Our Ski Trip (Part IV)

This is the last one, I promise. 

When we weren't at the Learning Center with the kids we were having lots of fun in other places. 

Mama and Daddy got some time together on the slopes. 

Our only stressful moments came when we had to decide which run to go down next. 

For a fun afternoon activity, we all rode on the gondola to the top of the first mountain. 

The kids loved looking at the views.

On top of the mountain there was a snow fort just for kids with tunnels and things to climb on. David found this great hiding spot. 

Rachael walking very cautiously on the uneven snow.

Baby Girl and her Daddy.

Grand babies with their grandparents. 

Other times we took walks through the resort's village. 

The kids loved to stop at the little playhouse 

Sweet little face peeking out the window.

David being silly

Rachael found some ducks!

David played a little pool

The week went by very fast. The time came for us to say goodbye to the snow and head home. The kids did fantastic again during the flight and car rides. 

David even pulled his carry-on bag all the way through the airport. 

We are already talking about next year! It will be twice as fun because Rachael will be able to ski too! 

I can't wait. 

Our Ski Trip (Part III)

Every morning David was excited to get back out on the slopes! 

He soon wanted to give the bigger bunny slope a try AND the real chair lift.

Coming down the big bunny slope:

And over the BIG bumps:

Mama and Baby Girl [feeling much better although she doesn't look like it in this picture] cheering David on



Break Time at the base of the run




On the last day David skied ALL BY HIMSELF:

While taking a break on the last day, Ryan asked Rachael if she wanted to ski. She ran over to him and got between his legs, ready for her turn.

I think she's going to love it next year.


We took the resort shuttle to get to and from the Learning Area. While we waited for it to arrive, we took the opportunity for a family picture.



The kids didn't mind playing a little while we waited too






Rachael liked sitting on the bench and kicking her legs

Our Ski Trip (Part II)

After a somewhat good night's sleep, we took David to an area of the mountain that's not really a slope, but has lots of snow on it. It's really just a trail right next to the lodge we stayed in last year. But, he didn't know the difference and we thought it was a great place for him to try out his skis. 

Ryan, Ma, and Big Daddy stood at the top of the hill with him.

Rachael and I waited for him at the bottom.

Poor sweet thing looks like the boy from A Christmas Story. 

Here's David's first time skiing! I love that he is giggling the whole way and says, "Daddy! I'm skiing!" It's only 15 seconds long, but he loves it. 

Big Daddy and Ma would follow behind as they made their way down the "slope". Once David made it to the bottom Big Daddy would pull David back up to the top.

 

The four adults had work out a great plan for each day. In the mornings Ma and Big Daddy would go ski while we took the kids to the bunny slopes for some Daddy/David Lessons [David is a month shy for ski school]. The weather was beautiful so Rachael and I could play at the base of the run watching them until David's little legs couldn't take anymore. Then we would go back to the condo for some lunch. As we were putting the kids down for nap time, Ma and Big Daddy would return. Ryan and I would ski while the kids slept 'til slopes closed. We love the black runs the most so just a few hours was plenty to wear us out.  

By the third morning, well actually all through the night, Rachael was feeling pretty bad. We don't know if it was altitude sickness, the remnants of a virus she and David had the week before, a new virus she pick up on the flight, or a combination of  any of the above. But, she didn't feel well. Her sickness would come and go for two days. 

She was a trooper though and didn't want to miss any time outside or watching her big brother. 

So, that morning David was ready for the real bunny slope. 

The resort had these great wagons for toting kids and gear and we took advantage of them every chance we could! 

David loved riding in it every time, Rachael...only sometimes. 

Once we got there, David and Ryan rode up on the "Magic Carpet".

And....coming down the slope.

Even though she was feeling bad, Rachael still enjoyed watching her big brother

 David  got better at skiing everyday and Rachael started getting better too!

Our Ski Trip in CO (Part I)

Last week we went on an extremely fun ski trip to Colorado with Ma and Big Daddy. The last time we went David was a little guy and I was about 12 weeks pregnant with Rachael.

We started out with a very early flight. The kids did very well on the entire flight. 

Ready for take off

Baby girl all smiles

And David too

David and Rachael loved take off and after leveling off they both did a little reading

*Notice that Rachael is reading upside down. She's very talented.

Shortly after that both kids were fast asleep

They both woke up before landing but stayed happy, quiet and busy. I packed a toy bag for each child full of new toys. As needed, we would pull one out at a time. Between both flights neither kid used all their toys! 

Once we made it through the airport and to our rental "car", or as David called it- The Bus, we stopped for a quick bite of lunch and headed on our car ride to the mountain. The kids were out in no time once again. 

When we arrived at the resort Ryan and Big Daddy took David to rent his snow skis and boots while the girls went grocery shopping. 

He was so excited to show us when we were all back together in the condo. 

The next day would be his first day on the slopes!

17 Months and 11 Days

17 Months and 11 Days...that's how old David was when Rachael was born. 

And that's exactly how old Rachael is today!!

I can't believe that is possible! 

Meeting each other for the first time

That beautiful baby girl today

Going home the day after Rachael was born

She's changed just a bit.

I was a bit emotional about today. I'm not sure why. 

It's just amazing to me that this day is here. It feels like just yesterday she was born. I can't remember our lives without her. It's also hard to remember David at her age even though it was such a short time ago. 

*You may have noticed that David had way more baby fat in his face. Well, Rachael has her baby fat too, it's just all in her cute Buddha belly*

Less of a Baby Everyday

Rachael turned 17 months old today. She is days away from being David's age when she was born. How is that right?! How is that possible?! 

Rachael is growing and learning everyday. She is very curious, pointing to everything wanting to know what it's called. She loves to go around the dinner table and name everyone. She points to Ryan- "Dada", then to David- "DuhDuh", and to Mama- "Mama", Bogie- "BuhBuh", and finally herself- "AahAah" [the name David gave her immediately after she was born].

She loves to read books. Well, actually she loves books so much she wants me to speed read them so we can read the next book.

She gives a "thumbs up" with her pointer finger.

She loves to wash her hands.

Rachael loves animals and is getting really good at identifying many with their name, their sound, or both. Here's all the animals she knows:

Deer- name and sound

Turkey- sound

Cat- name and sound

Bunny- sound [boing, boing] and movement

Dog- sound

Elephant- sound

Giraffe- name

Monkey- sound

Chicken- sound

Goat- sound

Cow- name and sound

She is "talking" all the time. She loves to have a conversation even when I don't know what she's trying to say. She is good at getting her point across and helping me understand what she wants. She is putting multiple words together. Her favorites are:

Yes, Ma'ma

Ready, Set, Go

One More

Night, Night

Bath Time

Thank You
Be Right Back
Good Job

She loves to be chased. It's hilarious. She'll just randomly start running around giggling which means, "Chase me!" Being caught and tickled isn't nearly as fun to her as the chase. As soon as I catch her, she's ready to run again. 

She is still very much a Mama's girl. I make many meals these days with one arm. She is still nursing about 4 times a day, which is amazing since a year ago we were having such issues with her weight gain I was thinking about giving up.

She loves her morning snuggle time. When our morning schedule allows she likes for me to carry her to our bed for a little alone time with her Mama and Daddy.  

Rachael still loves pretty much any food put in front of her. She eats half an avocado with her dinner every night, it might be her favorite food right now. 

She is such a girl sometimes, it's amazing. She has these emotional breakdowns and cries so hard and gets so upset she forgets what she was mad about in the first place. We're working on that...

She is still wearing 12 month size clothes, although I see a change to 18 months soon which works out nicely with the season change. She's around 22 lbs. She'll have a check up next month for her official measurements.

She is well into the early stages of potty training. Right after she poops in her diaper she runs to sit on the little potty. Because she watches David do everything, she is a little confused as to how she is going to pee in the big potty. She stands in front of it, pulls up her shirt, pushes her hips forward...and doesn't know what to do from there. It's so funny.




Her hair is ridiculously beautiful! It's the perfect shade of blonde and has a natural curl on the ends. It's growing so fast now. I can see pig tails in our near future and I'm so excited!

Rachael loves her baby dolls. She is a great little Mama. She takes very good care of them. She likes to pretend they are crying- she makes a fake crying sound and then bounces then while saying, "Shh, shh, shh." She shares her water with her babies and loves to make sure they are accessorized properly.





She's trying to put a hairband on her baby's head

She is convinced she is the same age as David and can do anything and everything he can do. She wants to walk down the stairs by herself!! I hold both of her hands and walk backwards while she takes on each step, each one as big as her legs. But, if David can do it, so can she.

She loves to play with trucks and tractors, bows and guns, dirt and bugs.
Of course, she knows what a tractor says:

This is such a fun age full of changes. I love seeing what she is going to learn each day. But, it's bitter sweet too. She isn't a baby anymore. She's growing into a little girl. And this Mama is finding it difficult to say goodbye to those baby days. 

Our Nashville Trip

Before I go into detail about our trip to Nashville [prepare to see LOTS of pictures], I want to share a picture I took of Rachael at home right before we left for David's class party.

 I think it's so beautiful.

So, after David Valentine's party we all got in the car and headed for Nashville. Why Nashville? Because every year (2011, 2012) we make the trek there for the National Wild Turkey Federation National Convention. Along the way we dropped Bogie off at Ma and Big Daddy's house. Unfortunately, dogs aren't welcomed at the Gaylord Hotel. 

The kids did well on the long drive [about 5 hours]. I did have to move to the backseat with them for the last hour to help keep them happy. But, we finally made it to the hotel and the first thing the kids wanted to do was see all the fish. 

Soon after we got checked into our room a beautiful bouquet of flowers was delivered to me from Ryan!


Because we have been there a few times, we have our routine for each day down pretty well. In the evenings our favorite thing to do is eat ice cream and watch "the water show".

Our first night there



In awe of the music, lights and water



Too sweet

The next day we all visited the Convention. We had a wonderful time in the section just for kids. There were so many kind volunteers ready and willing to help David [and Rachael, although she refused help from any strangers].

David shot a pellet gun.



A BB gun.



A bow. [Several times each day!]

This man in particular, Mr. Randy, took a liking to David. Every time David came back to shoot, Mr. Randy would say, "There's my buddy!" He was so kind to David.




I know this picture couldn't be any blurrier, but I still love it.


Rachael finally wanted to shoot the bow, as long as it was with her Daddy.



Oh! And of course there was fishing too.










And David loved dressing up in hunting clothes and going into a blind with a real turkey call.




There was also this turkey for the kids to ride on. I'm pretty sure if they were selling these things my kids would have sold a lot while they were on it. They had many people stop and watch them. One random lady was sweet enough to ask me if she could take David's picture.


Rachael wanted to give it a try, but not by herself. She really wanted David to ride with her.



At the Turkey Show, David loved visiting Mr. Tommy and trying out some of his new calls.



Perhaps one of my favorite parts of the trip was getting to take a nap between my two babies everyday! No dishes to clean, no laundry to wash, no rooms to straighten up, no dinner to prepare. It was wonderful.
I just enjoyed my children. 

More of my favorite pictures from the water show:

Rachael dancing, David watching

Happy kids

I love this one too. My two babies enjoying a little relaxing time by the fire.

Because we arrived on Valentine's Day and didn't have time to get dressed up for the special day, we celebrated our Valentine's Day the last night of our trip at a very fancy Italian restaurant inside the resort. The kids were VERY well behaved in a not super kid-friendly restaurant. I was so proud of both of them.

Of course, we tried to take some cute pictures, but that didn't go as smoothly as planned.







Mama and her babies. Wouldn't you know it, David smiles good in one, Rachael smiles good in another.


And Daddy wanted one with his littlest Valentine, but she wasn't feeling the love.


We had a wonderful family trip and we can't wait for next year!