Swim Little Fishy, SWIM!

Ashtyn has been telling me for months "Me take swim lessons there mommy?" Every time we drive by the Erie Rec Center, which is every day since we live right next to it. I have been avoiding the question due to my circumstances of 1st being pregnant and then of not wanting to be in a swim suit. But then I got to thinking, how great it would be to have something just for her and I to do together, so I finally got us registered for swim lessons for the next 8 weeks! Ashtyn was so excited when I told her - she has been asking me every day since if it was swimming lesson day, and finally on Saturday morning she was just beside herself with excitement! We are still enrolled in the parent tot class since she is not three yet, but I was very impressed with how advanced she was compared to all the other kids. I guess all that swimming this past summer really paid off! Ashtyn already knew how to blow bubbles, kick her legs and paddle through the water, and of course was a pro when it came to jumping in! So really the only thing she has to learn is going under water and off to the next level she can go! We have the next 8 weeks to work on that! Her most favorite part of the class was when we got to sing the "Wheels on the Bus" - which is her favorite song ever! She even sang all the words and did all the motions! I was so proud of her in the water - she reminds me so much of me and my bother and how we lived in the water when we were younger. Couple more years and she will be on the swim team! The picture of her makes it look like she didn't enjoy herself - but she actually got very MAD when we had to leave - hence the sad face!

Happy 3 Months!

Eli is 3 months! Once again it amazes me how fast time flies - he will be walking before we know it! The third month has been filled with advancements as he continues to discover the world and all his appendages! He has officially found his hands and loves to suck on them. He bats at his toys on his swing, bouncer and car seat - he also likes to talk to these toys. It continues to amaze me how vocal he is! He is always talking, singing or cooing at someone or something - its absolutely adorable! If you talk back to him he will seriously carry on a conversation like he has so much to tell you. He's starting to grab for things like hair, familiar faces and his paci! It's so cute to watch him try to get his paci in his mouth, which usually he is pretty successful at. He has gotten much stronger, holding his head up all by himself now and can stand on his feet when you hold him. We've started putting him in his Bumbo, which he likes for about 5 minutes and then I guess he exhausts himself, because he screams till he is taken out and then falls to sleep!

He SMILES all the time - something I love the most about him! He smiles at just about anything and has even let out a couple giggles - once when I made a monkey sound or when I kiss his neck! I can't wait to hear him full on laugh. Eating is getting better - Thank GOD! He still has no consistent schedule, but he will consistently eat about 20 ounces a day which is a huge improvement from where we were a couple weeks ago. He actually gets excited now when he sees his bottle - what a great feeling that was! Things that he still is not real fond of are: lotion, he screams when I lather him up! mirrors, when he sees himself in the mirror on his car seat he gets the "pout" lip and whines! and when people sneeze, again he gets the "pout" lip and cries! It's kind of hilarious, but still breaks my heart to see such a sad face. Eli is definitely growing - not sure if he is putting on any weight, but he has definitely gotten longer. I had to put him in 6 month jammies, because his feet were scrunched, but they swim on him because he is still so tiny around his tummy. I think he is going to be a 6' baller!

I love, LOVE this little boy and I still can't believe I have him in my arms! I am trying to enjoy every minute of him and get in as much snuggle time as I can, because I know how quickly that goes away. My favorite time of day is when all 4 of us get into Ashtyn's bed and Matt reads books before we tuck them into bed. Eli lays right beside Ashtyn and actually follows along - I sometimes just stare at my beautiful children and Thank God so much for blessing me with such an amazing family!

Rockies Game

On Wednesday, Nana, Kevin, Ashtyn and I headed down to Coors Field to watch the Rockies play the San Diego Padres! It was a beautiful day and of course Coors Field is always an enjoyable experience! Last year when I took Ashtyn, she loved it, so I thought she would enjoy it just as much if not more this year - well she was very excited to get there. Especially when we got to ride the bus from the parking lot to the stadium. But half-way through the 1st inning she said in her famous words "Ready go home mommy!" Well I was able to get her through the third inning before having to buy some dip-n-dots to pass the time for her. She ended up making it through the entire game with some fussing here and there, but I am sure in her little world it seemed like an eternity. I on the other hand enjoyed myself - the game was great and watching Tulo play is very exciting! The Rockies won - they always seem to play well at the end of the season, so hopefully they will make it into the playoffs! None the less it was a fun day and it was great to finally enjoy a day with just Ashtyn - maybe something we should do more often. Go Rockies!

Sleeping Beauty

Ashtyn LOVES to play downstairs in our basement - it has become her little getaway! I always check on her sporadically to make sure she is ok and the other day I found her like this...


This is why kids make life SO much fun! What would I do without her! I love you Ashtyn!

Labor Day Parade

For as long as I can remember I have been going to the parade in Louisville every year for Labor Day. We sit in the same spot every year and watch the same firetrucks, cars, school bands, cheerleaders, floats and horses go by. I of course had to introduce Ashtyn and Eli to the same ol' tradition. So we headed out this year to the same spot right across the historical museum, sitting with the rest of our family and watched the famous parade go by. Ashtyn had tons of fun this year being able to share in the candy fun - she would wave to everyone thinking they would throw her candy and when they did she would run after it! We got a ton of goodies from the parade - even a soccer ball!

This picture is so precious to me - I remember every year enjoying the parade with my great grandma and now my kids get to experience the same. I hope they will learn to love their Mimi as much as I do...

The four older cousins - they were so great helping Ashtyn get candy!

Labor day came and went very quickly - but we enjoyed the day hanging out with family and then getting to just enjoy a quiet day at home resting. Now it's time to enjoy the beautiful Colorado FALL - my favorite!

Go BUFFS!

It's football season again - YES! And along with football season comes FALL! One of my most favorite seasons of all - I don't know what it is, but I do love fall in colorado. We started the Buff season out by attending the Pep Rally on Pearl Street along with Nana and Papa Labor day weekend. Ashtyn was much more interested then last year and would clap to the music and dance a little! Eli did surprisingly well considering how loud it was - he actually slept through the whole thing - Amazing! Given I am a band nerd at heart I always enjoy watching them - so I asked Ashtyn at the end if she wanted to be in the band when she got older and she said with no hesitation "NO!" which Matt then laughed at! I guess I will just represent the band all on my own...

Couch Hawkins walked right by us and tried to give Ashtyn a high five, but she refused as usual!

We had a great time marching down Pearl Street with the band cheering and singing the fight songs. It's so fun to be apart of these traditions and share them with Ashtyn and Eli! I can't wait till they are old enough to take to the games. The Buffs played great on Saturday beating my college alum the CSU Rams! Let's hope they have a good season... Go BUFFS!

So LONG Lake Powell...

Ahhh Lake Powell! - Probably my most favorite place in the world to go...not sure why but I absolutely LOVE this place - it's like no other vacation. BUT, it comes with it's problems and this year was no exception. My family has been going to Powell for years and each year we are always dealing with some sort of issue - whether it has to do with the cars on the way there, the speed boat or the house boat we are never problem free - but we always seem to make the best of it so we can enjoy the Beautiful Lake with our friends and family! Well, I think this year may be the one that ends our trips to Powell - let's just say anything that could go wrong - went wrong! It started weeks before we even arrived in Lake Powell when we found out both our House Boat and new speed boat needed new engines - not going into detail, because it would take forever to explain - but let's just say for weeks it was a 50/50 chance of even making the trip. Finally, we got word that both boats would be fixed with new engines and even though we would have to push our vacation back 2 weeks we would still have the opportunity to go. Not sure if God was trying to tell us to stay home - but we went against his advice and made the 8 hour trip to Powell anyways! (Next time we may take the signs a bit more seriously!)

The trip out there went great - no issues! We got into Powell Sunday morning - excited to board the Beautiful Dream Haven, but soon we come to find out that the owners disembarking the houseboat blew up the other engine while they were out enjoying the lake - WHAT!@$#%! So once again the Dream Haven was out of commission! Seriously, what should we do? Well, we thought since we made the long trip, had tons of food - we might as well just stay in the marina and enjoy the lake with our brand new speed boat! Monday was a GREAT day on the lake. We took a long boat ride, enjoying the beautiful lake and drinking LOTS of beer! Early morning on Tuesday the boys got up to wakeboard - 2 hours later we get a call to the Houseboat from Executive Services telling us my dad needs us to come to the ramp with the trailer to pull the boat out of the water - why? Because the main oil line is leaking and spraying oil all over the engine compartment! Yep, that's right - the brand new speed boat, with the brand new engine is now out of commission as well!

I think at this point my dad was sick to his stomach and I thought for sure we would be headed home. After half the day agonizing over the speed boat and concluding the oil leak was somewhat minor we would stay the rest the week, but only be able to use the boat minimally as we would have to keep dumping oil in it to make it run properly and who knew what else would happen if we got too far down the lake!

So we spent the rest of the week at the Marina living on our Houseboat and taking day trips to Bullfrog Bay to play in the water. The week was definitely not stress free, but we seemed to make the best of it. By Wednesday my dad was wearing his life jacket like a diaper, floating in the water drinking beer - so I think he had a good time with the rest of us! My favorite day was when we played water volleyball - memories I will never forget, especially watching my brother drive the boat over to the beach with the net hanging over the top of the tower - we looked like a bunch of hillbillies!

It was a fun week living in a floating trailer park - not quite the vacation we all expected, but you can always have FUN in Powell no matter the circumstances! Ashtyn had fun feeding the fish and ducks every evening - and LOVED when we would go to the beach to play in the sand and swim. Eli did pretty well for a 2 month old, little cranky - but I will admit it was not quite as relaxing for myself as I have experienced in the past.

To add to the frustrating week, on the way home my dad's truck's turbo went out, so he had no power to pull the boat over the passes! Fortunately, Matt has a diesel truck and was able to pull the boat home - safely! This could have been our last visit to Lake Powell - because at the moment my dad has everything up for sale! But I really hope as another year passes we can re-evaluate the situation and continue our yearly trips to my favorite place EVER! I so hope my babies can grow up there just as I have - only time will tell...but for now - So LONG Lake Powell!