A Trip to Vail, CO

Last weekend Jared, Brody, and I took a trip to Vail, CO with our friends Mike, Elise, and their sweet little twins Mya and Lydia. We didn't necessarily go FOR Brody's birthday (a trip to Vail as a 1st birthday present would not be a good precedent to start!) but we were there on Brody's birthday which was so much fun! He loved playing with his little girlfriends. They are so cute together. Here are some pictures from our trip:

This was our hotel, the Sitzmark Lodge in downtown Vail. Our room overlooked the pool and the promenade...it was perfect! View across the promenade from our room

The street our hotel was on....Look at the pretty blue sky! The others are assorted scenery pictures for Shan Shan :) One of the best parts of the trip was a gondola that took us up to the top of Vail Mountain. It is normally $20 a person, but after 4 p.m. it is free. We took full advantage of this of course, and went round and round! There weren't very many people there, so the workers just let us keep going! The kids loved it. They just looked all around and banged on the glass. We tried to get a picture of them all kneeling, but Brody wouldn't cooperate. He just wanted to stand!

I love Brody's face in this picture. You can totally tell he's taking it all in!

This was taken on top of Vail MountainThis view made me so excited for the winter! I can't wait to go skiing! We brought up Brody's presents and let him open them in the hotel. He wasn't sure what to do at first, but after Dada showed him how to rip the paper, he got really good at it! This first picture is from the day before we went to Vail. We took Brody to the Pet store to look around at the animals. His favorite was a bird that bit his finger when he stuck it in it's cage. It wasn't a hard bite, though, Brody just laughed!

Touching a snake through the glass

Checking out the parakeets

Brody has a new favorite toy--Legos!! He discovered them at my Grandma's house, so we thought he'd like some of his own.

This one's from Grandma Karen. He loves all the animal sounds and likes to eat the animals There was also a fountain that the kids loved putting their feet in
Jared and Brody with Elise and Lydia

We took a few family pictures at the beautiful backdrops. If you click on some of these you can see them better. This first one Brody wasn't real excited about, but he still looks cute!

Brody is glowing here....our little angel!
These were taken at the Betty Ford gardens. They really were breathtaking! These especially I would click on and make bigger. The little tiny pictures just don't do it justice!

There was also a pirate ship that they turned into a playground

On an alligator! Brody looks excited....

Brody and Lydia

Brody, Lydia, and Mya

Elise with Lydia, I'm with Brody, and Jared has Mya! Teeter-Totter!

At the end of the day we gave the kiddos a bath together. It was quite entertaining. Our favorite part is when the girls are just minding their own business and Brody stands up, poses against the wall, and pees right into the tub!! It was really funny :)
Finally, thank you so much to Mike and Elise for inviting us! We had such a good time and we can't wait to go again. Mike took this picture for us, and I thought it was great. Till next time...

Happy Birthday Brody!

Today my sweet Brody turned 1!!! I can't believe it has already been a year. He has been such a blessing to our little family and we love him so much. Jared and I have been reflecting on what we did a year ago today and it went something like this: We woke up very early (I could hardly sleep I was so excited!) and Jared sang Happy Birthday to Brody in my belly. I had a scheduled C-section so we knew that was going to be Brody's day. We went to the hospital in Mission Viejo, CA and waited for a couple hours as the operating room was a little backed up. My C-section was supposed to be at 10:30 a.m. but he ended up being born at 1:40 p.m. We will never forget the first time we saw Brody when my Dr. held him up over the little sheet that was covering my belly. He was not a very happy camper, but it was the sweetest face we had ever seen. If I had been a little more coherent I know I would've cried. I was just trying so hard to stay awake so I wouldn't miss it! Jared was my comic relief the whole day. His way of dealing with stress is cracking jokes, so he was constantly making me laugh! My mom was there with us and cried and cried when she met her first grandbaby. I got to hold Brody a little while after he was born in the recovery room. He was so tiny and so perfect and had me wrapped around his little finger right away. It was a wonderful day for us as we had waited such a long time to have him. We are so grateful we were chosen to be his parents. He is such a good natured little guy. He always has a way of making people smile :) We get a lot of comments about how expressive his eyes and brow are. You always know what he's thinking. He's so friendly and loves to just look at the world around him and take everything in. He is also a very busy boy! Especially now that he walks around, he just takes off and has a little mind of his own. He entertains himself very well and will eat almost anything. I could go on and on, but I know it would probably bore anyone else but me, so I'll just sum it up by saying I love my little boy and he makes me happier than I ever thought a person could be :) I'm going to add a few pictures of little Brody for those of you that didn't know him back then. This first one was taken today on his birthday as we got the car packed for a trip to Vail (pictures to come...):

My big boy!

Right before Brody was going to be born

Dad meeting Brody for the first time

Then it was my turn to meet Brody

It didn't take Jared long to start messing with Brody. Notice his curly hair like his dad!

Our announcement....this is one of my favorite pictures of Brody (thanks B!) He's 1 week old here

On his blessing day

I just love this picture. This is Jared, Brody, and our nephew Brock. Brock was almost 10 months old here

Sleepy Brody 1 weekDaddy and little Brody.....Jared used to love having him sleep on his chest
Happy Birthday buddy, we love you!

Look Who's Walking!!

Like I said in my last post, Brody started walking while we were at my Grandma's house. I think he got inspiration from Isaac! :) It is amazing how fast babies learn to walk after they start. He has become so brave and walks all around now. Cathy has been here visiting us for the last week and it has been so much fun! Brody loves Mimi and has shown off many of his skills for her! He just got another haircut and it makes him look way too old! This first picture is from a couple weeks ago, but I haven't added it yet. I know it's too early for Halloween, but I thought this costume was so funny that I bought it. For those of you that don't know me very well, I frequently buy things, bring them home to take pictures of Brody in them, and then take them back. I realize it's a silly practice, but I have fun doing it! Brody thought he was very funny in this costume and would belly laugh every time he saw himself in it!


While Cathy was here we went up to Red Rocks Amphitheatre for the first time. It's a natural amphitheatre that really was beautiful. After climbing up 212 steps (yes we counted!) we were able to see a view of the whole Denver valley and Denver. It was really beautiful!

Jared and Brody in front of the valley

Mimi and Brody

For Brody's birthday, Cathy and Randy got Brody a new carseat so he can now face forward in the car! He loves his carseat and he also LOVED the box the carseat came in. He had lots of fun playing with Mimi in the box!

This is Brody's first ride in his carseat facing forward. I know he still has 10 days until he's 1, but the Dr. said since he's 21 lbs. and has a very strong neck he's okay to be turned around. He laughed a lot, mainly at Jared in the rear view mirror. Other than that he did like he does in his jogging stroller. He held on tight to two of his toys and didn't move for about 10 minutes!! He's a much happier camper!

One of the other things Brody discovered this week is our planet chair. It's usually folded up, but since we had company we needed more places to sit so we got it out. Now it's Brody's chair! He loves to climb in there and play!

This slightly looks like a Zoolander face

Clapping at Baby Einstein

While Cathy was here we celebrated Brody's first birthday a little early. His birthday isn't until the 23rd, so we're going to have a few parties! :) This is his cake. It would've looked better if I had taken it off the wax paper for the picture, so just use your imagination. Not the best looking cake, I know, but it tasted good!

Brody being sung Happy Birthday for the very first time!
Still clean but not for long! He just poked at it with 1 finger for a while :)
Then he discovered that it tasted pretty good and went to town. Although, he kept getting upset because his the frosting was sticking to his hands. Brody apparently inherited Jared's dislike for dirty hands! :)

Mimi took so many cute pictures, so I know they are all similar, but they are all just so cute! Now Brody is off to the bath!

This is Brody looking at himself in the mirror. He thought he was pretty funny!
Cathy also took some cute videos while she was here. These are just a few. This first one is for Uncle Sam as this used to be his favorite thing to do when he was a baby.

This is a video of Brody's new walking skills. It really is amazing what a difference just a week can make!




This is Brody discovering his cake and his voice :)