3/26/11: long couple of days

long days. yesterday had a nice girls day out with my mom (& C). we went to Loveland so that I could return some stuff at Carter's. I ended up finding a cute pj for $4 for L that she can wear as an outfit. Then we went to Old Navy before ending up at Panera's for lunch & so I could nurse C. I thought that we could walk around the park with the statues before getting back on the road but C fell asleep before we got there so we just drove around the park before heading back to the freeway. We think L would like it so hopefully we can pack a picnic one of the days and come back up.

Today I had fun at Shinji's 4th birthday party w/the kiddos. Then we came home and had dinner. Dave left for another night shift and mom & I watched a movie.

Last night C slept til 5am. He cried off & on til 6:30am but went back to sleep. I went in and did the pick up put down thing at one point. I'm hoping & praying for C to sleep til 8am tomorrow! This lack of sleep thing is a killer!

D had his first night shift last night and managed to sleep 4.5 hrs today. Something tells me he's gonna be tired when he gets home tomorrow morning!

Sat. 6/19/10...L's family bday party

Today we had the family birthday party. Originally, I was going to just have one party, but the Mayernicks & Uncle Dale couldn't make it the same day (Dale's only in town 3 of the 8 weekend days for the month), but it ended up working out great. We started the party inside, with D making the bbq grub and everyone just hanging out. I made everyone take a family picture. Then we moved outside to grill & eat. L chose to have cupcakes this time so we arranged them all on a platter and stuck the "3" candle in one so she could blow it out. Afterwards, L opened her presents. She got $$ from grandma & grandpa, a super nice scooter from Uncle Dale & Aunt Candy, a sprinkler hose water thing from GG Ethel, a Le@apster2 from Mario, and two tool sets from Auntie Jenny & the kids. Then Chase, Kenzie, & L all changed into their swimsuits and we hooked up the water sprinkler thing that GG got her. Man, can that thing spray far. I got sprayed more than once trying to get a picture and then finally gave up. Then D set up the slip 'n slide and unfortunately after one slide down, the end popped. After that, D & grandma made a T@rget run to get a new one and D held the hose at the top of the old one so the kids could keep using it until they got back with a new one. (We're going to try to return the one that popped since it had only been used once.) They were on and off the slip 'n slide until they were all purple & shaking. Then they'd towel up until they wanted to go back out. They must have been on it for a couple hours. Dale & Candy finally left b/c Dale was so tired (he had come straight from the airport & a really early flight).

The kids all changed out of their wet clothes and drove into the new toys to play with while the adults cleaned up. Jenny & Grandma were able to stay late since they had left a sick grandpa at home. We decided to get P@pa Murphys pizza for the four of us and McDon@alds for the kiddos. By the time we all ate dinner, it was getting late so the WY crowd packed up to go home.

We were all beat. We gave L a bath and she fell asleep in D's lap when he rocked her in the rocking recliner. It was only 7:30pm. No nap and constant action equals one tired 3 year old (and mama!).

Pics will have to come later since I'm still working on getting through the CA trip from last month!

Sunday, 4/11/10...Cheyenne & baby bump

Today we went up to Cheyenne for D's nephew C's 10th birthday. He had 3 friends and some family at the Municipal Pool there. L spent the entire time in the pool w/D and had a ton of fun. I don't think she's ever been in the water that much (they make everyone get out of the pool for 15 min. breaks every hour) and she loved going down the slide with daddy. D was really worn out by the end. After the party, we headed back to D's mom's house with his sister & kids in tow. L had a ball playing with her cousins, especially K. She's 8.5 years old and is great at playing with L. We stayed for dinner and left around 7:45pm. L fell asleep on the way home and we were able to transfer her to her bed with no problem.

Here's the best cousin pics I got (you can see some of the series in the slideshow):

Here's a slideshow of the pics from today:


Videos of L & D going down the slide:


And of course, here's some baby bump pics too: I'm 18 weeks here.

6/28/09...surprise 30th birthday party!!!

My hubby threw me a super fabulous surprise 30th birthday party tonight! Is he awesome or what?!!

At 3:30pm today, he reminded me that he still wanted to go to that company picnic thing in the park today. We'd just had a discussion about keeping sick kids away from other kids (L has a cold), but since he said he wanted to go, I said I better go up and get ready (ie: change, put contacts in and make-up on...boy am I glad I did that!). Anyhow, we finally make it out the door at 4:40pm (he said it started at 4:30pm) and over to the park. When I told D that I was expecting more cars, he said "well it just started...I bet people will be late" (which seemed like a logical answer to me). We were walking down the sidewalk into the park and I thought I saw our friends the Carluccis sitting with some other of our lifegroup members. I leaned over to D and said, "is that the Carluccis??" which was promptly followed by a chorus of "Surprise!!" and the singing of "Happy Birthday to you! Happy Birthday to you! Happy Birthday dear E! Happy Birthday to you!" Man, did he surprise me! I had NO clue! It was a great party w/great family & friends. D's mom, stepdad, and sister came down from Cheyenne, and his aunt & uncle were there too. Plus, we had playgroup friends, old lifegroup friends and our latest lifegroup friends all there. There were only a couple good friends who couldn't make it (we missed you, Mario, Anne, & the Mayernicks!). He did pretty well considering I have 459 people in my address book and he didn't know who all my friends were. I had a really good time and was still grinning from ear to ear when I went to bed.


I think I'm getting a pre-company picnic pic of my two cuties. :)


my friends...Liane (w/Gracin), Meggan, me, Erynn, & Elyse...unfortunately, I didn't think to take a pic until Elizabeth & Bethany had already left :(


L, me & my sis-in-law Jenny


sistas!


Grandpa & L discovered GIANT dandelions in the adjoining field and so they had to test them out... (notice the dirt on L's face...she was playing w/4 boys)




still shots of her doing the chicken dance after we got home

my 2nd birthday pic

my mom says L would look more like me if I didn't have so much hair! This is me at my 2nd birthday with a cupcake too. I still remember that clown!

6/20/09...L's 2nd Birthday Party...

I took the opportunity to take some family photos before L's party since we were all dressed up. I can't decide which of these 3 I like best...maybe you can vote...

#1

#2

#3

the happy couple

3 generations: mom, L & me

grammie & L

group shot: J, L, my mom, D, me, Uncle Dale, Aunt Candy, D's mom, Chase, D's stepdad, D's sis, McKenzie

We thought the party was a great success. Everyone from Cheyenne was able to come down (D's mom & stepdad and D's sis & her kids); D's aunt & uncle came; my mom was out visiting; and my sis Jenn made a surprise appearance under the guise of a business trip. :) Plus, our friends. Mario and the Mayernicks & their daughter Mya (L's "friend") were all able to make it.

We checked a bunch of things off her gift list too. She got a ton of books from grammie, wooden fruit & a book on fruit from Auntie Jenn (she likes these b/c they are all in at least two pieces held together by velcro and L gets to use a knife to "cut" them), a dress & toy from the Chapmans, sticker books from Opa & Nonna, a coloring book. bows, & dressup shoes from the Mayernicks, money from Auntie Amanda, Grandma, & Auntie Jenny, and a trike, complete w/basket, horn, gloves, elbow & knee pads, and helmet from Auntie Candy & Uncle Dale. The trike was a huge hit and we've been taking treks around the neighborhood multiple times a day on the trike. She can reach the petals but hasn't figured out how to petal them yet.

She also liked the "cake" (giant cupcakes from Costco) more this year than last year. No tears this time and then she kept asking for cake for days afterwards, even though she didn't actually eat that much of it.

All in all, we had a great time and we think L did too. She'll even say she's "two!" when you ask her how old she is now. Too cute!

L's Birthday Wishlist...

So I've been working on L's birthday wishlist a bit since her bday's a month away. Here's our list so far...

• some sort of toddler trike that I can push from behind
• washable crayons & coloring books (not fancy...just lots of pages)
• stickers
  
• role-play toys, like plastic foods and kitchen utensils (we already have plates, bowls, & tea set)
• water table for outside, like the WaterWheel Play Table by Step2
• the amazon list has our book list and a couple other things
• $$ for savings account
• Mamma Mia dvd (she loves the cd)
• children's cds w/classic kids' songs &/or christian kids' songs
  

You can keep checking back here to see if I've added anything to the list. She really has more than enough summer clothes.