Allison aka "Alligator"

Once upon a time there was a mom who just couldn't get enough of her little red headed baby. She kissed her about a million times a day, she let her off the hook when she clearly did something bad just because she looked too cute to be guilty, and couldn't help but smile when this baby smiled at her first. It was a love story, pure and simple. Then one day this baby grew into a toddler (an 18 month old toddler to be exact). This adorable baby started doing less adorable things, like emptying the silverware drawer, nose diving off the kitchen table, fighting with her 4 year old sister at every opportunity, and many other acts of naughtiness that made the parents question their sanity at least once daily. And through it all, the toddler kept those pretty blue eyes, that fun red hair, that devious yet endearing smile...and her parents decided to keep her. And they all lived happily ever after.

Sorry, I had to tell this in fairy tale fashion to appease the 4-year-old. In all seriousness, I can't believe that Allison is already 18 months old. She's started nursery, she still hates any and all daycare activities except for Rebecca Taylor's house, she measures in the 95th percentile for height and 81st for weight, and she is speaking up a storm. My favorite Allison-ism is something like "I-uh-u" which translated means I love you. She's the cutest and we're so happy to have her in our home - alive and well so far:)

Here are a few fun new pictures and one video of her sweeping my new kitchen floor.

Cheyenne Mountain Zoo

Our grand plans of visiting the north pole with the kids fell short when we found ourselves in a great big empty parking lot. We opted instead to go check out the Cheyenne Mountain zoo, and it was awesome. Our favorite part was feeding the giraffes, seeing the Grizzly bears REALLY close up, and being outside in the mountains on the most gorgeous day in Colorado history - or so it felt like:)

First Day of Preschool

The day has come - after years of watching the school bus come and go, it's finally her turn. Well, almost. I still drive her to preschool, but she is loving it! She's going to the TLC preschool, and we had fun taking pictures of Kaitlin with her friends. Most of these kids Kaitlin has been playing with for 2 years, so it was nice for her and I to see some familiar faces. She did great! When we went out to Dairy Queen afterward to celebrate, I asked her what her favorite part was. she said she liked that her teacher had worn the necklace Kaitlin made for her, and sent her a thank you card. What a nice teacher!

Estes Park

We met up with my parents and Austin (along with his new girlfriend) in Estes Park on a sunday afternoon. We saw live Elk wandering around the park, we had a nice picnic by the river, and we just overall enjoyed Estes this time of year. It is a beautiful place! Oh, and incidentally I was happy about the chance to wear my new hat. I've never been a hat wearer, and I think I like it!

Fun with Cousins

I know I blog about these guys all the time, but my sister in law and her two little girls (almost exactly my girls ages) are such fun people to have in our lives. They came out to visit, and we had fun taking pictures on my mom's colorful new chairs.

Sunflower Farm

It's in Longmont, and if you haven't visited it - you need to. Between the massive clubhouse, the huge swings, the zipline, the pony rides, the hay maze, the hot dogs, and of course, the feeding of the animals...my kids had the best time.

My favorite moment was when Allison unwillingly shared her rice krispy treat with the rooster - classic face!

Painting with Frosting

I had some leftover frosting from Kaitlin's 4th birthday, so I pulled it out and we spent the morning decorating white paper plates. We all had fun - and man did we have tummy aches when we were done. What, we had to taste our fingers as we went:)

Helping in the yard

What good helpers they are.