Friday, October 28, 2011

FINALLY, almost a month later… I am adding pictures from our trip to Colorado!  We had such a great time.  It was Molly’s first plane ride, and she did great.  Lydia was a champ too, and even went potty at DFW Airport! 

Before heading up to the mountains, we spent our first weekend with my Uncle Jim and Aunt Martha at their home in Littleton.  We were very comfortable there, and because they have 7 grandchildren, there were plenty of toys, a crib, a highchair, etc… We were well taken care of.  We got to spend time with my 3 cousins and their families, and that was really fun.  Lydia loved chasing after the older boys, and was THRILLED when the younger ones wanted to watch The Princess and the Frog one night… that’s her FAVORITE movie of all time right now!  We had a couple of very nice dinners out on their back patio; the kids had fun running all over the house playing while we adults enjoyed ourselves.  It was great.  On Saturday Oliver and Uncle Jim went from field to field watching all of the kids’ soccer and football games… a perfect afternoon for Oliver!  Here are some pictures of our time in Denver.  (I didn’t capture very many good moments, unfortunately. Too much going on… Everyone was trying to visit with one another in between kids needing to eat and sleep and what-not…  So the camera took a backseat!

This is my cousin Emily’s daughter, Caroline (16 months), hangin’ out with Molly.  IMG_2644 IMG_2652IMG_2631 

I feel terrible that this picture below is literally the ONLY picture that I have of Martha.  How is that possible?   She’s the one who took such great care of us the whole time!  Lydia got confused the first day about who was Martha and who was Casey (my cousin’s daughter) and from that point on referred to Martha as “Casey”.  I corrected her a number of times, but she insisted on calling her Casey anyway.  It became so cute that we just went with it.   Lydia would get up in the morning and ask “Where’s Casey?” and Martha would say “here I am!” from the other room.  We just went with it.  Lydia still talks about “Casey’s house” quite a bit and we’ve been home for 3 weeks.IMG_2633

Jim and Martha took us around Denver, and we had lunch at the Aquarium.  It was a perfect place for the kids.  The entire wall by our table was part of the aquarium, so while we ate we saw sharks and large fish swim by, and even a scuba diver and a mermaid!IMG_2712 

Later that afternoon, we left to drive up to the mountains in Dillon, CO where Jim and Martha have a condo and had generously offered it to us for the week.  We came on the perfect weekend-- the Aspens were changing and the weather was not too cold, not too hot… It was pure bliss after the incredibly hot summer we had in Dallas. 

Here’s Miss Lydia one morning on a walk around town.Colorado 013 Colorado 014

There’s an awesome playground by the lake.  It was here that Molly rode on her first playground swing!  She liked it.Colorado 028 Colorado 030 Colorado 040 Colorado 015 Colorado 023

Attempt at a family picture.  There were lots of these.Colorado 038 Colorado 002

As you can see, the views from the condo were beautiful.   Colorado 093 Colorado 097Colorado 064IMG_2773Colorado 066 Colorado 070

One afternoon we drove to Breckenridge.  All of a sudden the weather changed on us and it was really cold!Colorado 092 

I love this picture of Lydia and her Daddy in Breck! Colorado 090

This was Lydia’s room in Dillon.  Every room has a great view.  Her room was especially fun because there were very large stuffed animals on each of the beds.  She liked the large moose the best.  She slept on a trundle bed which we referred to as her “special bed in the mountains” so that she would be okay with it.

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My cute little Molly!!IMG_2765

Jammies in the morning.  I really enjoyed our mornings in the mountains.  Cartoons, coffee, slippers, the lovely views… Bliss.Colorado 043 Colorado 108

Another playground near the condo.  IMG_2754IMG_2762 

Random “outtakes” if you will… Silly leftover pictures that need no commentary!Colorado 046 Colorado 118Colorado 004 Colorado 009 Colorado 037  Colorado 054 Colorado 001 Colorado 085 IMG_2670 Colorado 056 Colorado 006 Colorado 079 IMG_2611 

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We had fun!

Thursday, October 27, 2011

Wednesday evening Lydia's school held their first annual family fun run to teach the kids about leading a healthy lifestyle! It was so much fun! The course was a half mile around the school, and it was so cute to see all of the preschoolers (and their parents and babies in strollers) walking and running around the school. Even little Molly participated! Lydia got a ribbon after she crossed the finish line! It was really fun - I loved it, and appreciated the efforts of the school staff to mark the course, provide water, bananas and photo opps.







Crossing the finish line!



Friday, October 7, 2011

Well, I've done it again. I'm way behind on the blog and totally overwhelmed by the amount of updating I need to do on here! Hopefully I'll catch up this weekend. Until then, here are some bullet updates on the girls!

- Miss Lydia is 100% potty trained and such a big girl! We tried potty training last February, a few months before she turned 3, but she wasn't quite ready. A few weeks ago we started again, and voila... We're finished! She goes out in her big girl underpants now (no pull-ups), and always wakes up dry from her naps and bedtime. So proud of her! It was just in time for our trip to Colorado last week. She even went potty at DFW Airport - I was totally shocked! (Not without a little drama and a cookie bribe, however.)

- Miss Molly had her 9 month check up this morning. She's 2 pounds lighter and 1inch shorter than Lydia was at this age. Even still, she's a big baby! Here are her stats: Weight 22.5 lbs (90th percentile), Length 28 1/4 (75th percentile), Head 18 1/4 (95th percentile).

- Molly isn't crawling yet, and really only began to show any interest in it about 6 weeks ago. She's doing well scooting around, but not exactly crawling. What she LOVES to do, however, is to stand at a table or the couch and play and play and play. The girl has always loved to put weight on her feet. This week she has started slowly crusing/walking around the coffee table. It takes her awhile, but she'll make it 3/4 of the way around the coffee table, inch by inch. She rarely falls - so proud of her! Her Pediatrician says there's a good chance she won't crawl much or for very long, because she seems to prefer walking. We'll see.

- Lydia is talking up a storm. Complete sentences, singing, playing pretend with her dolls, etc. In some ways she's a totally different kid than just a few months ago. Praise God!! (She hardly spoke at all as of May 2011. She totally blossomed this summer!)

- Lydia is still a VERY picky eater, and all I can do at this point is pray that she'll overcome this obstacle. I've been creative lately and made some applesauce muffins with squash in them, and some sugar cookies with carrot, squash and applesauce in them... But the serving sizes of the veggies is so small that she'd have to eat a lot of them to really get the vitamins out of them!!

- Molly is having fun exploring new table foods and so far, is a very good eater. She also enjoys using a sippy cup and a straw cup, so we're proud of her! She got 2 new teeth over the last 2 weeks, so that makes 4!

- Molly is babbling. MaMa, Dada, Baba, GaGa, Nuk-nuk-nuk.... (So far I don't think the Mama/Dada sounds are directed at us...but I'm not certain. Just happy to hear her making sounds, regardless of whether or not she's talking to us! She also learned to clap and to wave hi. So proud!

I suppose that will do for now... Next I want to share pictures and stories from our vacation to Colorado, so stay tuned! Sorry for all of the BRAGGING on my kids today, but hey -- it's my blog and I'll brag if I want to! :)

Saturday, September 17, 2011


Molly and Lydia?

(Or Nicole and her sister Kelly!)
Trying on hats!