The Land of Enchantment: Part A

For all you New Mexicans, I don’t really understand the state slogan – Land of Enchancement. Albuquerque seems desolate, poor, non modern, very brown with single story buildings made of adobe that don't look tall enough to stand in. It doesn’t call to me Land of Enchantment. That’s not to say we didn’t thoroughly enjoy our time, but I prefer the green hills and steep mountains of my beautiful Colorado.

Day One:
Spending lots of quality time with my dad, step mom, sister, and Cole. It was a weekend for Cole to spend some fun with his grandparents and Aunt. We arrived Friday with no snow delays whatsoever. It’s a quick 45-min plane ride and Grandma and Emma picked us up at the airport. We grabbed some lunch at the China Super Buffet, spent a bit of time at the hotel and off we went to Emma’s drop in swim lesson…and we were able to give Cole a swim lesson too AND have playtime at the park.

Dinner at Paisano’s was INCREDIBLE. All of our dinners were soooo good and the wine excellent. The kids were tired from swimming, but held it together for the most part. Cole fell off the chair and whacked his head on the table; got a little scrap on the side of face/eye and it turned a little purple. Do you know how cute my little monkey was? He actually fell asleep at the table, propped on one hand and made his way to my lap when his head slipped out of his hand. It was the cutest think. Day One: Survived
Day Two:
Early wake up call by Cole at 6 a.m. Some pillow talk with grandpa, breakfast, and a trip to the Flea Market was how our morning was filled. Afternoon was a trip out to Bob and Dolly’s where dad keeps his horses. We were blessed with a drive by from the ice cream truck and we ate the treats while we walked around the ranch. There was a little baby horse, just three weeks old, that was absolutely adorable. Depart the ranch (not the biggest loser ranch) and stop by an RV selling fresh oven bread and fresh fruit pie. We made it back to the hotel for a good nap so that we’d be fresh for the PBR (Professional Bull Riding); which was AWESOME. Dad got us tickets and it was so exciting to see those cowboys (hotties) riding those HUGE bulls. Cole made it through the whole performance, flirting with cute teenage girls who thought he was adorable.

Day Three:
Cole woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning. Didn’t have his listening ears on; was basically a little monster all day. Although he did behave during my early morning workout in the gym and then off we went to breakfast at the Frontier, a local ABQ landmark. Grandma, Emma, Cole and I ventured off to Santa Fe for some sightseeing. Cole was the same little Monster he woke up as. We did last for a couple hours, but it was torture….for everyone. I can’t believe we all survived. Lunch and nap. Hot tubin’. Visit with the General, food, food, food. Some couch lovin' between Cole and Gma and Gpa. Then off to dreamland.

Day Four:

Our last day, we only had about three hours to do something once everyone was wake, showered, and fed. We decided to go over to Kirtland Air Force base. The trip turned sour when Cole had a tantum in the store, which sent him and I to the car, both of us in tears. I think we had both met our maximum level capacity and we both missed Dad (me for hand off of Cole, and Cole for the love and longing of his dad). We made our way to the airport and off we went, after a short fun filled time with family. Emma was definitely Cole's BFF. He followed her everywhere she went and was so patient with him. Thanks for being a great "little" Auntie.

Stay tuned for Part B which is about meeting some amazing people and seeing a part of my dad that I've never experienced before.

Sleeping Baby

There is nothing quite as precious as a sleeping baby. Last night, I checked on Cole as I always do before I go to sleep, to make sure he is covered up and breathing. And every night, I love to watch him sleep, hear his little breath go in and out, and ever so gently as not to wake him, put my hand on his sweet face. He is such an angel, especially in these restful moments. It fills my heart with warmth and happiness and the power of love.

Rest well, my little monkey.

All sorts of memorable moments

I can't believe it's already been a week since my last confession....oh, I mean my last post.

Here's a photo diary of what's been going on:

Play time with Ben and Sofia in the sandbox

Backyard fun with Jeffrey Vomiting for the first time of his life (no picture needed, just know it was in his bed and quite gross)

Eliana's 2nd birthday

Hockey game fun with Jeffrey, Jeff, Michelle, Mom and Dad

Cole and I are off to NM for some weekend fun with Grandma Carol, Grandpa Jack and Aunt Emma. Stay tuned for more of our adventures....

Weekend Fun

-self portrait of Aunt Wendy and Eliana with the zoom on...oops!

We had a surprise visit on Sunday from Umple Derrick, Aunt Veronica, and little Eliana. It was a gorgeous day so we spent our visit outside in the front yard, watching the kids play. Here are some shots.

Love everyone bunches.

Fuse

Before motherhood, I don't think I had a "patience" fuse. It's grown over the span of four and half years, thanks to my beautiful Cole. There are times however, that the fuse, while gaining length everyday, sometimes ignites and burns at rapid speed. Sometimes, it can be de-fused, but other times, it detinates. I detinate.

Let's take tonight for example. Cole decides five minutes before bedtime that he didn't get the dessert he wanted and he now wants a popcicle. The fortune cookie from dinner wasn't good enough. If you don't know, Cole is a negotiator. He doesn't have the skill mastered because he doesn't quite understand that each party needs to get something out of the deal. But that doesn't stop him from trying his win-lose tactics on us.

He starts down his path.."But, I wanted a popcicle for dessert."

"You can have a popcicle tomorrow for dessert," I say. My patience is like that of a Saint.

"It will take too long for tomorrow," he declares.

And repeat about four times before Dad says, "Stop talking back, you just lost a popcicle for tomorrow. Now get ready for bed" (my patience is still here, losing Saint status, but still here)

Lots of pouting, more pouting, more pouting (from Cole, not me).

He reads a book to me, while pouting (pure talent, right) and I try to talk him logically through the situation.

"Cole, what do you think we should do about the popcicle?"

"Well, tomorrow is too far away and Dad said I can't have one now," still pouting.

"Maybe you could tell him you are sorry for talking back and that we can reevaluate the situation in the morning," I advise, still with uber mom patience! I amaze myself sometimes.

He listens (remarkable) and goes to tell Dad, "Sorry and maybe we can reevaluate in the morning," with a little help from me.

All seems good until I put him in bed and he is STILL pouting. I leave him to figure it out and go to clip by toe nails.

Soft sobs I hear from his bedroom. Mumbles. Getting louder,

"My mom shut my door" (not true it was cracked the same way it is every night"

"My mom shut my door", mumble, cry, mumble, REPEAT 15 times....

Here is where the fuse burned at a rapid speed and I detinated. I thought because I was in the bathroom, that Chris would engage in the situation, but that didn't happen so I slammed the drawer shut, flung open the bathroom door, threw open Cole's door, all while yelling nonsense about the situation.

You see, I am a negotiator as well. I try to get all of us what we want. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. Cole now understood that I had hit my limit and upon removing myself from the bathroom for the second time, I hear him say as I walk past his room, "I'm sorry Mom." Ohhhh - he really knows how to pull my heart strings. A quick stop in his room to get a hug and kiss and for me to apologize too....we parted on good terms.

p.s. Chris was trying to figure out why the bathroom drawer won't shut. I had to confess that I broke it during my detination. Darn it.

You have pretty eyes...

This is the classic line Cole uses when he knows I am upset with him. He can tell either my tone or my facial expression and he will look at me straight in the face and say, "Mom, you have pretty eyes." Urgh! How can you be mad after that? He definitely knows how to work me.

We took it easy this weekend - movie day at home on Saturday morning, swim lessons, dinner in the living room, and some playtime outside yesterday (it was glorious!). We missed Rachel and Sierra at Frozen Dead Man days. We missed our tradition, but it sure did look cold from the pictures on your blog.

Looking forward to our trip to NM to see Aunt Emma, Grandma Carol, and Grandpa Jack. Just a few more weeks.

Leg Cane

Here's the deal. I feel like I haven't blogged about my monkey in a while and that makes me sad. I love writing about how funny Cole is or what we've been up to. So here are some of our latest adventures.

Play date with Dylan.

Hiking with the family.

Built a Lincoln Log Ranch.

Swim lessons.

Hanging at the bowling alley while we bowl.

Play date with Shane.

Dancing.

Playing games.

Riding bikes.

(sometimes, all this in one day - no wonder why I need naps on the weekend)

I love you Monkey!

Six

Today, March 1, marks our 6th wedding anniversary. We celebrated by eating at Vesta Dipping Grill (SUPERB). It was fabulous and it was Denver Restaurant week so it was $52.80 plus drinks and tip which put us at another $50....but it was worth it. Apps, entrees, and desserts!

Anniversary Recount:

Year 1. Trip to San Diego

Year 2. ? - it's a blur because of the newness of parenthood

Year 3. ? - it's a blur because my memory was out of commission for a few years due to giving birth.

Year 4. Devils Thumb X Cty ski trip

Year 5. Dinner at Bloom

Year 6. Dinner at Vesta

So, for a month I've tried to figure out something to buy Chris made of "iron" which is the traditional 6th wedding gift. So of course, the day before our anniversary I figure it's time to get serious and went to Home Depot in hopes that I may find something. I'm looking at the smokers (you know for meat) and I turn around and Mr. Wonderful is looking at foliage near by. I accuse him of spying on me and we have a 20 minute discussion on buying a joint gift, which turns out to be nothing made of metal.

Happy Anniversary Chris!