Great Grandpa!

Lauren got to meet her first great grandparent this weekend. Here she is with great grandpa, he was so pleased to meet her! And in keeping with the Sawall family tradition- she was thrilled with the "beat me up - up, beat me, beat me up!" frog (inside joke, if you have never been to my grandpa's house). Here are some photos.

Update on Dad

So, my dad is back home recovering. He is actually doing very well and despite the seriousness of the blockage in his heart, his quick access to medical care has hopefully spared him any major heart damage from this heart attack. It does sound like he may need bypass surgery and some cardiac rehab, but everyone is hopeful for a quick recovery. Thanks for all of the prayers and well-wishes. My step-sister Catherine has some great pictures of him on her website http://catherineanne5.blogspot.com/ that really made me feel better. The cute photos of dad and Donna are after he got out of the hospital- he looks great!

School pictures- 5 months old

This week we picked up Lauren's school pictures. They are not my favorite pictures of her, but they are still darn cute. She had her tongue out on every shot - and we were not there to make sure her wardrobe was just perfect, so her clothes are a bit disheveled. None-the-less, they really show off her silly girl personality. We will be bringing them back to WI this weekend to share with everyone- and will mail some out to the other grandparents to enjoy.

Pray for my dad

Today I got a phone call that I have been dreading... my dad has had another heart attack. This one, although in a very bad location in his heart, was not quite as bad as last time. He was with his family and sought medical attention very quickly and had a cath with stents right away. He is lucky- had he not gotten to a big medical center so quickly, this may have been much worse. I am happy to report he is recovering and should be OK- please call or email me if you want more details. Include him in your prayers this week- he will be in the hospital for a few days and then hopefully get to go home to recover.

There is a family in colorado who love you very much and are thinking of you dad! Lauren Grace says FEEL BETTER SOON!

Date night!

Last night Jeff and I had our first official date night without Lauren. Thanks Pam! A friend from work volunteered to watch Lauren, so we packed up her stuff and dropped her off. We were only gone for about 2hrs or so, but it was really fun. We had to decide what to do- something adult that we would not bring Lauren to, we thought about a movie- but there was nothing on- so we went to Dave and Busters- it is like an arcade for grown-ups. We had a blast! I had a martini- woo-hoo!! Jeff said it best- when we used to do things like this it was fun, but now it seems like such a special treat.

Mother's Day/ Birthday weekend

Our family had a great weekend. On Friday, Jeff and Lauren set up a day at the spa for me for Mother's day. It was fantastic- my toes are painted for the first time in months!

Then we went up to Winter Park and had a great time. We took Lauren on a long stroller ride around the town- Jeff went a little overboard on the sunblock.

And we went swimming with Lauren in her new float, she LOVED it. She immediately started kicking her legs and could swim toward us. She loved the new mobility. She swam half the long length of the pool all at once. It must be a human insticnt to be able to kick your legs and swim- she was great at it and had a blast. I have been planning on finding swimming lessons for her this summer- I can see she will love it!

After a nap, we went to the Cheeky Monk Belgian Beer Cafe at the resort and listened to a blue-grass band. Lauren liked the music and couldn't take her eyes of the guy with the wash-board and spoons.

Mother's Day morning we woke up to heavy snow falling- see the pictures at the top. I LOVE the snow- so it was a perfect gift for me. We went to a nice brunch, and are heading back to Denver. Tonight we are celebrating my birthday in Denver. What a busy, fun weekend!

Happy Mothers Day!

Happy Mother's Day Mom! And all the moms out there! I am so happy to be part of the club. I never realized how great it feels to be someone's mom, but when I snuggle my little blue-eyed angel up to my neck, and smell her sweat head and feel her soft hair on my cheek- just melts my heart. What a difference a year can make in a person's life!
I am forever greatful for my relationship with my mom- I now understand why she has always worried about me- often in an irrational way. How hard it must be once your baby is old enough to make her own decisions and you have to sit by the wayside and hope she makes good choices. And how hard it must be when your daughter moves more than 1000 miles from home- I hope Lauren is more considerate. My mom is such a great mentor, and friend to me- I love her so much and am lucky to have her as a big part of my life! :)

The Beermosa

Aahh- the beermosa. I had totally forgotten about this brunch drink- that is what a year of pregnancy/nursing will do to you. We learned about it from the locals in Winter Park. We used to go to this bar on sundays to watch football - the packers and steelers are usually not on TV here, so we found a brewery/ restaurant with the NFL sunday ticket. And we got to know some of the local people a bit- who taught us about the beermosa. I was a beer snob at first and said "No way! It'll ruin the beer!". Well, they made me try it, and man were they right- it is great! You mix half OJ and half beer- it is a white-trash mimosa. They usually mix it with cheap beer- Coors light or something, but we discovered it is really yummy with a wheat beer like Easy Street Wheat or Blue Moon. Definitely a camping beverage.

Making breakfast

Look what I caught Lauren doing this morning! I think she is practicing making pancakes so she can surprise me with breakfast in bed tomorrow.

Actually, we just didn't bring toys up to Winter Park with us this weekend- I figured when you are only 5 months old, everything seems new and exciting to play with...