Luke's Diary: Our First Halloween
Hi Mommy's Blog Readers!
Today Mommy said I could tell you about our Halloween. I thought Halloween was a one-day affair, but I must have been misinformed.
First, there was the visit to the pumpkin patch, after a nice leisurely lunch downtown with Mommy and Daddy at the Rockslide Brewery, sitting outside on their patio on a nice fall day:
Then, there was Costume Try-on Day, to make sure everything fit and that we liked it. Our Grandma Charlotte made these costumes from scratch, can you believe it?!? She didn't have a pattern or anything, she made them up out of her head. As you can see, I was a sock monkey pirate (arrrrr!) and Sissy was a peacock:
Then, last Saturday, we put on our costumes, loaded up in the stroller and went downtown for the Halloween parade! Super fun! (That big buffalo statue in front of Mommy and Daddy's bank...that's called "Chrome on the Range," by the way...)
And then--finally--Halloween! Grandma augmented the mouth on my sock monkey costume so it was even cooler:
After pictures, Mommy and Daddy walked us around to the neighbors we know, so everyone could see how cute we were.
I also heard something about Halloween and candy, but Mommy said we're too young for candy. She said maybe next year.
It was the best Halloween ever!
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
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
Things I'm Not Doing This Holiday (and Not Feeling Bad About)
- Strings and strings of white lights on our fence outside...so festive
- A Christmas tree...we alternate each year between a real one (love, love, love the smell) and a tinsely fake white one that's so tacky it's cool. Neither got put up this year
- Baking. In my dream life I am a fabulous baker like Bodega Bliss...in reality everything I make seems to come out kind of misshapen and ugly...tastes good, though, and I have fun making it. My husband calls it "baking with love" ("...with love" being our code phrase for something homemade that doesn't come out perfectly)
- Wrapping presents in some fancy creative way, like over here at Cretaure Comforts (loving the black-and-white cloth ribbon...)...instead this year it's easy (but still cute) store-bought paper and generic bows
- Would have loved to do more in the way of cards/little gifts/etc. for friends, but that's just not happening this year
- And would have liked to have used the Christmas plates and mugs I've had forever (like the ones here), but we never unpacked them
- And listened to Christmas music (this is my favorite album)
- And watched some Christmas movies (like Elf. And Love, Actually)
- A nice gift or two for everyone in my family
- Something homemade for both of my parents
- We're going over to my brother's up in the mountains so we can all spend the holiday together (and in snow...it's snowing right now...so excited!) So lots of time and love and attention given to the people I care about the most
- And I am staying calm, rested and relaxed for these babies, instead of running around frantically trying to make things perfect and ending up exhausted
It's My Birthday!
Yay! I love birthdays!
This morning, my husband gave me the loveliest gift--the horseshoe necklace, above. It's tiny, tiny, tiny...the horseshoe is about half the size of the nail on my pinkie...perfect for me, as I don't generally wear flashy jewelry. We saw the necklace shopping in Seattle a few weeks ago...I tried it on and my husband shook his head and said, "Don't like it." So I put it back, and he secretly went back later and got it to surprise me. Love him...he does so awesome in the gift department. A good luck symbol is such a perfect gift right before our FET, too.
After that had a massage...lovely.
Then went to the bookstore and got a big stack of books (love going to the bookstore. And I'm going to need something to entertain me while on bedrest...a girl can only watch so many episodes of The Bachelorette, you know?)
And later, we're going to the Morrison Inn to have Mexican food with my brother, and then to Red Rocks Amphitheater (above) to see a local band and a screening of the movie Twilight. What's not to love about vampires that sparkle?
XOXO
Photo Credits: Twist; Red Rocks Online.
Prague, Day 16 (New Year's Day)
The Charles Street Bridge, where we rang in the New Year, can be seen on the far right in this picture.
1. Got out for a nice walk mid-day. Warmer, like in the 20s instead of the 10s. Sun was shining, which hasn't happened much this trip
2. At noon church bells rang all over town...lovely. And we passed a church at the same time with the congregation singing a hymn, you could hear it from the street, it sounded so happy and hopeful
3. There's a little bar/restaurant a few doors down from our hotel where we've been coming for Internet access. They make me mugs of hot apple cider, so yummy. Stopped in for New Years lunch and the New Years Eve party was still going on...it was like the bartender just brought all here friends to work with her. Glitter on her face, ridiculous amounts of energy (dancing around smoking a cigarette while pouring beers for people) music blaring. She was having fun. It was actually pretty cute
4. I am in love with our hotel room. The boards of the wood floor are placed in a design. It has crazy-high ceilings. And grey silk curtains with vertical gold embroidery. And a faux fur throw that's chocolate brown but turns to grey if you rub it the right way. A clear glass chandelier, not all girly, but very sleek and modern
5. Spent the evening watching soccer at O'Che's. Fun
Prague, Day 15 (New Year's Eve)
The entrance to Prague Castle. Not very welcoming in my opinion, with statues of things being bludgeoned and stabbed.
The cathedral behind the castle. Spectacular.
Changing of the guard.
1. Feeling 10,000 times better today
2. Walked across the Charles Bridge, through the Little Quarter with its hilly windy cobblestone streets, up to the Prague Castle on the top of the hill. So old and beautiful...so much history here. There are violent statues at the front gates, people about to be clubbed and stabbed. I guess they want to send the message that you don't want to mess with this castle
3. Noon everyday at the castle they have the changing of the guards, with maybe 50 guards and a band, quite a lengthy ceremony. The uniforms are cool, gray pants with a darker grey stripe down the side, long dark blue jacket with gold buttons, silverly fur collars and big silver fur hats
4. Hordes and hordes and hordes of tourists in Prague. It's a little overwhelming
5. New Year's Eve in Prague: pretty unbelievable. First, a yummy, quite fancy meal at a restaurant called Phenix, right next to our hotel. There's a cool old silver metal spiral staircase in the back with a four leaf clover pattern stamped into it, so cool. Then we had drinks at a little bar with wood and arched ceilings called the Hemmingway Bar. Eleven thirty we started to make our way to the Charles Street Bridge, and then we were on the bridge just packed with people, everyone so close that it's not even cold. At midnight the boats on the water blew their horns and everyone cheered and sang, some nice Italian women next to us gave us a glass of champagne and the fireworks...people everywhere in the crowd setting them off and then the city fireworks right above us, like you were in the middle of them, they weren't safely off in the distance like in the US, the smell of the gunpowder strong. What a great, great night. We had the best time...
Berlin, Day 8 (Christmas Eve)
One of our favorite Christmas markets.
1. Christmas Eve is a much bigger deal here in Germany than Christmas itself. Everything's essentially shut down today. But that's OK because my husband and I have "The Ick" as we're calling it, some sort of cold/flu that's got us laying low
2. Fruit tea and Fisherman's Friend cough drops have been lovely
3. Went for a very short and very cold walk while housekeeping did our room, came back to a six-inch-high chocolate tree with cookie ornaments that they'd left for us. So festive! Yay!
4. We had reservations for a nice dinner and were planning to go to Midnight Mass, but both felt terrible so stayed home and in bed. I was feeling sad about missing our plans until we started singing Christmas carols in bed together in our scratchy voices ( my husband to me: "you sound like a squirrel.") We made our own little happy Christmas Eve
5. Couldn't sleep...3:30 AM sat at our window looking down amongst the modern buildings to all the fresh snow that had just fallen on the streets and sidewalks that night, Christmas trees with white lights sparking in windows across the way. All was peaceful and right with the world
Wrapped Gifts Last Night...
Last night I listened to my favorite holiday album, Merry Mixmas, and wrapped gifts.
I really love plain brown wrapping paper lately. Saw it recently with a gray bow on Creature Comforts. Here's my interpretation...thanks, Creature Comforts!:
Trying to get gifts wrapped and delivered before leaving on vacation!
I had fun with the tags too, like little pom poms cut out of stiff red and pink paper with patterned scissors. The letters come from a stamp set I've had forever, from Anthropologie.
Love the font of these letter stamps.
And I ran out of regular tape, but love the way masking tape looks:
Used patterned scissors on the tape, too, to give it a cool edge.
Love gift wrapping. Almost done for the year. It's starting to feel like Christmas! :)
Thanksgiving Table Decorations
One of the three tables, decorated for Thanksgiving.
I decorated at my brother's over Thanksgiving. Turned out pretty cute. Decorating kind of seems unnecessary, but it's my way of showing love for my brother (who's single and doesn't have a woman around to do girly stuff like decorating) and being connected/present during the holiday, traditionally a very hard holiday for me.
Some Good Things That Happened Over the Thanksgiving Holiday
Ugh. Sick on a holiday's the worst. Grateful it wasn't anything serious.- Driving over to Colorado’s front range where my brother lives, stopped in Rifle for drive-through Starbucks. When we got to the window the pretty blonde said, “No charge. The people in the black truck in front of you asked how much your order was and paid your bill.” I’ve heard of stuff like that happening, but it’s never happened to me. Totally made my day.
- I had a urinary tract infection (UTI) in San Francisco early this month, had it treated when I got home but it was back with a vengeance Thanksgiving morning. My first personal experience with resistant bacteria. Wow that hurt and of course everywhere (doctor’s offices, urgent care centers) was closed. But my dad went to the store and got me cranberry juice and painkillers (I had never heard of Azo; it’s amazing) and my mom and husband figured out where to take me to get a prescription. Ended up with my husband in the ER at Swedish Hospital in Denver, they were so nice, tested me and said my white blood cell count was off the charts (“too many to count,”) got me all fixed up. So grateful for all the help.
- Once I was back at my brothers and feeling better, my mom helped me with the somewhat labor-intensive table decorations I’ve been so excited about and didn’t have the energy to do on my own. Turned out super rustic and cute.
- Playing Cranium with lots of relatives and friends. Haven’t played since I spent a week in the Florida Keys with my lovely friend Sam, where we played every night. So fun. So good to laugh.
- Thanksgiving’s usually a pretty traumatic holiday missing my brother who died (we spent many Thanksgivings together just the two of us out in California), but it wasn’t so bad this year. I think my tears early in the day over the pain of the UTI and frustration of trying to find a way to get treated also included some for my brother. After that, the rest of the day I was really OK. Grateful for that. Holidays can be so hard.
Fertility doctor appointments today. Home tomorrow. It’s been a good trip.
Photo Credit: Taber Andrew Bain
Feeling Crafty
Work has slowed down a bit for the first time in forever and I'm feeling crafty. And I just discovered this AMAZING blog called Creature Comforts and their magazine called Gifted which has a bazillion holiday ideas. Some I want to try:
Thanksgiving Decorations at My Brother's
There'll be about 20 people and I'm in charge of table decor. I'm thinking some combination of the candles (minus the mushrooms), the fabric tree, similar ribbons of fabric tied around the napkins with some sort of place card (ribbon threaded through, like gift tags), and single stems of flowers (eg freseias) in old bottles.
Fabric Tree
Something Festive for the Holidays
We're going to Europe over the holidays (our long-awaited honeymoon!) and so won't be doing a lot of holiday decorating this year. I thought this might be nice to hang above our bed for the winter:
Gifts
Last year my husband and I baked and sent out gifts--so fun. Maybe we'll make these cookies this year.
Image Credits: Candles, Snowflake Mobile, Cookies: Gifted Magazine. Fabric Tree: Found on Creature Comforts; image by Marcus Lawett and SY - Sincerely Textiles.
A Meal to Celebrate Daylight Savings Time (Fall)
I always mean to start designating traditional meals for different holidays and special days. We had a great dinner on Sunday and so I’ll make this the first.
Daylight Savings Time (Fall) Menu
- Tamale pie (cooked in the crock pot)
- Cornbread muffins with butter
- Salad with beets, bleu cheese and sunflower seeds
