Rocky Mountain High

Well, we have officially been here three weeks now. Crazy. Slowly but surely, boxes are getting emptied, items are finding homes, and Isabelle is beginning to sleep on a schedule again. Thank goodness. :)

One item we have been saving up for is a decent kid-carrier to transport our beloved into the mountains regularly. Reg ordered one a couple of weeks ago, and we had the chance to try it out last week on a short hike up in the foothills, called Horsetooth. The bad news- we kept it short due to lightning and thunder in the distance, and due to mom's post-pregnancy lack of fitness (yes, we'll call it post-pregnancy even though it's been a year and a half, shh....). The good news- she loved it!! Hooray!

We went about a mile up, and although we went through about two cups of cheerios and twenty-seven verses of Old MacDonald, we all made it without shedding a tear! It was wonderful to be in the mountains, with our baby on our back (and by 'our' I mean Reg's) and our puppy by our side. We look forward to many, many more hikes in the years to come!

Breathe.

Well, this morning at 6:03 a.m. my wonderful in-laws pulled out of our driveway, FIL driving the U-Haul trailer, and MIL following in my little Chevy Tracker. Yesterday was a crazy day full of lifting, taping, grunting, sweating, feeding toddlers (and by toddlers I mean Izzy), more lifting, more sweating, well, you get the picture....

We all fell into bed (aka a couch and two cots) at 11 p.m. utterly exhausted. Thankfully all three adults were slightly more peppy when the alarm went off at 5. After the 'rents left, with "COLORADO OR BUST!" written on the windows (ok, not really, but that was the sentiment!), I got busy scrubbing baseboards, filling trashbags, and moving the Goodwill items into the sunroom. I got close to an hour of work done before the bean starting wailing. So we did a quick diaper change/cup of milk, and then continued our work, literally attached at the hip.

7:45 a.m: Enter G-Mama (hooray for G-Ma's!!!!). With an extra set of hands to feed the baby- I mean toddler- breakfast and help me throw away odds and ends, we pounded out most of the rest of the cleaning by about 11:30. Oh, and I should mention that during that time, G-Ma and Isabelle took two loads of crap- er, stuff- to Goodwill and a load of luggage to her house for the evening, giving me some blessedly productive bonding time with the baseboards and cobwebs here in our humble abode.

Once I almost passed out from hunger (literally!) at 11:45, we went to G-Ma's house, grabbed some lunch, then headed to the pediatrician's office for Izzy's ear infection follow-up. Once home, Busybelle promptly sacked out, hopefully for a good long last nap at the Hamilton House. G-Mama just left to take a load of baby stuff to a shelter in Lansing, and I am taking ten minutes to sit and breathe on the couch before reuniting with my beloved baseboards.

It's sort of surreal that 24 hours from now we will be through Detroit airport security, and 30 hours from now we will once again be residents of The Centennial State. Seeing that in print makes my heart start racing with excitement to see Reg/sadness about moving away from family/stress of the next 24 hours, but I read some wisdom on a poster the other day. Keep calm and carry on. So calm I will keep, and on I will carry. Okay, it's go time.

Worth two thousand?

If a picture is worth a thousand words, then a video must be worth.... two thousand? At least. I'll let it speak for itself. As an unbiased mother, however, I have to say I am completely charmed by this toddler. :)

Siren Prayers

A highlight of motherhood thus far:

Tuesday afternoon when we got home, we settled onto the living room rug to play, as usual. Living around the corner from the fire department definitely has its perks (I never have to worry about our house burning to the ground!) but it also means that we get several sirens every day-- or night, as the case may be.

Predictably, just before dinner we heard the sirens start. Predictably, Isabelle started sirening right along with the ambulance. However, unpredictably, and before I even had a chance to mention it, she simultaneously folded her hands, ready to pray for those people with owies. So we prayed- me with words, Iz with howling, but we prayed and prayed as those fire trucks and ambulances zoomed off to take care of the people who needed it.

After we finished howling- er, praying, I thanked God for this chance to be a mother. My one-year old prompting me to pray for the people in the ambulance was one of the most poignant experiences I've had so far, and I am humbled and amazed by this child, and who God has made her to be. What an honor, to be entrusted with such a treasure, and to help guide her on her journey in faith and in life. I have a feeling I have much to learn about childlike faith in the coming years and I cannot WAIT.

14 months

Our Iz has become so very toddlerish lately, in her words ("nonononononoNO!"), her actions (picture mashed potatoes being flung at the wall), and her facial expressions! She is growing up, and it is simultaneously amazing and nostalgic- mostly just amazing though. Here are a few lovely moments from the other day, for your viewing pleasure. She and I were discussing various farm animals and objects out the windows. The bottom teeth kill me.

Knock Knock, Who's There?

We have had a wonderful weekend! My stepmom, Michelle ("Mimi") came up Friday evening for an evening of wine, sushi, and movies, followed by a slumber party and a Saturday full of crafting, playing with Busybelle, and drinking coffee! Needless to say, Saturday night when I went to bed it felt awfully quiet around here! So imagine, to my dismay, when I awoke at 3:40 to the sound of rustling in our driveway. I peeked out, but saw no one. Whew.

A minute later, though, the front door to the sunroom started ratting. Definitely NOT okay. So, I quickly flipped on the front light to scare away any would-be prowlers. Once again it fell quiet. The next 3 minutes or so were some of the longer of my life, sitting there on the couch and ready to claw someone's eyes out if they tried to hurt my girl! Thankfully, I think the porchlight scared him off, and I was getting ready to doze some more when all of a sudden, the prowler was around on the east side of the house trying to get in the window to the sunroom! It was definitely loud, and definitely scary! So I whipped out the cell and promptly dialed 9-1-1. The conversation that ensued:

Dispatcher: 9-1-1, how may I help you?

Me: Someone is trying to break into my house and my husband isn't home!

D: What's your location?

Me: Hamilton Road!

D: Okay, an officer is right in the area pulling out of Meijer; I'll stay on the line until he's ready to make contact.

Me: Okay! Oh he's trying to get in the window on the side of my house!

D: Which side?

Me: The east side where my baby daughter sleeps!

D: Okay, two officers are pulling up right now. Stay on the line with me while they search the premises.

Me: (heart POUNDING) Okay.

About 3 minutes later (meanwhile, 2 other cop cars are circling the block looking for the bad man who has run off by now with all the commotion....

D: Okay, an officer is ready to make contact. You can disconnect now.

Soooo, cautiously I tiptoed out into the sunroom, unbolted the front door, and let Officer Slack in.

"Ma'am, we found who was making noise at your house. You've got a raccoon. But if you hear any other suspicious activity and think it might be a real person, don't hesitate to call. Have a good night."

Oops. Well, I'll say this much. Any raccoon who dares to scratch his way into my girl's side of the house better hope he doesn't meet ME in a dark alley.

da-DA!

Well, the bean is getting braver. Her walking is quickly improving and she now ventures onto the hardwood floors and around corners (see below). Mommy's getting a workout chasing the Busybelle and keeping her off the furniture! We can't wait to get to Colorado so Daddy can chase and Mommy can cheer (feet propped up, of course, and lemonade in hand)...

Other adorably newsworthy anecdotes of late include:

* When Izzy looks up (no less than 5x/day) from playing and blurts out "da-DA!" while sticking her finger westward as far as it'll reach. It's pretty much the cutest. Ever. Yep, Izzy, Daddy's still in Colorado... we get to see him SOON!
* Walking into her classroom to find her at the sink, by herself, scrubbing scrubbing scrubbing her hands in the sink. SO CUTE!
* Sweeping after food fights- uh, I mean meals- now that Wolfie doesn't act as the resident vacuum cleaner. Oh wait, this is NOT an exceptionally adorable anecdote.
* Isabelle "dancing" to any and all music with her huge (relatively speaking) cloth diapered bottom bopping up and down...

Those are a few highlights of the week. Now for some eye candy...