Milnes In Denver

This past week my step-brother, sister-in-law and step-sister visited us and we had such a fun time.  We all met up on Tuesday afternoon for lunch downtown, then Kelsie watched the boys so we could have an adults-only night on the town!  We started at Tamayo for dinner and it was dee-lish.  I mean, who knew they could swirl a margarita like that?!  Oh, and the food was great too.  

 Josh and Natalie and our future niece, who will join us in July.  :-)

 Three Milnes and a Beilman

 Shortly after we decided that Sister could move to Denver & start a fondue food truck--best idea EVER!

 Pedaling the rickshaw, in anticipation of growing the fondue business (you had to be there).  

 Sister being mauled by the bronze bear.

 d Bar was our next stop...

 To. die. for...Homemade churros with rum & coke ice cream and chocolate dipping sauce.

On Wednesday, we celebrated Natalie's upcoming birthday with dinner & cake at our house.  Since we usually miss out on these family celebrations, it was fun that we got to take advantage of the opportunity to wish her a happy birthday before anyone else!  

*Side-note: on Thursday, the guys went skiing and Natalie and I had a "Girls' Day" with massages and pedicures, then   junk food and a Red Box selection to end the evening--does it get any better?!  (Too bad the movie was a bit odd.) It was great to spend the day with her--we had so much fun!*

 Aunt Sister helping Davis get acquainted with skis.  

 Two of my favorite guys!  From college days to talking about fatherhood...I cannot believe how far these two have come.   

Kelsie was happy she was not on diaper-duty this night!

We had a great week with everyone in town and the house feels so empty now.  Just remember that the Beilmans are always ready for company and you can come back whenever you like!  Miss you guys!  

Cowboy Room

It has taken us nearly 10 months, but we finally have one of the boys' rooms decorated!  (We still have my old saddle and a couple of other things to add, but this is a big improvement over the white walls.)  Davis got a brand new cowboy-themed room!  I have been collecting this decor for several years now and finally have the perfect time/place to bring it all together.  Since the boys shared a room at our old house, this is the first time we've decorated for one of them since we did Carter's nursery when I was pregnant in 2007.

Actually, the only things we bought specifically for this room were: paint (Lowe's) the duvet cover and sham (Land of Nod), duvet (Ikea), curtains and rod (Target) and wall decal (Uppercase Living).  The other decor items came from my mom, Hobby Lobby & Target over the years.  The day bed & trundle were donated to me by my boss (love it!) and the remaining furniture belonged to my grandma when she was little.  It is the same furniture I had in my bedroom growing up & seems to fit perfectly in a little boy's room.  

I love how this room turned out and I know that my grandparents are smiling down on Davis in this room. They would have been so proud of my little cowpoke.  A big THANK YOU goes to Sean, who put all the elbow grease into the room to make it look like this.  Let's just say the tools got a good workout today.  He even had the idea to put the iron stars above the closet doors--it looks great!  Thanks, Honey!  

 Cowboy pillow from Mimi--the inspiration for the room.

 Not sure if the horse shoe is facing the right way...

 Couldn't have asked for a nicer free bed!

the Lone Ranger Christmas ornament, re-purposed  

He approves!

The cowpokes are ready for bed!

Peace, Love & Crabs

I earned myself a two-week break from work after separating the cartilage between a couple of ribs on my left side.  Can you say: painful?!  Anyway, the positive news is that I get to stay home with my family while it heals.  

So--Night #1 of my "stay-cation" was spent having dinner at Joe's Crab Shack.  The boys weren't too sure about going to a new place. (Carter made it very clear that he would rather be at Olive Garden.)  But, after the loud music, dancing waitstaff and sea creature toys, they were sold!  On the way home, Carter told me that "the new place with the giant shark" was "way better" than Olive Garden.  That, my friends, is saying a lot coming from this four-year-old!

 The boys loved dancing & clapping at dinner. 

I love this photo of Sean!  For once, he was the messiest one at the table. :-)  

Breakfast Art

I have been using frosting to make letters on top of the Toaster Strudel at breakfast & the boys love it.  This week, Sean took it to a new level:  Carter asked for a frosting Lightning McQueen and, wouldn't you know, Daddy made it happen.  Davis wanted Mater so Sean did his best, but I still think Lightning is his specialty.  Pretty cool breakfast!

 The artist at work...

Mater!

Fun with Boxes

The boys' new car seats arrived yesterday and the boxes were a big hit! They should start listing the "box fun factor" along with the crash safety ratings on these things--double bonus. 

 Is this safe, Mom?

 Surprise!  It's a Boy-In-a-Box!

Nap time!

Construction Central

We have a house going in right behind our back yard and another one across the street, not to mention five more on our block!  It is a bustle of construction activity over here and the boys are loving all the "mighty machines" in the neighborhood.  Since it was 68 degrees today (yep, you read that right!), we played outside and the boys got out their own construction vehicles.  We also got to see the huge crane truck in action!  

      This rock area is the site of our future deck.  Until then, it serves as an awesome digging area!

                

                                   

Even Macey got in on the fun!

Lego Tower

Check out the cool Lego tower that Carter and Sean built.  Carter looks so proud!

Antibiotics, Anyone?

Yep, everyone at the Beilman household is now on antibiotics and a few other things.  Over the past two weeks we've had two clinic visits and three pediatrician visits.  Sean had a sinus infection, Carter had Strep & a bilateral ear infection, I am on antibiotics to prevent another Psoriasis flare due to Strep exposure, and Davis has such a severe bilateral ear infection that he still has a fever, despite being on Omnicef and taking Ibuprofen.  They said the only thing worse would be if his eardrum(s) ruptured.  Let's hope not!  Oh, and see that teeny tiny bottle on the far right?  That little bottle of eye drops for Davis cost $124--yowza!  (Thankfully, our pediatrician gave me a coupon.)

So, if you see us out and about sneezing, coughing, crusty and looking a little fatigued, I suggest you turn around and get as far away from our germy gang as possible!  Run, don't walk.

This is Cozy!

Davis loves to say "This is tozy (cozy)!" when you cover him up with a blanket or wrap him up after a bath.  So, here's a couple of shots of the boys being "cozy".  Something we could all use on this snowy day in Colorado!

 Snuggled up watching "Thomas" with the new Spider Man blanket from Taylor.

 Davis passed out on Tigger while watching "Winnie the Pooh".  He slept here all afternoon!

You Can Take the Girl Out of the Night Shift...

...but you can't take the Night Shift out of the girl.  

This weekend was my last on nights, something I never thought I would say.  I have worked night shift almost my entire nursing career and have loved it.  However, the lack of sleep was starting to get the best of me and it was time to make a change for my family.  Hopefully, I can now be a better mommy and wife and not feel like a zombie all the time.  Fingers crossed!

We partied all weekend long!  The awesome girls that I work with threw me a little going-away party on Sunday night and then a few of us went to Snooze, the greatest breakfast place ever, after work for one final hurrah.

My BFF & favorite charge nurse, Dez.

The "Top 10 Reasons to Stay on Nights" list that Dez & the other girls made for me.  WARNING: Some OB nursing humor here...read at your own risk.

Snooze did not disappoint!

David, Dez and Cathy kicking off our Mardi Gras party on Saturday!  Cathy is from Louisiana and made us yummy gumbo.  We also had fried catfish, corn bread, fried chicken, and even a king cake!  I'm not going to lie, it was one of our best pot-lucks ever.  

I love you girls & couldn't ask for a better group of coworkers.  It's just not going to be the same rockin' it on Days without you all.  Thanks for such a great send off!  Miss you already...