Garden of the Gods 08/27/10

After making Shannon steak and eggs for breakfast this morning (he has only been home a total of 3 days in the past 2 weeks working between the fire station and St. Francis ER) I felt motivated to enjoy this beautiful morning. I told Ava after breakfast we were going to see some red rocks. As we drove closer she was so excited to see and touch these "big rocks/mountains".

I was pulling into Garden of the Gods Park and this intuitive almost 3 yr old says with a gasp "Who painted the rocks red?!" I replied, "I suppose God did." An acceptable answer as we are at the Garden of the Gods named so because the Ute Indians and the first settlers were so enamored with the beauty of this place. Most of the trees you see in the pictures were planted by the settlers in the late 1800's and later in the 1900's to reclaim the damage/erosion caused by the millions of visitors to the park. Ava of course wanted to pick flowers and take some rocks. I had to explain that if everyone who visited this place took a flower or rock, there would be no more to see. You can never instill conservation and respect for nature too soon! ; )

We got Chase in the carrier and headed out. To see Ava so excited about hiking and seeing this beautiful place warmed my heart. She is so special! For an hour and a half we walked and looked at the rocks, reading the signs, watching the climbers, and having a little snack in the shade. It was a great morning with my babies and the weather was perfect.

Next on the list of things to do is Eleven Mile Canyon (one of Shannon and my favorite places since we moved here 9 yrs ago), the Colorado State Fair, and then maybe a drive thru Monarch Pass later in Sept. to watch the Aspens turn color.

Flashback-Before and After

Iowa vs Colorado

ML Photography, Indianola IA



No I am not talking about a Big 10 match up, just our whereabouts this past month. Lots of things going on in this house in July. Ava will start preschool on August 10. Chase rolled over and cut 2! teeth on our trip to Iowa. 12 days visiting family in Iowa and the 12 hour trip there is now 15 hours. Both kiddos did great, could not have asked for a better trip, however 15 hours of driving is really hard on the dad! We went swimmming several times which everyone loved, made smores at both grandparents house's, and we took a spin on the boat (which put Chase to sleep and made Ava dance). On Shannon's to do list was golfing and his 15 year class reunion. It was a fun family vacation and I love being able to say that! Aunt Missie took family pictures at their new house in Indianola. I have posted some of my favorites (with more to come).
ML Photography, Indianola, IA

It was fun to visit Iowa, but I was excited to return home and get the kids and who am I kidding, myself back into a routine. For about the last 8 years I have felt a tug at my heart everytime we left Iowa, but it was comforting to want to return home to Colorado. How awesome to feel grounded within a community that I know, now a church family to turn to as well as our family within the fire station and my work. We tried so hard to get back to Iowa and now I know why we never made it. Don't be afraid to ask the Lord to bless you, if you don't you will never have the gifts he has just waiting to give to you. (Prayer of Jabez) I am blessed...-sigh- :)

ML Photography, Indianola, IA

4 months old

Chase now weighs 15 1/2 lbs., & is 26.5 inches long! He is officially the size of a 6 month old who wears 12 month clothing!!! : ) He loves to coo and "talk" and he is starting to razz. He now will rock himself to either side and is very close to rolling over!!! YIKES. Because he is a olympic drooler & can put his pacifier in his own mouth the Dr gave the OK to start him on rice cereal. We will see if feeding him a small amount of rice cereal at night will help him sleep longer. After 4 months, mommy needs 7 hours of uninterrupted sleep too!

Father's Day

Father's Day has came & went. Shannon's parents were here and we had a lot of fun watching them with the kids. Chase loved being held by both Nana and Papa & Ava loved playing with them too! We celebrated Rita's birthday by going out to eat! (Yeah!) and Father's Day with a wonderful grill out. Father's Day was particularly exciting as we went to the United States Air Force Academy for the Fire Fighter Combat Challenge. Shannon was on 2 teams and both made it to World's in Myrtle Beach! So proud of him!!

My Mom is a genius.

My mom is a genius. Ok, maybe not the technical definition, but she has helped me get past the hump in the road. You see I have a problem. I can't see past the trees, I have trouble thinking outside of the box. If there are rules I follow them...to a "T". That's the problem, there are allows grey areas.

The solution for Ava was to let her go potty by herself full time. This was told to me in the middle of a day from h-e double hockey sticks. Nana Pam had called at just the right time to talk me off the ledge so to speak. "At 2 1/2 you were getting up at night and going to the bathroom by yourself. Let Ava do it by herself!" So for the last two nights & nap times no pull ups. She is doing really good and seems to be more relaxed which in turn keeps me relaxed! After being in bed for a half an hour she got up and went to the bathroom. I praised her and put her back to bed. At 5 am I woke up to the bathroom light being on. And that sweet little girl was now a confirmed big girl. She had gone #1 and was wiping and putting the toilet paper in the trash. I was so proud of her. I put her back to bed and at 5:20 am she was back up and I thought to myself here we go now she thinks she can get up and play. So I just listened...I heard the toilet lid go up so I snuck around the corner to Ava trying to pour her #2 into the "big potty" to flush it. And again, I had that proud parent moment. All Ava Marie needed was a little space to be independent. (Dear lord what am I gonna do when she is 16 and can date!)

On another note when I woke up at 5 am I realized that I hadn't feed Chase since 9 pm. Little Bubby had slept through his first night! While I was feeding him I had that "Aha moment" and realized, I will be just fine and so will my children. All I need to do is relax and take a look in the grey areas every now and then.