Aunties

My mom's sister Wilma was in town visiting my mom's brother and his wife Jane. They made the long journey from Centennial to see the boys.

A Christmas Photo Montage

Almost matching jammies

Helping Mama make blueberry waffles

Chillin' with Daddy

Family portrait

Most popular present? A box of raisins, of course!

Well, okay, Thomas train cars were happily received too...

Ryan helps Mama unwrap Burt's Bees lip balm

Christmas dinner with the Flemings and the Zwyers (and our buddy Glen Fidditch)

Yep, I used every pan and serving dish I own (and Sam washed them all!)

Breastmilk in the Champagne Bucket (Sorry, No Pictures)

Sam graduated from his master's program this weekend, so I thought we should celebrate with a child-free night away from home. Sam's parents readily agreed to stay with the boys, so I called an old business contact at the Westin downtown and scored a good deal on a hotel room for the night. I managed to keep it all a surprise from Sam until after the graduation ceremony, when we strapped the kids into Grandma's car and sent them on their way, then headed out to dinner.

We caught a pedicab outside the convention center to take us the five blocks to TAG, a restaurant I'd wanted to check out for a while. The chef calls his menu "continental social food" and it did not disappoint. I forgot to get a reservation (really? this is Denver - who needs a reservation?) so we sat at the bar, which was actually a lot of fun.

We started with the taco sushi and Kobe beef sliders for appetizers. The taco sushi was fried wonton skins shaped like little taco shells filled with charred ahi tuna and balanced on dabs of guacamole - delish! Kobe beef, of course, comes from cows who are massaged daily, fed beer and Belgian chocolates, and instructed in yoga and tai chi (or something along those lines). Whatever they do to the cows, you can definitely taste it - I don't think I can ever face a fast-food hamburger again - not unless Good Times adds a gorgonzola aioli to their Mighty Deluxe Burgers. The sliders were served with French fries cooked in duck fat - OH HEAVEN.

For dinner Sam ordered Maine diver scallops, which were the size of golf balls and cooked perfectly. The plating included roasted zucchini plus tiny little Brussels sprouts that were crispy-crunchy and just wonderful. I ordered the surf 'n turf roll, a sushi roll of charred Kobe beef and Maine lobster. I really wanted to order the Colorado lamb, but I figured if I ordered the roll, I would have more room for dessert. They guy sitting next to us at the bar was a regular and he ordered the lamb, then gave us a taste - it was SO good. Next time... The roll was much spicier than I expected, so I didn't enjoy it as much as I had hoped.

For dessert I ordered the banana cream pie with Tahitian vanilla ice cream - it was so good! By that time we were absolutely stuffed and ready to head to the hotel for some much needed sleep. I thought it must have been at least 8:30 by then, and so was surprised when Sam said it wasn't even 7 yet!

We talked about visiting the hotel's hot tub, but once in the room we sacked out on the huge comfy bed. There was a knock on the door a short while later and a room service attendant presented us with a bottle of champagne in a bucket of ice - a gift from my business associate. We barely tasted it before falling dead asleep.

When I woke up in the morning (after 7 straight hours of sleep - bliss!!) I was extremely uncomfortable, not having the baby to nurse every three hours as he usually does, so I used my breastpump. Our room had a mini fridge, but it was fully stocked and had an automated inventory that charged you if you even moved anything, so I couldn't store the milk there (without paying $4 for a can of soda). I remembered the ice bucket, though, so I pulled out the champagne and tucked the bottles into the ice. It was the perfect reminder that although we were enjoying a well-earned break from our responsibilities, the little ones were never far from our minds.

I went back to sleep for another hour and a half; then we lazed around for a while before heading over to Denver Diner for a quick greasy breakfast (they know their biscuits and gravy!). Before we knew it we were heading back home to our darling boys... and laundry, meal planning, dishwasher loading - Sam even got to make a trip to Home Depot to replace our trash can, which blew away one windy day. While it's not always as exciting as a weekend escape, life in the 'burbs ain't half bad, I tell ya.

Done and DONE (almost)

Well, it finally happened - Sam has finished his master's program (all except his final thesis, which will be done in March. No, really, it WILL be done in March).

Bill and Nancy and I took the boys down to the convention center to the graduation ceremony. Even though it was almost two hours long, Ryan behaved himself extremely well (he and Grandpa walked around the hall and out into the lobby a couple of times). Jack slept through the speeches but was bright eyed and ready to see Daddy accept his diploma (well, actually just the diploma cover, since he's not quite done yet).

Jack is so proud of Daddy!

The ceremony was in a huge exhibit hall and we didn't know where Sam would be seated or in what order the program was going to go, so we just grabbed seats near the door in case we needed to escape with an unhappy child. Turned out our view of the stage was totally obscured by a large pillar. Fortunately, the ceremony was broadcast on big screens, so we had an excellent view of our scholar accepting his diploma (cover).

Ryan can't wait to graduate, too!

3 Months

Dear Jack -

Oh, my darling little boy, how are you already three months old? And how is it you are ONLY three months old? You are such a joyful little boy, so full of smiles and giggles - even when you're sitting by yourself on your playmat or in your bouncy chair, you have a little smile on your face. Of course, when you're not joyful, you're howling your fool head off with your obviously well-developed lungs. Your needs are few, though, and soon enough you're placated and snuggled comfortably into Mama or Daddy's arms.

While you bear a passing resemblance to your brother, you really are a miniature version of your father. Long and lean, I have had to buy footless sleepers since you've outgrown all the 0-3 month ones and are quickly working through the 3-6 month. 0-6 month socks are a joke on your long skinny feet - where did I store the 6-12 month ones? Oh, that was during the summer for Ryan, so we don't have any. See, you're not wearing hand-me-downs exclusively...

We're so glad you joined our family, and we can't wait to see who you will develop into. Merry Christmas, lovebug.


Love,
Mama

Happy Birthday Kenzie!

Today we went to Jumpstreet, an indoor trampoline place, to celebrate MacKenzie's birthday. It was PACKED with birthday parties - imagine a whole slew of under 5s, all hopped up on birthday cake and adrenaline.

Ryan had fun, though he is wary of the trampolines after learning the hard way that you need to keep your distance from other kids jumping nearby...

Jumping with Mama and David

Kenzo and her Scooby-Doo cake - nice work, Sommer!

Blowing out the candle

"Helping" cut the cake

We love you, Kenzaroo!

Matching Jammies

I couldn't resist...

Ryan is Two!

How is it possible that my baby boy is already two years old? He's acting like such a big man, speaking in almost complete sentences and becoming more observant of the world around him.

To celebrate this special day, we co-hosted a party with David at the local rec center pool where Ryan first went swimming at 18 weeks old. I took a ton of pictures which you can view by clicking here.

We took him to his two year check up and, as usual, the nurses and doctor just fawned over him. The nurse had to measure his length twice - she couldn't believe he had grown three inches since his 18 month appointment. He's 28 lbs and 35" tall, right in the 60-70 percentile for his age.

Yep, just a regular little boy...

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like...

When I was growing up we had a homemade advent calendar that was a felt Christmas tree with 25 felt ornaments that snapped on to it. I remember being so excited every year when we tacked it to the hall closet door and filled the pockets with the ornaments. My sister has it now at her house, so I asked my mom to make one for us. It arrived today, just in time to hang the first ornament.

The ornaments have Velcro on the back instead of snaps, which sticks right to the felt. She added ribbons and buttons to represent strings of lights, too.

Ryan enjoys picking out each day's ornament, though he doesn't quite understand actually putting them on the tree yet.


I decided to take him to meet Santa this week, knowing full well that he would probably freak out and not sit still long enough to take a good photo (and I wasn't excited to pay mall prices for that photo, either). We spent a little time outside Santa's house so Ryan could watch other kids sit on his lap. This is actually my favorite photo of the whole event - I think it captures the moment perfectly.

When it was finally our turn to go in and meet Santa, Ryan just wanted to explore the "house" and the decorations around him. When I finally plopped him on the Big Guy's lap, he said "down!" and tried to wriggle free. They took one photo, but it was not Christmas card worthy, and then Santa said, "oh, I think he needs a diaper change". Yep, my kid peed on Santa. Merry Christmas, y'all!!

After I changed his pants (soaked through!) we played on the toy cars - THAT was the highlight of Ryan's day.

Thanksgiving

Is there any question what I'm thankful for this year?

Big brother moving in for a snuggle

First Haircut

Gratuitous adorable baby picture

I decided it was finally time to tame the toddler curls before the holidays, so we headed to Lil' Cuts (yes, the misplaced apostrophe in the name bugs the heck out of me) to get Ryan's hair trimmed. Here are some before shots:

The horse chairs and videos were not enough to convince him to sit still for the cut, unfortunately, so I held him on my lap. Grandma Nancy was feeding Baby Jack, so we don't have any pictures of the actual haircut adventure. He got a sucker during the cut, too, which is a VERY rare treat.

Here's the after - the sides are not quite even, but I can't blame the stylist - it can't be easy to work on a moving target (with awfully pointy sharp scissors, no less), which is why I didn't even attempt to do it myself. Yep, he got another sucker afterward, too.


She gave us a curl of his hair in a little envelope and a certificate for his baby book:

Don't worry Jack, you won't need a haircut for another 22 months or so....

Re-run

I was looking back at Ryan's early photos and found this darling one of him around two months old. Look at those cheeks!

We still have the seat and the jammies, so I decided to pose baby Jack in the same spot so you can see the similarities and the differences between the two.

Jack is not shorter than Ryan was (on the contrary, he's almost an inch longer!) - he was just scrunched down in the seat I think.