A Little of This and That...

Wow…I haven’t posted since March?! Life’s been busy here in Durango!  Since it’s been awhile, I’ll just share a summary of what’s been happening in our little world.

We’re definitely all moved in and settled here. We are loving our little town. There are so many things to do outdoors and around town. I’m SO VERY THANKFUL that we moved in late Spring so we can enjoy these beautiful sunny, CO summer days. They’re pretty awesome! I started sewing and have been making tons of little girl dresses. My favorite dresses are made using a repurposed men’s dress shirt. Every time Taeya wears hers, she gets compliments while we’re out. I’m definitely not an expert sewer but I’m having fun learning how to sew and reading crafty/sewing blogs.

Brecken is getting oh so big! He’s over 20 lbs now. He was 20 point something mid-June so I can only guess what he is now!! He eats nearly two times as much as Taeya most meals. Guess he’s in a growth spurt! He now has 6 sweet {and sometimes not so sweet} pearly whites. He cut two his bottom two at the end of April? And his front 4 top teeth he cut in a 6 day span in early July.

We celebrated Phil’s 28^th birthday. He’s not a huge cake fan so we made him pudding with chocolate chips in it. Of course we added birthday candles that Taeya was allowed to help blow out. This past Saturday we went up to Silverton and had a wonderful family day together exploring the town and some back-country roads. It’s certainly majestic country! God’s handiwork is breathtaking. Phil and I have been trying to go out to dinner on a date for his birthday but don’t really have babysitters at this point. While in Silverton, we went to a nice restaurant called Handlebars (as in moustache). We had the kiddos with us but thankfully, both were well behaved. I made sure they brought Phil a birthday dessert and sang to him. Instead of candles, they stuck in a sparkler, which was fun. My camera battery died earlier in the day so I didn’t get any good pictures.

The kids and I took a trip to CA in early June for almost 2 weeks. It was wonderful going back to see many friends and family. I haven’t been back for 2 ½ years so it was a real treat. Phil’s mom, dad and brother came to visit us here in CO near the end of June. We had a wonderful time with them as well. I’ll have to post some pictures of our adventures.

Last but not least, I just was hired as a swim instructor at a pool close by. I’m teaching M-F five mornings a week for about 3 hours. It’s fun to do but I’m definitely grateful it’s only for four weeks. It’s hard being a working mom…even for such a short time!! I enjoy working with the kids and being in the pool again but definitely notice the time away from MY kids as well as the missed hours at home (my house is a mess!!).

Guess that about catches me up. I have tons and tons of pictures of course over the past few months. I’ll post a few of my favorites.

Grandparent Time

It's such a special treat when we get to see our families. We really enjoyed having Phil's family come out to visit after Christmas. Grandparents are always full of snuggles!

Grandma Terry got as many snuggles in with Brecken as she could!

Here's Grandma and Taeya showing off Taeya's new jammies from Singapore.

Grandpa Steve comforting Brecken

Grandma Terry playing with Brecken

Resolutions

Normally, I'm not one for making a lot of resolutions, if any. I have goals in life and things I want to accomplish but don't usually feel the desire at the New Year to create new ones at that time.

However, this year I have a few things I'd like to work on.

I have been such a slacker at blogging of late. I would really like to attempt to blog much more frequently as it's such a great way to record the little things that I will soon forget if I don't write them down. One way I'm going to try to accomplish this is to publish a post on MY blog before I sit down to read other people's blog's throughout the day. I also have really been enjoying finding ways to become a bit thriftier and more creative of late and would love to blog about some of my ideas or things I have discovered through reading other blogs. I'm debating whether these ideas should just be added to my existing family blog or whether I should create a new blog specifically with thrifty, creative ideas in mind. Hmm...I'm leaning more towards keeping it on my family blog but we shall see. I hope you'll join me in reading little snippets from our family's life in the next year. I love hearing from my readers...if I still have any...so don't be shy! Leave a comment if you have something to say.

On one of the blogs I read, the writer decided to do a simple, new-to-her project each month to teach herself something new and expand her horizons. I would love to do that as well but haven't yet made a list with the things I should try although I have started one. If anyone has any ideas of something they think I should try, please do let me know. I would like to attempt curtains for one room of the house we move to, make peppermint playdough for Taeya and 10 other ideas (at least). Please share if you have something up your sleeve that is easy to do, preferably thrifty and practical.

We just wrapped up a lovely visit with my husband's family. They came out a couple days after Christmas and left this morning to return to CA. We had a great time playing games, playing in the snow and baby snuggling.

 Brecken and his sweet little grinning face.

 Looking intently at Mama.

 He's a BIG boy. This was before he was even 2 months old.

 Grandma is ecstatic at holding Brecken for the first time.

 All bundled up and ready for the snow. It was about 6 degrees outside.

 Our little family ready to go sledding (all except Brecken went sledding).

 Taeya going down on her own. She didn't last long because of how cold it was.

 Taeya's first time trying out her snowboard!! Yipee!

 That's a smile on her face! She did great.

Taeya was eating her toast the other day and held it up and said, "Look, a heart beep." (her term for a heart). I, of course, had to take a picture of her heart-beep toast. 

My little man turned 2 months yesterday. He is definitely a GROWING boy. My mother-in-law guessed he's about 14 lbs now. We'll find out tomorrow at his 2 month check-up. Brecken is beginning to make eye-contact and smile and "talk" very intentionally now. I absolutely love his little grins and they definitely make my face light up as well.

Pumpkin Patch 2010

On October 10, we decided to head to the local pumpkin patch as a family and let Taeya pick out a pumpkin. We usually go with a group of friends when we do our Annual Harvest Party. This would have been our 3^rd year but unfortunately, we’re not throwing a Harvest Party seeing as I’m 8 ½ months pregnant. This was the first year we went where it wasn’t really cold yet and we had a fun time walking around the patch looking for the perfect pumpkin and taking pictures. You can see our family photo from last year in the blog header. What a fun outing it is to go to the pumpkin patch. Although the pumpkins cost a little more than the grocery store pumpkins, it’s a great way to support local farmers and it sure is more fun than picking out a pumpkin at the store. This is a tradition I hope we will continue to do for many more years to come.

More Estes Park Pictures

I got some of the pictures Aunt Kay took in Estes Park. She has a great camera that takes lovely pictures. Enjoy! I love the last one of Taeya.

Estes Park, CO

This past weekend, our little family had the opportunity to drive to Estes Park, CO to visit with Phil's Aunt Kay & Uncle David. Although it was a short trip as we only stayed one night but we had a lovely time visiting with Aunt Kay & Uncle David. One of the reasons they go to Estes Park is to see all the elk that come down from the mountains during the rutting season. It was a little early in the season but we still saw quite a few elk in the 24 hours we were in Estes Park. Here are our pictures from Monday morning. I'll post more from our drive into Rocky Mountain National Park later.