Chicago--Day One

Last Monday, Carter & I flew to Chicago to visit Aunt Christy. Mimi met us there & we had three days of fun sight-seeing, great food and lots of walking! It was a blast. Christy is a wonderful tour guide and knows all about the city. I highly recommend her! It took me almost 34 years to visit Chicago, but it was well worth the wait. I cannot wait to go back when Carter is a little older. What a fun city!

Mimi & Carter outside our hotel...venturing out on Day One. We made it to the Lincoln Park zoo and walked around exploring. And, I got a mani/pedi while Mimi walked with Carter. It was wonderful and such a treat!

Lunch on the patio at Mickey's. Carter was more interested in watching all the trucks & buses go by!

Christy took us to the top of the Hancock building on Tuesday night.

All four of us in the bar on the 96th floor of the John Hancock building. What a view!

View of Navy Pier

The lake

Aunt Sister (Christy), me & Carter...oh, and the view.

What's with the grumpy face?

Green grass!

After a few weeks of delays due to weather, we now have sod, a sprinkler system and a few new plants, instead of gross dirt & weeds. What a big improvement! The hardest part will be staying off the grass for two weeks. When Carter & I get back from Chicago, I am planning to plant some flowers in the back yard to liven things up a bit. AND, Sean agreed that we could get new lawn furniture for our birthdays this year. Can't wait!

More mulch between the fence & patio...definitely needs some flowers!
There's a new maple tree planted in the back (it's hard to see in the picture).

Three lilac bushes by Macey's pen

The sprinklers are now working (after three days of trouble-shooting), so hopefully the sod will take!

Thinking of putting some Adirondack chairs in the mulch area...or plant flowers.

Music class

Today was our teacher, Miss Cassie's, last day. She is moving to California and we are so bummed! She has been so great with the kids & Carter really likes her. Good Luck Miss Cassie!

I have tried for two weeks now to get a good video of Carter dancing. He is the oldest in class and by far the best dancer! (He must take after his mommy!) Anyway, I can't figure out how to rotate the videos...uuggh! The second video would have been better had my memory card not been full! This week Carter saw me taking the video & got distracted. He loves watching himself on the camera playback, so dancing was not his top priority. I will keep trying to capture his awesome moves.

Back yard progress

The back yard has been a work-in-progress for over two weeks now. Because we have had either rain or snow the past 5 weekends, the work has been slower than we anticipated. I posted some pictures because we are SO EXCITED to finally be getting a yard that Carter can enjoy. The photos are kind of backwards, but you can get the idea. The sod just arrived this afternoon, so I will try to post the completed job later on today.

Just waiting for sod...

Clean yard after debris removal & roto-tiller came thru.

That sidewalk is in pretty good shape for being 60 years old!

Before...you could hardly see the sidewalk!




The edge of the patio after the ugly berry bush was taken out.

The ugly berry bush.

The tree stump & other ugly bush, after they were up-rooted.

Old tree stump, keeper tree (center) and 2nd ugly bush, before the work crew got here.

Afternoon at the park

Today was sunny and warm so this afternoon, we headed to the park! Carter loves playing in the sand box but hasn't quite figured out the "taking turns" rule. He usually just walks up to the kid who has the coolest sandbox toy & takes it. Today he stole a shovel from a mom! It's a little embarrassing, actually.

Push me higher, mommy!

New kicks!

Last Sunday, Sean & Carter went shopping and came home with some new shoes. This was a real surprise to me because Sean hates to shop! It was pretty cute, actually, because Sean came home with a pair of toddler-sized pair of Converse that match a pair he has! Now my boys can be twins!

Eating lunch in style!

Spring Snow

An update on the storm from last weekend: I didn't get stuck at work! It's hard to say how many inches we got since it was a rain/snow mix at times, but it was deep enough that I had a hard time getting to work on Friday night.

The Easter Bunny looks COLD!

If we hadn't been planning for the landscaper to come on Saturday, it would have been kind of a nice surprise. Now the yard work will start this Saturday & should be finished by the following weekend. Yippee!

Updates

Just wanted to post a couple of quick updates before I go to work tonight:

1) Carter's well-child check with Dr. Brandon went very well on Tuesday. He is: in the 60%ile for height, 40%ile for weight & 95%ile for head circumference. At least he's consistent!
Developmentally, he is at or above-target. He verbal, social & gross motor skills are above target & his fine motor skills are on-target for an 18-month-old, according to their assessments. That is what we were thinking, but it is always a relief to hear someone confirm it. We feel so blessed to have this happy, healthy little boy in our lives! He is truly a joy & keeps us smiling.
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2) All the way home from the airport last weekend, Carter kept asking for Uncle Josh! Sean said that he was non-stop: "Josh? Josh? Josh? Josh?" all the way home. Guess uncle Josh made quite an impression...and I'm sure the new soccer ball he gave Carter didn't hurt!
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3) All of Denver is under a "Snow Storm Warning" until tomorrow night. They are forecasting 10-20 inches of snow overnight & into Saturday. I will be packing an overnight bag to take to work tonight, just in case. IF we get the snow they are predicting (and they have been wrong MANY times this year), they will put the hospital on weather advisory & not let any of us leave until the next shift can make it in. Not looking forward to that!

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4) My Grandpa Ted turned 90-years-old on Wednesday! His big birthday celebration is tomorrow in Fredonia, KS. Unfortunately, we won't be able to make it because of the two months I was off work for my broken arm. Happy Birthday, Grandpa! We love you!!!



Hope everyone has a fun & WARM weekend!

Dancin'

Carter got this dancing bunny from the Easter Bunny & he loves to watch it sing & dance. He dances all the time, but I can never seem to get it on camera. This was a rare opportunity!

Happy Easter!

Sean took Carter to an Easter Egg Hunt in Stapleton on Saturday. They got there about three minutes after it started and Sean said all the eggs were "hunted" already. Luckily, the big kids only wanted the candy out of them, so Sean was able to use some "recycled" eggs for Carter (he had no clue the candy was the main attraction).

All these eggs...for me?!

18 Months Old

Carter turned 18 months old on Saturday. Time is sure flying by! On Tuesday we have his well-child check with our new pediatrician. I'll be curious to see how much this boy weighs! He is getting heavy and has a good appetite lately.
Daddy bought Carter some shades at REI and they are a big hit! He will keep them on for a long time & likes to check himself out in the mirror...oh, brother!

Uncle Josh is in town!

Uncle Josh & his friend Natalie are in town for a visit & to ski. Sean took the day off work today so we could all hang out for a little while before they head up to the mountains. We went to lunch at Wynkoop in LoDo and posed in front of this huge gorilla. We're not really sure of the significance of a bronze gorilla inside a brew pub, but it seemed like a great place for a photo!

The guys "monkeying around"...just like their college days!

My two handsome boys!

Car show

On Sunday, Sean took Carter to the Denver Auto Show at the Convention Center. Sean said that Carter wasn't quite as impressed by all the "wheels" as we thought he would be, but I think Daddy had a good time!

Those are some really fancy wheels!

Benny's

Today I have been feeling pretty crummy...achy, sore throat & stuffy nose. I told Sean it's been a long time since I have felt this bad. I actually called in sick for work tonight. Sean brought me home some cold medicine & after a long nap I felt well enough to go out for a quick bite. We decided to go to Benny's, our favorite Mexican restaurant. Yummy! Carter loves the rice there and had fun waving to all the other patrons. It was nice to go out on a Friday night for a change! Now, back to bed!

Apres bath

Grandma Pat made this robe for Carter & he loves wearing it after his bathtime.

Thanks Grandma Pat! I love this robe!

Girls Only

Tonight I met several girls from work at the Denver Center for Performing Arts to see "Girls Only". We laughed so hard! It was a two-woman show about life as a woman...I highly recommend it if you get a chance to see it.

A big thank-you to my sweet husband for coming home from work early so I could go out with the girls!