Allie's First Birthday

We ventured to White City to celebrate Allie's 1st birthday today.  It was a great little celebration with lots of yummy food.  Ollie was highly entertained as he was able to participate in an Easter egg hunt and fly his very first kite.

  

It was a little chilly so I was inside with Pais and missed his kite flying experience.  Apparently, he was holding the handle and was told to start running... he dropped the whole thing and took off.  Haha!

Happy Birthday, Allison!

Ollie's First Visit to the Dentist

Oliver finally had his first visit to the dentist today.  Since moving to Clay Center we decided that we might as well change our dentist to save us the drive to Manhattan.  We'd called a while back to schedule Ollie's first appointment, but they were pretty booked.  Then a bit before his scheduled appointment, they called to say we needed to reschedule.  Anyway, today worked out better because Riley and I were both able to go.

Riley and I were both a bit nervous about how he would do.  He refused to open his mouth up for his doctor at a past appointment.  At his latest well check he wasn't so cooperative during the eye exam and kept saying "I don't know" when they asked him what he saw.  We did lots of prepping beforehand and were holding our breaths really not knowing what to expect.

He more than surprised us!

He was agreeable, cooperative, and patient with everything they asked of him.

(Pais on the other hand was a bit of a mess.  About half way through the appointment she made a weird cough gagging sound.  Then about 30 seconds later she threw up everywhere.  Twice.  She has had a bit of a runny nose and we think that perhaps she had some drainage that made her tummy upset.)

Ollie got to pick out of the treasure box and was delighted to pick out an orange balloon.

After the appointment Riley needed to stop by work to grab his laptop.  He invited Ollie to go inside with him and pick out a toy for being so good at the dentist.  I assumed he was going to come out with a little $5 tractor.  Instead he comes out with a big farm set, bag of popcorn, and a huge grin on his face.  That boy!

Spring Break: The Kids' Adventure

While Riley and I were in Colorado, my mom was back at home babysitting the kiddos.  Originally, she and my dad were going to watch them in Horton, but my dad was still in El Paso for work.  My mom decided it would be easier at our house which was great for me because I didn't have to pack up a bunch of stuff for the kids.  She also brought my grandparents along.

Here are some photos of their adventure together.

We missed our little cuties while we were gone.  We ended up coming home a bit early (left Sunday and came back late Wednesday night).  I was grateful for facetime so we could check in on them.

Spring Break: A Trip to Colorado

On our honeymoon, nearly 5 years ago, we decided that we would take a special anniversary trip every five years.  This was to be a big trip.  Like an all-inclusive resort with a beach, drinks, and relaxation.  Months ago we started planning as we decided that taking our trip at little early, in March rather than in June, would be better.  I'm off for spring break and my mom is off too which frees her up to watch the kids.  Riley didn't think he would be too busy at work either.  Summer can be tricky because he is usually very busy and I've got summer camp at the preschool.  So the "when" was decided on fairly easily, but the "where"... well that was a whole other story.

We researched resorts, but then had second thoughts due to cost and all the other things that we could do with that money.  So then we thought about something small like Colorado.  We soon reminded ourselves that this was suppose to be a big trip since we were only doing it every 5 years and went back to our research.  Still not wanting to spend too much money we researched using timeshares from Grammy.  We thought about Florida, but flights were so costly that an all-inclusive was pretty comparable.  So we went back to the idea of a fancy resort... maybe we could use timeshares for that... but do we want to really be that far away from the kids especially with Paisley being so young...and Pais has been having teething troubles and really is a momma's girl when she's not feeling well...and what about traveling with breastmilk...and do I really want to be leaving a beach to go pump...and we've got to get our money's worth in drinks, so will I have to dump everything that I pump... and on and on and on....

So we just went to Colorado.

It was a good trip and what we needed.  We were able to reconnect, relax and get recharged which is really what we needed in the first place.

I don't have a ton of photos (other than mountain scenery photos) because we really didn't do a whole lot... but it was a nice relaxing trip and Riley was happy that I didn't make him take a bunch of photos.

The beginning of our longest road trip with just the two of us.

We were told that it was snowing in the mountains and started to run into a bit of snow, but nothing too bad... then we went through a long tunnel and when we came out on the other side, well that was another story!  It was super slick and traffic was moving really slowly.

We made it to Silverthorne, got settled into the condo and found a yummy stop to eat - The Dam Brewery.

Later in our trip we ate at Ollie's Pub and Grill.  They had awesome burgers.

 

 

Our view from the condo. 

We've already resolved that our trip for our 10th anniversary will be some sort of all-inclusive resort.  We'll just have to see in another 5 years if that one will actually happen ;)

Spring Fever

We are finally getting some nicer weather with some warmer temperatures.  Today was especially nice so that called for a trip to the park after school.

Paisley swung for the first time and loved it!

Menards, Again

With all of our home projects, we are frequent flyers at Menards.

Pais must get her thrill about Menards from her daddy because I'm certainly not this happy or this cute about these trips.

I find Paisley's facial expression in this one is much more relatable.  We spent how much?!?

Seven Months Old

Our little Paisley is seven months old today!

She has had a couple of rough weeks!  She has one bottom tooth that is making its way in and it sure is causing her some trouble!  (With Oliver, his teeth came in so easily and they didn't seem to bother him much at all, but unfortunately the same is not true for Pais.)  She's been fussy and irritable and that little tooth of hers kept going in and out for what seemed like forever.  The poor little girl has also had the worst diaper rash and is pooping all the time which makes it worse.

One day last week she pooped 14 times during the day.  By evening time, her little tushie was so red that it even bleed a bit.  I gave her a nice long bath in baking soda and let her be nakie for a while which seemed to help.

Her first bottom tooth is through now and she seems to be much happier.  I'm already dreading her second tooth making its appearance!

Paisley is getting pretty good at sitting up on her own.  We still keep pillows behind her in case she topples over.  Her favorite place to sit is on the couch with us.  Surround the little girl with toys and she'll be content for quite some time.

I just yesterday swapped Paisley's clothes out to the next size.  She's been in 0-3 / 3 month clothing forever now.  I pulled out the 3-6 month tote and oh what a project that was.  I had several kind friends pass down their little girl clothing to me which I greatly appreciate.  When I was given the clothing, I did separate it by sizes and put it in totes, but I didn't wash anything or match up outfits.  That was my task on Friday and Saturday and boy did it take some time.  If you didn't know there are about 532 different shades of pink and I had the hardest time finding things that matched.  Baby clothing are often sold in set outfits which is great, but not so much when you can't get them matched.  She's got enough to last through the last part of winter and into the spring, but I'll have to do some shopping for summer outfits.



Pais has been trying lots of new foods.  She's been eating lots of different fruits and veggies.  Other than when her teeth are bothering her, she is a pretty good little eater.  She's eating pureed foods at both lunch and supper now.