Grandma and Grandpa's Visit

Pat's parents came to Denver for a visit. It was fun to have them here. It is always nice spending time with family. Their one request was to visit the Mint, but it was unfortunately closed for the July 4th weekend. Instead, we went to Boulder and Rocky Mountain National Park one day and Garden of the Gods the next. We got lost on the way to Seven Falls so we went shopping at an outlet mall instead. We had to take them to Casa Bonita (a Mexican restaurant known for its live entertainment, not for its food) for the complete Denver experience. Bill and Jan we loved having you here!

Pat and Paul enjoying the chipmunks at Bear Lake.

Paul playing in a stream off the trail that circles Bear Lake. He loves to splash in puddles.

Snow in July!

Garden on the Gods
We didn't get too many pleasant 'peopled' pictures because it was so hot. Paul wore himself out running around which is always nice. He enjoyed the open space.

Grandma and Paul picking flowers.

The gang in front of Casa Bonita.

Mini Golf

Here by popular demand is a picture of my pregnant self. I am only half way so you can imagine what a whale I will be in 4 months. :) And after looking at this picture of myself, I have concluded I could use a few days in a swim suit to work on my upper arm tan.



We finally made it miniture golfing on our third attempt. I had more fun laughing at Paul's expense than actually golfing. We had a really good time. We think Paul should go pro; what do you think?

Happy 2nd!

Happy Birthday Paul! As I was reminiscing the past two years and what a energizer bunny Paul has been I couldn't help but get a little overwhelmed with the next two years. It is amazing how much development occurs in such a relatively short period of time. Paul is starting to talk quite a bit. Unfortunately, I can't always understand what he is trying to tell me and frustration follows. I think that is part of the term terrible twos. The other day in the car Paul was trying to tell Pat and I something and he kept saying the same phrases over and over. We tried to decipher it, when finally I turned around so I could try and read some body language. There was a caterpillar on the car window that he thought was pretty cool. He was telling us all about it.

Paul loves trains and so we made him a choo choo cake. The first thing he said when he saw it was, "truck." :( I was a little disappointed, but I've recovered. Paul got quite a bit for his birthday from us and relatives. He's one lucky kido.

Paul's favorite part of the Mr. Potato Head was a piece that made him stick out his tongue. He thought that was pretty funny.

For Paul's birthday we were planning on taking him miniture golfing, but when we got to the course it started raining. We settled for Chuck E Cheese instead.

Cashing in our tickets. Paul can recognize a sucker a mile away.

Paul left one happy camper from Chuck E Cheese's. We love you Paul, and we are so glad you are part of our family.

And The Verdict Is...

It's a boy! The doctor's visit with Paul there was a fiasco, but the good news is that everything appears to be normal and healthy with our little boy. I am sure Paul will be delighted to have a brother. So all of you who speculated that it was a girl because at the beginning of the pregnancy I felt great for so long (different from Paul), and then all of you who speculated it was a girl because when my sickness did come it was much worse and lasted much longer than Paul; I will never depend on your speculations ever again. :) We are very excited to have a healthy baby boy on the way though. Now for the hard part, trying to pick a name.

Our Newest Family Addition

It may seem insignificant to some, but we have been a one car family for quite some time. I have been blessed throughout my life and I've always had my own car. The past couple of years have been hard for me. We bought another Hyundai Elantra. We didn't buy another one because we absolutely love the one we already have, even though it has been a reliable car, but because they are within our budget. We shopped around at the Toyota dealer wanting a Corolla, but we ended up not getting treated well there so we looked elsewhere. I am very excited to have a little more freedom, especially with another baby on the way. I have my ultrasound this coming Monday so I'll post about our next newest family addition then.

Candy Thief

This morning while I was getting ready Paul found a bag of assorted candy that Pat brought home from work. He was asking me to open one of the pieces of candy for him. I decided one piece was okay. However, I made the mistake of not moving the bag... This is what I found a few minutes later:



Plus, while we were at Disney we were walking out of a store and Paul had what looked like chocolate on his face. I first asked Pat if he had given any candy to Paul and he said he hadn't and that he figured I had. He was chewing something so I had him spit it out. It was brown and smelled like chocolate, but the consistency was odd. It was like a giant spit wad, but it didn't make sense why it was so dark in color. We figured he must have reached out of the stroller and ate some candy off the shelf or something, but we couldn't decipher what kind of candy it had been. After a while Paul got out of the stroller and he had been sitting on a reeses peanut butter cup foil wrapper. Aaha! He had taken it out of a bulk candy bin at the store we had stood by and only managed to get the outer wrapper off. He ended up spitting out the paper wrapper after all the chocolate was gone. What a little candy thief!

Disney World

Disney was a lot of fun! It was so nice to have Pat around for a whole week. Paul loves to play with daddy. Paul really enjoyed the outdoor rides like Dumbo and Teacups. We ended up riding It's a small world twice because the first time Paul fell asleep while we were in line and slept through the entire thing. Thanks Paul. He did like it the second time around though.

He was less than thrilled with the rides that were indoors and had dim lighting. In fact, he cried the entire way through Philharmagic, Playhouse Disney, and Figment along with many others that were geared for his age. It was surprising because it was something we did not expect to be an issue. Another thing that was surprising was that he hated the fireworks. Maybe they'll grow on him with time.

One of my favorite things was Monsters Inc Laugh Floor. I had a good laugh in that one. I would recommend it. I felt great the entire trip. I think my sickness has finally ended. Horray!! I need some new shoes though because my feet hurt the entire time, but I'll take that over nausea anyday. It was recommended to me to buy some crocs, but when I tried them on at the store they weren't comfortable at all. Any suggestions? Thank you Bill and Jan for a wonderful time!

Water Baby

We went swimming the other day with my friend Tracy and her daughter Lily. Paul loved the water and was a little indignant when it was time to get out. He doesn't have fear of the water yet and kept wanting me to let go of him so he could swim in the deep part alone and he inhailed the water on several occasions when his face went under the water. It didn't seem to slow him down much though. The pool is arranged like a beach so Paul and Lily would run into the water until their legs didn't come above the water and would either fall into the water or turn around and do it again. They had a good time.

Summertime Here We Come!

Well, I am happy to say our camera has been found! Not that I announced it was missing, but it was and there have been a few recent events that I would have loved to document with photos. Paul has another head wound. A friend of his threw a heavy object in his direction which struck his forehead. It bled a lot! I know that head wounds by nature bleed a lot so I tried to stay calm, but my phone was out of order at the time. And I didn't want to be alone in case I did need a phone so I ran to a friend's house. Everything turned out fine. In fact, the cut is tiny compared to how much it bled. Paul didn't seem to be bothered by it and played as normal, which reopened it a few times. I tried a steri strip, but Paul just picked it off. I have come to find out in the last couple weeks that Paul doesn't like anything stuck to him: bandaids, stickers, rice crispy treats, etc.

We went down to the boy scout camp on Saturday to help the new director (we are not going back this summer:) get oriented. It was nice to be down there before all the campers arrived. Paul enjoyed his time in the dirt and rocks, and I am sure he wouldn't mind being there all summer again, but am I glad to have an open summer. We purchased summer passes to the wark park, we're taking a trip to Disney World, going camping a few times, and even taking a couple trips to Boise for some weddings. I am very excited for this summer.

I will be pregnant through all of it, but I am hoping the sickness wears off soon so I can enjoy it more easily. Yes, I am still not feeling well. I have to be careful what I do and eat in the evenings or I am miserable. I am hoping it will all go anyway in two weeks time when we leave for Disney. As far as I am concerned the sickness should have been gone weeks ago so I am a little bitter. Oh well, such is life, and I am still looking forward to the warm weather.

Finally an Update!

I am sure that is what everyone is thinking...finally an update. So we are all moved into our new apartment. Paul has adjusted fine. As long as there are jelly beans to eat, a slide to play on, and some toilet paper to shred he's right at home. Here are several pictures with captions to sum up our last month:
Paul's favorite part about Easter was the candy and more candy. The egg hunt was very slow going. He insisted on eating all the candy in the egg before finding a new one. I didn't want him to eat all his Easter candy in one sitting so I ended up collecting the remainder of the eggs after a while.
I was busy packing when I noticed it was quiet...I usually buy liquid detergent that has a lid that seals. This will probably be the last time I buy this kind.
When we moved into our new place Paul was not so pleased that his slide didn't work.
What a great helper! This is generally what happened during packing and unpacking. Paul would take everything out of the box for us and then take off with the box.
The first thing Paul had to do in our new place was check out how comfortable the sink was. He climbed up from the toilet to do himself up with grandma's brush. Paul, you're lookin' good. Luckily for me I caught him before he started putting on makeup.
Paul has learned to say, "cheese." And it is apparent from this picture that Paul needs a haircut.
Check out my new trick! I think we are now set to start the day to day hum drum.
Here is Paul and Lucie (a little girl I watch during the day) fighting over the car. Yep, things are back to normal.

Yeah for the Big 2-0!

Paul is finally 20 pounds! I am excited that the carseat he's been riding in for 9 months is finally 'safe.' Paul's growth curve has always been below the chart. Most kids I think hover at 19 pounds and finally hit 20 pounds close to or right after their first birthday. Paul just hovered at 18 for a year. It has taken him 9 months to get those 2 other pounds. People will ask things like. "So, is he getting really big? Don't they grow so fast?" To me it seems like he's been the same size for a year. I am getting tired of some of his clothes that I wish he'd hurry and grow out of. He is finally starting to get too tall for some of his 12 month pants. I am afraid he will always be short though because of the genes, and his little feet still fit into size 3 shoes. It makes it a little hard to shop for clothes a season ahead, but I think most moms run into similar dilemas. All kids grow at their own pace, and not all brands are created equal.
We sure do love our little stinker bug. Congratulations Paul! We're proud of you!

So Much For Non-Quiet Moments

So I was talking on the phone with my mom while packing some boxes (we're moving to another apartment complex in a couple weeks). My mom asked what Paul was up to at that moment. I replied, "I can hear him talking to himself, so I'm not worried." When it is quiet I usually worry. Then a fews moments later this little face came walking around the corner. It's eye liner that I left on the counter. He climbed up onto the toilet and put on some eye shadow and eye liner. I guess it could be worse; it's not permanent marker.

Quiet Moments Have a Price

Amidst my fatigue, nausea, and constant hunger Paul keeps me on my toes. The other night Pat and I had a laugh as we were getting into bed. Paul enjoys shredding toilet paper, and if he has a roll of toilet paper he'll make little shreds and stick them into the center roll. It's as if we have a pet mouse. During the day a quiet moment usually means Paul is into something. However, I haven't been feeling well so I just sit and enjoy the peace and know that I will unfortunately have to clean a mess up in the other room later. He often gets into my make-up drawer or empties the cupboard under the sink. That is the price of a few quiet moments, and that right now seems to be worth it. So as we were climbing into bed Pat turned on our box fan that we sleep to and a puff of shredded toilet paper came blowing out of the fan. We looked at each other and just laughed. My first thought was, where did he get the toilet paper from? My second thought was, that must have been what he was doing earlier when he was quiet.

"No Mom, I want Dad to give me a bath."

I walked into the bathroom the other day to find Paul's bath water as deep as a swimming pool. Pat's reply was he likes it that deep. Dad's always seem to be more carefree.

Mmm...Sprinkles

I got this idea from my friend Stacey. I put sprinkles in Paul's oatmeal to see if he would eat the oatmeal. Sure enough, down it went. I have found that he will at least take a couple of bites of whatever I put in front of him if it has sprinkles. For lunch today he picked the sprinkles off his nachos and left the nachos, but I guess he's at least eating some.