Family fun

We had our niece and nephew here on Sunday while their parents went skiing. We were returning the favor - gotta love having family close! Andy's sister, Claire, was running a half-marathon in Ft. Collins that morning, so we packed the kids up and drove up there to cheer her on. The kiddos made signs and loved seeing Aunt Claire run by with her friend. (Aunt Claire rocked the really hilly race, by the way!)

Hannah, Elliot, and Juliet

On Monday morning, Hannah asked to draw with her new markers. Despite the fact that they're washable (for those of you non-parents out there who don't know such miracles - these things are amazing!), I had her take off her white shirt so we could keep it relatively clean before meeting Daddy at lunch. After about 5 minutes of quiet coloring time, I looked up to discover...

She had a yellow marker in her belly button when I looked over. The armpits were a bonus I discovered when I asked her to lift up her arms. Awesome!

ABCs

One of Hannah's favorite things to do right now. I'm really frustrated that the only video editing software on this computer won't save in a standard format, so I can't post a rotated version. With any luck, you're on a laptop and you can just pick the thing up and look sideways!

Photos

Finally, some photos...

A gorgeous hike we took a couple of weeks ago. Having trails like this less than 20 minutes from our house is amazing.

This morning, playing with her shadow.

Because she spilled red juice on her shirt before we left home. Check out that toddler bod!

At the Butterfly Pavillion in a nearby town. Hannah and I spent my birthday morning there on Monday.

Cockroaches - lots of 'em. Didn't get a photo of the bird-eating tarantula that's as big as Hannah's head. Ooh.

Pretty girl.

I was trying to get a good photo of Hannah and a passing dad was nice enough to point out to me, and to her, that I had a butterfly sitting on my head.

Big girl

Sigh - my baby girl is starting to potty train and doesn't suck her thumb any more. She tells me what she wants, "reads" books, notices and describes the world around her, remembers people and events, and has an opinion on nearly everything. Where did our baby go? Photos soon, I promise.

Little bit

I'm sorry that I didn't get a photo of this - really sorry. My mom's here right now and she made a cake on Saturday to celebrate my birthday early. It was supposed to be a major snow day, so were all prepared to spend the day inside baking and occupying Hannah with empty boxes from the garage. It turned out to be a bust of a snow storm, and skiing conditions at Copper, where we had originally planned on spending the day, were "epic." Sigh...

But I digress - back to the cake. Hannah was helping/hindering mom's efforts, but had at this point settled into a kitchen table chair and was quietly eating cake crumbs as the two newly-baked cake layers sat cooling. This is a very yummy chocolate cake (thanks again for the recipe, Nikki!) and the crumbs are a treat. For a while, at least.

As we were getting ready to walk out the door with our realtor to go see houses, Hannah says "little bit." Kind of an odd comment, so we of course asked her to repeat/explain/elaborate/whatever a two year old can do. So she pointed to the cake and said "little bit" - as in the little bit she had broken off the edge to get a bigger sample. I'm not sure what's funnier - that she got up the nerve to take a piece, that she waited that long before doing it, or that she felt the need to confess after doing it! Honestly, I think she was pretty proud of herself and wanted to show off her quick thinking on how to score more cake without getting in huge trouble. Just a little bit.

Snowed in

There are probably 4 more inches of snow since I took this photo this morning, so we're not going anywhere today. (For those of you in my mom circle, watch for a milsetone photo later today of Hannah watching an entire TV show for the first time!) I think we're supposed to get a total of 8-10 inches or something. We're planning on heading up to ski this weekend, so as long as we can get over the Eisenhower, it should be great!

Other fun things around here...

For our friends back in Dallas - we just can't seem to get away from police activity. Apparently our street is a hot spot for motor vehicle violations that involve towing the car. There was another very similar scene the next day. Nothing dramatic, they even let the guy empty his belongings before they towed it. I found out later it was a paperwork thing because...

The true drama was when one of the cops returned 30 minutes later, just a few minutes ahead of the ambulance. That would be thanks to our little bed-diver. Hannah and I were playing on the bed and I left her there to answer the phone (mom of the year!), knowing that she gets down by herself all the time. Not a minute later, I heard a really loud thump and found her on the floor. She was of course upset, but her lips were also kind of blue and she passed out for a few seconds then was acting really odd and asking to get in her crib. This being a small town, the cop was here withing a minute of me calling 911, followed by the paramedics. She was acting completely normal by the time arrived, but since she did lose consciousness, we drove her to the ER to get checked out. Since the hospital is not on the list of places we had figured out how to get to yet, the nice officer (turns out he's a new dad) drove to the hospital with me behind, talking to Hannah the whole way to make sure she was still okay, followed by Andy who had rushed home from work. An hour of observation later, we were sent home with lots of new stickers. Apparently little kids will sometimes hold their breath in times of extreme stress, which is likely why she passed out, since she didn't show any signs of concussion. So now we've had our first kid ER visit.

We've also had our first visitor to our new home. My dad came for a weekend and got in some good Hannah time. We got to spend a morning at the local ski place cross-country skiing and got to go to a party without bringing a tired toddler. Woo hoo! We also had a nice hike with Dad and showed him Boulder, which he hasn't seen in about 15 years.

On top of Green Mountain, with the Indian Peaks in the background.

Hannah in her new green house, playing with her new babydoll house.

The last photo is mostly for my friend Catherine. She was a neighbor and really close friend who I've reconnected with in recent years. I know she remembers a certain little blonde kid dressed in head to toe lavender and purple. I believe the favorite outfit was lavender sneakers, purple socks, purple shorts, lavender shirt, and a lavender headband. Sound familiar? In my defense, the girl loves purple, and the only things I didn't get as hand-me-downs are the jacket and the bow!

I'm sorry for the lack of spaces between some paragraphs, but I've tried to convince blogspot that I really hit enter (sometimes twice for good measure) about five times now, I'm done trying.

Mountains!

We're getting settled into our rental house in Louisville - slowly getting through the boxes and grateful for a big 2-car garage to store all our extra stuff in! I'm on a bit of mama overload, since Hannah's not going to "school" yet and we don't have our playgroup and friends to distract us. Now that we're here and have internet, I can focus on looking for a part-time job and some part-time child care. In the mean time, we're making the most of some amazing (if not freakish) warm weather and our new natural playground!

While waiting for the truck (and jogging stroller!) to arrive, I remembered that our carrier backpack was at Andy's aunt Sandy's house, so I retrieved it and took Hannah on a hike in the Flatirons. Chautauqua Park is just 15 minutes from our house, just 5 minutes past Andy's office. I only did about 2 miles, but with 30+ pounds on my back, I was seriously sore for a few days!

This morning, the aforementioned - and wonderful!! - Aunt Sandy came over to watch Hannah for a few hours. Andy went biking with a co-worker and I hit a local trail for a long run. Crushed gravel, views of the Flatirons and the Front Range behind with new snow, and a brand-new calf just off the trail, hobbling around it's mama. What a way to start the day!

For those who aren't familiar with the Boulder area, it's known for "open space", which is undeveloped land that's accessible by the public. I think some is private and some government owned. So you may be running around a reservoir, along a creek, or through a pasture. Many of the neighborhoods have trails that lead to open space, so a lot of the county is linked by trail. A lot of the trails are a decent surface for wheels, so they're BOB-able. Trail runs mid-week is an idea that really makes me happy.