if you took a holiday...

A couple of weeks ago my friend, Erin, asked if I would like to housesit while she went to California with her family.  They live in a great area of Denver and I love their house, so I was up for it.  They have a daughter, Linnea, who will be 2 in June.  So I knew it would be childproofed and that Ian would love being able to play with some new toys!

Friday after I got home from work we packed up the car and drove south.  We weren't sure how the weather was going to play out so we had a sunny plan and a rain plan in place for Saturday.  We got there about 7 PM and settled in.  I am still amazed by the amount of stuff we have to take for a little overnight as a family of 4.  I have come a long way from being able to move from place to place with only a car full of my belongings, that's for sure.  We got Milo fed and ready for bed.  I wasn't too nervous about him, but more nervous for Ian and how he would handle it.  He did fabulous!  I got Milo to bed while Casey and Ian walked to Peter's Chinese for takeout.  Yummy!  Milo snuggled up tight in Linnea's comfy crib and the three of us enjoyed a nice dinner.  Once the kids were in bed, Casey and I got caught up on episodes of Dexter (we recently became addicted during our free trial with Netflix!) and I started my ever important IKEA wishlist...July 27th is right around the corner!

Saturday we woke up to a blue sky and sunshine.  Woohoo!  It is about time.  Ian played some songs on the piano for us while we got ready for our trip to the Denver Botanical Gardens.  He loved the piano - Daddy even showed him how to play Mary had a little lamb.  Cute!  Of course, my camera died a few minutes and only 2 pictures into the gardens so please forgive my lousy pics...

 Ladies and Gentlemen, Mister Sir Ian Walker...I requested Rocket Man;)

 Milo was so excited when I told him about our plans for the day!  Okay, so it was really just the bananas he was having for breakfast. 

I wasn't prepared for the cost of the DBG - $34 to get the four of us in!  I was standing in line to buy tickets and a woman tapped me on the shoulder.  She asked if I had to buy tickets and when I replied with yes she handed me 3 tickets.  What?!  She was a member and had free passes that expired today.  What a blessing.  It sure made me enjoy my time there more knowing that it was a free experience.  I tried to pass on my tickets when I left in an attempt to pay it forward, but everyone was a member.  Now I know why...

 Ian and Daddy chillin' by the water after several minutes of rolling down the hill.  So much fun!  We encouraged Ian to run to the top and do somersaults on his way down.  Before we knew it there were 10 kids rolling, running, somersaulting down the hill.  It was awesome!  I started to roll, but quickly realized it was not the best plan.  Ha!

I wanted to get Milo out and let him play on the grass, but when I walked around to the front of the stroller I saw he was wiped out.  Who knew all that "strollin'" would knock him out!

 Ian is surely trained to say "Cheese" whenever I pull out the camera or my phone - now we have to work on him saying cheese and looking at the camera.  But I still love this picture!

Our plan was to hang out in Denver on Sunday, but poor Milo woke up with a fever and was very lethargic.  I wanted to get him home and comfortable as quickly as possible.  We chose to forego our Sunday plans and head home.  I was praying the whole time that he wouldn't go downhill and require an urgent care visit because he was scheduled to see his pediatrician this morning.  I am happy to report there were no urgent care visits needed - just a lot of TLC!

Ian was happy to be home, even though he had a lot of fun on our trip - he wanted to get back to his own backyard and toys.  We enjoyed the rest of our family day.  Casey had to work at 5 AM on Monday (ick!) so it was just the boys and I for most of Monday.  We took it easy and stayed in our PJ's all day.  We drove around looking for trains in the morning, but didn't find any.  Only heard their whistles.  Then it started storming so we headed home for some downtime.  Ian really wanted to play outside and I told him he could after some quiet time as long as it wasn't raining.  He jumped at the chance to go outside after his nap and he even brought tears to my eyes when he brought me this bouquet...my heart melted.  I asked if I could take his picture and he replied, "Yes, but you have to hurry because these need to get in the water."  LOL!

Lastly (and completely off topic), I want to give a very BIG congratulations to my business partner, Monica, and her husband, Christian.  Today they found out that they are welcoming a baby girl in October.  I cannot wait to meet little Miss Baby Black and spoil her with all kinds of obnoxious things that will drive her Daddy crazy;)

It's the Little Things goes LIVE!

It's the Little Things (aka Melissa and Monica) made its' debut at the Erie Town Fair on Saturday!  I took Friday off from work so I would have the whole day to run last minute errands, pack up the car and check over my list a million times. 

I woke up Saturday at 6 AM and snuck out of the house while my boys were still sleeping.  I had been nervous for several days about the weather.  We don't have a lot of cloudy, rainy days in Colorado but last week was intense.  I don't think we have had that much rain since we moved here.  I just wanted it to be sunny and warm out so people would want to roam the streets of Erie and buy all of our stuff!! 

I have attended many craft shows in my life, but this was my first time being on this side of the fence.  I wasn't sure what to expect.  I didn't really have expectations.  I knew Monica and I had spent countless hours designing our products and our booth.  Now was the time to sit back and relax...right?

We arrived a little after 7 AM to find our booth marker:)  We were lucky to have Christian (Monica's husband) there to help us unload.  I didn't think it would be that much, but once you start unloading everything you quickly realize this would have taken forever with just me!  BTW - Monica is pregnant and has been ordered by her doctor to not do heavy lifting.  Didn't want anyone to think she was a diva and didn't want to help me unload/set-up;)

 We had a couple of hours before we had to be ready to sell.  It was nice to be able to take our time setting up.  I think our booth turned out beautiful!  Who wouldn't want to visit us?

We were done setting up by 9:30 - which gave us 30 minutes to relax.  Um...nope.  I swear, the clock struck 10 AM and the wind hit.  It was fast and furious.  I spent so much time worrying about the rain that I didn't even think about the wind.  Silly for a CO girl.  I should know better!  We tried everything to keep our display in tact, but we had to cave an hour into it and take all the cards down.  Fortunately, I was able to place them in their labeled containers but I can't blame anyone for not wanting to rifle through them.  Our stationery, notecards, tins and caddies were secure enough for the most part.  I was just praying our poster or boards didn't come loose and strike someone in the eye.  Not good PR!  I was disappointed, but not discouraged.  We kept smiles on our faces and tried our best to sell, sell, sell.  We both walked away from it knowing we did the best we could in the conditions we had.   

It was an experience and a good one despite all the challenges Mother Nature brought.  Now we must look at the lessons learned and see how we can improve for next time.  We need to get our website complete and probably start a blog.  We need to continue making product and come up with new ideas (I already have a couple of great ones brewing...) and shop ourselves to local stores.  There is so much to do and as soon as I recover from Saturday I will get on it:)

I will keep everyone posted on our progress and in the meantime, feel free to drop us a quick note!

Monica and Melissa

itsthelittlethingsllc@gmail.com

May Days

On May 6th Casey and I celebrated our 5th wedding anniversary!  Our original plan was to go to Chicago for the weekend, but in an attempt to be fiscally responsible we chose not to.  Being a responsible adult can be a downer.  But we still tried to make the best of it...

Our day started by taking this cute little face to the doctor for his 9 month check-up.  He had been battling a bad cold all week and I just wanted the doctor to confirm all was okay.  Well, he did confirm that all was okay and that there was nothing I could be doing to help his cough (a cough so bad it was making him gag and throw up!), but added that he had a right ear infection AND still isn't gaining weight like the doctor would like so additional labwork and a urinalysis was needed.  Ugh!  I am okay with blood and needles, but having to hold down my 9 month old while they desperately search for a vein and he is screaming for his life was not exactly how I wanted to start my day!  All in all, we survived and his labs came back normal.  We head back at the end of the month to get his ear checked and I am praying, wishing, hoping and crossing my fingers that he has gained weight!  

We got the kids dropped off and headed to Denver to spend the day.  Getting some QT with Casey was long overdue!

First stop - a driveby Centennial IKEA, which is set to open July 27th.  I cannot wait!!  I will be celebrating Maggie's 30th birthday at Lake of the Ozarks and will get back on the 26th.  I figured I would need time to recover from my trip and gear up for IKEA so I took the whole week off.  I can't handle the crowd of opening day, but I am thinking a trip later in the week is definitely on the agenda.   

 Next stop, lunch at Euclid Hall.  This place has been on our wishlist for awhile and man was it worth the wait!  It was a gorgeous day so we were able to sit outside and soak up the sun while enjoying a couple of beers.  Perfection in my eyes.  The food was awesome.  I highly recommend this place if you are ever looking for a delicious meal in Denver!

 Pickle Sampler

 Cheese curds - hell yeah!

 Bone marrow - tried it, but could do without it.

Sausage and mustard sampler - yummy!  Casey said the blood sausage was better than the one we tried at Cafe Iberico and I decided to take his word for it.  One blood sausage is enough for me in a lifetime!

 Chicken n' Waffles - yes please!

With our anniversary on Friday and Mother's Day on Sunday it made for a busy weekend.  All I wanted for Mother's Day was to sleep in.  I had been dreaming about it all week.  It didn't work out in my favor though.  Ian is all about Daddy 99% of the time, but on the ONE day I could sleep in he just had to see me and was waking me up at 7:30!  It is really hard to resist his cuteness...

I am blessed to be the mother of these two beautiful boys!

Ian decided that they needed to treat me to ice cream for Mother's Day and there was no way I was ggoing to object to that!  It was another nice day so we took a stroll down to Glacier Ice Cream.  They have the BEST Junior Mint ice cream - double it with Double Dark Chocolate and I am in heaven! 

 We asked for a kids' cone of vanilla for Ian...um, clearly their idea of kids' size and mine are two different things!  He loved it though:)

 Last weekend was exhausting.  Monica and I have spent countless hours preparing for the Erie Town Fair this weekend.  All the blood (literally!), sweat and tears we have put in these last few months will hopefully pay off on Saturday.  We are so excited!!

That being said, I didn't want to cook last weekend at all.  It was a dreary weekend and I just wanted something warm in my belly without having to put in effort.  We decided to take the boys out for dinner - something I have been avoiding for months (as my first experience when Milo was just a few weeks old has left a bad taste in my mouth!).  We chose Passage to India and we went early as to beat any dinner crowd.  Food was okay, service was bad.  I probably will not go again.  But Milo had a blast sitting in the high chair and munching on pappadums.  He devoured a couple of them and loved my Aloo Mateer. 

He looks so serious in this picture:)  Dining out was a success and I feel like we are starting to resume a somewhat normal life.  It is amazing how much one little life can change yours.  Milo loves watching his big brother - he wants to eat his food, play with his toys and now that he has started crawling he is going to be all over it.  We don't think Ian has figured this part out yet...life is good.

My little Picasso

On the Move

Casey had to go into work early on Friday morning, so I got the boys up and ready for Lily's.  It was PJ Friday and that always makes life easier.  I was finishing upstairs when I thought I heard Ian calling for me.  I wasn't sure because it sounded like he was in a tunnel.  I came downstairs and this is what I found - he wanted me to help him put his gloves on so he could "go to work."  I told him only if he let me take his picture;)

 Milo is changing so much everyday.  He moved to table food full-time over the weekend.  I am thankful we don't have to purchase baby food anymore!  I was amazed at how he was just done - decided he did not need pureed food anymore and wants to eat anything that we have in our hands.  I had to tell Ian that he cannot give Milo anything to eat - I praised him for wanting to share, but had to make sure he wasn't going to sneak him snacks like he was our pet. 

Milo is really close to crawling!  He will crawl backwards, but doesn't attempt to go forward yet.  It is so much fun watching him go from sitting, to his belly, back to sitting, up on all fours, crawling backwards, sitting up again.  A man in motion!  I am thinking the baby gates will be up before too long...