rewalt love

It's been a while in the making, but I finally had surgery today. It was an outpatient procedure, nothing too serious, but very draining. The husband was able to take the day off to go with me and the girls spent the day at daycare. The procedure went well and I should have results in 4 - 5 days. Unfortunately the recovery is about the same amount of time. It's certainly  not easy to lay around and recooperate with two little monkeys who want to climb all over me. I'm very lucky to have a great husband and kind inlaws who are willing to pitch in and lend a helping hand.

Aunt Chriss and Jocelyn came over right after school and helped feed the girls dinner, give the girls baths, read books, and played. Aunt Chriss and B scolded me any time I tried to lift the girls, walk up the stairs or do anything too physical. They took care of everything which included exceptional care of me and the girls. I'm very, very lucky.

I was out of it from the anesthesia and extra medication so I was feeling pretty good until about 10:30 pm.  The meds started wearing off and I started feeling really lousy. I couldn't get comfortable and couldn't sleep. B had a pretty lousy night too as the Nuggets lost tonight's game ending their playoff run. He was awfully grumpy, but I still think my night was a bit worse.

The girls are engrossed in watching Aunt Chriss wash Jocelyn's hair

Jocelyn was a big help tonight. She read book after book after book to the girls.

Aunt Chriss and Gwyneth reading

The girls stamping away

Bedtime stories

gymnastics

Annabelle had her second gymnastics class tonight. She was so excited! She could barely sit through dinner. She wanted to put her leotard on and go!

Oh girls, just a bit dramatic. Big goodbyes! You'll see each other in an hour....

When we arrived Annabelle told me "you sit on the bench". She wanted to go to the big girl class all by herself. Sorry kiddo, you're stuck with me a little longer. 

Getting started with some stretches! The little girl on Annabelle's left is Caroline, her buddy from daycare. They are so excited to see each other at gymnastics and have so much fun together. 

Tackling the obstacle course like a pro 

My girl loves to jump. The trampoline is her favorite part of gymnastics and as her daddy says "she's got hops!". 

She was so excited for her turn on the balance beam and did great. She didn't want any help.

Annabelle was enamored with the older girls. She wanted to do everything they were doing. I think she's going to have a great time with gymnastics!

Annabelle shows no fear at gymnastics (as her daddy said "really, our little chicken Annabelle?) and is excelling in her class. She's a natural! Her teacher pulled me aside after just two classes and told me she needs to be moved up to the advanced class to keep from getting bored. Way to go Annabelle!! Looks like she's found her nitch. I can hardly wait to see how these girls rock the dancing school this summer! 

We arrived home to find this.....

Our Gwyneth, you are such a cutie! How I love that little face. 

Just a few more months and you can join us for gymnastics too. 

happy birthday, ryan

Happy 5th Birthday, Ryan!

Ryan's birthday party was this past Saturday, but his actual birthday was today. We joined the Lodden's at Chuck E Cheese to celebrate his big day. It's hard to believe he's already five years old and will be starting kindegarten in the fall.

Quick trip down memory lane....

Ok, back to the celebration! The kids all had a blast eating pizza, dancing with Chuck E Cheese, and playing games. My girls adore their cousins and were so excited to see them.

Gwyneth caught sight of Chuck E Cheese. Kind of intimidated by those big ol' characters, needed to stay close to her daddy...

Annabelle and Reagan were right up front and danced away.

The girls with Aunt Jen

Time for games

Ryan seemed to have a great birthday. We pooled our tickets and he had almost 400 for a prize!

My sweet niece, Reagan, sporting a little pizza on her face and a little scratch on her forehead. She didn't know where that scratch came from but Ryan said he was sure it was from his party.

Gwyneth patiently waiting her turn for Bob the Builder

The birthday boy

As we were wrapping up the night and Ryan was picking out his prize, I overheard Annabelle and Reagan chatting. It went a little something like this:

     Reagan:       "Do you guys want to come over to my house now?"
     Annabelle:   "Yeah, we'll come over"
     Reagan:       "Ok, I'll tell my mom"
     Annabelle:   "Ok, me too"

Considering it was already 7:30 and approaching bedtime the after-party at the Lodden house was not going to happen and the girls were not happy about it. We promised to get together soon though and left the planning up to Annabelle and Reagan....

pump it up

Tuesday is Open Family Jump Night at the Pump It Up by our house. There was a new gal working the door and her policy was 2 and under are free. Most of the time they charge us for 2 year olds, but this week our entire family was free. The girls bounced for an 1 1/2 hours and wore themselves out. You can't beat that deal!

Gwyneth loves the cozy coupe! (good thing we don't have TWO in our backyard...oh wait?)

The pigtails just say it all....

So much fun!

Now you're just showing off....

bookworm

Gwyneth Grace loves to read. She can't get enough! We have shelves and shelves of books and she's read them all - many times! She loves to plop down on your lap and be read to. She'll bring us book after book after book...  If we're not reading to her she makes the stories up herself. She's a sweet, smart, and quite clever little girl.

Time to read

Read to me...

Um, G - your book is....oh, nevermind....

Such a sweet little face. She's growing up so fast.

This picture reminds me of my niece, Maeva. Gwyneth wanted a picture of her elbow. Last time I visited with Maeva she requested many pictures of her arm too. Silly girls.

Of course, I can't forget a shot of my sassy Annabelle. She's approaching 3 but seems to be acting more like 13. She is all girlie sass and gets cuter (and blonder) by the day! We are going through a struggle right now - who is stonger willed Annabelle or Mommy? The answer changes daily.

rough riders

After the shower everyone met up for the Rough Riders game. We had a suite for the minor league game and had a blast. Alicia and B were even able to watch the Lakers playoff game on the tv inside.

Lovely self portrait

Trouble

What a fun trip!

Alicia, our friend that just lives about 5 minute from us in Colorado, will be moving to San Francisco in two weeks. I'm so sad she's moving and hate to see her go. Such is life these days, I suppose, but I hope we can squeeze in a few more visits before she moves and I look forward to seeing her on our trips to San Francisco.

We had such a great trip to Dallas and thanks to everyone for their hospitality! We're looking forward to getting back soon to see all our family and friends. Thanks also to YaYa for spending the weekend with the girls. They had a wonderful time and miss you so much!

baby shower for jamie

Jamie's mom, Alicia, and I flew from Colorado to celebrate Jamie's baby shower with her. She is due June 5th with a baby boy. His name is Jax and I'm looking forward to meeting him!  

We played the "How big is the belly?" game with string. I cut off a very tiny piece applying the good friend strategy while Alicia cut off a LONG piece saying "I'm just being honest". The good friend strategy beats honesty every time - especially when discussing the size of a pregnant woman's belly. There's some free advice for ya....

Present time!

Jamie had a great time at her shower.

My gift - had to make sure Jax is representing Colorado!

Both Grandmas going in for a baby smooch.

The baby shower crew

dallas

I'm so blessed to have a mom who is always willing to help me and spend time with her granddaughters. YaYa offered to fly out and stay with the girls so B and I could head down to Dallas for a quick trip. We were only gone for 2 days but we managed to squeeze in a lot of fun.

From the sound of it so did my mom and the girls! They went to a movie (Gwyneth's 1st!), did lots of shopping, read every book in the house, did every puzzle, played with babies and blocks, went to Ryan's birthday party, and even had dinner with my inlaws. That is one amazing YaYa and you have to applaud that level of energy! I'd like to think that's where I get it from but even her weekend made me a bit tired just hearing about it.

We arrived in Dallas on Friday just in time to meet Jamie, Craig and Alicia for lunch at the Hacienda. We chowed down, had a few drinks, and lots of laugh. What fun! Jamie had to head to the airport to pick up her mom so the rest of us headed to a nearby patio to enjoy another cocktail and the sun. About that time it was snowing in Colorado making the outdoor patio even more lovely!

That evening we headed over to Hal and Ticey's house and ordered in Hacienda for dinner. I was starting to get a bit nervous when Jamie told me her baby shower was going to be catered by the Hacienda - there are other restaurants in Dallas right? Of course she was just joking and it was just a coincidence we had all our meals there the first day. We were able to see Kennedy and Hudson and play with them before they headed off to bed. They are getting so big and are really fun. The Geyer's have their hands full with twins! I'm glad we were able to visit with them even if it was just a quick trip.

Saturday morning we got up early and headed over to see my Uncle Ollie, Aunt Jenn, and cousin Zoie. I haven't seen Zoie since she was about 6 months old and she's going to be 5! Time sure does fly. She is a cutie and when Jenn explained to her that we were cousins she said "no, she's too big!". Her other cousins are 4 and 6 so being in my ummm-30's does make me a bit big but cousins we are in deed. We grabbed BBQ's tacos for brunch (gotta love Texas!) and spent a few hours playing rock band, memory games (which Zoie won!), and searching for toy bunnies she desperately wanted to show me. I can't wait to bring my girls with us on our next trip. They'll have so much fun with all the kiddos!

I must sadly report I have no pictures up until this point of my trip. So very unlike me. I finally pulled out my little camera for Jamie's shower. Next time I'll be better.

tumble for you

Yaya has arrived! I picked her up and off we went - running errands and having lunch at her favorite restaurant. We eat at Shlotsky's everytime she visits. Sometimes more than once! No complaints here - we only seem to go there when she's in town.

We picked the girls up from daycare - I didn't keep them home with me because I had a lot of work calls this morning and knew they needed good naps for their visit with YaYa. They were so excited to see my mom! Annabelle showed her off to her friends at daycare and gladly walked out holding her hand. When I pick her up she runs around like a child gone mad - oh, behold the power of YaYa.

Of course, YaYa came bearing gifts. Of course! The girls received a princess tea set, princess bowling pins, lots of new clothes, Gwyneth received a new monkey, and Annabelle received a new leotard. The girls loved it all and the leotard was great timing for Annabelle's first gymnastics class tonight. I'm so glad my mom was here to see Annabelle's first class. She was a bit timid at first, but once she got over her shyness she proved to be quite a natural. Her favorite part was the trampoline and she impressed me with her bottom-drops and knee-drops. Annabelle did a wonderful job following directions and interacted really well with her teacher and the other kids. She was pleasantly surprised to find, Caroline, a little girl from her daycare class was also there. They were so cute running around together.  This is going to be a great outlet for some of that toddler energy.

Annabelle in her new leotard - she wore cute little pink leggings too and there was another little girl in her class with the exact same outfit. They loved that!

Doing some stretches before class

Gwyneth is all DORA from head to toe

Does it get much cuter than these little slippers?

define irony

According to websters the definition of Irony is:

Poignantly contrary to what was expected or intended. example - madness, an ironic fate for such a clear thinker.

Someone at Websters must be following my blog to describe my current situation so pointedly. I got a healthy dose of irony thrown my way this week. I knew there was a big change a-comin' and I was awaiting the big announcement. My company was bought, the merger approximately a year away, and the corporate headquarters will be located in Louisiana. The question has been looming in my head for months now - move or buy another couch? The irony here is thick. (Check back to my last post - oh, irony. How you taunt me!)

Louisiana will not be our family's next adventure, but big changes are in store for us. I've been with my current company for over 9 years and all good things must come to an end. I say that with a bit of sarcasm, because I have endured many a stressful moment over the years and many of those years have not been good. I've been saying for the past 8 years "eventually someone is just going to buy us and I'll get a package". Well, it finally happened - I'm quite the visionary. Stick with me!

I know change is difficult for many people, but honestly it's not so bad for me. I don't like when things stay the same for too long. I thrive on the unknown, inconsistencies, adventure, challenges, etc. I can't wait to see how things come together over the next year - B and I have BIG plans. Stay tuned....

indoor picnic

We had originally planned to take the kiddos on a picnic at the park, but given the ever changing and always surprising Colorado weather we had to come up with a new plan. Jess, Andrew, and Hanna joined us for dinner and some play time back at our house because of the pesky rain. The big kids scarfed down lasagna and had a great time playing together. Lots of running, laughing, squeeling, and shrieking. Annabelle couldn't get enough of baby Hanna and wanted to rub her back, tickle her feet, and made sure she had plenty of toys. Gwyneth was not quite as hospitable and although she was happy to rub Hanna's back she wasn't so sure about sharing. It seems our baby girl enjoys being the baby girl and has some work to do on sharing with little ones. I try to be compassionate though - she has always had toys snatched from her and seemed a little too excited to finally be the big girl who can do the snatching. We'll be working on that! (I do let her steal toys from Annabelle on occassion just so she can feel the rush....shhhh....that's our little secret! Don't tell Annabelle!).

Mr Andrew playing with the trains

The big kids enjoying some berries and yogurt for dessert.

Miss Hanna is five months old and already on the go.

The second one always seems to be quick....