#5

Last update....

This past weekend was so fun! Paige and Taylor came into town for the weekend. Paige and Jeff have a really busy year, and because of that, they aren't able to come home for Thanksgiving or Christmas. She was able to come for a couple weekends though, so my mom and dad flew her over for some much needed sister/family time and then she will come back again the first part of December for a couple days again. I hadn't seen Paige since the lake in July, so we were definitely due for a visit. And, of course, Bridger was missing his Auntie Paige!

While Paige and Tay were here, we shopped for maternity clothes, ate at delicious Bonefish Grill, had all the family over to visit and eat pumpkin cheesecake, played Rollover, watched McKae play in her Powder Puff game (which she rocked, by the way), relaxed, and watched Home Alone (one of our favs).

Paige looks great and I am so excited for her little baby boy to get here already. Bridger is going to
love having a little buddy to play with.

We also celebrated my man's birthday. 29 years old! He is the best dad to Bridger and the most thoughtful, loving, and supportive husband.

I remember when Steve and I were dating, our very first Christmas together, he blew me away. He did the 12 Days of Christmas, and each day was another thoughtful gift, that was more special than the day's before. We were at our own homes for Christmas, so we couldn't be together for the last few gifts, but he sent them with me, so that I could still open one each day. This was the case for all but one. The ninth day. On the ninth day, I got a package in the mail. It was thin, so I thought it was just an elaborate card, or something. Instead, it was a little booklet, put together by Steve, by hand. On the front cover it read, "Nine Months of Dating." Inside the little book was a journal of daily happenings in our life as a couple for the entire nine months of our time together. It detailed everything. It was one of the very best gifts I have ever received. And that is just one little example of the thoughtfulness that my husband shows to me.

I'm a pretty lucky girl.

Steve got new cold weather golf gear, so now he's itching to get out there before the snow hits. Who knows, maybe the snow wouldn't even deter him. We'll see! Steve's birthday was pretty low key. We had a birthday brunch on Sunday morning, spent the afternoon at church, and the evening together relaxing and eating baked potato soup and french bread, and homemade (by me) cheesecake.

I love you Steve. More than you even know.
And...get ready for next year's big 3-0 birthday bash. It's gonna be big!

#4

Reasons why Halloween was waaaaay better this year:

1. This guy right here:


2. Bridger's sweet--and INCREDIBLE--costume (including the mask that he kept on for ALL the pictures!) And I know, I know. Steve and I were super lame and didn't dress up as the rest of the Incredibles cast, to match B. But, ummmm, we didn't want to take the focus away from Bridger. Ya. That's what we'll go with. Sounds good.

Ok. I didn't even believe that as I typed it! Truth is, I just wasn't motivated and too cheap to come up with costumes for Steve and me. We'll redeem ourselves next year.

Maybe.

3. Trick-or-Treating! Even though we only went to a few houses, it was still so fun! I loved walking around our neighborhood, seeing all the kids' costumes, and enjoying the evening.

 

4. Another holiday as a little family! It's crazy to think that just last year, it was just Steve and me, sitting at home, watching a movie, eating dinner, just the two of us. One year later, and we are full-blown parents, celebrating this holiday much differently! 

5. Watching Bridger dump out all his candy from his bucket, and find every last sucker to devour. This went on for about a week after Halloween. A few times, I even caught him tearing into the Smarties! Sneaky guy... 

 

I'm sure our list will grow as time goes on, but we sure are happy to have a little buddy to celebrate these fun holidays with. Can't wait for next year...and hopefully we'll collect a little more candy then.

 

Uhh...I mean Bridger. Hopefully Bridger will collect a little more candy then.

 

Hah!

#3

Pumpkin Carving

Bridger was not feeling great and had been running a high fever in the days leading up to Halloween, so he wasn't at his very best when we decided to carve pumpkins. But of course he was a good sport. He always is. He didn't really get into it as much as I thought he would, but he did get his toes in the pumpkin guts, though, so I guess that's ok. Especially for a little sickie.

Steve carved Bridger's pumpkin to look like him. Big eyes with two teeth on the top, and two on the bottom. So cute. He was pretty infatuated with Steve while he was carving the pumpkin, and couldn't take his eyes off him and his pumpkin.

da da da daaaaaaaa!

And here is the finished product. Bridger liked taking the lid off and on. And for a few minutes, he just sat there holding onto the stem, like he was so proud of this little pumpkin that was just his size.

Such a sweet boy
(in a handsome devil onesie, of course)

#2

And the update continues...

Also in October, the weekend before Halloween, our little family of three went to get our boy a pumpkin at a pumpkin patch. It was a beautiful day, and we had the best time taking pictures and helping Bridger pick out his very first pumpkin.

And he actually picked out his own pumpkin!

We would put two pumpkins in front of him, and he would pat his little hand on one. Then we would take chosen pumpkin, and put it with another. He patted the same pumpkin again! He did this FIVE times, choosing the same pumpkin each time! And the last time, he used his chunky little finger and pointed at that pumpkin like, "Ok, Mom and Dad. Hellooo! I want THIS dang pumpkin. Now get up there and buy it already!" Or, something along those lines.   

Holidays are so much more fun when you have a baby. Everything is being done for the first time, and that makes it so exciting for me and Steve. We loved spending this day together as a family, and we couldn't wait to get that little baby pumpkin carved for our boy!

 

 

 

 

#1

Yikes. It has been awhile. And now, it's November, and I haven't blogged about lots of things I was planning on blogging about. So, here we go. Catch up time in a series of posts.

Crazy Dinner
We made the trek out to Utah in October to go to the Annual Crazy Dinner at Mamma Donna's house. It was, of course, a blast, and was so great to  be with all our crazy Utah family members that we miss so much. Steve has been super busy with work, so he wasn't able to come with us, but something tells me he didn't mind having the nice, quiet house all to himself that weekend. Hmmm. Maybe work wasn't that busy after all...kidding.



 

The trip was super quick. We left on Thursday afternoon, after McKae was done with school, and then came back on Sunday morning. We spent Friday and Saturday hanging out with family, going to all the fun stores in the area, shopping Halloween sales, playing games, and holding babies! Erin and Jordyn were both in town that weekend, so we got to see their cute new babies. Oh geez. Talk about making me baby hungry! ...not...I can wait. But it really was so fun to get to snuggle a baby that couldn't wiggle away. Bridger looked so old next to Charly and Sawyer. I couldn't believe it. Such a difference a few months make!

I was also able to sneak away on Saturday to go see my friends and have breakfast at Kneaders. It was so much fun to see Chelsea, Jamie (who was visiting from St. George), and Jessie. I missed Heidi and Marianne, though! Next time, hopefully all the girls can make it. I love Colorado, and love living close to all my family out here, but I do really miss my friends. These girls are my very best friends, and I love them. They are the type of girls I will be friends with my whole life. How lucky am I?? I am convinced we were even friends up in heaven. We had to have been. That's all there is to it. I am lucky to have found them back when I was a sophomore in college and am grateful that even though I am a state away, we still find time for each other and value each other's friendship.

Oh, and while we were in Utah, I picked up my Christmas present. About 2 months ago, I decided, after much debate, that I was going to buy a Christmas tree. But not just any Christmas tree. A beautiful Christmas tree. One that I have been wanting for about three years. One that is nine feet tall (which now puts another requirement on the house that we buy--hah!), long needled, FLOCKED, sparkly, and be.aut.i.ful. My mom has this tree. She got hers two years ago, and I have coveted it ever since. Well, Steve gave me the go-ahead. I still was reluctant, because it was going to be a pretty little chunk of change, but then my friend that works at Tai Pan called, and told me I could use a 25% off coupon. Suddenly I felt better, and I bought that beautiful tree! And one for Brookie, too, because she was feeling the same as me. This tree was a "must have" for us. Aaaand, when I've looked through other Christmas catalogs that have been coming in the mail, I realized I got this tree for a STEAL. Seriously. I love a good buy. And this tree will pay for itself in just a few years. Ahhh...feeling good. Anyway, here is the tree. MY TREE! 

....that I won't get to put up until next year.

We had a great trip. Short, but sweet. Next time, hopefully we will get to stay longer, and I won't have to haul a couple Christmas trees home after it's all said and done. And, next time, Steve will be coming, too :)

I love the fall. Lots and lots of family time. It's the best! 

 

 

We have a ten month old! Double Digits! Two more months until I have a ONE.YEAR.OLD!

 

Um. I am freaking out a little. alsdkjf;gh

 

People always told me that I would love this stage of his life, and back when he was just tiny and snuggly, I couldn't believe that any stage was better than the 3-6 month stage of life. And now here we are...with a completely mobile, talkative, smiley, curious, energetic, and lovey ten month old baby boy...and I am LOVING it!

 

Bridger is making us laugh and is doing new things just about every day. He's always on the move, exploring new areas of the house he couldn't quite get to before, and lights up whenever anyone walks in the room...especially if it's his daddy or his Big Fella.

 

At ten months, our Bridger Boy:

-crawls everywhere, but still does the army crawl when he's not wearing pants (hah!)

-is becoming a bit of a picky eater, much to my dismay. He puts everything in his mouth, but then spits it out to examine it, puts it back in to decide if he likes it, and if we are lucky, he'll keep it in and swallow. If we are lucky. Grrr.

-likes green grapes, string cheese, chicken, pretzels, graham crackers, goldfish, apples, squash, applesauce, oatmeal (with brown sugar, of course), bananas, Life cereal.

-drinks from a sippy cup like a pro

-loves Honey's fruit shakes in the morning

-likes playing the piano

-sits on his knees sometimes

-pulls himself up onto furniture, and is starting to walk along the furniture, too!

-sleeps from 8:30-7:00

-likes to be sung to...this always seems to calm him down when he's fussy or tired

-likes to read books, especially the touchy feely ones

-climbs the stairs, but still can't go down! He isn't scared at all by falling down, which is a little concerning!

-likes watching The Wonder Pets occasionally

-waves bye-bye by scruching his hand together over and over

-makes a clicking sound with his tongue after we do it to him

-says Momma (ok, ok, so maybe he doesn't know what it means, but I am still counting it as his first word)

-is keeping up with the kitty a lot better these days!

-loves glasses, and always takes them off of anyones face, who's holding him...especially Big Fella

-loves being outside

-stands up in his crib when he is done with his nap

-climbs up and over things

-likes playing pounding on the xylophone

-likes taking showers and baths still

-points at things with his fat little finger

-reaches for people when he wants to be held

-crawls up my leg and cries/fusses when he wants me to hold him

-pushes his walker around

-learning how to give kisses

-has 4 teeth and bites super hard!

 

This stage of Bridger's young little life really is so much fun. We love this boy of ours. Do I say that enough??? It's so fun watching him explore and learn new things. Steve and I are lucky to be his parents. Although some days might be a little hard, being a mom is the best thing I've ever done. I'm grateful that I'm able to stay home and be with our little boy, to teach him and love him. And I am grateful for Steve's job and that he works really hard for our little family, so that I can stay home and be a mom to our little munchkin.

 

xoxo

first snow

A few weeks ago, we got our first real snowfall! So, as soon as Bridger was done with breakfast, I bundled him up in his cute little snowsuit I've been dying to stick him in, and we headed outside.

He did really well! He sat there, pretty timid at first, not understanding what this stuff was that was making his little hands so cold. He warmed up a little bit by the end, though, and even started eating the snow before we went back inside.

I love this little snow bunny of mine. He's the sweetest, most mellow baby.

Can't wait for more snow, so we can go sledding and make a snowman!

And by the way, look how beautiful the view from my parent's house is! Ahhh. I love it here.