Colorado: we officially set sail!

Ahh…that story over (see previous post!), we finally got on our way. Here are some of my favorite shots of the start of our trip:

J and are nerdy enough to be in awe of this road warrior that pulled up next to us in Decatur. It was awesome!:

B enjoying her 1st rest stop (well, 1st one that she got out to see!) in Iowa City:

Penny proving to my mom that we stopped at the DQ in Chillicothe (my mom is an EXPERT at driving to CO and she always stops here):

And next to the DQ was this deliciously adorable shop for my fresh pecan-loving hubby:

Miss B watching Dora/Yo Gabba/Blue/Kai-Lan…thanks, Syble, for letting us borrow the DVD player! (notice the driver…):

My little one was already a little tired of being in her seat after about 4 hours and needed company (and when B gets attention, so does my lap dog):

We had a great stay at the Residence Inn in Amarillo and they are very pet-friendly! Great rate for pets AND free happy hour! That’s right…I said FREE (that means free beverages!). Here’s a clip of how B entertained herself in our little suite:

 

After a good night’s sleep, we got up at 4am hoping B would sleep a while (and she did!) and got to see the amazing wind farm in Vega like usual, but at 4am it looks more like an alien light show! All I can say is check it out sometime…daytime is awesome, but nighttime is craaaazy awesome.

Brr! It was about 50 degrees in the New Mexico desert at 7am….my little bundle:

Entertaining herself with the toys at the Colorado Welcome Center in Trinidad…the very same ones my sisters and I used to play with every time we stopped there :)

We made it to the Colorado Springs airport to pick up Amanda at 10am and then finally drove through Ute Pass, past Pike’s Peak and up the familiar rode to the Woodland Park house where we all got settled in….ahh…

Here’s a pic of house. I wish it had this much snow during the summer! This is a shot of the house during the December blizzard of 2006 when we were all snowed in for 3 days. Remember that, Jill??? I know you do!

The trip can finally begin! Stay tuned…

Colorado: the first try

Well, I know its been weeks since our annual summer Colorado trip, but since my laptop has been a little toot, i haven’t had the patience to post all my pics and thoughts…until now! Let me begin with the greatest story of the trip (and the trip didn’t even start until the next day!):

B and I went to our last Kindermusik class on Tuesday, June 2osomething (I said it had been a while) and had planned to pack the car upon our return and leave around 2-3 so we’d make it to Amarillo before it was super late. In regular Adamo fashion, we didn’t leave the house until 5:30. I was already crabby, but at least we were on the road. Baby in her seat, mom and dad in the front, “Eclipse” in my book bag (Amanda and I were going to see it in CO!), the pooch in her own little area and all our crap in the back (leaving for 10 days with a baby and a 100 lb crate-trained dog makes for a lot of stuff!)…we were set! Oh, I forgot to mention the soft pack J loaded on the roof that we use each time. It’s called the Kangapack and its been in the Williams family for about 15 years. Off we go…

After spending about 30 extra minutes in North 35 traffic, we exited 380…again, I was crabby. How did I feel when J pulled over saying he forgot his charts he had to practice for a gig? Argh!!!! I was so pissed but I couldn’t say no to going home to get them…he really needed them. At this rate, we’d be getting to Amarillo at about 2am. I’m pissed and we’re passing the Lewisville Lake Bridge and *SNAP*…that’s right…the Kanga flies off in the middle of rush hour traffic on the bridge. I screamed and immediately burst into tears. We exited and turned….saw the pack…travelled back over the bridge…exited and turned again…came back to the pack and it was obliterated. The jogging stroller (tear!), the pack-n-play (i’d just scored it on craigslist…it was an XL size for playtime), and the Kelty baby hiking pack ($200 down the drain that had been used once)? Floating up to baby supply heaven. I was distraught.

Thankfully, my mom convinced us to just go home, put B in bed, chill out with a drink :), and get a good night sleep and leave the next day ‘cause she was able to change our hotel reservation. Ah…now its a wonderful trip story we’ll both never forget and continue to laugh about for years. Here’s a before pic. I can’t say we have an after because I wasn’t quite in the mood yet!

I’m a big girl now!

I’m mentioned the fact that B is now moved into her convertible car seat, and the infant seat is now only used for Jonathan’s car. It’s great! Buying this seat before she was born was an EXCELLENT idea, and I have Jill to thank for sending me the link where I found it on sale. Though the design is not my fav, it works just great and is nice and cushy. Did I mention that its HUGE compared to her baby one?? I can’t wait to turn it forward in a bit so it won’t seem to take up so much space…or maybe I should just get a bigger car?? :)

 

She’s pumped to try it out for the first time!

Nomnomnomnomnom… 

Mommy: put up a sun shield, STAT! (it was so gargantuan sitting in the middle seat that I moved it to the side so I could see out the back window again…now she sees the sun a whole lot more! Eeek!)

This Week in Mommyhood…

Ah, this story is wonderful. Well, its wonderful now that its over and done!

Long story that I’ll try to keep brief:

Hung out with Julie and Abby this afternoon for some girl time and had tons of fun, as always. Man, does B love her some other peoples’ toys! However, I was exhausted because she was climbing, crawling, walking, pushing, pulling, throwing,  and chewing at every moment. All the while Abby is peacefully sitting or scooting about! Ugh. My little adventurer. God love her :).

Back to the story. So, we finally left around 6:30 (as usual, later than I should but its so hard to leave!) and drove home. I desperately needed to stop at the store and already had cash on hand (we’ve jumped into the world of cash budgeting….its an unknown plain for me in my life, but I’m adjusting) and all my coupons ready. Most of all, we were about on our last square of TP, so you know it was an emergency.

Back to the story. I pulled her out of her seat and started walking in when I realized an explosion had occured during our drive. Ick, but nothing I can’t handle. Turned on our heels back to the car and pulled out the changing pad for the back seat. Hmm. That’s the moment I realized the wipes had been pulled out by B at Julie’s, Abby had been introduced to the exciting world of chewing on a wipes package, and I’d left them there! Agh! I knew there was a reason why I always kept two packs in the bag…and why I had my emergency bag in the car (that we’d brought on the CO trip and never returned to my car).

As I’m frantically looking through the car to see what I could use to wipe her off, I realize that she’s also exploded into the car seat! Though I’ve heard plenty of horror stories about this, its never actually happened to us…until tonight. So, going home doesn’t do any good and I can’t take her inside like this.

Well, one cloth diaper burp cloth and two bibs in the garbage later, we’re clean and ready to start our big shopping trip. Oh, and did I mention that she didn’t want anything to do with being in the cart? So, about 3 aisles through the trip I started carrying her and pushing the cart with one hand. Good workout!

I had just finished telling Jonathan how easy grocery shopping is with her and how all warnings I’d received over the last year have been for naught due to our amazingly awesome baby girl….hmm…I’ve learned to keep my successes to myself….

For now!

See it here first!!! (unless you read this occasionally and happen to see it on Facebook first instead)

Well, the blog is so important to me that I wanted to make sure I posted these adorable videos here FIRST for all you loyal readers (all 5 of you!). I'm so proud of my little lady and also so blessed to have her home with me during these crucial weeks of growth. There are certainly other times during her 1st year that I have been baffled at how many "1sts" she's experienced, but as we approach the big 1 year (sniff, sniff!) I'm shocked at what I'm seeing from her!

Yes, yes...I still haven't posted about Colorado because I'm sifting through so many awesome pics and can't decide what to leave out! However, I've got two awesome videos of her that can't wait. The first is her "trick" that she showed us almost daily once we arrived. She built a special relationship with the mounted pheasant at the house and giggled every time she saw it. We started asking her where it was and she would giggle at the question...then she started catching on :). Eventually, she could distinguish between "where's your bird?" and "where's the doggie?" and "where's the fish"...but this is all she'd show us for a video:



Uncle Cory bought this huge jug of water for the trip and when he started banging rhythms on it, she went wild. Her dance moves start right at the beginning of the clip and this doesn't do justice to all the moves she was actually performing....but it will do:



And the pomme de or....her first teeny steps!
Disclaimer: the house is tossed up because that's where I'm holding my Kindermusik practice class right now...her bib is icky because it was right after eating sweet potatoes or something...and she's wearing her 4th of July dress because we put it back on to take our late 10 month pic. I'm just saying :)

We are both convinced that she's more interested in walking when she's got an annoying dress that makes crawling tough. Note to Mommy: don't put her in dresses! Right!

10 Months!

So, I’m sure you’re tired of hearing how fast the days fly and how I wish time would stop and blah, blah, blah. If you’re a mommy already, you know exactly what I mean. If you’re going to be a mommy soon, you’ve already been in training with pregnancy (some days fly by, some tick backwards). If you’re neither, please continue to enjoy every day as much as possible. It really does speed up exponentially when the little life you’re shaping is passing before your eyes. Ok, so that was supposed to be a short and abbreviated opening statement….ah, me….

Things Queen B is doing now that she’s 10 months:

-says “mom” and “momma” anytime she’s hungry, sleepy, or moody…its “dada” every other waking moment (among other syllables she’s been trying out)

-she loves being chased! the phrase “i’m gonna get you” gets her everytime! It’s absolutely adorable to see her crawl jump into hyperdrive

-holding her own bottles (of which she’s down to 3-4 a day of 6 oz each…mostly 4 a day….but 3 meals of babyfood)

-moved into her “big girl” carseat (which I also moved from being in the center of the backseat…it just takes up too much space! post to come about that)

-sings, sings, sings! who’s surprised??

-favorite food: cheerios

-favorite song: “Welcome Song” from our Kindermusik summer session

-favorite outfit: birthday suit

-started “reading” more…Jonathan thinks its because I read in the bathroom and she’s in her pack n play in there and she sees me so she decides to do it, too :) TMI? i don’t even remember what that is now that I’ve birthed a child

-has 4 top teeth decending (well, has since April) that the doc SWEARS are about to come through

-wears a size 3 shoe (this girl is gonna learn to love Nordstrom like her big-footed mommy)

-wearing anything from 3-12 month clothes, depending on the brand…grr! we average 9 months

-weighs over 18 pounds

-takes two unassisted steps before plopping on her booty….tear!

Sharing is caring!

Of all the busy days we’ve had this summer, the last two weeks have been the busiest! Look for Colorado vacation pics soon, but for now I’ll tide you over with some adorable playdate memories. There’s still more friends to see this summer, though….please don’t make the days go by too fast!!!

At Baby Cameron’s b-day (she’s B’s BFF Abby’s littlest cousin)

Loving Abby’s cousin Kinley's awesome toys!

Meeting Caroline for the first time! She put her tutu (same one I got at Plano Presby) on her bear when it got too small. We have the same tutu and the same bear! Done and done over at our place :)

Caroline is a month younger than Bridget but 3 pounds heavier and a few inches longer! ADORABLE chubbsy wubbsy!

Bridget took herself on a tour of Caroline’s house…

….all the way into her room!

Caroline’s Daddy, Chris, finally put his foot down on the roaming :) 

Wow! I thought having one little one was tough! Little did I know until I visited my friend Courtney and saw her practically sprout a few additional sets of arms to wrangle her brood in. Her oldest son is 8 (I think! Sorry, C, if I got it wrong!), middle is 4-5 (again, sorry!), and little girl is just two weeks older than B. It was a GREAT time having all those kiddos together and it really showed me how on the ball Courtney is at every second. She was awesome to watch!

Of course, Bridget loved their dog, Diesel, almost more than Baby Claire!

But Claire wasn’t about to sit in the corner and wait for her friend to play :)

They were two little stinkers, that’s for sure!

Innocent?? I think not, my ladies!

Riding with two babies in the car! Wild!

Teaching Oliver how to use her bouncy seat….like he needs instruction. I believe I’ve mentioned his geniusness??

Having a breakfast date with Annabelle. Christy made some super yummy gluten-free banana bread and a great mix of hash browns that I never would have considered: taters, apples, green onions, salt, pepper….it was delish!

C also had an awesome idea that I’m totally stealing! She gifted Annabelle with an old purse of hers, put her own little keychain complete with real keys (one of which is a key that’s never even been molded), old gift cards, and an old cell phone. It was genius! Sure, they make all that stuff in baby toys, but the real babies only ever want to play with the real stuff. Thanks for the great idea, Christy!

B loved all the goodies!

 

More to come with pics of Kindermusik class and going to the pool with Abby!

World Cup Madness!

Well, I can’t claim to have been a World Cup fan my whole life (that’s right, I’m a World Cup fan…not necessarily a soccer fan) but as soon as I took the time to learn about it I was a total believer. That was 4 years ago when Jonathan and I traveled to Europe for a month and ended our trip with a week in Germany to visit his sister’s family…and WC just happened to be going on IN GERMANY. It was so amazing, people. Its just like the Olympics (but way better)…you really can’t understand the total magic of the whole event until you’re immersed in the scene at the host location.

My family went to the ‘96 Summer Olympics in Atlanta and the event will never be the same for me. It was a moving and life-changing time and I challenge anyone else to find an electric atmosphere like that anywhere else…oh yeah, you’ll find it in the World Cup host country! Being in Germany (well, just being in Europe was enough but getting to Germany was a whole different story) showed me how entire countries can come together for 2 hours and support one thing…win or loose, they’re doing it together! Sure, sure…we have the Super Bowl. But imagine if our entire country was pulling for the SAME TEAM! Sure, we have the Olympics. But imagine if the Olympics was made up of only ONE EVENT! I’m just sayin’…give it a chance. Next time WC rolls around, take a few minutes to talk to someone who knows about it so you can understand the rules. Don’t give me crap about “not enough scoring” and “but there are so many tie games” and what not. If you say that, you haven’t learned about it yet. Any other time of the year I think soccer can be pretty boring. The field is way too big! But give me a World Cup year and I’m in front of the TV for sure! Go USA! Here are some of my favorite WC pics from this year and ‘06. Love it!

 

Me and J at the Salzburg football plaza watching a game (beer and pretzels were a common theme during our trip):

At the Munich Fun Fest (every host city in Germany had a fan center with tons of awesome stuff to see and do!). The largest foosball table we’d ever seen!!!

Uncle Jonathan with our nieces (L to R) Ella, Sarah, and Hannah after Germany lost their elimination game. Like the face tatoos?  They are the prettiest girls ever and we miss them all the time. Sarah (my God-daughter) was only 3 weeks old when we visited. Now she’s 4!!! Ugh. Life goes by too fast :(.

Me pretending to kick a ball at the Cologne Fun Fest. That church is ah-mazing. No picture can ever capture its grandeur. The largest of its time and kind. Its a small town, but a must see if you’re ever in Germany!

Me and the boys celebrating the US victory that gave us the lead in our group this year. No time is too early for a celebratory beer when its World Cup season!

B (who’s modeling the closest she has to Spanish fashion) and Oliver getting ready for this year’s final. Notice Oliver’s adorable England jersey and shorts?!?! So cute!!!

 

Our delicious spread of munchies (yes, a special little someone kept pulling at the table cloth…and it wasn’t Penny!)

 

Me (in the Holland jersey I got in ‘06…they’re my favorite!) and B showing off her Germany t-shirt Lydia and Oliver brought. We can’t wait to show it to Aunt Heather and Uncle Lennart and the girls the next time we see them! I think it will still fit! :)

 

Good times….as always :)