Running with Sanders

15 months and going strong!

2012-02-15T13:12:00.000-06:00

Happy Valentine Colbie, here are three shots :(

Poor girl had her 15 month check up on Valentine's morning, but as usual, proved to be a total trooper. I think it helped that the hubs stayed home and took us out for brunch ahead of time so we could sugar little miss up with a pancake :)

The doctor was totally impressed with Colbie's growth and development including how well she follows commands, how many words she has (>15!), and how social she seemed. We of course have known all along that she is pretty great!

As for her stats she is just over 23 pounds and just over 30 inches, which is the 50% for both. She is following her growth curve well.

Some of Colbie's favorites right now include:

rocking, kissing, burping her babies

reading books with mom or dad

tickling people

giving kisses

playing hide and seek/peek-a-boo

chasing and being chased

Talking, talking and more talking...nonstop

and of course, Molly

Some of Colbie's least favorites right now are:

vegetables

and that is really about it. She is a super happy girl all of the time!!!

And here are the most recent pictures my friend Laura of Laurel & Stars took of Colbie for Valentines. I continue to take no credit for my child's beauty, so I think I'm allowed to say it, isn't she stunning!?!?!?

My Funny Valentine

2012-02-14T13:09:00.003-06:00

These pictures were taken by my good friend Jen, who is also the creator of all the cute stuff Colbie wears in her hair, including her headband in these shots! Thanks Jen for being so talented in so many ways!!!! Feel free to check out her cute stuff at Olive & Eve.

Words

2012-02-02T20:25:00.004-06:00

It seems like Colbie is saying a new word every day. It's so fun to try and figure out what she is saying. It took us a few days to figure out what C. was saying with this one, but daddy figured it out, and it's totally my favorite!

Ladies Who Lunch

2012-01-31T20:05:00.000-06:00

Last week Colbie and I hosted a little impromptu lunch for some of Colbie's friends and their mamas. There were not enough high chairs to go around, so we improvised and us mama's saw a glimpse into the future:

Tea parties, here we come!!!!!

Self Preservation

2012-01-30T19:59:00.000-06:00

Molly LOVES giving Colbie smooches. Colbie thinks it's hilarious when Molly gives her big licks on the face. But then...Molly doesn't know when enough is enough and we end up scolding her (poor hound). The other day Colbie once again proved to be genius and started walking around like this:

I didn't get a picture of Molly actually smooching Colbie, but it's fair to say that it was a win-win for everyone involved.

A Sledding We Will Go!

2012-01-29T19:45:00.005-06:00

This afternoon we got Colbie bundled up so she could give snow a second chance. It took her a few minutes of standing and watching us shovel before she cracked her first smile, and then it wasn't long after that that she was having a pretty good time with dad!

Rounding the corner for the next run down the "hill"

Seriously fun stuff!

Walking in the snow was a little tricky, especially given the padding. Once again, dad came to the rescue.

Sitting in the snow proved to be a little easier

I wouldn't say that Little Miss loved the snow, but she certainly was a good sport. Hopefully by next year she will enjoy it a little more, because we have big plans to have her up on skis and skates before too much longer :)

Virtuoso

2012-01-24T13:07:00.003-06:00

One of Colbie's BFF's, Stella, has a kid's size baby grand piano. The past two playdates with Stella, this is pretty much how little miss has spent a good portion of her time.

Seriously, she plays for 15 minutes straight and has to be physically removed from that spot to even interact with others.

I think we know what our next toy "investment" might be :)

A Caffeinated Creshe

2012-01-05T15:01:00.000-06:00

I didn't realize that there was Starbucks near by the stable where Jesus was born.

By the looks of a couple of the Wise Men, it seems like they could use a bit more caffeine. Particularly the one laying face down on top of the gift card.

Going about her business

2012-01-04T14:42:00.000-06:00

So the other day I saw this cute little toddler toddling around:

I stopped and asked her if she had seen my baby, who just a year ago looked like this:

The toddler just kept going about her business of playing and harassing the dog:

Well sweet girl, if you see that baby tell her that her mama is looking for her,

Oh, and sorry Molly

Inspiration: Pant Hanger

2012-01-03T13:36:00.000-06:00

So I love pinterest. One may say I'm addicted to it. But for as much "pinning" as I have done, I have yet to be ambitious enough to act on my inspirations.

That was until the other day, when I found this:

It's a simple pant hanger!

Well, we all know that Colbie has her fair share of hair accessories, and that she is just going to get more and more with each passing week. So I thought it was high time to organize them in order to utilize them!!!

TaDa!!!!

And now I can officially say that all of my "pinning" has paid off :)

And since we are on the topic of pant hangers (or at least we are now), here are some other useful things to do with them courtesy of pinterest!

On Wisconsin!

2012-01-02T15:47:00.003-06:00

So for the second year in a row the Wisconsin Badgers are playing in the Rose Bowl. Living in Badgerland has everyone hyped up, so we thought we would join in the fun:

Badger Rose Bowl cupcakes the hubs picked up on his way home from work!

Now that's my kind of game food!!

Unfortunately the game did not end the way we would have hoped, but it was a great game to watch nonetheless. Hopefully next year our Irish and Badgers will have better outcomes in their bowl games.

Third and Final Christmas...this year

2012-01-02T10:33:00.004-06:00

We didn't bother to pack up our gifts to each other and bring them out to Seattle with us, because that would just mean more luggage and more $$$. So, on the afternoon of the 27th, the three of us exchanged our gifts and had our own little Christmas.

As it turns out, I did not take many picture during our little present opening time, but everything everyone got was a total hit!

Overall we had three wonderful celebrations of Christmas and really feel so blessed for all of our family and friends, health and happiness this holiday season.

Hope you all had equally blessed celebrations!!!

Sushi, Scuba & Singing

2011-12-28T20:43:00.008-06:00

December 21st we packed up again and headed to Seattle. We only stayed four full days, but we really packed the excitement in.

The first full day we were in town we headed to Seattle Children's Hospital to visit some of our old co-workers, and show Colbie off of course. She did a great job being cute, so we rewarded her by taking her out for her first sushi lunch.

Okay, so maybe it wasn't for her, but she did okay. So far though, she is not a huge fan of sushi.

We met up with a good friend of mine from my Chicago days to walk around U-Village, eat cupcakes, drink Starbucks, and do a little shopping, oh and sit in Santa's sleigh!

Then it was off to drop Little Miss off with Grandma so the hubs and I could head over to one of our favorite restaurants, The Stone House, for a date night. Once again, Chef Ryan did not disappoint!

The next day we were off to the aquarium where Colbie had a blast seeing everything, and even said "fish" a few times!

Watching the scuba diver presentation. I can't get over how grown-up she looks in this picture!

Loving the fish!

What is she looking at?!?!

More fish of course!

Christmas Eve was all about family as we spent a few hours with Uncle Stan, Aunt Kim, and cousin Peyton, followed by dinner with Uncle Steve and Aunt Daphne. It was a full day of fun and Colbie did great with all of the excitement, but do you think I thought to take a picture? Nope, sure didn't.

Christmas Morning we all headed to Blessed Sacrament for Mass. This was the church that the hubs and I got married in nearly 5-years ago. We were excited for our priest, Father Daniel to see how our family had grown! He gently greeted Colbie by asking her when she was going to be a big sister. Give us time Father Daniel, give us time :) . As always though, the church was simple and beautiful and the Mass was lovely.

Then, after a quick stop at Starbucks, it was time to head home, prep dinner, and OPEN PRESENTS!!

Or just untagging them so we had no idea who they were for, all while wearing a fancy new skirt courtesy of Aunt K.C.

Everyone got lotto tickets, and Colbie was checking to see if there were any winners, no such luck.

And spending time with family!

Little C. LOVED the piano and had a blast singing along while Aunt K.C. played for everyone.

Uncle Jason posing with his new hatI'm so bummed that I didn't get any pictures of Colbie with Grandpa, but I'm thinking it was because I was too busy trying to make sure she didn't eat anything Christmasy~

"look mom, a pine needle!"

And the next morning we headed home, but can't wait until we get to see everyone again soon! Please come visit!!!

Over the River and Thru the Woods...

2011-12-28T20:13:00.005-06:00

I confess, this blog is a month late. The only thing I have going for me is that we celebrated Christmas over Thanksgiving too so really, it's only a few days late...right?

Last month we traveled to Michigan to celebrate Thanksgiving and Christmas with my family. With one of our families being in Michigan and the other in Washington (the state, not the city) we end up alternating where we travel for each holiday. Stay tuned for Christmas Number Two: Seattle Style.

Once again Colbie proved to be an amazing traveler and we made the seven hour drive there and back without incident. I'm pretty sure one of these days she is going to decide enough is enough when it comes to long trips. I'm crossing my fingers that doesn't happen for a long time though.

The Thursday we were there was Thanksgiving, and we celebrated with the traditional turkey and all of the fixings. Everything was delicious and as usual, the bird was carved to perfection by Grandpa B.

And that's pretty much our pictures from Thanksgiving. Now onto Christmas number one, which took place the following evening:

Best presents of the night?

Wrapping paper rolls of course!

Other favorites of the night included:

The talking pony puppet.

and...

The elf microphone, which may go down in history as the world's most annoying toy, but so fun at the same time.

Simone and Colbie had so much fun opening all of the gifts and it was just as much fun to watch them.

And to think, it's only going to get more fun as the girls get older!

Overall is was a nice little weekend away to celebrate with family two very important holidays.

C. and the Big Guy

2011-12-08T11:27:00.004-06:00

A few of days I brought Colbie down to the mall to meet Santa. I was half expecting it to go something like this:

But...turns out she didn't mind him one bit. She thought his beard was pretty interesting, and he seemed like a pretty nice guy.

In regards to the first picture, that is actually the hubs! Look closely, you can see my reflection taking a picture of the picture with my iphone. The picture is framed and sits on a table in our foyer, and may in fact be my favorite Christmas decoration. It's really just the classic santa picture, isn't it?!?!

Here's a confession:

A teeny tiny part of me wanted the "classic santa picture" of Colbie. I will still frame one of her and the big guy from this year and put in on the foyer table, but... how funny would it have been to have the two "classic" pictures sitting next to each other?!?

And yes, I realize I am a really bad mom for both wanting this, and confessing this to the world.

Oh, and one more thing. The hubs was either 6 months or 18 months old when the picture of him and santa was taken. I honestly can't tell which one it is though. Was he a super tiny 18 month old or a six month old who appears to be wearing a wig? Your guess is as good as mine.

So cute it hurts!

2011-12-06T14:22:00.008-06:00

We had my friend Laura over Saturday afternoon for about an hour. She is the photographer extraodinaire of Laurel & Stars. She is responsible for a lot of really cute pictures of our baby girl. And once again, she has out done herself.

Disclaimer: my brother claims his head exploded due to the cuteness when he first saw these. We are in no way responsible or liable for what happens to you while viewing our pictures.

The hat and legwarmer set were made by Sam @ Happy Hooks

To-Tu or not To-Tu

2011-11-29T13:15:00.003-06:00

I surprised even myself that my daughter made it to a year without owning her very own tutu. It's one of those over-the-top girly items that seems almost like a right of passage...for the mommy of course. I have browsed them online, stopped at stores to check them out, but could never find the right one to shell out the money for. The nicer looking ones are always priced $30+ and I'm just too cheap for it.

Then came my friend Mandy, who told me that she watched a "how to make a tutu" video on you.tube. So I checked it out.

Next, I went to JoAnn's and found two spools (helping to eliminate cutting already) of nylon taffeta for $1 each.

Maybe the hardest part was finding the 45 minutes it took from start to finish. Oh, and there was no sewing involved!

Lastly, I grabbed the camera and let Little Miss cruise around in high, over-the-top, girly fashion!!!!

Yay me for making a tutu for my daughter, and yay for the entire thing only costing $2.11 (after tax)!!!

The second picture probably shows the truest color of the tutu. In case you were wondering.

Picnics at the Beach...In November!!!

2011-11-21T13:22:00.007-06:00

The second half of our California trip was spent with the Davis's. Sara is my BFF from Seattle who recently (with her hubs and two girls of course) relocated to sunny California. It was such a treat to be able to see the Davis's again, and to meet their newest edition, Gemma who is about six weeks older that Colbie. They of course were equally as excited to meet C. but we were all excited for the girl's to become best friends, which they did of course.

Most of our time was spent in the Carpinteria/Santa Barbra area where we did coffee, and brunches, and cupcakes, and Mass at the Santa Barbra Mission, and of course the beach! Monday afternoon we headed to the beach for a picnic in November, which apparently you can do in So. Cal.

It was at this moment that I wondered, "Why did we chose the snowy midwest again?"

After lunch Lily did her best to help Colbie onto the sand,

We did all sorts of coaxing

And then is was one small step for baby and one large flood gate of tears that broke open.

It didn't take C. too long to realize that the beach is not her enemy.

Before we knew it, she was loving it and ready to explore.After our picnic (did I mention it was November!) we caravanned to see the new house that Sara & Co. had just bought. We were excited to be there when they officially got their keys!

Now...C. and I can't wait to get on the plane again to head back and spend some time at the new place!

Thank you so much for hosting us and showing us a great time Alex, Sara, Lily, and Gemma! We can't wait to see you again soon.

12 Month Stats

2011-11-18T13:42:00.002-06:00

This morning we headed to the pediatrician's for C's 12 month check up. During the hour visit Colbie had a blast walking around the office in nothing but a diaper and shoes. Walking has turned into her primary mode of transportation these days. She did wonderful during the exam, and is 100% healthy and on target for everything. Based on comments by the staff, I'm thinking she excels in the cuteness department, but I would think that.

And as for her growth, one certainly can't say she's not proportionate:

Weight: 21 lbs 9 oz (57%)

Height: 29.5 inches (60%)

She is obviously doing a great job at growing since a year ago she was 6 lbs 6 oz (15%) and 19 inches long (10%)!

Colbie got a total of 4 shots today (boo!) but like usual, did better than her mama. She cried for approximately two second, took her paci and was better. After she was dressed and we waited the mandatory 10 minutes, she walked right on out. What a little trooper!

LA-LA Land

2011-11-17T19:44:00.006-06:00

At the beginning of November the family packed up for yet another trip. The hubs had a conference in Anaheim CA and Colbie and I tagged along to check out LA!

The first afternoon we were there the three of us headed to Santa Monica Pier for lunch and a great walk around in the 87 degree sunshine!

Then it was off to Anaheim where we stayed within a mile of Disney. Needless to say, when D.B. was busy sitting in a big auditorium learning things, C and I were out having a great time!!! I didn't actually brave the park alone with Colbie, but we did hit up Downtown Disney, which is the shopping/restaurant district of Disney Land.

On one of our many dinners out, Colbie got to try her hand at coloring for the first time, it was a hit!

We were just a couple of miles from the Crystal Cathedral too, which after seeing it on TV for a number of years, was somewhat weird and disappointing.

On Colbie and my last adventure sans daddy we drove 45 minutes to Hollywood and spent the day at Universal Studios.

While standing by the line to buy tickets, another mom walked up to me and handed me her family's extra ticket so I got in totally free! We had so much fun checking out all of the shows and going on the park tour.

Driving down the middle of Wisteria Lane from Desperate Housewives during our park tram tour:

Accepting her "Best Daughter" Oscar in a gift shop. After her speech I took her Academy Award back because there was no way I was actually buying it.

Winning mom of the year by choosing only the least scary things to pose my daughter next to.

Sitting and enjoying a mid-morning snack while watching the WaterWorld show, which as it turns out is pretty loud and violent. C. was mesmerized, which concerned me alittle.

In addition to Colbie and my personal adventures, daddy joined us for an afternoon one day and we drove the coast down to Laguna Beach, which was very pretty. We also had the chance to have dinner with some old friends who moved to Hermosa Beach about a year ago. All of these things, I forgot to take pictures of.

Next stop on our trip, we were heading north to visit the Davis's in Carpinteria!

For those of you counting, this was Colbie's 7th trip by airplane and 15th state she's been too in her first year of life. We have all intentions of slowing down!

Gone Shoppin'

2011-11-15T19:49:00.004-06:00

One of Colbie's birthday gifts was a shopping cart, and this shopping cart has been a huge hit for both C. and myself.

To begin with, the shopping cart came in two pieces, the basket and the base on wheels. As soon as we pulled it out of the box, C. went nuts and wanted to be pushing this toy around instantly. Next thing we knew, she was off and walking with what appeared to be, well...a walker:

I'm not sure if you can get the whole affect, but it really looked like she was a miniature old woman pushing her walker around. Part of me was tempted to not attach the basket right away just so we could laugh at her a bit longer, but then I didn't want to give her a complex.

Once the basket was attached, sister was on her way! Where?, well we still aren't sure, but she certainly had places to go.

Day after day, the fun still hasn't stopped:

Now, why is it so fun for mommy? Well, since getting her shopping cart, I've found an old purse, put her keys in it, along with an old starbucks card. I washed out a Starbucks cup (pumpkin spice latte if you were curious, which I'm sure you were), and other essential things that a girl needs to keep with her, and helped put it all in her shopping cart. This is what daddy came home to today:

I would be lying if I said I wasn't a little proud.

Ya say it's your birthday!

2011-11-15T16:16:00.005-06:00

This past Wednesday (the 9th) our Little Miss turned a whopping 1-year-old! How this is possible, I will never know. It really seems like yesterday that I was trying to keep up with the hundreds of bottles, diapers, laundry, and house all while on the limited sleep that a newborn offers their new parents. Somehow I still feel really tired despite having the entire household sleep through the nights for months now. Anywho..onto the birthday stuff.

We got home from a week in California (blog to come) the night before C.'s birthday and Grandma S. flew in the next day, so we saved birthday festivities until the 10th. Colbie didn't really seem to mind. Especially when she saw this:

She was super excited and headed right toward the pile:

She has loved all of her toys so far,

and of course really loved the wrapping paper, which apparently was quite yummy. She tried to eat it several times (weird).

The cup cake was also yummy, but the frosty, that was a big no-go.

We are pretty sure she didn't like the feeling of it on her fingers. Keep in mind, she doesn't really like a mess. This is as messy as it got folks:

Aunt K.C. even got to be in on the party. Thank you skype!Overall the night was a success, which is lucky since we ended up keeping C. up WAY past her bedtime!! Hey, a girl only turns one once, right?!?!

Happy Birthday sweet baby girl, we love you!

True Love

2011-11-13T10:25:00.002-06:00

I once had this teeny tiny 6 pound miracle, an answer to our prayers.

Who had skinny little chicken legs, long feet and was no bigger than her bunny,
and then I blinked, and she was smiling back as if we made her as happy as she made us.
But I knew that was impossible, for we love her more than she will ever know.
She is the best thing that happens to me every single day,
Her laughter fills our lives with joy,
Her cheeks more kissable with each passing morning,
Her love completely unfiltered and true
I pray she will still love snuggling as much with me when she is 8 or 18, maybe even 58.
How quickly she became so much bigger than her bunny,starting to grow into her feet, with chicken legs no more,but no matter how big she get's she will always be my little miracle and answer to our prayers. Our true love

Nobody Puts Baby in the Corner: Twelve Month

2011-11-12T21:41:00.005-06:00

It's impossible to believe that a year ago this past Wednesday we met the love of our lives. It is impossible to think we have been this blessed. It is also impossible to think that I ever thought posing a baby, who would turn into a toddler, on a moving rocking chair month after month was a good idea. The good news is that she didn't fall off, the bad news is that there are no really good pictures of her with her 12 sticker on. So...here are a bunch of so-so pictures of her in the chair instead:

and a picture of why posing in a chair is a bad idea:

I have all intentions of posting an actual birthday blog tomorrow, so I will just do the regular Colbie updates here:

Fav's:

Molly

Meatballs

Avocado

Dancing

Her new shopping cart

Shouting

Throwing her cup off of her high chair

Fake laughing so we will laugh at her

Stroller Buckles (she can stand next to her stroller for 15 minutes at a time playing with them)

Least Fav's:

Vegetables

Getting her hair washed

Having her nose wiped

I don't have her stats yet as we postponed her 12-month check up until after Grandma leaves so Grandma doesn't have to see a cranky baby. Colbie does continue to be really tall in comparison to her friends though, and very much on the "solid" side.

She has seven teeth officially thru and is working on number 8.

Like I said before, there are more blogs to come, but it's been a busy week. I know I know, you're sick of hearing about it! I'll leave you with one more picture tonight to make up for my lazy lack of blogging:

It would safe to bet she was shouting and walking at the same time in this picture.

C.'s First Halloween!

2011-11-01T10:11:00.005-05:00

I have been waiting in anticipation for Colbie's first Halloween ever since I first dressed her up for the 4th of July.

I had a number of ideas for her costume, but it seems like giraffes (Sophie, Janet, etc.) have played a big part in C.'s first year, so it only seemed appropriate that she went as a giraffe. I wish I would have been able to work on her costume a little more, but thank goodness that the hubs. took on daddy duty the afternoon before our playgroup party, otherwise there would have been no costume at all. Hopefully next year I'll be sitting at the sewing machine much sooner.

I give you the world's cutest giraffe!

This is Colbie's version of what a giraffe face looks like:

And now, a series of "Giraffe on the Go" shots. Because that pretty much sums up what was going on. I have chosen not to post the pictures of me practically wrestling the baby giraffe long enough to get a good picture.

Speaking of the playgroup party, do you know how hard it is to get five 1-year-olds to sit still...in costumes?!?!? Let me tell ya, it's not easy!

The mommies were much more cooperative when asked to sit still

Hope you all had a fun and safe Halloween!

Reason #2 I haven't been posting

2011-10-31T23:05:00.001-05:00

Michigan!

A week after we returned from Boston, Colbie and I took the ferry over to Michigan for a few days. We wanted to take advantage of the easy boat ride one last time before it closed for the season. We also wanted to get over to Michigan to celebrate all of the birthdays!!! My mom, myself, and Colbie were all born within three weeks (and many years) of each other!

The ferry trip was uneventful with the exception of Colbie fighting a nap

Until five minutes before we docked

During our trip we spent a lot of time visiting with family and friends, and Colbie did a lot of climbing these two stairs. She thought she was pretty hot stuff!!

We let Colbie pick out her own birthday celebration attire too. Daddy vetoed this one when I sent him the picture. I can't say I blame him.

Enough with the small pictures already, they are super annoying and I apologize! Here are shots taken with my real (non-phone) camera.

Taking a rest after helping GG fold laundry.

Playing in her kitchen drawer at Papa and GG's house:

And now onto the party!!! Although her birthday isn't until the 9th, we celebrated early with some cake and presents. Everything was going great..

Until I blew out the candle...

We are thinking she was really ticked because either 1) all she wanted for her birthday was fire, or 2) I didn't give her enough time to think of a good wish before blowing out the flame. Regardless, sister was NOT happy!

Until we fed her cake, and she totally forgave us.

Except it was ice cream cake, and therefore really cold!

Despite the look on her face, she loved it and ate the whole tiny piece we gave her.

Like usual we had a great time visiting everyone and look forward to our next trip to Michigan over the holidays!

Lazy Days

2011-10-31T12:01:00.000-05:00

Most days we try really hard to get out and do something. Sometimes that something is the grocery store, sometimes a playgroup, but then once in a great while our something turns into nothing because chances are I'm just too tired and/or lazy to dream of going anywhere. Those days, although they seem the longest, often turn into the most enjoyable. Because frankly, who knew couponing could be so much fun for an 11-month-old!

One of the reasons C. loves lazy days so much is the extra time she gets to spend with her best friend. On one particular afternoon the two girls spent hours (no joke, HOURS) going from window to window looking out.

And I'm pretty sure I just sat back and drank some coffee. Good old lazy days.

Best.Fail.Ever

2011-10-30T15:50:00.004-05:00

Remember last year when I wrote this post? Here I had this super ambitious list of 30 things I wanted to do before I turned 30. I had completed about 12 of them or so with 18 left for the last year of my 20's.

Well folks, I failed...big time!!!

I turned 30 on the 27th.

I was able to check two things off the list this year:

#24 Floss Every Day for a Year, and I'm still going strong! You may think this was an easy one, but let me tell you, there were some nights early on that I was so tired that the very thought of taking one extra minute to floss brought tears to my eyes. But don't you worry, I persevered.

and maybe I would have gotten to check off more on my list, but at least I got to check off #19 in addition to #24.

#19 Have a Child. And frankly I would be happy if I never completed my list now, because this little #19 in my life has filled me up with every sense of wonder, adventure, accomplishment, and love that I could ever dream of. As for accomplishing my list by my 30th year, Best.Fail.Ever.

And speaking of Colbie (honestly though, when am I not?), the 27th also marked another very important date, and in my opinion more important than my 30th birthday, day. It was the one year anniversary of us being matched with Colbie's birthmom!!! Seriously, best birthday present ever!!!!

To Boston We Go (or in the case of this very late blog...Went)

2011-10-30T10:46:00.006-05:00

I realize it's been a long time since the last blog post, I apologize. Just when we thought that things couldn't get busier than they were in the summer, October hit, and then BAM, it's the 29th!

So now I give you reason number one that I haven't blogged since the 11th:

BOSTON!!!!!

October 13th-16th we were in the great state of Massachusetts for the nuptials of the very dashing Tim (D.B.'s cousin) and the always beautiful Nicci.

In addition to witnessing the beautiful wedding ceremony, we got to spend time with lots of family,

This was our ring bearer in our own wedding, Joseph. I'm pretty sure he might be Colbie's first crush too. She LOVED Joseph!!!

Uncle Jason fed Colbie cake,

We did some dancing,

Met another Colbie!!! (Spelled Colby, and happened to be the bride's sister!)

We also got to do a little shopping, and site seeing:

Plymouth Rock

The Mayflower II

And Auntie K.C. mingled with some soldiers

But not the same soldiers that held their swords for Caption Storey and his new bride to walk through

A great weekend was had by all, and it was so wonderful to spend time with family, as a family.

Congrats to Tim and Nicci and thanks for deciding to get married in such a great place!!!

Colbie visits her future campus

2011-10-11T10:57:00.005-05:00

This past weekend we headed down to South Bend, IN for our annual Notre Dame weekend. We took off early Friday, and after a great surprise lunch with Auntie Nikki in Chicago we headed to campus. Colbie had just woken up from a nap so it's hard to tell in the pictures how impressed she was with her future campus (no pressure Little C.), but trust us, she was super impressed.

Daddy showing C. the marching band as they marched by. He told her all about how he used to do this and pointed out what instrument he played.

Sitting in front of Touchdown Jesus while trying to get C. to make some touchdown arms. The only problem....Colbie HATES the grass and was too focused on touching the least amount of grass possible:

Another attempt at not touching the grass

Sitting in front of The Golden Dome with daddy.

Checking out the rest of campus on our way to the bookstore, where C. made a haul!!!

After walking around campus we headed to some great friend's house and had a wonderful dinner with them. Thanks a ton Nathan, Katie, and Mary Clare for having the toys ready for Colbie, and of course for the great evening.

The next day we met my parents and brother up in Saint Joe, Michigan, had breakfastand then sent the boys on their way to watching ND crush Airforce!

Colbie didn't get to go to the game but wanted to be in the picture.

Colbie, my mom and I stayed back and did some shopping while the guys enjoyed some great football and fabulous weather!

On the way home Sunday we stopped by for a few hours to visit Dana and Brian (more ND friends) and their sweet daughter Leah at Dana's family's lakehouse right on Lake Michigan. It was a really great time, except once again, Colbie proved to hate the sand.

Nobody Puts Baby in the Corner: Eleven Month

2011-10-10T19:52:00.007-05:00

Sunday Colbie turned 11-months old, which frankly, seems impossible. I am having so much fun watching her learn and grow, and it seems like everyday she is doing something new and very impressive in her mama's eyes.

Little C. continues to be the world's happiest baby and loves to smile and show off her teeth as well as laugh at anything remotely silly. I swear grocery shopping takes twice as long these days because she waves and smiles at everyone so then everyone stops to talk to her. It's pretty much the Colbie parade up and down every aisle.

She is a great sleeper still, but I'm starting to notice both her morning and afternoon naps are getting a shorter. I'm beginning to wonder if this is when the transition to one nap a day happens. Believe it or not, I am actually looking forward to the one nap days ahead.

Colbie has become Miss Independent in terms of eating and doesn't really want you near her with a spoon. She has to do it all by herself, and because of this, I don't think the girl has eaten a vegetable in days. If she could have it her way, she would eat meat and Cheerio's exclusively. If anyone has any tricks for veggies, feel free to send them our way.

Some of C.'s other favorites include:

Touch and Feel books

Walking

Crawling toward outlets

Dancing (which I have to get on video)

Singing (can we say Diva?!?)

Anything soft that she can snuggle her face into

Getting tickled

Molly

My Keys

Some of C.'s least favorite things:

Vegetables

Being re-directed

Being in carseats or strollers for extended periods of time

Having her nose wiped

Having my keys taken away so we can actually drive somewhere

Happy 11-month sweet baby girl, we love you more than you will ever know.

Out of nowhere

2011-10-06T11:43:00.002-05:00

On September 15th, at 10 months old, Colbie decided she would show us how she can crawl. She had never really tried to get any where and didn't practice crawling at all, she just did this:

Notice the first thing she ever crawled to was a shoe.

Then...on October 5th, at 10 months old and less than three weeks after she started crawling, we were practicing "standing like a big girl" and Little Miss took off. She has never taken any unassisted steps on her own before...ever.

Her primary mode of transportation is still crawling, but last night she walked the entire length of her room.

I think it's fair to say we are starting to wonder what else C. can do but just hasn't bothered to show us yet.

Six Years Later

2011-10-02T19:51:00.003-05:00

August of 2005 the hubs and I took our first "trip" together. We had been dating only about six weeks but thought it would be fun to attempt a camping trip. Keep in mind we both lived in downtown Chicago at the time. I borrowed my roommates car (thanks again Nikki), somehow found some camping gear, and booked reservations at a camp ground up in Wisconsin. Never in a million billion years did we think that we would end up living just 45 minutes away from the very spot where we first started talking about our future together.

This is actually the very first picture we ever had taken together

What a difference six years can make!

What a difference some advancements in cameras can make too!

Devil's Lake State Park is a beautiful place to hike, but more importantly, it will always be the perfect place for us to go back to and gauge how far we've come in life together.

Buried amongst the 1000 pictures of Colbie

2011-10-01T20:01:00.003-05:00

My sister-in-law just posted a bunch of pictures from her summer. Included in the batch were some from our trip out to Seattle and Chelan this past August. Shockingly, 98% of the pictures were of Colbie, but then there was this little gem:

Not only is this proof that I didn't wear a white tank top over my bathing suit the entire time, but it's a great shot of me and the hubs!

Wellies from Washington

2011-09-24T11:10:00.006-05:00

The other day Little C. received a package in the mail from her Grandma:

You guessed it, these were from her Seattle Grandma! Rain boots (aka Wellies) for her next trip to the often rainy northwest. I don't care if it's raining or not though, C. is going to wear there because they are cuteness overload!

Also cuteness overload is this Columbia fleece that was sent from Auntie Tami, Alivia and Lainey!

It didn't occur to me until it was 45 degrees out that Colbie didn't have any fall coats, just sweaters or a big winter puffer coat. So this jacket has already come in super handy and saved me from lossing the mom of the year award a few times!

Thanks for all of the great stuff guys, I love it!!!

Oh, and do you want to see my teeth?!?!?

I've got a couple more hiding in there that you can't quite see.

Elvis, Keebler, and Bieber

2011-09-24T11:01:00.006-05:00

I'm sure everyone out there thinks that their baby is the "most loved baby ever". Well... Colbie received some mail yesterday that pretty much proves that she is the winner of "the most loved" award.

This my friends is a card from Auntie K.C. (remember her, the one with the abs?) and all of Auntie K.C.'s co-workers.

Clearly a very creative (random) bunch of ladies.

Needless to say, Colbie loved it!!!

Apparently all follow this blog and have fallen in love with Little Miss, but who can blame them, really?

Thank you so much Auntie Sondra, Auntie Carol, Auntie Katelyn, and Auntie Cathy. Colbie can't wait to meet you guys in December! And of course Auntie K.C. we love you and can't wait to see you in Boston soon!

Gold Shoes

2011-09-19T09:00:00.000-05:00

I have been patiently waiting until the Irish had a victory to post this blog, so thank goodness for Saturday's game!!!

Some of you may remember when I posted this blog last year, which included these shoes:

I hated (and still do hate) these gold shoes that the Notre Dame cheerleaders wear, but when I had the chance to buy our own little ND cheerleader a pair of gold shoes...well...I couldn't resist.

And if you ask me, this little cheerleader can make anything look cute!

Take A Hike

2011-09-13T20:30:00.000-05:00

The last few weekends D.B. has taken Colbie and Molly on some hikes while I either head to work or get some stuff done around the house. This past Saturday I tagged along for what turned out to be a beautiful hike at Governor Dodge State Park, which is about an hour south of us.

Colbie was all smiles for about 45 minutes and then I looked over to see this:

The hubs reports that this is usually what happens on their hikes.

And not to be completely left out:

Molly had a great time too.

Ugg's

2011-09-12T19:30:00.000-05:00

While we were visiting Chicago, Auntie Nikki busted out a little something for Colbie.

Awesome!!!

And as for the Ugg's with the romper look, all the celebs are doing it:

Thank you Auntie Nikki, you seemed to know exactly what a girl wants!

Colbie takes on the windy city!

2011-09-11T21:14:00.000-05:00

I love Chicago. It's my favorite city in the whole world. I'm convinced that everyone meets their soul mate when they live in Chicago. I know I did. Over Labor Day weekend D.B. and I decided to head down to Chicago to show Colbie where her mama and dada once lived, met, and fell in love.

We had a great time. Our first stop was Portillo's, which is a Chicago institution when it comes to food. There were other restaurants we would have liked to go too, but when you are bring a 9-month-old, you tend to go to the loudest places you can think of. Colbie loved all of the commotion and really would have loved my cake shake had I let her try it:

Here is a shot of the restaurant across from Portillo's. This is one of the reasons I love Chicago, the flowers.

After our quick lunch we headed down to visit with our good friend's, the Kribs. They were gracious enough to let us stay with them Saturday night, and we had a really wonderful time. Here is their oldest daughter, Tess, with Colbie. Their youngest, Paige (6 months), was down for her morning nap. The three girls did really well playing together, and it will be fun watching them grow up as friends.

After church on Sunday we headed up Lakeshore Drive, and my love for Chicago and my memories from when I lived there came rushing back:

After a quick lunch we headed to Lincoln Park Zoo where we met up with my Chicago roommate Nikki and her boyfriend, Ken. It didn't take Auntie Nikki long to have Colbie in her arms and the two had a blast looking at all of the animals together.

After the zoo, we headed back to Auntie Nikki's place where the hubs and I ditched Colbie so we could go out on a date! Dinner and ice cream!

Nobody Puts Baby in the Corner: Ten Month

2011-09-10T12:04:00.005-05:00

So once again I am way behind on blog posts, but I wanted to get this one up as soon as I could so I wouldn't forget altogether.

First, I need to make a public service announcement. If you plan on taking monthly pictures of your baby sitting in a chair, DON'T CHOSE A ROCKING CHAIR TWO FEET OFF THE GROUND!!! I'm sorry to be yelling, but it's getting pretty risky around these parts come the 9th of every month.

It usually starts okay

But then quickly progresses into this

And then this

And within a matter of about 10 seconds we are pretty much trying to catch Colbie as she launches herself.

Taking her monthly pictures takes a minimum of two people at all times now, and I only imagine this is going to get worse in the next couple of months...which brings me to point number two:

I only have two more stickers to stick on my sweet baby girl and then she's one. Do you know what that means?!?! It means in less than two months my baby girl is going to be a toddler. I just don't know how this happened so fast! I'm looking for suggestions on how to slow time down, so if you have any, please pipe up soon.

So, Colbie's happenings as of late:

She is starting to figure out the crawling thing, and continues to love the walk behind toys.

She is still a great sleeper sleeping 12 hours at night and then taking two good naps per day.

She is a fantastic eater with her favorite foods being lasagna, avocados, and bran muffins. I know, weird.

Little Miss has A LOT to say, although we have no idea what she is saying. She does seem to match "dada" up with the hubs and "mama" with me, as well as a high-pitched, excited "Mmmmmm" sound when she see's Molly the hound. Once in a very great while she parrots us perfectly with words like "all done" or "kiss".

She has six, count them, six teeth!

As far as weight and height go, I'm just going to say heavy and long.

Overall though, we will continue to say that we have the happiest baby in the world, and for that we feel very blessed.

Going Places

2011-08-31T15:53:00.005-05:00

Colbie has never really shown an interest in crawling. She is totally content to sit and play wherever she happens to be. She has however always loved to stand up. Here she was on her 2-month birthday:

See, I wasn't lying, C. likes to stand. I do however realize that she's not looking terribly sturdy or upright in this picture. The girl was all of nine pounds or so, so give her break.

Excuse me while I weep for a moment that my baby girl was ever that small.

Okay, I think I've pulled it together enough to continue

Well...standing has gotten boring these days so this is what she would like to spend 100% of her time doing.

I think it's a good thing I've started running again, I might be chasing Little Miss real soon.

And the streak continues

2011-08-31T10:34:00.005-05:00

The hubs was bummed when he didn't get to water ski a single time this summer. So bummed, that we talked to some friends and decided on renting a boat for an afternoon in order to pull the boys behind it. Then...these friends found out that one of their friends owns a boat, score! So...this past Sunday we packed up and headed north to Lake Wisconsin for a great day on the water!

Kris holding the uncomfortable babies in matching life jackets. Safety first girls, safety first.

Here comes D.B.!

Coasting in after ride number 1

Next up it was Tom's turn

and he's up!

And there's me

This is the closest picture you get because I don't have a wet suit on to hold in the pasty white jiggle that is my thighs...and maybe my butt too. It is important to note though that I never once wiped out, quite the accomplishment if I do say so myself.

After we pulled each other around for awhile we all hopped on board and took off down the lake/river (it's both) for a great ride and a stop on a quiet sand bar.

Trying to convince Colbie that sand is not a bad thing.

I think the convincing is going to take awhile.

This is my friend Kris, and her daughter Keira who is exactly a month younger than Colbie.

Back at the cabin we made dinner and let the girls do their thing. I'm pretty sure they are going to be great friends!!!

Then...after dinner we hopped back on the boat and cruised across the lake to get some ice cream! I'm pretty sure I could incorporate a boat ride for ice cream into my daily routine rather easily.

Thanks Dave (the owner of the boat and house), Tom, Kris, and Keira for a great day! We had a blast.

And...the husband didn't ruin his streak of summers in a row waterskiing!

Perfection minus the purple shoe laces

2011-08-18T16:36:00.006-05:00

So remember my friend Laura, the one from my Costco adventure? Well, in addition to being beautiful, fun, and having an appreciation for a good hotdog, she also happens to be oober talented in pretty much anything she decides to try. Don't get me wrong, she works hard, but she is totally "that person". You know what I'm talking about, we've all got one in our life. In fact, I've got two, the other one is the hubs.

Lucky for me, one of Laura's many gifts is that of photography, and even luckier for me, she offered to take some 9-month shots of Little C.

Hold onto your hats folks, because this is her sneak peak (the photo shoot was yesterday) and seriously, I think we were taking pictures for a total of less than 15 minutes.

Note: I really wish I would have bothered to actually put my shoes all the way on. And yes, I chose this color type because it matched my shoe laces.

Ugh, I just can't get enough of looking at these. Thanks a ton Laura!

Laura also happens to be my friend that took pictures on Adoption Day, and washed poo from Colbie's dress.

Promised Stats

2011-08-18T14:19:00.000-05:00

So as I promised, here are Colbie's most recent stats for 9-months:

Height: 28 inches (63% up from 43% at 6 months)!

Weight: 18 pounds 7 oz. (43% up from 28%)!

That is a 20% jump in length and 15% jump in weight! Way to go Colbie!!!

The doctor was very please with how C. was doing as far as growth and development! She had absolutely no concerns! I can't say we blame her though, as far as we are concerned, Colbie is pretty near perfect.

Da Bears

2011-08-17T11:38:00.005-05:00

Oh yes we did

You could say we were on a Costco high

I blame Laura

Ya see, it all started with an innocent trip to Costco to get the essentials (m&m's, pita chips, etc.) oh, and to have $1.50 hotdog and coke for lunch. Yes, we may do girl's days at the superstore every once in a while for this very reason. I mean it's $1.50, how can you go wrong?!?!?

While shopping, Laura spotted them and started playing with them. She was making them talk and dance, and wouldn't you know, my daughter starts squealing with delight. It was one of the more exciting moments in her life. Stella, Laura's little one, loved it too.

And then we did it, we couldn't help it, the girls loved them....we loaded up our cart,

but only after sorting through every single bear to find the two with the best fur and facial features. Because let's face it, when it comes to 53 inch teddy bears, it's all about looks.

That's right, I said 53 inches.

That's about as big as Laura, who just happens to always look this cute.

I have to admit, the girls were pretty excited, and promised us that they would act surprised on their birthdays when they actually got the bears.

Somehow I doubt they will have to wait until their birthdays.

Oh, and how was it driving the cart through Costco with these bad boys? I let my micro friend find out.

I see you peeking Laura.

For the record, I did guide her through the aisles telling her where (most of) the obstacles were.

Oh, and you wouldn't believe how many people stopped to ask us if the girls were twins.

Ummm, no. (This is C. showing off her mad raspberry skills).

Chelan 2011

2011-08-16T14:28:00.007-05:00

So after two days in Seattle, we were Chelan bound. If you don't remember from year's past, this is a resort lake in central Washington that the hubs has basically spent a week at every summer of his existence. This year was especially exciting because his mom recently bought a condo on the lake!

Much of our time was spent lounging at the 90 degree pool, visiting with friends and family and going out on the boat with our good friends, Virg and Cheryl, who also happen to reside in Chelan during the summer months. Before D.B.'s mom's condo, we would stay at Virg and Cheryl's place.

Here are a lot of pictures of our time in Chelan to make up for my complete lack of pictures taken while in Seattle:

Warming up after the first afternoon in the pool. Note the giant stuffed animals that Grandma had waiting for Colbie:

Next day we hit the pool while the sun was still high in the sky so we stayed warm the whole time, and C. had a blast showing Grandma, Aunt K.C. and daddy how she can kick and splash.

And lucky for us, we got to enjoy a lot of time on the boat, because despite the life jacket, C. loved it, finding it both fun and relaxing.

Asleep on Aunt K.C. (P.S. if you are wondering how Aunt K.C. has abs like that, she does hot yoga, eats WAY healthier than I do, and doesn't have kids...not that I birthed my, but that's beside the point).

This is actually a smile, but the life jacket pushed up her cheeks a little bit (note: my abs are not visible, there is a good reason for this):

Cozy with Grandma

On this trip out to Washington Colbie finally got to meet her Great Uncle Stan, Auntie Kim, and cousin Peyton. After waiting 9 months to meet them, it didn't take her long at all to get acquainted.

In addition to boating, swimming, catching up, and relaxing, there was a lot of time spent gathered around watching "The Colbie Show". At one point there were six of us (and four different cameras) gathered around watching C. go nuts rolling around on the ground and wrestling the big gorilla.

And...mommy and daddy's backs got a little bit of a break because there were others to do this for us:

Seriously, the girl could walk around all day like this if we would let her!

Overall Chelan 2011 was a great success and I feel so blessed that Colbie gets to grow up making summer memories here just like her daddy did.

On a sad note for the hubs, this is the first year that he did NOT get pulled behind the boat on a ski. He's a total water snob, and never got smooth enough water, or something like that :)

This may be a problem

2011-08-13T15:33:00.004-05:00

Dear Husband,

Consider yourself warned:

We may have a future shopper on our hands.

Love,

Your Wife

Yah Seattle!

2011-08-13T14:51:00.004-05:00

Since moving to Madison, this was the longest we had gone without heading back to Seattle. It was hard to believe that one whole year had snuck by since we had last visited. If you recall, I did have a trip to Seattle planned this past November, that was trip number 3 that was cancelled in the adoption process. Instead of going on that trip, Colbie was born! This made it all the more exciting to take Little Miss back to the great northwest!

Once again, Colbie won the prize for best baby on a flight. And it was a four hour flight!

Upon arriving we were greeted by the hub's mom, and promptly left Little Miss with her to head to Target to stock up on supplies. Afterward the four of us grabbed dinner and did some playing in the fountains.

The next morning we headed out to breakfast to meet Marisa, one of D.B.'s high school friends.

From there C. and I headed up to meet a bunch of my friends from Seattle Children's ED. We had such a great time eating Trophy cupcakes, drinking coffee, gossiping and oohing and aahhing over each other's children. It was SO nice to see everyone that I actually forgot to take my camera out of my diaper bag to capture the moments (and the cupcakes).

That afternoon was spent strolling around U-Village, my favorite outdoor mall in the city. Colbie and I got to spend some wonderful time with my dear friend Sarah as well as stop by and pick up some Fran's salted caramels. YES PLEASE!!! Hubs got to spend the afternoon at the baseball game with his dad where they both got way too much sun and the Mariners won (gasp!).

Dinner was spent with more dear friends, Adam and Andrea (as well as her parents) where we feasted on an amazing spread including fresh salmon right off the grill. On the way home we pick up a pint of salted caramel (are you sensing a trend?) ice cream from Molly Moon's (our dog's name sake) to save for later...and it was amazing.

The next morning it was off to Lake Chelan, which is more than deserving of it's own post, so you'll have to stay tuned for that.

It was so great being back in the city where D.B. and I spent our first couple of married years. It was here that we got married, had some great adventures, and first began the long road to becoming parents. As I was driving north on I-5 toward the city I saw the water, the mountains, the space needle, the houseboats, and finally the green steeple to our old church, and to be totally honest it was a struggle to keep myself from being a blubbering idiot. I thought about Colbie in the back seat asleep, and how I had dreamed of bringing my children back to Seattle and showing them around while telling them about three of the best years of our lives. I'm so excited that this is a place we will always return and that our children will have such a cool place to visit on vacation!

***sorry for the lack of pictures, I was too busy doing everything else to even think about digging out my camera from the bottom of my bag.

Nobody Puts Baby in the Corner: Nine Month

2011-08-12T16:19:00.005-05:00

So this past Tuesday marked Colbie's nine-month birthday. It was the first time I looked at the pictures I took of her next to the bunny in the rocking chair and thought to myself, "HOLY CRAP! Where has my baby gone". I felt like I was staring at pictures of someone closer to being a toddler than a baby.

I'm totally serious, where did my baby go?!?!

We won't have updates on her height and weight until this upcoming Monday, but I will be sure to post them then. I can tell you this though, she is tall! We haven't had an official size check since six months so I'm anxious to see how much she has grown. Sitting her on my bathroom scale is probably not the most accurate.

These days Colbie likes to talk a lot and I'm pretty sure I caught her singing to herself while dancing this morning. Her vocabulary consists of dada, baba, gaga, and mama (said in a deep man-baby voice). She also has started making the mmmm noise whenever she see's the dog, Molly.

C. is a big fan of standing, walking while holding onto our fingers, rolling around, clapping and waving. She has yet to be mobile on her own, and for this I am very thankful.

Two bottom teeth are all of the way in and both of her top teeth have broken through. She has become all about chewing with her new chompers too, and very much prefers feeding herself finger food over eating purees. Sister is a total meat and cheese sort of girl.

Little Miss pretty much remains the world's easiest baby. I'm not kidding. With the exception of a few rough nights on vacation, she sleeps a full 12+ hours at night and generally has a couple of 90+ minute naps per day. Just this afternoon we hosted play group and it took me 30 seconds to put Colbie down for a nap. Upon returning from laying her down my friend just stared and me and said something to the extent of, "Colbie would lay down that easily" (with a snarky my baby wont fall asleep anywhere tone). She of course was kidding...but bitter:).

In general, C. is just super happy, and we are super blessed.

I know that it doesn't matter one way or another, but the nine month mark was a big deal to me because it did make me think that I've now officially gotten to be Colbie's mommy as long has her birthmom got to be with her.

Stay tuned to more blogs to come as I will post pictures from our Seattle/Chelan vacation soon! Oh, and happy 200th blog post!

Old Friends, New State

2011-07-27T16:49:00.006-05:00

The hubs had a four days in a row off this past weekend, and we figured that while C. is still relatively portable we should go some where.

Then we thought, "Why not Nebraska?!?!?"

"Why Nebraska?" You might be asking yourself. The answer is that D.B.'s college roommate lives in Lincoln with his lovely wife Staci (who I have become friends with thanks to the wonderful world of blogging) and their four adorable kids.

So...we invited ourselves, and they agreed to let us crash their weekend. The only bummer with us coming this past weekend was that the three girls were going to be at their grandparent's house so we wouldn't get the full affect of Nathaniel and Staci's lives. Lucky for us though, Peter, who happens to be exactly one week older than Colbie stuck around for the action.

Here are just a couple of pictures from our trip:

Staci, Nathaniel, Peter, Colbie and D.B. enjoying the best apple fritters ever at the Saturday morning farmer's market.

Little Miss was all smiles despite the fact that we would not share the fritter with her.

Peter demonstrating that apple fritters do in fact count as acceptable treats to give 8-month-olds. Too bad for Colbie, ours was already gone.

Peter is totally on the move so getting a picture of the two together was nearly impossible.

Sorry folks, this is as good as it got as far as photos go.

After some great time spent together we loaded up the car Sunday around noon and took off to Omaha to meet one of the hub's good friends from high school.

We had a great lunch with Vicki and her family before getting back on the road for the long drive home. Lucky for us, Colbie is pretty much perfect in the car.

After a quick stop for dinner that evening in Iowa we went outside to see:

1. The storm that we were potentially outrunning

We only ended up with a few sprinkles of rain on our drive.

and

2. Our car after parking under a particularly populated tree all weekend.

gross

This past weekend Colbie also went from only needing her paci during naps to pretty much needing a paci all.the.time.

We did get to sit together in church for the entire mass for the first time in quite away thanks to the paci though, so I can't complain too much.

Thank you so much Nathaniel, Staci and Peter for your wonderful hospitality, we had a wonderful time and hope that someday we can return the favor!!!

The evening Eva came to play

2011-07-27T16:37:00.003-05:00

Last week Thursday one of my BFF's from my living in Chicago days came to Madison from Indianapolis. Lucky for us, Amy (the BFF) has in-laws in Madison! Anywho, Amy has Eva who is three months older than Colbie. She also has a son, Oliver who has made the blog a few times, but Oliver had better things to do Thursday evening than to play date it up with Little C.

Here are a couple of shots from the girl's play date. Keep in mind, Eva is entirely mobile and thus tricky to get a picture of. Needless to say, it was a bit of a glimpse into my nearing future.

I'm thinking Madison would be a great place for you guys to move Amy, I'm just sayin'.

Simoney and her Macaroni

2011-07-25T12:33:00.007-05:00

Last week my mom, aunt and niece, Simone came to visit. We had a great time with lots of new adventures for Simone!

After a successful ferry trip over from Michigan we headed home and Simone had her first encounter with the pool. A little timid at first, but she got pretty used to the water pretty fast!

The next day it was off to Madison Children's Museum, but only after stopping for some Macaroni and Cheese Pizza (this was Simone's 3rd meal of Mac and Cheese on the trip so far...hence the title of this post).

Now off to the museum, away from the 90+ degrees outside:

The museum is right down next to the Capitol so Aunt Robin, GG, and Simone stopped for a quick photo.

After a stop at the Student Union for some ice cream, we returned to the backyard for some more pool time!

While in the pool GG (Grandma Gayle) was screwing around and broke her toe. No joke! One would come to expect this nonsense from the 3.5 year old, but really GG?

After dinner the girls headed to Target to do the gasp ONLY SHOPPING DURING THE TRIP gasp! My mom could hardly walk so I told her I would give her $5 to ride the cart.

And she took my money

She was totally embarrassed about this (as she should she be) but she would have significantly slowed down our trip otherwise. And it was hilarious. Oh, and Simone may or may not have said that riding on GG's lap was as fun as Papa Dan's race cars.

Day three, it was off to find some more Mac and Cheese for Simone, and of course since she was in Wisconsin, we had to have her try a cheese curd.

I'm not going to lie, the girl might not poop for days after this trip.

The last afternoon was spent...you guessed it, in the pool. I'm pretty sure I heard, "look at me, I swimming" at least 500 times over the course of Simone's trip. It was great fun for sure!

Come visit anytime Simoney-Roney, we love you!

Oh, and Aunt Robin and GG, we love you too!!!!

Summer

2011-07-11T11:27:00.005-05:00

Top 10 Reasons why I love summer:

1. Floating around in the pool during nap time with an iced coffee in hand (and getting nothing done:))

2. Iced Coffee

3. Floating around in the pool riding the crocodile with Colbie.

4. Flip Flops

5. Talking walks and not having to add additional layers before leaving the house.

6. Having friends over for back yard pool parties

7. Having impromptu dance parties in the family room when it's too hot to go outside and air conditioning is a must! (for those of you who know the hubs well, he was more in charge of DJ-ing and less in charge of dancing :))

8. Anything cooked on the grill

9. Fresh berries

and last but certainly not least...

10. Babies in bathing suits!

That is Colbie's friend Evie behind those amazing shades!

Nobody Puts Baby in the Corner: Eight Month

2011-07-11T09:57:00.005-05:00

Seriously, eight month olds are so much fun!!! Like I say every month, I cannot believe our teeny tiny little miss is this old already, but I wouldn't trade anything for the stage we are at right now. We are at the golden stage where Colbie can sit, play and entertain herself for short periods of time, but still isn't interested in moving too much on her own so I don't have to be right there every single second.

She remains the world's happiest baby, and is also continuing to be a fantastic sleeper. Nights are 7p-7a and she usually takes two naps a day lasting at least 90 minutes each, but usually longer. As I type this, I am quickly looking for some wood to knock on.

C. is a great eater and doesn't seem to be picky at all. It does take her a few tries to warm up to new flavors though. Her favorite food at the moment is the Mum-Mum. Do you know about the Mum-Mum? If not, and you have a little one, head to Target (I haven't been able to find them at grocery stores) and buy a box. I can almost guarantee it will be a hit!

Other favorites of Colbie's right now are:

Talking

Singing

Shouting

Talking

Shrieking

etc....

Let's just say sister's got a lot to say. Yesterday at church we made it about 3 minutes before the woman behind of had the giggles so bad that she was shaking while listening to Colbie trying to sing along. I spent the remaining 57 or so minutes behind the sound proof doors in back of church while C. continued to talk the.whole.time. Mostly she likes to tell people da da da da or la la la la but sometimes she changes it up and says something different altogether.

Another thing that Colbie is loving, is making this face, which totally cracks us up. When she does this, she breathes really loud and fast through her nose until we mimic her, and then she cracks up herself.

Oh, and she currently has two teeth:

As far as weight and height goes, I'm not too sure. My guess is that she is between 16-17 pounds, but we'll find out for sure next month.

Want Not

2011-07-08T10:45:00.004-05:00

Yesterday during Colbie's 3 HOUR NAP!, I organized all of her clothes by size into bins. This was not a quick job because little miss has a serious shopping problem. I swear, it's her and not me!

Here are the clothes that she has out-grown. Bin sizes include: Newborn, 0-3, and 3-6. We have three more bins to go with sizes to come, because we were seriously blessed with tons of gifts and Meg-me-down (aka hand-me-downs). It wasn't really baby shop-o-holic that did all of that damage.

The second picture totally cracks me up because of the mystery arm holding Colbie up.

It is so amazing to me to hold up a little newborn outfit and think that Colbie could have ever been that tiny, and she wore that size for 6 weeks! Sigh I think Colbie is going to need a sister in the future just so I can see those clothes again.

In other Colbie news, for some reason yesterday we started referring to our child as: Kohlrabi and Goosey. I'm not exactly sure why, but these new nicknames have seemed to stick.

A current list of everything else we call our daughter other than Colbie:

C.C.

Little Miss

Baby Girl

Love

Little C.

Double C

Goosey

Kholrabi

Happy, Safe weekend to you all! Time to hit the pool.

You know you are having a good summer when....

2011-07-05T10:44:00.004-05:00

You are still in your bathing suit while eating dinner

Baby Lady Liberty

2011-07-05T09:51:00.009-05:00

Since I was very little I have loved playing dress-ups. I actually had a pretty impressive dress-up chest until I was 25 years old. Part of me regrets not still having it.

Growing up my mom always made up these great costumes for halloween (which is probably one reason that it is my favorite holiday to this day), fantastically creative and over-the-top Valentines day boxes, our bikes were always decked out for 4th of July, and parade float decorating was right up our ally too.

So...one of the things I have been looking forward to the most when it comes to being a mom is dressing my child up like other things. This past Saturday there was a local 5k race and walk that we signed up for, and hello? I think it would only be appropriate for Colbie to be festive, right?

I give you Baby Lady Liberty

My friend Laura, and her baby Stella also joined in the walk with us and I fashioned up Stella a matching outfit to Colbie's. We actually finished pretty much in last place in the walk because people stopped us to take the girls' pictures.

The hubs finished the 5k in a decent time and was in the top 10% overall.

After the race/walk we all hung out, had an early lunch, and did some dancing to the live music. It was a really great time had by all.

And that was just Saturday morning.

Sunday after I was finished with work (boo!) D.B. and Colbie picked me up and we all went kayaking. And by "we" I mean Little Miss and I sat in the front while D.B. paddled us around the lake. For as much as Colbie has started loving the pool, kayaking is NOT her favorite new past time. I think it may have something to do with the life jacket.

It was a lot like the snow suit scene from A Christmas Story.

Monday, the actual 4th of July, Colbie and I took off to walk in our neighborhood parade. It was so fun to see all of the kids with their bikes covered in crate paper and their faces painted red, white and blue. There was even a fire truck leading the way for the parade that was a total of 4 blocks long!

After the parade was done, we booked it home for nap time, and our little miss liberty took a...drum roll please...

THREE HOUR NAP!!!!!

Hope you all had a wonderful holiday weekend too!!!

Lazy mornings

2011-06-27T13:42:00.003-05:00

Mornings for me usually start with the hubs bringing Colbie in to wake me on his way to work. If only everyone was this excited to see me every.single.day. After C.'s morning bottle and my first cup of coffee the three of us head to the family room for some play time. "The three of us?" you might as, "I thought the hubs went to work?".

Yes, the three of us.

The smooch across the face is not a typical occurrence, but as you can tell, Colbie doesn't mind too much.

I'm not going to lie, mornings are my favorite. If only it could be the four of us every morning.

Fish food and cowboy boots

2011-06-22T10:49:00.005-05:00

My parents have created the grandchildren wonderland in their back yard. I'm not kidding. They have a large pond with a fountain to race the paddle boats around, a private beach that sits beside the "fish house" which is full of nets, fishing poles, life jackets, and toys, oh and fish food! The fish food is very important because feeding the fish is everyone's favorite thing to do, and Papa couldn't wait to bring Colbie out to the fish house for the first time when we were in Michigan.

Cousin Simone was a big help in showing C. how to properly feed the fish and turtles.

After feeding the fish, it's time to go for a ride around the property with Papa, and if you are lucky, he will stop and cut you some flowers.

This year's cows had just been delivered, but we didn't have the chance to "feed papa's cows" while we were there. There was some time for the cousins to sit and play in the grass though.

Oh, and did I happen to mention that being out in the county means that a girl automatically needs a pair of cowgirl boots?

Well, it's true.

Baptism Day!

2011-06-17T14:09:00.004-05:00

On a rainy May 28th, Colbie Christine began the newest member of the Catholic Church. We felt so blessed to be surrounded by our family for this this special event. Overall C. did great, especially considering she could have really used a good nap.

We felt especially blessed to have a good friend of ours, Father Nate Wills, come into town to Baptize Colbie. Father Nate been around throughout the whole journey to Colbie and was one of Little C.'s first visitors!

Here is Little Miss with her Godparent's, Uncle Jason and Auntie Tami. Tami is actually my cousin, but we might as well have been sisters growing up, and therefore she is "auntie" as far as Colbie is concerned.

Colbie's baptism gown in a Sanders' family heirloom and she is at least the third generation to wear it. And shockingly enough...she did NOT blow it out!

After the Baptism, we headed back home and got ready to party!!!! So stay tuned for more pictures!!!

Nobody Puts Baby in the Corner: Seven Month

2011-06-17T11:15:00.005-05:00

So, despite being over a week late, here is the 7-month shots of Little C. Notice her mouth is open in the pictures. That is because it's pretty much open all of the time while she talks away, her new favorite past time.

I don't have any new weight/height stats, but she continues to grow grow grow as evidence by me needing to pack away her 3-6 month clothes and dig out the 6-9.

Look closely and you can see her tooth!

Grandma B.

2011-06-16T10:46:00.005-05:00

So, this blog post is completely out of order, but it offers up an explanation to where we have been. On Memorial Day, Little Miss and I hitched a ride with my parents and headed back to Michigan for five days. Oh, and I should also note that much to my parent's dismay they are only provided with dial-up internet ~insert cringe here~, thus no blogs from their house is Michigan.

Back to the purpose of this post

Colbie and spent the five days doing a lot of things, but the purpose of our visit was to spend time with my Grandma B. who was diagnosed with a nasty form of bone cancer (Multiple Myeloma) in January. The Friday morning before C. and I were set to take off, we had a wonderful time where it was just the three of us. By Friday afternoon we could see my Grandma failing...fast. We decided to stay in Michigan.

Early in the morning on Monday the 6th of June my grandma passed away. She was a lovely, kind, spirited woman who I will remember fondly and miss greatly.

And I am beyond grateful for the days Colbie had with her, and her with Colbie.

Together this past Christmas

Oh, and as for our 5 day long trip, we were there a total of 14, but that was just fine.

A Month Ago

2011-06-13T13:31:00.006-05:00

So a month ago we headed to Denver so D.B. could attend and give a talk at a conference. I promised you all...about a month ago...a blog post, so hear it is. Sorry about the delay, the past 30 days have had some unexpected bumps, twists and turns. If you read future blogs, which I promise to post in less than another month's time, you will understand completely. Anywho, here are the highlights of our Colorado 2011 trip!!!

Monday evening of our trip D.B.'s mom (aka Grandma) flew in from Seattle and it took us approximately 5 minutes to hand over the baby and be out the door. When you don't live close to family the idea of a free babysitter for a night is just too much to resist. Luckily for us, one of the hub's good friends from med school happens to be a team doctor for the Colorado Rockies and offered to bring us to the game! We had such a great evening with James and Kristy and to top it off, the Rockies won!!!

All but one day of our entire trip was cold and rainy. Think Seattle weather. On that single day where it only rained an hour of so we took advantage of some of Denver's surrounding areas and enjoyed the great outdoors.

Doesn't every baby go hiking in pink, sparkly mary-jane socks?

After a morning filled with hiking, we picked up Grandma and headed to Bolder where the sun was shining!

In addition to lots of quality time with Grandma, Colbie got to hang out with her Uncle Jason! Her and Uncle J. were fast friends and Little Miss thought LeRoy the dog was pretty great too!!!

Last but certainly not least, C. and I got to spend the day with one of my best friends from college, Sarah! This may have been a boring shopping trip for Colbie except Sarah brought along Owen, her little man who was born in January. I give you the future Mr. and Mrs. Owen and Colbie Zuber:

Owen is afraid of cameras by the way, he doesn't always look this traumatized :)

It is important to know, when Sarah and I were living together in college, we used to talk about having babies around the same time (her a boy and me a girl) and how they would get married someday. No pressure Owen and Colbie, no pressure at all.

To Hold You Over.

2011-05-21T21:36:00.003-05:00

We just got back from Denver late Thursday night, and after a very nice, but very cold trip, we are back in full force to conquer the busy busy week ahead. I'm not sure when I will get to blog about this trip (hopefully soon), but until then, enjoy this entirely funny picture of Colbie with her Uncle Jason. And, if you want, feel free to try and give this photo a name:)

More to follow soon....hopefully.

P.S. See Mom, she CAN take a bad picture.

Adoption Day!

2011-05-13T16:58:00.005-05:00

This past Wednesday was Colbie's Adoption Finalization Day!!!! Here is a time line of the morning.

7:15am: Leave the house to head downtown to the courthouse for our 8am hearing

7:35am: Just about get to the destination when the hubs says, "you have the paperwork, right?" WRONG! I am an idiot.

7:36am: Turn the car around and for once in my life be glad D.B. has a little bit of a lead foot.

7:50am: Run in thru the garage and into the house to grab the paperwork off the top of the dryer...exactly where I left it so I wouldn't forget it.

7:55am: Call the courthouse and get connected to the judge's office to tell them we are running late. They ease my panic by telling us there are three adoptions today so we will be fine.

7:56am: Smell poop coming from the back seat.

8:05am: D.B. drops me and Colbie off at the courthouse so he can run and park. Laura, my sweet sweet friend who volunteered to take pictures is waiting in front.

8:06am: Get to and thru security, where when they see us they excitedly said, "yah, it's adoption day!", and then proceeded to tell us the wrong floor to head too.

8:10am: All of us, D.B. included, make it to the right floor and I swoop Colbie into the bathroom for a quick diaper change.

8:11am: Discover poop up to my daughters armpits

8:15am: Husband is now knocking on the women's restroom door to say the judge is waiting for us. Colbie is currently naked and pretty much getting a full bath with baby wipes, meanwhile my sweet sweet friend Laura, who came to take pictures, is rinsing out the poop from the dress.

8:20am: We make it into the courtroom and raise our right hand to be sworn in.

8:22am: The judge asks us, "Do you believe it is in this child's best interest that you adopt her and legally become her parents?" I look down at the little love of my life sitting on my lap in nothing but a Pamper and white cardigan and think to myself, "hmmm, she is essentially naked in a courtroom, is it in her best interest that I become her mom? Absolutely!" and then smile and look up at the judge and simply say, "I do".

8:25am: The hearing is adjourned and Colbie is officially ours...forever!

The next few hours were spent as a family, celebrating, while Laura captured on film the completion of this journey!!!

Thank you Thank you Thank you to my sweet sweet friend Laura, who came to take pictures but ended up washing poop out of a dress in addition to getting these great shots!

Nobody Puts Baby in the Corner: Six Month

2011-05-09T11:06:00.003-05:00

The real title of this blog should be "Big Girl's Don't Cry" because we just got home from Colbie's six month visit and the girl hardly even got upset with her two shots. She cried for half a second with the second one but before the band-aides were even on she was totally fine. Once again, Little Miss proves herself to be a lot tougher than her mama.

Things that do make Colbie cry:

1. Me leaving her line of vision

2. Strangers

3. Waking up hungry.

4. teething

and that's about it.

Things that make Colbie happy:

1. mama and daddy

2. books and toys

3. food

4. dance parties

5. Molly

6. sitting like a big girl

7. practicing standing

8. tickling

At our visit to the doctor's office this morning, we got a clean bill of health and they all thought she was developing perfectly. No concerns at all, yah!!! As for her growth, here are the latest stats:

weight: 14lbs 13 oz. (28%)

height: 25.5 inches (43%), this is up from 25% at her 4 month visit!

head circumference: 41.1 cm (15%)

I give you the World's Happiest Baby!

Here she is showing off her perfect pike position. A lot of times she sits with her legs perfectly straight in front of her and her toes pointed. We might just have a gymnast on our hands:)

Mother's Day

2011-05-08T21:12:00.009-05:00

For a few years now on Mother's Day I would sit in church watching all of the moms stand and get a special blessing. This was not easy for me. Last night we went to Mass, and at the end all of the mothers stood, and with Colbie in my arms, so did I.

Today I woke up at 10am!!! All I asked for for Mother's Day was to sleep in, and my little wish was granted. I slept for 11 straight hours! The hubs found me standing in the middle of our bedroom, smiling and stretching at 10:05. He had already fed, changed, played with, and put little miss down for her morning nap. He saw me, smiled and said, "your coffee is cold", and smiled back and replied, "I don't care, I am so well rested".

After a slow, and lovely start to the morning, D.B. and Colbie walked in with this:

I appreciate him teaching her about Anthropologie early and what her mama really likes!

We then packed up and headed to some local gardens where we walked around and enjoyed the warm weather and just being together.

The look on her face here totally cracks me up. We had a hard time getting one of C. looking at the camera. There were way too many distractions to pay any attention to her mama.

After our time at the gardens we headed to one of our favorite places in town, the University of Wisconsin student union terrace where we enjoyed some drinks and a great view.

The rest of the day was wrapped up with yard work, talking to our moms and rocking my little, long awaited baby girl to sleep. Something I only dreamt of doing this time last year.

A very very special Mother's Day to all of you moms out there, especially our mom's and grandma. We hope you had a wonderful day, and we wish we could have celebrated with you!!! And for our grandmothers that have past on, we remember you too.

More than anyone in the world, this Mother's Day we are thinking of and praying for Colbie's birthmom, and thanking her for giving me the gift of being a mom. Happy Mother's Day M!

Pool Pouty

2011-05-02T21:45:00.004-05:00

One of the reasons the hubs and I bought the house we did was because of the backyard pool. We figured that having us as parents could be a real limiting factor for our children's popularity and coolness. Having a pool though, that automatically makes you a little cooler, and I'm not going to lie, Colbie may already have made some friends based on the possibilities of summer pool parties. We are also aware of the fact that Colbie already stands a better chance at being cool solely on the fact that she does not share our dorky genes.

Anypool, where am I going with this?

Well, this past weekend we stayed at a hotel that happened to have an indoor pool. We thought it would be a good idea to introduce her to swimming so this summer she would be ready to go. Then this happened:

Needless to say, it didn't go very well. It is also important to note that Colbie boycotted naps while on this trip, so she was overly tired to say the least.

It did get better though, at least a little bit.

I figure, even if she doesn't end up liking to swim, she can still hang out by the pool in one of her many bathing suits while entertaining her friends. Because seriously, does it get any cuter than this?

For the record, those are in fact the world's cutest chicken legs!!! Oh, and no, we did not even think about how D.B. and I would look even pastier white than before once we became a transracial family.

A Royal Wedding

2011-05-02T11:17:00.008-05:00

This past weekend we headed to Front Royal, Virginia for D.B.'s cousin's wedding. The wedding took place on Friday and did take place in Front ROYAL, therefore we think it is fair to say that we went to the Royal Wedding.

Lucky for us, our alarm clock (aka Little Miss) woke us up in time to watch the first royal wedding of the day.

There wasn't a ton of time between catching Will and Kate's nuptials, before heading to Steve and Sharon's. The ceremony was a beautiful Catholic Mass and the reception was tons of fun with great food, decorations and lots and lots of dancing!!

The new Mr. and Mrs. Steven and Sharon!!!

Super cute decorations:

Dancing with daddy

Colbie showing off her no-hands Sophie skills

Uncle Jason was able to score himself a dance with Colbie

And C. got to hang out with Grandpa too, watching closely to how all of her cousins party down.

Not a great picture, but proof that I was actually at the wedding too:

And just when we thought we were all done celebrating, Saturday D.B's cousin Tim announced that Nicole (his girlfriend) was now his fiancee!!!! Congratulations you two, we can't wait to celebrate your marriage soon!

Lastly a huge congrats to Steven and Sharon! Thank you for letting us share in your day! We wish you all of the happiness in the world and can't wait to see you guys again soon!!! Great party by the way :)

Daddy's Girl

2011-04-25T11:30:00.004-05:00

In an attempt to be like her daddy Colbie came downstairs the other day wearing this:

Really D.B. only wears OR attire when he does bronchs, so we aren't sure, but Little Miss might actually have been trying to one-up her daddy. Either way, one nurse to two docs in the house seems like an unfair ratio if you ask me.

A special thanks to Grandma Sanders for getting C. these very funny pajamas!!!

Happy Easter!!!

2011-04-24T20:14:00.005-05:00

With the exception of a serious lack of napping, we had an all around wonderful Easter. In addition to going to Easter Mass, seeing our friend's son, Sweet Baby James baptized and then celebrating with them afterward, we also squeezed in going for a nice walk, a eating a lot of sweets. Oh, and in case you were worried, we took approximately 300 pictures of C. I knew you were worried.

Colbie's 1st Easter basket, filled with bath toys, a ball, a baby maraca, some formula (super fun, right?) and some baby food pears.

Posing in her Easter attire

I think this picture proves that I am officially no longer a rookie mom (oh, and sorry if this grosses you out, obviously you are not a mom if it does:))

Hope you all had a wonderful holiday weekend and maybe, just maybe, spring has arrived!

Debbie Gibson has nothing on me!!

2011-04-18T16:13:00.006-05:00

There are moments in motherhood that I have been proud of, and then of course some moments that I have not been so proud of (namely injuring my child's foot in the name of her fashion).

But then there are moments like this, where I am not sure if I should be proud or not. Oh, and yes, this is really what she wore that day...out in public.

Little does Colbie know that her mom had a "dress up box" until I was in my mid-20's, and happen to really like the 80's look!

In other news, this is what our thermometer read the other day:

Yup, that says 121.5 outside, and it may have actually been snowing at the time. I think maybe our thermometer is broken, I'm just sayin'.

Chowing Down

2011-04-15T12:43:00.010-05:00

This past Wednesday we started Colbie with solids, and other than the first look of uncertainty, she was a big fan. She only took about 4 bites worth the first day, but every day since then she has pretty much cleaned her bowl.

I love how you can see the progression of emotions/acceptance in these pictures!

Please ignore the audio in this clip, I hate my voice on camera, however I think the husband's laughter is pretty funny.

Much to my hometown's despair, I have decided to make C.'s baby food. For those of you who don't know, my hometown, Fremont, MI. is where a little known company called Gerber started. Fun fact, I was actually a GerberBaby Model forthe Nuk pacifier (I think that was the product). Anyway, I have actually found that I LOVE making Little Miss's food! It's super easy, super cheap (think $0.16/serving!), and totally organic. So far I have made a batch of butternut squash and a batch of sweet peas. I loved the color that the sweet peas came out.

Oh, and if you were wondering, the cereal we are feeding Colbie right now is totally Gerber!

And just for fun, here is one of the pictures from my modeling days:)