Helena turns 2!

tricycle from Grandpa and Grandma Sweat

dancing with Grandma Sweat at Caliches

enjoying ice cream on her birthday!

Grandma Sweat made the dress!!!

Great Grandma Sweat, Grandma Sweat holding Bennett, Chris holding Helena, Grandpa Sweat holding Hope.

she loved opening all of the presents!

Almost two weeks ago Helena turned two!  It was a great day.  My in-laws were in town the week of her birthday and having them here was wonderful.  My mother-in-law is great with both kids and she did all the cooking!!!  ...I am so spoiled!!!!
The day itself was pretty low key.  I actually left Helena at home with her grandparents while Bennett and I went to a MOPS meeting.  Chris got home early and we had an early dinner so we could leave for a special ice cream treat at Caliches.  ...Caliches is an amazing custard place, and probably the one place I'll miss when we leave Alamogordo!
That Saturday was her birthday party.  Who knows why I thought it would be a good idea to throw a birthday party with a newborn in the house, but I'm crazy like that, and there were hardly any details.  I wasted $20 on an etsy printable of invitations, a happy birthday sign, and cupcake toppers.  The theme was Curious George.  I knew I wanted the party to be outside, so we set up a little pool, a water table (her birthday gift from us), and we got lots of bubbles.  Overall we had a great turnout!!!  I just ordered a cake and pizza from the local grocery store, and that's it.  Oh and a fruit platter.  We had about 18 kids and Helena was thrilled to have all of her friends over.  My parents came down for the party and I was thrilled that Helena got all of her grandparents together!
It was a great day!

parent's visit

I feel like I'm constantly behind on my blogging.  But here's a recap of my parents visit when they were out for Helena's Birthday weekend/Mother's Day!

hanging with Grandpa: it's her favorite thing to do

We had a great visit with my parents over Helena’s birthday weekend.  My parents arrived on Thursday and we had a good time staying in and my mom and I doing errands in preparation for the birthday party.  Friday morning my dad and I went to the gym, we had plans to go to the aquarium that afternoon, but Helena slept.  So we just went out to dinner.  We told the waiter it was Helena’s birthday and he brought her out a dessert!  It was pretty funny! 

Saturday was party day.  We got everything prepared, cleaned and ready.  My dad and Chris went to go pick up the balloons and cupcakes and while my mom entertained Helena I vacuumed.  After the party my parents went to church while Chris and I cleaned up.  I did a quick run to the store to make dinner. 

Sunday was church and a super nice Mother’s Day brunch.  It was that afternoon while my dad and Chris were watching a basketball playoff game and Helena took her first step.  When I shouted “she took a step” they were too entertained at the game that when Helena took another step I had to hit Chris to get his attention.  They finally stopped watching the game saw her third step!  It was such a sight to see.  To see her little body move is amazing.  Sunday evening we went out to dinner and ate too much!

Monday morning was her 1 year check up followed by a nap and a departure for my parents. 

We’re already looking forward to their next visit in July!

she was mesmerized with the candle

One Year Stats

A classic Helena face

We have a happy and healthy baby on our hands! 

18 pounds 14 ounces (36th percentile)

30 inches (80th percentile)

44.6 cm head circumference (41st percentile)

5 teeth (we had no clue that 5th tooth was in there! {top left})

It seems to me that since turning one Helena has taken a huge leap in what she picks up on and her personality.  I look at her now and she’s no longer a baby.  It’s a true miracle to see her grow but also puts a huge need of baby fever!  I’m somewhat depressed right now with things going on in my family and the fact that this time last year I wasn’t at work, I was on maternity leave spending the days caring for my newborn.  Having last summer off was so wonderful, I just wish I could have this summer off too.  Simply put: I yearn to be home.  Leaving for work is so hard.  I’ve thought a lot about how I can put it into words.  Helena is such a huge part of who I am.  She came from me, she is one of my main priorities in life, my love for her grows daily.  And to leave that part of me (such a huge part) behind daily to go to work is hard.  It’s like I’m leaving a part of me behind.  A big part.  I’m sad because she’s not near me and because someone else is part of her day, and that someone isn’t me.  It should be me.  It’s hard to breath when your heart isn’t with you.  And to me my daughter is my heart.  Hopefully those words can do some justice to what I’m feeling when I’m not taking care of my daughter while I’m at work. 

In addition to missing her I’m pretty sure we have a genius child on our hands.  I know every parent thinks their child is smart, but Helena is learning so much!  She can point to her socks/feet, and belly. She just recently started giving kisses (I seriously fell in love all over again)!  We got balloons for her birthday and a couple are still floating around the house and we’ll ask her to go get her balloon, and she’ll go get it!  Keep in mind, that prior to her birthday she had never played with a balloon before.  The other night I went to check in on her bath time and asked her if she brushed her teeth, and she immediately found her toothbrush and started brushing her teeth.  We’ll ask if she wants to sing the “A, B, C’s” and she’ll start with the “Aaa” sound.  And sorta sing along while we sing.  When her food is too hot at meal time I’ll blow on it, and she started mimicking blowing and it’s super cute.  She’ll make a “click click” noise with her tongue in her mouth and “kiss” noise with her lips.  She’s also tried to make a “fish face”.   She’ll drop her sippy cup/spoon/food onto the floor and say “uh oh”.  When she sneezes and we say “bless you” she’ll say “thank you”.  Or when we sneeze she’ll say “bless you”. 

She has started cow’s milk and the transition is going great.  She still gets some formula at night, and we’re really only giving it to her because we have it left to use.  We’ve also changed her nighttime routine and eliminated the bottle except for the formula she gets at night. 

I’m hoping she’ll start picking up signs soon.  I think she knows “all done” and “milk”.  We’re working on “food/eat” and “more”. 

She’s taking more and more steps daily.  She can’t stand up by herself (only when pulling herself up on something) but I think she’ll be there soon.  It’ll be crazy once her preferred method is walking over crawling. 

She’s still a super loud eater and a good eater in general.  It crazy the noises she makes.  And she’s still a great sleeper.  She’s comfortably in size 12 clothes and still in size 3 diapers.  She’s grown attached to “Mr. Owl” which is super cute and she’s officially in a convertible car seat.  

Each day is such a blessing and her laugh is still one of the most beautiful sounds in the world.

a first birthday

He's such a great grandpa

the spread, can you see the owl veggie tray?

Lilly with mom Erin (Lilly was born end of April), Helena and I, and Grayson with mom Andrea (Grayson was born on 5/5)

a trio of one year olds

i love that i photo-bombed this picture!

Happy Birthday time!

LOVE her outfit!

nice family photo

I can’t believe my baby girl is one.  I also can’t believe that I haven’t cried because my baby girl is one.  Granted I’ve gotten teary eyed, and singing “happy birthday” was tough, but I pictured having an all out melt down that my baby is no longer a “baby”.  Of course, that doesn’t mean that it won’t happen, but as of right now I’ve stayed rather drama free in regards to my daughter turning one. 

to THIS!  she's over it!

Her birthday weekend was a lot of fun and a lot of work.  My parents were in town (more on that, hopefully), and they definitely helped.  It is so nice to have extra eyes and hands to help watch Helena!  It’s so amazing how one little person requires so much attention!

Chris and I did all we could with the prep work and thankfully all the little details turned out how I envisioned.  The one big crappy part was the rainy cold weather.  I had hoped to bring the party outdoors, but mother nature had another agenda.  Her theme was a continuation of Halloween, as we went with an “Owl” theme.  It was super cute.  My mother-in-law made an amazing onsie outfit that I will treasure for years and years! 

I made an Owl veggie tray, fruit kabobs, and queso dip.  I printed out a Happy Birthday Helena banner, and got balloons for all the kiddos.  It was a great time.  Sounds simple, but it was a lot of work. 

The cake smash was exactly that, a SMASH!  We put her down in only a diaper on the plastic mat her highchair is on.  At first she was super skeptical.  She would touch the icing and jerk her hand back like it pinched her!  Everyone laughed, and the loud noise and all the attention scared her, so Chris picked her up and put her in his lap.  Once she finally broke off a piece of the cake she was much more comfortable, and ended up with the frosting everywhere, plus I think she actually ate some.  It was a lot of fun, and a great memory. 

After cake we opened presents and got so many fun toys! 

All in all she did really well considering we woke her up from her nap for the party.  Once everyone left she had a little meltdown, but that was to be expected. 

Her actual birthday was Mother’s Day too.  We got up and went to church, then to brunch.  The big milestone of late of course has been walking.  I know everyone says once she walks “it’s over”, and as true as I know that, lately it has been the anticipation of it happening, because I could tell it was going to happen soon.  And well she took her first independent step on her birthday! It was an amazing site.  To see her body move!  And how amazing it is to see this accomplishment happen on her birthday.  To think of her being born exactly one year prior, to be this itty bitty newborn, to a walking baby in exactly one year!  Time is truly an amazing thing.

Now she’s getting better and better, and can take about 4 or 5 steps, and I know it won’t be long before she is literally off and running!

This year has been amazing.  I absolutely love being a mom to Helena.  She is such a happy and healthy baby, and that alone makes me feel so blessed.  But in addition to being happy and healthy, she’s such a good baby.  She’s started “singing” the ABC’s, and recently found the function of a door, and now swings the doors, which is extremely nerve-racking since I don’t want her to smash her fingers.  Mother’s Day was spent celebrating my daughter, and I wouldn’t have it any other way. 

Oh Happy Day

Yesterday was Chris' birthday!  We had a great time celebrating him, and I'm so incredibly happy he was born!
Earlier in the month when my mom was here I planned a special early birthday surprise.  Last year before we found out we were expecting and before Chris lost his job, we had planned date nights throughout the whole year.  And one of those date night were to attend a cooking class.  Well after the job was lost, and the expecting human was on its way, we never got to a lot of our date nights.  So I took the opportunity of my mom being in town and Chris' upcoming birthday to plan this special night out.
We went to Stir Cooking School.  It was a lot of fun!  On the menu?  All things Hatch Green Chile!  It was delicious.  Plus I actually wanted to learn how to cook with hatch green chile.  Considering I'm from New Mexico, this is a food that I had never previously cooked with.  Horrible, right?!  ...I've always been more of a red chile gal myself, though.  Anyways.  We peeled and chopped the chiles, and made:
hatch chile cornbread
hatch chile chicken enchiladas
yukon gold bacon and hatch chile gratin
shrimp and hatch chile quesadillas
plus we had fresh salsa and chips to snack on.
It was a super fun night, and the place itself was a lot of fun.  I hope one day we can go back!  

who doesn't love a heart shaped potato?

His actual birthday was pretty low key.  I had checked the mail the day before, and there were a handful of cards for him.  So I put those out with his gifts before he got up.  So they were waiting for him first thing.

Helena and I sang him Happy Birthday and he opened up his gifts.

Helena helped of course!

That afternoon we went on a nice long walk, then we tried a new sushi place for dinner, Zen Bistro and Sushi.  We really liked it.  Good food, strong drinks, and great service!  We're learning that with the right preparations we can pretty much bring Helena anywhere, which makes it rather easy for us to go out.  Most of the times she's such an easy going little girl, and she let us enjoy Chris' birthday dinner out.

Yesterday extended the celebration.  Late morning Helena had her pictures being taking down in the DTC (Denver Tech Center - way down south compared to where we live), so the morning was occupied with outfit changes and smiling (for the most part).  Afterwards I made reservations at Lola for lunch/brunch.  Chis had taken me here when I was 38 weeks pregnant, and it was fantastic, and since we would be driving through downtown on our way back home, I decided we should go again.  This go round wasn't as great, but Helena was a trouper as she slept during most of the meal.
We arrived back home for a couple of hours, and for Helena to take a more significant nap, just to take her out again.  This time to Boulder.  My Aunt Deanna was in town visiting her daughter, my cousin Cheryl, who lives in Fort Collins.  We had dinner at Zolo Grill, and had a great time visiting with my family.
Overall I think Chris had a good birthday.

My Birthday Weekend

view from our room

the semi frozen lake with walkway down the middle

the front

beautiful details

bronco ice sculpture at sunday brunch

On Sunday I turned 34.  I honestly don’t know how I feel about this.  I suppose I feel ok, since I still feel like I’m in my 20’s.  But since turning 30 I’ve had some pretty major life changing stuff happen to me.  I guess it’s just weird to me to think that I’m in my mid-thirties.  I also think about what 34 will bring.  I’ll be a Mom at 34.  Sounds like a good age to me.  I think a couple of years earlier would have been ok too, but I’ve learned that my life’s plan wasn’t and isn’t up to me. 

My birthday is a big deal to me.  I’ve had some pretty horrible birthdays, and some fantastic ones.  This one ranks high with the best.  I truly value a plan, and this is something Chris as grown into as we’ve known each other.  I knew that he had my birthday weekend planned before Christmas, and with that I was already so impressed.  The weeks leading up to the big day I could tell we would be going somewhere, I just didn’t know where. 

On Saturday morning we woke up, and he advised me we would be going down to Colorado Springs to stay at the Broadmoor Hotel.  Prior to living in Colorado I had never heard of this hotel, but it’s pretty popular and super fancy.  I was so excited.  He had our meals plans (another big score) and off we went.  We had breakfast downtown, and stopped at IKEA before arriving in the Springs.  We made our first big purchase at IKEA for Baby Sweat: a white dresser for $80! 

Once we arrived at the Broadmoor it was like we were a world away.  The hotel itself is sorta tucked up against the mountains, like Albuquerque the mountains in CO Springs are much closer to the actual city compared to Denver.  We had our car valet and treated like royalty.  We were escorted inside the original lobby from 1919, and checked-in.  From there a bellman escorted us to our room and gave us a little history behind the property.  High class all the way around.  Once we checked out everything in the room we walked around the property.  We stopped and had a snack at the coffee/pastry shop.  Then did some shopping.  

While walking around I could just imagine people walking around in the 1920’s (one of my favorite times in US History), with their skinny cigarette’s and formal wear of flapper dresses and top hats.  I imagine a place like the Broadmoor was a place to go and be seen back then.  The hotel as lots of specialty shops so we walked around and looked at all the high-end fancy stuff.  After shopping for a bit we went back to the room and got ready for dinner.  Then we walked around this beautiful lake they have between the properties.  We stopped by where the indoor pool and spa were, very glamorous!  Then we made our way inside to just sit and relax.  The hotel itself has so many details.  Tiles and flowers, and beautiful chandeliers.  I really wish I would have taken more pictures!  It reminded me of what an old school Bellagio would be like.  After just hanging out for a bit we went to dinner on site at a restaurant called the Tavern, a classic steak and seafood place.  Very delicious!  After dinner the restaurant had live music, so we did some dancing which I truly enjoyed.  Dancing with Chris was a big highlight for me!  Sunday we went to the popular Sunday Brunch.  I’m not a big fan of buffets, just because there is so much, and that is true for this one.  So.Much.Food.  But we had a great time, and had lots of good stuff. 

Then we were on the road back home, and made it back just in time to watch the Bronco game!  Such a good game, and for the most part we played really well.  Ending my birthday with a Bronco win and a trip to the Super Bowl was just the cherry on top!

This little getaway will most likely be the last one for awhile, as we have a list of “to-do’s” to prepare for Baby Sweat in the next few months.  I truly appreciate everything that Chris has done, and this birthday was a big example of that.

Catch Up: September 2013

September was a pretty low key month.  Started out the month with Labor day weekend, which was nice to have that extra day off after my parents left at the end of August. 

In mid-September my friend Kim was in town.  Kim is someone that I categorize as one of my good Facebook friends.  Which might seem weird to say, but if it weren’t for this crazy social media site we wouldn’t really be “friends”.  I met Kim in the summer of 2009, when my HS friend Vanessa and her came up to Denver for a concert at Red Rocks.  They had a little BBQ get together that I was invited to, mainly to catch up with Vanessa, as she was the only one I knew.  And there I was introduced to her friend Kim.  When trying to think of a word that describes my friend Kim, the main word that pops out is: friendly.  She’s just so nice, and social, and beautiful.  Very warming.  From there we became Facebook friends.  Over the past few years she’s moved from Albuquerque, to Portland, gotten married, and had a baby.  I saw most of this unfold during my not so hot single years, and often I would email her with congratulations and advice.  I remember one time specifically asking her: “You’re always going out, what do you?  How do you meet people?”  Knowing that we were in the same age group, and also knowing that as you get older it’s harder to meet friends, but she was always posting pictures out and about having a good time, and I wanted to know what her secret was.  Simply, she stated: I don’t say no.  If someone asks me to do something, I say yes.  Seems simple, and ever since then that always stuck with me.  And why I clung onto my gym friends once I finally got out of my “funk”.  When she moved to Portland I inquired about the move, and she told me of her love story with her now husband.  That left me hopeful that I too possibly one day would find my prince.  Then shortly after she got married, she emailed me announcing that she was “with child” a through in through honeymoon baby!!!  I was immediately excited for her, and knew she would make a great mom.  Then I met Chris.  I remember emailing her my special news, and she was so happy for me!  I felt so lucky to have this friend to share my “happily ever after with”.  Anyways, the internet is just great for keeping in touch, and I’m happy to have this unique friendship with Kim.  We’ve definitely shared our growing up stories (over the past few years anyways).  So at the beginning of September when she messaged me and all of her Denver based friends that she was coming into town, and was planning a get together I was super excited.  Not only to see her face to face again, but to have her meet Chris.  It was great to connect with her again, and although the group was big, she made time to talk with Chris and I which I truly appreciated.  Another thing that Kim is great at is taking pictures.  She makes it easy for you to keep up with her life, because she always posts these outrageous status updates on her FB and always updates the latest happenings and events with current pictures.  That’s another reason I was so excited when she told me she was pregnant, because I knew she would take us on her journey of motherhood with pictures!  And I always appreciate pictures!  She’s witty and funny, and she REALLY needs to start a blog!  Anyways, it was just great to see her, and I always love reading what she posts, or our own private emails.  She’s someone I’m glad I met.

the beautiful Kim and I

Chris bonding with Denali

 A big event occurred on September 26^th: Chris’ 34^th Birthday!  The day itself was pretty low key, but we did got to breakfast together in the morning, then celebrated the following Friday night with a dinner downtown at Vesta Dipping Grill.  This is actually one of my favorite restaurants, but we had a gift card to use, so that’s where we went.  As usual we had a great meal celebrating my husband!

the super hot birthday boy

Denver's Race for the Cure

The last Sunday of the month was Denver’s Race for the Cure 5k.  As always I as super excited for this race, and for Chris to experience it with me.  The morning was magical, and emotional.  I just love this race for so many reasons.  We mostly walked with a few jogging spots.  Afterwards we walked around all the vendors and enjoyed the atmosphere.

September was also the month when I decided to start blogging again.  I’m so glad that I did.  I’ve definitely missed it, and it feels great to be back.  To document and remember the important things going on, regardless if they are good or bad.  Overall I feel great, and am in a happy place!