The past couple weeks we have been keeping ourselves busy here in the beautiful, sunny mountain weather. It's been in the upper 70's and bright and sunny.
Just what have we been up to?? The Dillon BBQ was a couple weekends ago, which is nice, because it's located only a couple blocks from our house, so we can walk over anytime. Steve and Stacia came up Friday. We went to the Tiki Bar for lunch and then met up with Sarah, Brian and Rowan at the BBQ that evening. Casey loved the ribs, and also enjoyed kielbasa, lemonade, and a yummy piece of cheesecake on a stick. Casey and Rowan played and ate all night long. Saturday, we took the jeep driving up Boreas Pass in Breckenridge. There is an old deserted mining town at the summit where we stopped and had a picnic lunch. Tuesday we met up with Sarah, Kaelin and Graham at their water park in Denver again. Casey had so much fun, she immediately fell asleep when we got in the car for the ride home. This past Saturday, Stan biked Casey in her bike trailer over to Keystone for lunch, playground and a little moonbounce. Sunday, we took the jeep over Shrine Pass in Vail. We started at Vail Pass and drove 10 miles over Shrine Pass to Red Cliff for lunch at Mangos. These are pretty easy jeep roads, a little bumpy here and there, enough to enjoy the jeep, but not too much to upset my pregnant belly:) Casey seems to enjoy the rides, looking at the flowers and creeks. Sometimes the bumpy ride even lulls her to sleep.
We went to the pool today and Casey was jumping into her ring from the side. She still doesn't put her face underwater, but she's getting more and more comfortable. She starts swim lessons in September.
Casey has been amazing us with little things here an there. She can now make herself swing by leaning and pumping her legs. She can climb all over the playground and is back to liking the slides. She can almost go down the fire pole by herself. She can dress herself (when she wants to), including undies, shirt, shorts, socks and shoes. She now goes to the potty by herself (when she wants to) and can do the whole process by herself (when she wants to). She doesn't even "pee just a little bit" in her undies anymore before deciding to go potty. She is very interested in pointing out things of one color, then when we've exhausted that color, she'll pick another one and point out everything that is that color. She is excellent with her counting and saying the alphabet. She is now learning how to trace around mazes and is learning to trace her letters.
I am 26 weeks along and still feeling good. Baby Boy likes to move around A LOT.
Good Morning
Going on a jeep ride
at the top of Boreas Pass
proof that we are at Boreas Pass
view of Breckenridge Ski Resort from Boreas Pass road
Red Cliff, Mangos Restaurant where we ate lunch
we didn't actually take this trail but it was at the summit of Shrine Pass
"I'm so glad we're home." Casey keeps saying this since we got back from our East Coast vacation. She definitely missed her toys. Whenever we go somewhere, the minute we get back she heads straight upstairs and starts playing. At the moment, she'd rather stay and play then go anywhere. She gets up in the morning and says, "Mom, I'm going to play upstairs for 5 minutes while you make breakfast."
Speaking of 5 minutes and breakfast...Casey is quite the negotiator. I'll tell her that when we get home she needs to get ready for nap and she'll say, "how about 2 minutes, then nap." This is all the time now!! And as far as breakfast and snacks, "Mom, I'll show you what cereal I want." She runs downstairs, opens the cabinets, "Ummmmm...this one." She is also into picking out her underwear, clothes and socks...she's very into socks at the moment.
She has become very independent. She can undress and dress herself. She can go to the potty by herself, though she still asks for help some of the time, but every once in a while she tells me to leave the bathroom because she can do it herself. She still wears a pull up while sleeping, but is finally potty trained!! She says she will be done with pull ups by the time baby gets here, but I'm not holding my breath.
This week was a fun week at home. We went to the Rec Center a couple of times, where we have been missed! We made it to the Farmer's Market in Dillon with Sarah and Rowan. Casey ate donuts and a snowcone for lunch. Sarah, Kaelin and Graham came on Friday/Saturday to hang while Stan headed to their house to help install wood floors. Sat we took the kids to the Frisco Marina to check out the Classic Boat Show and play on the playground. Yesterday, we went to a waterpark with Jack from her daycare and a couple friends from Denver; Sarah and her kids Kaelin and Graham and Astra and her twins, Makenna and Lainey. We had a blast and got lots of sun!
Had another ultrasound today and baby boy looks very healthy and is very active! I am 25 weeks tomorrow.
Enjoy pix.
Baby Ella, Casey and Lainey hanging out in the camper while camping in Steamboat
Going back to school with her new backpack and lunch bag
Found out that Casey will have a brother, due to arrive Thanksgiving Day.
We are back home after a 6 week trip to the East Coast.
After a week at the beach, we headed to Lake Gaston to Grandma Gail and Grampa Tom's lakehouse for 2 weeks. The first week was just us and the grandparents. The rest of the July 4th crew showed up Friday, Aunt Kelly, Aunt Marcy, Uncle Stuart, cousins Lily and Jack, Alli, Davis and Alex. Casey had tons of fun kneeboarding, hot dogging, slip and sliding, swinging, sliding, swimming, pontooning, jet skiing, feeding the fish and playing and entertaining everyone. Lots to do at the lake.
We left Casey with Grandma and Grampa and headed off to the Outer Banks for the weekend, along with Aunt Kel. We then headed up to Northern VA for a week and a half. We met my friend Melanie and her 2 girls, Cheyenne and Jaydenne up at my old pool, Old Keene Mill, for a morning of swimming. We met Dyani, Frank and their son Harper at the DC Zoo. We had dinner at Jeff and Jessica's and got to play with their 3 girls, Caroline, Izzi and Faith. And we got to visit Kris, Brian and their 4 kids, Emelia, Ellie, Erin and Evan, where they road scooters all over the neighborhood. While Grandma and Grampa babysat, Stan and I even got in a few nights out with Matt and Kelly at The Birchmere, to see Edwin McCain and dinner in DC with Marcy and Kelly.
We headed back down to Roanoke, to visit Gramma Lois before heading back to CO!
Casey learned a lot of new tricks from all her friends and cousins. She is pretty good at riding a scooter. She is becoming quite a swimmer, even jumping into the pool without holding onto our hands now. Her face goes underwater a little bit and it doesn't seem to bother her. Her vocabulary is amazing...it's scary what she picks up from us. She has quite a personality. She can be shy at first, but after a few minutes, she is very outgoing, likes to delegate toys and activities to everyone. She wants to try everything, but if something doesn't go right she is pretty adamant about not doing it again. She talks non-stop and can be a bit of a drama queen when things don't go her way. But she is a fun little 3 year old.
She seems to have figured out daytime potty training. She stayed dry the entire 3 day road trip back to CO. That was quite an accomplishment. Now it's time to work on staying dry during naptime and bedtime.
Thanks to our families for letting us take over your lives for 6 weeks! We had so much fun! It was great seeing everyone. Come visit us out here in Colorado anytime!!
cheese
swimming with jack
riding in the golf cart with Lily, Jack and Grandma
We drove to VA and arrived at Grandma Gail and Grampa Tom's house on June 12th. Aunt Marcy, Uncle Stuart, Lily and Jack and Daisy were all there to welcome us to the East Coast. We went over to Aunt Marcy & Uncle Stuart's house on Tuesday to pick Lily up from the bus stop, play with all of Lily and Jack's toys and have some dinner. Wednesday, Casey and I, went to visit Jessica and her kids, Hunter, Jake and baby Maddie. Thursday, Casey and I drove to Aunt Marcy's to drop Frisco off for a couple weeks. We went for a nice long walk/strider ride through the park, to lunch and then to Lily's school to pick her up on her last day. We then picked Stan up and headed down to Roanoke to pick Gramma Lois up and head to the Beach for a week.
We spent a week in Emerald Isle, NC with Stan's family: Gramma Lois, Aunt Lisa, cousins Ashlynne, Morganne & Max, Great Aunt Linda, Great Uncle Marvin, Auntie Cousin Blair and cousin Grayson. It was a fun filled week! The cousins got along great! Casey was a little nervous about the ocean at first, but after a few days of getting used to the water crashing into shore then heading out, she started to get the hang of it. She was jumping over the waves (on the shore) and we even got her and Max out in the deep water swimming on their own. Casey loved the sand. Had no problem rolling in it and getting all kinds of sandy.
As for Casey...she is quite the entertainer. She sings constantly, making up her own songs a lot. This week she sang the days of the week song over and over and over. Her other song is "I'm a princess" where she just keeps saying this over and over and then will throw in a few lines like, "and you're not a princess" or "you're a prince and I'm a princess." When she's not singing, she's talking. She is picking up all kinds of sayings and new words and so far the only letter she has trouble with is Y. She calls yogurt, logurt and yellow, lellow. We're not too worried, yet.
Casey wants to wish Happy Belated Birthdays to Gramma Lois (June 13) and Morganne (June 25) and a Happy Birthday to Max (June 30). Also, Happy 4th of July to everyone! Have fun and be safe!
Casey was a big winner this weekend in the 1st ever Strider Cup at Keystone. There were 24 racers in the 2/3 year old division. Casey got 2nd place behind her classmate Wyatt (who turns 4 in Sept). She was the only girl in the semi finals/finals. I don't think she even realizes how good she was, but she had a blast. There was an hour of practice and she would go down the track, then turn around and head straight back to the start line to go again. After each round, she would say, "I wanna go again."
Gramma Lois was in town for the big race. She got to Colorado on Thursday after 2 weeks in Miami. She is hanging with us until Tuesday. Casey is having a blast with her Gramma.
The week was a busy one for Casey. She went to the Dentist on Thursday and got her Summer haircut on Friday. For the teeth cleaning she wanted to sit up and was a bit nervous at first, but after Miss Becky let the toothbrush tickle Casey's finger, Casey was ready to let it tickle her teeth. By the time the Dentist came in to check her teeth, she laid back and opened her mouth no problem. Saturday was the race and then off to Dillon's 4th birthday party Saturday afternoon. Sunday we went back to Keystone for the Summer Mix party, including music, lunch, free snow cones and a little playtime with Dillon and Connor.
Update on potty training...she is much much better. She now tells us when she has to go #1 and #2. She does still wears a pull up at nap and bedtime.
On to pix and video...
at the dentist. no cavities. 20 teeth. 10 on top, 10 on bottom.
happy to have her gramma lois to hang out with
at the starting line during practice
in mid race
being smothered by Riparoo
at the starting line during practice with Wyatt and Asher (these 3 were in the final and place 2, 1, 3 from left to right)
on stage accepting her 2nd place prize bag
taking a moment to say cheese at Dillon's 4th birthday party
enjoying a snow cone with Dillon and Connor at Keystone's Summer Mix party
post snow cone. we'll see if we can get that shirt white again.
Just a quick update. Casey went to her 3 year old check up today with Dr. Britton. She weighs 30 lbs and is 3 feet 1 inch (37 inches). She is 50th percentile for both weight and height, which she has been since day 1. She answered all of Dr. Britton's questions and was very good during the exam. She got 1 shot, the new pneumonia shot.
She def takes after her mom on shots...she tenses up. She was sitting on my lap and I looked at the needle and tensed up too! We both made it through with just a few tears. Casey got a lollipop, a pencil and 2 stickers!!
Casey turned 3 on May 1st. We celebrated at Abasin Ski Resort, what is known as "The Beach." It snowed most of the day, but everyone had a good time. We grilled out and had cupcakes. Casey made one run down the bunny hill, then played in the snow with her friends. It was a joint party with Rowan, who also turned 3 on May 1st. After we got home and took a long nap, we opened presents. Casey loves all of her gifts, she has been playing with all her new toys ever since she opened them!
We're hoping 3 brings us a potty trained little girl (though she just peed in the kitchen tonight), less whining, and a lot more independence. She is definitely starting to be more independent. She can put her undies and pants on by herself, when she wants to. She likes to open things herself now (wrappers, bags, doors, everything really). She is showing a bit of shyness lately when she is in a new environment or around new people. She doesn't like to be the center of attention. We'll see if that changes now that she's 3.
I had a birthday on Friday, April 29th. Stan planned a trip to Denver for the night. We, including Casey, went to dinner at Vesta Dipping Grille with Chrissy and Andrew, who were still in town from NY, then went to the Colorado Rockies baseball game. We had great seats in the club level, which was nice since it started to snow in the 7th inning. The Rockies lost, but we had a good time. We stayed in a hotel in downtown Denver Friday night. Saturday, we met up with Mark, Amy and baby Ella for a "hike," which is more of a walk on a dirt road when you have a 3 year old with you. Casey did pretty good on the hike. She walked a majority of the way and had fun throwing rocks and sticks in the stream that we followed.
It's still snowing out here. We are hoping that brighter Spring weather will come soon.
Casey wants to wish her Grampa Tom congratulations on Retirement...time to be a full time Grampa!
Early Happy Birthday to Grandma Gail who will most likely be celebrating for the next 2 weeks, but whose birthday is on May 7th and to Aunt Marcy who's birthday is on May 8th!!
Happy Mother's Day to all Mom's!
enjoying the rockies game
the birthday girls
digging into her birthday cupcake
saying cheese before taking her own pix with her new camera
It's been snowing all week! We've been waking to 5-9" almost everyday. Got some final days of riding in at Breckenridge this week. Today was closing day for the rest of the big resorts. Not to worry, Abasin will stay open through May.
Last Sat, we got a babysitter for Casey, then headed to Vail with Kathy, Sean, Sarah and Brian to see the band Train, for free! Casey had a blast with the new babysitter and we had a blast without the kids:) Then, last Sunday, Stan took Casey to Copper for another free concert, a Guns and Roses tribute band, Appetite for Destruction. The end of the season festivities.
My friend Chrissy and her husband Andrew came into town this past Friday. We wandered around Breckenridge yesterday while the snow came down hard. They celebrated Easter with us this morning, then headed for a road trip, but will be back later in the week.
The Easter bunny was good to Casey. So were here Grandparents!! Thursday, Casey dyed eggs. Sat night the Easter bunnies hid them and Easter morning Casey was able to find all 12 without too much help. She was very excited about the hunt and her Easter baskets.
We then met Dillon and Connor in Frisco for another Easter egg hunt. Then after naps, we headed to Copper for a free concert, Reel Big Fish. They were very entertaining and Casey had a blast dancing on our shoulders. It snowed the whole time!
Though the snow is still coming down, the temps are rising, so the snow melts quickly, which makes it a bit muddy out here...mudseason.
Casey is getting better at potty training. She still has several accidents during the week, but not every day. More like every other day or sometimes every few days. And sometimes it's just a little accident on the way to the potty. She even told us a couple times that she had to go potty. We're getting there slowly. She still wears a pull up at nap and bedtime. We're just trying to get the daytime training done. Hopefully by her 3rd birthday we can say she's potty trained?? Doesn't hurt to dream.
Casey wants to wish her Grandpa Tom a very Happy Belated Birthday!! And Everyone a Happy Easter!
Enjoy pix...videos will come later...
dying easter eggs
daddy riding his new bike, casey riding her strider
