The World of Words

It's happening. The sound of words coming from little people in our house. Every morning and night when the kids are in their room the monitor brings us the cutest little sounds of our babies talking/playing games with each other. They have "hi" wars in their cribs where they must stand up and say "hi" to one another ten billion times. My children walk around holding various items to their ears saying "hi," as if they are on the phone - you'd think I'd spend all day on the phone, but I don't. Today, we were the official welcome crew in WalMart...Hannah strapped in and Jack standing in the basket - both kids saying "hi" to EVERYONE!!

Hannah mimics everything we say and is especially fond of "thank you," "hi," "bye," "up," "down," and "dog." Jack loves saying "dog," and makes sure that I know when either of our 2 furry friends are around. He also points out animals on the television and in books and loudly proclaims "dawhg-uh" at every one. His other favorite word is "up," and he walks up to us and says "bup." He is getting held a lot more - we have to encourage the words, you know.

Camping Fun

Camping is fun, even with two 1-year olds. Last weekend, Mark and I took our first camping trip post kids...it went pretty well. We drove over Independence Pass to a campground about 30 minutes away from Aspen. It was about 3 miles off the highway and fairly secluded. We set up camp on Friday afternoon, played, explored, hiked, ate dinner, and then settled down for bed. Jack ended up in our bed around 11:30 and Hannah woke up screaming with her hands in her mouth around 2am. A dose of Ibuprofen later and she settled down a bit but didn't really go to sleep until around 5:30...we got up at 6:30. So the sleeping thing was a little to be desired.

Saturday morning we got up and ate breakfast, packed up (we decided one night was probably enough), and headed into Aspen. Mark took me to see Maroon Bells since I had never been before - gorgeous! We hiked around a bit and had a picnic lunch before we drove back to Breckenridge to enjoy a more luxurious stay in our own beds.

Despite the small teething/sleeping problem and having all 4 of us on one queen size air mattress we had a lot of fun! The kids batted at flowers, ate rocks & dirt, climbed on things and did all the things that little kids are supposed to do when outside --they loved it! We will be going again and we are glad we tried camping with them.

(We forgot our camera, so used mark's camera phone) Enjoy the pictures!

Wagon

I recently picked up this little wagon at a garage sale and the kids LOVE it. They climb in & out and push it all around our porch. Last night we set out to walk down to the river with Hannah in the wagon and Jack walking. Jack decided that plan was "no good" and decided to go with his own plan. Which was to put his head down and push Hannah up the hill in the wagon. Since both kids were happy we obviously let him do what he wanted especially since we figured he was getting out all kinds of energy.

Pushing Hannah up the hill.

Little H blowing kisses from her "ride."

Hair pics

We took Hannah to the Dr. yesterday for her 1 yr appointment. The doc said she looks great and is healthy. She is approx 28 inches long and 15 lbs.8 oz. She is still little but I am guessing she will always be on the smaller side. Way to go Hannah - keep growing. Below is a picture we took the other night of Hannah in the bath tub - her hair is getting so long.

Jack is doing well also. He is so very mobile and into everything. His hair is also getting long and I thought I would play with it and try it get it to spike. It actually went well with his "Ready to Rock" t-shirt.

Round 3 of Ice Cream

Earlier this summer I wanted an ice cream maker very badly. I read reviews and then decided to take on the challenge of finding a recipe I liked for ice cream that did NOT involve an ice cream maker. First round involved a chocolate recipe and a vanilla recipe. Attempt #2 was the chocolate recipe with marshmallows and nuts - my own Rocky Road. Attempt #3 was the vanilla with massive amounts of cookie - my own version of Cookies and Cream.

The verdict is at this point...keep trying. The chocolate needs a different more cocoa tasting flavor - that will be the next try. Mark likes the chocolate one best as the ice cream tastes more creamy.

I like the vanilla version as it is with different ingredients and tastes a bit more icy and not as heavy. The cookies are a bonus and makes the Cookies and Cream version a hit in my book.

Good thing it is summer and ice cream is a necessity, because we have to keep eating so I can keep experimenting.

Birthday girl Pics

Seeing how this little gal loves attention celebrating her birthday was great fun. She loved every minute!

Making her fish face - she does this a lot!


A new toy for the sand box.


A talking tea pot! Don't let the pictures fool you. Jack is holding the toys in all the pics but moments after the picture was taken she had it back.


A Rocking Horse.


She loves it!


Jack's first reaction to the Rocking horse: fear and a death grip on Mommy.

CAKE TIME!!

Grandaddy, Hannah, and Grandma.

Happy 12 Months

Hey Banana! You are such a big girl, you are one!! While we were not together your whole first year of your life I have been praying for you and thinking of you the whole time. You captured our hearts from the second your dad and I saw your picture come through on email last October. We lived for the monthly updates we received charting your growth through pictures. We relished in the moments we received emails from those traveling who were lucky enough to meet you before we did. AND of course we loved the moment on March 27 when we finally got to wrap our arms around you.

Over the last 3 months you have somehow managed to steal even more of our hearts than we ever thought possible. You have fit right into our family and it is hard to remember you not being with us. Although your brother Jack can not tell you in words it is clear by the way he interacts with you that he loves you too! He looks for you when you are not around and when he sees you he smiles and waves his arms in excitement. He has also recently started looking at you and saying "hi." Your interactions together continue to be so much fun to watch as you both have a genuine love for one another.

Your physical development is almost unfathomable especially considering that when we met you weren't even sitting up by yourself. Now you are standing, walking along furniture, dancing, and you even took your first steps. The day before you turned 1 you took your first unassisted steps and so far are up to 7 steps in a row...I know now it won't be long.

Your eating habits had us a little worried in the beginning when you refused anything and everything that wasn't milk. You are now eating like a champ. Some of your favorites are fruits (peaches, blueberries, strawberries, watermelon, bananas), pb&j, yogurt, avacodo, toast, pancakes...I can't even believe we have a list this long. We are still working on drinking out of a cup because it is not your coveted bottle but it is a work in a progress and you are on your way.

Sleeping is going well. You go to bed shortly before 8 but it takes you awhile to wind down every night. Most mornings you are up by 7, mostly due to your brother who stands in his crib across the room bouncing and waiting for you to pop your little head up to say "hello" back to him. You are taking two naps: one in the morning roughly 9:30 to 11, and one in the afternoon from about 2:30-4:30. All the time in between is spent playing, giggling, and exploring.

Just like your cake you are our little butterfly. Very social, very happy, very smiley! You love to show off the things you know and you seem to pick things up very quickly. You are exceptional at mimicking - it is fun to try new things with you. You love all kinds of games...peekaboo, hiding games, pulling everything out of drawer games. You blow lots of kisses and give them too. You are saying "mama" very clearly and you made my day this week when you looked at me said "mama" and blew me a kiss. Such a sweet, loving, and affectionate girl you are. You are still loving all the stuffed animals and have taken a new liking to the rocking horse you got for your birthday - you adorn your new pony with hugs and kisses. Recently you have started coming to your dad and I to climb in our laps and are growing increasingly more cuddly...we love it!!

Looking forward to all the years ahead, we love you!

Independence Day Weekend

We had a nice long weekend with grandma and grandaddy. My parents arrived late Thursday night. Here are the highlights from Friday - Monday...

Farmers Market, picnics outside, Dairy Queen, gardening, grilling out, garage-sales, hikes with the hubby while grandparents watched the kids, homemade ice cream, 4th of July parade, swinging on the front porch, our new sandbox, beautiful weather, celebrating Hannah's birthday/opening presents, breakfast at Breck's famous Blue Moose, gondola rides...we had a wonderful weekend and a great time with my parents.

Me and Jack @ the parade


Mark and Hannah @ the parade

Swinging w/grandma

Grandaddy being goofy.

Bfast @ Blue Moose.

Sand box time.

The kids and grandparents on the gondola ride.

My Kids 1st Birthday Cakes

Okay, so Jack's birthday was in May and I kind of posted a picture of his cake. But, I wanted to really document both my kids cakes in this post. I already love making cakes and have a little side-business selling them...BUT, I really LOVED making the cakes for my own kiddos. I did my best to try and personalize them as much as possible.

Jack and Hannah have a jungle safari themed room - elephants, giraffes, etc. When Jack was born he ended up with a lot of giraffe stuff - clothing, toys, blankets, etc. Last Halloween we thought it very fitting he dress up as a giraffe. We also took his monthly pictures on a giraffe. Therefore, Jack had a giraffe cake.

Hannah was a little harder to come up with a theme. At first, we thought a lion because she does this cute little roar. However, as her personality has continued to emerge (although this is hard to miss if you have ever met her) we decided a butterfly cake was the most fitting for her as she is a true social butterfly. She likes everyone! So a butterfly cake it was.
Pics still to follow of her b-day celebration.

Picky Palate

If you know me, then you already know that I LOVE to bake and cook. I especially love to try new things/recipes.

Baking something yummy, circa 2006

A friend of mine recently shared a website with me called Picky Palate. First, I tried the Ice Cream Sundae brownies, you can find the recipe here. It was so good...into the pan went the brownie mix, hot fudge, your favorite ice cream (I used coffee fudge brownie - going for a Mocha flavor). Seriously, they are sinful! Try them.

I also tried another recipe featured on the Picky Palate - BBQ Chicken Pizza Soup. The name threw me off a bit, but after reading the ingredients I was sold. I made it and deem it another winner! Can't wait to try more of these delicious recipes. Next on the list...maybe some of the yummy 4th of July recipes!