February 2013

2-3-13 I was working in the kitchen making sweet potato wedges and this little monkey climbed up on the cooler, stood up, and was playing with some stuff on the counter. Are you kidding me, Smalls? How long was my back turned?! No, I don't normally keep a cooler in the kitchen like this but I happened to be making yogurt. (Just FYI; not trying to brag up my stay-at-home mom skills. I have none.)

A walk in the wagon before grilling for supper. We happened to be in front of this house, which I do think is lovely, but it doesn't mean anything. 

Playing in the back yard. The kids get so many slivers from these railroad ties! :(

2-4-12 Alanna's Valentine pants are hand-me-downs from my very good friend Debbie. Her daughter Macy wore them 5 years ago. 

The result of me saying to Charlie, "Give your sister a kiss!" Haha! :)

Pretty handsome little guy!

 2-5-13 I took the kids to CMZoo for a quick outing since the weather was so nice. We had to make one return at the mall, so we stopped for a quick ice cream truck ride and a peek at the puppies. Then, off to the zoo! I think we were at the mall for a total of 13 minutes.

Cheyenne Mountain Zoo! I love this jumbo-sized Adirondack chair! It had some serious chicken poop on it since it's up in the barnyard where those chickens freely roam...

Gawking at the chickens!

Still squawking... er, gawking....

2-8-13 Still wanting to help make things, Charlie's eager to push over a chair and insist on helping - even if it's simply dumping pasta into boiling water. He's all about it! Tonight's activity was crushing graham crackers with a rolling pin. I wish more recipes called for crushed graham crackers; not only are they delicious, but Charlie had a blast!

2-9-13 Alanna faces forward in the car seat! Ok, I actually put her in the front seat for a second while we switched her car seat around. You can see our garage wall through the driver's window so you know we weren't out driving around (or even faking it in a parking lot) with our 15-month-old in the front seat. What kind of parents do you think we are? Don't answer that.
Funny enough, a few days before or after this picture was taken (and we flipped her seat around), Matt actually weighed Alanna on a "certified" scale at the front of the grocery store. Apparently it's used to weigh ice. And small children. :) According to the scale, she weighed 21 lbs, meeting the minimum requirement to be able to switch her to a forward-facing car seat.

(Side note: At Alanna's 15-month well child visit, which was actually on February 26th, closer to 16 months, she weighed in at 19lbs, 13 ounces. What a petite little one! We kept her car seat facing forward, thinking that she'd boycott the rear-facing seat now that she's been facing forward for a few weeks.)

Heading to COS to spend the day with Karen and Kurtis; a trip to Costco (we're not members, but they are!) and a stop at the zoo. Yes, more zoo. Why not?!

She had a different reaction to the new car seat than Charlie did. She seemed to not really care at all, while Charlie sat in his seat and grinned the entire first 20-minutes of his forward-facing trip. Funny!

2-10-13 A few after-church pictures.

2-12-13 More pigtails! Alanna's hair is growing, growing, growing!

2-14-13 to 2-18-13

Alanna and Daddy head to MN! Yep, Matt and Alanna took a weekend trip to Minnesota to spend the weekend at the new Rustand Chalet. (Rustand as in Mark and Jean Rustand. We wish!:) Charlie and I spent the weekend at home together. It was strange having so much one-on-one time with Charlie since that hasn't really happened since Alanna was born. It was a fun time for everyone, but we were all really glad to be back together as a family at the end of the weekend.

Alanna's first airplane ride!! Matt said she did really well. She sat super still in Matt's lap from COS to DEN, and for the flight to Fargo, Matt had an empty seat next to him. Yay for more space! What a little traveler she is!

Playing in the terminal.

Her tiny little stick legs barely make it to the end of that seat!! :)

A peek at the Rustand Chalet. That really was the purpose for the trip; to see the finished product and spend some quality time with family. Katie and her girls were there a few overlapping days, so Matt got in on some Gould time as well. Alanna got to spend a whole day with Grandma and Grandpa Legge, too, which was so nice for everyone involved. Seriously, one-on-one time is hard to come by. I'm glad Matt took advantage of a long weekend and a cheap flight.

The originals.

A semi-ridiculous picture of some of the cousins. Justin, Hannah, and Charlie are missing, Sophia's eyes are half closed, Alanna has a funny scrunched face... awkward!

A MN winter sunset of (presumably) one of the west decks.

Flying back home!

Having a snack and looking adorable. All in a day's work for this sweetheart.

Haha!

2-28-13 I took the kids to storytime at the library, and they happened to be celebrating Dr. Suess' birthday. The crafy was this Cat in the Hat hat, which Charlie proceeded to wear very proudly for most of the rest of the day. Whenever I take the kids to the library (about every other week), the rest of the day is centered around the new books we check out. They are spread out everywhere! Totally worth it!