Grey's baby

Elise got this adorable stroller for her birthday. On the first day I caught Grey pushing around his jaguar singing and talking to it. It made me smile.

ONE

I am finally getting around to posting some pictures I took for Elise's first birthday. I was too lazy to fix her hair--so she is a bit disheveled.

Elise is the happiest, sweetest baby ever. Look at that sweet face! She is a determined little baby and I catch her climbing into and onto everything yet she still won't walk. She talks, okay she babbles, constantly and loves pointing at everything. My favorite thing she does is that she picks up an object, most often a phone charger, and says, "hello" "hi" over and over.

She is very girly and loves her baby dolls and stuffed animals. I often catch her with a toy or a bottle hanging out of her mouth while she crawls around. She absolutely adores Greyden and when he is sharing well, they can play for hours together.

I caught this last picture while she was "jumping" up and down with her arms--it depicts her happy, smiling personality so perfectly!

Happy Birthday sweet baby girl!

The Party

I am extremely slow at keeping things updated on the blog. I actually did have a semi-birthday party for sweet Elise. I just had some moms and kids over to play and eat. She was adorable and loved every minute of it. Grey thought it was a party for him and I couldn't break it to him

The cupcake "smash"

going right for it

mmmmm.... that is appetizing

Notice the frosting smeared all over her body. She grabbed the cupcake and squished it between her fingers and rubbed it all over her arms and legs. I think she got some in her mouth.

While we were away...

My garden grew out of control--specifically the zucchini

(this is 5 days worth of growth)

Grey & Elise played non-stop with cousins, aunts, uncles, grandparents. And had so much fun!

My baby girl turned one...

and loved the chocolate cupcake that went with it.

and loved her first baby doll

(which apparently she rocked and gave kisses right away)

Thank you to everyone that helped out with the kiddos so we could go on the trip together!

I heart New York (the last day...)

So sad to see our trip come to an end. Monday we spent mostly wandering different parts of the city. I am in love with the village and found the BEST pizza ever! Bleeker Street Pizza is amazing. Go there now.

I also really wanted to see the new Highline Park which is a renovated old railway above ground in Chelsea. Very cool and great art. This picture was taken through a viewer looking toward a metal piece that the artist used the background of buildings to put together.

I heart New York (the boat ride)

We did the tourist thing and took a 2-hour sunset boat cruise the evening of the triathlon. Jared wasn't up for much walking even though we ended up walking a ton just trying to get there. It was actually pretty fabulous! We got to see Manhattan, Jersey and Brooklyn in a new way. Loved it!

I sure miss those towers

I fell in love with this run-down sugar factory

And the sunset as we were heading back

I heart New York (RACE DAY!)

Sunday morning was the big day that Jared has been training for the past 9 months. He was amazing and I loved getting to watch him in each event.

We were staying just a couple blocks from the start, so we walked down together and got Jared all suited up for the swim. I love the excitement of races. Everyone is all pumped up and ready to go.

The race started with a 1500m swim in the Hudson. *side note: just before starting we watched a tire floating down the river* The current was so strong that they had participants jump in the water and hang on to a rope until the buzzer. Some people were just floating and backstroking down the river. I could hardly keep up walking, but somehow looked over about a half-mile up and found Jared!!! I walked alongside him until he got out of the water. At the end of the swim there is a ramp and a bunch of guys are pulling them out of the river.

Next up was the 40k bike on the West Side highway. Jared did amazing and flew past tons of people. I caught him while he was just heading onto the highway.

I saw Jared twice on the 10k run ending in Central Park. I was so excited to see him and almost missed him since he did the bike so quickly. I caught up with him again just before the finish line. Notice in the picture the guy propped up against the railing. I watched the poor guy go down while I was waiting. It was awful! His body just fell apart. It was just so hot and right at the end of the race.

The best part were the free pedicabs that took us from Central Park to the transition area. I have always wanted to do that and even better after running all over town watching the race.

We went back to the hotel and napped (oh how I love no-kid time) and then a boat ride around the island. Stay tuned...

I heart New York (day one & two)

Jared & I went without the kids to New York this past weekend. Partly a fun trip for us and partly for Jared to compete in the NYC triathlon.

The first night we got there it was a little late, so we wandered Central Park (holding hands & NOT pushing a stroller) and then onto 5th Ave for Jared to see the Apple flagship store.

On the second day we walked over Brooklyn Bridge. Amazing views and yummy pizza & ice cream on the other side as a reward!

The "tourist" shot on the bridge looking towards Brooklyn

Looking back at Manhattan while we ate ice cream in Brooklyn

I didn't get any pictures, but we went to the play The Screwtape Letters that evening. I love how much New York has to do. So much fun!

The next day was mostly shopping and getting prepped for the triathlon. We did meet up with our good friends Craig & Amanda for a yummy dinner at BLT Steak and gelato at Grom. Yum, yum, yum.

Waterworld

I have a lot of catch-up to do. I know you are all dying to get the NYC recap. ;) But I am a couple of weeks behind so you'll have to be patient.

Thanks to Jared's family we get to celebrate birthdays once a year at Waterworld. Best tradition ever! It was a blast this year--first time I haven't been pregnant or with a newborn. I spent every possible minute I could in the wave pool or on the rides. I'm such a kid!

Brooklynn & Elise

Helping Grey catching the waves

Ice Cream Time! (notice the drip down his hand)

Happy Ryan

And a sleepy boy. Didn't last out of the parking lot.

Happy Birthday Baby!

Happy Birthday to the sweetest baby girl!

I feel like a terrible mother not being with Elise on her first birthday--but Jared signed up for a triathlon in NYC on the same day. So we are eating lots, playing and sleeping (more to come on that soon). Oh and Jared is swimming, biking and running while I do nothing. Perfect!

This past year has been such a delight having Elise in our lives. But I am a much happier mother once the one-year mark hits. Apparently I get postpartum with each child from when they are about 6-11 months. This time was extra hard and I am glad to be out of it finally. Onto more exciting things... She really is the best baby I could ever hope for. She came with the sweetest personality and makes us smile constantly.

We will celebrate soon and get lots of pictures so she doesn't think I forgot about her.

Trains and trains

Day 2 of our weekend of family fun we drove up to Golden for Jared to do a training bike ride. I took the kids over to the Colo. Railroad Museum to pass the time. I have been wanting to take Grey there for oh-a couple years. He loved it of course. What boy wouldn't love running around a bunch of trains and climbing in and out of them. It was pretty fascinating to see everything. Sorry for the photo overload--I had a lot of fun too.

Okay, okay. No more trains. Here are the kiddos:

The end.

Garden of the Gods

4-day weekend = lots of family fun

Knowing that Jared had a 4-day weekend, I spent a couple days getting all of our household stuff done so we could do some of the things on our "family fun list." Friday we drove to Colorado Springs to wander Garden of the Gods. What a magnificent place. We took our little picnic lunch then walked the paths. On our walk back to the car we heard some trampling coming at us-fast. As we turned we saw a big deer run right next to us into the trees. I'm glad it didn't run us over--it was so close. Grey obviously doesn't understand how fun it is to see wildlife  because he asked if he could go pet it.

A great start to a long weekend of fun!