Already 18 months old!

Time does fly when you are having fun! And this past 18 months sure has been fun! This past week, I've spent a lot of time looking at old pictures of Tatum and just comparing her face and what she was up to in those pictures to how she is today. It's so amazing how quickly Tatum has grown and how much she is just taking in of the world right now! Each day, she learns and says so much more! She speaks in 2-3 word sentences, and sometimes 4. "I like ...." daddy, mommy, George, Chad, Jake, Bobby, Ricky, etc... it goes on and on and on. One day it was "he has a rope"- talking about Hunter while he was outside. There are many statements she makes, and she can easily (most of the time) get her point across as to what she wants or what she is doing. She is working on 'thank you' and does a pretty good job of it!

Yesterday, we were at Life Time and she and another girl were rolling/throwing a ball together, running around the couches and chairs. It's so amazing watching her interact with other kids. At this point, she is good at 'sharing' her toys. She likes to hand her toys to whoever she is playing with. We went to a 'Tornado Toddlers' class on Tuesday- AKA organized chaos, and it was fun. They just played with a ball- learning to throw and kick, but it was still fun to watch and interact!

I could go on and on about what she is up to now, but here are some pictures from yesterday. Enjoy!

Winter Fun... ???

Surprising to us, the weather here has been absolutely amazing! This winter, we have had a couple of single digit days that had led to negative evening temps, to this 70 degree day we are enjoying today! This past week of 60's has allowed us to head outside and enjoy the sunshine... soak up some Vitamin D... without having to be completely bundled up from head to toe, only to have our face freeze. We have been able to walk the dogs to the dog park, and take Tatum's dolls for walks, along with just enjoying the backyard- playing with the dogs, rocks, and Tatum's first friend- Addie... Pictures of the girls will be added later- lol... we need to take some first!

She was VERY proud of her t.p.ing skills... I think she IS related to me!

We see the mountains on our walk to the dogpark...

pictures to come from our visit to Indiana

New Surprises Everyday!!!

The past month has just been full of new surprises from Tatum. Just before Christmas, we taught her the word "please"... and since then, we constantly hear 'bite pleeeeeaase?" if we are munching on ANYTHING! So, we have learned to not eat around Tatum unless she is eating as well. I have a video of this from Christmas, so I'll upload that soon. How can you say 'no', when she is being so darn cute? (and polite) At the beginning of January, Tatum and I were heading to Indiana, so we were in her room packing. I was facing the closet, and she was over behind be near her 'glider' (rocking chair). I was in my own world figuring out what to pack and then... hmm, did I really just hear that? So, I stopped and listened- then turned around.... "ashes (asses) ashes all fall down! And plop! she would fall down! I could not stop laughing and smiling and cheering her on, so of course, she continued to do this over and over and over again. Finally, I called Matt (who was enjoying 70 degree temps in AZ for a work meeting) and made him listen, so he would believe me. And that is where the amazement really began...

Throughout this past month, she would randomly see something and call it by name... we were driving past the school and there was a flock of geese hanging out, I'm sure they were having a grand ole time, at the track- I did not point them out to her... and she pointed to them and said 'geese'... then we went for a walk- she gets to walk her dolls in the stroller down the street when it is nice.. and she pointed to the sky and said 'fly'- there was a bird flying... on the same walk we heard kids laughing and playing outside- but behind a house and she said 'kids'... heard chirping and said 'chirp chirp'... We went to the store to grab a couple of things and she saw balloons- called them balloons, the same went for bananas, which are mananas, grapes, and rice. She knows the names of most of her food, but being at the store and her pointing to them and telling me what they were just opened my eyes! It's amazing what she has picked up and how quickly! Typically, at the store, I talk to her and tell her what things are, but this was the opposite! I just let her keep telling me what things were. Another day at Target, we were getting groceries and there was another little boy who was making animal sounds, and did the coyote sound... what does Tatum do? Mocks him and does the same, and I laughed! She does the animal sounds- cow-moooo; pig- (we snort); chicken- bocbocboc; rooster- cockle; duck- quack; horse- neigh; sheep-baaaaa; coyote- awooooo; lion/tiger- roar... it was just interesting, to me, that she would recognize it in a different setting when we were shopping.

I told Matt this next story, and he said "She doesn't really surprise me anymore"... because everyday she does something so unexpected... Just this past Tuesday, she grabbed toilet paper out of the bathroom and sat outside the door tearing it up. When she was about done, I told her to throw it away in the garbage... so she takes a piece and walks to the garbage can to throw it away (she's been doing this for a few months now). I walk to the front room to check on the fish, and walk back to check on her mess, and she had carried Hunter's food dish (usually kept next to the garbage can) to her mess... she was putting all of the toilet paper in his dish- then she carried the bowl back to where it belongs, took the t.p. out, and put it into the garbage can! Instead of taking ten trips to the garbage can and back, she got herself a 'bucket', filled it, then dumped it! Amazing!

I can not get over the small, new things she does that makes her more of a little 'girl' each day. I am so grateful to Matt to allow me to stay home with her and watch our 'baby' evolve into a little 'girl'. I would not trade this time with her for anything!

Merry Christmas!!!

We hope you and your families had a wonderful and safe Christmas and New Year! Our Christmas was quiet and relaxing this year. Although we did miss family, we enjoyed having our little family Christmas here in CO this year...

Christmas Eve, we put Tatum's old toys up in the loft, so she wouldn't be sidetracked ... but when she woke up she immediately saw them... "toys, toys"...those would soon be forgotten. Dad brought her downstairs, and how this girl knew what was inside the packages, no one knows... but immediately "toys, toys, toys"(as they were walking downs the stairs). Tatum was an absolute blast this year... each package had to be opened, and if she were to rip any of the paper, she had to hand one of us the small piece... no making a big mess, but nicely handing us the paper. We (Matt, Aunt Liz, and I) spent most of the morning mastering the art of taking children's toys out of their packaging... for toys that are for toddlers, they sure tie them in good with small pieces, and many of them at that! Tatum played with each of her toys before we moved on to the next package. She spent the day shopping, cooking, shooting 'hoop'(s), playing with her animal friends, and vacuuming- yes, we put her to work on Christmas day ;) ...

One part of her opening presents, can be depicted very well with some pictures, but let me tell the story... She received a "George" monkey, and as she was opening it (as I have always done with monkeys) "oh look, Tatum, it's Dad!!!"... She quickly picks this up and starts calling the monkey 'Daddy'... Aunt Liz and I find this hysterical and are laughing while Matt, on the otherhand is giving me a look that says... oh, I'll get you back for this one.... Well, Tatum didn't like the laughing too much, and well.... here she is....

I can't figure it out... is she upset that we were laughing, or because we were teasing her Dad???

Don't worry, Ron, Patti, and Dan, Matt didn't change with becoming a dad... :)

Santa Claus!!!

So, I took Tatum to see Santa a couple of times to 'meet' him and feel comfortable with him before we had pictures taken....

It didn't work :(

Why Labs are good dogs for kids...

Grandparents come visit Colorado

So, as you saw on the last blog, the snowy season in Colorado has begun, and if anyone is going to visit us here, you may as well get the full experience. The snow capped mountains are easily seen from almost anywhere... and why just look, when you can touch? My dad and Birt flew in Saturday afternoon, thinking they were going to relax on vacation... HA! Good luck with that! SKIING IN COLORADO:

Saturday evening we headed out to Winter Park, CO to stay in a ski lodge and perhaps go skiing on Sunday. Matt had a daycare set up for Sunday, just in case the Grandparents wanted to ski... that didn't happen, so Grandpa & Grandma got to enjoy a day of chasing, carrying, feeding, cleaning- I'm sure they enjoyed that one, and napping while Matt, Liz, and I headed to the slopes... the first time for me... Matt and Liz had both gone in the Midwest, although, I don't know how that compares to the Rocky Mountains. Sunday's skiing began with a quick lesson from Matt- while we headed to the lift. I didn't quite get it fully, but I thought, "eh, let's just wing it and see how it goes" planning fully on a day of crashing and bruising, and a week of soreness to follow. We head up the lift, and at the top, we were trying to figure out which slope was the 'easy' one... an instructor pointed us in that direction, although I didn't quite see where he was pointing... and I started drifting downward... unsure of which direction he said to go, I just went (not knowing how to stop)... as I start flying down the hill, I was thinking, wow... this is GREAT! I was going fast.... ummmm a little too fast. I see an opening between trees on my left and I thought that was the way to sort of loop around slowly on the way to the bottom... I was wrong... thump bump thump bump... it was a bit bumpier than I had thought it should be, so I crashed myself. Ooops, probably not the best decision being that I did not know how to get back up once I was down... watching behind (as I'm just sitting relaxing in the snow) to see Matt and Liz go by... hmmm, where are they? A few minutes go by, and no sister or husband... I guess I'm on my own here... they must not have seen me go through this opening. Somehow I figure out how to get up, (heart rate is skyrocketing as I attempt to get up) and whoooops... down again. Hmmm... how does this work... As I'm crashed on the side of the course, I realize that the opening I went through was mainly for snowboarders, so I think better of it, and since one ski popped off on my second crash, I figured I'd just take the other off and walk back up and go the other way down. Somehow, I get to the top of the opening and look out at the hill I'm about to 'conquer'... hmmm... I'm pretty sure that this is not the 'easy' hill that we were supposed to go down. Still watching for a husband or sister, I watch some head down the hill... a couple of five year olds go by, so I think, 'well, it can't be that bad'... HA! About a half an hour later, (and maybe three more crashes) I hear my phone ring.... "Christy, where are you? Are you okay? Matt and I are down here looking for you..." "ummm, I'm not down there... I'm still on a hill... I'm fine, but how about you guys go ahead and go up the lift and back down, and I'll meet you at the bottom" Keep in mind that after each crash, I sat and watched others go down, trying to take notes- they didn't work so well for me! So, now I'm lost... I'm sitting (after crashing b/c I would go too fast) trying fruitlessly to get myself back up on the skis- that was the most difficult part- getting back up. Not realizing, that I could just take a ski off, and get myself up (even though I had already done that...right) Finally, a snowboarder helps me up, and sort of gives me some tips. Okay, I can do this... Down I go.... Whoooop... back on my butt. Wow, if this is skiing, I'm pretty sure, this is my last time I'm ever going to try this! I sit for a couple of minutes... try to get up a couple of times... and finally whoop... I'm up.. WOW! How'd I get up... Okay, catch your breath... take a few deep breathes... then we'll go... RING RING... lol... phone again... "I'm okay, just go back up and I'll eventually meet you at the bottom... I just fell a few times and getting up is just not happening, but I'm up now, and focused- just you two go again" "Are you sure?" "LOL... yes, I'm sure, you guys don't need to wait around... go have fun" (as my sister is snickering at me)... So the part that I've left out, is the hill that I'm attempting to *cough* conquer has a lift right there that would take me back up... Up.... do I really want to go up AGAIN... I would have to go right back down, and being that it's been about an hour on this hill.... I'm not so sure I want to do that... I think that once I go to the next clearing, it's probably not going to slow down, so I figure, what the heck, if anything else, I can just ride the lift back to the bottom. Somehow, I make it to the bottom of the lift without crashing, call Birt and tell her to tell Matt & Liz that I will meet them at the top. I get on the lift, hoping that I made the right decision.... and wait at the top for my sister and husband...

(Now that they've gone down about three times- before I made the one- they are pros...)

We all meet at the top and laugh a little, and Matt tries to give me pointers and tells me which way I was supposed to go... They saw me go and tried to yell at me to crash and stop, but I didn't hear them because I was enjoying the speed and the wind in my face- how exhillerating. So, anyway, they teach me how to ski and slow down- before I take off this time... I crashed myself a few times when I would be going too fast, and Matt is a great teacher- staying behind me and stopping each time I crash to help me up and give me some pointers. We ended up going down quite a few times, the last few resulted in no crashes for any of us... I'm pretty sure Matt and Liz crashed themselves once/twice on their first hill, but that was all... including Matt doing a 360 and skiing backwords without crashing- I wish I could have seen that. Yeah, he's a pro! lol... I found that skiing fast was better for me than trying to go slow... I felt like I had much more control... Before we went in to check out of our room... Liz and Matt headed down the hill I started with- I stuck to the 'easy' hill this time- They were able to find some 'flat' landings to purposely stop and gather themselves- but they were able to do it! I did get to see Liz wipe out a couple of times on the part that I chose to not do, but they successfully made it down with no broken bones... can't say no bruises.

So, after skiing, we headed to town for some warm pizza, then back to Westminster we went. Monday was a nice relaxing day of unwinding, except we found that the rental car had a flat tire... at least it didn't happen on our drive out of the mountains... and late in the afternoon/early evening we headed to see Aunt Donna (dad's sister) up in Galeton, CO- an hour away. We had a very nice dinner and an enjoyable time visiting with her and those who live with her on the ranch. We stayed probably an hour too late, as snow hit us pretty hard on the way home, and our one hour drive turned into two... Dad and Birt sure got a taste of Colorado weather (it had been in the upper 40's when we returned from Winter Park at 7:30 in the evening). Tuesday, we were able to relax a bit and enjoy lunch together before heading to the airport.

Needless to say, Dad and Birt didn't quite get the 'relaxing' vacation they were probably expecting, but we all enjoyed each others' company, and most importantly, the Grandparents were able to spend most of their time with Tatum- who had a GREAT time with them!

Here are a few pictures from our weekend- Enjoy!

Looks like a 'play' village

Liz is the one in the front middle.

I made it down, alive :)