Girl Party!

Friday night, little V had her girl cousins over for a little "girl party!"  We had a great time doing all things girly.  We started the afternoon with a dance party, made our own individual pizzas for dinner (Big V had the great idea of cutting the pepperoni into the girls inititals to keep track of all that pizza pie decorating.)  After dinner the girls took a bath together (wow, was that a lot of hair to wash, condition, & comb!)  Then we settled into the living room tent to watch (what else) princess movies!  Phew!!

Rise and shine, back at it for a morning filled with painted fingers & toes and double french braids for all! 

A great time was had by all and the best part was that whenever I would stop little V for a quick "mom check-in" and ask are you having fun, the response was always "so much!"

Colorado

Last weekend we spent four of the most fabulous days in Colorado.  We headed west to see one of our favorite bands play at Red Rocks (mature, right?!?)  Let me explain, this band we find amazing, this venue we have always wanted to visit, and we knew with another little one on the way, this opportunity would not be possible for the next couple years.  So off we went on our wild west adventure!

We loved the concert, but we also took lots of time to explore.  We followed dinosaur tracks, waded in ice cold creeks, shopped in cute little shops, ate like champions, fed stingrays, chased run away cars, took hundreds of pictures, panned for gold, tapped the rockies, and enjoyed every second of that fresh mountain air.

After taking acouple days to process the beauty we witnessed, I can sum up the trip with a few simple words... WOW, Everyone should visit Colorado!!

The beauty of the mountains is breath taking, the  of the towns we visited were perfectly quaint, and the people we encountered were so incredibly welcoming.  All of these factors have left us wondering if we shouldn't head west, for fun, for gold, for life...

Quiet in Nature

We just returned home after an incredible long weekend in Colorado.  I am looking forward to sharing lots of details and pictures of our trip, but honestly I need a day or two to wrap my head around the awesomeness that was our trip.  We had many wonderful expreriences, met wonderful people, and enjoyed every second absorbing the beautiful scenery and fresh mountain air. 

To help us decompress from the day of traveling and to give myself a little time to put all of these dreams of the west in order we headed over to the nature center this morning for a little quiet time...

What will we find today...

A stop to draw what we have seen.

What was that sound?

"If I stand still, the butterflies will fly right to me."

Loving the ducks.

Birthday

Yesterday was my birthday.  I had a fabulous day hanging out with my BFF, we talked and talked and talked some more about all of those crazy things only a friend who has known you forever would understand and all the while her rock star daughters and little V systematically played with every toy inside and out that take up residence in this house.  (I think everyone was happy!)  My mom, gram & bumpa stopped by for a visit and were entertained with one of little V's famous concerts (There will be concert coverage in the very near future!)  We finished up the day with one of big V's famous Mexican dinners followed by one of little V's favorite movies that ended (the way all good movies should) with a dance party during the credits.  And, all throughout the day, I received several calls, texts, and Facebook posts from friends and family sharing birthday love.
I am so overwhelmed with the birthday wishes I received.  I can't believe how many people took a minute to send love.   Thank you, everyone, for making it such a special day

oops...

Well after yesterdays venting session, which I thought was equal parts crazy & hilarious, big V said I sounded psycho.
 I hope that my friends out there who have experienced this maternity thing could see the humor, and understand a little bit of where I was coming from.  I hope everyone knows how truly excited I am to meet this little guy, and I promise I will not hold it over his head his entire life how completely uncomfortable I was while he grew!

Maternity

You know those pregnant women that just glow?  They look so cute, they're always pulled together, they really actually glow!  Where you one of those kind of pregnant women?

I'm not.

Yes, growing a human is an extremely beautiful thing.  I am in complete awe of the entire life process, and I think it's pretty incredible that I have the ability to create and nurture a life inside of my body.  But...
I'm uncomfortable, it's hot out, my clothes don't fit, maternity clothes are just not attractive, it's getting difficult to bend over, I'm not supposed to sleep on my back, I can't sleep on my stomach, my emotions are like a freight train that has jumped the track, I have veins that are bulging out of my legs, my appetite is crazy, I can't seem to ingest enough ice cream to satisfy myself, I can't go for a run to take care of the freight train emotions and ice cream in one shot, everything makes me tired, and (to top it off) I can't do the one thing I REALLY want to do (which would help me deal with all of this madness) - sit on the front porch and drink a nice chilled glass of chardonnay.

Whew!! Aren't you glad your not my husband right now?!?