Estes and RMNP

On another day during Sue and Larry's trip, we ventured to Estes Park. We got to enjoy blue skies and sunshine on this beautiful Colorado day.

In town, CeeCee and PopPop bought the girls their very first cowgirl hats, and then we found this saddle on a stool outside one of the shops. Of course, we had to stop for photos.

After a little stroll around Estes, we headed into Rocky Mountain National Park, where we saw lots of elk and beautiful fall colors.

Addie and Emily got to test out their new boots in the snow.

 And they got to touch the cold cold water in the stream.

"Jumping" is a fairly new skill the girls have acquired.

Addie enjoys the view

 Both girls got a chance to ride on Dad's shoulders.

Addie was so happy to be in the mountains!

On the way back home, we stopped at the beautiful St. Catherine of Siena Chapel.

So much fun with Cee Cee and Pop Pop!

October Highlights ~ Zoo

Early in October, Sue and Larry came for a visit to Colorado. The girls always love spending time with their grandparents, and one chilly Colorado day we spent exploring the Denver Zoo.

The giraffes were inside on this cold day, which meant we got to see them really close up!

Pop Pop with his wolf hat and Emily with her fox wolf coyote canine (or is it a bear?) hat

Dad and Addie with the Tibetan prayer wheels in the new elephant exhibit

Emily was being quite the ham, and it was pretty funny to watch her walking around all bundled up

Our little monkeys

Marshmallows - A Year-Round Treat

Today we went out to play in the snow that we got over the weekend. It took about 20 minutes to get all suited up for the snow, and then after about 15 minutes outside, Addison had had enough, so we came back in and warmed up with some hot cocoa.

While the girls noshed on marshmallows, it struck me ~When was the last time they'd tasted a marshmallow? This summer, when we went camping with Doug and Kirstin! And did I ever post pictures from that camping trip? No, I did not! So here you have it, a Summer and Winter fun-times post!

First Up: Marshmallows in July 

Earlier that day...

We camped outside Keystone right by Lake Dillon

Heading out for a hike

Our camping buddies Doug and Kirstin

Wading in Lake Dillon

Emily touching the water

Addison got right into the sand (and ate some of course!)

Addie's big accomplishment was climbing over this log at the campsite again and again!

Emily loved swinging in the hammock with Kirstin

She was still a knee walker back then!

Getting ready for dinner

Uncle Doug, making a fancy camp dinner, as usual

Addie says, "mmmm chips!"

Where there's food, there are happy toddlers!

Walking with Dad

Camp Fire!

Getting ready for bed

Breakfast time! 

Addie kisses the tree bye bye

Another little hike before heading back home

5 weeks pregnant (trying to recapture the same beginning shot)

And then come Marshmallows in November!

Hot cocoa tastes best topped with marshmallows, and it feels best in your belly when you're still a little chilly from being outside on a cold day.

Marshmallows straight up...mmmmmm!

Earlier...

Gotta give it a taste test

Emily wanted to trample all through the snow

Addie was ready to get inside for her hot cocoa!

A New Baby.....

With Emily's blossoming verbal skills, she will almost always repeat the last word spoken in a sentence or question directed to her. So, when we asked her to predict if she would be having a baby brother or sister, here was her (consistent) response:


For the last couple of months, I've been feeling boy. I even had a dream we were picking out boy clothes, so I was feeling pretty confident the girls would be getting a little brother.

We had our 20 week ultrasound on Tuesday, and the night before, Chris and I made a bet. I was so sure of myself, I told him if it was a boy, he would have to finish my dresser project for me. I didn't even think I needed to come up with something I would need to do if it was a girl. He was so confident it was a girl, he said if he was right he wouldn't re-paint the nursery  (it's already pink) and he would bring the dresser upstairs as is.

We had a wonderful ultrasound technician, who got some great shots of baby, printed out 19 (!) pictures for us, and informed us with 99.9% confidence that the baby is a....

Girl!

She looks pretty cute to me!

Needless to say, I lost the bet, and Chris wasn't surprised at all. He had said before the ultrasound that he just knew he was going to be a dad of three girls. She's healthy and everything looks to be in its right place. We're absolutely thrilled, and now comes the hard part...picking a name!

Emily and Addison are pretty excited, too! :)

Dresser Project

When we found out we would be having another baby, we decided to keep the girls' current room as the nursery and move Emily and Addison into our guest room, which is a little bigger and will work well as their "big girl bedroom." Because we won't have to do much to the existing nursery, and I am in full-on nesting mode, I needed a project for the big girl room. Looking on some great home improvement blogs (my current favorite especially), I've found some ideas for bookshelves, reading nooks, and furniture. I've always wanted to re-finish an old piece of furniture, and doesn't this just seem like the perfect opportunity?

So I decided the girls will definitely be needing a new dresser, and I found this great idea for re-doing a dresser that I absolutely fell in love with. I found a dresser on Craigslist that will work wonderfully. It is only about 30 inches tall, so the girls will be able to access their own clothes, but it is still fairly large at 56 inches wide, so it will work well for two girls.

Here's the dresser I bought:

And here's my inspiration for it's future look:

And here are the girls with their soon-to-be new-and-improved dresser:

My first step was to remove all of the hardware and begin giving it a new look, following Centsational Girl's advice using Brasso. Unfortunately, some of the black tarnish stuck with the knobs, and after seeking additional advice, I went with some great stuff called Rub 'n Buff to give the knobs more of a silver luster.

1: original hardware 2: after Brasso 3: after Rub 'n Buff application 4: after a  good buffin'

Here's where my project hit a major road bump. Chris came home from work and realized I had been working with toxic chemicals emitting harsh fumes while pregnant. He put the kabosh on the whole thing. I'm a bit stuck right now, hence using my sure future win in our baby gender bet to get him to finish the project himself.

Now I've lost that bet, and am once again stuck. Recommendations? Non-pregnant hardware polishing volunteers?

November Resolution

Here we are, already at the ninth of November, and I've obviously been a bit behind in blogging. Three posts for October? Sorry about that, folks. It wasn't that we weren't having fun, it may have been just the opposite. There were several visits to the pumpkin patch, lots of fun in the fall leaves, and plenty of Halloween dress up fun. Don't worry, I'm on it! :) My November resolution is to post at least twice a week!