Zoo Lights

I've noticed a lot of blogs with the same header lately, so I guess it's becoming more and more popular to visit the zoo during Christmas. Neither Ryan and I had ever been, neither had our friends who joined us. We decided to all take our kids to dinner (which was choatic) and then go to the zoo (which was even more choatic).

Three sets of families all making sure their kids are warm and happy can be quite the challenge. It seemed just when we all thought we were ready to get moving again another child would have some kind of trouble.

I still really enjoyed it, having never been and Andrea seemed to too. I was actually very impressed with the lights and although we expected to see more actual animails I thought it was a fun new experience. All the kids of went wild, of course, once the carousel was in sight and we just couldn't buy the tickets fast enough. Once the ride was over, the screams started again (or at least Andrea was screaming) but I guess that's all part of the memories.

We managed to get one group shot, with Andrea still crying about the carousel. It's always fun for me to spend time with my friends and get to know their kids. I hope they all enjoyed it too.

Halloween

This Fall has been full of fun activities for our Family. For the first time I thought I would go check out the Pumpkin Walk at the Benson Grist Mill. Ryan was sick that day so I was grateful that my friend Kristi was interested in joining Andrea and I. There were a lot of cute booths, one including a photo opportunity by Sundloff Photography, who did Andrea's newborn photos. Here is her cute picture with the pumpkins:

  We tried to grow our own pumpkins this year and had no luck. We've done it before, so we'll try again next year I guess. Instead we decided to go to a local pumpkin patch that is right by our house to get some pumpkins. We happened to go on the last day they were open, they had run out of good pumpkins, which meant each pumpkin was only $2. We never even got to carve them between Andrea's 7 day stomach flu and Ryan being out of town we just never got the chance, so I packed the candles and carving kits for next year. Andrea still enjoyed the pumpkin patch and watching the dog who would run along next to the tractor.

 

Our ward's Trunk or Treat was on Tuesday before Halloween. I wanted Andrea to participate since I didn't know how much actual trick or treating she would do this year. I was hoping that she was over her stomach flu by then and it had been over 24 hours since her last episode so I figured we were safe. Ryan couldn't join us because it was his turn with the flu so I thought I would give it a go alone. I made sure our candy bucket was always full and took her around to the different trunks. Our trunk won the "Brightest", we had a light up strand of garland as well as a plug in Jack O Lantern to accompany our trick or treat figurines. Andrea seemed to really enjoy the evening and I'm thankful for the ward members who helped me with my single parent struggles!

Now for actual Halloween, geez I'm already exhausted... Andrea was a Monkey as you may have already noticed. I found the costume on sale and I figure I might as well get a bargain before she starts deciding what her costume is going to be. I added the bows since she didn't look much like a girl without them. 

 Our friends Opee and Tara invited us over for some homemade stew (which was delicious) before we all took the kids trick or treating on Main Street. Once we arrived on Main and saw what a mess it was we changed our minds. Not only was it raining but there were just too many people for it to be enjoyable. So we stayed long enough to meet up with my brother's family and take a photo and then we left. My neice Brigitta dressed as Fufa from Yo Gabba Gabba and her brother Roland was was Plex the Robot to match. My sister-in-law always impresses me with her sewing ability!

 One last picture with Opee and Tara's children, Spencer the dragon and Abbie the princess. Andrea was over the idea of being a Monkey by this point! Ryan and Opee have decided that sometimes as parents Halloween just seems like too much of a hassle so they removed the "Happy" leaving you with... "Halloween Everyone!"

A Smaller To-do List

If you are familiar with our blog, you should know that there is always a project going on at the Lee home. This past week we finally finished a project from February. Ryan wanted to make Andrea a toy box for Andrea's 1st birthday and the deadline came a little close. We still gave it to her, but knew we would have to finish it later. You can see it here, unfinished on the right.

So Ryan painted it white, and lined the inside with cedar. He also found a toy box hinge which causes the lid to hold in place no matter how far it's opened, so Andrea can't slam her fingers. We found some material we like for the padded seat and based the colors off of that. We painted the spindles and then it was my job to do some painting on the outside.

 

I'm not too pleased with the result, but it will have to do. Maybe some more grass along the bottom...

Andrea seems to really love it though, she isn't quite tall enough to get on it herself yet, but it does hold a lot of toys which is it's main purpose.

Now for a little Halloween fun. We have two little trick-or-treater figurines in our house and for some reason Andrea thinks that the little bags they carry are gloves. 

So here she is trying to use these gloves to their full potential.

Lagoon

Every year Ryan's Dad gets invited to Lagoon for a company day, and they never go. This year I wanted to see how Andrea enjoyed it and talked everyone into going. There really was no discount but the company provided lunch and games for the kids. I was dissapointed that there weren't more rides that Andrea would enjoy and that we could ride with her. The small rides wouldn't allow parents on, and the others were too wild. So she did ride the Carousel with Daddy, Puff with Mommy, and the train with both of us. Other than that, there wasn't much choice.

The company pavilion was fun though, we had Andrea "fish" for a free toy. Try to get the flying frogs into the bucket and toss the ring on the flamingos. We also gave Bingo a shot, but didn't win anything. I can't wait to take Andrea when she is older. Since Ryan is too wimpy to go on any fun rides I hope Andrea will be a bit more daring.

Boating

We finally got a few boating trips in this year. Our first trip with friends was mid-August and we took Kristi and her friend Mark along. Kristi was the first one to try tubing and then I went next, neither of us found it very enjoyable because we were getting splashed so much we couldn't even open our eyes. Mark went next and decided to try it on his stomach, apparently that was the secret. I gave it another shot and loved it, although I couldn't lift my arms for a week.

After the first rough ride with our old tube we decided to spend some of our boating budget on a new one. And were excited to give it a run so we ignored the high winds forcast, and invited Kristi, John, and Ben. Well the wind was horrible, we could hardly drive the boat over the waves, so we took a long drive to Willard for nothing. It still turned into a nice evening with friends though. We played some poker and roulette at Kristi's house while eating the food we packed for the trip.

Because the tempurature still hadn't dropped by September we were lucky enough to try one last time. We invited Kristi (our faithful boating buddy) and had a great time. The new tube was such an improvement and Ryan even trusted me enough with driving the boat long enough for him to try the new tube. It was such a beautiful day on the lake and such a nice way to end the summer!

Big Girl Bed

About a month ago I put Andrea in her crib for her usual noon nap, and after 20 minutes of play time, I gave up. When I opened the door to get her I saw this:

Talk about panic! I went right to work converting her crib into a toddler bed. She loved helping me do it and seemed thrilled with the final product:

But of course I couldn't get her to stay in it for her nap. So I let her fall asleep on me in the living room and carried her in for her nap. While she was sleeping I did some online reading about the best ways to make the transition easy for her. Most articles I read said, "don't jump to conclusions. Just because your toddler has figured out how to climb out of the crib, doesn't necessarily mean they are ready for a toddler bed. So I thought, "well she does have one more notch to lower the mattress. Maybe I'll try that". So I went to work converting it back to a crib.

The next day during nap time I watched through the door as she climbed out of her crib like a pro, walked to the door, opened it, and greeted me with "Hi Mama". Uggh! So here we go again converting the crib back into a toddler bed. Now it was just a matter of safety, I didn't want her climbing out while she was half asleep during the night.

The first night I let her fall asleep on me and then carried her to bed. She woke up around midnight wandering the hall crying, "Mama Mama" which broke my heart. My sister-in-law suggested putting a baby gate at her door so she would still be safe, what a great idea! She didn't feel quite so trapped as she would with a shut door. So every night I would lay her in bed and as soon as I shut the door, she would quietly climb out, grab her pillow, open the door and fall asleep next to the gate. When I would try to move her to her bed, she would wake up in a panic and the fight would start again. I quickly learned to just let her sleep on the floor. Time for the next idea...

I figured maybe if I bought some "fun" sheets that would attract her to sleeping in bed. I am not a big fan of any clothes or toys that are "commercialized" I tend to stay away from the Princess, Pooh, or Dora type of stuff. I found an Elmo set, which is a little easier for me to accept and she does love Elmo. So that night when we put them on I made a big deal about her fun new Elmo bed and even made Daddy come in to talk about how great her new sheets were. She seemed thrilled! As I was making the bed it finally occured to me.... "I bet if I move her pillow so she can see the door she just might feel okay about me leaving. I know, I know, wishful thinking... but I think it helped. She always let me lay her in bed but still spent most nights on the floor. Until this week. I am happy to report that the past 3 nights she has spent the majority, if not all the night in her bed! Wonders of wonders, miracles, miracles! It's amazing how such a thing could bring me so much happiness, but after all my work and concern I am proud to say my toddler sleeps in a toddler bed!

Girl's Day Out

I am so lucky to have friends that will give me a break from being "Momom" and remember that I can have adult conversations too. Our last girl's date was during the fall so I was excited to enjoy the summer weather this time. Tara, Kristi, and I decided to go to Park City for shopping, eating, and lots of laughing.

We walked historic downtown and popped in the occasion shop. One of our favorites was a store selling all kinds of olive oil varieties. I would have bought a bottle, but I wasn't quite sure how quickly I would find uses for it, other than just dipping bread in it, which is always tasty! They had everything from blood orange to chocolate, yummy. I asked them both if they wouldn't mind riding the ski lift on Main Street that I had seen before but could never talk Ryan into. Kristi was excited and Tara was a good sport since she has a little problem with heights. It was a beautiful ride through the trees and we had a great view of Park City on the way down.

Next we headed to the outlets where it seemed I was the only one spending any money! I bought Ryan and I both a watch (how could I not? They were 1/2 off). Andrea some PJs, and a shirt. At least the girls bought a drink at Mrs. Fields and Kristi treated us to some bite size delights. What a great day with great girls! Time to start planning our next trip!

Summertime and the Living is Easy

I have really enjoyed this summer so far. Now that Andrea is old enough to enjoy more activities I want her to experience everything. First off, the boat. Ryan's Dad has given us his boat, which has made Ryan so happy. I can't tell you how many hours he has spent fixing it up and cleaning it. Ryan has loved every minute, although I am growing a little tired of it, I just want to go play. Last month we took it for a test run and it was a good thing we didn't invite friends yet. It ran for 10 minutes and wouldn't run again. Long story short, Ryan has fixed it and another test run is in the works. Andrea loved the boat! She loved standing in the seat and acted as though she was queen of the water! I couldn't get her to sit down, she wanted to see everything! So once we get the boat running great I know she will definately want another trip!When her and I are just spending our days at home she has really enjoyed her little pool, and I mean little! It's just right for her size though, and she refuses to sit in it anyway. She still loves to stand it in and splash or she loves to go get leaves and branches and make a pool/leaf stew. I thought maybe if I put Bracken in it with her she would get the idea that it's okay to sit, but no luck! At least he loved it!

We've already taken 2 trips to the zoo. One with just us, and one with Grandma and Grandpa. The photos of Ryan and I are unaccessable at the moment, sorry. But here is one of her with Grandma and Grandpa. It was so cold when we first got there (even though it was July) we had to get her a sweatsuit from the gift shop. But I think Grandma and Grandpa always love the idea of getting her whatever she needs, and we all appreciate it! It's so much fun now to hear her say "Mumpy" (Monkey) or "Burry" (birdie) when she sees the animals.

Every year I like to do a hot dog roast up the canyon with friends and this year I was excited to let Andrea join in on the fun. We got her own camping chair and she loved her first hot dog, I didn't realize she had never had one before. I dressed her in grubby clothes so she could get as dirty as her little heart desired. Needless-to-say, she took full advantage!

Our last excursion so far this summer was swimming at Deseret Peak with Amy, Roland, and Brigitta. I'm sad I didn't get a picture of all of us. I was surprised when Andrea kept wanting to walk further and further into the water. She would get so frustrated when I would bring her back, so I thought I would see what happened and she got even more upset when she started swallowing water, what can you do?

As you can tell I'm just loving life and that may be why I don't post as often as I should. But I hope you all enjoyed this summer recap.

4th of July

Well another year of watching the parade at my parents house. I have really loved the tradition ever since they moved the parade route. We always invite Ryan's parents as well, so it's a great family moment. This year because Andrea enjoyed it a little more, and didn't fall asleep, I decided to sit on the curb instead of enjoying the shade on the porch with the adults. Although Andrea has thinned out enough she probably could have worn her shirt from last year, having a new 4th of July outfit is always fun (Ryan calls her my live Barbie). Here is a picture with Daddy last year...
And this year...

It's so fun to see how she's grown. She loves her new flag! Although her word for it sounds more like a prejudice remark (just drop the l). Even Amy and the kids were able to join us this year and I thought it was sweet that Brigitta wanted to sit with us girls. Brigitta was so cute about making sure Andrea got the candy that landed closest to her, but you'll notice there is some pieces still in the gutter.... Brigitta said that was no one's candy because no one is sitting there :) Plus, she made sure that all of our necklaces matched each of our outfits best.

Although Andrea did stay awake this time, she was pretty worn out by the end. We were going to head to the park for the activities but she just didn't make it! That night we did some low budget fireworks and although she enjoyed them, they just weren't too spectacular. Each year gets more and more fun and I can't wait until she loves the holiday as much as Ryan and I do.

Moab

Ryan and I always try to plan one "big" vacation a year but this year our budget just wasn't up for it. So we were trying to think of somewhere local and realized we had done most of them... Jackson Hole, Park City, Yellowstone, St. George. Then one day when Ryan and I were discussing our "Bucket Lists" he said, "I've never been to the central eastern part of Utah, I would like to do that sometime". Well, duh! Let's do it now! So we planned our trip to Moab.

The first day we spent in the town of Moab shopping and eating then played in the hotel pool and hot tub. The next day we headed out for Arches National Park as soon as possible because the forcast called for rain in the afternoon. Since neither of us have been, we were really excited. Once I saw the first impressive figures of rock I thought, "this should have been on my bucket list!" I couldn't believe the size and beauty of the rock! The first stop we made was a small hike to Double Arch. Then we head to the most famous Delicate Arch. We thought since it was our first time there we better do the hike leading right to it. About half way up I regretted that decision. I couldn't imagine what it would have been like 3 years ago when I was in worse shape! I felt really bad about myself when we passed a couple that looked about 80 yrs old on our way down, good for them, geesh! Yes, I'm pretty red faced, I know, I know!

After our longer-than-expected hike we were starving, but managed to survive on a few granola bars so we could drive through the rest of the park. We decided to save the longest hike with the most arches for our next time down, and I think there will definately be a next time! The park was awesome and I just loved it!

Our next destination was "Hole N' the Rock". There are advertisements everywhere in Moab for it, and I thought it sounded interesting. Ryan made fun of me all day for wanting to go, and when we pulled up it was definately your stereotypical tourist spot... junk everywhere. But I think Ryan enjoyed it once we went on the tour. For those of you who don't know, it is a 5,000 square foot home built inside the rock. Originally a diner ran by the owners, but eventually expanded and is where they lived until they died. Sorry we couldn't take pictures inside, so I guess you will all have to go see for yourselves!

Earlier this year Ryan and I purchased some bicycles with part of our tax return money. We thought that Moab would be a good place for them and hauled them with us. We found a great biking/walking path right through town and spent the evening riding it.

There were a lot of mulberry trees on the path and I loved riding through the fallen berries. I realized I should have thought that through when we were loading the bikes back in the Acura!

Even though we didn't spend too much time in Moab, Ryan still took some days off work to get his "honey-do" items done and spend some time with the family. So one of those days we thought we would give Wheeler Farm a try. We weren't too pleased... Andrea loves animals so were were hoping to see more. She was excited about the few she saw so I guess we'll have to visit the State Fair this year. To make up for our dissappointing farm visit we bought her a bubble lawn mower and a swimming pool. Which means... more posts to come!

Sweet Child of Mine

I posted three times in April and haven't yet in May, so I thought I better hurry and squeeze one in. I've been meaning to post about our new bikes, but haven't been able to take pictures yet. So I'm sorry Sandy, you may get to see them in person next month before I get them on the blog. Instead I will post on my favorite subject in the world, Andrea.

This dress was made by her Aunt Amy, I know, I'm jealous of her talent too!

Andrea's mind just blows me away. She is so smart! I can't believe she is only 16 months and knows so much. Even the doctor last month told me that we have a genius, I simply replied, "I knew it". Here is a picture after said doctor's visit, this was the first time I grabbed one of the free dum dums to cheer her up after shots. I guess it was too much excitement for her and she was out by the time we got home.
She has really thinned out now that she is running. Her weight is now in the 75th percentile, instead of in the 90s like usual. I actually pulled out her summer clothes from last year to use again. This is the first time since she was 3 months old, that her clothes size matches her age. Here is a picture of her wearing the same outfit last year and now. The funny thing is that the capri's are actually capri's now, instead of pants. I love seeing her in the same cute outfits.

She sure loves playing with Bracken, and thinks she is a big helper. One day while we were all playing her her room, I had Bracken in the Bumbo and apparently Andrea thought he could use some shoes. So she tried to put some of hers on his feet. I couldn't grab the camera fast enough, and she wouldn't do it again, but you get the idea.

And when she isn't trying to help him out, they are getting better at just playing together. Here is Andrea dancing and Bracken just doing his thing.

Although staying home is emotionally trying, I wouldn't trade these years with my little girl for the world! Everyday she amazes me! She is such a loving little girl and we have such a close bond. She understands everything I say and although she often shakes her head "no" when I ask for a kiss, it makes the unexpected ones that much better!