Ryan's #30!! (30?! Really?)

Ryan had his 30th birthday this last week! I think he is aging pretty well.

Maya and I met up with him for lunch on his birthday. Maya is wearing her "daddy makes me smile" shirt. You can see that it is true!

The celebration that night was a bust that turned into an unbust.

We had planned to go go-cart/race car driving the evening of his birthday, and celebrate it with our friends (one of his friends has the same birthday, so it was kind of a duo thing). The weather was supposed to be fine. And then, at 6:30 PM, as we were arriving at the track, a thunderstorm started. We were so disappointed.

After a lot of deliberating about what to do, we decided that we should go to dinner. We ended up at a pizza joint called Proto's, which I think I can safely say is our favorite "gourmet" pizza. We had a fun group with us, and Maya was absolutely stellar, even though we kept her up almost an hour past her bedtime. It was her birthday present to her daddy. :)

After dinner we came back to our house for cake. I found this recipe in my Gourmet cookbook that I received from Ryan's grandmother. The cake was delicious!

Ryan had a fun evening and we loved spending time with our friends.

Ryan loved legos as a kid, so I got him a lego set. Kind of childish, but he liked it (or at least pretended to...).

Maya just loved the bow on the present.

Happy 30th birthday, my husband!!

Anniversary Weekend

This year I put myself in charge of our anniversary celebration. On our actual anniversary we went out for sushi with Maya. She always makes eating fun. She does great in her high chair at restaurants. Until the food comes, that is. Then she's reaching all over the place wanting to eat everything they just brought to us. Usually we have no problem sharing, but she can't have sushi (yet).

Dinner was delicious and we had a good time.

The following Friday we left for our weekend (or one-night) getaway. I didn't tell Ryan where we were going, and I loved having that element of surprise for him.

My mom came and picked up Maya and took her home for the night. She says she was great and that they had so much fun together! I was so glad!

Ryan and I went to the Lodge at the Garden of the Gods for our night's stay.

The views were awesome!

On Saturday we had breakfast brought to our room and ate on the balcony.

We drove around Garden of the Gods. It was fun to see the places we took our bridal photos.

Then we left and went to explore downtown Colorado Springs. It was so cute! We loved walking around, and we even picked up a couple of things. We had lunch at a really cute French cafe and the food was delicious.

We really enjoyed having the time just to ourselves. We decided that the lodge was a little too fancy for our taste, but we loved the feel of the downtown area.

Love you, Ryan!

8 (months) is great!

So, uh, it's really hard to get a decent picture of an 8 month old. But I tried. I swear she smiles ALL the time! Just not when there is technology in front of her. i.e. a Big Honkin' camera!

She really enjoys the dryer. It lights up and sings when I turn it on. Every time we pass the laundry room she leeeaans toward it to guide me in. She must think I am her horse or something.

She is getting really good at playing with her toys and letting me do things. It is quite convenient when I need to get work done or make dinner or do the dishes. I don't know why, but I love watching her play. I took this video while I was working. 

 

She has started dancing. Well, more like bobbing. When music plays she starts moving her head and sometimes puts her arm up in the air like, "Wave it around like you just don't care!" 

She is a talker! Sometimes she yells, sometimes she just talks, and sometimes she whispers. And I think she's really starting to understand that I am Mama. 

Her 8 onesie has it on her bum, in hopes that she would be crawling by now. She isn't, but she's got a wicked downward dog!

3 Years of Us

Today Ryan and I are celebrating our 3 year anniversary. We have experienced many things together in this short time. Just to name a few....

We went on our first cruise.

We both graduated college.

We went to Mexico.

We bought a house.

We landscaped a yard.

We decided we wanted a baby, and through that experienced 2 miscarriages and then a perfect little girl.

We learned that we aren't always going to have a perfect relationship, but that we can find a way through the harder times.

We are truly discovering the joys of having a best friend around all the time - to laugh with, cry with, have jokes with, to have somebody who knows our thoughts and feelings, even when we don't want them to. I feel eternally (literally) blessed to be with Ryan. My life is so much brighter with him in it. Here's to 3 years of us!

Estes Park Girl Day

Today Maya and I went to Estes Park to meet up with my mom, Holly, and Aunt Wendy. It was so fun! Maya was in great spirits all day, which really helped to make the day more enjoyable. 

First we met at Grumpy Gringo's, a Mexican restaurant outside of the main downtown area. My family has gone there every time we go to Estes for years. 

After lunch, we hit the shops downtown. We walked around for a while, bought a few goodies, and had ice cream. 

I wore my lillebaby COMPLETE carrier for the duration of the walk. I even managed to continue walking around while nursing her in it! I felt super sneaky. 

In one of the shops Holly gave Maya a little mouse finger puppet to hold. She proceeded to mark it well with her saliva. She liked it so much my mom got it for her as a little treat. She loves holding the tail and whipping that thing around!

After the shops we drove to The Stanley Hotel. We didn't stay long but we enjoyed sitting on the deck and hanging out on the grounds. 

Estes Park is such a lovely little town. It is always really nice to visit and enjoy the mountain air and unique shops. It was also wonderful to spend time with family and see my Aunt Wendy while she is visiting!

Until next time...

A Vase of Flowers

Today Maya noticed a vase of flowers on the sidebar in our dining room. With such beautiful colors to behold, it was immediately a necessary commodity for her personal enjoyment. As you can see, she was pretty ecstatic about it, as her new-found squishy face means something wonderful is happening. 

Then her excitement toned down a bit and she did a cute pose.

By George, the flowers can come out! What a thrill!

And furthermore, the stems come off of the heads! Could it get any better??

Seriously awesome discovery for her, and a somewhat sad realization for me because I probably just doomed the life of that vase in the months to come. 

And then I found this gem on Ryan's phone:

Remember to enjoy the little things in life!

Go Rockies!!

I love going to Rockies games! This past Saturday our friends invited us to go with them to a game. They had great seats - right behind home plate. We arrived a little late and decided to get food first. Baseball games are all about the food. Yummy delicious yet disgusting Monster Nachos is my go-to meal every time!

Maya was very enthralled by everything going on around her. It was already close to her bedtime, but she was not even a tiny bit tired. And then we got to our seats. And the crowd cheered (a lot.... the Rockies were doing great!). And poor Maya got so scared! Her bottom lip was curled down in a huge frown. It was cute; like she was trying really hard not to cry. For the first hour or so she just snuggled up to me and had her head on my shoulder. When the crowd cheered she would grasp on tightly, but only twice did her little body shake with cries. She was very brave. 

Me and Jenna and remnants of Monster Nachos.  

Her nervous face. 

After she had her bottle her spirits perked up a bit. Ryan took her and played with her. After that she had a great time! Even though she was up 2 hours past her bedtime she never got fussy. 

Daddy makes everything better!

Any excuse to get a cute new outfit...!

Watching the game. 

Silver toes. 

We hope to get to go again this summer!