Emerald Isle

We're back from a beautiful, relaxing week at the beach.

Tracy and Casey flew to Raleigh Friday night, Stan drove down to Roanoke to pick up his mom, Gramma Lois, then headed down to Raleigh to pick us up. Saturday morning we headed to Emerald Isle, by way of Harriett's parent's restaurant in Rose Hill, NC...best lemon blueberry meringue pie...mmm. Lisa, Dave, Ashlynne, Morganne and Max arrived Saturday night.

Casey LOVED the beach. We started her off slow the first day, by sitting her on a towel. She sat there for a few minutes, started playing with the sand and that was the end of being "cautious." Casey crawled all over the beach, straight towards the water, sat on the shore as the waves washed up on her, she would splash and laugh.

Casey is also a complete walker now. She started off the week with her regular few steps, fall, get up, few steps, fall, crawl. Ended the week walking like a pro. She had to keep up with her cousins!!

Enjoy the pix and video.

taking a walk on daddy's shoulders

gazing at the ocean

our little beach girl

hanging with gramma lois

playing in the sand

uncle dave feeding the two little kiddos

cousins

having fun on max's boogie board

taking it all in

@ the beach

Sorry no post this week, but we're on vacation! And though I could do it from my blackberry, I'd rather not, since I'm on vacation!

Check back mon for a recap and pix from our beach trip to emerald isle, nc.

Casey loves the sand, ocean and playing with her cousins!

It's Time To Go Racing

Memorial Weekend was spent in Charlotte, NC for the Nascar Coca Cola 600 Race. Tracy and Casey flew to VA the Thursday before Memorial Day. Stan picked us from the airport, then we were off to Roanoke to drop Casey off with Gramma Lois for the weekend. Friday, we drove on down to Charlotte to meet up with our annual Charlotte group, including Jessica & Craig, Jessica's dad, Pam, siblings Ashley and Nick and friends Tony, Mike and Chris.

It was a rainy weekend. We tailgated all day and for the most part the rained stayed away and it was just overcast, but each night, when it was time for the race, the rain came down hard. The Saturday night race happened, all but 30ish laps. Sunday's race was rained out and rescheduled for Monday. Unfortunately, we couldn't stay. It ended up being a stop and go race anyway because of the rain and they ended it early, so we're kind of glad we didn't stay.

Casey had a fun weekend with Gramma Lois. She showed off her walking and cuteness to everyone who came by to see her.

We headed back up to NOVA for the rest of the week. Tuesday we visited Gramma Gail and her bowling team. We got to have dinner with Dyani, Frank and Harper on Wed night. Thursday night we ventured to Matt and Kelly's new place on the Potomac River. Friday was picture day with cousins Lily and Jack. Unfortunately, Jack was a little under the weather, but I believe the photographer did get a few good ones of Casey. We'll post them when they arrive!

The flight back to CO Casey slept the entire flight on her daddy's lap. The weekend was filled with house chores. Casey did play with her sand and water table Sat and Sun morning. She swam in her pool on Sunday. Sunday night at dinner she took a bite of chicken and started screaming and melting down like she was hurt. When she finally started calming down, we were fishing the chicken out of her mouth and saw that her bottom right molar had popped through...I would be screaming too!! She has been walking around like crazy. Still a little unsure about it, but can take a lot more steps before falling. She'll be a pro in no time.

We head to the beach with Stan's family on Friday for the week...so we'll be posting from Emerald Isle, NC next Monday!!

hanging with Gramma Lois

sucking on a knife during a tea party

at the track Sat night

in the rain before the race

we visited Great Gramma Katie while in VA

Casey and Harper

sporting some new shades

Somebody's Walking...

I was picking up stuff in the living room, turned around and there was Casey, walking.

She pushed herself up, looked at me, smiled, took a few steps, got really excited, fell, then tried again. She kept trying over and over.

Here's some video. (sorry for the smudge...i cleaned the lens after the video. YAY!!!

Warm Weather has Arrived

This week brought beautiful weather, lots of sun and warmer temps. I took Casey swimming on Thursday. Friday, Casey played with her sand and water table and made a complete mess. She splashes around, then takes a shovel, gets it wet, then leans over and touches Frisco with it. She did this over and over again. Frisco just sat there and took it. It probably felt nice, because it was a warm week! Today we had sand in the table, finally. She was a little unsure at first, but after poking the sand a couple times and taking a couple tastes, she became a pro with the shovel and rake.

Saturday, Tracy started with her half marathon training by running 4 miles, while Stan, Casey and Frisco went for a hike. Later, we had Sarah, Brian and Rowan (Casey's shared bday friend) and Mark over for burgers on the grill and some playtime.

Saturday we went for a 3 1/2 hour hike on the Meadow Creek/Eccles Pass trail. We didn't make it as far as Eccles Pass, because there was still too much snow on the trail as we got to the higher elevation, but we made it high enough for some amazing views. Casey was great. She sang, talked, checked out the scenery, got a nap in, had some lunch, then more singing and talking. The Tiki Bar is now open, so we met Mark over there for happy hour, then headed over to ACafe for Burger Night.

This morning Casey got some sand and water table time in, then after lunch, she went swimming in her Whale pool. This was trial 2...the water was much warmer than trial 1 and she loved it. She eased into...sat there for a little bit, then started splashing, then she felt comfortable enough to crawl around. After her swim, she said goodbye to Daddy, then took a 2 1/2 hour nap...someone was exhausted!

BTW, As I'm writing this blog, I'm watching Casey on the video monitor as she crawls all over her crib throwing her blankeys and stuffed animals around...she's supposed to be sleeping!!!

We head to VA on Thursday. Coca Cola 600 baby...

looks like a big girl in this pic

so excited to be playing with her sand and water table

the hike has REALLY tired her out...check out Frisco sneaking into the pic

eating some lunch at the top of our hike

hiking

Colorado Road Trip

What a weekend! Stan planned a Colorado road trip to celebrate Tracy's birthday. He flew in Thursday night so we could leave on Friday for a trip down to Durango, in Southwest Colorado. It's a 6 hour drive from Dillon.

We drove down through Leadville, Buena Vista, Poncho Springs, Wolf Creek and Pagosa Springs. We got to Durango Friday evening and set up camp at Junction Creek Campground right outside the town of Durango, near the Colorado Trail. It was a huge campsite (C1, if anyone ever goes). Our new tent was perfect! Not too big, not too small.

Saturday morning we dropped Frisco off at a kennel nearby while we went to Mesa Verde National Park. This is where there are Cliff Dwellings from the Pueblo peoople dating back to 600-1300 AD. We got to walk around in the Spruce Tree House dwelling. The views from the park are absolutely amazing...pictures don't do it justice! After picking up Frisco, we headed into Durango. We walked along the Animas River and then down main street. We then met up with a friend of Stan's, who lives in Durango, for dinner. Then back to camp.

Casey slept in her tent inside our tent and she did great. Friday night was a bit chilly and we put Casey in a pretty puffy one piece...think "A Christmas Story" kid. She woke up a couple times because she couldn't move. She was stuck on her back...however, her thumb was free and she could bend her arm enough to get it in her mouth. The third time she woke up, Tracy used a blanket to tilt her on her side...which seemed to help, because she didn't wake again until 6:30 a.m. She then joined Stan in his sleeping bag for another hour of sleep, thank goodness. Saturday night was a little warmer, and we bought a fleece one piece for her earlier that day, which worked out much better!!

Casey was a good little camper. She enjoyed her meals in her travel high chair, which we attached to the top of the picnic table. She was interested in eating the sticks she found on the ground. By the last day she was crawling around the dirt while we packed up the car.

Sunday we headed out of town by way of our friend Mary's house, just north of town. We kept heading north...had lunch in Silverton, then passed through Ouray, where we saw Box Canyon Falls, a dramatic waterfall inside canyon walls. We got up to Montrose, then headed East on 50, through Gunnison. Had dinner in Salida. It was a long ride home, but we saw some beautiful scenery and fantastic views. We went through at least 6 mountain passes on our trip. It was a FUN weekend.

Monday we hung out at the house. We did some yard work, put up Casey's new whale pool (the tail is a slide)...she wasn't a big fan because the water was cold, but we'll get organized and she WILL love it.

Happy Belated Mom's Day to all you fantastic mom's out there.
Happy Belated Birthday to Gramma Gail
Happy Belated Birthday to Aunt Marcy!

Enjoy the pix.

starting the road trip out right!

playing at the campground

first night in her big puffy outfit...stuck on her side

good morning

at mesa verde national park

the cliff dwellings

another view of the cliff dwellings

hanging in the backyard

ONE year old

Casey went to her 1 year old Doctor appt yesterday. She weighed in at 19 lbs 15 oz, is 29 1/4 inches long and her head is 18 inches round. She is in the 40 percentile in everything.

Doctor loved that she smiled the entire time, except of course when she got her shots. She got a Nemo sticker after her shots, which made her smile again:)

You Say It's Your BIRTHDAY...

Casey was officially 1 on May 1st! (oh and Tracy celebrated her 30's again on April 29th)

Gramma Gail, Grampa Tom and Aunt Kel came to town for the celebration. Casey loved her cupcakes...she got to have one with vanilla icing and one with chocolate icing. She dove right in, got it all over her face and up her nose.

Being 1 has brought on a lot of new things...

*First cupcake...(don't mind the background chaos:))



*Casey went down the slide all by herself. On her stomach feet first.



*She rode in her new wagon (compliments of Gramma Gail and Grampa Tom) up to the playground. She loves the ride!

*She's riding face forward in the car now...in her new carseat.

*She is dying to walk!! She took 4 steps on Friday, unfortunately the video camera was not rolling. She continues to stand on her own (even pushing herself up from the floor), squating and taking a step here and there.

While the grandparents were in town, we visited Aunt Kel's CU campus in Boulder, visited Breckenridge for lunch, checked out Keystone at it's dead time, and visited Central City, an old mining town, now occupied by casinos.

Casey wants to thank everyone for the birthday wishes and gifts!

hanging at keystone

3 generations at lake dillon

happy birthday to me

mmmmm...this is good...

daddy, mommy and birthday girl

grampa taking casey for a ride in her new wagon

grampa tom and gramma gail with casey

Baby Steps

Casey is on her way to walking. This weekend she was standing by herself and then moved her foot a little forward, followed by an immediate fall to the ground. She has done this a handful of times now. Very exciting! She has also learned how to sign "more." This is extremely exciting for mom and dad...we have been working on this since she was about 6months. She can also sign "milk." We're still working on "please" and "thank you."

She's gotten very clingy to mom the past week. She'll be playing with dad in the living room, mom will be in the kitchen...she'll realize this, crawl into the kitchen and grab at mom's legs, pull herself up, put her head between mom's legs and whine, wanting to be picked up.

Last week, we went swimming with Dee and her son Jack (21 months old). I brought her sit-in raft, so she could walk around by herself. She also went down the whale slide and when she got to the bottom, she kept trying to crawl off into the rest of the pool. No fear! She loves the water...whether it be the pool or the bathtub!!

Gramma Gail, Grampa Tom and Aunt Kel will be around starting tomorrow. Coming into town for Tracy and Casey's bdays. Should be lots of pix for next weeks blog!

coloring with crayons

chowing down on dad's casey-size homemade pancakes...yummy!!

oh, hi!

relaxing in her raft...

19 lb Tantrums

I forgot to mention that our sweet little girl was 19 lbs at 11 1/2 months and has phased into mini-tantrums.

Just yesterday, when I wouldn't allow her into the bathroom (I had shut the door and she could not open it) she started crying. When she realized I wasn't going to open the door, she let out an even louder cry. When she realized I was ignoring her...she laid on her stomach on the ground in front of the bathroom door and cried for about a minute. She finally pulled herself together and crawled over to her toys.

She has been doing this in her high chair too. If we don't give her something fast enough she starts a whine...then peeks at us to see if we're getting it for her. If we aren't, she belts out a loud cry, etc. She's getting much better as the days go on. We are just hoping that she starts to realize (sooner than later) that she is not going to get her way by whining.

We've been trying to teach her sign language for words like "please," "more," "thank you," and "all done," however, she seems determined not to learn them. Or at least to not show us that she's learning them. When we try and guide her hand through the motion she tries so hard to pull it away.

Keeping our fingers crossed that this stage won't last long.

Missed Powder

A day late, but def worth waiting for....right!?

Our house got finished yesterday! All the trim and ceiling beams are sanded, stained, put up; the painting is done; the deck railing is tightened; new light put up for our rentors. Fantastic and they finished 3 days early. Why, because the weather is beautiful this week and our workers wanted to go fishing.

Last week was very hectic with all the work going on in the house. Thursday Casey, Frisco and I headed to Denver to visit our friends Geoff and Sarah and their new baby boy, Graham. We then went over to Mark and Amy's new house in the heart of Denver for the night. We woke Friday to a wet snowy mess, however Casey and I made it to the Denver Aquarium that morning. Casey loved the aquarium. She would stare and point at the fish and laugh. We had lunch in the aquarium restaurant and got a free coke!! We then cruised over to the mall for a couple hours, and then dinner at a yummy bbq restaurant, where Casey tried bbq pork, corn muffins, cole slaw, spiced apples and pickles and loved all of them, oh, and we got a free milk!

Speaking of milk, Casey is drinking milk and seems to like it. She's getting much better at her sippy cup, now realizing that it actually has stuff to drink in it...and it's not just a toy.

Friday night we picked Stan up from the airport then headed back over to Mark and Amy's because I-70 was closed. Yep, we missed 2 powder days in the mountains!!!

We did finally make it up Saturday afternoon and got to go riding at Breckenridge on Sunday and Abasin on Monday.

where's casey?

here i am!

puttin' on her shoe

White Easter

It was a hectic week for us. The interior of our house is being worked on...sanding and staining trim, ceiling beam and columns, and soon painting the rest of the house...or at least the main level. We have hired someone to do it! So, Casey, Frisco and I were kicked out Wednesday - Friday, and will be again this week. We do get to come back in the evening for dinner and to sleep in our own beds.

Wednesday, Casey got her first real bruise at daycare. She supposedly pulled on a drawer and it came out faster than she expected and nailed her right between the eyes. No broken skin, but it was definitely swollen when I picked her up and there was a slash mark bruise in between her eyes.

We went swimming on Thursday, just Tracy and Casey. Casey is getting very comfortable on her back and swimming on her belly. She got to stand on her own on the steps and hold on to the wall, which she really enjoyed. It gave her a great view of all the other kids in the pool...so she could stare/people watch.

This weekend was a busy one. We were able to "move" back into the house while Stan was home. Saturday Stan made a really yummy spice cake from scratch. We celebrated our hard work in the kitchen by heading to the Breckenridge BeerFest. We met up with Erica to listen to bands and taste the beers from the various breweries. We finished the afternoon with 2 for 1 apps at Bubba Gump. Casey was a trooper. She spent the afternoon smiling at everyone, passed out for an hour while the band was playing really loud, then hammed it up for everyone at Bubba Gump. She slept well that night!

Sunday, we awoke to new snow on the ground, hence the "White Easter" title. Aunt Kel came over for Brunch, an egg hunt, and some riding at Keystone. Keystone is now closed for the season:(

Monday we were kicked out of the house again, so we went to ABasin so Stan could snowboard in the morning. We then took a scenic route to Denver. We ate lunch at Beaujous in Idaho Spring (famous for their Mountain Pies/pizza's); backtracked to Empire's Diary King for yummy milkshakes; drove "Oh My God" road a very narrow, mostly dirt road going over the mountain from Idaho Springs to Central City (known for their Casino's); took a detour off I-70 to Echo Mountain, basically a terrain park ski resort; dinner at Wahoo Fish Tacos; then dropped Stan off at the airport.

Casey hopes everyone had a Happy Easter!
And she wants to with Grampa Tom a very Happy Birthday on Tuesday!!! See you soon!

chillin' in her chair

bundled up for the beerfest

our easter "bunny"

the other easter "bunny"

showing off her easter dress

last day of riding at keystone

she jumped on that buffalo and rode it...just like her grandma gail

1 down 3 to go

The chandelier is up!

Frisco turned 9 years old!!
Casey has dropped her lunch bottle!

Casey's new schedule:

7:30 - wakes up

8:00 - breakfast & 4-6 oz bottle

10:00 - nap (1 to 1 1/2 hours)

Noon - lunch w/sippy cup of water

2:00 - nap (1 to 1 1/2 hours)

4:00 - snack & 6 oz bottle

6:15 - dinner w/sippy cup of water

8:00 - 8 oz bottle then BED

She's a really good eater. She eats waffles, bananas, vege sausage links, cheerios, puffs, watermelon (her fav), bread/toast, chix nuggets, meatballs, ravioli, green beans (fav), broccoli, corn, pasta, and really anything we give her.

We've been on a bunch of walks this week and a couple times we've been able to stop at the playground for some swinging...which Casey thinks swinging is so funny, she literally cracks up. She's not a huge fan of the slide yet...she's not afraid of it, just doesn't really get it.

Casey and Frisco are becoming better housemates lately. I wouldn't call them friends just yet, but it's coming. Frisco now just stays put when Casey is poking her, patting her, climbing on her or touching her feet. Casey is definitely more interested in Frisco now too. She enjoys handing Frisco a bone and then watching her chew it. She gets excited when she comes downstairs in the morning...she always looks around for Frisco, then points at her and smiles when she sees her. She's petting her now, and she's learning to brace herself for Frisco kisses and Frisco's tail.

Thursday, Tracy and Casey volunteered at Casey's daycare for a couple hours. We helped out in the 3-4 year old room. The kids LOVED having a baby in the room. They would bring her toys, then take them away. They had all kinds of questions about her. But mostly, they just stood really close and stared at Casey.

Saturday we ventured out into the cold, snowy day for the Breckenridge 150 Party, which ended up being pretty lame, so we ducked into Whale's Tail Restaurant and Bar to watch the Final Four. Casey had a field day hamming it up for the nearby tables.

Sunday, our neighbor babysat Casey for a couple hours so Stan and Tracy could go snowboarding together. The night was finished off with hot tubbing, then a mean game of FooDaPoo...just like the old days...BC (before Casey).

"ok, enough smiles...where's my food?!"

let me get closer

daddy and casey playing in our new tent, yes we set it up in the living room

side view of our new tent