And here’s our soon to be one year old!

We headed to the park in the morning for Annabelle’s 2 year and Gwyneth’s 11 month portraits. Our friend, Keith, is a great photographer and was willing to endure the madness that is my girls for the photo shoot. He even took some photos of YaYa with the girls (Madison too!). Annabelle kept poor Keith on his toes and had him running all around the park. We were also lucky enough to see Jennifer, Jack, and Ben too. They joined Keith for the outing. I can’t wait to see the pictures! My girls are so comfortable with Keith he was able to get some great smiles out of them. I can hardly wait for a sneak peak.

YaYa and I picked up lunch at Schlotsky’s (her favorite) and soon after my two little ones were off to sleep. YaYa and I snuck off for a quick manicure/pedicure. It was wonderful! Sadly, we had to say goodbye to YaYa today, but luckily we’ll get to see her in just two short weeks when we head to Chicago and then she’s coming back to Colorado for Gwyneth’s 1st birthday at the end of next month.

My Uncle Jerry (my dad’s brother) and his family were in CO for my cousin Ashley’s wedding. Unfortunately the wedding was the same day as Annabelle’s birthday party so we were unable to attend. Uncle Jerry, Aunt Barb, my cousins (5 of the 7), their spouses, and their children came over to our house for a cookout. It was so great to see everyone and we had a full house! I haven’t seen some of my cousins in over 10 years. I’m so glad Annabelle & Gwyneth were able to meet more of their extended family. My Uncle Jerry sounds a lot like my dad which was pretty entertaining – Annabelle and Gwyneth looked at him with a lot of curiosity. They knew he wasn’t their Poppy but were very confused.

The girls had a blast playing in the backyard together. More cousins!And even more Paz cousins!

The sweet little boy pictured above is my cousin, Chris and Rebekah’s little guy, Ian. I can’t get enough of him. He’s such a sweet little baby and I’m so glad I finally met him. My cousin Chris is right in between Stacy and I in age and I remember spending so much time with him and his sisters when we were kids. It’s amazing that we all have children now. I also really enjoy that Chris’ wife’s name is Rebekah Paz and my sister’s name is Rebecca Paz. If there weren’t hundreds of Kelly Meyer’s in this world I’d have to make fun of them! I gave them grief about it anyway and apparently it causes some family mix-ups on facebook which tickles me too.

Auntie Becky & Madison came out to help us celebrate Annabelle’s 2nd birthday. We have been eagerly awaiting their arrival. The girls were so excited to them.

Annabelle adores her cousin MadisonWe spent some time playing outside before heading out for dinner.

Annabelle got a new basketball hoop and showed off her dunking abilities.Gwyneth and Madison in the climberGwyneth got some sweet Auntie Becky time.The cousins

YaYa helped GG take a walk around the playground

After some playtime, we hit Red Robin for a kid-friendly dinner. YaYa and Becky suprised us by telling the waitress that it was not only Annabelle’s birthday but mine too. Annabelle didn’t seem to mind the singing at first, but when the wait staff errupted into applause she burst into tears. All the hoopla scared her, which is surprising that any child of mine would dislike the attention??? She quickly bounced back when she got the first taste of her birthday ice cream. It just amazes me that she’s going to be two tomorrow!

I’ve gotten a bit behind on my blogging but I’m trying my best to get caught up – patience, patience!

My mom is the best! Wednesday night after we got back from the movie and put the girls to bed I started to make my list of all the errands I needed to run for Annabelle’s birthday party this weekend. The girls went to daycare today and through out the day I received updates from my mom as she checked each one of the errands off the list. She got everything done while I was at work and we were all set for the party with an entire day to spare! Thanks so much YaYa for all your help.

We had dinner at Brothers BBQ because my mom and B loves ribs. It was really good and Annabelle enjoyed her hot links. YaYa gave the girls a bath and off they went to bed. YaYa sat with the girls while B and I ran out and got Annabelle’s birthday gift and then went to a movie. We saw The Hangover which was quite funny. I’m afraid I built it up a bit too much because I had really high expectations but it definitely delivered lots of laughs.

Sarah has been working diligently over the past few months to complete her PHD program at CU. She has been so busy and has worked so hard, we are very pleased that she defended her dissertation today! Congratulations, Sarah!! I met Sarah, Doug, and Mary Ann at The Kitchen in Boulder for a celebration dinner. We had small plates upstairs and the food was delicious. We had a great time telling stories about some of our mischievious adventures together and Sarah & Mary Ann entertained us with many stories about Sarah and her sisters growing up. As usual, they were all as sweet as can be about my girls and asked many questions about how they’re doing and what they’re up to these days.

Another hot topic at dinner was the amazing help that Mary Ann has extended to my in-laws. My nephew, Nathan, was recently diagnosed with Aspergers. My sister-in-law has been struggling to find him a school and a support group that can adequately address his needs. Mary Ann has worked at the Children’s Hospital in Denver for many years and was able to get Nathan into a program for children with mild symptoms of autism and has also steered them towards supports groups for parents, siblings, grandparents and extended families. The wait list for this group is about 2 years, but Mary Ann was able to get him in right away and he started the classes on Monday. Mary Ann is so generous and kind to help out Nathan and his family. We are all very very grateful and are very hopeful he’ll get the help that he needs.

I’m so glad that I was able to celebrate Sarah’s accomplishment! We’re so happy her. Thanks B for staying home with the girls so I could have a grown-up dinner with Sarah — heaven knows she’s endured her share of kid-friendly ones with us! Congratulations, Dr. Roberts!!

Annabelle was playing with her laptop and Gwyneth was quickly edging her way in to play as well. Annabelle promptly told her “Hold your horses, GG”. I was shocked. Where in the world had my sweet little girl learned such a phrase and why was she using it to avoid sharing toys?
Later in the evening Gwyneth decided it was time for her before-bed bottle and really turned on the tears. I skurried to the kitchen to get her bed-time snack and said “Hold your horses, GG”. I had to laugh when I saw the big smile on Annabelle’s face as she was rubbing Gwyneth’s back and saying “Hold your horses, GG. It’s coming” over and over.

It’s really fun and makes me proud to see the things that Miss Annabelle has learned to mimic from me — good and bad!

Working on her laptop…

Telling GG “Cheese” and taking her picture…Putting her stuff up high so the little ones can’t get to it….

And most importantly,

being a total cheese-ball when the camera comes out…That’s my Annabelle and I love her sass – good and bad!!

Here a few more photos from the evening. The girls had such fun playing together. It was an all girls night as B went to meet some of his friends for a much needed guys-night-out.

It appears Annabelle has a black-eye but nope, that’s just spaghetti. I tried to rinse her off but without fully hosing her down she still walked away with half her dinner on her face.

GG now stands up in the middle of the room – doesn’t pull up, just stands up. I think she shocks herself and then sits down again. I’m waiting for her to gather the energy to just put one foot in front of the other and walk off. If Annabelle is my copy-cat then GG is Annabelle’s.

We spent the morning in Breckenridge enjoying Father’s Day. We had breakfast, got the car packed up and then headed back down the hill. The girls napped in the car on the way down and we enjoyed a peaceful ride home. I was able to talk to my dad and wish him a happy father’s day. It was so nice to talk to him and he was having a great visit with my sister, Becky. It made me sad to be away from my family and I miss them all so much. As my girls are getting older, I’m planning more and more visits to see family and I’m so glad everyone is willing to travel to Colorado so often to spend time with us.

Bye bye, Breck! It was another fun weekend.

To celebrate B’s Father’s day, we had the entire Meyer crew as well as Chriss’ in-laws to our house for a cookout. B wanted shish-kabobs and I wasn’t going to argue. He whipped up a marinade and then grilled the kabobs. There were delicious! I threw together the sides and dessert but his kabobs were the real hit. I felt bad that he made the main dish on his day, but he didn’t seem to mind at all. I’m thankful for the delicious meal and everyone else loved it too. The girls gave B, their grandpa, and their uncles tickets to the Reds/Rockies game in September. It should be an adventure for all 12 of us.

Gwyneth just up from her nap and looking cute as can be. She’s getting new teeth and has not been very happy about it. Ryan, Nathan, and the girls enjoying the new playground

Jocelyn wanted her picture taken giving Annabelle bunny ears
Reagan

The girls and I are very lucky to have B! He is a wonderful dad and really goes above and beyond for us. The girls truly adore him. We hope he had a great Father’s day!!

Annabelle received a birthday gift from her Godparents and she loves it! Diane and Robert sent her a play laptop which has all different games and keeps her very entertained.

Thank you, Diane and Robert! You are fabulous Godparents. Annabelle is so lucky to have you. She misses you and can’t wait to see you soon!

We were pretty beat from our day at the festival, so we spent the rest of the day relaxing at the condo in Breckenridge. The kids were pretty wound up, so we popped in Madegascar and let them calm down and watch a little movie. Madegascar is Cade’s favorite and Annabelle had never seen it, so it kept them entertained so we could get dinner together. We ordered take-out from Tadeo’s which was delicious. Annabelle let us know that she loves chicken parmesan and spaghetti.

I baked a cake for Father’s Day. After dinner we let Annabelle and Cade decorate it with sprinkles. They thought that was great and had fun dumping the sprinkles on.

Annabelle quickly learned that sprinkles in her mouth were even better than sprinkles on a cake.

Cade was one happy boy!

B enjoyed his Father’s Day creation from Annabelle.

Poor Gwyneth didn’t get cake but she will in about 1 month for her birthday.

For the 2nd year in a row, we headed up to Glenwood Springs to enjoy the Strawberry Festival and begin the celebration for mine and Annabelle’s birthdays. The Fesslers joined us this year and the kids had a great time eating festival food – corn dogs, fried pickles, ice cream and french fries. Annabelle ran all around, rode the train, checked out the ponies, and wore herself out. Gwyneth crawled around a bit but was not really excited about being in the grass. As we were packing up, the rain rolled in and we got soaked!! Annabelle and Cade were a bit freaked out by the downpour but Gwyneth just sat dry as can be in her stroller. Not a peep out of her. A little rain didn’t ruin our day – we had a blast!

I love the mountain festivals and we’re already planning our adventure back up next year!

The gang – sans the momma’s – who of course, were snapping photos.
Gwyneth had her first taste of ice cream and she also took a bite of Annabelle’s corn dog. That’s the exact same meal that Annabelle had at her 1st Strawberry Festival!

Not really enjoying the feel of the grass on her little hands and knees.

B and his girls

Annabelle loves trains and was very excited to go for a ride on the ‘choo-choo’ with Cade. Checking out the ponies.

Annabelle continues to ask for the horsies