11 Months

The girls are 11 months old today.  We're in the process of packing and moving.  I took a load of stuff to our new house today, and the movers will come on Friday.  I'm so exhausted - I just want it to be done!

This month was the most difficult for pictures.  Katie was the most difficult.  She's very adventurous, and she would not sit still for the camera.  Maggie, as usual, is a total ham.  Izzy just wants lots of love and attention.  When you look at all three of them standing together, you might think Maggie is the tallest, but she's not.  I think Maggie's legs are longer than Katie's though.



Here are their stats as of last Saturday: Katie is 28" and 17lbs 11oz, Maggie is 27.75" and 16lbs 12oz and Izzy, my little peanut, is 27.25" and 15lbs 15oz. 

This is a very picture heavy post beacuse a lot of our family lives far (and I mean far - like other side of the world far) away!

About me

Happy Birthday to me!  Yes, today is my birthday.  The big 3-3.  Yikes.  Where does the time go?  I feel like high school and college weren't all that long ago, but my 15 year high school reunion is this year.   

It's a lovely snowy day outside.  It's the second real (sticking to the ground) snowfall of the season.  I don't like winter, so I'm perfectly happy with the small amount of snow so far this year.

Anyway - in honor of my birthday, I thought I'd post 33 random things about me.  I did this once on Facebook (25 random things about me).  So, most of these are repeats for those of you that saw that post (some have been updated), but some I had to delete to protect the innocent - and at least 8 are new!

1. I had two imaginary friends as a child – BaBa and Mitchell. Because they didn't come with me when we moved, I’m convinced they were ghosts.

2. Spring is my favorite season. I love to see the plants and trees come alive.  Green is my favorite color after all!

3. I once quit my job (Target) by leaving in the middle of my shift. My “supervisor” pissed me off, so I left and never went back. I avoided their phone calls for a few weeks before making up a story about why I left and didn’t call.

4. My husband and I have owned the following cars since we’ve been married (2004-present):
     a. 1994 4Runner (grey)
     b. 2000 Kia Sephia
     c. 2004 WRX (I miss that car!)
     d. 2005 BMW 325xi
     e. 2005 Scion tC
     f. 2002 Audi A6 Avant (Robin's winter ride)
     g. 1994 4Runner (red)
     h. 1985 Supra (black)
     i. 1985 Supra (silver) (Robin’s summer ride)
     j. 2008 Outback 2.5xt
     k. 2005 Lincoln Navigator (my current ride)

5. I’ve never gotten a speeding ticket, but I always speed.

6. My wedding was featured in the Denver Post.

7. I’m at least a fifth generation Colorado native.

8. My girls and I were born at the same hospital - making them sixth generation Colorado natives.

8. I used to play on an 8-ball and a 9-ball pool league.

9. I would move to Vegas and become a professional poker player, if I weren’t too scared of failing.

10. I have traveled to three continents (North America, South America and Asia) and ten countries (Canada, British Virgin Islands, Costa Rica, Guatemala (ok - I didn't even get off the plane there, but I was physically in that country), South Korea (in the airport for about 15 hours - twice!), Indonesia, Haiti, Colombia, Panama and Grand Cayman).  I hope to be able to travel more!

11. I met my husband at a fraternity party in 1998. We dated for 6 years before getting married.

12. I wrote my undergraduate thesis on the impacts of the Three Gorges Dam.

13. I’m mostly Irish and Cherokee Indian.  I think there is some German in me too.

14. My maternal grandfather died in WWII. His plane was shot down over Germany when my grandmother was 6 months pregnant with my mom.

15. I bought our Audi on eBay site unseen! There were, of course, pictures, but I didn't test drive it or anything. Luckily, it all worked out. I've also sold a car on eBay.


16. My mom and I are only children. We are also both left-handed.

17. I wish I had sisters and brothers. The joys of being an only child ended at age 23.

18. I was thrown out of a nightclub for being too drunk.

19. Before becoming a stay-at-home mom, I used to go to Starbucks every weekday for a vanilla soy latte.  Now, I have a cup of Starbucks Via with coffemate creamer every day.  Most definitely not the same!

20. I owned three horses, and I miss them!  I was in a high-speed precision drill team called the Westernaires. I was a trick rider.  I'm about 14 or 15 in this picture - look at how all four of my horse's feet are off the ground.

21. I won a spelling bee held at a local mall when I was in elementary school. 1st prize was a set of encyclopedias.

22. I think a lot of people mistake my sarcasm for meanness.  Trust me, if I'm being mean you'll know it!

23. I have more memories from the age of 3 than I do from ages 4-11 combined. A lot happened during that year!

24. I think only people who grew up in Denver will appreciate this one - Blinky the Clown lived across the alley from me when I was in high school. I was on his TV show when I was 3.

25. I’ve been hospitalized twice. The first time was when I got a concussion after being thrown off my mom’s horse when I was 3, and the second time was when I was on bed rest and had the girls last year.

26. I was a lawyer before I became a stay-at-home mom.  I'm still paying off my student loans.  Ugh!
 
27.  I've been to the World Series (2007 - Rockies v. Red Sox game 4).  I hate baseball.  It's my least favorite sport.  I was so bored during the game, but I went because I didn't think I'd ever have the chance to go to a "world championship" game again.  I'd love to go to the Super Bowl because I love football.  I'm the commissioner of my fantasy football league. 
 
 

 
28.  My husband became a United States citizen in September of 2008.
 
29.  My sister-in-law has spontaneous fraternal twin boys who are 10 years old.  And, no, this does not constitute "running in the family" because it only counts on the mother's side.
 
30. During law school, I worked as a valet.  It was such a fun job!  I got my only ticket ever while working that job.  I backed a LARGE van (like an airport shuttle van) into another car on the street.  Everyone who witnessed it said it wasn't my fault, but I got the ticket because I was the one backing up.  At least I was covered by the company's insurance and the van was a rental, so the customer didn't even care (the lady I hit on the other hand....UGH!).

31. My ears are pierced 5 times (3 in the left and 2 in the right).  I do not have any other piercings or tattoos.  I've always wanted a tattoo, but thanks for a good friend from college (I think you know who you are!), I realized that I didn't have anything significant enough in my life to justify getting a tattoo.  Maybe someday....
 
32. I love, love, love trivia.  I play bar trivia every Wednesday night with a group of friends.  I also watch Jeopardy! (and other trivia shows) every day. 
 
33. There are only 10 people in the entire world that have my last name, and five of them live in my house! 
   
Well - now you know A LOT more about me!  Cheers to being 33!

A *New* Abode

Well - there it is.  Our big news.  We're moving.  Better yet - we're downsizing.  Oh boy!

We're moving back to the house we lived in right after we got married.  It has been occupied by renters since we moved out in 2006.  When I quit my job as a lawyer, our income decreased significantly.  It's a decision neither of us regret, but we are now in a situation where we just can't afford our house anymore.  The good thing is - we would have moved in another year or two anyway.  Our house has lots of 1950's character - complete with only one bathroom on the main floor (it's a ranch with a walk-out basement).  Hmmmm - me and three girls sharing a bathroom (with a vessel sink) - I think not!!

Our current home is about 2500 square feet with 4 bedrooms and 1.75 bathrooms including the finished basement.  The *new* house is about 1425 square feet with 2 bedrooms and 2.5 bathrooms including the finished portion of the basement.  YIKES!  We are also going from a 4 car garage to a 1 car garage.  At least we have more bathrooms!  For me, the worst part of the move is that we're moving to a duplex.  The thought of sharing walls when you have three infants/toddlers is not exactly exciting.  I apologize in advance to the neighbors for the girls' crying, but there isn't anything I can do about it! 

Our house will soon be on the market.  Please send us positive - sell the house quickly and for more than what we owe - vibes.  Yes, as I always do best, we bought at the height of the market in 2006. 

The best part of moving - I LOVE GOLDEN.  Golden is such a great city (it's really not as cheesy as the Howdy Folks! sign in the picture below).  Robin and I met there while in college. I'll be able to do so much more with the girls in Golden this summer.  We can walk to the park, to the rec center, to Clear Creek, to
*main* street, to Mines, to Coors (if you're ever there - just ask for the short tour, which takes you straight to the tasting room) - the list goes on and on.  There's even a Montessori school on the same block as our house.  I know we'll outgrow the Golden house in a few years - I mean we've probably already outgrown it and we haven't even moved in yet - but I think we'll try to buy a house in Golden when we're ready to move again.  The worst part of living in Golden is Robin's commute to work.  That commute is the whole reason we moved to our current house (I was the one making the crazy commute at the time).  The good news - they're extending the light rail to Golden.  The bad news - it won't open until May 2013.

This move is the reason I didn't decorate for Christmas.  I just couldn't bear getting everything out and then putting it away and moving it.  The reason I didn't say anything about the move until 2011 is because the house had renters who had a lease through the end of May 2011.  They wanted to move out early, so we made a deal with them.  Then, 2 weeks ago they changed their minds.  I let them know they couldn't do that, and they never responded.  We had no idea what we were going to find when we went to the walk-through yesterday.  Luckily, they were gone and the house had been professionally cleaned.  They didn't even show up for the walk-through. 

Over the next 2-3 weeks we'll be getting the carpets cleaned and doing some other work to the house before we move in.  There are two-three big immediate projects that I want to complete (not necessarily before we move - but SOON).  We'll be slowly taking our stuff there, but we'll hire movers for the big stuff.  I'm so excited for IKEA to open in the fall so we can remodel the hideous kitchen (project #4).  The renters removed the upper hanging cabinets, which really opens up the space.  In case it's not obvious - the house was built in the 70's.  Actually, I think it was built the same year I was born.  The yellow counter tops and the fake wood paneling on the back of the cabinets were all the rage.  Don't be jealous!

There are so many things going round and round in my crazy brain these days.  This move is very stressful for me.  The thought of taking apart and re-assembling three cribs is just too much.  The thought of trying to fit all our stuff in the new house is overwhelming. 

Does anyone have one of those Easy Buttons from the Staples commercials that I can borrow?  I just need it to zap all of our *stuff* to Golden.  Anyone?  Anyone?  Bueller?

Bath Time Part Deux

I've posted before about my hatred of bath time.  Now that I've moved it to the evenings and because Robin helps me, it's so much easier and more enjoyable.  Last night, our New Year's Eve fun was giving the girls their last bath of the year.  They all got mohawks.  Poor Izzy-B only has an alfalfa sprout!  They all enjoy getting a bath and being in the water.  Katie was having a blast - she was even splashing the water for the first time.

 

This morning I decided to give fresh avocado another try (after carrots).  As you can see - fail!!  Izzy-B didn't seem to mind it at first, but then she changed her mind.  Succumbing to peer pressure already?!?!  I even tried mixing the avocado with banana puree.  Oh well - we'll try again in a couple months.  If anyone is wondering - I have those blankets (which we got from the NICU) over the back of the chairs to prevent marks on the wall.