Chendra's Visit

You know those people that you meet and you wonder what type of impression they will have your life?  You automatically think a person will only be in your life for a short amount of time, but then you are super surprised because before you know this person ends up being part of your family?  For me that person is Chendra.  I met Chendra in the unlikeliness of places, on a local Thornton Facebook group back when I was on maternity leave for Helena and searching for a caregiver, because at that time we only needed someone a few hours on Mondays and Tuesdays.
I still remember Chendra coming over to the house, I was so skeptical.  As a first time mom I didn't trust my daughter with just anyone, and I surely wasn't about to just let anyone from Facebook come by and watch Helena.  I immediately was comforted by her approach and how she carried herself.  I loved that was she more mature (in her 20's) and was previously a lifeguard (so CPR certified).  She had references for me and was just calm.  After meeting her and when Chris came home, and I told him about her he was not interested whatsoever.  Not too say he didn't trust my judgement, but he also was thinking: what type of person would I find on Facebook?  I'm not too sure how long it took, but before long he was so happy that Chendra had entered our life.
She was the first non-family member to watch Helena starting at 16 weeks when I went back to work, and she soon became our go-to nanny when Chris and I wanted a date night.  I trusted her to watch my daughter which speaks volumes.  Helena soon fell in love with her too.  Not only does she watch our children she treats them so good.  She came to Helena's first birthday party, sent Helena gifts for her 2nd birthday and got homecoming gifts for Bennett.  When we were in Denver in February, I made sure Helena saw Chendra.  Saying good bye to her when we left Colorado was so hard, because I knew we were so lucky, and I knew that trying to find someone to watch my kids in another city would be hard, and honestly is something I haven't even tackled since living in Alamogordo.
When she voiced wanting to come visit, I was thrilled!  Not only because I knew it would give me the opportunity to spend time with her to get to know her better, but also because I knew she would be a great help with the kids, and I'll take all the help I can take!  And her amazing visit to us was last weekend!  We had such a great time.  She arrived last Friday at dinner time, and Helena was so excited to see her.  It was amazing to see Helena get so excited and remember Chendra!
Saturday morning we got up super early and headed out to the Balloon Festival at White Sands.  It was beautiful!  And truly so much fun and relaxed.  We brought a big blanket and just watched all the balloons.  The weather was perfect and I'm so glad we got to show Chendra such a beautiful sight!  That afternoon/evening I planned a date night for Chris and I!  How cool is it that the first non-family member to watch Bennett was the same as Helena?!  On Sunday we went and had a nice brunch in Cloudcroft, then came home at watched the Bronco game!  Monday we went to go see the largest pistacio and did the pistacio tour!  It was fun to do the tourist stuff.  Tuesday morning we said our good-byes.
I'm so thankful that she took the super long 550 mile drive to come visit us.  Chendra has truly become a member of our family.  All of us love her.  Spending good quality one on one time was such a pleasure.  I enjoyed getting to know her better, and I feel confident we will always keep in touch regardless of where we end up.  We've been so blessed since knowing her.  Helena loves her and now Bennett loves her.  She's starting nursing school soon, and I know she's going to be an amazing nurse!

Chendra, thank you thank you thank you!  Thank you for taking time from your busy schedule and life to come hang out with us in Southern New Mexico.  We appreciate and love you so much!!!

4th of July weekend

how cute is this onsie?  courtesy of Grandma Sweat, of course!

hanging out outside

super cute 4th of July dress!

sparklers!

she loves her grandma

My in-laws were in town for the 4th of July, and I'm just so appreciative that they have made the drive to come see us.  It truly means so much.
We had a great time.  On the 4th of July we drove up to Cloudcroft a small mountain town about 30 minutes away and at least 10 degrees cooler!  We checked out the Apple Barn Store, had lunch, and walked around the town.  It was a lot of fun.
I love seeing how my in-laws interact with Helena and Bennett.  They both love the attention!  Helena had a lot of naked time playing outside with the little pool and water toys!  We tried to watch the big fireworks show from our house on the 4th, but we couldn't see it.  I was sad Helena didn't get the experience, so we did fireworks in the driveway the next day.  She loved the sparklers.
Right now on repeat is Helena asking "what's that?" "what's that?" and "what's that noise?" "what's that noise?"  over and over and over again.  And it was nice to have other people respond!

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!

in-laws come to Alamogordo

My in-laws traveled to see us over this past weekend, and it was great to see them.  I truly appreciate them making the trek to Alamogordo, as traveling to a small town from a small town isn't easy.  They had to drive 4 and half hours to Wichita, KS, fly Wichita to Dallas, then Dallas into El Paso.  Helena and I drove to El Paso on Thursday to pick them up at the airport.
We had a great visit, and the big highlight was going to White Sands.  Helena had a lot of fun playing in the sand and everyone else loved the beautiful scenery.  We bought a sled to go sledding, although I was happy just sitting down in the sand.  Helena was pretty clingy this trip, mainly due to teething, I think.  She got a pretty bad runny nose...it's now a lingering cough.  She wouldn't really leave my side while playing with her new sand toys.  She did however go for a walk with Grandpa and Grandma Sweat.  She also screamed when we put her on the sled.  Overall, it was a lot of fun.
Grandpa and Grandma also got her a swing for the backyard, and a lawnmower that blows bubbles!  They cleaned up our backyard (which I'm extremely thankful for) and put together a storage unit for baby Boy Sweat's room.  It was a really nice trip!

4th of July weekend

Overall the holiday weekend was a lot of fun.  The big downer was my broken back.  Well, not really a broken back, but I hurt my back Friday morning in Dance Jam.  It was the end of class and one of my favorite songs came on: “Centuries” by Fall Out Boy.  Since I know this song and dance so well I jammed out and went hard.  Too hard.  There is a move where we head bang forward while doing squats.  And that motion tore my back in three different places.  After the song I escorted myself out.  I tried to sit and tears came to my eyes.  I thankfully brought Helena in with her carrier because the parking lot was more crowded than normal because of the holiday and I didn’t want to carry her all that way.  So I went to the locker room put on the carrier and went to the daycare to check Helena out.  I was a little frustrated as I called and made a reservation for the infant room (for babies 3 months and older)the day before.  The week prior when I dropped her off they advised she was still a little too little for the toddler room and was in the infant room (which you have to reserve at least 24 hours in advance).  And well when I picked her up on Friday she was crying like crazy in the toddler room, when I had a reserved a spot for her in the infant room!  I was too hurt with my back to make it a deal, so I just had one of the caregivers lift her so I could buckle the carrier and out we went.  Once I got home Chris got Helena from the car seat and put her down for her nap, and I just cried and cried.  I hate this type of pain because you can’t see it.  I had plans that afternoon as my in-laws were on their way.  But all I could do was sit with some ice on my back.  Chris had to help me go to the bathroom, everything.  Talk about embarrassing.  It was and is horrible.  I am obviously thankful that Chris is there to help, and it was good timing with my in-laws coming into town for even more help.  But not being able to pick up Helena out of her crib, and get on the floor to play with her is heartbreaking for me.  Thankfully she crawls up onto my lap for a few kisses and cuddles, and for me to read to her.  The big advantage of not being able to get down to the floor?  No diaper changes!!! :)

Because she doesn't have enough toys!

Her own basketball hoop!

Her own lawn chair!

and of course, bubbles!!!

 Saturday morning we just hung out at the house, Grandpa and Grandma Sweat came with a new toy: a green John Deere Tractor for her to ride, although she’s much more interested in pushing it.  Marty and Mary went to Target and came back with a basketball hoop!  Saturday afternoon and evening we went to Carpenter Park for the 4^th of July festivities!  It was a lot of fun.  Once I get up and walking around I can more much easier.  The mornings are the worst.  We set up “camp” and Helena had a blast walking all around.  So many people were there!  They estimated 50,000 people!  Helena got spoiled yet again with a fun light toy that she can’t get enough of!  There was lots of food and a band for entertainment, and just the people watching was entertainment!  Around 8pm we changed Helena into her pajama’s and for the rest of the night she just hung out on Grandma’s lap and fell asleep around 9pm. At 9:30pm five parachutes jumped out of a plane and put on an awesome show with sparkler like lights, I don’t think I had ever seen a parachute at night and it was amazing!  They all came flying down and landed in the middle of the park that was blocked off for their arrival!  Once the final parachute landed the fireworks show started!  I was super nervous that the loud noise would affect Helena, but she slept through the whole thing!  I think the show was about 30 minutes long and then we made the journey back to the car.  I expected a delay getting out with so many people, and this park is only a little bit more than two miles from my house.  But it was crazy…it took us an hour and seven minutes to get home!  In the future we’ll definitely park in a different lot and plan better. 

Happy 4th!

Showing off her new light toy!

Hanging with Grandpa

Sleeping with Grandma 

Fireworks!

Sunday morning we went to the indoor pool at the Broomfield Rec Center.  We all had a blast!  Marty, Mary, and Chris enjoyed the slides!  And Helena loved the little toddler area!  I myself floated around the “lazy river” a couple of times, and can’t remember being so relaxed!  After Helena’s long afternoon nap we went up to the Orchard for Helena to play in the little outdoor area (she wanted to go through the splashpad so bad!), followed by dinner. 

Playing

It was a great weekend, I just really wish I hadn’t hurt my back.  I went to go see a physical therapist this morning and got some exercises to do and was told I tore my muscles in three different areas!  My in-laws are currently vacationing in Steamboat Springs and Aspen and plan to come back on Thursday which is when my parents come into town for the weekend!  So I really hope to start feeling better soon!

I hope your 4^th of July was colorful!