Cousin TIME!

hangout time*pool*hot air balloons*zoo*food*Downtown Denver-16th Street Mall*riding a bus*hanging with the surprise visitior-Grammy*taking family pictures*learning to walk*wearing big boy/big girl underpants*playing so hard- 3 hours naps constantly happened.

YUP. That was the extent of our Cousin Weekend! Here are some great pics from the weekend!

LOVE being with family.
Momma

AJ's Birthday Party!

HE TURNED 3!

Time goes by so quickly, so quickly.  Madonna was wrong.

:)  We had his birthday party a week early so our great friend Mandy could finally attend!  She has missed his first two birthdays, and because she is our forever Colorado family we were not letting her miss another one!~!

I battled with my Pinterest-Perfectionist self about how fancy to make AJ's birthday party!  It is so tough because I see what's on Pinterest, on Facebook, at my other friends' houses.  I KNOW how cool I could make his birthday party, but a part of me just DOESN'T want to fret.  The more things to do, the more things that could go wrong, the more money, the more time....when in the end I seriously doubt AJ could care one bit.

In my eyes, my son wants his parents to be there for him and not be stressed.  He wants to hangout with friends, play in the pool, play in his play yard, eat ice cream, eat yummy food, blow bubbles, throw some planes, etc.  AND by GEORGE that is what we did!

It was great because I truly didn't stress too much at all!  I didn't even make a cake.  I came to the realization that AJ doesn't necessarily LOVE cake (neither do Russ and I), but what AJ LOVES is ICE CREAM.  So we just had Ice Cream and some homemade cookies! AND I seriously had a great time, and I witnessed our friends having a good time, and their kids having a good time!  IT was grand!  We finally had a really legit pool party where no one drowned, everyone had fun, and I felt like I really really liked our pool!

We did have a theme-airplanes (AJ loves them!).  So Russ insisted on buying those little airplanes that you put together.  PERFECT.  AND then I remembered I had a laminator and decided to create Pilot Licenses for all the kids that came! AND yes you heard right, I have a laminator.  It's perfect.  AND goes perfectly with my paper cutter.  Pretty sure my Husband and Momma Della know me well.  
 
SO I created licenses, very similar to the badge that Russ wears to work.  AJ insists on wearing Russ's every so often when Russ gets home from work, so I thought why not make him his own!

THE day ended up just being super fabulous with great friends, and crazy kids all over the place.  It was one of those days when I tried a couple of times to take a step back and watch the fun.  Watch my friends and see how they have become awesome parents.  Watch our kids and how much they have grown.  Watch my husband and see the Dad that he has become.  Watch.  It was a moment where I was so proud to be where I was in my life (I still am).  AND just so happy to have a family that I love so much and friends that are our forever family:)
 
Great times.  Great boy-turning into such a BIG BOY.  
I love you AJ!
Momma

The Backyard!

 So in our backyard, we had two drowning hazards when we moved in!  Plus White carpet...whose house never had children in it?  Yea. Hi. Our house.  Anywhoo... This beautiful pond was in the corner of our backyard.  So peaceful, and beautiful, and wonderful lilies, and WATER and a DEATH TRAP.  AND OHEMGEE I will not have this.

As this summer approached thoughts ran through my mind.  Pregnant.  Hot.  24-7 hangout time with 2 wild and crazy boys.  THIS momma needed a backyard.  AND yes we have a pool, but we seriously have 2 wild and crazy boys.  I feel most comfortable when we have 2 adults to manage the mayhem.  With my best game face, I approached my dear husband and batted my eyes and spoke so softly and sweet, "Hunny, sweet sugar, we are MAKING a PLAY YARD for these BOYS and YOU WILL help me."  Not really like that at all.  But you get the point.  I basically was a broken record to Russ about why we needed this area and why we needed to do it NOW!  It all started with building a fence to keep the dogs from going in and pooping.  That was done a few weeks earlier...and then the real fun began.

Within a week we had basically 1. destroyed the area by taking out all of the pond, which included nasty CEMENT chunks that were EVERYWHERE!  WET nasty sludge from the pond.  It was just hard manual labor. YUCK.  2. Then we created an area for wood-chips.  3. And then we moved the sand box (aka sand pool) from the top of the porch into the kid area.  4. Followed by creating a retaining wall.  5. Dumping more sand in the sand box.  6.  Moving rocks to create a container for the sand.  7.  Attaching a slide from Lowes to the upper deck area. 

 8. Going for a spin on the new equipment.  WHICH was all fun and games until the 5th time down (shortly after this fun picture) when AJ catapulted himself off the slide into the ROCK that waiting nearby.  PARENT PLAY YARD FAIL.

9.  Going back to the drawing board a bit, we took out the rocks and moved them FURTHER back (MUCH FURTHER) and just created a WAY bigger sandbox with a piece of carpet lining the rocks to prevent above injuries.  (I still look at his face and feel guilty-poor Bubba).  
10.  Trial run #3.  AND can I say how proud I am of AJ who could have exhibited PTSD symptoms and instead went down the slide, because (gasp) he trusted his parents despite what happened a few days earlier?  SUCCESS.

So here are the final pictures taken the day of AJ's birthday party.  The final piece of the puzzle was a water table that we surprised AJ with on the day of his party!  OH yea and we also added a sail shade to help provide some coolness on those hot,hot days!

The chalkboard painted with truck bed paint.  It works surprisingly well!

 Huge PROPS goes to my hubby for lifting all the heavy stuff that I couldn't and for the countless hours spent moving dirt/cement/sand/woodchips/rocks/retaining wall and everything else! Thanks for the help from Julia and Brett for helping to lift some of the heavy stuff and move dirt too!

LOVE IT! AND it was a HIT and still continues to be with the boys!
MOMMA

How to beat the heat

I saw something fun on Pinterest awhile back....& today I put it into action with a twist.  Before Russ got home from work I frantically put together this basket for him!

If you can't read the note, it says "you're gonna need these! -Momma and AJ"

I then prepared a separate basket for us and we waited!

We waited and waited and waited some more as Dad got home but then was outside on a conference call for awhile longer! But eventually he walked through the garage door and WE got him! AJ got the best and last shot and he hollered, "Dad I got you with the hot balloon (yes still figuring out our types of balloons) in the nipple!" And he laughed!!!

Good times!

Momma

Little Rock's 3!

Signs.

Every morning when I open the shades in the kitchen, or close them slightly because of the blasting sun, I see this.

One of the main reasons we bought this house. Not really. But how can you say No, when you pull up to look at a house and yellow roses are in bloom. Quite magical!

My Momma's favorite flower was a Yellow Rose, and every time they bloom I can't help but think that my Momma is saying "Hey" and keeping tabs on me and all my boys.

Muah.

Momma

More AJisms

'Pando'.  Ever-adaptable, you may find yourself eating a pando meal, being the subject of a pando joke, or just plain pando'ed without ever knowing what hit you.  Or you may be daddy-pando or mommy-pando yourself!

Go go go go go!

Boyhood like a boss...

Our boys are such boys... Little and big, rough and tumble, wet and dirty, sweet and devilish.  They say the darnedest things, ask fantastic questions, play wherever whenever and however they choose.  Any who lie on the floor are cannon fodder, fair game, ample surface for climbing and wrestling.

Every day in our family life these days is a celebration of boyhood, a tribute to all boys who have come before, and all who will come down the road.  

Lovin it.

R

Pregnancy #3

Funny how pregnancy and more children work. I'm rocking a pretty decent belly as I sit a day away from 18 weeks! 18 weeks! 2 weeks away from half way! Holy heck where does time go? Anyways I have a belly but just the other day I woke up, looked in the mirror and for a second though, "whoah Meg. Time to start working out again." (Disclaimer: I'm still working out 3/4x a week. Just went for a maybe 2 mile run with the family this am thankyouverymuch). And then I found myself quickly thinking about how I could let my tummy go like that and then BOOM I remembered. Pregnant. Right. Hah! So 18 weeks in I'm still questioning... It will change I'm sure once I start to feel this little one kick a bit more. Right now it's still those darn flutters! In two weeks ill verify that I indeed do have ANOTHER anterior placenta inhibiting my ability to feel this little one until I'm further along...;)

So here's a little comparison.... 

•with AJ at week 20

•and with this Muffin Man at 18 weeks

Ok this is AJ taking the photo-and it's am so this bump isn't as big. But trust it's bigger;)

Anyways! Happy Thursday!

Love,

Momma

Milestones left and right.

Lets start with AJ: On Monday, the first day of our summer, AJ peed in the big potty 4x. Today he peed 4x and pooped. (Sorry-future AJ for embarrassing you-but if you have a kid you'll understand).

 This is completely awesome and pretty much led by AJ! I've been way enthusiastic about it, but due to traveling a TON in July I kinda gave up the notion it would happen this summer. Again, he's proving me wrong! Ryker decided to sit on the pot tonight just like his big brother. Surprise us Ryke, I double dare ya!

And now onto Ryker Lee. He's saying way more words (up, down, please, yes, no, more, Daddy, hi, bye, papa, thank you, AJ)! So fun to hear the words come out and get some understanding from the little guy! 

Another milestone which is a huge deal to me-and it's the fact that this little guy can finally blow his nose. It's weird but I distinctly remember moments in his infancy when he had a cold and I just though to myself, "man-I can't wait til this guy has bigger nostrils and can help me out." As much as Russ will say that I love that blue bulb syringe, I actually hate it.

So three cheers for my guys-doing big things!

Love,

Momma

Boys.

Went down the stairs and saw this...

That little belly!!

Momma

Starting the big boy process

Yesterday in the am AJ decided he wanted to go potty in the big boy potty. So like many times before I sat him on the potty and waited. This time he actually WENT potty!!!! Usually he is too freaked out to actually go, but not yesterday! Oh and he was so proud of himself!!!!!!

Let the games begin!

Love,

Momma