2014: page three

Just a lazy Friday, hanging out at home with my sweet girl. She is such and joy and so much fun to play and interact with.

Having her hair done is not something she usually likes, though, and so most of the time I can only get one ponytail in just to keep her hair out of her eyes and call it good. Today when I asked her if I could put a ponytail in her hair she said no. So, being the brilliant, quick thinker that I am (ha!), I asked her if I could give her monkey hair. And do you know what...it worked! She was excited about it! In fact, we got 3 ponytails, er, I mean monkey tails in her hair! Still had to work quickly, so they are a little ragged, but they're in there. Ha ha ha! Too funny! Motherhood is quite the ride!

2014: page two

I enjoy random. Today was random.

Ryan had his last appointment for the final step of his tooth implant, which meant a trip to Helper, UT. Of course, B and I tagged along. Turned out to be a lovely, sunny day for a drive through Indian Canyon - bright blue skies, green evergreens, and clear roads. Better than staying at home on another winter day trying to entertain an almost 2 year old who gets bored of playing inside with momma all day. :)

Historic Downtown Helper, UT

First stop was lunch at Balance Rock Eatery & Pub in historic downtown Helper (which also happens to be where my Grandma grew up! not in the restaurant...just the area... ha ha ha!), which used to be a dance hall when it first opened. Such a fun atmosphere and yummy food!

I didn't take pictures, so photos from yelp will have to do. :) Can you picture it as a dance hall? How fun it must have been!

Ryan then walked down the street to his appointment while B and I finished our lunch. After we finished, we headed out to stroll around town. Really, there were not many stores to go in to and the one store they had was full of antiques and such. Definitely was not going to go in there with B. :) However, the day was BEAUTIFUL! The weather, even though Helper is only about 1.5 hours away, was quite a bit warmer and the temperature was around 40 degrees. It felt absolutely wonderful compared to the 20 or so degrees at home. B and I walked around for a good 45 minutes. Seeing the fire trucks in the fire station was a highlight for B.

Then, we came upon Happiness Within, a cute, local coffee shop. The barista inside was very helpful with a coffee novice such as I am. Considering I usually order a Mocha Frappuccino at Starbucks and have no clue otherwise how to order a coffee, she gave me a few suggestions for iced coffee beverages and I settled on a white chocolate irish cream iced coffee with 3 shots of espresso. And since I am a coffee light weight, extra white chocolate and irish cream. :) Perfecto! Yummy! And all the while she was making it, she chatted with B and me. Highly recommend this place if you ever find yourself in Helper, UT!

Sitting in the truck watching Dora on the iPad finished off our time waiting for Ryan to finish. Then the three of us stopped at Kmart for a bit to walk around before heading home.

All in all a fun, random day as a family.

2014: page one

A pretty casual start to 2014.

Ryan and I got in bed just before midnight and kissed each other as the clock struck twelve, said "Happy New Year" to each other and then went to sleep. Life certainly changes when you are all grown up with a kid. :)

We "slept in" until 8:15, which is when B woke up. Kind of hung around the house for a bit and then headed to Vernal for some shopping and returning of a few items. Ryan hit Lowes while B and I spent a couple of hours at Walmart, mostly grocery shopping. Turns out that the morning of January 1st is a prime time to got to Walmart - hardly anyone there at 10:00 AM. We'll have to remember that for the future...

The rest of the day consisted of hanging out together at home as a family.

Welcome 2014!

2014: My Life As A Book

I saw the following picture on Facebook on New Year's Eve and it really resonated with me.

Every day is a new page - a fresh, different page from all the rest, yet all connected in what is my life.

My book is just waiting to be written and experienced and shared.

Let's get started!

Just The Two Of Us

A night in Steamboat Springs.

 

Broncos Monday Night Football Game.

 

 

Rockies vs. Red Sox Game.

 

But most importantly time away with my beloved hubby JUST THE TWO OF US!

We needed it and we definitely enjoyed it! Well, how could we not? :)

 

A little Denver get-away for our 4th anniversary, where we enjoyed:

 

Well, all of the above, but also...

Sleeping in.

Freedom to just go and be.

Giant We're-not-in-Utah-anymore liquor store.

Hot tub.

Fantastic food.

Visit with a dear friend.

Just chillin' together on the 16th Street Mall.

Walk to the ballpark.

 

I could go on and on. It was just wonderful!

 

 

17 and 18 Months Old!

Since I never got around to writing a 17 month post, I'll just combine 17 and 18 months together, which would be July 13-September 12 (especially considering B is almost 19 months old. Sigh).

Anyway...

Sweet Briella, you are now 18 months old and enjoying life! Ever since you started walking it is like the world opened up to you! You are even more independent than you were before and you love exploring. It seems like you're confidence has shot up since you started walking, as well. Oh, and your defiance. Ha! Watching you go from being wobbly on your feet to walking backwards and spinning in circles was such a joy to watch. And now, you are running at a pretty good speed. Great at times and not so great at others. :)

At your 18 month appointment, you weighed 22 lbs. 3 oz and were 31 inches tall, which is about the 20-25th percentile.

You are still a very sweet girl. I love that you still like to snuggle with Momma all throughout the day and that you will take breaks from playing just to give me hugs and kisses!

If you want one of us to do something or to come with you, you will walk over to us, grab our hand and pull as if to get us off the couch or wherever we happen to be, so that we will follow you. You'll even add in a little grunt as you are trying to "lift" us. Ha ha!

Favorites

• Pretend play and playing with babies are both favorite activities for you. You have lots of babies, but definitely have your favorite, the one that you always need to know where she is. :)
• Reading is still a favorite activity, too, which makes Momma and Daddy glad.
• Oh, and outside! You would be content to play outside ALL day if you could, whether it's hot or cold. If you are wanting to go outside, you will bring us our shoes, then your shoes and go to the door and grab the doorknob trying to get out.  

Firsts

• Baseball game! Grandpa Keith and Grandma Karla invited us to go to a Bees game with them and Uncle John, Aunt Stacey and Jensen. We almost made it to the end of the game, but since you usually are in bed by around 8:00, we didn't quite make it. You were quite a trooper lasting until around 9:30 before we had to leave. We still had tons of fun!
• Football game! Ok, so it was just a high school game, but it still counts. :) Cousin Ashton was playing and you took watching quite seriously! Once Daddy told you to watch and pointed at the field and you saw the action, it was all over. You made sure everyone was watching, if you looked over and saw that someone wasn't watching, you would yell, "watch" and point your finger at the field. Ha ha! What a blast to watch you! This worked out well for us because you were content sitting there almost the entire game. :) And you learned to say, "Ashton."

Pictures (Lots and Lots of Pictures!)

 

Playin' at the lake

Keeping busy on our long road trip

Life is good

She was hilarious helping me eat this ice cream bar! Closed her eyes and seriously enjoyed every bite. Ha ha ha!

After swimming in the hotel pool, she wanted to swim in the bathtub, too. :)

 

Taking a break on our ride home from Colorado

Train ride with momma at daddy's work party

Bouncy house fun

Sweet smile

Walking around Park City

Grandma and Grandpa kisses!

 

She HAD to sleep with her baby. :)

Chasing boys...always chasing boys

Daddy's shirt

This pic totally cracks me up. :) With her second cousins, Vanessa and Ciara

First baseball game!

Taking Zeke by the hand

Sour face at cousin Jensen

With Uncle John at Siragusa's

If there's dirt, she's in it.

Not sure why, but she just decided to lay down in the middle of the driveway for a few minutes. Of course, toting around her precious golf balls.



In the mountains, taking a cheese break from riding the 4 wheeler

 

16 Months!

Dearest Briella, This month flew by! You are walking now! On July 2nd, at 15 months and 20 days you officially started walking! I really don't remember a whole lot about this month other than that. Such a big accomplishment and life changing event! I am so proud of you!

A couple of firsts this month...

• Boating for the first time, which you thoroughly enjoyed. You actually fell asleep on the boat! :)
• Golfing, well, riding in the golf cart with Momma and Grandma while Daddy and Grandpa golfed. Riding along was fun and you enjoyed playing in the cart.

Other than that, we're just living life to the fullest this summer. Enjoying times camping, the 4th of July with Momma's family, a trip up to Logan to the big car show, a week in Salt Lake while Daddy was in North Dakota, and just playing with cousins. Lots and lots of fun!

Such a fun stage of life watching you learn and explore and grow.! I love you, baby girl!

Pictures

Just ridin' along in the cart.

Obsession with shoes...