Happy Halloween

This past Saturday was my niece's belated birthday-costume party. To maintain my cool aunt status I dressed up as a punk rocker. Since Lily has worn her giraffe costume a few times already she too dressed a punk rocker. Her mohawk was a little off center and she didn't like the fur collar. Maybe that's a good sign. By the middle of the party I was ready to wash my face and hair and change clothes. The studded chocker was annoying.


















My work Halloween party was Monday. I opted not to dress as a punk rocker and instead wore...scrubs, my white lab coat and a string of peppers around my neck. Can anyone guess what I was?

LILY'S BIRTHDAY!!!

Lily 1st birthday was everything we hoped for. Filled with family and fun times. Fun might be pushing it if you consider allergy testing and a milk allergy diagnosis fun.Anyhow, the day started with picking her Grandma McGuire up from the train station and proceeding to Lily’s allergy appointment. The appointment went well and there was no poking with needles but there was fun, new toys for Lily to check out. Lily was tested for egg and dairy and the dairy was positive on her skin test. We had blood drawn the next day for further testing. We opted not to stick a needle in her arm on her actual 1st birthday.


Unfortunately that afternoon randy and I had to go back to work. Lily got to hang out with her grandma, something she hasn’t been able to do muchThey both benefited greatly! That night Joy and the kids came over for dinner and cake. Lily explored the cake and dug in just a little She enjoyed feeding Randy and I with her frosting covered fingers. The dogs were disappointed with the crumbs of cake on the floor. I’m sure they held out hope for bigger pieces.

Finally it was present time. She was very good with opening presents, especially given she was up waaaaay past her bed time. But the actual tearing of gift wrap was impressive. Randy would prep the present by tearing it a little and Lily would complete the task. The big mistake…was opening the biggest present first. It was from Joy and the kids and was a little people barn and farm animals. We had to hide it so she would open the other 249 gifts. Of course, I’m kidding but it’s crazy how many gifts a little one can receive. Thank you to everyone for her birthday wishes and gifts.

Who's who??

Randy??? Lily???? Take a guess...

Welcome to colorful Colorado...

When we moved here 6 years ago I expected the winters to be filled with snow just like the mountains during our snow boarding vacations. I couldn’t have been more wrong. Anyhow the recent weather changes are pretty crazy. Yesterday my vehicle registered 66 degrees. Today, we awoke to a blizzard. Guess what? Tomorrow’s expected high…53 degrees and sunny with the weekend into the high 60’s. To help with toting around a toddler (my baby is now a toddler) we had to bundle her up. Aunt Joy’s birthday present came in handy with a super warm jacket and super cute hats/mittens.

This is what happens when you go out of town...

This is Randy's office and the condition to which he returned after a months absence. I especially like the phone receiver.

High tech gadgets--I figured it out

Because I figured out how to transfer pictures from my camera to my email address..you get to see the cute picture of Lily standing in the fridge that I mentioned a few posts ago. This photo has become Randy's favorite.













Birthday pics and post to come later...

Continued from previous post...I guess I used too many pictures

Here is Lily at 6 months old...


9 months old...

10 months old-making that silly, silly face that elicits giggles from anyone that sees it...

It's been fun dressing her up...especially with this cute hat...


Her baby pony tail is so cute...

Lily is full of hugs and kisses...


Happy birthday Lily. We love you and are so blessed to have you.

A year ago today...

At 5:51PM a beautiful little girl entered our lives...

and melted our hearts...

By 2-3 weeks old we were starting to figure this little baby out. We still had (and have) a lot of learning left...

It was fun watching Lily reach her first milestones...lifting her head and smiling...

and laughing...

Lily playing with her hippo at 5 months of age...

Our house…is a very, very, very SPOOKY house

Here are some photos of our house. My decorating aspiration was more scary based than cute. I plan to add a mummy with my sewing form but don’t want to put it outside before Halloween for fear some bored teens might steal it. I also plan to have scary music and maybe some dry ice to add to the eerie feel.

8 Years Ago Today...

our sweet little niece, Sydney, was born. I remember getting the phone call saying she entered the world. I even had a feeling she would be born that day, before I received that call. I even told Randy so I’m not just saying that.

Sydney was a beautiful baby, lots of dark hair. Sydney has a very sweet look about her, you know she is a nice girl. Ever since Sydney was very young, her wild side has shown. I have many memories of Sydney running full speed, throwing her body against the sofa, falling backwards and laughing about it. The year after I graduated college, Randy and I moved back home before getting married and moving to CO. I was able to baby-sit Syd and her sis, Kelsey and bro, Payton during the summer. I helped potty train Sydney, which is a great accomplishment for me to say. Sydney and Kelsey were flower girls at our wedding. Kelsey was a great age, she understood she was dressed pretty and looked pretty and enjoyed every minute of it. Sydney was a little young but walked down the aisle and remained pretty calm during the 12 minute ceremony until…she jumped off the ledge and announced “da-da…da-DA!!!” while positioning her arms straight as if performing for an audience. Lucky for her there were 300 people in her audience but only the first few seats witnessed this and of course, giggled.

When Sydney started talking one of her favorite words was…poop. She would go around saying “poop, poopy, poop, poopy” over and over, watching to see which people would giggle at her. Any form of the word, she would say it. It was quite hilarious to see and hear.

Sydney is very talented with sports, especially my favorite, soccer. She has played for approximately 4 years and anyone that watches her sees her outstanding abilities to outrun the other team. Unfortunately this usually means the other teams use their elbows or other means to try and keep up with her. Maybe it’s all the years of throwing herself on and off the couch that made her a tough cookie. Or the years of beating up Randy and asking for return punishment. Sydney can throw a wicked punch and Randy receives a great deal of them. It’s very normal for us to go visit them and Syd’s greeting will be a punch in Randy’s stomach. Of course, he repays her by holding her arms while she tries to escape and this can go on and on.


Happy Birthday Syd! I am very thankful you’re in our lives; you’re a shining star that gets brighter and brighter. You keep us entertained even though you constantly say you’re bored. I am and will always be honored to be your God mother and will always try and be a good example for you (especially as a soccer goalie). I will call you today at 4:30 to wish you happy birthday as instructed by a note left on my microwave with this exact request. We love you Syd!

One year ago today...

was Lily’s due date. From early on, around 4 weeks pregnant, the date October 9th was cemented in our brains as the day our baby would arrive. We knew the chance of our baby arriving on this date was less than 2% but nonetheless it was still our due date. As October 9th approached so did our feelings of excitement and nervousness. We were ready to meet our new baby and find out if the baby was a Lily or 1 of 4 boy names we had but couldn’t decide on. But…Miss Lily had other plans. She was content in her warm and quiet environment. She didn’t want to arrive on Oct. 9th. Nor the following day or the day after. Lily was 11 days overdue…and we still had to be induced! One year ago today we were wondering what our lives would be like in a year. Now we know we have a beautiful baby girl that brings so much happiness to our lives every day, every time we look at her.

Susan B. Komen Race Day

The Susan B. Komen walk was a success. Denver remains the largest race in the country, with over 65,000 people participating. Because Lily had a cough/cold last week I choose to do the 1K family walk instead of the 5K. It was chilly but we bundled up and thankfully, it didn’t rain. Lily was a good sport and watching all the people entertained her. The race, once again, was amazing. Knowing all those people were there to support breast cancer is awesome. Thanks to everyone that donated and supported me and my family. I appreciate it so much, it truly means a lot to me.

My previous post I said I would included pictures, plural, and I only included one. To keep to my word here are multiple photos...

Superstitions

The bad ones I believe in include: walking under a ladder, opening an umbrella inside, breaking a mirror (but I don't believe it will cause 7 yrs of bad luck, maybe just one day), stepping on sidewalk cracks, etc. The good ones I believe in are: four leaf clovers, throwing salt over your shoulder when spilled, rain on your wedding day. Then there is the black cat superstition…if one crosses your path you will have bad luck. When I owned a black cat (sweet Holly) I laughed at this cuz there was no way to avoid her crossing my path. For the 9 years I owned her I had pretty good luck. But things have changed…I gave her away which may indicate even worse luck if a black cat crossed my path. Yesterday when a black cat crossed my path. I frantically searched for a white patch in the sea of black hair. Nothing…it was a black cat. Oh well, so far so good.

Superstitions are more interesting at this time cuz it’s Halloween. Scary things are fun, kind of. Anyhow it leads to my next story…a ghost story. I’ve encountered a ghost and will be forever changed. When I was a teen, around 16, I cleaned the bank my mom worked at in our very small town. It was a ½ a block from my parent’s home and I cleaned on the weekend. One day I was “cleaning” or maybe I was reading a magazine (that part is fuzzy to me for some reason!) but I heard 2 voices, a male and female, that were having a conversation. It was coming from the vent overhead. I was the only person in that bank, it was impossible for anyone else to be there. It still gives me chills and my arm hair is standing up right now. It was a normal conversation, nothing scary. I was frozen for a minute but when I regained mobility I ran from that bank and immediately told my mom. She reassured me I wasn’t crazy because she had heard voices too. So that’s my ghost story, luckily it’s a friendly one. This has changed me forever because I will believe any ghost story out there. I won’t laugh it off cuz I know my experience was real. My friend, Mel and her sister claim they saw a UFO. I believe you, Mel!!!

My baby…Lily is getting so big. She is so much fun. Our night routine has become even crazier with her earlier bed time routine. Once she became more active she was tired quicker. It’s nice for the rest of the evening but when I get off work until she goes to bed…it’s crazy. Having 2 dogs that are vying for attention doesn’t help a whole lot. After the dogs are released to do their thing and satisfied with treats and Lily is fed, cleaned up and in bed…it’s time to party. Not really, by this time I am completely worn out but usually muster up some energy to prep for the next day. Anyhow for the 45 minutes dedicated to play, after dinner before bed, we have fun. She is practically running in her walker. She is pulling up on everything and it doesn’t have to have a ledge. She will pull up on the fridge and now is into climbing. I took a photo of her standing in the fridge, yes, I said IN the fridge. It was on my phone so you all don’t get to see it. Sorry. Here are some other photos to satisfy the Lily cravings…



It's a silly picture and makes me laugh every time I look at it.

Lily washes her own mouth out with soap

No, she has not starting cussing…yet. But she has already tried the old soap in the mouth punishment. I didn’t do this…she did. Lily was intrigued by the soap during her bath last evening. So I gave it to her. I proceeded to laugh off every time she tried to pick it up and it slipped out of her hands. Being the determined child she is, once she grabbed onto it, digging her nails in, she performed a taste test. I’m not certain if she even tasted it before my motherly fast-as-lightening-reflex removed it from her mouth.

I don’t have a “trucker” mouth and what few cuss words I used before have been pretty much cleared from my vocabulary with the birth of my daughter. I definitely cannot cuss around my family. Randy surprises me when he cusses, and he doesn’t do it much, but when it’s around family I resort back to a few memories of “cussing.” When I was 9ish I was at Melissa’s house watching scary movies for her b-day party. Freddie Krueger scared the daylights out of me and elicited the response “Get that bastard” and Mel’s mom was pretty shocked. Luckily, she laughed but I did learn that word wasn’t appropriate. The next occurrence happened around age 10 or 11 when I said the phrase “pissed off.” Apparently, my mom considered this “cussing” and to this day, I can’t say it in front of family.

Along the lines of cussing and to again, show how crazy my family can be, I dare to share another cuss story with ya’ll. My mom rarely cusses and I had never heard her say the mother of all cuss words-- ya know that one that rhymes with truck. Well one night my family was sitting around a picnic table and we decided to try to get my mom to say this word. I need to mention, alcohol was involved. We all took turns using this word in a sentence to make her feel comfortable saying it. Some people, Melissa and my sis-in-law, went to somewhat extreme measures with their chosen sentence. This was the kind of situation that involved so much laughter we were crying. Finally, my mom did say it but probably went home and washed her mouth out with soap. Hmmm…now I see where Lily gets it.