Memorial Day Weekend

This past weekend was Memorial Day weekend, and we took the opportunity to get away and stay with Andrew's grandparents who were camped near Buena Vista, CO. While there, we decided to drive up to see St. Elmo, CO, an old ghost town. On the way there, we saw a herd of mountain goats which Parker loved.

Once we had arrived, Sadie looked like this....

....so Papa offered to stay in the car with her while the rest of us looked around.

St. Elmo, CO

Parker and Gram checking it out

Andrew, Parker, and I in front of the old general store

The highlight of our trip up there was getting to feed the chipmunks. At first Parker was a little nervous....

....but he quickly warmed up to the little guys. As long as we were quite and didn't move too much, the chipmunks were all over us. Even as an adult, it was really pretty cool.

Here's a little guy grabbing a quick bite while on my leg.

Parker wasn't scared at all.

While we were still feeding the chipmunks, Sadie and Papa showed up. At first, Sadie was just taking it in....

....but then, surprisingly, she got in on the action too.

Papa, Gram, Parker, and Sadie stopped for a picture on our way back to the car.

Once back at the car, my little chipmunks finished off the rest of the bread.

On the way back down, we saw tons of deer as well as some beautiful scenery.

The next morning, we got up and went to check out Chalk Cliff Hatchery. The kids were pumped and ready to go.

The hatchery grows fish until they are big enough to be taken and put into Colorado lakes. There were sooooooo many fish!

You could get a bucket of fish food to feed the fish, and they would go nuts!

The hatchery was super peaceful and quite pretty.

The fish rushing to eat our food.

There were even several geese who lived there, including this little family.

After checking out the hatchery, it was time for Parker to fish. It was his first time, and he was so excited to use his new "fishing rod".

Our family

Daddy giving Parker instructions.

He's got one!

Reeling it in.

And there it is....Parker's first fish!!!

Sadie and I were so proud.

He's got another one.

He probably thinks that we are going to want a picture of every fish he ever catches.

He was so pumped about his fish.

We had so much fun spending some time away. The rest of the weekend was spent doing some things around the house, doing some window shopping, and enjoying an afternoon with friends. So glad that summer appears to finally be here!

Life as Sadie knows it....

So I am a little late in posting this, but I wanted to give a profile of Sadie at two years old! Here goes....

• At Sadie's 2 year check-up, she weighed 25.6 lbs and was 2'9" tall putting her at the 25th percentile for both height and weight. Even though she is still below average in size, she has lately gone through a bit of a growth spurt.
• Sadie stays busy having an opinion about pretty much everything. Her language has exploded over the last couple of months, although her preferred response to most everything is still screaming. Not screaming as in crying, screaming as in screaming. This child has had her fair share of time-outs in her young life. I keep thinking that maybe one day she will just wake up and be compliant. Hasn't happened yet, but one can hope, right? She is also gotten super cuddly lately, which is lots of fun.
• One of her favorite things to say is "I don't want to", accompanied by quite a bit of attitude. She says this when she doesn't to do something and also when she doesn't want you to do something. Some of the other things she says are "want some", "oh, no", "more, tees (please)", and "here it is". And of course, there are many other single words that she says.
• Sadie and Parker are an interesting combo. Sometimes they play great together, and sometimes I can literally watch them pushing each other's buttons. Ah, the joys of sibling-hood.
• Sadie loves to eat and likes a lot of different things. Some of her favorite things to eat are cheese, chicken, almost any kind of fruit, macaroni and cheese, and margharita pizza. And although I wouldn't say they are her favorite, she also eats veggies much better than her brother. 
• Sadie can go up and down the stairs quite well now, which is nice....especially considering that at this age, Parker was an accident waiting to happen when he was on or near stairs.
• Sadie loves to "go" places and almost always wants to "walk" as opposed to being carried or placed in a cart or stroller.
• Sadie loves to put together puzzles, dance to music, build with blocks, play with her play food and dishes, and get into things. Her favorite things are definitely her "puppy (cuppy)" and "ba-ba (blankie)" which are almost always near to her person.
• Sadie still soothes herself by putting her hand(s) on her face when she's tired or upset.
• Sadie sleeps around 10-12 hours at night, and usually takes a 2-3 hour nap each day.
• Overall, Sadie is a busy, fiesty, cuddly, pretty little girly.

And here are some pictures taken recently of our little big girl:

Just a week before her birthday, I went to get Sadie out of bed and found her in only her diaper. She had taken off everything she was wearing including a sleep sack that zips from the top to bottom (made especially so that little Houdinis can't get them off) and her pj's that zip and snap. As you can see, she threw them out of crib onto the floor. At least she managed to look guilty when I saw her.

This is Sadie enjoying her birthday Happy Meal. Sadie and Parker both love a good sauce, something they definitely got from their dad.

Sadie wearing my sunglasses. If someone else is doing, wearing, saying, eating, playing with, or thinking about something, Sadie wants to be doing, wearing, saying, eating, playing with, or thinking about it, too.

Sadie putting in the last piece of her puzzle!

Happy Mother's Day to me....

I love Mother's Day! It's the one day of the year that I don't feel bad about things revolving around me! Too bad it doesn't come around more often. Anyway, Mother's Day actually came a few days early for me this year as Andrew brought flowers and chocolate to me when I was at work on Thursday. (I didn't take the picture until today so one rose looks a little dilapidated....)

We have all been very tired lately, and everyone in the house ended up sleeping in until nearly 10AM this morning! It was a much needed and extremely timely event in our household. To top that off, I was brought breakfast in bed for the first time ever....

....by this little guy (with some help from Daddy)!

We took our time getting ready, and Andrew snapped a quick picture of me and the kids before we headed out to do some running around.

After going to Lowe's to do some pricing for some home improvement projects we're thinking about taking on, we went to our favorite BBQ restaurant for a late lunch.

After lunch we came home and had a relaxing afternoon....Andrew and I watched a movie while the kids had their resting times. It was a beautiful day so when they got up, we went for a walk in our neighborhood.

Parker LOVES to run ahead to the next mailbox!

Sadie was still tired and a cranky, but enjoyed her ride in the stroller.

While on our walk, we saw a bunny and Parker just had to get a picture with it.

Sae-Sae and I

Me and my boy

Almost home!

We love living in Colorado! (That is our house on the far right)

The kids spent some time playing in the backyard after our walk.

It was a great day, and I am one blessed momma!