Swim Season...Here we Come!

I finally bit the bullet.  I have been sitting on a gift card from Victoria's Secret since Christmas and finally decided to put it to good use and buy myself a new bathing suit!!  I know most women have bathing suit phobias and I am now part of that club!  You might be saying "Why??? You are SOOOO skinny...you would look good in anything!"  I have heard that before.  My problem is before baby I was one of the small boobed girls, but had enough to at least fill out a small suit.  After baby, those small boobs have gone south leaving no oomph in the top part.  What I discovered this past year was that most of my swimsuits would leave a gap at the top and the potential for some slippage that only men would enjoy, but would make me red in the face.  I was always pulling on my suit, wearing a tank top or tying the suit so tight that I could barely breath.  I am thinking that a bandeau top might do me some good and I hope that it is small enough to fit my even smaller boobs inside of it!  I found this gem and am praying it will work...with some self tanner so I can pretend to look like this hot Victoria's Secret model.  I ordered it in the same color and all.

 I would really like this swimsuit to work because I will be spending a lot of time at places like this:

Corrales Pool.  Where even a toddler can walk over to the play structure and not drown.

The Splash Park so Audrey can get squirted up the nose with 50 gallons of water.

The all new Watermania park at our local Cliff's Amusement Park

and...if we get lucky and get enough funds together, we can head over to our favorite San Diego hot spot...Mission Beach; where everyone is tanner, better looking and more in shape than me, but who cares because I will never have to see them again....until next summer, that is.  

If all else fails, I can always put this hottie right in front of me and no one will notice the gap topped bathing suit I am sporting and only keep their eyes on the Gap model that made my boobs go south, named Audrey.

 Doesn't she look hot in a bathing suit.  Jealous? Yes.

Egg Hunt Extravaganza

Heading over to the "egg hunting zone"

We decided to host a cute little egg hunt for Audrey and her friends since the typical ones are monopolized by the bigger kids.  This way they could take their time and we could get a lot of great photos!  Unfortunately, our good friends Brittany and Braylon were unable to attend because they were headed off to Arizona to visit family, but Melinda, Morgan, and Tanner came along to hunt down some Easter eggs.  Elijah and my sister in law, Tamara, headed over to the park early and set up all the eggs.  I really wasn't sure if the kids would understand the concept since they are 19/20 months.  The proved us wrong!  They got the idea right away and before long Tanner realized that chocolate and other goodies were hidden inside!

grabbing baskets to prepare for the hunt!

"I've figured it out Mommy!! Egg hunting expert here!"

First you pick it up...

Then you put it in the basket...boom boom!

Tanner on the prowl!

Discovering that Daddy was laying on the ground taking all the pictures!

Sneaky eyes!

Audrey discovering that there was candy in her eggs.  Her favorite were the Lifesaver Gummies. 

Melinda picking up the spilled contents of Tanner's basket.

Loving the tongue!! She's on a mission!

Sharing is caring!

"Thanks Audrey...I'll cherish this egg forever."

Mmmmmm....candy!

 The kiddos got along really well. It's so neat to watch them grow together and evolve from when they were first born.  They now have babbling conversations that only the two of them can understand.  Their friendship is like no other...they mesh really well together.  We have so many fun years ahead of us and this was just another fond memory to add to our book!  The kids stocked up on a ton of eggs, which I'm sure they will be sharing with their parents!!  After a fun filled hunt for eggs we headed back home for some yummy BBQ and country playing in the background.  Next time we have a BBQ our backyard will be completely done and definitely kid friendly!!  Happy Easter 2012...it's been a Blessing!

Waiting to eat!!

Creativity in a Child

I always tend to look at Audrey in awe as she plays or does her "weird" things.  It's fun to sit back and see her imagination come to play and I often wonder what she is thinking about or 'who' she is playing with.  I want to start keeping tabs on the silly things she does that just makes me laugh.  Last night as we were watching the Amazing Race Audrey went to town with a game of "throw and fetch."  She took all her blocks from her shape sorter and went to the edge of the rug where she proceeded to throw each one, making a noise for each throw.  She would then go retrieve all her shapes and head back to the edge of the rug.  At times she had too many shapes and would drop them before she made it back so I tried showing her a bucket that she could stick them in.  She promptly shouted, "no, no, no!" at me because obviously I just didn't get her game!  I recorded some of her playing just to show you this little game she created.  She went to town on this game for a good 15 minutes which is like 3 hours in toddler time.  I apologize ahead for the loud background of the tv, but I didn't want to disturb her.  *Remember to go to the bottom of the blog and turn off the sound on the playlist before watching the video.

Bowlers Paradise

Before Audrey was born we used to go bowling a few times a month, but we haven't been in probably a year.  We decided to try out bowling again and hoped that Audrey would enjoy it!  My dad was excited to join us (as he usually does) and we hit up Santa Ana Casino for some Sunday bowling.  Here's a look back at what times used to look like pre-baby.  July, 2010...a month before Audrey arrived.

Going for the "happy family" look.  Big gut, big boobs (oh how I miss you), dad, and Jeff bro.

Right before we were set to bowl, Elijah opened up his bowling bag only to find that his ball had completely split.  Since we are total professional bowlers, we keep our balls in the garage. You know, a total room temperature, out of the elements kind of place.  His poor "snot rocket" will now be backyard decor, so we can always look at "what was."

Sad Mr. Bowler and Snot Rocket

 After the bowling ball debacle, we included bumpers and 6 pound ball...almost half of Audrey's weight.  She knew which ball was her's and kept yelling, "baaa, baaa!" because she thought EVERY turn was her turn. We let "pampaw" go first so she could see what bowling was all about and then it was her turn.  Elijah thought that a good butt shot would be nice to include, so here you go.  Enjoy!  Audrey took her ball and pushed it down the aisle at a fast as lightning speed.  We're talking turtle speed here, folks.  The poor people on either side of us had to wait eons for us to complete Audrey's turn and all the paparazzi photos that went along with it.

First toss!

Watch the ball go down!!

Elijah also thinks that this shirt helps him bowl better, or look like an "official bowler."  He always dresses the part.

First go round...Audrey is tied with me for 2nd.  Poor Grandpa...only got 1.

Bowling with her daddy!

Now it's Grandpa's turn to help!

I love how she is pointing at her ball going down.

Close to the end of the first round Audrey started getting fussy and her bowling days were over.  She was asking for milk and being the super star mom that I am, I didn't bring any.  Elijah had to go to the buffet downstairs and ask for milk.  She was content after that, but ONLY if Elijah held her.  This was an "I hate mommy" outing.  The picture below depicts her feelings for bowling and that milk is WAAAAAAYYYY more important.

After the first round I won!  Woot woot! Audrey didn't do too bad for her first go round.  The second round was mostly played by my dad and I while Audrey nursed her milk attack and daddy doted on her.  The third round was completed by each one of us taking baby duty since Audrey found the game room and thought the car games were amazing and driving a fake steering wheel was way cooler than bowling.

 We finished up our bowling only to find that the city had been taken over by dirt, blowing 1000 miles an hour.  Really it was like 30, but microdermabrasion and teeth grit, were at an all time high. We made it over to Chili's and capped off our day with a yummy lunch!

Sharing is caring.

Cutie pa-tootie.

We will venture out bowling again, and maybe a tad earlier and with a stock pile of milk and treats that fancy this little lady!

Spring Break and we're at the Zoo!

This is my 100th post!! It doesn't seem that long ago that I jumped on the blogging bandwagon, but really it's been about a year and a half.  I started blogging right after Audrey was born and although I don't blog as much during the school year, I still try to keep up with a once a month posting.  We are now enjoying spring break and before I know it the end of the school year will be upon us.  Audrey and I decided to venture over to the zoo today with our good friends Melinda and Tanner.  It was such a beautiful day....70 degree weather!  Everyone else in Albuquerque thought so too and decided to join us.   I am some what perturbed at the computer because while I was uploading our fun photos, several got corrupted and either didn't show up or only half way transferred.  But these shots are the best of what was left.  It was so fun going and seeing the zoo through the eyes of 18 and 19 month olds.  Tanner didn't really enjoy the wagon, but that was fine because the kids spent most of their time running from exhibit to exhibit. 

                                              

Checking out the gorillas

     

Waiting for the train to start rolling...we're talking high speed freight train here!

Notice the similarity in their faces.  That's called "veggie straw lips."

Daddy giraffe.  Audrey was slightly scared of the giraffe, but I thought he was amazing.

Audrey could have stood here for days watching the mommy and her baby.  She takes after her  mom and just LOVES the elephants.

Having a conversation over the "cucks" and the noises they make.

 I think that this was by far Audrey's favorite place.  She kept referring to the seals as "B" meaning Bruno, our big black lab.  Every time they would go by she would squeal and scream.  She had to stop at every window to see them swim by. 

 We were on our way to see the polar bears when the zoo keepers walked the llamas over for a viewing.  Someone decided to take off after them.  No fear!  Audrey got to pet the llamas and luckily we didn't get spit on.

Sadly, my favorite picture of Audrey and Tanner hugging didn't make it through the corruption, nor did the photo of Audrey sleeping 12 seconds after we got in the car, so I will leave you with this video of our ladybug and her pure joy at seeing the seals.  *Remember to turn the music off by scrolling to the bottom of the blog.

We WILL be heading back to the zoo very soon!  4 hours of pure fun...my vote: yes!!