Caitlin is 6!

6 years and about 7 hours ago, I became a mommy for the 1st time. Time certainly has flown by! I cannot believe that my "baby" is 6 years old today.

I will write a memoir later on, but I just want to say:

Happy 6th Birthday Princess Caitie!

Birthday Flickr Photos

Just a shout-out to my readers to let you know that there are new photos on my Flickr page from the birthday outing to the Denver Zoo and Chuck E Cheese. The batteries in my camera died when it came time to open presents, so my dad stepped in. I will be downloading the photos from his camera in a little bit, so check back. I will also have some birthday posts up later today/tonight.

Turning the BIG 3-0!

I had a bit of a milestone birthday last Friday, I turned three decades old! Most days, I do not feel or act my age, thanks to my daughters who give me the excuse to play dress up, swing on swings, stare at the clouds and make paint out of Jello. Of course, there are those days when I feel 100, where every part of my body aches at any movement and even 9 hours of sleep isn't enough to recharge.

Anyway, I digress...I had a great birthday, or should I say birthdays. We went to Montrose the week before my birthday and celebrated with my parents, younger brother and my aunt & uncle. My mom made a kick butt dinner and of course, homemade strawberry pie which has been my birthday dessert for years. Good times, good food, good company, can't beat that.

Fast forward to Friday, my actual birthday. By some strange twist of fate, Ben got pink eye and had to call in to his day job, so he was home with us all day. As long as he washed his hands and we took sanitizer when we went out, I figured he was fit to be around (note: none of us got pink eye from him) so we spent a rare Friday together as a family. Ben started off by taking me to the mall and to the Apple store. He sent me away while he got my gift, which still shocks me. I got the latest iPod, the iPod touch. I had been wanting one for awhile for when start walking and when we travel so that I can tune out the girls (just kidding). No really, my hope was to get an adapter so that I could play all of our favorite songs over my radio without having to fumble through CDs, which is dangerous while driving.
I'm still learning how to do all of the cool things that this allows me to do, but...short of sounding like a McDonald's commercial...

After the venture to the Apple store, we piled into the car and went to the Light Rail station to catch a train to LoDo. Ben had asked me where I'd like to go for my birthday dinner and I chose one of my favorite restaurants, BD's Mongolian BBQ. I just love that I can pile on tons of fresh veggies and watch it be grilled by cute guys doing mind-blogging tricks with those bigs chopsticks. Not much tops fresh stir-fry. We had an awesome meal to top off an awesomely fun day.

One thing that would've made it a tad bit better, some girlfriends to go out with...working on that though, working on it.

**edited to add--I'm a bad momma. Caitlin reminded me of the awesome gifts that she hand-selected for me for my birthday. This is one girl who knows her momma. She picked out a coconut body butter, green tea hand lotion and then two Almond Joy bars for her momma's birthday. Seriously, the husband could learn from her.**

Birthday Splash!

Since the sprayground has become one of the most popular summer attractions for the girls, it was the natural choice for hosting their joint birthday party. Wednesday, the 18th turned out to be the perfect day for playing in the water. Temperatures crept up near 100 degrees (oh, humanity!)and the water spraying down was lukewarm--not goosebumps cold nor sauna hot. While, for some unknown reason, Cara was not that into splashing around, Caitlin had the time of her life and told everyone she ran into that it was her birthday today. In fact, when we first got there, she just had to go around and show the other little girls her birthday dress (a yellow flower print dress with an overlay that my mom made) and twirl around for them.
After Caitlin had enough fun running and splashing (and was chilled to the core), we headed over the our picnic shelter and began to grill hot dogs. There's something about BBQing outdoors that makes everything taste better...maybe it's the grill marks on the dogs but, the hot dogs were awesome along with the salads and chips.
After everyone was full, it was time to open presents. Of course, this was the part that Caitlin had been waiting for, rather impatiently, days. She was jumping up and down and smiling real big with anticipation while her Grandpa and I brought the presents over from our cars. Her enthusiam showed for each and every present she opened--exclaiming over each one.
Cara joined in the festivities from her stroller giving us big grins when we presented her with present upon present. Big sister helped her unwrap them, of course. While she got some great gifts, Cara was much more fasinated by the ribbons on her packages and the bright paper than the gifts themselves, at least until they were out of the boxes and she could play with them.
Both girls were spoiled pretty darn rotten by their parents and grandparents. One of my favorite gifts was a family membership to the Children's Museum of Denver. I love the fact that we can now go whenever we want, for how long we want without spending $14+ each time. We've already been once and both girls had a jolly good time. We even get the scoop on special members-only events and new exhibits. I cannot wait to get our money's worth out of the membership, especially during the winter.
After opening gifts, Mother Nature decided to grace us with her windy presence, blowing everything (including Cara in her stroller) all over the place. We had to quickly pack up and move the celebration back to our loft.
Once there, we lit the candles upon the Dora the Explorer and Care Bears cakes, sang "Happy Birthday" times two and let the girls dig in. Cara had the most fun with her piece, slurping up every last bite. She was quite a mess and promptly got a bath which filled the bottom of the tub with candy confetti. Caitlin's favorite part of the cake was the icing. I was so tempted to just by the kid a tub of whipped frosting, put a candle on top and call it a done deal!
After cake & ice cream was eaten and enjoyed, my parents retired to their hotel room and the girls wound down (or up) by playing with some of their new toys. The popular favorite was Cara's Bounce & Spin Zebra from Mommy & Daddy. Both girls had fun riding on it.
All in all, it was a great day! The girls really had a blast and were so happy to see their grandparents to boot.

**Oh, I wanted to brag, just a bit. Cara's cake was the $6 WalMart special. I had them write on it for me, for free. Then, after searching around the store without success for some Care Bear figurines, I came back to pick up the cake and asked if I could purchase on of the Care Bears cake top decorations that they had. The bakery manager disappeared and then returned with two sets (4 bears total) and asked me which I wanted. Being the budget conscious person that I am, I asked how much they were and she said, "Go on, take them, they're free!" Both of them, all four bears for free! Score! I think Cara's cake looked good, if I do say so myself. FYI--Caitlin's cake was from Target and I think they have the best marble cake with buttercream frosting ever!

Happy Birthday Caitlin!

(Bad mommy forgot to publish this post on the 24th)


Little Bug--2003


Balancing Act--July 2007


Dear Caitlin,

There's something we want to tell you...
We are so proud of the young lady that you are becoming. Your independent personality is really starting to show through and you are one unique little girl. You are so smart and creative. You continue to amaze us with the things that you know, say and do. Your biggest accomplishments in the last year have been learning to use the potty, riding a "big girl" bike, writing your name, "pumping" a swing, balancing on a balance beam, and learning your ABC's. We are so very proud of you and love you more than you'll ever know. We are looking forward to being a part of your very active and exciting life. Please allow us to come along for the ride but please, don't be in a big hurry to race on ahead. Even if you do, Mommy & Daddy will be there, in the distance, watching out for you. Forge on, Princess Caitie!

Happy 4th Birthday!

Love always,

Mommy & Daddy

Happy Birthday Cara!

Happy Birthday to our little Peanut, recently renamed Bubba. It's so hard for Mommy & Daddy to believe that twelve months have gone by since the day that you joined our family. You have brought so much love and happiness into our lives. As we look back, we are amazed at how much you've changed and how much you've learned. We have enjoyed watching you blossom from a tiny baby into a bubbly toddler full of personality. It's been quite the journey, sweet girl, one which has only just begun! Many more milestones & memories await us. We will always be by your side.

We love you!

Mommy & Daddy


Then, such of a little peanut--small and, oh so precious!


Now, a sweet little girl with a personality as bouncy as her hair.