Monday, July 15, 2013

eighteen months


Little B is not so little anymore! He's a year and a half, to be exact!
 
It hardly seems real to me that our life has zoomed by this quickly.
 
We've hit all the big milestones with this little guy: 
 
//rolling, sitting, scooting, crawling, standing, walking, running//
 
//talking with his eyes, cooing, laughing, babbling, and talking and saying actual words and sounds//
 
//nursing (which was not a huge success), bottle feeding (a huge blessing!), baby food (which was not a hit), big people food (which was a HUGE success)//
 
//0-3 month onesies, and footie pjs, hats, and cozy blankets that coordinated to the outfits//
//3-6 month rompers and still in footie pjs most of the time//
//6-12 month tank top rompers, shorts, water diapers, bucket hats, little jackets, and his first pair of jeans//
//12-18 month pants, and actual walking shoes, sweaters, button-up shirts, a cozy winter puffer coat, and the cutest little hooded, striped onesie outfit that I put him in every change I could get, because it reminded me of when he was just a tiny baby// 
//18-24 month (where we are now) short/capris, lots of t-shirts (because some days he goes through multiple), baby crocs, swim suits, tank tops, bow ties, sandals, and boat shoes....and the ever present mowhawk (which has been trimmed now, about 3 or 4 times)// 
 
Needless to say, it's been a year of many, many FIRSTS! We can't wait to see what this little munchkin does next. He keeps us on our toes, and laughing like crazy as we go.
 
At 18 months, Bridger:
-is such a flirt! He kisses all the girls (and boys, actually) and gives hugs whenever he sees little kids
-loves to play outside
-likes to throw balls ("ba!")
-knows what a doggie says ("Ruh!")
-knows how to say mama, dada, ball (ba!), water (wa-wa), up (ut!), boat (butttt), hi, bye (both of those words are pretty high-pitched!)
-still signs the words: more, all done, please, and thank you
-loves to dance (if B hears music, he runs to it, so he doesn't miss a second of dancing time)
-loves babies (he's so sweet with little Madden, he kisses his face and head, and gives him hugs)
-is becoming a bit of a picky eater (but maybe it's because he hasn't felt great this past week)
-he loves cereal and strawberries
-loves Honey's morning smoothies still
-loves to read books, and sing songs (especially Popcorn Popping)
-loves piggy back rides down the stairs
-chasing the kitty around the house
-folds his arms for prayer
-loves bouncing on the bed
-loves his kitty and little red Tonka truck
-loves chocolate (surprise, surprise)
-loves to play in the water, and especially loves to throw water on unsuspecting visitors
-loves to take showers and baths
-likes to go on wagon rides around the neighborhood
-holds my hand when we walk across the street (or even when we're just walking down the hall...this is one of my very favorite things)
-still likes to help us to just about everything...vacuuming, laundry, dishes, cleaning up the floor....everything except picking up his toys. Hah! 
-runs everywhere...I love hearing the sound of his feet running across the floor. It's so cute!
-has started pulling on his diaper when he's wet or messy. He doesn't like the feeling of being in a dirty diaper, I think. Potty training early perhaps???
-likes waving to cars and people as they go by, and saying "Hiiiiii! Byeeeeee!"
-loves airplanes and points to the sky and goes running outside whenever he hears one
-is pretty attached to me right now, much to McKae's dismay. He doesn't love being with strangers (and McKae for some weird reason), if I am not close by.
-loves popcorn
-loves drinking out of normal cups (he thinks he is sooo big)
-climbs on everything these days
 
I really could go on and on.....
 
All in all, 18 month olds are b u s y! Hello! He's always up to something, exploring and learning as he goes. I love watching him get so big. Everyone should have a little boy at some point. I think if my mom had had one more, it definitely would have been a boy. It had to have been. Every family needs a boy! They really are so much fun.
 
I am beyond grateful for my little family. Bridger has blessed our lives in more ways than I can count. And now for real...time can seriously stop.
 
Wait, no. We close on our house on Wednesday. Time...keep on movin'!
 

Friday, July 12, 2013

love birds

It's been 30 years for these two.

4 kids and 2 grandbabies later, they are still in love.

They have the most fun of any married couple I know.
I mean, do your parents have water fights, with the hose, no less, IN THE HOUSE??

You can tell my parents are in love, and this makes me so grateful.
I have always known this. Always.

My mom is the biggest supported of my dad, and my dad is my mom's biggest fan.
They are pretty much perfect for each other.

My mom keeps my dad on his toes (he has to be....she's the one usually initiating the water fights)
My dad keep my mom laughing daily.

They are the best. And I love them.

I hope Steve and I can be like them at 30 years.

Here's to 30 more years, Mom and Dad!
(and hundreds more water fights)




Lake Blaine

It's a tradition that's been going on for almost as long as I can remember.

We go to this perfect little lake outside Kalispell, Montana. It's a 16 hour drive from Colorado, and it's worth every long hour of sitting in the car. This year was a little more difficult with a one year old, but it was still a perfect little getaway, in one of the most perfect places on this earth.

This year, however, we missed Dad, Tay, Paige, Jeff, and Madden. Half our family was missing, and it was a little weird. A lot weird. Next year, the Willardsen's need to be a little more strongly represented!

We did have fun though! We laid out, read books, ate otter pops and drumsticks like crazy, swam, took rides in the paddle boat and on the paddle board, skied, wake surfed, and relaxed. It was pretty perfect. Bridger, of course, loved the water, and didn't even mind wearing his life jacket (thank goodness!).

Bridger even wake surfed with Toph! He definitely didn't love it, but I wasn't expecting him to, so it's ok. It was a good photo op though! Toph was a good sport and took all the babies, and was so tired after it was all said and done. It was fun to see all of them out there, though, and you better believe we'll be doing it again next year!

4th of July at the lake is pretty great. We did some little fireworks the night before, and B kinda liked it! He was pretty attached to this little tank firework (because it had wheels), and wasn't amused when we had to light it off. It didn't do much. He was pretty tired by the time we did sparklers, but was pretty fixated on them still. He really liked the big fireworks, though. All around the lake, people shoot off big fireworks over the water. It's really fun, and this year was no exception.

One week really isn't long enough, but we'll take what we can get! Already can't wait until next year....

And now for a total overload of pictures of the vacay.


















 











Thursday, July 11, 2013

sister visit

Paige came to visit again in June!

It was so much fun to have her here, especially after just getting to see her the month before for little Mad's blessing.

We stayed pretty busy this time around. We went to the pool, to the park, shopping, Hudson Gardens, out to dinner, to the outdoor movie at Aspen Grove, and played around outside with the kids.

We can't wait to have them come back to visit this Christmas. Madden is going to be crawling, and talking, and eating food, and Bridger is going to LOVE him even more!

I love seeing Bridger interact with Madden. He's really so sweet with him, and it's pretty adorable. He will just randomly come up to him, and kiss him on the face or on the head. He did get a little jealous, though. If my mom put Madden down on a blanket on the floor, Bridger had to be on the blanket, too (even if it was just a small corner). If my mom or dad picked up Madden, Bridger was close behind, wanting to be held, too. If everyone was cooing at Madden, there was Bridger, trying to get everyone's attention back on him. Needless to say, Bridger is well loved in these parts :)














 We miss you Paige and Madden. Come back sooooooon!

June Happenings

Did June go by in a flash, or was it just me?
 




































This is Baby Time. It's at the library, and they sing songs, and read stories, and play with toys. Bridger loved it!


Garage sale finds.
 




































Another garage sale find. And B likes to sit in it more than anything. (I'm sure the fact that Big Fella fills it with warm water, making it his personal little hot tub has nothing to do with it!) He's also naked a lot these days. It's just so hot here right now!






































Swimming at Grandma GG's pool. And crackin' while he's at it :)





































Splash Pad fun. This park is like 5 minutes from our new house! You will find us here often! Maybe even daily :)

 Hanging out with the big kids, of course.






































Same park. They also have this little wading/stream area that's perfect for B. He was in heaven, splashing around, walking up and down the stream, making friends with all the big kids.





































Weekly concert in the park.





































Rockies Game.







































First bite of Dippin' Dots. He was unsure at first, but LOVED it as soon as he figured out what it was exactly.
 




































First Tatoo. A puppy riding a firetruck. Pretty intimidating, right??


He loves hats. But not his own. He loves anyone else's hat. This is my cousin Aaron's hat, and B thought he was pretttttty cool wearing this cowboy hat sideways. Look at him checking himself out!