happy birthday, year one complete!

somebody is one year old!!

wow, that went fast. here are 'tater's' stats:23 pounds
32 inches
favorite food: (this should be broken down into categories)
- breakfast: blueberry yogurt
- snack: pretzels and freeze-dried apples or pears
- lunch: cereal bars - the gerber ones
- dinner: chicken - yeah, weird.
- anytime: ice cream and mini m&m's - a typical girl
favorite toy(s): the ugly baby that we found at a thrift store, legos and lately this dog that you pull behind you and it barks made by fisher price
words: 'aya' which means her name, sometimes she says 'dada' and means it

what she can do: wave, walk, dance, give kisses

likes: baths and swimming, babies, her sister's toothbrush, and music

dislikes: diaper changes, being dressed, and sitting in her car seat

we are so glad to have this sweetheart a part of our family. she brings us so much joy and happiness. we love to watch her grow and experience life. she is so much fun.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TATER!! WE LOVE YOU!

also...

here is a fun, little hike we went on over the fourth holidays. its a little state park called castlewood canyon and it is just outside franktown, co. it was beautiful! i recommend trying it for yourself. just wear pants bc there was poison ivy and there was quite a bit of it. 'smalls' was extremely sensitive to the fact that there was. we had to cross the creek and that was a little crazy bc there was no bridge. but the views were gorgeous and it was fun to play in water and see butterflies, wildflowers and nature. enjoy!

starting out. what did we make 'smalls' carry you ask? well, she had to bring her stuffed animals along. i got to carry them most of the time, lucky me!

first and safest river crossing, cherry creek actually.
'smalls' loved this little cave but would not go inside, so we decided to take a picute in front instead. 'smalls' leading the hike.peek-a-boo! who's that cute baby?

at the end of our 3 mile hike, 'smalls' was getting that 'my legs hurt' attitude so she ended up on dad's shoulders. mr. potato head packing an extra 70 pounds! talk about tough! yes, that is MY man! looks like someone's legs feel better.

happenings

we have been busy. here is a little update.

(kinda goofy picture of 'tater')
'tater' is walking at 11 months and in a week she will be 1 year old! what am i going to do for her birthday? still have to figure that one out. she is into babies, cars, and anything that involves her big sister. what a clown she is. every night at dinner she cracks us up. she is always making funny sounds, new sounds she discovers she can make, and then laughs like she is super funny and clever. of course that makes us laugh and she thinks she is the show, so she hams it up even more. it has been so fun watching her grow into her own little person.

(big kid at the park - she is trying everything)

'smalls' starts kindy-garten in a month and i worry about her, well, her listening skills - the fact that she has none. she is so into her own little world, which revolves around horses and anything related to horses. she often uses our house for a rodeo barrel-riding competition. her and sunrise (her hobby horse) are the fastest pair this side of the dishwasher. i love it. she has me clap, whistle and yell, "that's my daughter!". it lights up her face and she runs even faster. what do you expect from a 5 year-old?

well, they are my life. and i really love and enjoy them.

p.s. the baby birds have flown the coop - they left earlier this month. sometimes i can still hear their little peeps and chirps.

thrifty 2 nifty

i just started a new blog - pardon the chaos - and i posted my first blog today. check it out. it is all about the fun things i find for cheap and what i create from it all. hope that this inspires you to create something nifty from the world of thrifty! visit it from the link above or at http://www.thrifty2nifty.blogspot.com/.

thanks!

happenings

here is a little of what has been happening around our nest! 5 eggs - hatched! and now we have baby birds. had to do this one in color to see the eggs and now baby birds.

forget milk mustache - this is yogurt. a favorite for this child. give me that camera!
swinging and lots of swinging with a best friend. 'small fry' insisted that she have new 'barbie' sun glasses. thanks barbie!
memorial day - 'tater tot' had a great time crawling around with her baby friends. more memorial day - i think she had 7 pieces of corn.
even more memorial day - finally relaxing. this is a rare thing lately.
meet miss 'angry face'. if she doesn't get her way, this is the look she gives me. if she is frustrated, this is the look she gives me. if i take away the dirt that she was trying to eat, this is the look she gives me. you get the idea. it's also the 'fake cry' face. when i get this face i just laugh. someone should tell her that it's not very effective.

shower quilt

finally done with the quilt - thank you alene. i threw a baby shower for a friend and since i am sorta tired of baby shower games i decided to try new things. i make baby onesies and other things for shower fun. this time i tried a quilt. like a quilting bee. i chose this super cute fabric - 'robots' by david walker - and we ironed on space ships, stitched around edges, and sewed it up as a rag quilt. oh, it is the sweetest thing and so soft. what a great project for the new mom and a baby shower. here are the pictures. thanks for all who helped.

goin' on a baby animal hunt

goin' on a baby animal hunt and i'm not afraid. 'cause i got my ...

binoculars!
and ...

bait!

(aka baby sister. 'tater' was really good but she just can't wait to get in on all the fun and melee. she is 10 1/2 months now and just starting to take a few steps! i thought it best to keep her in the stroller. that way she can't cause to much damage or be carried off by some bird of prey! what would i tell my husband?

on the hunt! today we went to the rocky mountain arsenal nation wildlife refuge. the kids leaned about some of the baby animals found there. when asked what she learned from today's field trip 'small fry' replied, "what did i learn from what?" obviously it was a very memorable experience. when i enquired further, 'small fry' said, "i learned that owlets hop on branches and that the mom hops on branches and that she holds the worms with her beak and when she gets up into the nest she can feed the babies. the momma bird pushes her tummy out to make a roundy, roundy, roundy nest."

insightful! we had a fun time and, no, we didn't see any real baby animals. they had pictures placed around the trail for the kids to find and review what they learned. we went a little further and crossed the board walk probably making the anglers upset yet they smiled politely at us. i think that 'tater' got the most smiles and gave the most too! it was a super cute activity. the kids had discussions, crafts and a hunt! what else could a kid want? oh, except candy. there was none of that.

stamp, color, cut, glue, tape and viola! 'noclars'! (love it that she calls them that!)'small fry' had to have pink.

and here is something that i have been working on. this is 'small fry' when she was about 6 months. i was inspired by some other blogs and had to try my hand at it. i am doing some more for a friend and sooo if you are interested in something like this in your home, let me know and we can figure something out! the picture looks navy blue but it is really a dark gray.

here it is in my living room. the size of this particular piece is 16" x 36" (1 1/4 feet x 3 feet) on pine. you can designate the dimensions, colors, wood, etc. thanks & enjoy.

check out our new nest!

made you look!

you thought we were moving, right?
we have a new nest, but not the kind you are thinking of. lately i thought there was an over abundance of birds in the area until i noticed this little creation: (top of wreath)

here take a closer look:

now i realize why i was being dive-bombed every day for the last week. some new neighbors have moved in and are building a nest in the wreath just outside our front door. poor location is my thought. too many people and our front porch light is always on. should i turn it off? we will see how this all progresses. it will be fun to see the baby birds when they hatch and now i need to figure out what kind of bird these are.


p.s. the other night as i was tucking in 'small fry' she asked me to tell everyone that she can now swing on her own. she then sat strait up in her bed and said, "oh, mom! you can blog about it! blog about me swinging on my own." soooo...

'SMALL FRY' CAN NOW SWING ON HER OWN!

i don't who is more excited. now i don't have to do under-dog after under-dog. at least not until 'tater tot' is bigger. it's one of those bitter-sweet moments. happy to have her become a 'big kid' but also sad that she no longer needs me (at least for swinging).