the night as she was out on the dance floor dancing with anyone and everyone. She was in full bloom for her party personality and couldn't help herself posing for any camera aimed in her vicinity. Zach took a nap part-way through which was nice to keep him happy.

After the party we headed back to Shirley and Jim's. We got there first and it was where the girls had started getting ready so as my aunt Shirley best described it - "it was a curler explosion". We tidied up a bit and waited for the rest of the family to arrive. We hung out and visited with everyone until about 8 then needed to head back to Agawam.

Monday was Luke's birthday so we ate breakfast and once Michelle arrived we opened presents and had dinner and cake. Hillary and Dale still had to drive back to Maine so they left around 3 or 4. Michelle stayed to visit and went in the hot tub with Avi for a while. Later that night mom and John took Avi and Zach to see Bright Nights at Forest Park - it's a drive through lights display. While they were out Brandon and I went to dinner. We came across Lattitude in W Springfield. It was amazing and I would highly recommend it to anyone who lives in W. Mass. It's right across the street from the Big E fairgrounds. We had fried brussel sprouts to start and knew we were in for wonderful food because of how good they were. We weren't disappointed either!

The rest of the week we hung out at mom's. Mom and John took Avi to Friendly's for a cone head sundae which she thoroughly enjoyed. Mom and I took the kids to the Westfield Children's Museum which was nice and then stopped to visit my aunt Pam. She was so surprised to see us and had so much fun watching their antics. On Thursday we headed back to Boston to spend some more time with poppy. We went out to eat at Kelly's and then visited with our friend Christie. We were back to poppy's by 8 and put the kids to bed and then us shortly thereafter.

We were up at 6:30 to head to the airport to meet mom and John to give mom her car back and get on our flight. Our flight left on time and we were back in CO by 1pm New Year's Day. It was a fantastic visit - we did a lot, saw a lot of people, and the kids had a blast too - but it's good to be home.

The kids woke up at 6am today - not horrible considering the time change. We took down the rest of Christmas and then went to Costco and King Soopers. Avi spent most of the afternoon at Emma's house and came home to eat dinner basically. They are both in bed and that's where I'm headed once I finish this post. I have to work tomorrow - ugh!

So what's the latest with Avi and Zach:
Zach - since he's now 1 we've weaned him off formula - hurray! it was painless actually, he's also off the bottle and solely on a sippy cup now - hurray!, he had some words/sounds that make sense in context - when he sees a santa doll or figure he says "dan-dah" and when Cabo came home yesterday he was so excited and said "da-bo", his favorite book right now is an animal book that has colorful paper in some of the animal cutouts - he'll actually go into the other room and come back carrying it, he's using his signs more accurately too - mostly milk, eat, more and all done, he's taking bites off a banana but isn't yet able to hold it on his own without squishing it, he starts dancing and bouncing up/down when he hears music and it's just the cutest thing ever

Avi - she's really starting to recognize her letters and wants to try to spell out any words that she finds - she was quite pleased with herself for spelling STOP on the sign today - she also spelled COSTCO and NORDSTROM - she needs help usually with 1 or 2 letters but gets the rest, she loves her curriculum workbooks too (like trace the numbers/letters, circle the opposites, etc), she'll sit quietly and read through a book on her own but loves to be read to too, she's still very much into pretend play and lately she's usually a dinosaur or a horse, she's been going to day care 4 days a week for about a month and I don't think that's the reason she's doing so well but I also know it's not hurting :)

Avi's signed up for swim lessons through March and Zach starts tumbling next week which goes through May. We've got our white board color coded for each of their "events".

Happy New Year to all!

Early Christmas

2009-12-19T19:25:00.000-08:00

This was a fun week - Avi had her school holiday party and we opened presents from Santa this morning.

Avi's school holiday party was fun. She did a good job with both the dancing and the singing. She did ballet to the Nutcracker Suite and a tap routine to Santa Baby. She's only been taking the lessons for 4 weeks so she did a good job considering that and the fact the teacher was in the crowd showing them the moves. However, when we were at Cost Plus yesterday Santa Baby came on the radio and sure enough she was twisting her hips to the refrain of "hurry down the chimney tonight". Too cute.

The singing program was great. She knows all the songs by heart because we would sing them on the way to school and the way home so she belted them out loud and clear over the other voices. First was "boots, mittens, scarf and hat" to the tune of "head, shoulders, knees and toes", then "i'm opening a present" to the tune of "have you ever seen a lassie", then "up on the housetop", then "jingle bells", then "i'm a little dradle" to the tune of "i'm a little teapot", then rudolph the red nosed reindeer" and the big finale of "we wish you a merry christmas". She had a great time!

Yesterday she got a letter in the mail from Santa telling her he would visit her early since we'll be at Luke's on Christmas Day. She was very excited and opened her new pajamas last night and slept until about 7 this morning. We opened presents and had a nice morning. She seemed to respond great to everything we got her which is always nice...the only thing she was initially bummed about was not getting "spike the dinosaur" but when we pointed out that Santa still brought her a spiky dinosaur she was happy.

She played with Emma a bit outside later this afternoon and kept wanting to bring Emma in but we couldn't let her since there were new presents everywhere. Only one more day to the weekend and then we have school the rest of the week and head to the airport Thursday morning for a 7:45am flight to Boston. Can't wait to be with family and see everyone but not sure about a day flight with 2 kids.

Happy Christmas and Happy New Year everyone!

Through November, early December

2009-12-13T18:38:00.000-08:00

So it's now December so I'll back up a bit and try to remember everything...

Avi did karate. She did well and it was mostly about safety and listening skills - they called the program "safe side kids" so parents are safe side adults, the instructors were "kinda knows" and strangers are "don't knows". The concept was still a bit over her head but she had fun with the skills they would do like averting someone coming after them or listening for our commands in a noisy crowd - like hearing me say "get on the ground, crawl forward, stand up, turn around, etc". We'll probably try it again in another year.

She's now doing dance class at school once a week and like that a lot. She has a recital for the Holiday program at her school this week which should be interesting. She's also doing swim lessons - she has made such progress and is now starting to do strokes with a kick to get where she wants to go and does really well with her floating. She'll do swimming through the winter and will be a great swimmer by the summer so I can focus on Z when we go to the pool.

We started Avi at school an extra day last week. She now goes M-Th. It'll be good for her since she'll still be 4 when she starts kindergarten next year. It helps her to have another day of structure and since all of her friends on our street are already in school she has someone to play with besides me and Z. It also gives me some 1:1 time with Zach now that he loves to play and is so mobile.

I'm signing Zach up for tumbling to start in January on Mondays when Avi is at school. It'll be nice to have him do tumbling since he's a boy and Avi loved it so much.

I had to work on Thanksgiving but got out early enough to rest a bit and then get ready to head to Susie and Bruce's for dinner. Leslie picked Avi up at noon so she could play with Aubrie before Aubrie had to head to Cory's for the night. We had a great dinner and were home around 8. We spent Friday putting up our Christmas decorations. Avi has rearranged our tree ornaments multiple times but it keeps her busy and makes her feel like a big girl so we let her.

I took Avi to Disney on Ice last weekend as a surprise. She had a blast...loved every minute of it. It started with Mickey and Minnie then Cars, then Little Mermaid and Lion King and after the break it was Tinkerbell. It was a great day out.

This weekend we had Z's birthday party. It was a fun party and thoroughly enjoyed his cupcake plus another piece of cake since most of his cupcake ended up on him. :) His face was a mess but he was so adorable. We cannot believe he's one already! This year has gone by so quickly it's amazing. He's using his signs for milk and more consistently. He'll also walk to his chair with his booster seat when we ask him where his chair is and he'll walk to the fridge if we ask him where his milk is. He's now blowing kisses when he goes off to bed which is too cute! If he picks up a brush he'll brush his own hair or pretend to. He also puts his hand up to his ear when B or I are talking on the phone. It's amazing to me how much more he's doing now at 12 months vs last month. It's a great reminder of how fast they pick things up.

We went to see Santa today. Zach sat really well on his lap and Brandon got a great picture of him looking up at Santa - it was too cute. Avi told him she wanted "Spike the dinosaur" which is this huge, red, automated dinosaur. We'll see what Santa brings her. We're going to do Christmas next weekend for the kids since we'll be in ME for Christmas Day. I think Santa will bring things for her stocking to Hillary's but we'll do the big presents next weekend.

I'll write more after our trip back east - Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

It's November...

2009-11-06T07:16:00.000-08:00

The night before Halloween, Brandon and I got dressed up and went to a party at Scott and Kelly's. B was MacGyver and I was Britney Spears' school girl. We had a great time at the party and met a lot of new people. It was a great turnout considering 2-3 feet of snow had fallen in the 2 days before the party. B was my designated driver for the night so I took full advantage of that and drank like I was back in college - I had at least 10 White Russians. My world was spinning a bit on the way home but by the next morning I was good as new and ready to go - I did take a nap when Zach did which helped too.

Halloween day was fun. B and Avi built a snow tower in the backyard with all of our snow. That night Avi was Snow White and Zach was a cow. Avi had more fun getting dressed to trick-or-treat than actually getting the candy. After about 30 minutes she decided she was done and we headed home. She had a lot of fun standing in the door passing out the candy instead. After the treats were passed out Emma and Tom came over so Emma and Avi could play until bed time. They play really well together and are very agreeable about taking turns for each other's ideas, etc. Z was already in bed so I had some nice down time for the rest of the night.

I had to work Sunday which was a bummer but only one weekend day a month isn't bad at all! Monday we finished making Avi's bird balloon projects and then went shopping for a cabinet for her room. She plays in there a lot these days and we needed something she could put her toys away on. She loves her jewelry box and ponytailers, etc which can make a big mess so we got a 3 shelf bookshelf. She puts her box of My Little Pony's on top and the other shelves are full of the rest of the stuff. She feels very big when she cleans her own room! We love that.

Zach has decided he wants to walk everywhere. I had guessed early on when he started crawling with the crab crawl that he would start walking at Halloween and I was right. He still occasionally crab crawls but it's mostly when he's tired or if he's trying to escape from Avi. It's so cute to see him wobbling around so proud of himself! He's eating on his own now. Doesn't like to be spoon fed anything except cottage cheese (I started him on it early so that someone else in this family will like it with me). He loves strawberries and any fruit too. He's had some chicken but meats are still a bit too tough for him.

Avi starts karate tomorrow. It should be interesting to see how she does as an individual vs a team. I'm sure at this level it's more about listening and obeying the instructor than doing punches/kicks. We'll see how it goes...

Project for the day is rice krispie treats....yummy!

Early October...

2009-10-14T19:25:00.000-07:00

I cannot believe it's October already. This year is going by so fast and before we know it, Zach will be 1!

Zach is still working on mastering a narrow base of support. He will sometimes take a step on his own but isn't ready to walk yet. He loves to get around crawling and is really quite fast on his hands and feet - not the traditional hands/knees. He's still waving bye-bye and occasionally to say hi. We're working on blowing kisses and he'll bring his hand to his mouth when we say "blow kisses" but doesn't have the release down yet. It's very cute though! He'll also give a mouth kiss sometimes when I ask for a kiss - he usually doesn't stop at one though which gets a bit messy. He's doing really well eating - he loves strawberries and bananas this week. He's had chicken, cottage cheese, sliced cheese, broccoli, deli turkey, eggplant, rice, canteloupe, pancakes, waffles, peaches, mandarin oranges, yogurt...I think we're doing a better job giving him a mixture of food than we did with Avelyn. She loves all of the above so we have it in the house where I don't think we did when she was just learning to eat.

Avelyn continues to do well with her writing letters and numbers. She tried her homework on her own on the way to the dentist yesterday and completed it but instead of a 3 she did B's. It's hard to know how much to correct her and push her since she's only 4 and has a whole year to work on writing and really will still work on it in kindergarten too. For now I'm just glad she enjoys it and likes to write her name on everything. We've taken books out of the library for her to "read" - we only need to read them to her once and then she reads them on her own pretty accurately using the pictures and recall of our storytelling. She still loves to play dress-up and her latest activity is to play in her room. She brings up her bucket of "my little ponies" and her doll house and just plays and plays and plays. She'd stay up there all day if we'd let her! Right now she's working on what she wants to be for Halloween - it changes daily - yesterday it was a dragon, this morning it was bat girl and tonight she told me a butterfly. We'll make a decision this weekend so I can start making it!

I went out with Jessica and Rebecca Monday night for girls' night. It was a blast and it felt good to be out without chasing after our monkeys. Of course most of our conversation was about our monkeys but we still had a great time and vowed to go out at least once a month.

That's all for now...

Early fall...

2009-09-28T08:16:00.000-07:00

Zach is now able to stand up without any support. He can move from hands/feet right up to standing. Still doesn't go anywhere but he's mighty proud of himself and will clap his hands once he's standing. He still has his feet very wide apart but I'm sure that will change this week as he gets more practice. On occasion he'll take a few steps just holding onto my pinky but then he gets distracted and sits back down. He's eating more and more different foods. He now really like crackers - like ritz - and wears the crumbs well. I see lots of baths in our future. He's also waving to say "bye-bye" which is so cute because he usually has a huge grin on his face too.

Avi is now writing her whole name - she needs some help with her Y and N but overall she has come a long way in the last 2 weeks. She gets homework from school too - last week she had to write her A, B, a, b, and 1 and 2. Her 1's are fabulous! She's really enjoying her new class. Tomorrow they are taking a hike to explore nature and see the colors change in the foothills. I'm sure they'll have a blast! She wants to make a "manners box" to have here at home like they do at school. Any time she uses her manners (please, thank you, or lends a helping hand) her name goes in the box - so far that's all she wants is for her name to be in the box. We'll see how long until she asks for something for being so good.

We had a great time last night - our friends Suzie/Bruce, Scott/Kelly and Tom/Jessica came over for a surf/turf party. It was a nice night so we were able to eat outside. Started off with chowder that Brandon had made which was so delicious as well as clams and salad and crab stuffed mushrooms, then we had steak and tuna from the grill and side dishes of asparagus with feta cheese and capicola as well as portabello mushrooms. Everything was so delicious!!! Dessert was a fruit custard pie. Everyone was stuffed at the end of the night and it was great to have everyone over. Tom/Jessica's daughter Emma came over too and she and Avi played all night together and had so much fun too. Avi slept in until 7:30 this morning!

Zach's asleep and then we're heading out to run errands and meet up with Laura for lunch. I'm also meeting someone while we're down there to sell my nursing clothes. I sold all of my maternity clothes over the weekend. I still have a lot of baby stuff but will probably keep it until next spring when I can sell it all!

Summer is over...

2009-09-21T08:54:00.000-07:00

Time goes by so fast...haven't written since just after Avi's birthday over a month ago.

We had a great block party. Lots of the neighbors came this year and it went all day. We rented a dunk tank too which kept the kids busy. There was lots of food and Paul had his funnel cake maker going which was oooooh soooo yummy! Topped off the day with a movie in the driveway - Bedtime Stories.

We unfortunately were sick for Labor Day weekend. Brandon and I took turns over the weekend and Avi was sick on Tuesday. Zach stayed pretty healthy the whole time but had some diarrhea.

Avi started soccer earlier this month. Her team is 4-6 year olds. She is the youngest and there is a girl on the team who will be 7 in November. Brandon is coaching and the kids get a kick out of his energy and they stay focused on the drills really well. The practices are outside and the games are inside on turf. Avi seems to do really well outside but I think gets tired after a while. For the games she definitely gets tired and I think a bit overwhelmed by the bigger kids. She did much better this week for the second game than during the first. The games are set up in 4 10-minute periods. Avi played the majority of 2 periods this week. She likes to run up/down the field but isn't quite getting into the action yet. She'll kick the ball if it comes to her and she does a great throw in. We'll see how she does this week. It's a 4 game season so 2 more games to go.

She is doing great in the Tiger room. She is working on writing her whole name not just Avi. She can write Avi very easily now so we've moved on to all 6 letters. We're heading to the library today to get some early reader books which have mostly sight words in them that her teachers recommended. I can't believe she's nearly reading already.

Zach is 9 months old. He's doing a great job crawling around - he does the crab crawl method mostly on his hands/feet. He's cruising along everything now too. He'll even stand for a few moments without holding on. I give him until Halloween and he'll be walking. He was almost 2 inches longer than Avi at 9 months at his appointment Friday. I had been wondering when he would pass her being that he's a boy but I didn't think it would be this early. Maybe he's just in a growth spurt - he's sure eating a lot. He has really come a long way feeding himself in the past few weeks. He loves fruit and cheese! He's using a sippy cup mostly for water but we'll start formula in there too soon. A lot of his food still ends up in his bib but he's gotten a lot better and hasn't really figured out how to feed Cabo yet so that's good.

Brandon and I took a day off together last week. He surprised me with a morning together at the spa - a nice hot bubble bath, massages and facials. It was fantastic as usual! I've been to this spa before and this was the best massage I had had. We then went fly fishing for the afternoon. We didn't catch anything but it was so nice spending time together kid-free.

Zach is sleeping right now and then we'll head out to run errands - our favorite Monday past-time. Back to schoo/work tomorrow...

Avelyn's birthday week and visit from grammy and papa John

2009-08-15T16:16:00.000-07:00

We had a great weekend the other week with Avi's party on the 8th. She had so much fun at the park where the party was held and so did her friends who were able to make it. They kept themselves busy with the water and the climbing stuff and the parents were able to sit in the shade and relax. She loved her Ariel cake and really enjoyed everyone singing Happy Birthday to her. After the party she took a well-deserved nap and when she woke up we opened presents. She is very into My Little Pony right now so she got some of those as well as Play-doh (another favorite)! Overall it was a great weekend.

We went mini-golfing on Sunday. She had had so much fun doing it in SC so we tried a local course here minus the sunken ship, etc. She had fun but wasn't really into the "game".

She is signed up for pee-wee soccer which starts on 9/9. We've got her cleats, shin guards, and ball so she's geared up. Should be so much fun watching her run around chasing the ball. She has a great kick when we play with her so I'm interested to see how she does with a team sport.

My mom and John flew in Wednesday as a surprise for Avi's birthday. I picked her and Zach up from school and we went to the airport but she didn't know why. She was so excited to see them come up the escalator. We had a great visit with many projects around the house - restaining the deck and erecting our new gazebo. We now have a beautiful outdoor living space protected from the sun.

Zach is crawling everywhere and standing up to everything. Last nigth he was waving back when we waved at him - too cute. He's still working on solid solids but can maneuver rice krispies and pieces of bread pretty well. He's got 5 teeth (3 up top and 2 on the bottom). Unfortunately we loves to use them to nip you if you get too close so he's learning the words "no bite"! I've started some sign language with him - right now just doing more, eat, milk and all done. He's not copying anything yet but they say usually around 9 months so we've got a copy weeks before we should see anything repeated back. He's just so happy all the time and his smile will make your worst day better. He's still sleeping really well and taking good naps during the day. I wish I could crash anywhere/anytime and people would make sure I was safe! The joys of infanthood - or maybe he's a toddler now?!

Brandon's up fishing today so it's me and the kids. Zach is currently taking a nap after waking up at 5:30 and Avi is making me some Valentine's cards (yes, it's August) as she just got up at 7. We'll be running errands later to complete our outdoor space and just get out of the house.

Our block party is next weekend and that should be a blast. The next weekend I have to work and then the weekend after Labor Day we're heading back to Estes Park for the weekend but this time staying in a cabin with some friends.

Back from Myrtle Beach....

2009-08-02T19:47:00.001-07:00

We had a great time in Myrtle Beach...both kids traveled well considering we got up at 3:30am Monday morning to catch our flights. Luckily both flights were on time. We got to Wilmington, NC and drove to Myrtle Beach and arrived at Lakewood Campground around 3:30pm. It was a long day but we all survived!

The campground was huge. Luckily the villa we were in had a golf cart that came with it so we were able to drive around in it each day/night. The first night we drove to the beach and just kind of wandered around the waves for a few minutes since it was such a long day.

Tuesday we got up and ate breakfast and then headed to the beach. We loaded up the golf cart and took the 2 minute drive to the beach. We did some body surfing - my first time in a long time! The surf was pretty strong and I wasn't really ready for it so I did about 3 rides and was done. Avi had fun playing in the sand making sand castles. She didn't like the salt water or the big waves much.

During the week we pretty much had the same schedule: eat breakfast, Avi and Brandon went to the cafe so he could work and she could socialize and watch a movie, headed to the beach, came back to eat lunch and nap, and then each night we either cooked out/went out to eat/went mini golfing.

It was a great trip for sure! Avi loved being on vacation at "miracle beach" as she called it. Zach really started crawling while we were there and the A/C vent was his best friend whenever it came on.

Saturday we packed up and went to a breakfast buffet and then we drove back to Wilmington while Carol and Don headed back to Raleigh. We made it to our hotel around 12:30 and luckily they found a room for us so we went up and settled in for a while. After lunch we went to the pool for a bit then came back to nap and then out for dinner. By now, Zach was not feeling so great - pretty wheezy and coughing - we think the humidity did not agree with him! Our flight Sunday morning was at 5:30 so we were again up at 3:30am. Again, both flights were on time and we got back to our house around 11am Sunday morning.

Monday we took Zach to the doctors and they gave us a nebulizer to try. By Friday he was still wheezing so we took him back. This time his throat was red and he had pus on his uvula. The rapid strep test was negative and she thought it was a sinus-y type infection since infants don't have sinuses the infection was dripping down the back of his throat. So now we have an oral steroid for 5 days and an antibiotic for 10 days as well as the nebulizer. Fun stuff for sure. Zach feels better as he is now eating again. He didn't drink or eat really well all week and had lost 3oz from Monday to Friday (Monday he weighed in at 18# 14.5oz and Friday he was down to 18# 11oz). His "voice" is now hoarse though so I'll be calling again tomorrow so see if this is just a side effect of either the steroid/antibiotic or there's something new to consider. UGH!

We've got Avelyn's 4th birthday party next weekend. I cannot believe it's been 4 years already. She is such a big girl! I just enrolled her in pee wee soccer that starts next month so that should be great - she loves to kick the ball and it will be interesting to see how she puts it all together to play the sport.

Zach is really crawling everywhere now. At first he was getting up on hands/feet and propelling himself forward but now he has the hand/knees working together. We've got to close the doors and use Avi's tunnel to block off the front room to contain him. It's amazing what he gets in to too - I had to rearrange Avi's toy shelves to put her books on the bottom and her "dress up" stuff up top. Today he was having a good time using the step stool to stand at while reaching down to the floor with one hand and picking up a mirror and then squatting down to get back to sitting on the floor. He definitely gets less frustrated now that he can move around where he wants to which is usually to chase Cabo! :)

That's all for now...

BBQ and more early July updates...

2009-07-18T13:36:00.000-07:00

We had a great BBQ last Saturday. About 45 people (including kids) showed up. We borrowed a bouncy house from a neighbor and I had filled about 50 water balloons so the kids kept busy. The weather held out great with early rain and then clouding over so we didn't bake. Everyone had a fun time and there was enough food to go around. The house was empty around 10!

I had to work Sunday and had a full day. Monday Avelyn started her next session of swim lessons so we went to those early and then came home for a quick snack and then headed to the park to meet Jessica, Landon and Adelyn. After playing at the park for a while we went to lunch at Qdoba - our favorite! We went home after lunch and Avi took her nap and then we played around the house until Brandon got home. He and Avi played outside for a while while I got Zach ready for bed with a bath. He just loves to splash in the water now.

Zach is now able to clap his hands both on his own and when he sees someone clapping he'll join in. Sometimes he does it in rhythm with our song "clap, clap, clap your hands" which is just too cute - he's so proud of himself. He's also "crawling" across the room now using his legs to propel and arms to pull - he's not up on all fours yet but he makes due!

I had to talk with Avi about making sure she plays with her smaller toys on the table top and doesn't leave them on the ground. We had to call Zach "zaczilla" this morning while Avi was setting up her train set Zach kept smacking the bridge over. He can also move himself from prone on his belly back to up to sitting which makes it easier since he can correct his position himself and doesn't start crying all of the time. He also couldn't wait to get ahold of her puzzle pieces too. Should be an interesting next few months and beyond!

We head to Myrtle Beach on Monday and will be there for a week. We're excited for the beach but not really looking forward to our first traveling experience with 2 kids but I'm sure it'll be fine - Avi's a good traveler and Zach is so laid back.

End of June, early July...

2009-07-08T20:30:00.000-07:00

We had a great time camping up at Grand Lake the last weekend in June. We went up with our neighbors. It was raining when we first arrived but cleared up in time for a quick fire and marshmellow toasting. Our neighbors got a bit lost on the way and arrived around 9:30. Brandon helped set up their tent and then the girls slept in the pop-up and the boys had the tent. Zach woke up early in the morning so he and I took a walk. We got to see 3 bull moose which was amazing - they were about 30 yards away! Once everyone was up we headed to the pancake breakfast they serve and said good morning to the horses that were waiting for their daily trail ride. After breakfast we headed downtown to the lake, We set up camp near the water and Brandon and Tom kept the girls busy with fishing and I kept Zach busy playing. We threw the ball for Cabo of course and then headed in to town. The state chili cookoff was taking place so we hung around there for a while while Emma and Avi played on the playground. We headed back to the camper for naps and then started dinner. After dinner we made a fire and toasted more marshmellows and made s'mores. We hit the sack around 10. We did the pancake breakfast again Sunday morning then packed up the camp and headed home. Once home we cleaned out the camper and then relaxed. It was a great first trip for Zach!

Getting home Sunday meant we had 3 days with Matthew and Alexia before they moved to St Louis. I watched Matthew Monday morning while Amanda and John went to their close for the house. Avi and Matthew played all morning and had a great time. Tuesday after work they movers were still packing up the truck so we hung out out front and ate dinner at Lucas'. That night Amanda and the kids stayed with us since the moving truck had hauled away all of their belongings. We got up early so say goodbye and take a few last pictures including their car driving away down the street. So far Avi is dealing really well and refers to their house as "just a regular house, not Matthew's".

Over 4th of July weekend we had reservations at Jellystone in Estes Park. I had been looking forward to this trip for a long time since I had camped in a Jellystone back east growing up. We thought we were in a bit of trouble when the host has to lead us to our campsite. We headed what felt like pretty much straight uphill and around a bend to our site. We set up the camper and made a quick fire before heading to bed. Brandon left to go fishing with Steffan at 6 and both kids woke up at that time too. We hung around the camper until 9 when we drove back to the front of the campground to the playground. Yes, drove because earlier I had walked to the bathroom carrying Zach while Avi walked and I lead Cabo too. The walk back to the camper was long as Avi had to stop a few times because it was so steep. We played around until it was time raise the flag for the day with Yogi. Avi ran right up to him when he came out and was really excited to see him. After the flag was up we headed toward town. We spotted a dog park so stopped to let Cabo swim and run around a bit. In the same area was a playground so we went over there but it started raining about 15 minutes later so we headed back to camp. We waited out the rain in our camper and decided to eat lunch while we waited. Once the rain stopped we headed back to the playground until it was time to nap. After the naps Brandon got back and we headed into town for dinner. Zach had a good time in his seat and did well for his first dining out experience - I gave him some water from the straw and that kept his attention for a while and he managed a few little bits of bread too and then ate his dinner - sweet potatoes - mmmm! After dinner we got back to camp and Brandon and Avi made a fire while I put Zach to bed. We roasted some marshmellows and then Avi set off to visit our camping neighbors - she's so outgoing that she introduced herself to the parents and the 2 kids and shared her glow sticks. They were fast friends for sure! We went to bed around 10:30 I guess. Zach woke up around 2 and after feeding him we got to sleep until about 6. Both Brandon and I were exhausted and decided to call it quits on this camping trip. We packed up the camper and headed home.

That night Avi and I headed to Town Center to watch the fireworks. She was really into it this year and kept calling out the colors and making the hissing or boom sounds she heard. They lasted about 25 minutes so she was in bed by about 10 and so were we! On Sunday we went to the pool - Avi is a little fish and Zach is sitting up so much better now that he was able to play in the water and splash around a bit.

Zach is really starting to pull himself up well now. I couldn't get him to stay seated once he figured it out on the music table Monday. He doesn't really have the leverage on anything else yet. He's also trying to crawl. He gets on his belly and alternates pushing his arms up straight with pushing his butt into the air. Today he got on all 4's with help but didn't go anywhere.

That's all for this post - we're having a BBQ on Saturday which should be a lot of fun and then we head to Myrtle Beach the next weekend to spend a week with Brandon's folks. Avi can't wait to feed the "eagles" again!

More of June 2009...

2009-06-25T20:01:00.000-07:00

June has been a busy month...Avelyn is enjoying Polar Bears. She finished her swimming lessons and has been working on writing her name - right now that's Avi but we'll work on Avelyn once she figures it all out. She loves to talk up a storm and most of our conversations focus on why things are the way they are - like why don't dinosaurs live anymore and other profound questions. Brandon took her ice skating a few weekends ago and she enjoyed it but will need some practice. We are heading to Grand Lake this weekend for our first camping trip of the year. She is so excited to go "campering" she asks about it every day.

Zach is doing great too. He's eating solids 2-3 times a day and getting so big. He can sit up on his own too and has already started to figure out how to move to his hands and knees. He really likes to get on at least one knee and his hands and then go from that position to his belly. Once on his belly he can scoot around and tries to get his knees under him by sticking his butt in the air but can't quite get there yet. He has also been trying to pull himself up from sitting but doesn't have the leverage he needs yet. I can tell it won't be long though! He pretty much sleeps through the night and takes good naps too. We'll see how he does with camping this weekend. Should be interesting!

Avi's friend and our neighbors move to St Louis next week. We're not looking forward to it and it will be a big loss. Avi has said anytime they aren't home that "they must be at their new home" soo she has an idea that she won't be seeing him but doesn't realize it will be permanent. We'll see how it goes over the next few weeks!

Early June 2009

2009-06-06T12:00:00.000-07:00

Well, Avi is now in the Polar Bear room. She moved up this week and is enjoying her new class and getting used to her new teachers although there is a bit of separation anxiety from them. She goes to swimming lessons during the school day too which helps - she gets to ride the school's van to get to the lessons so I quiz her on our way home about who she sat next to, etc. I have to remember not to answer with "fine" when she asks me how my day was (and yes she asks us) so I give her detail and hope to hear some from her too - ie - what was for breakfast, lunch, snack, how was swimming?, who'd you sit next to?...

Zach continues to get bigger and more fun! He loves to sit up and really likes to be helped to stand up too. He's rolling over from his back to his tummy on occasion. His favorite things to play with right now are his shape sorter and the stacking rings -mostly because they are fun to chew on. He's eating 3 meals a day when we're at home consisting of cereal, veggies and fruit. He's on the Stage 2 foods now so they're a bit more thick. We've given him the biter biscuits too which is pretty funny. He basically gnaws on them and then they slip out of his hands but it keeps him busy and works on his grip too!

May 2009

2009-06-06T11:54:00.001-07:00

What a busy month we had in May...

My mom and John came out for a visit at the beginning of the month. They flew in on Monday and then headed west to Glenwood Springs for Tues-Thurs while I was at work. Then were back over Mother's Day weekend. We had a picnic in the park and flew Avi's kite and we got our garden planted. We planted squash, cucumber, watermelon, eggplants, carrots, parsley, oregano, peas, beans, zucchini, canteloupe, tomatoes and bell peppers. As of now the tomatoes, squash, carrots and zucchini look the best. We'll see what comes from the other plants.

Michelle and Dave came out for a visit over Memorial Day weekend. We walked up to the top of the Mother Cabrini shrine one day, had a BBQ on Saturday after Dave helped Brandon redo part of our kitchen floor, and on Sunday we helped our friend Leslie start the process of painting her new house.

Zach is now eating solid food. He's loves his cereal for sure. He's sitting up really well on his own and becoming really aware of everything around him. I'm sure there was more this month but since it's June now I'll leave it at this but those are the highlights.

End of April...

2009-05-01T18:30:00.000-07:00

I can't believe April is over already. Time goes by so fast. Last weekend was cold and rainy. We got the garden pretty much ready for plants and will put them in the ground tomorrow. Sunday started out nice and sunny but turned rainy and cold. We had our neighbors over for a BBQ and hung out inside watching the Red Sox game. The kids all played well together for the night and did well being cooped up downstairs.

Monday Avi had a playdate with Davin so we went to Little Monkey Business and they played really well together and managed to both eat their lunches. Avi, Zach and I then met Brandon for some shopping at Kohl's.

The week at work was uneventful and very busy! Thursday night the kids and I stayed late near work for Happy Hour and they both did a terrific job. Today we did our closing for our re-finance of our mortgage. It was scheduled for 11 so we left the house at 10:30 and got a call from our mortgage guy that it was delayed and they weren't sure when it would be today. We went to the mall to walk around wait for the phone call and when we'd had enough of the mall we went to the closing office. Brandon went to get our lunch and luckily we brought Avi's portable DVD player and she was happy to watch Madagascar. Zach woke up, ate and then spent the closing in my lap playing quietly. We got home and they both tooks naps.

Avi had a few minutes to herself upstairs and decided it would be a good idea to bring the scale over to the counter so she could reach the scissors and give herself a trim. I honestly don't think we would have noticed she'd cut her hair if she hadn't confessed to Brandon that she's cut her hair and it was dangerous! There is one patch that is cut to a crewcut look but her curls cover it pretty well and she'll be sporting a trendy side-swept bang look for a while.

Hopefully we can get the plants in the ground tomorrow, I have to work on Sunday and then my mom and John arrive in town on Monday for a week's visit.

Check out the new pics of Zach sitting up by himself. He's getting stronger each day and can sit unsupported for over 10 minutes without face-planting!

Week after the snowstorm...

2009-04-23T08:30:00.000-07:00

Zach is now 4 months old - he's getting so big. At his check-up he weighed 14 pounds, 13 ounces and was 25 1/4 inches long. He's starting to sit up a bit in the tripod position but still easily falls forward. We've got him in the jolly jumper in our bedroom doorway and he likes to swing around and is starting to bounce while he's in it. He's such a happy baby and you can make him smile so easily! We haven't started solid foods yet but I've been spooning formula to him while he's sitting at the table in his bumbo seat. He still has a bit of the tongue thrust so he's not quite ready for a meal! But soon I bet...

Avelyn continues to make us laugh! The other day she turned to Cabo after Cabo had squashed some of the plants in our garden and said "do you see how sad I am?" and had the most pathetic look on her face. Such a drama queen. She's doing great riding her bike and has asked every day on the way home from school if she can ride it and luckily our weather has been fantastic this week so we've been outside before and after dinner most nights.

Our snow was gone by Monday afternoon - unfortunately some of our neighbors' basements flooded there was so much water in the snow. We stayed dry thankfully! You would never even know there had been a snowstorm a week ago - today it's supposed to be 80* and the sun is shining bright. I'm heading outside to do some yard work. I took the day off today for a mental health day. Kids are at school and Brandon's at work! Have plenty of chores to do around here too! :)

Big snowstorm...

2009-04-17T18:53:00.000-07:00

Well, we had a fun easter last Sunday. Avi found all of her eggs with a few pieces of candy as well as a few presents (bubbles and a puzzle). When she was done she turned to us and said "can I go on an egg hunt now?" - we weren't sure what she was referring to since she had just done an egg hunt! We roasted a turkey breast and had a nice dinner that evening.

Monday morning we went shopping to get some new socks, etc and Avi actually rode the bike Santa got for her at the store so we called Brandon and she couldn't keep in how excited she was that she wasn't scared anymore. We played outside later that day but she wouldn't ride her bike. Since it was so warm and used up some of her new bubbles with Alexia and Matthew. She had swimming on Tuesday - this was her last week of this session - she has no problem going in the "cold pool" now (that's the lap pool) and she's working on her sitting dive from the edge. It's amazing to think how far she's come since last summer. Wednesday was a nice night and Brandon was outside with her and she agreed to ride her bike and couldn't wait to come back inside and tell me how great she did. Hopefully we're over the hurdle of not wanting to ride her big-girl bike! Brandon left on his fishing trip Wednesday night at 1am. Thursday night was Avi's last swimming lesson and then we came home, took a bath, ate dinner and went to bed. Today we woke up to snow. It started out as rain but around noon really started to pick up and we now have about 10 inches out there. The kids were out in force after nap time and are now at the age where they love the snow. We used our sleds in our driveway and the kids stayed busy for almost 2 hours sledding down our driveway and having so much fun!

Not sure what we'll do tomorrow since it's supposed to snow some more but we'll see.

Early April...

2009-04-11T19:09:00.000-07:00

I put up more pics in the web albums so check them out when you can...

I can't believe it's April already! Time sure flies by with 2 little ones to look after.

Zach has recovered from his RSV and is growing so fast. We had his 4 month checkup this week and he's weighing in at 14 pounds, 13 ounces and is 25 1/4 inches long. He's holding his head up very easily and doing well with tummy time. He's rolled over a few times but not yet consistently for me to boast that he's rolling. He's loving chewing on his fingers and constantly has them in his mouth. He's starting to bring other objects up to his mouth but it's still mostly his fingers that he's knawing on. No teeth yet but lots of drool!

Avelyn is doing great too. She is back in swimming lessons and just looks so much more comfortable in the water than last year. This summer at the pool should be lots of fun. She's loving playing outside in our backyard and this year she's old enough to be out there with only an occasional peek from me - she's swinging, going down the slide, wandering around picking up sticks and watering the lawn. She keeps busy and we pretty much have to drag her back in the house for meals and naps.

Tomorrow is Easter. We colored eggs today and Avi was able to keep focused and was very proud of herself. She's been carrying around her easter basket all week and should have a fun time doing her "egg hunt" tomorrow morning. If it's nice we'll extend it outside but the mornings are still cold around here so probably not.

I'm sure we'll take lots of pictures tomorrow morning and post them sometime soon...

Early March...

2009-03-14T17:32:00.000-07:00

Well, I've been back to work for 2 weeks now. It was a fairly easy transition. The school both Zach and Avi go to is about 2 blocks north of the hospital where I work so I can see them both at lunch when I nurse Zach. The hospital has been very busy so I'm right back into seeing patients and doing my administrative duties too which is nice. The days go by really fast but we're not getting home until almost 6 some nights so it's a bit hectic to do dinner some nights. We'll figure it out though - it's really nice now that it stays light so much longer - Avi can play in the backyard for a while when we get home and Zach will hang out in his bumbo seat or fall asleep in the swing.

Avi starts swimming lessons in another 2 weeks which will make life even a bit more crazy 2 nights a week but they only last for 3 weeks. She's doing great in school and has gotten over her hurdle of counting correctly past 12 - she was forgetting 13 because her "th" sounds like an "f" so 13 and 14 sounded the same to her but now she's got it. She's doing great with Zach too - she loves to help out and tries to perform a show for him each day. She also told me the other day that "when my boobies get big I'll help feed Zach" - it was too cute! I told her she could save herself for her own kiddos many years from now!

Zach is doing great too! He's gotten so big - I can't believe he's 3 months old already! We had to bring him to the doctor Friday because of his cough - he was quite wheezy and having a bit of trouble breathing normally - they diagnosed him with RSV but a minor case of it - his oxygen level was 100% (as high as you can get) so they told us to use the humidifier in his room and elevate his head to sleep. He's had no trouble sleeping or eating and today he sounds better - not coughing as much and not nearly as wheezy. We'll see how tonight goes...They weighed him at the doctor's office and he is now 13 pounds, 3 ounces so he's put on about 9 ounces in a month.

We're getting ready to plant a vegetable garden in our backyard once the weather warms up - around here they say to wait until after Mother's Day. We started some seeds in some biodegradable cups and will transplant them when it's time. It'll be fun to see Avelyn garden!

That's all for now - hope spring comes soon!

February 2009

2009-02-23T11:48:00.000-08:00

I can't believe February is almost over. Time passes a lot quicker with 2 kids to chase after.

Avelyn is doing great at being a big sister and is so willing to bring him to us that we have to keep a close eye on her. She loves to tickle him and entertain him and he just grins and giggles at her which she loves. Zach is getting so big so fast.

Already when I look at some of the pictures of him he looks so much bigger. At our last appointment for his 2 month check-up he weighed in at 12 pounds, 10 ounces and was 23 1/2 inches long - 75% for both. There are times when he looks so big - like seeing him fill up the swing now and times when he looks so small - like when Avelyn is sitting or standing next to him.

Avi just finished her swim lessons and has a few weeks off before doing the next level. She can do her front float and back float all on her own and can swim 10 feet unassisted in the deep lap pool. The next level teaches her more of the strokes and a sitting dive and return to the wall maneuver. She is a little fish and we were at the pool this morning for 2 hours while she played in the water and dove down to get her rings - Zach and I watched from the sidelines!

I head back to work next week. I'll still be working part-time as the PT manager at Swedish and am both looking forward to getting back to work and hesitant about not having more time off. At least I'll still have Mondays and Fridays off with both kids for play dates, etc. Avi loves to be outside - especially now that the weather is warming up - right now she's out back keeping herself busy lining up all of Cabo's toys in a line along the porch steps! She tried to find some bugs but had no luck except for the tiniest spider which she brought in to show me a while ago as it was crawling along her hand - she plucked some grass to feed it too - so cute!

End of January...

2009-02-02T13:52:00.000-08:00

Not much is new around here - Avelyn starts swimming lessons again tomorrow for another 3 week session. She really is turning into a little fish! She loves to jump into the water and wear her goggles so she can see under the water. We'll see how much she develops her strokes during this next session. Zach is growing for sure - not sure how much he's weighing these days but he's filling out his outfits much more than a few weeks ago. We can't believe he's 7 weeks old already! He really enjoys pushing through his legs and standing up in our laps and gets a big grin across his face being so pleased with himself when he does it. He continues to sleep wonderfully - the last 2 night he slept from 10-5. The only trouble we're having is having him drink from a bottle. I mostly nurse him but have been trying to have him drink from a bottle so Brandon can feed him and also to get him ready for day care in 5 weeks. I bought the next level of nipple for his bottles but he still wasn't impressed so we'll keep trying...I head back to work in early March so we have some time to figure it out!

I'll keep posting pictures in the web albums and update this page often so enjoy!

What a great visit!

2009-01-20T13:47:00.000-08:00

There are many pics from our visit in my web album so check them out when you can...

We picked up my sister Hillary and her son Luke last Thursday. They flew out for a long weekend visit to meet Zachary and play with Avelyn. We spent most of Thursday playing around the house and napping to beat the time change.

Friday morning we headed out to Little Monkey Bizness which is an indoor playground for the 5 and under kids. Avi and Luke had a fun time playing and we went out to lunch afterwards. Time for a nap and after the naps we played outside for a while. Our weather was gorgeous all weekend thankfully! No snow for us - just plenty of sunshine and 60* weather!

Saturday we headed up to the National Western Stock Show that's held every year in Denver. We walked around the convention center, saw a lot of cattle and even saw the cattle getting ready for their big days - they were getting hosed off, blown dry and even having hairspray applied to their hooves and tails to beautify them. After the show it was time for naps and dinner.

Sunday Hillary, Luke, Avi, Zach and I headed to the pool. Zach slept through it but the other kids had fun especially in the family hot tub - gotta love warm water! After swimming we played outside for a while then headed in for naps. After naps was playing around the house and watching a movie while the Steelers game was on.

Monday was a free day at the Denver Zoo and the weather was fantastic. We were there for about 3 hours and saw everything and ate lunch. We headed home and took naps then again watched a movie and hung out playing around the house.

Avi and I dropped Hillary and Luke off at the airport this morning and then I dropped Avi at school and Zach and I have been hanging out today. We had an adventure filled weekend with a new adventure each day! It'll be quiet around here without them and we hope to see them again soon!

New pics!

2009-01-15T19:46:00.000-08:00

Check out the web album!

Happy New Year...

2009-01-02T09:21:00.000-08:00

Hello all and welcome to 2009!

There are some new pictures in the web album so check them out when you can. We had a good last couple of days visiting before my mom and John headed back home Wednesday. The weather turned quite nice for the early part of the week. Avi went to school Tues and Wed as per her normal routine and that is working out really well. She, of course, would rather stay at home and play with her new brother but has a great time at school with her friends.

We had a party Wednesday night at a neighbors house and I stayed until 10 with Zach and Brandon and Avi came home around 11. We were all a bit spent yesterday but hung around the house and Avi played in the yard for a bit and started climbing the trees out back and was having a grand old time doing it!

Zach continues to do great! He's such a great sleeper - most nights he sleeps from 10-4 and then again 4-8 but he's given us 2 nights of 10-6 so far so we'll take them for sure! He's becoming more of a little person every day and is very alert. We have him doing his tummy time which he really enjoys and sitting up in the boppy pillow he just looks all around trying to figure it all out!

The weather today is supposed to be nice again so we'll head outside soon and maybe venture to the stores and maybe the dogpark for a nice walk. Again, happy new year to everyone!

Christmas...

2008-12-28T19:46:00.000-08:00

New pics in the web album from Christmas day...

We had a great Christmas Eve and Day. Our weather warmed up a bit so Avi was able to enjoy her new bike with training wheels. She had a lot of fun opening her presents as well as Zach's and did a good job of actually playing with them after opening them so the morning took about 2 hours to finish up. We had pancakes for breakfast and then Brandon made a spiral ham with sweet potatoes and stuffing for dinner. It was a nice relaxing day.

We had a birthday party on Friday night and another party Saturday night so Zach had a big weekend too. My mom and John will head home on Wednesday and celebrate New Year's Eve in the air while we do the same at a party down the block! We cannot believe it will be 2009 - what a great year 2008 was for us - our family is complete and everyone is happy and healthy!

Happy New Year to everyone!

OMG - he's a week old already...

2008-12-23T20:04:00.001-08:00

Our newest edition continues to thrive and is doing great! He's still a great eater and sleeper. He eats about every 3 hours during the day and sleeps really well at night. He eats at 10, sleeps until 4, eats, then sleeps until 7-8. He's very easy going and laid back and is becoming more alert every day which is so fun to see.

We can't believe Christmas is so close. Avi is excited of course and can't wait. I'm sure she'll have a blast openin gifts that morning...

Merry Christmas everyone!!

First days/nights at home...

2008-12-20T19:58:00.000-08:00

Well, we've been home since Thursday afternoon. Zachary has been a very good sleeper and eater. Thursday night he ate at 9:30 then got up again at 2:00 and then again at 6:30. Cannot complain about that for the first night. He spent most of the day Friday sleeping while I continued to recover. Friday night he had a hard time falling asleep after eating really well so Brandon stayed up with him until about midnight. He woke up next at 4 and then at 7:30 so still good stretches of sleep in between feedings. He's been more alert today but still sleeping really well between feedings which are about every 3 hours.

Avi fed him for the first time today and did really well. She's doing great holding him and just needs frequent reminders to support his head mostly. Today she was a bit grouchy but I made sure to get down on the floor with her and read some books and spend some 1:1 time with her and we talked about how much time I need to spend with Zach right now until he gets a bit bigger and how much I needed her help and would play with her sooner if she can help me change Zach, etc.

Avi's having fun with grammy and papa John being here but on occasion doesn't want them to be the ones helping her. She's getting very excited for Christmas though and has the countdown in her head until the big day.

We'll see how tonight goes and tomorrow. I hope some warmer weather blows through here soon so we can get outside a bit without frostbite from the wind (but at least we have sunshine and not 3 feet of snow)!

Love to all and thank you for the continuing well wishes! We're all doing great! There are some new pics in the web album so don't forget to check them out too!

Our week so far...

2008-12-17T16:00:00.000-08:00

Well, he's here - finally! As Brandon posted earlier in the week Zachary Cole arrived Monday morning at 8:26. We got a call over the weekend letting us know the woman scheduled before me Monday morning had given birth so we could move up our time to 7:30 so we did.

Of course, Monday morning was the coldest of the year and we had to be at the hospital to check in at 5:30 - on our way to the hospital it was -15degrees and the high for the day was less than 10. Check in was smooth and we spent 2 hours doing pre-op prep - I had some contractions while I was on the monitor and if we hadn't been at the hospital I bet we would have been arriving shortly.

They rolled me back to the OR and had Brandon wait outside while they got the spinal done. Unfortunately it took 10 sticks for the anesthesiologist to find a space between my vertebrae but with the numbing meds I didn't feel a thing. Once my legs were asleep Brandon came in and they got started. Everthing else went smoothly and Zach made his appearance at 8:26. Brandon got to cut the cord again like with Avi and spent time watching Z get cleaned up and then brought him over to me so I could say hi and give him a kiss. B and Z headed back to the room for Z's first bath and the other assorted post-delivery activities. I stayed in the OR for them to tie my tubes and then they brought me back to my room.

I spent most of the morning recovering and then my mom brought Avelyn to see me. My legs were still asleep so I couldn't get up to say hi but she crawled in to bed with me to give me a hug. She was curious about Zachary but didn't really have an attention span for very long with so much else around my room to play with. Brandon took her home around 1 for a nap and they came back around 5 for a few hours. Mom and I just hung out in the room with Zach while my lesgs woke up. I tried to sit up a few times but got sick each time so the foley stayed in place and I was no longer allowed my clear liquid diet - ugh! I was so hungry and dry. My temp post-op was low so I had the warming blanket on me most of the day too - I had been in the OR for quiet a while so my temp was 95* initially. Zach did a good job of nursing all day and spent the night in the nursery since I couldn't get up.

Tuesday morning I got up early and they brought Zach to me around 6. He fed really well and I tried to sit up and was able to without any nausea or vomiting - finally! I ordered breakfast and ate eggs and pancakes. Brandon arrived around 8:30 after dropping Avi off at school and we hung out the rest of the morning and afternoon. Zach contined to feed really well and sleep really well. He had his circumcision around 9:30 and tolerated it as well as anyone can - I guess. :) He was pretty sleepy all day from the Tylenol. Brandon and Avi got back from school and then went our for pizza. Avi was full of energy and did a good job of holding her little brother but again it lasted for about 4 minutes until she realized she can't get up and play while she's holding him but she's very caring telling us to turn the lights off and talk quietly, etc. Mom, Brandon and Avi left around 8 for the night and Zach stayed with me until about 10 for his last feeding then headed to the nursery.

This morning I had his nurse bring him to me for his first morning feeding as my milk has already come in. So he was back in my room around 4:45 and fed really well then we both fell back asleep until about 7:30. I ordered breakfast and started moving around a bit more comfortably. Brandon came in around 8:30 and we've spent the day hanging out with our little man. We gave him a bath this morning and then went well. His circ looks great and he's pooping like a champ! My mom and John came in a while ago to change trucks and are now on their way to get Avi at school. Today is the day Santa came to Avi's school so mom took our camera in case Avi would sit with Santa again this season. :) They'll probably get here in the next 45-60 min and visit for a while and then head home for the last night without Zach and me. YEAH! Avi will go to school and then come home to find us home which will excite her for sure.

I'll post more once we're home and we'll put more pics on the web album sometime tomorrow once we're home. Thank you to all for the well-wishes - we're all happy and healthy and glad to have our little man and our family complete!

Chat soon!

Zachary Cole Edwards

2008-12-15T14:18:00.000-08:00

Born 12/15/08
8:26 am
7 lbs 12 ozs
20.75 inches long

Mom and baby are doing well.

Check out his Pics

From 121508 - Zachary Cole

Ultrasound...

2008-12-06T07:19:00.000-08:00

We had our final ultrasound on Wednesday and everything looks great! He's weighing (they guesstimate) 7 pounds, 13 ounces and say he gains about an ounce a day so he'll be a big boy in another 9 days. His head is big (just as Avi's was/is) and is in the 99%! Thank you inventors of the C-section!

Everything is on track for 12/15 at 0900 unless I go into labor earlier than that. Little man is measuring about a week ahead putting the due date at 12/12 rather than 12/19 but they won't reschedule the C-section so it's up to my body to decide if he needs to come a bit early or can wait until Monday!

The weather this weekend is supposed to be nice here - 50*. Today we're taking Avi to a local nursery for Santa's arrival with his reindeer and hayrides, etc. We'll see how she reacts about having her picture taken with him vs just being excited to see him. She's been loving finding the Christmas lights around our neighborhood when we're driving at night and the whole car ride sounds something like this - "there's more over there, and over there, and over there..."

Not sure what else is on tap for the weekend but I'm sure we'll be outside playing if it really is that nice! Gotta love winter in Denver!

Nearing the end...2 weeks left!

2008-12-01T12:16:00.001-08:00

Well, November went by pretty fast...I can't believe it's finally December. That means 2 weeks left until our little man arrives. Yes, we have a name but we're not sharing it until he is born.

My appointments have been uneventful. I'm gaining the right amount of weight (for my OB's) and my sugars have been behaving too. Even after eating a slice of pumpkin and blueberry pies on Thanksgiving they were only 103! Crazy!

Little man is still measuring about a week to a week and a half ahead of schedule so we have an ultrasound on Wednesday 12/3. We'll find out how much they estimate he's weighing, length, etc but they also want to check the position of the placenta more accurately for the repeat C-section. I'm excited to get to "see" him again before he's delivered.

Avi is getting excited too and has finally "accepted" that she'll have a brother soon. When people ask who's in mommy's belly she now replies "my baby brother". She keeps talking about how they're going to play in the snow together, etc so doesnt' quite understand how small and non-mobile he'll be at first but she'll adjust.

We spent the weekend putting up Christmas decorations but we're saving the tree for when grammy gets here on 12/11 so they can do it together. Avi has already claimed the "star at the top" as hers alone to decorate. I'm glad Brandon got the lights on the outside done last weekend when it was 50* because we had snow both days this weekend. Avi and Brandon made a snowman and she had a good time wandering around and trying to help shovel the driveway.

I'll probably post again after the ultrasound to share the newest pictures. Love to all!

Early fall...

2008-11-08T10:30:00.000-08:00

Well, we can't believe it's November already. We made it through Halloween. Avi had so much fun this year. She really enjoyed dressing up like a princess and going house to house for treats. Next year will be even more fun I'm sure!

I'm still having trouble with carpal tunnel pain and swelling in both hands. It's really annoying to have numb fingers most of the day! I can't wait to lose this weight and feel like myself again! I've gained about 27 pounds so far and my OB is satisfied with that - I gain about 1-2 pounds between each appointment that are 2 weeks apart. My next appt is Monday and then after than they'll be every week until he comes. We'll have an ultrasound next week in order to measure how big he is since my belly is measuring bigger than their schedule.

My c-section is scheduled for December 15 so he can't come any later than that. My OB doesn't think I'll make it to the 15th without going into labor but we'll just watch and see what happens. He's plenty active still in there!

I'm nesting for sure - the nursery is all set, my hospital bag is packed in case we need to go in a hurry, I went shopping at Target for new bottles, etc from our registry and have washed the new sheets and blankets. The only thing left really is to come up with a name. We have a short list but can't decide on one name. Maybe we'll put the names in a hat and draw one out to decide. Who knows! When we do decide we're going to keep it a secret and let everyone know once he's arrived!

That's all for now!

30 weeks...

2008-10-11T14:30:00.001-07:00

Well, we're 30 weeks along now. At times it seems to go by so fast and at others it tends to drag. Our little man is kicking away and really like to push outward and my belly seems to usually look like he's curled in a ball around my belly button. I have an appointment on Monday for a check-up and I'm hoping I can get them to decide on a date or at least a specific week that they'll do the C-section. They've told me I'll have the C-section at least a week before our due date of 12/19 but then with the gestational diabetes they mentioned possibly 2 weeks early. We'll see! Either way I know it won't be later than 12/12. My sugars have been stable the entire time I'm checking them which I'm thankful for but it's also a bit of a pain to have to remember to check them.

Avi is starting to get excited and now refers to her sibling as a "brother sister" when people ask. She doesn't know how to respond to "what will his name be?" but at least has stopped telling people we're naming him "mommy" or "cabo" which have been said before. :) She has agreed to help me feed him and take him on walks and is excited to have someone sitting in the backseat with her but she says she doesn't want to sing to him or teach him the ABC's...

She is doing so great in her swimming lessons and has finally agreed to wear her goggles. This is especially nice since she loves to search underwater for her sinking rings. She can spend an hour just throwing her rings and then flopping in the water and looking for them. She has started working on floating on her own and does a better job with front float than the back float but I'm sure she'll master both in the next few lessons. We go to the pool at least 3 times a week besides for lessons and she can keep busy for about 2 hours. Makes our days together go much quicker when the weather isn't so nice.

That's about it for now.

September days...

2008-09-22T08:52:00.001-07:00

What a month this has been! The heat just keeps coming - it's just more manageable! Today's high is supposed to be 80*!

Avi has been busy with her swim lessons and is really starting to understand the concepts of floating and holding her breath. Saturday at the pool she was throwing her sinking rings in the shallow end and then crawling on her belly, kicking her feet, with her head under water looking for the rings. I keep trying to get her to wear goggles but no luck yet.

Brandon and our neighbors re-sodded our backyard last weekend. It took Brandon Friday morning to cut the old sod out, Paul came over and helped fix the sprinklers, Brandon and some of the neighbors loaded in the new soil and then spent the rest of the day Saturday laying the 1900 sq feet of sod. It looks fantastic - there are pics in the web album. It's nice to see green back there!

I had my glucose challenge last Tuesday but the results came back too high so I had to have the repeat test on Thursday. It was an awful test -I had to fast after midnight Wednesday night, couldn't even drink water, then had to wait around my doctor's office for 3 hours to have my blood drawn every hour. I was so hungry by the end I was an emotional wreck but perked up a bit after eating lunch. Still had a headache for the rest of the day though. It's amazing how much water I drink and when you can't how much you miss it! I haven't heard the results of my retest yet but hopefully today...

We're at 28 weeks now so I have my doctor appointments every 2 weeks. We're getting excited and it seems like the time is passing pretty quickly but I'm getting more tired physically but am still able to keep up with Avi! I've had pretty bad carpal tunnel for the past 3 weeks in both hands. I started wearing wrist braces last week and it helps a lot but I still have mornings where my fingers and palms are numb and tingly and feel like they will spasm any second. It's not fun! I got out the infant car seat today and got it cleaned up - don't think I'll install it quite yet though. I think we'll buy new bottles since Avi's have been sitting in storage for 3 years and with the warnings about plastic I think it'd be the wisest thing to do. The nursery is pretty much done. I found a cute lamp and mobile that fit the decor really well. Just need a few more crib sheets and receiving blankets to "boy" it up and it'll be ready!

Take care and I'll keep you posted with any baby happenings!

Vacation is over - Back to real life...

2008-09-07T08:14:00.001-07:00

Well, we're back from vacation and back into our schedules. We had a few more block party/BBQ's before the summer was over. Last weekend for Labor Day there was a BBQ on Friday, Saturday and Monday nights. It was great! Someone else's yard each time and ours on Monday.

I had an appt the Monday after we got back. Everything sounded great! Avi held the doppler and heard her baby brother's heartbeat. I doubt she really understood what it was but she was excited to "help" the doctor. Amazingly I only gained 2 pounds in the month between appointments - even while on vacation! My next appt is in 2 weeks and it's the glucose challenge to check for gestational diabetes. After that I start going to appointments every 2 weeks! Just over 3 months to go as my due date will be around December 12 depending on when we can schedule the C-section.

Avi's been riding a 2-wheeler with training wheels since we got back. She doesn't have one of her own - yet - but she does a great job peddling and balancing. She gets a bit freaked out when she gets going too fast but is starting to get the concept of "braking". We'll probably get her her own bike for Christmas.

She started back to tumbling on Friday and starts her swim lessons this coming week. Since she's now 3 she does the classes on her own while I just watch. She wasn't quite sure about this concept on Friday at tumbling so we'll see how she does in the kiddie pool without me. Should be interesting!

I went to the spa yesterday to use the gift card Brandon had given me for Christmas. It was wonderful! I had a massage - they had a prenatal table so I was able to lie on my belly for the first time in about 2 months! Then I had a facial - I was told my skin is in great condition... My lunch was catered in - chicken panini and then my afternoon was a manicure and pedicure. It was fantastic. The massage felt fantastic for sure - I think I'll go back at least once more before little man arrives.

Today football season opens so we're heading over to John and Amanda's to watch the game and let Avi and Matthew play together for the day. Should wear them both out quite nicely for an afternoon nap!

Vacation...Monday through Saturday

2008-08-17T13:45:00.000-07:00

Sunday night we had cake and ice cream for my uncle's birthday. Avi enjoyed helping him blow out his candles and licking the frosting from them too.

Monday - Brandon, Avelyn, Michelle and I headed up to Pawtucket to meet up with Hillary, Dale and Luke at the PawSox game. It was fairly rainy initially but cleared in time for the game. We stayed through the 7th inning and that was the extent of the kids' attention span. We headed back to the beach and played around the yard a bit and then the kids took a bath. We had clam chowder for dinner that night.

Tuesday was Avi's birthday so she enjoyed waking up and having everyone wish her a happy 3rd birthday. We spent the morning at the beach and then the kids took naps. While they were sleeping Brandon's folks arrived. When the kids woke up we opened presents, sang happy birthday and ate cupcakes - Avi taste tested the frosting from each color for us! Aunti Shell headed home after the birthday festivities. That night we took Brandon's folks out to eat at Iggy's for seafood and doughboys. Yummy!

Wednesday we spent the morning at the beach just walking around and playing in the shallow surf. Hillary and Dale headed out before lunch and then Brandon and I took his folks to Newport to walk around and get lunch. The place we had lunch had a cute fountain out front with kids fishing poles and magnetized fish to keep the kids busy while they waited for their food. We headed back to the beach house after lunch and Avi finished her nap. That night we had lobster for dinner and ice cream for dessert.

Thursday we went to the beach again after saying our goodbyes to Brandon's folks as they headed back up to Boston. Brandon spent the morning fishing and picking up the crab for that night's dinner. Things were starting to wind down at the beach house for us.

Friday we finished packing up our things and headed west to Connecticut to visit my grandfather. He was very excited to see us and had been known to be waiting at the front door for his visitors but we beat him to it and met him in the hall of his floor at the home as he was heading to the elevator on his scooter. We took a nice walke around the grounds to visit the fountains out front then headed in to show him the pictures from our visit to the beach. He loves to keep track of his family for sure. After our visit we headed up to Boston. We hit some traffic but made it to poppy's in time to eat some dinner - grinders - and then get ready for the Red Sox game. The forecast was not promising but we headed downtown. There was a light drizzle when we got to Fenway but we figured it would let up and we'd seen them play in worse weather. We found our seats which were under the overhand and began waiting for the game to start. They made a few announcements about the delay and then cancelled the game for the night due to weather as thunder and lightning had arrived. So Brandon and Avi went to get the car and poppy and I made our way out of the stadium and met them in Kenmore Square. We got back to poppy's at 10:00 and waited up for Brandon's folks to get home from the visiting with Don's family.

Saturday morning we all got up and got showered. Carol and Don headed to the airport around 10:30 and Brandon found the schedule for the Omni theater so we headed to the Museum of Science to watch "Wild Ocean". The film was only so-so and Avi was pretty much traveled out. We headed downtown to get some Red Sox gear, get my wedding band/engagement rings cleaned, and to eat lunch. Brandon checked our flight and it was delayed an hour. Avi and I took our naps and when we woke up we headed to Arlington for a visit with some college friends. We spent the rest of the afternoon with Parul and Grant and their 2 kids - we played around their house and then headed to the park. Around 6:30 we decided to head back to poppy's for dinner. We made a quick stop to visit nana's gravesite and when we got back to poppy's to check our flight it was now on-time. It was 7:00 and our flight was at 9:30 so we quickly packed up the rest of our things and headed to the airport. We arrived in plenty of time and ate some dinner. The flight was uneventful and Avi slept most of the way. We landed on time and got home at 2:00 am our time. What a long day!

Today we have been unpacking, doing laundry, went to the dog park with Cabo, played outside with the neighborhood kids and now Avi is taking her nap. I'm not sure why I'm not sleeping right now but my body just wouldn't let me rest so I figured I'd update this blog.

VACATION - Wednesday through Sunday!!!

2008-08-10T11:01:00.000-07:00

Well, we've been here at the beach for a few days. The weather has been fantastic! We're all having a blast...

We arrived at poppy's on Wednesday morning around 6:30am following an easy flight which only took about 3 hours and 15 minutes. Avi slept the whole time but continues to grow so her head and trunk were on her seat and her legs were across my lap. I didn't get to sleep but for an hour as my restless right leg kicked in (Avi was across my left leg). :) It was raining when we landed at 5:15am and headed to the car rental place after getting our bags. We visited with poppy for about an hour to get something for Avi to eat and then we all fell asleep for 4 hours. We visited some more and then hit the road for Rhode Island.

We made a pit stop at the Bass Pro Shop at Gillette Stadium both to take a break from driving in the rain and to buy a fishing pole. Avi loved the aquarium they had and was able to touch a rainbow trout. She also enjoyed climbing aboard a boat and an ATV. We got back in the car and headed the rest of the way to Narragansett. The family was there to meet us and were excited to find out we're having a boy!

We headed to the beach and Avi had no problem running in to the water - no fear! The temperature wasn't too bad - for both the water and the air. We stayed for a bit but it was fairly late in the day. That night we had spaghetti and meatballs for dinner and watched the Red Sox game. We also made our trek to Ben and Jerry's for ice cream - yummy!

Thursday morning we ate breakfast and got things together for another day at the beach. Brandon and my uncles Tony and Jim went fishing and my cousin Darcy had to go to a doctor's appt to my mom and my aunts Shirley and Christine took Avi and Richard to the beach. We had bought a seine and were able to scoop up some jellyfish which looked like ice cubes and a few bait fish but not much else. After the beach we stopped to get lunch and then back to the house. Avi took a nap. That night we had grilled chicken and salad. Then we went to get gelato down by the beach - yummy!

Friday we got up and again ate breakfast. The women went shopping for the morning - Ocean State Job Lot and Marshalls. We ate lunch and then headed down the beach after Avi's nap. Auntie Shelle took Avi in the water as the waves were hitting me right waist level. She had so much fun and was screaming in glee the whole time. That night we had Surf n Turf with lobster and Brazilian steak, baked potatoes, grilled vidalia onions and cole slaw. YUMMY! John had made a Brazilian drink which I can't spell but it's similar to Mojitos - let's just say anyone who drank one was a bit snockered and that night's walk to Ben and Jerry's was s-l-o-w!

Saturday we got up early and headed to go clamming at low tide. We had a few carloads heading there. We thought Avi might have a good time so we put on her bathing suit and were ready to go. I carried her out to the water but she had no interest in putting her feet in either the mud or the water. Even pointing out the fish swimming and the hermit crabs didn't help. So, we ended our foray early and headed back to the house. We gave Avi some space to get in a better mood which she did and then the rest of the crew returned with about 36 clams. We did lunch buffet style with all of our leftovers. The adults headed off to John's sons "green grocer"store and then to dinner in Providence. My childhood friend Melissa came over with her husband and 2 sons for a visit as they were in the area. Mason is Avi's age and Max is almost a year old. The husbands went fishing for the afternoon while Melissa and I visited and kept the kids busy. We went for a nice walk around the neighborhood and then the boys returned. Brandon, Avi and I went out to eat at Friendly's - yummy! and then headed back to the house. By the time we got back the "adults" were back and having root beer floats. We watched the rest of the Red Sox game and then everyone hit the hay.

This morning we got up and my mom and John made blueberry pancakes. After breakfast we headed to the beach for a few hours. Avi had fun playing in the sand and water, walking the beach, eating a hot dog and feeding the "eagles" -or in our world seagulls. :) She wasn't afraid of them at all even when they swooped down at her - she just simply told them "all gone guys"! We came back to house and ate lunch and now Avi is taking her nap. Tonight we're grilling again and I'm sure we'll have ice cream!

More to come...Don't forget to see the pictures on the web album. We'll be posting more in the next few days.

Ultrasound pics...

2008-08-05T08:15:00.001-07:00

Well, we finally got the CD of our ultrasound pics. I've posted some of them in a web album so check them out when you can.

We head off to Boston tonight! Finally, vacation is here! We'll be heading to Narragansett tomorrow for dinner and spend most of our time down there at the beach. We're looking forward to clamming, crabbing and basically any fresh seafood!

There'll be lots to blog about when we get back and plenty of pictures I'm sure - have a great 2 weeks!

Fun Stuff...

2008-07-28T07:14:00.000-07:00

Be sure to see the pics in the web album too...

Well, we sure have been busy this month. The weekend after we went camping in Grand Lake Brandon's uncle came in to town and invited us to a BBQ at a friends home. We headed down to monument and had a fun time visiting and making some new friends. Avelyn, of course, was just part of the gaggle of kids running around and enjoyed herself immensely until about 10pm when we headed home. The next day we were all exhausted and spent the day lounging around.

Avi and I created her bears from the loveable factory that Auntie Michelle had given her. She had a good time and really understood the concept of what we were doing. There's one picture that makes her look so grown up I can hardly stand it! The bears are named Nemo, Shark, and Saturday. All her choices! :)

We had our ultrasound on the 23rd. Everything looked healthy and happy! The baby was moving all around but the sonographer was able to find and measure everything she wanted to. We know what we're having but are keeping it a secret for about another week! Avi knows and couldn't be more excited. My doctors office is sending us a CD with the US pictures on it so those will be uloaded to a web album as soon as we get the disc.

This weekend has been a fun one. Friday Avi and I went up to the pool and and Amanda was there with Alexia and Matthew so we spent the late morning/early afternoon playing in the water. Avi was finally willing to wear her floaties in the deep end (Matthew had his on) and was jumping off the edge like a fish. Saturday a whole gang of us went up to the pool around 10:30 and spent about 2 hours there. It was a big group of us and we took up a lot of the deep end. When Avi was in the water this time she was all over the place and having so much fun. She was even trusting her floaties and swimming away and back and just hanging out floating next to everyone.

I had to work yesterday and Brandon and Avelyn spent the day playing in all of the neighbors yards and running in the sprinklers. That evening we had an impromptu BBQ and the kids just played all over the place while the rest of us visited and chatted.

We're so grateful we live in this block!

Camping at Grand Lake

2008-07-14T08:36:00.001-07:00

Be sure to view the web album for more pics...

Well, I turned 35 on Friday. Thank you to all who sent "well wishes". :) It was supposed to be a scorcher here so we decided to go camping up in the mountains to one of our fave spots - Grand Lake. It's so gorgeous out there. Brandon found us a spot at a camping resort right outside the entrance for Rocky Mountain National Park. It had everything we needed to have a blast.

We left Friday afternoon around 3 so we made it to our site by 5. The first spot they had us in was too soft so we moved across the way. This campground encourages people to bring their own horses so our campspot had a corral. There were 3 horses next to us so of course we went over to visit. Avi loves horses and did a great job petting them gently.

We headed down to the water and threw the ball for Cabo a bit and then went to dinner. It was late by the time we got back to the campground so we just went to bed but first had to play with the glow stick a bit first - Avi's favorite camping pasttime.

We woke up the next morning and the elk were making their way through the outskirts of the campground so we went to watch them for a bit and take some pics. We ate breakfast and then headed down to the water for the rest of the morning. We found a great spot at the docks and had the kayak ready to go. Brandon took Avi out for a spin and she helped daddy paddle. We spent much of the day playing ball with Cabo and just relaxing in the fresh, cool air. Avi and I had a picnic on the docks too. We headed back to camp after lunch and it was time for a nap. Brandon went fishing with Cabo while Avi slept and I read. The horses around us were braying which was cool to hear and it didn't keep Avi awake which is a plus.

After napping we walked up to play in the playground then over to the petting zoo the resort had. Avi really isn't afraid of any animals (almost to a fault) so had no problem feeding them all grass from around their pens. We walked down to the river winding through the resort and caught sight of 2 moose on the other side of the river. The wildlife is present everywhere up there so you have to keep your eyes open! After that excitement we headed in to town for dinner again and then back to camp.

We made a campfire the second night and Avi had a good time rounding up the pinecones and throwing them in the flames. We made it to bed a bit earlier that night.

Sunday morning we got up around 7 and went to say hi to the horses next to us again and feed them some fresh grass while their owners were getting ready for the day's ride. After that we headed up to the "all you can eat pancake breakfast" the resort puts on. The pancakes were huge and delicious. We headed back to the camper and after relaxing a bit longer decided to pack up camp and head home. Of couse before really hitting the road we had to bring Cabo to the water once more to jump off the docks!

We had a great weekend!

I'm starting the feel the baby move a bit more but still not consistently and not from the outside. Still feels like butterfly kisses! We have the ultrasound next Wednesday and are getting excited for that and Avi loves to tell me that I have a baby in my belly and that she's going to be a big sister!

4th of July Weekend...

2008-07-05T18:27:00.000-07:00

Be sure to view the web album of the same name for more pics from this weekend...

We made it through the week - thankfully! I got called out of work to pick Avi up Wednesday because she was coughing so bad and frequently she couldn't play or eat. The doc we saw thinks she possibly has "reactive airway disease" similar to asthma and using her inhaler 3 x/day since has helped the cough relax. She's back to her "terrible nearly 3". Just kidding! Brandon fixed our A/C on Wednesday night after having the correct part overnighted for us for <$100 vs paying the >$500 quoted to us by the repairman. That night he also had to help Steve pack up our camper so Steve and his gang could borrow it for the long weekend to go to Mt Rushmore. We were all pretty exhausted by Thursday.

Friday morning we headed to our town's parade and grabbed a spot along the route near the playground so Avi could keep busy until it started. We ran into our neighbors Linda,Dan,and Lucas and my friend Jessica was there with her husband Todd and their little boy Landon. The parade was a lot of fun. No high school band which would have been nice but I guess it is summer! A lot of political people so not sure what the parade will be like in a non-election year! Avi had fun and the Rockies coach - Clint Hurdle - even commented on what a great waver she is! Following the big parade was a decorated dog/bike parade for the little kids. They had a great time although I think a lot of the parents escorting their kids mis-read the downhil portion and we saw many kids go zooming by having a blast with worried parents racing after them.

We spent most of the rest of the day inside because it was so darn hot! That evening we headed to Brandon's bosses house after being invited to join in his block party. They had a large waterslide set up but it was too big for Avi to go down but she had fun watching the big kids. Most of the kids on the block had a motorized truck so she took her turn driving around too. We headed home around 7:30 and took a bath and went to bed.

Brandon went fishing today so I took Avi on a "mystery ride" - she likes to call it a "prize" instead of "surprise". She had a lot of fun finding all of the animals and there were about 10 peacocks that have the run of the place so we saw them everywhere. We rode the carousel and the train and did plenty of walking around. We were there for about 4 hours. She fell asleep on the way home but didn't take a full nap until later this evening.

Not sure what's on tap for tomorrow. Going to be another hot one but looks like more unsettled weather so we'll have to play it by ear. This weekend is kind of a big one for Brandon and I. We moved out here 8 years ago this weekend and got married in Cabo 6 years ago tomorrow (Sunday). It's amazing to think how fast time goes by when you look back at all you've done since the time you're thinking of!

I'm 17 weeks along tomorrow. I haven't had any nausea today - and just a little yesterday. I've been trying to hear the baby's heartbeat with my stethoscope but I think it's too early. We find out what sex the baby is on the 23rd. I can't wait to find out and to just see the little person again! We head back east August 5th and not sure if we can keep the secret for that long!

Happy and safe 4th to everyone!

Block Party 2008

2008-06-29T09:48:00.000-07:00

Be sure to check out the web album named "Block Party" for all of the pics...

We had our annual block party yesterday. The weather couldn't have been better - occasional clouds but still nice and warm but not really warm enough for water games except for water balloon toss.

Pretty much the whole street showed up so there were a lot of people. Many people who haven't come in the past years came yesterday which was great and the people who just moved in last weekend came up and fit right in.

There were 2 bouncy houses for the kids to play in as well as the usual toys. The big boys played Baggo and tried their hands at dunking a basketball. Everyone stayed busy all day long and had a blast.

When it started getting dark we set up the Blu-Ray scanner and showed "Alvin and the Chipmunks". The kids had seen it before so had a blast dancing to the music and for the most part sat still otherwise. The movie ended just before 10 and then the boys set off some fireworks in the middle of the cul-de-sac. The little kids weren't so sure about the noise but enjoyed the lights. The older kids even got to do sparklers. We all headed in around 10:30 and went straight to bed. Avi was up at 6:30 and we'll see how the rest of the day goes as we head to the pool for some swimming.

2008-06-22T13:35:00.000-07:00

Sand Dunes Camping Trip

2008-06-22T12:52:00.000-07:00

Be sure to see the Picasa Web Album named Sand Dunes for all of the pics...

We just got back from a long weekend camping trip. We headed south-southwest past Pueblo to the Sand Dunes National Park - about a 4 hour drive. We left Friday morning around 7:30am. The night before we had the softball team over for a BBQ and they all left around 9 so we put Avi to bed and spent the next hour or so cleaning up from the party and packing for our trip.

Avi and Cabo did really well for such a long car ride. We had to make a few potty stops but they were worth it! We made it to the park around noon and our neighbors Steve and Kristin were already setting up their campsite so we pulled in and started setting up our pop-up. Soon after Brandon had the pop-up set-up a site opened up a few sites down so Brandon and Joe rolled our camper down the street to our own site. We finished setting up camp and ate some lunch and then packed up to head down to the dunes.

We parked in the parking lot and lugged our chairs and snacks to the water. We found a great little spot to set-up our chairs for the remainder of the day and the kids had no problem hitting the water. As you can see in the pictures the water varied from 1 inch deep to about 10 inches deep and there was a sort of wake that would come through every now and then that provided a rush of water. We spent the afternoon at the water and headed back to camp around 5.

Steve and Kristin provided dinner for the group of us and then we had a campfire. Everyone was pretty much beat from the traveling, sun and fun so we hit the hay around 8:30. Avi crashed out right away and Brandon and Cabo snuggled in to their sleeping area. I could not fall asleep at all and was awake all night. It didn't help that a huge wind storm rolled through for about 5 hours. It ended around 4 which is when I started to drift off to sleep only to be awakened by Avi saying "mommy, i'm wet" so we did the middle of the night pants change and worried about the mess in the morning. Avi didn't want to sleep in her sleeping bag which happened to be dry because she'd wriggled out of it during the night so I had her fall back asleep in my bag (which is a mummy bag and not meant for 2 people no matter how big they are) and then I put her back to her spot and got roughly 2 hours of sleep before we had to wake up to make breakfast for the group.

Everyone dragged over to our spot around 8:15 for the breakfast we'd cooked up - eggs, sausages, bacon, fruit, etc. After breakfast we cleaned up a bit and then again packed up for the water. We spent all day at the water Saturday - we got down there around 10 and left around 4. Steve and Kristin had brought their gazebo which was really nice to have some shade if you wanted it. Joe had his "horse-balls" game which kept us busy too. The kids spent the entire day in the water running from downstream to upstream chasing the water. They had so much fun.

The dunes were cool to look at but the sand got so hot so early that we didn't do any hiking up them at all. The water was the biggest hit for all of us - it stayed nice and cool around there with the breezes and clouds that floated through.

Saturday night we had burgers and hot dogs and then another campfire. We headed back to our camper around 9 and kept Avi busy for another hour or so wear her out (she had taken an 1.5 hour nap when we left the water so had lots of energy). We lit up a glow stick and were throwing it around the camper and hiding it to keep her busy.

No wind last night so we all slept fairly well. Avi woke up around 7:15 so we started packing up camp and headed out around 8:30. We got home at noon and spent the next hour unpacking and doing laundry and are now relaxing inside - we've had enough sun for the weekend.

I'm pretty sure I've turned the corner toward feeling good all/most of the time as I really didn't feel ill while we were there but it sure was difficult getting comfortable to sleep. I'm 15 weeks pregnant today and we go to the doctors on Tuesday to hear the heartbeat! We can't wait!

Next weekend is our annual Deer Creek Court Block Party. We need to have it early this year because of vacations and baby due dates. It should be a blast!

Saturday - day trip...

2008-06-15T07:41:00.000-07:00

Be sure to look at the web album labeled - Jefferson Lake for all the pics...The last pic isn't anyone we know - it's just something we've never seen and thought it was pretty funny!

Yesterday we decided against camping overnight and instead took a day trip up to Jefferson Lake which is west of Kenosha Pass. We've gone camping there before and the lake is big and the weather is cooler than here at home. We had bought Avi a fishing pole on Friday so she got her first chance to use it - Brandon found a grub but no worms but the fish were just as happy. Avi had fun reeling the fish in but obviously couldn't master the cast so daddy helped with that. Cabo took her turn in the water too but we didn't want to disrupt the other fisherpeople so she didn't do as much as she would've liked.

We headed home around 3:30 and Avi slept pretty much to whole way. It was 92* at home so we waited out the heat of the evening inside with dinner and then headed outside to play with the neighborhood - of course. We came inside around 8 and Avi took a bath and then headed to bed and woke up at 8 this morning - how wonderful! Of course, I woke up around 6 and drifted in and out of sleep until I heard her door open up!

Happy Father's Day! We'll probably head to the dog park and to the swim lake today since it's supposed to be hot again. I've also heard "Kung Fu Panda" is good so we might spend some time at the movies to escape the heat too. Go Celtics tonight!

2008-06-14T18:39:00.000-07:00

2008-06-13T18:47:00.000-07:00

Week 13...

2008-06-13T07:55:00.000-07:00

So I've been feeling pretty good overall since Sunday - really not too nauseous and a bit more energy. I even had an appetite Wednesday night and was hungry yesterday without feeling too picky about what to eat. I took my pill last night and then tried Tylenol for a headache but gagged on the Tylenol and up came dinner - first time I've really thrown up this time around. Wasn't fun at all and I'm going to try to avoid it in the future!

We played outside a lot this week since the weather has been so nice. Avi loves to eat dinner outside too so she sits on the deck bench while we sit in the chairs and eat/read along with her.

Not sure what she and I will do today - it's supposed to get up to 80* so we might try a new park that has a stream flowing through it with a picnic area. She loves the water but doesn't love splashing yet so we won't go to the water park quite yet.

We're planning to go camping tomorrow night - leaving tomorrow morning and coming back Sunday afternoon/evening. Hopefully I'll feel alright tonight so I'll feel better about going away. The place we're thinking of going is near a lake so we can kayak and walk around the water and of course Cabo can go swimming. Avi just loves to explore too so we'll bring her butterfly net and go traipsing through the woods for bugs and other fun things!

Next weekend we're heading down to the Sand Dunes for camping with our neighbors and some other folks. Should be a lot of fun and we haven't been to that part of CO yet.

That's all for now - gotta go check on Avi and Cabo - I think Avi just fed Cabo her muffin...what a team they are!

2008-06-07T19:50:00.001-07:00

2008-06-07T19:50:00.000-07:00

Fun Friday and Saturday...

2008-06-07T18:51:00.000-07:00

On Friday we spent the morning shopping for shorts for Avelyn and then met my friend Jessica and her little boy Landon for lunch. After lunch we headed to the park to play in the fountains for while and then home for a nap. Last night we were outside until 9pm with all of our neighbors. The men played Baggo (also known as corn-hole depending on where you live I guess) and basketball while the women cheered on (3 of the 4 of us are pregnant). The kids were all over - Avelyn spent most of the night with Alexia, Emma, and Kendall at Kendall's house playing in her backyard (a first for us to have Avi out of our sight for more than an hour but she loved it). Of course staying up late didn't translate in to sleeping in but what can you do.

Today we played around the house until it warmed up a bit and then went to buy some goldfish for our rain barrel. We brought them home and let them adjust to the water temp while we ate lunch. We released them in to their new home and so far we haven't seen them - it's pretty dark in that barrel! After lunch, Amanda, Matthew and Alexia came over and we fit their car seats in my back seat and we took off for Heritage Square for a day of fun and to see the children's theater production of Snow White. We got there early enough to ride some rides so the kiddos rode the carousel and the swings before the show and then after the show we did the balloon ride and then had an ice cream snack. The kids enjoyed the show and Alexia got to go up on stage as a Dwarf (they only had 3 dwarves so any time they made an appearance more kids from the audience got to go up on stage). The show was an hour long and Avi and Matthew did pretty well and the show kept them involved. On the way out the door Avi stopped at the wicked witch and told her she wasn't nice and then they took a picture with Snow White. Avi and Matthew crashed in their car seats on the way home and Avi took a nice nap after we got home and has spent the remainder of the day alternating from silly/sweet to grumpy. Brandon just got home from his fishing trip and now she's all excited to play with him for a bit so it will be another late night to bed. Luckily I get to work tomorrow and they'll get to play all day!

Work week done...

2008-06-05T19:20:00.000-07:00

I was feeling great yesterday and today until about 5:30 and now I feel horrible. More nauseous than I think I've been this whole time. I probably went too long without eating so I had chicken noodle soup for dinner and now I feel like I have heartburn...but enough of that.

Avi's had a good week - she's still dry all day and night so I think we're officially saying she's potty trained! She doesn't even like pull-ups mentioned anymore. She's also been getting herself dressed for school in the morning by taking off her jammies and can do her socks and pants herself but needs help getting her shirt over her head.

Tomorrow we're going shopping for some more shorts for her and I needs some tops to wear as my shirts are getting a bit snug. Saturday it's girls day while Brandon goes fishing. We're going to go to the children's theater to see Snow White. It'll be her first play so I'm sure she'll be excited to meet Snow White after the show. She loves her Disney princesses! I have to work on Sunday which is a bummer but it's a must once a month!

2008-06-02T19:53:00.000-07:00

Monday's activities...

2008-06-02T16:50:00.000-07:00

We started our new class this morning...it's called Crocodile Rock...there are about 25 kids in the class and it's all about music. The kids get to start by telling the teacher what song they would like to sing that day and then the teacher sings a hello song to every child (she knew the new kids like Avelyn already). Of course we sang all of the classics - Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, Itsy Bitsy Spider, etc but there were props for the songs - a long wand with a star on the end, a rubber spider, etc which got the kids more involved. The last song was all about marching to the music where each kid was allowed to choose their instrument and then march around the circle following the teacher and making as much "music" as they could. The final activity was the parachute - an age old favorite and although Avi didn't want to ride in the middle she took her turn helping the moms/dads spin the kids sitting in the middle and then had fun under the chute while it flowed up and down. I think next week she'll be a bit more animated and involved but if not that's OK too.

After Crocodile Rock we had to go to tumbling...believe me I don't believe in over-booking a 2 year old. :) CR only lasts 4 weeks and we only have 3 more tumbling classes left until we have to register for the next sessions. She loves tumbling and is really getting great at swinging from the rings and jumping high on the trampoline and walking across the beam - she still needs a hand for the high beam but can make it across the low beam without any support. She's just so much fun to watch and she interacts with everyone in the class and likes to be the helper passing out the circles for "wheels on the bus". When she's 3 I can leave her in the class and go workout so that will probably be the next time I sign her up and we'll spend the summer at the pool and fountains and parks.

After those 2 activities we went out for lunch and then grocery shopping - very exciting...then came home and each took a 2 hour nap. :) She's downstairs right now picking up the doll morgue (I'll try to take a picture the next time she does it) - she puts all of her dolls "down for a nap" and then covers them head to toe in a blanket all around the first floor of the house so we've started calling it the doll morgue.

2008-06-01T17:04:00.000-07:00

12 weeks along...

2008-06-01T16:49:00.000-07:00

I'm pretty much done with my first trimester thankfully...Still not feeling fantastic but it usually doesn't come on until about 5 PM each night and lasts until I go to bed. I can't say I have any energy during the day but I'm not feeling sick and nauseous either. We had our ultrasound last Tuesday and it went great - the baby measured 2.5 inches and everything looked great! Our next appointment is in 4 weeks to hear the heartbeat.

We've been busy around here the past few weekends. Last Sunday we had our neighbors over for a breakfast buffet with all of the fixins and then Johnny and Amanda had a BBQ that afternoon. Yesterday we had a tag sale to get rid of some of the stuff that's been hanging around our basement. Unfortunately I think the price of gas kept a lot of people at home but we still made some $. Then yesterday afternoon we set up the sprinklers for the kids to run through. Avi had more fun getting slightly wet and then rushing back to her towel to dry her hair. Today we've been outside the majority of the day and the kids just play so well together and are at a great age that they keep busy without getting in to trouble (too much).

Avi can now ride her tricycle without much help. She occasionally gets stuck going up the hill of our cul-de-sac but can sometimes push through it. Matthew likes to ride on the back steps of the trike and they are just too cute riding around the circle. She's also starting to get the hang of Matthew's scooter and today was pushing a few times and then riding for a while and then pushing again without losing her balance. Matthew wouldn't let her ride it without her helmet on too so that was too cute.

Tomorrow we have tumbling and a new class called "crocodile rock" which is all about music and instruments. I'm sure she'll have a blast. She still loves to sing and lately her favorites have been "do-re-mi" and "I am 16 going on 17" from the Sound of Music. She makes up a lot of the words but is really cute when she takes your face in her hands and sings directly to your face. :)

2008-05-30T22:10:00.000-07:00