Sedona!

Last week I was able to go to a conference in Sedona for work. Justin and the girls came up to enjoy the hotel and surroundings as well. I hate being away from them so it was a win-win. The conference is held at the Hilton Sedona which is a beautiful resort. The rooms are suites which is perfect because Aspen was able to sleep in her own room. That way we didn't wake her up when we got ready to workout or watching T.V. before bed. Our room was right by the pool which Everly loved. She kept asking to go swimming. It was just really nice to be away from the normal office routine for a few days.

working on my self-timer skills

 

 

cutest little sleeper

10 Month Update

Yesterday Aspen turned 10 months old. This past month was a big one for her. She is still tiny wearing 9-12 month clothes and in size 3 diapers (although she fits in 6 month onesies still). She has her first tooth and hit so many developments in the past month (pulling herself up to her feet, waving hi, clapping, doing "so big," and recently giving lots more kisses and even dancing). She is crawling fast and gets her knees and feet all dirty. Despite finally getting in her first tooth she hasn't been drooling or losing any sleep. She is an angel like that. She still loves her sister and watches everything she does and loves playing with her sister's toys. She loves taking showers and is warming up to the pool more. She is also doing great with her eating. She is eating all kinds of solid foods now (not purees) like bananas, avocados, green beans, berries, whole milk yogurt and cheese, black beans, and potatoes and we have tried little bits of chicken too. She has still not had one bite of grains and probably won't until her 1st birthday cake! She has actually been shoveling the food in her mouth too and loves those little freeze dried yogurt drops. I hope she goes to town on her birthday cake in a couple of months. She is also still 100% breastfed although I am starting to reduce that a bit in preparation for her turning a year and me doing other things besides nursing, haha. I have had a great experience but I am over the whole pumping thing. Last week I slept in and just nursed her when I woke up and then the whole rest of the day and that was the first day since she was a few days old that I didn't pump at some point in the day. Over 9 months of pumping at least once a day and more often 3 times a day can be exhausting. I am down to pumping once a day at work and my supply has gone down but I have a good amount frozen so it is okay that she drinks more at daycare than I currently pump. I actually think I might nurse her past a year but only once or twice a day if that. We will see how it goes but I am pretty proud of the fact that I have made it this far. Thankfully, Aspen makes it pretty easy. She is such a fun baby and we love her!

Grand Canyon for My 29th Birthday

On Friday I turned 29! I was the only person in my family who had still never been to the Grand Canyon so I told Justin that is what I wanted to do for my birthday. My sister and mom planned to come up as well. I didn't want to take any extra time off of work so we booked a night in Flagstaff for Friday night and drove up after work. Everly drove up early with my mom and sister. They got up to Flagstaff and played at a park and we met them at a brewery when we got up. It was sooooo nice in Flagstaff. After that we checked into our hotels. Nothing fancy but it did the job. We got up nice and early Saturday morning so we could beat the traffic getting into the park. The drive from Flag to the Grand Canyon is about 90 min and we got there at about 8:15 a.m. and it was perfect. The weather was mid-70's and there were lots of puffy clouds. We started at the visitor center and then headed to Mather Point which is the main lookout at the South Rim. From there we walked for a couple of miles along the Rim Trail. We stopped in at the Geology Museum and then ended our walk at the Village. From there we took a shuttle to one more view at Powell Point. After that we took the shuttles all of the way back and grabbed a quick lunch in Tusayan before heading back. We also stopped in Flagstaff on the way back to fill our growler at Wanderlust Brewing Co. Everly slept the entire 4 hour drive back to Phoenix so I think that is a sign she had a good time. We got home Saturday at around 5:15 so we were basically did the whole trip in 24 hours. I am so glad we went. It is a pretty amazing sight and just doesn't look real. Justin and I were talking in the car about how cool it is that Arizona has so many different types of places. People travel from across the world to see the Grand Canyon and we have it right here in our home state. Arizona is not perfect, no state is, but I think we are pretty lucky to call this place home. Justin also got me a GoPro for my birthday. I love documenting for the girls and wanted to take more videos. I still kinda have no idea what I am doing with it, but made a quick little video from our trip and I hope the girls love looking back on it when they grow up.

 

A mid-month Update

So basically in the past week Aspen had hit all kinds of awesome baby milestone's so I wanted to do a little mid-month update. We have been working on lots of little things with her ( I call them tricks) and it didn't seem like she was picking it up until last weekend she decided to do everything. Late last week we caught her standing up at the tub (previously she only got up on to her knees). She still doesn't do it a lot but we know she can. Then she started clapping, putting her arms up for "So Big" when we ask her "How big are you?" and she is waving hi. It was a big weekend for her. Also, I thought I saw something in her gums like a tooth was close but still couldn't feel it and then yesterday after work I felt it. She is finally cutting her first tooth on the bottom! She has definitely been more fussy than normal, but nothing horrible at all. She is still the sweetest little angel baby. Below are a few videos of her new tricks and the first glimpse of her first tooth!

 

 

57 Cent Short Stacks

This past Tuesday night we took advantage of the IHOP anniversary special for the second year in a row. I wrote about us going last minute last year here. This year I planned to go this night and my mom and sister came along as well. My mom brought my nephew Teddy with her, too. It was pretty busy but not horrible. The pancakes were yummy and the bill for all 8 us of was $12 so my mom treated us. We don't go out to eat often and very rarely during the middle of the week so it was fun to change things up a bit while not even spending any money! See you again next year, IHOP!

Everly, don't smile...

 

Dining with Teddy is always entertaining.

Happy 1st Birthday Remi!

Last Saturday we helped celebrate my niece's son Remi's 1st Birthday. Unfortunately, I don't have a ton of pictures but that just means I was too busy having fun. It was a summer/beach ball theme so there was lots of pool time. My sister-in-law kept it simple with hot dogs and hamburgers and a couple of her friends brought some yummy sides, too. Lots of people came so it was fun to catch up with a lot of family that we don't see as often. Everly had a blast playing with Justin's cousin's kids. Remi inhaled his birthday cupcake. It was pretty amazing. Everly helped Remi open his birthday presents...well, basically she just opened them all, haha. It was a fun day and we are so happy we could share in Remi's day! Also, this makes me sad because now it means my baby is almost 1!!!!!

Party favors

 

Birthday Boy!

4th of July 2015

This 4th of July was very busy. We actually ended up hosting a party for my niece's son's 1st birthday so we had a lot of people over but I will post about that later. I got sick on Wednesday of last week (and still am a little) but I was registered for a 4th of July 4-miler so after resting on Thursday and Friday I gave it my best shot and got up early Saturday morning for the run. It was hot and I was obviously still sick, but I did it. It was hard, but I was glad I did it. I ended up finishing 4th in my division so I can't be too upset about that. My sister and brother-in-law also ran it because we are crazy like that. Everly has actually recently become kind of obsessed with American Flags so this holiday was extra fun for her. When I got home, we finished cleaning before people came over and then after the party we headed out to a nearby church parking lot to watch fireworks. We were pretty exhausted by that point but at least the girls got to see something! We are very grateful to live in this amazing country! Happy 4th of July!