Xmas cookies

My mom is so fancy- she made these Christmas cookies this weekend and is going to freeze them for Xmas- makes my mouth water to look at them. Believe it or not my mom's cookies actaully taste even better than they look!

Why I cry on Thanksgiving

I am just having a glass of vino, getting over my thanksgiving cry. I cry every year on Thanksgiving when I make the turkey. This year I cried when I put the turkey breast in the oven- it isn't even a real turkey and there was no thinking involved. Why do I cry? Because since I moved away from home, every time I have made a turkey I always call my Grandma R for help. I have made many, many turkeys in my time- Jeff likes the whole bird for every special occasion, even if it is just the two of us. So, I have made more turkeys than many people my age- I probably have it down by now. But, every time I make a turkey it seems I have just one question or concern that I want to confirm with an expert- my grandma. Such a nice talk- to get advice and guidance from her. I still love her so much and miss her dearly- it especially hurts when I do the turkey and have no one to call. So, of couse I called my mom (lauren is asleep and jeff is at work) for some moral support. She could probably help with the turkey questions too- but I dont really have any- just need to be cheered up.
My other grandma was the baker - she would be my "go-to" lady for baking advice, something that I struggle with at this altitude, so I cry less in the kitchen about her, but I miss them both so much. It makes me think, with a smile, will I be someone's beloved grandma one day?  I certainly hope so. The way a grandchild loves her grandparents is so amazing- it is the purest love- just adoration. I cannot wait to be on the receiving end one day- I bet it is great!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving! I have so many things to be thankful for this year- the biggest of which is our baby girl. I am thankful for every minute with my little petunia, and the joy and changes she has brought to our lives. I am thankful for my kind husband, and the way that he loves our daughter. I am thankful for our families and for the fact that we get to see them as often as we do, despite the miles that separate us. I am thankful to have wonderful friends, near and far. And I am thankful that I have a fulfilling job at a great employer- I get to help make a difference in the lives of Children going through some tough things, and I feel blessed that I can help make things better. What are you thankful for this year?

We are staying in town for the holiday- Jeff has to work. We had plans to spend today at Geoff and Trina's house, but Lauren was sent home from daycare yesterday with a fever and was feeling pretty tough all day yesterday, so i had to cancel. Guess it'll just be the three of us this year, unless she is miraculously better today. Have a great day, reflect on all the great things in your life!

Dear Santa...

We have been working on Lauren's Christmas wish list. There are so many cute/fun/necessary things we want to get for her- how to we decide??  I dont want to go overboard with her first Christmas, she doesn't really need much. But there are so many fun things that I would like her to have. I wish her birthday were spaced out a little bit, and I also wish I had a bigger house with a playroom for her.  I really am eyeing some big stuff- like a little table and chairs- we may just settle for one chair. And a wagon, and toy box......... you can see the need for an extra room in our tiny house. Oh, my- such troubles.

Whoot whoot!

Passed my BCOP home study review. Despite the fact that 12 of the 90 questions were statistics (pertaining to subset analyses- yikes!), I got 90%. Oh, yeah- that is right! That means I even got some of the stats right!

Gotta love Carters

So, the cute hat and mittens that I posted about a few days ago really suck. The hat is worthless, and will not stay on for more than 30 seconds. So, I called the Carters store and ask them if I could return it, although I already removed the tags. No problem they said- how nice is that? I am usually very happy with my Carter's purchases, and thanks to their great customer service, I will continue to blow large amounts of cash on their cute baby clothes and accessories!
Thanks Carter's!

Last days at Wolf Park

There is a really nice park just up the street from our home in Winter Park. Lauren loves the baby swings (although I put her in backwards). Yesterday we took a walk around the neighborhood and stopped at the park to play. I dont think we would have made it if it were not for our excellent ATV-stroller. They do not plow the park, and it is likely soon to be burried in several feet of snow.  Oh well, it is fun while it lasts!!

I love daddy

even when he puts on too much sunblock...

New hat and mittens

These are so cute- I bought them at Carter's on Friday. I thought that the mittens looked like they would really stay on- and my are they cute. Well, the hat stinks. It pops off her head within seconds- a totally bad purchase. I need to get her some more (bigger) hats that link under the chin, this was a bad buy. :( (but, gosh, isn't she cute!)

I can almost walk

Lauren walked all the way to our table at the restaurant and all the way back using her walker (up in WP). She can easily stand by herself as well, we are close! (she had spagetti for dinner- that is what is on her cute cheeks)

Scratched my fancy stove

So, the very first time I used my brand new stove up in Winter Park- I scratched it. It is electric, and has the fancy flat cook-top in black. And my best frying pan must have some scratchy parts on the bottom and I was slidding it back and forth while cooking and I really, really scratched it bad. I am not used to this kind of cook-top, I am more of a gas-range kind of girl. So now I am just sad when I look at my new stove- is there anything I can do to make it look better?

Sausagefest

Jef has decided to make his own sausage, so I am helping this morning - ick! It reminds me of the Seinfeld episode when Newman and Kramer are making sausage in Jerry's kitchen. I wish we had that song to play (although we just watched the bit on youtube).

Homework

Deadlines...homework.... I've got a lot on my plate. It is time to renew my BCOP (Board Certified Oncology Pharmacist) this year, and I have to submit all of my final continuing education work by the 30th of November. AAHHH!! I am behind, and it is very challenging stuff- I already have done the stuff I find interesting, so I have statistics and a bunch of lame adult cancers to work on (prostate, breast, lung.... things I am not super into reading about). This is gonna be brutal, I should have gotten more of my 100 hours done before Lauren was born- I just had no idea....

To top it off, lots of deadlines at work. I have to finish a big presentation for my work "competency" by the first week of December- what?? How am I going to get this all done? Maybe I am better off incompetent?? LOL_ not really- just sounds tempting.  I'll get it done- suppose I should not be blogging.... better get to work!

Christmas Dress

We got the Christmas dress! We all went to Gymboree together to pick it out- isn't it cute?? Jeff was totally wanting everything in the store for her- it is nice for him to see how that store totally sucks you in. The tights are cute, and they match another outfit that her Grandma bought for her. Now we just need patent leather black shoes, and I already have a red hair bow. She is going to be so darn cute!

Getting crafty

This weekend I was working on invitations for Lauren's 1st birthday party. We are planning a pink and purple polka-dot theme, so I wanted to include that in the invites. I was really hoping to find some blank invites to fill in, but no luck. So, I decided to get crafty and make them. The trouble- no place has a round stamp that I could use to make a polka-dot. I called all the craft stores and even Archivers only had a circle the size of a nickel- too small!! So, I decided to improvise and made a stamp from a potatoe and a cookie cutter that I bought to make polka dots out of fondant for her cake. Thanks to my mom for the idea- I wasn't sure how to make my own stamps. They turned out super cute- here is an example- it is of course edited because I didn't want all of our info on the internet -so the funny looking blank spots are just editing. Cute, huh?

Snow day!

We got a nice big dump of snow and Lauren and I went out to play.

"Help! I'm stuck- guess the hippo doesn't have snow tires!"

 
Yummy...

Lauren Cuteness

She looked so cute on saturday- just couldn't stop taking her picture.

Ode to Gymboree

Gymboree, Gymboree
Oh how I love thee

You have the cutest baby clothes,
everything has matching tights and hair bows

You lure me in to spend my money
on such unique outfits for my honey.

You've sucked in her Grandma Karen as well,
how much we spend, we will NEVER tell.

Continue with your sales and the outlet too,
Oh Gymboree- how we love you!

School Pictures

Yesterday we picked up Lauren's school pics- they were cute, but her hair is kinda messy. We just bought 2 pages. The scanned image is pretty good- I am sure I could make copies if anyone is interested (or you could save and print). The bummer- her tights have puppies on them that match the skirt, but it doesn't show up. That Gymboree store- I am so hooked!

Lauren Silliness

This morning Lauren and I were playing putting bows in our hair while Jeff was getting ready for work. Doesn't she look pretty? I had almost as many in my hair too- pretty fancy for 6am.

North Dakota Trip- The party

While we were back, we had an early birthday party for Lauren.  We had it out at the farm at lunch, so the hunters could stop in. And did they ever- there were at least 10-15 guys in camo and blaze orange sitting at the table with baby girl- she sure attracts the boys already.  Grandma Karen had made her an special cake with no eggs or milk, and we let Lauren take a try. She was more into the frosting, but seemed to like to cake as well.

Of course all girls need a special pair of shoes for their party- check out Lauren's sparkling pink shoes.

We hadn't anticipated all the presents- Lauren made a haul and my idea of no noisy gifts went out the window- this pic is of a silly town game that she really likes. (the silly town is the reason I have a minute to blog right now- THANK YOU Grandma Grace and Grandpa Elmo!)  One of the cutest things was when Lauren opened a gift with a little baby doll in it- she squealed in delight and hugged the baby doll- so precious!

North Dakota Trip -part I

Oh, where to start. We had a really nice time on our vacation to North Dakota. We were worried about how Miss Lauren would cooperate with a 750 mile roadtrip, but it turns out she is a good sport. More like her daddy than me.  We split the drive into two days, and stayed in the Comfort Inn in Valentine, NE both ways. It was a very nice hotel with an indoor pool, so Lauren got to swim at the end of the day, and then again in the morning.  We also brought along her walker and let her burn off some energy walking the long halls at the hotel. The ladies running the breakfast thought she was so cute when she walked with her walker down to breakfast in her fuzzy jammies. Casey was not exactly welcome at the hotel, but no one noticed and he doesn't leave a trace. Whew!

I have been struggling to find Lauren a H1N1 flu shot in Colorado, and it hasn't been working out. I keep finding clinics offered by the health department, but then they are cancelled due to lack of vaccine. So, Grandma Karen was helpful and got Lauren a flu shot at her clinic on Friday, so I feel so much better about her risk of the flu (which incidentally is starting to taper off in Denver).

The weather was beautiful while we were there- in the 60's and 70's most days -these first pics are of Lauren playing with her 2nd cousins out at the family farm house.  They have a really nice swing set and the kids had a great time playing outside. Lauren got her first taste of sand, and didn't like it (although she went back for a few more tastes just to be sure.

On Friday night I was able to join Jeff and his friends at the annual Turkey Shoot.  I have been hearing about this for years, but have never been there myself.  What I found out- it is really not that thrilling (to me anyway). There are no turkeys- well except frozen Butterball turkeys- and definitely no shooting. What they do have? Lots of men in camo and carharts playing (weird) gambling games to win bacon, frozen turkeys, frozen ham, or homemade sausage.  It is a BYOB event, and just plain strange, if you ask me. But that didn't stop me from playing a strange version of poker to win 4 pack of bacon (yummers....). Grandma and Grandpa were nice enough to take care of the little petunia for the night- THANK YOU!! Unfortunately, I got a little to excited about this freedom and had a few too many beers, forgetting that Lauren wakes up at 5am rearing to go. That was a bit tough...

We are back!!

We made it back- the trip was fun and Lauren was a great traveler. Will post more later!

My daddy doesn't let me go in here...

Road Trip Day #1

We survived! More than that- it actually went well. We made it 400 miles today with only 2 stops and are now resting in a very nice hotel with Wi-Fi and watching TV in some big nice beds. We got here in time to check in and then go to dinner, and took Lauren to the swimming pool and gave her a bath. Now we are all just winding down, in preparation for day #2. We are in Valentine, NE at the Comfort Inn. It is really nice- we have a microwave and a fridge and they had a pack-and-play with nice, clean bedding (brought my own sheets just in  case).  What a good day today was.

Heading to NoDak!

Alright- the time is here! Tomorrow we head to North Dakota to see the family- wish us luck. We are talking about a 750 mile roadtrip with the baby! I am bringing the 'puter, but not sure I will get wireless in ND, so might be offline for a while.  We have a roofbag for the car (no minivan in our future...), bringing some guns for hunting, and the little dog too. Truley a Grizwold moment. Wish us luck!

i am enjoying a glass of chardonnay right now, trying to psych myself out for how fun this will be- ha ha!