It's legit!

Alas, IKEA Centennial is on the map!  I cannot wait until Fall 2011...

http://www.ikea.com/us/en/store/centennial/storeInfo

Thank you, Milo!

Truthfully, there are not many nights that I am pleased to be woken up by Milo.  What can I say, I am a girl that needs a lot of sleep:)  However, this early morning was a bit different because we got to see the lunar eclipse, which also happened to fall on winter solstice.  It was so cool!  I usually miss out on these types of things because I would rather get my beauty sleep, but Casey got me up to make sure I did not miss out.  So glad I did because I am pretty sure I won't live to see the next one!

Photo Courtesy of Matt Ruggles

Tree+Cookies=Santa's on his way!

We finally got our tree up and decorated.  Our first hurdle was getting it straight.  The second hurdle was the lights.  We decided this year we would switch to LED lights.  We bought some lights a couple of months back, but apparently not enough and now we can't find them anywhere.  Fortunately, we had several strands of white lights leftover from our wedding so we used those.  I think it turned out quite nice!  Ian was a great helper (although I keep finding random ornaments throughout the house, not sure there will be any left on the tree by Christmas!) and Milo watched from the sidelines. 

 Friday night we got together with my former co-worker, Stacy, and her husband, Jason.  We have been talking about going out together for over a year and finally it came to fruition!  We went to Japango on Pearl St. for dinner.  It had been awhile since we had sushi so it was delicious.  It was so great to catch up and for everyone to meet.  I miss seeing her everyday!  I am hoping we can make this a regular thing because they are so much fun to be around:)  After dinner we were headed to Connor O'Neill's for music and drinks and ran into this lovely group of kids.  They were hilarious!  The girl next to me was celebrating her 18th birthday and they were having a blast!  We jammed out with them for a bit - I think Stacy and I were living vicariously through them in those few short minutes.

 Our cuties ready to make some cookies!

 Milo and Avyn hangin' out on the playmat, wishing they could enjoy the cookies too!

 Saturday afternoon I had Kate and the girls over to make cookies for Santa.  I enjoyed Queenie cookies (named after my Great Aunt Juanita, aka Queenie) so much as a kid and I hope to pass it on to my kids as well.  I really like baking with Ian and I think the kids had a lot of fun - mainly because they could sneak in more sugar with each cookie they decorated!  They turned out great and we are thinking Santa will definitely stop at our houses because no one can resist the Queenie cookies!

 Every year the Times-Call prints a map of Christmas lights to check out.  Saturday night we bundled the boys up in their PJ's and headed out.  Ian was really into them this year.  I had to take a picture at the last house we saw because it was CRAZY!  I cannot imagine how much time, money and effort goes into decorating like this.  There was so much to see - people were actually getting out of their cars and walking all over their house and yard to see everything.  I wanted to do the same, but Milo was getting restless and I am not sure I ever would have been able to get Ian back in the car.  Ha!

 What a big boy!  We busted out the activity bouncer for Milo this weekend and he loves it.  He was all about it.  I am having a hard time coming to terms with the fact that he is big enough to be in it.  Ian made sure to give him the tour of all the toys and sounds.  We explained to Ian that he used to play in it and it blew his mind.  He just kept saying, "But I am a big boy."  Cute.

I had to share this sweet picture we got from Casey's sister last week - I just love it. 

Our adorable nephews - Ethan, Taylor and Christopher!  

The holidays are here!

Longmont kicked off the holiday festivities with the tree lighting ceremony last Friday.  We met the Courtney family downtown and Maggie joined us too.  It was a lot of fun!  This whole week is packed with family friendly activities. 

Ian was so intrigued by the dancing trees - he stared at them for the longest time!  He tried looking underneath to figure out what was going on.  I love the curiousity.  

They had free pony rides and Ian was all about this time!  I was prepared for him to freak out once he got on the pony, but he didn't.  I am sure it helped that Daddy was by his side:)

The kids love the Goose - we can't walk past it without taking their picture on it.  Aren't they the cutest things you have ever seen?  I love that they are buddies!



Ella and Ian made some music together while we were winding down the night.  It actually sounded pretty good - guess all those music classes were worth it.

The highlight of the night was Santa!!  We found him at the bookstore.  He was wrapping up for the night, but our kiddos got the chance to sit on his lap.  Ian told Santa that he would like to have a camera for Christmas.  Milo just wants his two front teeth:)  

Saturday we headed to Blue Ribbon Farm to pick out our Christmas tree.  We decided to try a new place this year since last year was a bust at the Flower Bin.  We scored a great tree for the low, low price of $50.  I will never get used to the ridiculous price of trees in this state!

Milo slept through it all...

 

Happy Holidays from our home to yours!

The Girl is Crafty like Ice is Cold

I can't believe how fast Milo is growing.  Like a weed!  I went through Ian's 3-6 month stuff the other day and Milo is mostly wearing 6 months.  Some stuff he didn't even get the chance to wear.  Ian is growing rapidly too - he has already outgrown some shirts I bought him in October.  Slow down, Nelly!  I might not be able to afford all this growth kiddos.  I was so happy when I stumbled upon this oldie, but a goodie and it fit.  Yay!  I love this onesie - so perfect.  

Speaking of crafty...I decided this year that I wanted to make a holiday wreath with Ian.  I took him to Hobby Lobby with me and helped pick out all the decorations.  It was a lot of fun, but not nearly as much fun as making it together!  Last night we got everything out and put it together.  I had to tame my inner control freak and not get all Martha Stewart on him!  It turned out fabulous.  I just love it and he actually did a great job - he was responsible for all the stickers.  My job was the ribbon, snowmen and bells because they involved glue and stick pins.  Milo just chilled next to us chiming in with random coos:)  Ian was so excited to show it to Daddy when he got home last night.  Casey asked him what it was and he replied, "It's our decoration!"  Love that kid!

We are starting to get into the holiday spirit.  Longmont has several family focused activities starting tonight and thru next weekend.  I am so excited to celebrate Christmas this year.  Ian is at a wonderful age and I love seeing it through his eyes.  It helps take the bah-humbug out of all the hustle and bustle.  So much to do and not a lot of time, but hopefully a lot of fun!

Thanksgiving Week

It is starting to get colder, we have seen some snow - but there are still just beautiful days here that remind us exactly why we moved here.  The sun shines and there isn't a cloud in the sky, you might not even have to wear a jacket during the day.  I love WI, but you just don't get weather like that in late November...sometimes you don't even get that great weather in the middle of summer in WI!

Since we have been having such great weather, Casey decided to take advantage of it!  Casey had the entire week of Thanksgiving off and on Tuesday he hit the slopes.  I was jealous, but had to remind myself that I did have almost 3 months "off" at the end of summer and got my fair share of downtime.  But still I wanted to be there too!  Not stuck at work.  Oh well. 

Even if I didn't have the whole week off, I am sure thankful for the 4 days I did get.  It has been so wonderful to relax!  Get up when we want, take naps if we want, clean the house a bit, make a wonderful meal for our friends, enjoy some champagne, pay the bills, play with my three wonderful boys...not necessarily in this order though. 

Wednesday night I made my first pecan pie and I have to admit it was the most delicious pecan pie I have ever had.  It wasn't too rich - the perfect blend of salty and sweet.  I don't think I can wait until next year to indulge in another one.  Perhaps Ian's 3rd birthday should have pie and not cake??  Or both? I also prepped the dough for noodles and made my Mom's yummy cranberry salad. 

Thursday morning we got up early - everyone was up at 6 AM.  Yikes!  It did make for early naps for the boys though and that allowed us to get a lot done for our Thanksgiving dinner.  Guess it all worked out in the end.  We had Casey's friend, Tom, and the Courtney family to our home to celebrate.  It was so much fun!

Ian helped me make egg noodles and stuffing.  I enjoyed having him in the kitchen with me.  My only wish...a bigger, better kitchen.  I am glad it doesn't keep us from entertaining, but I sure do loathe this space in my house.  We make it work, but I daydream about what it could be like and hopefully will be like someday.  I want to have my children in the kitchen with me - taking it all in.  It is the one thing I wish I would have paid more attention to as a child.  I am not a bad cook, but my great-grandmother was a great cook and I could have learned so much from her.  Making egg noodles always makes me think of her...can you tell?

 The kids had an absolute blast sitting at their OWN big kid table.  It was the cutest!

Ian playing in the flour after helping me make egg noodles

My Little Turkey

 Ella and Ian enjoying their appetizers - the applesauce Ella brought especially to share with Ian.  She was so excited and told her parents on the car ride over all about it.  They are so adorable and play well together.

Kate and I decided to venture to Babies R' Us in Ft. Collins on Thursday night.  They opened at 10 PM and we thought, "What the heck."  Should have been WTF?  It was insane!  I don't know why I was a bit delusional and thought there wouldn't be that many people there.  Boy was I wrong!  I have never really been into the Black Friday shopping.  Too early!!  However, this year I have a charming little man who likes to wake me up at all hours of the night so I figured I could wing it.  I am not even sure how many people were there, I do know that this was the picture from when we arrived and we got in line ALL the way at the END of the shopping center.  People were everywhere - taking pictures, calling their friends at the front of the line.  I always wonder what time the people at the front of the line arrive.  Did they miss Thanksgiving dinner with their family just to be the first in line?  To each their own.  It was fun, but I doubt it will be repeated.  The store was so crowded once you got inside that it was hard to manuever with a cart.  Once we were done the lines wrapped through the entire store.  We stood in line for over an hour.  Nothing I would ever do by myself, but ever so fun with my breast friend, Kate!  

 Kate and I also took the babies out with us on Black Friday.  We hit up Carter's and Kohl's.  It was a lot of fun.  We went in the afternoon so the crowds were nothing, but we still scored some good deals!  I had to get a picture of Milo and Avyn together because I also have a picture of Ian and Ella on one of their first shopping excursions.  So cute just chillin' together in the back seat.  I have 90% of my Christmas shopping completed.  I am eager to get my tree up and decorated.  I got my haircut today and my stylist has a sign up at her station that shows you the dates for 4, 6 and 8 weeks out so you know when to schedule your next appointment.  I couldn't believe to read December 25th is 4 weeks from today.  Wow - I have a lot to do in that small amount of time!  It will be fun, but crazy.  This time of the year is the start of my madness.  First, Thanksgiving.  Then, Christmas.  Qhickly followed by my birthday and Ian's birthday.  It isn't until February that I really get to exhale, but I love this time of year:)

 Black Friday wore my little Milo out.  He was exhausted!  A warm hat, full belly and his pacifier...life doesn't get any better than that at 3 months old:)

Shake your Money Maker

I decided to take the boys to a drop-in music class on Saturday morning.  We didn't enroll in the music class for this semester because things were just too chaotic when the classes started in September.  However, Ian sure does miss his Saturday mornings with his buddy Ella and I feel I am finally at a place where I can manage both boys in public without looking like a hot mess! 

 The youngest members of music class just taking it all in! 

Saturday was also the Monon Ball game.  Peyton was dressed in her football best rooting for those Little Giants.  It paid off - Wabash beat Depauw 47 to 0!

Saturday afternoon we teamed up with the Courtney family again.  This time we went to Crackpots for Silver Prints.  They take a fingerprint of Ian and Milo, then fire it into a beautiful necklace ready for me to pick up in a week.  I can't wait to see how it turns out!  Ian chose the circle for his fingerprint and I chose the square for Milo's.  I will have two little charms with their initials on a beaded chain, so they can be with me always:)  Below is the before picture...stay tuned for the after!

 Ian always points out Mother Goose when we drive through downtown.  He finally got the chance to sit on her after we left Crackpots.  He was so thrilled! 

More snow = One Happy Boy!

Welcome Winter, so glad to see you!

The snow arrived yesterday afternoon.  I always love the first snow of the year!  Everyone was bustling around the office, freaking out about the roads and how much we would get.  I guess I can't blame them too much since our first snowfall last year resulted in 18+ inches of snow!  Not this time though.  Just a bit to let us know the official change of the seasons has occurred.

Kisses & Candy

Last week we took Milo in for a weight check.  It ended up being a full blown appointment with the doctor because he had been running a low grade fever all day.  We were the house of sickies last week!  She said he was fine, but concerned about his weight.  We will return tomorrow for another check.  After his appointment, Casey headed to Denver for his class and I decided to cuddle with Milo.  I haven't been able to do much of that since returning to work and I sure wasn't going to miss out an opportunity!  I should have done work...but that isn't going anywhere.  This precious time with Milo will be gone before I know it.  

Milo is 3 months old - wow!  He continues to try mastering the art of rolling over, we've had some close calls but nothing official yet.  He is fascinated by his big brother and loves to just lay back and watch his every move.  He is still a tiny little man, but we are working on beefing him up.  He is a cuddler and I love that!  He has started to take note of toys and Ian loves to hang out with him on his playmat, showing him how to play the music.

I almost forgot that my Mom had brought out the baby outfit my brother and I wore home from the hospital when she was here in August.  I found it just in time, another day and I am not sure it would have fit Milo.  He's looking at me like, "Really, Mom?!"  I love how Ian threw his arm around him in the picture below and asked me to take their picture.   

I finally got around to updating their room.  It is going quite well to have them sharing a room together.  Better than I expected it would be.  Ian has his They Might Be Giants CD in his player and if Milo wakes him up in the middle of the night he just asks for his song and quickly drifts back to sleep.  I loved the picture we used for Milo's announcements so I enlarged it and hung it up.  Got some inexpensive wooden letters at Michael's and dowsed them in black spray paint...voila!  Super cute I think.  My plan is to update the picture as the get older, but truth be told it will probably still be this picture when they are 3 and 5.  Ha!  Ian helped me "hang" the letters and was so proud to show Daddy when we were done.  I need to get some updated family photos since there are 2 new cousins to add to the mix and then I will hang them up on another wall, but for the most part I am keeping the room similar to how it was when Ian was a baby.  It is just easier that way.  

It was a gorgeous weekend.  I am sure there is a cold front moving in soon, this fabulous weather can't last forever.  It is hard to think winter is actually on its' way when we are having 70+ degree temps the last couple of weekends.  So lucky!  Saturday Ian went out with Uncle Jon, Aunt Heather and Peyton while Mommy, Daddy and Milo headed to Denver for a cocktail party.  It was nice to see our friends - Erin, Mattias, and their little girl Linnea.  Good food and good friends.  I forgot to take some pictures though, bummer!

Ian was a riot this weekend.  He is saying some hilarious stuff these days.  This morning I was giving him kisses and I asked, "Will you always give me kisses?  Even when you get bigger?"  His reply, "Uh, sure."  After his nap today we were all hanging out in the basement and we saw a commercial with Santa.  I asked Ian if he wanted to get Milo a Christmas present this year and he said he did.  I told him Milo was going to get him a gift too.  I asked him what he thought Milo was going to get him and he replied, "Candy!!" 

Getting ready for another crazy week - busy with laundry and cleaning house, now it is time to relax.  The boys are in bed and I am going to join Casey to watch some Packer football...

Halloween 2010

Halloween was SO much fun this year!  It did creep up on me though.  Fortunately, I had enough stuff around the house that I was able to quickly throw together a Rodeo Clown costume for Ian.  I did have to get a couple of things at the store and I tried to convince him to wear face paint, but he wasn't having it.  No worries - I am quickly learning I have to choose what hill I am going to die on!  I didn't even get a costume for Milo, but my friend Kate came to the rescue yet again and let us borrow an extra one they were given for Avyn.  Yay!  And let me tell you...I had the cutest Rodeo Clown and Bat in town!!

Longmont has a wonderful Halloween parade every year.  Some people really go all out!  It was so much fun.  Unfortunately, Casey had to work:(  So, Maggie came over in the morning to help me get the boys ready and she walked in the parade alongside us, the Courtney and Conkright families.  The babies slept through it all, but Ian and Ella had a blast!  We paraded down Main St. and then everyone disperses to Trick or Treat with the downtown merchants.  We were at the end of the parade, which worked out better than we imagined because our kids didn't get nearly as much candy as those at the front.  I wonder how many years before they catch on to us?

On Halloween the Courtney and Conkright families joined us again.  We enjoyed pizza (in the hopes of filling the kids up before Trick or Treating to lessen the urge to gorge themselves on candy...it actually worked quite well!) and passed out candy to those stopping by our house before heading around the block with Ian and Ella.  They were so excited!  I could barely get Ian to get his costume on because he was SO excited.  They were jumping up and down, screaming "Trick or Treat!"  Too cute.  We did get them to pose for a couple of pictures.  They did a great job of going house to house and saying thank you:)  Makes a Momma proud!  I really can't wait until Peyton, Milo and Avyn can join in the fun as well. 

I was surprised by how much candy they got just from the few houses we went to.  Ian figured out quickly that if he just stood there with his bag open people would keep putting candy in.  Ha!  That's my boy.  The great thing is that they are still young enough that they don't truly get the concept so we hid the candy bag as soon as we got home and nothing else has been mentioned about it.  The bad part - Casey and I have a lot of candy to snack on and don't have any problem doing just that! 

Our New Nephew!

 Christopher William Martinez

November 1, 2010

8 lbs. 1 oz.

Christopher's Proud Parents and Big Brothers:  Megan, Sean, Taylor and Ethan Martinez

Balancing Act

I returned to work on Monday, October 18th.  Wow - 10 weeks sure did go by fast!  I was going to take the full 12 weeks but knew returning at 10 weeks would be grant me a couple of weeks of flexible hours so I could ease back into full-time work.  Fortunately, Casey is around in the mornings to help get the boys ready.  I packed everything up on Sunday night so all I had to worry about Monday morning was getting dressed and out the door.  I made it!  Milo must have known something was up because he slept fairly well on Sunday night so I could get some rest.  Thanks buddy! 

It was hard to leave my little Sweetie that morning, even though I did a few practice rounds in the weeks before.  It was different this time.  I had Casey drop the boys off at Lily's because I just couldn't do it.  I got them out the door and then let the tears roll.  I cried most of the way to work - texting with Kate for Mommy support.  There are a lot of things I miss about maternity leave, but mostly I just miss all the time with my boys.  I have to keep reminding myself that this will get easier.  I remember going to the circus when I was little and my favorite act was the tightrope...my life seems a lot like that right now. 

Casey got home early on Saturday so we loaded up the boys and headed to the park.  It was so much fun!  Ian had a blast running around.  His imagination is exploding right now and I love to hear the stories he comes up with.  At the park there is a climbing piece in the shape of a barn.  Ian ran inside and said, "Come on, Mommy!  Let's hide in the farm."  I ran inside with him and asked him where the animals were - he started to show me where the cows, pigs and goats were.  It was too funny!  Also, he ran downstairs the other day and told Casey and I that there was a frog in our room. We asked him to go get it and bring it to us.  He came back with his imaginary frog in his hands and then spent a few minutes chasing it around the living room.  I think this is my favorite age!  Such a riot.  

I absolutely love this picture!

Milo is doing great - starting to hold his head up more and rolling over onto his side frequently.  One of these days he is going to just roll over and not know what happened!  He talks to us a lot - especially Ian.  I will ask Ian what he is saying and usually his reply is, "Goo Goo" (very accurate) but the other day I asked him and he said, "Milo is saying 'Hey Big Brother!'"  I thought that was so cute.  Milo goes back to the dr next week for a weight check.  I think he has grown a lot and his face is starting to fill out.  I have yet to get a picture of his fabulous smile, but one of these days I will.  I laid him down on his playmat the other day while I went to get laundry to fold, when I came back he was holding onto one of the loops.  I was so excited and I think I startled him!  I am sure it was a coincidence, but he had a tight grip.  I have finally come to terms with the fact he is a pacifier baby.  Don't know why it bothered me so much initially, but it has truly been a life saver for everyone.  He just chills and bats his baby blues as long as he has it.  If he is content, then so am I.  Maggie said he reminds her of a Cabbage Patch doll she had as a little girl and I have to confess I do see the resemblance!