Crazy at Eleven

 Eli is ELEVEN months old - seriously? 

Well it's true and with all going on this past month it seems like a blur!  Eli has changed a ton this past month - he is in to EVERYTHING, interacting with everything and everybody, eating all kinds of new stuff, exploring the outside world and still a handful, even more so now - but we have loved and enjoyed (for the most part) every moment!

What has Eli been up to?  Well, he loves to be outside.  You sit him in the front yard and he will entertain himself for a good hour - crawling around, finding rocks and eating both bugs and sticks - yummy!  He also gravitates towards water especially sprinklers - must be the summer baby in him!  He loves the swing set and has successfully climbed up the slide - I swear he is part monkey.  As long as he has no socks on this boy can climb just about anything - and he has the biggest feet to do it with! He loves the play area at the mall and has no hesitation at all.  He will follow the big kids all around trying to climb whatever they are climbing - I am guessing he has no fear like his father, which worries me a bit.  I see lots of broken bones in the future! I swear he says words like "light" and "hungry" and also points at things now while babbling or screaming!  He calls everybody "da da" right now, but I am working on "ma ma" - how did my little boy not say "ma ma" first? But he still gives me the best kisses ever...

 One of my favorite things he does right now is singing.  If you start singing a song from the radio with a good beat of course he will remove his paci and sing along.  It makes me laugh every time - I really need to record this one - maybe he will be my country star - Eli Matthew!

 Eli is eating all kinds of new things - still no teeth, so his gums must be made of steel because he  is able to gnaw on most things.  He is willing to try everything which is such a change from picky Ashtyn.  His new favs are toast with lots of butter (I need to fatten him up), any fruit, french fries, turkey or chicken with sweet potatoes - pureed of course, and pickles!  The boy loves pickles and it will keep him occupied for awhile.  Once he is done though - there are pickle seeds and just plain pickle in every part of his hair, ear, nose and neck!  We finally found a sippy cup for him and he loves it!  He drinks water all the time, which is great!  That only took eleven months - can you say high maintenance!

 Still a great sleeper.  His naps are still all over the place but he tends to take a couple a day.  I am hoping this month we can work on his schedule now that we are settled.  His personality continues to mature and he interacts with things so differently.  He has become quite an explorer being mobile - he now crawls very fast and cruises from things to things.  He has stood for just a second unsupported, but that's it.  But like I said before he is into everything - EVERYTHING.  In one morning the following two things happened - you will probably question my mothering skills, but this is Eli in a nutshell... 

 It seems Eli found the pantry, pried open the door and found the brown sugar to play in...

 Yummy brown sugar!  He was even dunking his paci in it and then sticking it in his mouth...

When Eli gets quiet I get a little worried because A) he is either dead or B) he is doing something he is not supposed to be doing...such as playing in the toilet...

 The boy LOVES toilets - especially splashing around in the water!  GROSS!  We typically shut the bathroom door for this very reason, so now Eli will crawl in behind whomever is going to the bathroom and then will stand there as you do your business hoping he will get to splash around afterward!  Who's child is this - seriously!  All I can say is it must be a boy thing - he loves the chance to play in the toilet...

Oh Eli - you are a very challenging, high maintenance little boy - but mama loves you more then anything in the world.  You make life so much fun and are constantly put smiles on peoples faces all day long.  You are a sweet little boy - and next month you are 1!  Let the birthday planning begin - I am thinking the location will be Baseline Lake and the theme will be Fish - pray for good weather!

Mother's Day Weekend

Happy Mothers Day!

I am going to try to remember the positive of my mother's day weekend because it was quite the opposite of relaxing.  We were not cleared to start moving out of our house until Wednesday and then have to be out by the 16th of May, so basically that left this weekend to move - PERFECT!  So yes I spent the entire weekend packing and moving and unpacking and making several trips to Good Will - exhausting.  I now officially hate moving and the next house I purchase will be the last, because the whole process of moving just left a bad taste in my mouth.  But on to my mother's day weekend - the positive...

On Friday night, we took Kole and Shannon out to dinner to celebrate and to wine and dine them so they would help pack and move us.  We ate at Red Robin which is great for kids, because they can scream and it doesn't matter!  Saturday we moved all day - blah - but I do have to say thank you to my brother, Butch and Kole for helping us - without you guys, I would still be unloading that Uhaul! Love you all!

So Saturday night, Mama needed a break, the weather was Colorado perfect, so we had a BBQ in the backyard with our new roommates and of course Kole and Shannon.  We drank margaritas, watched our kids play in the yard and then walked to Starbucks to get dessert - what is better then that!  Not a whole lot in my world...it was a PERFECT Saturday night.  Except I have no pictures...

On Sunday, Matt let me sleep into 9am - HEAVEN - and then we laid around until we had to go finish packing.  Emily helped the kids make these adorable plaques of their hand prints and footprints along with yellow tulips - my fav! I don't know if I am overly stressed, tired or what - but those totally made me cry!  After packing and moving, Emily, Sandy and I headed to see a movie - Something Borrowed!  Highly recommended!  Afterwards we went home to have dinner and then off to bed!

So I guess it was a good mother's day, but I still could have done without the packing, moving part! 

SOLD!

We SOLD our house! What?  Yah, I know, who would have thought we could sell a house in this economy...but we did!  Totally unexpectedly our house sold after being on the market for just 6 days - CRAZY!  I am still in shock over the whole thing and since it has been happening so fast I really have had no time to actually comprehend what is transpiring, but we are all relived and excited to have a fresh start living life a little differently.  Sandy and I have joked for months about us moving in with them since we spend most of our time together as it is, we could save major money to eventually buy that dream house, and plus in a weird way it just makes sense - but Matt never would consider the idea, until one day.  The day we realized our house was a "money pit" - I know most houses these days are money pits, but ours was the ultimate "money pit" and probably was never the best investment two newlyweds should have made in the first place - Live and Learn!

So we have moved our family of four into Matt's parents basement for the next couple years.  The basement is very comfy, feels just like home, and plus all that really matters is that we are together, happy and surrounded by people who offer a ton of support and love. 

That's what we have here - love.support.and a whole lot of CRAP!

We have a garage filled with stuff to sell, store or giveaway and it is quite overwhelming just looking at it, but at least we sold our money pit, found a great place to live with people we love and living a life we have wanted for a long time.  I have mixed emotions about leaving our home - yes I am sad, because our house is filled with tons of beginnings for our family.  That is the first huge purchase Matt and I did together (probably not the best decision looking back on it now, but still a huge step together.  That is the home I brought both our babies home too and several other memories with friends and family.  Ashtyn has been dealing with it pretty well, she asks tons of questions trying to fully understand what is happening and still thinks we are just having a sleep over at grandmas!  She did ask me the last morning as we left for work from our home

"Mommy, how am I going to find Taylor (her BFF)?" 

 I got a little teary eyed and told her I would make sure to set up plenty of play dates.   

It's definitely going to be an adjustment for all, but what a great adventure the next couple of years are going to be... 

CSU Reunion!

 Last weekend, my roommate and long lost friend from college, Christy, came to Colorado to visit.  Originally, CSU had planned an alumni party for the Applied of Human Sciences on Saturday night, so Christy used it as an excuse to make a trip back here from California.  Well they ended up canceling the party only a week before it was scheduled - WTF!  Even though the party was canceled we decided to have our own "little" CSU reunion with the girls from Interior Design.  It was so great to see everyone and catch up after what - 8 years - crazy! 

 

 On Friday, Christy and I drove up to Fort Collins aka Fort Fun (haha!) and met Jeanette and her kids for lunch and then a trip to the park.  We got to hang out with Jeanette's boys, Zach who is 5 and Brandon who is 1.  Before going to the park we walked around Old Town a bit and reminisced about the bars we would go to and walked by our old condo - nothing has really changed.  I do remember our Senior year when we got that HUGE snow storm which shut down the whole state, and I remember Christy and I snowshoeing in Old Town visiting all the bars that were actually open - good times! I haven't snowshoed since...

 Here's my little rug rats!  Ashtyn LOVED Christy - loved her!  Before Christy arrived into town I told Ashtyn she was going to have so much fun with her.  When I tucked Ashtyn into bed Thursday night after playing with Christy all evening she said to me

 "I love Christy mom - you told me I would!" - how precious!

Christy played with her the entire weekend which just made her day.  Christy taught her how to play "Starbucks" - she set up a drive through window with Ashtyn's blocks and then would order drinks from Ashtyn!  Christy is the reason I have an addiction to Starbucks.  In college we would go ALL the time, and I just fell in love with Starbucks and could not live without it - I am still in love with Starbucks and apparently so is Ashtyn!  She is always asking Matt and I if we want to play Starbucks! 

 On Saturday Christy and I had a girls day - long overdue!  We woke up, grabbed our Starbucks and then headed to the mall for some shopping - what could be better!  Afterwards we met Hillary, another fellow interior design grad - for pedicures!  Later that night we all went to dinner at Baker's Street and had some drinks!  We joked about how old we feel, because we were all so tired at like 9 o'clock and ready for bed!  In college we would just be heading out to the Rio! 

 It was SO great to see everyone again and find out what we are all up to these days!  I especially loved getting to relax and spend so much time with Christy having "girl" time - (thanks to Matt for watching the kids all weekend).  College was so fun because of her and you forget how much you miss someone when you have lost touched - We all know I am horrible about keeping in touch with people!  Hopefully, I will be better at staying in touch with her and I really hope to go visit - who wouldn't want to go to Sacramento!  Thank you Christy for coming to visit - I do wish we lived next door to each other! 

I will come visit soon - love ya!