Summer in Colorado: Part 2

Hi Everyone! Happy Friday!

Posting these pics of the trip Luke and Zo and I took to visit my parents last month (my husband stayed behind and worked only because he was saving all his vacation for a paternity leave)...posting these pictures--especially the ones with me in them--is kind of bittersweet for me...it's like I was talking about the other day, I only have a few more pictures of me pregnant with Hunter, and it's like once they are posted, she is really gone. (Even though I know she is gone already.)

But I need...I know I need to focus on Luke and Zo, and what a lovely time we had in Colorado, visiting Grammy and Grandpa. It's weird to say this I know, but I also feel lucky that Hunter got to have this visit too...this was her one trip...

And so...

My dad flew down to do the drive there and back with us, as I wasn't sure how it was going to be with the twins. Thank you, Dad! The trip was about 8-ish hours with 2 stops...my dad has a talent for finding the best roadside stopping places...this was the first one just outside Durango, CO...we'd get out and give the kids something to snack on and let them and our two boxers (who we brought on vacation too) run around. Worked out great.

Highway 550 out of Durango is really treacherous...big dropoffs, no guard-rails...and made 100 times worse with a crazy hailstorm. My dad drove, we went slowly, we made it...

There's a great playground/sandbox area at the church my mom goes to...we had such fun taking the kids there:

And grass...how I miss grass (there is so much Xeriscaping in New Mexico, including our house), and my parent's property has big swaths of it. We spent lots of time playing on the grass. Buckets of water and measuring cups were also a big hit with the kids...

It was an interesting trip and one where we just needed to be adaptable in that I'd been sick right before, as had the kids...Luke was still sick the first few days and then my dad got sick and then my mom, and the kids were teething and sooooooo fussy (maybe due to being in a different environment as well)...we still had a great vacation, but a lot of allowances had to be made... (plus I was pregnant and not feeling well just from that...)

Grammy got books from the library...lots of time reading...

So fun to play with Grammy!

And Grammy's garden is soooooooooo beautiful. My mother is amazing! One of the most special things for me this trip was she would take one of the kids down to the garden with her each day, and they (the kids) would come back with a flower in their hand, outstretched to give it to me. I collected all the flowers in a little glass over the time we were there...it was so sweet.

This is my mom and my Uncle David, who along with my mother taught me my outdoors skills and is just such a cool guy (my first memories of him are him living in a real teepee.) His daughter and her husband and son came and spent a couple days, too...it was so fun to see them!

Luke and Zo LOVED playing my mom's piano...

Luke used his paci a lot this trip...he so wasn't feeling well, poor thing...

We went downtown one day to Kairos, which is the coolest kid's store. The kids got hats...this pink one on Sissy, and a brown one just like it for Luke...too cute!

And a trip to the water park...Sissy especially loved the fountain...

I've always felt like going to visit my parents is like going to a spa...the setting is so lush and peaceful, my mom makes these amazing and healthy meals with produce from her garden, usually we're going on hikes all the time (although not this trip). I love these pictures of Sissy because they capture that serene feeling...

Good meals three times a day in the sunroom...

And then one afternoon, Grammy set the kids up with chocolate pudding...so fun! :)

More grass time...and oh, those kids love their grandpa! :)

The last weekend we were there was the Palisade Peach Festival, a big annual event. My brother and his family came out and we started with the pancake breakfast (the kids are crazy about pancakes...they ate 6 pancakes between them!), followed by the parade and the car show and the festival itself with peaches of course and booths with food and crafts. 

Too. Many. Pancakes.

(Sissy is in love with her stuffies, by the way...)

Love to see that girl laughing...

And love to see Luke and Zo interact...they have their moments, but for the most part they are so sweet with each other...

Me and Zo and Luke and Hunter...

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

It's raining like crazy here, but if it lets up, we are going to try to get out to the state fair...fun. :)

XOXO

Thank You! And...Summer in Colorado: Part 1

Hi Everyone! Happy Tuesday!

First of all, I wanted to say thank you so much to everyone who has reached out to me in the wake of the terrible thing that has happened to our precious daughter. Especailly those of you who sent me emails after I put up a post and took it down last week...means a lot.

I think this blog is going to be kind of schizophrenic for a while, as I try to come to terms with what happened with our baby girl...and also, I don't want to stop writing about the joy that Luke and Zo bring into our lives...it's really important for me not to push that aside as I deal with what is turning out to be some pretty overwhelming grief (more on that later in the week, I'm sure...)

To that end, I want to catch up on posting pictures...I'm so behind and I don't want these memories to get lost.

First up: the birthday trip (for my birthday) we took to Colorado a little over a month ago, just over the New Mexico border outside a town called Antonito. What a beautiful part of the state (and that Northern part of New Mexico...so beautiful as well). My parents got us cabins and my brother and his family came down too. We stayed at a place called Mogote Meadows, wich wasn't fancy, but so pretty, lush and green and the cabins were super cute and spotlessly clean.

There's a really cool train in Antonito that I'd love to take the kids on someday, but this trip, a visit to the train yard had to suffice:

Cousins: :)

After naps, my mom and the kids and I went to the river and spent a couple hours throwing rocks in...the kids had such a good time...

Grandpa spent a lot of time with the kids playing "Say Goodbye," which entails the kids getting turned upside down...they love it.

My brother made mango salsa as an appetizer, and fish tacos for dinner. Luke could not get enough of the salsa:

After the kids went to bed, we had a fire in the fire ring right behind our cabin, and had cake and ice cream and smores and presents for me. Love this picture of me below...lovely to be so happy on my birthday...

The next day, we all hung out together at camp unitl after lunch...so nice. So great to see everyone...we had such a wonderful weekend...Thanks Mom and Dad for making my birthday so special!!!

 

A Little Adventure: Prop Plane to ABQ

Hi Everyone! Happy Thursday!

So my dad found this flight from Grand Junction to ABQ and vice versa...this guy is flying radiopharmaceuticals from Sandia where my husband works to St. Mary's which is a regional medical center for Western Colorado. Recently he (the guy) figured he may as well take some passengers along when he's flying back and forth. It's the same price as a commercial flight, but here's how it goes:

If you're flight departure time is 9:45 you show up at 9:45. You park right out front and there's a cushy lounge to hang out in.

You meet the pilot and hop into the plane (no security). You're the only passenger. He tells you there are oxygen masks in the back and if you land somewhere that is "not a runway" and you can't get out the door you came in, there's another way out of the aircraft (at this point he vaguely gestures towards the other way). He asks if you're scared of flying and you say no.

You put on headphones so you can hear the interactions between your plane/others and air traffic control. Also so you can talk to the pilot.

The the only signs of habitation the whole trip are Telluride and Purgatory (Durango ski mountain) and some houses near a lake in the desert.

Coming into ABQ is bumpy for a few minutes, but no big deal. Another cushy lounge on the other side and my husband to pick me up at the curb...hour and fifteen minutes, no connections, no airport craziness...it was the absolute best. Can't wait to do it again!

In other news, everything's working out with the house we wanted in ABQ. We close in two weeks...so excited! Down for the weekend to tie up some loose ends and spend some time with my husband. 

See y'all on Monday. Thanks for spending some time here this week.

XOXO

Monday Snapshot (Which I'm Guest Hosting!): Colorado Babies

Hi Everyone! Happy Monday!

SO excited to be guest-hosting PAIL's "Monday Snapshot" series this week...thanks for having me, PAIL! Click here to check it out.

Back home after a week at my brother's in the Colorado mountains (also the house where I grew up)...we had a great time, except for the part where the babies didn't sleep...the first half of the trip was tough because of that. BUT, we started sleep training and that is actually going pretty well...will talk more about that soon.

Love this photo of the kids taken there a few days ago...feels SO like Colorado to me.

Hope everyone has a great week!

XOXO

Hide & Seek

Hi Everyone! Happy Thanksgiving!

At my brother's for the week, in the Colorado mountains, he lives in the house where we grew up and goodness, it's been a long time since there were children in this house. But this week it's been full of them...makes me so happy.

We played hide-and-seek with the babies the other day (one person held one baby and counted, the other held the other baby and went and hid), and I can't tell you how cool and also how surreal it was to hide in the hiding places I used as a child. Made me feel ten years old again, two little brothers, my mom with a beef stew simmering on the wood burning stove and soon she'll be sitting down to read to us, fires crackling, horses out in the dried grass of the meadow...

Love that I'm still able to come home to this house. It really is a magical place...

Hope everyone enjoys today. Can't tell you how excited I am to have four whole days off. :)

XOXO

Image credit: Courtney Burgess (pinned from bing.com) via Pintrest.

Grace in Small Things, October 22, 2012

Hi Everyone! Happy Monday!

We went over to the other side of the state (Colorado's Front Range, which is where I grew up and went to college) this past weekend...here are a few of the lovely things that happened:

1) In Boulder on Friday, my husband otherwise occupied, I took the kids to the creekside park by the library...the library's beautiful...and you can see the Flatirons from there...and the kids saw ducks for the first time...they (the kids) were mesmerized...so fun. :)

2) Saw a bunch of friends, which was so great. Here's Sissy with Dwight...I used to babysit his two boys way back when (college) and the whole family...they've been such dear friends ever since:

Actually, one of my favorite memories ever...out on Cape Cod with this family (they have a summer home there), this is after I'd moved away but I spent a week with them and we drove out on the beach every day, cooler full of drinks and sandwiches, I taught the kids to surf that summer. Anyway, we'd gone to dinner at a friend's camp one night and the old army vehicle, open aired...there was no one on the beach and Dwight said to his 10-year-old son, "Do you want to drive?" and his son was so excited and Dwight gently coached him as he drove along the sand tracks on the beach, me and his brother and their sandy dog in the back, the night warm, the stars shining, our bellies full of lobster. Such a simple memory but so, so precious. I always think of that old Jack Johnson song with the line, "Stars were just the holes to Heaven" when I think of that night.

And here's Sissy with the daughter of friends of mine from San Francisco who now live in Denver: 

I have a great Jack Johnson memory with her (the wife), too, going to see him in concert at the Fillmore in San Francisco, one of the best concerts ever. At the Fillmore, they hand out posters after each concert and I have mine from that night framed, kind of symbolic of that and all our other fun nights out together (and there were many).

3) The kids traveled so well...4+ hours in the car each way, different beds each night, their routine totally messed up and barely a complaint...they are so amazing. Oh, and they are teething too...you can definitely feel a tooth coming in on each of them, and kind of see it...there's some discoloration in the area at any rate... They were such troupers...

4) As always so, so lovely to see my brother Ben. Actually, I had kind of a weird thing happen. He's been in Mexico and is all scruffy with a few day's beard growth, which I don't ever think I've seen on him. Anyway, one day he came around the corner and I thought for a split second he was our brother who died. That's the first time that's happened, and I think it was because of the scruff, which my brother who died sported often. My heart skipped a beat, but it wasn't really upsetting, just really, really strange...

5) This is the leading cause of traffic jams in Evergreen, CO, which is where I lived when I was little. Love it.

XOXO

Luke's Diary: Fall Colors

Hi Mommy's Blog Readers!

Today Mommy said I could tell you about our Saturday. We went up on the Grand Mesa to see the leaves changing! It was totally rad!

Here are me and Sissy in our car seats, all ready to go! How cool is my hat?!? Daddy saw it a week ago and said I MUST have it!

The leaves were so pretty, although a lot of them had fallen off the trees already...

One of the places we stopped was Powderhorn, which Mommy said is her favorite ski area EVER. It's really small and just a locals place...Mommy said nobody flies to Colorado to go to Powderhorm...but she said the snow is the best and there are no crowds. Even on the weekends there's barely a line for the lifts, and on weekdays she said you can have a run all to yourself. She said as soon as we're old enough, she will bring us here to ski and snowboard.

Mommy said when she was on vacation in Key West a bunch of years ago with her friend Sam, they went on a ghost tour of the town one night, and the guide said if you have spots in your pictures that means there are ghosts. So Mommy said whenever she sees spots like in these pictures of Sissy, she always thinks our Uncle Luke is with us and it makes her happy...

After Powderhorn, we got way up high on the Mesa, which Mommy says is either the biggest flat-top mountain in North America or the world, she can't remember. She said she dated a pilot once AGES ago and he said it's a huge landmark when you are flying across the country...you can't miss it.

ANYWAY, we got up high and the Jeep said it was 37 degrees and Mommy and Daddy bundled us up and we went walking and it was so pretty.

AND, we saw our first moose from the car on the side of the road! It was ENORMOUS!

Here's Grandma Charlotte, who came with us. (This is back down the other side of the mountain, when we got back into the aspens again.) She's here for the month to help Mommy and Daddy and to hang out with us, which is so rad!

I love it when Daddy does this with me...Sissy does too...

So that was our trip! It was really fun, and the best part was we all got to hang out all together for the whole day...so awesome! 

I can understand why Mommy says fall in Colorado is her favorite...

Love,

Luke

Dear Luke and Zoey (E 1/2 Road Organic Garden Edition)

Dear Luke and Zoey,

Today I wanted to tell you about your Grammy, and about her fabulous organic garden. (She lives on E 1/2 Road, by the way, which is how it got its name.)

Some of your first vegetables came from this garden--in fact, carrots from this garden were your very first vegetable ever.

And all summer long, when you would go over to Grammy and Grandpa's to visit, Grammy would take you one at a time out to the garden and show you how the vegetables and flowers were doing.

You loved going to the garden.

Your Grammy Peggy--she's had a garden like this every single year my whole life. It's one of the things that defines her...it makes her so happy to grow all these beautiful things...and this year, for the first time, to share them with you!

Whether we stay in Grand Junction or move somewhere else and come back to visit, I know you will have the most amazing memories of your Grammy's garden--just like I do.

Love,

Mommy

Tips for Having a Successful (and Fun!) Yard Sale

Hi Everyone! Happy Monday!

As I've mentioned, last Friday/Saturday we had a yard sale, and it went so well. We had five years worth of accumulated stuff to get rid of...things we don't use anymore or that don't fit in with our new life. Our house isn't that big and my husband is anti-clutter, so this was a great thing to do. It feels so good to have our house cleaned out...we've added so many things with the babies, things were getting kind of crazy.

Anyway, I thought today I'd share some things that we though were helpful in making the sale a success:

1. Advertise. I work in advertising, so of course I'm going to say this. But the more people that know about your sale the more people that will come and the more things you will sell. We put an ad in the local paper, a post on Craigslist, and my husband made these neon green signs that we hung on the major streets near our house, with arrows pointing the way. (He's an engineer and made the signs so sturdy, cutting apart metal hangars and duct-taping them to the back of the sign's four corners, zip-tying them to poles. At first I told him he was over-engineering the signs, but that's not what I meant, because the signs were perfectly made. What I meant was he brought way more skills to the sign-making process than the average person.) Oh, and when you're advertising, if you've got brand-name products, mention that. We had some nice stuff from Apple, Pottery Barn, Anthropologie etc, and I think mentioning that helped bring people our way. 
2. Have a 2-day sale. In our town, yard sales typically happen on Friday/Saturday. I had to take Friday off work, but doing the sale over two days was worth it. And Friday was by far our bigger day...don't know if we would have had the success we did if we did Saturday only. Also, try to plan for a time of year with good weather...it was glorious out for us and I'm sure we got more people because of it...plus it was nicer for us to be outside.
3. Close down by 2 or 3 PM. We did our sale 9 AM to 5 PM, but had VERY few people the last few hours.
4. Don't mark prices. We had people ask about the price of items vs mark everything. This saved time and no one seemed put off by it. Plus, it allowed us to drop prices as we got closer to the end of the sale. But if you go this route, discuss with your significant other general prices for things. We were giving wildly different quotes to people at the beginning...good to have things in sync.
5. Have lots of change. We had $50 in $5s and $50 in $1s to start (also a pile of change from our piggy bank). A couple people also asked us to break $100s, so might be good to have cash on hand to do that as well. We also said OK to checks, although only a few people wrote them.
6. Involve small children. We had the twins in carriers almost the entire time (except naps), and it was a good way to engage with people/made the time nice for us. And I don't have a control group so I don't know for sure, but I would bet it increased sales. If I could do it over again, I'd put out a sign that said all proceeds were going to the kids' college fund...figure that couldn't hurt.
7. If people buy a pile of stuff, give them a discount. And tell them up front that you'll do it, eg, Them: "How much are these books?" Me: "$1 each, but if you buy a bunch I'll make you a deal."
8. Be willing to let stuff go cheap. Lots of shoes at our garage sale, as I can't fit into my pre-pregnancy size. Did it hurt to let my $150* Nordstrom heels go for $5? Yeah, but I can't wear them anymore, and I was just going to take them to Goodwill anyway. Plus I'd worn them lots over the years. And $5 per item--that starts to add up.
9. Take pictures of things that are hard to let go. I want to keep objects because of the stories attached. It was easier to let them go if I used my phone to take a picture of the item before it was carted off.
10. Take everything left to Goodwill. Saturday end of day we loaded everything left into the back of the Jeep. There wasn't much. But it felt good not to reconsider and bring stuff back in the house.

All in all, our garage sale was a great success. Hope these tips help some of you. Can't wait to do it again!

XOXO

*Not all my shoes are so pricey, just FYI. Although I'm not above splurging, clearly. 

Zoey's Diary: A Day in the Desert

Hi Hi Hi!

Zoey here and guess what? Last weekend, Uncle Ben and some friends came to town, and the Blue Angles were here, and we all went out and spent the day in the desert! So much fun!

Mommy and Daddy and Granny stayed with us, but everyone else went riding. Mommy said me and Bubs (that's what I call my brother Luke) can ride quads one day with Uncle Ben, but not motorcycles (even though she knows one's not necessarily safer than the other), because something happened to our Uncle Luke on a motorcycle, and Mommy said she's be too scared the whole time. 

People came back to visit every once in a while:

And then there were the Blue Angles. We were scared of the noise at first, but Mommy told us there was nothing to be afraid of, and then we were OK.

Mommy watched with Bubs:

I actually fell asleep in Daddy's lap right before the good parts. Hopefully next time I'll get to see the show!

Thanks Uncle Ben for coming to visit us!

XOXO

Oh, and PS, Mommy asked me to say 'Please vote for our blog on "Top Baby Blogs"!' All you have to do is CLICK HERE, and then click on the left of the screen that pops up, and that's it. Our blog is currently ranked at #30...and Mommy says to say THANK YOU so much to everyone who has voted. (And also FYI you can vote once a day if you want to vote again.) Mommy's going to ask for votes all week and then quit bugging you all, she promises!

Luke's Diary: Our First Camping Trip!

Hi Mommy's Blog Readers!

Today Mommy said I could tell you about the camping trip we took for our first Labor Day weekend! I don't know what Labor Day is about; all I know is Mommy got an extra day off so we got to spend LOTS of time with her.

We got hungry on the ride over, but Mommy fed me as soon as we arrived. That's Uncle Ben's motorcycle in the background...Mommy didn't get any pictures of him this trip, but he was there and it was so fun to see him!

Grammy and Grandpa were there, too. They helped hold us, so we didn't have to sit in the dirt:

The grown-ups made a fire pit for campfires. I've seen fire before at Uncle Ben's...I love watching it...just stare at it, totally mesmerized.

Me and Sissy and Mommy and Daddy had our own tent. Mommy and Daddy bought it used from a friend of Uncle Ben's last weekend. Mommy says she and Daddy went camping in California last summer right before she got pregnant with us, and they camped in her backpacking tent like always, but a friend of Mommy's had a big comfy tent and ever since Daddy saw it he's wanted one. Mommy figured it was a good investment as we'll probably all be car camping--not backpacking--for a few years at least. (Plus, she says, how awesome to get one used and not have to spend the money on a new one.)

And then Uncle Ben and his girlfriend and Grammy and Grandpa stayed in Uncle Ben's camper:

Here's the inside of our tent. We all slept on this air mattress with two sleeping bags zipped together...it was pretty cushy. Mommy says to tell you I'm using the term "sleep" loosely...being in a strange place, we didn't really sleep all that much.

We camped RIGHT next to a pretty little stream...it sounded so nice. Grammy took me and Sissy and put our feet in it. I loved it; Sissy started crying, but I understand...it WAS pretty cold.

Daddy napped me, like he does at home:

There were also these rock cliffs on both sides of our campsite. We saw a marmot on the rocks one morning. And Mommy went out on the ATV with Grandpa that same day and told me they say two big deer--one with fuzzy antlers--and a red fox. She also said the aspen were just starting to turn, with little bits of yellow.

Oh, and Daddy brought our swing. Good call, Daddy!

Our boxers came camping too. Here's Newton keeping the ball away from all the other dogs:

Oh! And Mommy and Grammy took us on our first hike, too! We went on the Colorado Trail, just off of Marshall Pass:

Mommy said that's Mount Ouray, and that maybe we'll all climb it someday:

Sissy got hungry on the trail, but Mommy was prepared, and Grammy fed her a bottle while we walked:

It rained most of the hike...Mommy did her best to keep me dry:

Sissy was in the Baby Bjorn and I was in the Moby Wrap, both of which worked pretty well for hiking. I can't say that we LOVED our first hike, because it was raining and frankly, me and Sissy were both a little bit cranky. But everyone made it back safe and Mommy says we'll try again soon.

Whne we got back to camp, Daddy had made a spit out of willow branches and was roasting sausages. The grown-ups had Smores that night, too. Mommy told me when I'm a little older I can have a Smore too. She said that they are divine.

<<Insert second sleepless night in a row here.>>

And then it was morning and the last day of the trip. Grammy held us and then Mommy held us while Daddy and Grandpa broke camp. (Uncle Ben had to be back so he had left the day before.)

My conclusion of camping (me and Sissy both): We love being outside! Camping was super fun! (Although hiking in the rain is kind of for the birds.)

And Mommy says to tell you her conclusion of camping with two five-month-olds, and I quote: "A lot of work, not much sleep, but sooooooooo fun and worth it!"

Love, 

Luke

Coney Island, Colorado

Last weekend, we went to see my brother Ben, who lives in the house where we grew up, up in the Colorado mountains.

Not too far from him (and just around the corner from where I went to high school) is the Coney Island hot dog stand, and we took the kids one afternoon.

Beautiful warm day, the air so fresh up in the mountains, we stood in line a while but it was no big deal because we had nowhere we needed to be, and besides, the woman in front of us had four-year-old twins and it was fun talking to her.

We got hot dogs, and onion rings and a root beer to share, sat at a picnic table next to the rushing creek, ate our lunch, the kids happy the whole while.

Life brings such sweet, simple pleasures.

XOXO

Luke's Diary: Palisade Peach Festival

Hi Mommy's Blog Readers!

Guess what we did this weekend? Palisade is one town over from where we live...it is full of orchards and vineyards, and this weekend was the Palisade Peach Festival, and we got to go!

Friday night Mommy didn't take any pictures, but we went and sat on the grass and listened to some music...the night was warm and the air smelled sweet and Mommy and Daddy had gyros and a beer each with peaches floating in it and there was a bluegrass band and then a rock band from Austin, Texas, which Mommy said sounded just like the music she used to go see on Sixth Street when she went to college down there. Grammy and Grandpa were there too. We had such a fun night.

And here we are Saturday morning...here's Sissy in what Mommy and Daddy call the "playpen" while they were getting us packed and ready. (By the way, I overheard Mommy saying that before she had kids she would never have considered buying something like this and putting it in her living room. But we have so much fun in it...she loves that we have it.)

And here I am in my car seat, ready to go:

Palisade is this really pretty town right at the base of some buttes:

There was quite a line for the pancake breakfast:

And then after the pancake breakfast...and oh! I almost forgot! While Mommy and Daddy were in line for pancakes, we hung out with Grammy and Grandpa, who had gotten there earlier and already had their pancakes. And Grandpa GAVE US BITES OF PANCAKES! (Even though Mommy says all we're supposed to be eating right now is rice cereal.) All I can say is, YUM.

Anyways, after the pancake breakfast, there was a PARADE! It was our first parade and it was so cool. We watched it sitting with Grammy and Grandpa, with Mommy and Daddy standing right behind us:

Oh, and by the way, has Mommy told you about Sophie the Giraffe? Me and Sissy, we each have one, and we LOVE them. They go with us pretty much everywhere.

There were two marching bands in the parade...they were loud but they were so cool:

And the Shiners riding in circles on thier motorcycles:

And the Peach Festival Queen and her court:

And my favorite, obviously--the fire truck. In the fire truck was the Town Grump, which Mommy thought was hil-arious. Apparently, it's an elected position.

So that was the Peach Festival. It was so fun! Grandpa says he hopes wherever Mommy and Daddy move it is a small town that has things like this. I agree.

Love,

Luke

Zoey's Diary: Mommy's Birthday (Glenwood Springs, Colorado)

Hi! Hi! Hi!

Mommy said that today I could tell you guys about the trip we all took over the weekend for her birthday. You guys! It was SO FUN! 

Mommy's birthday was Friday, and she took the day off. She told me that years ago when she was a surf instructor she had to work on her birthday and was so bummed about it (even though being a surf instructor was fun work, it was still work, she said). Anyway, she has taken her birthday off ever since.

That morning, we got up early with her and hung out upstairs and laughed and played and danced like we do lately most mornings. And then me and Bubs took a nap TOGETHER--which we almost never do--so that Mommy could pack.

We stopped for lunch just me and Luke and Mommy and Daddy, at a burger place called Vicco's...Mommy says they have the best hamburgers ever!

We hung out in our stroller and had bottles at the end of the meal.

And then for Mommy's birthday Grandma and Grandpa got rooms for us and them and Uncle Ben and his girlfriend at the Hotel Colorado...it was my first hotel and Mommy says it's one of the good ones. Mommy says she has a thing for hotels...not expensive ones, necessarily, just ones that are cool and have some character. She said it was SUCH a treat to get to stay here.

The hotel is right across from the Glenwood Hot Springs. Mommy didn't go there this trip, but she did go with Grandma to the Vapor Caves, which Mommy says are like a natural steam room. Mommy got a massage, too. Meanwhile, Daddy and Grandpa were watching us, and we screamed and screamed, Daddy thinks because the room was kind of hot. But by the time Mommy got back, we were sleeping like little angels.

Here are some pictures of Glenwood. We walked downtown for dinner...everyone ate kind of late because we were waiting for Uncle Ben to get here. Everyone but me and Luke had Italian food at the Italian Underground. Luke and I slept in our stroller.

Mommy got lots of presents, like some books and this trip from Grandma and Grandpa, and a ruby necklace from us and Daddy. Oh, and she wanted me to show you how Uncle Ben wrapped his gift. (The flower was added on by his secretary.)

The next day was so fun, although Mommy didn't take many pictures. We all went to breakfast together, and then Luke and I went walking with Grandma and Grandpa. Mommy and Daddy and Uncle Ben and his girlfriend went and test-drove the new car Daddy wants to get once he has a job, and then they went up the canyon a little ways and sat on rocks by the river in the sun and waved to the people going by in rafts and kayaks and on paddle boards. Mommy says she can't wait until we are old enough to go on the river.

The last part of the time together was supposed to be going to Uncle Ben's favorite Mexican restaurant ever...but when we got there, it was shut down for nonpayment of taxes. Mommy says hopefully it is open again soon.

And then we drove home and all slept and slept. Mommy says the trip was sooooooo worth all the effort--and one of the best birthdays she's ever had--but she was tired afterwards. I'm sure that had nothing to do with the fact I woke her up at 2 AM and spent the next three hours trying to play. I was so cute...it was hard for her to be firm with me about going back to sleep. Finally, I got fussy, and when that happened Daddy woke up, and Mommy handed me to Daddy and I went right to sleep. Honestly, how hard is it to figure out when a girl just wants her Daddy? 

Anyway, it was a super fun trip, and I can't wait to do another one!

Love,

Zoey

Zoey's Diary: Fourth of July

Hi! Hi! Hi!

Mommy said I could tell you guys about our first Fourth of July. You guys! It was so fun! Except there weren't any fireworks because of all the fires in Colorado. I don't know what fireworks are, but Mommy said it's not really Fourth of July without them. She says next year we should get to see for ourselves. I hope so!

Fourth of July was a Wednesday, which means we got to go to Grandma and Grandpa's...we always go over there on Wednesdays. They live in this area called the Redlands, and all along the streets up there there were flags:

Mommy and Grandpa went for a hike like they always do, and we stayed and played with Grandma. Here are some pictures Mommy took on her hike:

Mommy said there's been some construction going on to the west of this lake, and she and Grandpa jumped the fence to see what it was all about. (It was Grandpa's idea, she said.) She says she thinks it was fish ponds, lots of square ponds side by side with rubber lining the steep edges. She says Grandpa's dog Jack and our boxer Newton jumped into one of the ponds and couldn't get out, so Mommy had to go into the pond and help. Mommy says going anywhere with Grandpa is always an adventure!

After the hike, Mommy came back and hung out with us and Grandma, and Mommy took a nap in the hammock with us. Grandma made lunch and we sat on laps while they played Upwords, which Mommy says is Like Scrabble but you can stack letters on top of each other. Grandma and Grandpa are already teaching us how to play. I think they are pretty hard to beat, though...Mommy almost never wins.

After that we went home and hung out with Daddy! Mommy and Daddy took us out to the yard and played with us on the grass. Here's my fourth of July outfit...isn't it cute? It's red, white and blue with the red bow in my hair:

And here's Bub'ses outfit...he got stars and stripes:

Grandma and Grandpa went to the parade, but Daddy said it was too hot for us. After, they came over and Daddy made dinner, teriyaki burgers and all the sides, and red, white and blue parfaits for dessert. Daddy said next year we can have some! Yay!

So that was our Fourth of July. I thought it was pretty great, even without the fireworks. :)

Love,

Zoey

Rustler's Loop

Really loving the Wednesday morning hikes I've been doing with my dad.

Two things that are going to be really hard for me to leave when we move--my parents, and all the wide open spaces we've got around here:

XO

"If It's Worth Doing, It's Worth Overdoing"

So I've come to the realization that the last of the baby weight is not going to lose itself, and, thus, austerity measures have been instituted. (eg, no cheese allowed in the house. I miss cheese. No desserts either, but that's not really a big deal for me.)

Also in an effort to lose the weight, and also, to feel more like myself, I've gone back to yoga this week (which has been so great), and have decided that I'm ready for harder hikes.

My dad and I went out Wednesday, six miles, lots of elevation gain, rocky trail, hot. HARD. As my dad always says (and this statement totally shaped my childhood, and who I am today): "If it's worth doing, it's worth overdoing." We did the same hike about a year ago, and it wasn't hard. This week has really highlighted how far I have to go to get my pre-baby strength back, but that's OK. I love yoga and hiking. And after months of babies 24/7, it's lovely to be reclaiming little bits of my old self (although I do feel a little guilty. But it's OK to take care of the mama, right?)

Hope everyone has a great weekend! Thanks for spending some time here this week! :)

XOXO

Mississippi Update

Hi Everyone!

Those of you who have been following along for a while know my husband is about to graduate college in the spring (he went back on the GI Bill), and one of our big priorities for 2012 is getting him a good job. With that may come a move. (Yeah, not long after we have twins. Crazy, I know. But...deep breath...it's all going to work out.)

Some of you may remember us going to Mississippi about six weeks ago to check out an opportunity down there. I'd never thought of Mississippi as a place to live, but where we were potentially going to go was right on the gulf coast and it was lovely.

Long story short, though, Mississippi's not going to happen.

The bummer is that it would have been nice to have my husband's job taken care of. And I did like it there. And the warm weather...that would have been so nice.

On the other hand, I am a total outdoorsy girl and had a bit of a hard time picturing myself being ME in Mississippi. I mean, we would have made it work, absolutely, but I like climbing mountains, and snowboarding, and surfing might be nice again if we wind up somewhere where that's feasible... Also, I've always lived in the West (unless you count the years when I spent half my time in San Francisco and half my time in Boston), and that just feels like home to me.

So we're back to our original plan, which is to focus on Colorado, where we live now, and Seattle, where my husband and I have both lived before. California might figure in there somewhere, although it's not at the top of the list, mostly due to cost of living issues. And then if the right job appears in some random place (which is what potentially could have happened in Mississippi), we're open to it.

Stay tuned...

XOXO

2011: A Look Back

Hi Everyone! Happy Friday!

Hope you all have great New Year's Eve plans! We're laying low, which is fine. Unless we're traveling, I'm not a huge one for New Year's Eve, pregnant or not.

Like most everyone else, the end of the year is always kind of a reflective time for me. Thought I'd share some of what I've been thinking about:

January

We took a belated three-week honeymoon to Europe the end of 2010/beginning of 2011...spent New Year's in Prague (amazing...would do it again in a heartbeat) and the first few days of the year in Venice:

As soon as we got home, we got word that my husband's dad was very sick...we went straight to Las Vegas to be with him, and he died a week later. So hard, but I'm so glad we got that time together.

And then, straight to Denver for IVF #4.

February

The transfer for IVF #4 happened in February...AND we got a BPF! A good solid one, too...all my previous ones had been iffy and ended up being chemical pregnancies. We were so excited!

Didn't feel too bad for the first few weeks, and did some nice easy walks in the Colorado National Monument, which is super close to our house:

March

I was sick, sick, sick with the pregnancy.

We went to Vegas again to see and help my husband's mom. 

Spring started to arrive:

April

We lost our baby, a girl, at 11 weeks 5 days...so close to being out of the first trimester and "safe." It was devastating, but my husband and I were so sweet and loving and supportive of each other. We lay on the couch in the evenings and drank wine and talked and cried. And then when we couldn't cry anymore we watched episodes of "Wipeout" which is the most ridiculous TV show ever...have never watched before or since but somehow the stupidness and silliness was what we needed.

Family and friends were wonderful, too.

And got back to being active, with one quick weekend snowboarding trip with my brother (we took his snowmobiles out into the backcountry...he'd run me up a hill and I'd snowboard down). So fun even though the snow sucked as it was so late in the season.

I also started hiking, including an incredible day trip to Moab with my mom and dad.

One of the places I went a lot in those first few weeks after the miscarriage was Holy Cross trail. When I first moved to the area, I'd stumbled on this cross. Didn't learn until years later that I knew the woman who'd brought it into being, and it was for her lost child:

May

Tried to get my body ready for an FET...the D&C wasn't complete...another trip to Denver and our clinic was needed.

Worked hard to recover physically and emotionally from the miscarriage.

Life went on as normal for the cows across the street from my parents:

June

An absolutely lovely hiking trip with my Dad in Utah. We take a trip together every year...it is just the best:

And more "finishing the miscarriage" shenanigans and another trip to our Denver clinic.

And the start of our summer vacation, driving to the West coast to camp and hang out with tons of friends...so fun and exactly what we needed.

July

Summer vacation continued...from the start: Highway 50 through Nevada on the way out, California, Oregon, Washington, Vancouver, Salt Lake City on the way home. It was lovely. Here's my husband and I at a BBQ with my BFF, Lake Washington, Seattle:

We also went to Santa Barbara for a long weekend to attend a gorgeous wedding, and again got to spend time with lots of freinds...so wonderful.

And...back to Denver for the FET...stayed with my brother which is always great...had my birthday 2 days before the transfer, and on the last day of the month...another BFP! Yay!

August

Did a short camping trip with my brother, but for the most part sick, sick, sick. 

Learned we had twins!

My mother's organic garden was going crazy...

September

Camped again, this time with my whole family:

Still sick, but all was going well.

October

A fun trip to Denver to celebrate our anniversary.

Other than that, laying low with the pregnancy.

The first snow up in the mountains was so pretty (this is at my brother's house, where he and I and my brother who died grew up):

November 

Went with my husband to Mobile, AL and gulf coast Mississippi to check out a potential job. We celebrated his birthday while we were there...so fun, although traveling wasn't all that easy...

And later in the month, Thanksgiving at our house with lots of people. My husband and his mom did all the cooking! :)

December

Holidays at my brother's up in the Colorado mountains. Here's our boxer Newton playing in the snow:

My pregnancy at 25 weeks is still going strong! :)

So, all in all, a heartbreaking year with the loss of my father-in-law and our unborn baby. A year consumed with doctor visits. Lots and lots of travel (which probably won't happen again for some time). Lots of time with freinds and family. And the most joyous year ever, in that we are so close to bringing home two real, live babies--something I wasn't sure would ever happen for me.

A roller coaster year.

Praying that everything--two healthy babies, graduation for my husband and hopefully a good job offer, a possible move to we're not sure where--will go our way in 2012, which should be a year filled with happiness, but will also probably contain a number of huge transitions.

Happy New Year to you all! Blogging has brought me such joy this year--and your presence has been central to that. Thank you for being here, and looking forward to sharing all that will be 2012.

XOXO

Kristen

Grace in Small Things, October 13, 2011

1. It was a few weeks ago I went camping with my family near Marshall Pass (south central Colorado), but just getting around to looking at the pictures today, and so thankful I was able to go on that trip. I've camped with my husband and my brother and my mom and my dad separately over recent years, but it's been since my brother and I were kids that we all camped together. The pictures above is of some of the aspens. Love fall out here... Here are a few more pics from that weekend:

 

2. Today was the first day I ran into someone I hadn't seen for months and she said, "Oh, you're pregnant, how wonderful!" without me having to tell her about it. I really am starting to show...it's so cool! :)

3. My husband and I had a big weekend last weekend kind of in celebration of our anniversary, but on the actual day yesterday, we did very little. It's nice not to have to feel like you need to make a big production out of something just because it is "the day." We were both so tired and I've been working hard this week and he's got papers due for school...I know this sounds lame but it really was sweet just to go out for a very low-key BBQ dinner and cuddle up at home 

4. I DID get a beautiful red purse as an anniversary gift from my husband. We're doing the traditional gifts, and this year (3rd anniversary) is leather. Love my gift and it's a classic design that will last for years...love that I'll be able to use the purse for a long time and always get to think, "This is what my sweet husband gave me for our anniversary"

5. Yoga and a massage in the same day...I am a happy girl :)

XOXO