4

4 - the number of people in our family: mommy, daddy, cayle bale and lindy leighn
4 - the number of years nick and i have taught at gypsum creek middle school
4 - the number of years nick and i have been married :)  happy anniversary nick.  it hasn't all been pretty or easy, but i love what we have together!

Happy Anniversary

To my lovely wife! 4 years already! It's amazing the amount of things that have happened in the last 4 years. Thanks for everything! We have the most wonderful family! We celebrated by having a fantastic dinner under sunny skies on the patio at Paradigms in Eagle, the site of one of our first splurges after moving to Colorado, and then we saw What to See When Expecting. Kinda funny, but some parts hit a little close to home just having had a baby and all. Excited to see what the next year has in store for us!

Sick?

Poor Cayle Bale.  One night last week (Tuesday), he was up for a couple of hours throwing up - no food really, just mucous.  He had no fever, just up from about 1 am - 4 am throwing up.  And of course, he was really upset about being sick.  I figured the next day he'd be tired and clingy and all.  Not even close!  He  was his normal self, and by 9 am, I decided he was more than fine, so I let him do all his normal activities.

Tonight has been a repeat of that night.  Cayle woke up about 1 am crying and Nick found he had thrown up - pretty much the same as last week with it being mostly clear mucous and no fever.  As of press time (ha ha) - about 345 am - Cayle has been calm and back sleeping for about 30 minutes.

Seems strange for Cayle to get sick overnight, have no fever, and then be fine.  He goes for his 2-year checkup on Monday, so I will for sure ask the dr.  Some things I've wondered:  is it teething?  an allergy?  connected to how he's been playing with his ear (although he never says it hurts!)?

Stay tuned...  

Babies Poppin' Out!

We're getting so excited for the arrival of two new friends for Lindy.  We spent some time at the Denver Zoo on Sunday with Nick's cousin's family (Jodi, Luke, Nathan).  Jodi is due Sunday to have a baby boy.  Nathan is going to be a big brother!

Nathan and Cayle giving knuckles at the zoo

 After my 6-week checkup today, I took Cayle and Lindy to the park for a picnic.  We were joined by Alana, Alana's mom, and Jess (who was on her lunch "break").  Alana is due Wednesday and is also having a baby boy. 

Can't wait to meet the new babies! 

Frozen Yogurt

Natalie and I both love ice cream. She grew up with Twisty Freeze and I with Homewood Grill. We also both like to try to be healthy the majority of the time. So how do you combine the two.... Frozen Yogurt! These places seem to be popping up all over the place, Cherry Berry, Red Mango, and a whole bunch of others, all selling the same thing (except for here in the valley.) Healthy frozen yogurt where you add your own toppings and pay for how much you put into your cup. It's actually kind of crazy how low cal and healthy this stuff is! (before you add all the toppings of course) 

Enter, Nona's Frozen Yogurt! It's located in Avon right next to Avon Liquors. It's just a little place and seems to be just trying to get started. The yogurt was tasty though, and the toppings were good. Prices seemed pretty decent as well. The place was super colorful! 8 flavors of yogurt to choose from and plenty of toppings to satisfy all your cravings! We will hopefully make it back up there sometime!

Almost Their Turn!

Nick and I went out tonight to celebrate with Torrey and Alana as the birth of their son draws near...very near!  Today was also Alana's last day of school :)  A group of us went to e-town for dinner (yummy!) then out to Nona's Frozen Yogurt for dessert.  The yogurt place was one of these shops where you pick your flavor, then pile on the toppings an pay for your treat by the ounce.  Many thanks to Mary for watching Cayle and Lindy:)  And here's to a quick and easy delivery of Baby K!

Something about each...

Cayle - He has a new thing.  It's called "lips."  aka chap-stick.  He wants it all the time.  No matter what he's doing or where we are.  Just out of the blue he says "lips?".  But it sounds more like "yips."  We have some chap-sticks hidden throughout the house, and he has been stalking us, because he knows where the hiding spot is in the kitchen and will now retrieve "lips" on his own... 

Lindy - Only got up one time last night!  Yay!  She is doing really well with her sleeping.  She normally gets up once about 1130 pm, then again about 3 am.  Even on those nights it's not so bad because she is really good at going right back to sleep after she nurses and has a clean diaper.  But last night she went to bed at ten with us, got up just before 1 am, and slept until about 6 am.  Mommy and daddy can handle that :)

Eagle Ranch Classic

Tonight was supposed to be race #1 in the town Series. Unfortunately it rained and dropped about 15-20 degrees in about an hour. It was cold and miserable, and they cancelled it just before my race (expert) was to begin. Thank Gawd! I was miserable and freezing!!!

A good pic from riding with dad over the weekend. I am wearing the 2011 team kit and he is wearing the new 2012 team kit. Looks sharp! Excited to be racing for Yeti's Grind again!

No Way

Cayle's newest phrase is "no way." How do you use this phrase? Well, when mommy says "Cayle let's go change your diaper." His response is "no way, no way, no way..." Or, "Cayle do you want lunch?" "No way, no way, no way..." How about "Cayle, let's go take a nap." "No way, no way, no way..." Really, "no way" can be used in any situation and just seems to be a funnier version of the simple "no."

Cayle happy birthday

The Birthday Boy

I had my mind set on giving Cayle a fun birthday party, regardless of the fact that we'd have a newborn in the house.  So before Lindy was born, I started working on Cayle's party.  I had wanted to give him a farm animal party, but that theme fell through.  I decided Cayle would really enjoy a bike themed party since he loves to ride his bike.  I found some items on etsy.com and was able to order party invitations and other items that matched the theme.  We had mac n cheese with wheels (bike wheels!), pizza logs, fresh fruit, and spinach salad to eat.  I ordered a blank cake from Costco and then decorated it myself.  One of the items I ordered from etsy.com was an iron-on design for shirts, so Cayle gave that as a party favor to his guests.  The weather didn't fully cooperate, so we had the party in the garage and not the back yard.  (Poor Nick - he spent all that time making the yard look fantastic!)  I had streamers, ribbons, balloons, and name tags for the kids to use to decorate their bikes.  We did get to go on a bike parade through the neighborhood.  Cayle and his friends seemed to have a great time!  

a close-up of the cake

peeps in the garage

justin helping macklin decorate his bike

cayle all ready to go on the bike parade

the kids on the bike parade

cayle with his bike t-shirt and bike cake

 

 

 

2

Today, Cayle turns 2!  When I think back to newborn days (pretty easy with Lindy being around!) and how all he did was eat (nursing did not go well at first), sleep (he slept through the night by 3 months old), and poop (unfortunately this is still done in a diaper), it's incredible to see his transformation to now: vast lexicon, eats everything in site, loves anything outside - especially his bike, pretty easy-going and funny little boy (he has just started calling Nick by his first name - not daddy).  Cayle is independent, determined, and focused on whatever he sets his mind to.  I just said to Nick last night, sometimes it's difficult to remember he's such a little boy, because he does such a good job with everything - like behaving at adult events, riding his bike, helping with Lindy and around the house with chores - the list goes on and on.

We are so thankful for the joy Cayle has brought to our lives.  He is a blessing each and every day (yes, even when he throws himself on the ground and flails around...)! 

We will celebrate our beautiful little boy with a cinnamon roll breakfast on his actual big day :)  The big party will come on Saturday with bike festivities: bike decorating, a bike "parade" through the neighborhood, and a bike cake.  Can't wait to share all the pictures!

at birth

he's 1

almost 2

       

Yeti's Grind Team Meeting in Vail

 Got to go biking in Vail Village with Grandpa while daddy went to his team meeting.

Pajama'd up and ready to head home.

Taking time to stop and smell the flowers.

Checking out Gore Creek in Vail

Grandpa is here!

 Dad spending some quality time with little Lindy.

Also got for a little ride with Cayle and I.

One Month

It's hard to believe it, but one month has passed since Lindy Leighn entered the world.  I still laugh every time I think about the scene in the operating room, as I tried to determine if it was true, yes, the baby was a girl??  It's a girl?  Nick, double check can you?  Anesthesiologist, did you say it is a girl?  Hello?  People, is it a girl? 

In the past month, Lindy has been treated as every princess should - lots of pretty pink dresses, a hair bow for every day of her life, her first tutu, and, of course, lots of attention from everyone who wants to hold her. 

I weighed little miss Lindy today, and she's now up to 7 pounds 10 ounces.  Her weight made me laugh because she's still about a pound less than Cayle was at birth! 

Here are some of my favorite pictures of her so far:

Lindy Leighn after her first bath (hospital)

trying on a big bow

pretty sure Cayle was tricked in to posing with her!

I love this hat! (also, this outfit is one of my absolute favorites!)

again, I love this hat!

she looks sooooo small

precious time with daddy

looking all beautiful to come home from the hospital

Getting involved

Natalie has been stuck around the house for a while now. Because of the C-section and having to recover. The last couple of days however, she has been getting involved again, and I think she is enjoying it. Yesterday she took Cayle to library. Today she took Cayle to music for the first time. Cayle must not be sure what to do about it either, everyone is commenting how much calmer he is with mommy than with me.... Glad he gets to have these experiences with both of us!

A tired little boy...

Library today at 11-1120.  I got to take Cayle while Nick stayed with Lindy.  We had plans to meet Melinda, Macklin, and Macy at the park after library so the boys could play.  The play date didn't last long because Mack fell and upset a previous boo-boo :(  Turns out that was probably for the best!  Cayle rode his bike home while I pushed Lindy in the Chariot.  About half-way home, Cayle put his bike down, took off his bike gloves, and climbed in the Chariot.  Apparently he was done riding?  He fell asleep almost instantly and continued sleeping for another 2.5 hours after we got home and I carried him up to bed.  After his nap, Nick took Cayle for a bike ride in the neighborhood.  Cayle again got tired part-way through his ride and ended up just wanting to come home.  Poor little guy...getting ready to turn 2 is really wearing him out :)

Cayle and Lindy sharing the chariot

Better nights :)

Things have been going better at night for little miss Lindy - and her parents, too!  She is starting to settle into a routine of going to bed by about 9 pm or so.  That's when mommy and daddy also hit the sack.  Lindy will get up again around midnight, nurse, and go back to sleep (total "up" time is about 30-45 minutes).  Then she will get up again around 4-5 am, nurse, and go back to sleep.  Mommy and daddy are quite content with this arrangement at this point!  Of course, now that I've said things are going well...

A Great Weekend

We had a fantastic weekend - Anne Marie was visiting, the weather was nice, we had lots of family and friend time :) 

A recap:
Friday - After Nick got off work, we headed down to Glenwood to get everything we needed for this years garden.  While Nick, Lindy and I headed to Lowe's aunt Anne Marie took Cayle to PetSmart to see the fish, mice, dogs, birds, and ferrets.  Cayle loves to see the animals! 

Saturday - We started off doing some yardwork before we headed down to the GetOutExpo in Eagle.  We joined up with the Brandts to play at the park, then headed to the Expo for a bit before having a picnic lunch and heading home for kiddie naps.  After naps we headed on to the Nelson's for Charlee's birthday party/Nelson's are moving party.  It was a PINK party :)

Cayle and Macklin with their ribbons from the Strider course

PINK family photo

Sunday - Nick made my favorite breakfast (potato and egg burritos) before we went to church.  After church, we went and got Cayle his birthday present - a pool and a water gun!  Lunch was a lot of snacky foods and we spent the afternoon gardening and working on the yard.  After that, we had Torrey, Alana, Jeff, and Jess over for a taco dinner.  We had a spectacular dessert (Oreo ice cream cake) made by Anne Marie!  

Mother's Day 2012

 

Our little adventurer...

Cayle has been a little on the short end of the "fun stick" since Lindy arrived.  He hasn't had all the time he's used to for the bike rides and adventures he was used to enjoying.  It's much easier to get him his fun when we have an extra set of hands, so now that Aunt Anne Marie has arrived, we're making sure to get him some excitement.  Friday while I went grocery shopping, Anne Marie walked Lindy in the chariot along with Nick and Cayle, who was on his bike.  The adventure was all in our subdivision, down to the haystacks so Cayle could see the cows :)

Aunt Anne Marie telling a story :)

excited to be on his bike...showing off his new gloves!

look dad, I found the haystack!

spotting cows?

Mama said there'd be days like this...

Yikes!  Chalk this one up as a rough one :(  It most likely started with last night...
Nick had a race (4th place finish - yay!) and I was home alone with both kids.  I thought I had put them both to bed and was lreaxing, when all of a sudden Cayle started making lots of noise.  He continued making lots of noise (screaming, slamming his closet doors, opening his bedroom door and yelling, etc.) for a long time.  Like two hours long time!  So I got him out of his room and thought I'd rock him, calm him down, and let him say night night to daddy.  Long story short, Cayle went to bed about 945 pm.  He was up before 6 am this morning.  Not good. 

So I figured he would be pretty tired for his nap today.  Wrong, mommy.  Little boys who are almost 2 and don't get much sleep the night before don't really even need naps!  The afternoon was spent listening to Cayle cry and scream and kick and slam doors, intertwined with Lindy screaming, her swing shouting classical music at me, and my pump just pumping away.  It was quite the afternoon.  Nothing was accomplished. 

Well, nothing until we went for a drive :)  We had to run to Eagle to pick up Nick's sister, Anne Marie, who has come to visit us for a few days.  Both kids fell asleep on the drive, stayed sleeping through a few short errands we ran in town, and proceeded to nap in the car (parked in the garage) for about 1.5 hours.

Needless to say, just a few hours of the craziness wore me out!  Nick and I have asked each other numerous times in Lindy's three short weeks...how the heck do single parents do it???  Now that the sun has set, I had better get to bed :)

Home Alone!

Well, kind of at least.  For about 4.5 hours each day!  Now that Nick is back to work, we're working on getting a routine going.  (Which will last for the next four weeks or so, before we start a new routine...) So far, we have Nick taking Cayle to his morning activities (swimming, library, and music), while I stay with Lindy and do some chores around the house (clean floors, do laundry, etc.).  Then Nick and Cayle have some time to hang out (or work in the back yard - hint! hint!) before Nick has to get ready for work.  Once Nick leaves for work, I get lunch ready for Cayle while Lindy sleeps.  After lunch, Cayle heads up to his room for a nap.  Lindy wakes up shortly after this to nurse and hang out with mommy.  She sleeps a bit more, then Cayle gets up, and we start snack time and wait for daddy to get home!     

Rockie's Game

time, time, and more time...

Today was our first real outing with both kids.  Up until now, we've had one or the other go, but not usually both of them and both of us - unless it was just quick errands we were running in town.  Nick and I wanted to stop in Denver to run a couple errands before heading down to Colorado Springs (purpose for the trip explained in a bit).  Our plan was to leave the house at 10, stop at REI in Denver, then hit up a Party City, and get to Ronnie and Michelle's house about 3 or 4.  We must have been off our rockers to think that would ever happen!

We started off a few minutes late, then had to stop by the Thrifty Shoppe to drop off some clothes, and also run by the gas station to get some drinks for the drive.  We finally started off toward Denver, and decided we would have to stop for lunch before hitting Denver.  And then we thought Lindy would nurse and Cayle would like some time out of the car, so we searched for a place to eat outside (Wal-Mart parking lot fit the bill!).  We finally arrived at REI, got Cayle's diaper changed, and made it inside to start shopping...only about 3.5 hours after we left the house.  The drive from our house to this particular REI store would typically be no more than 2 hours 15 minutes...   

By the time we left REI, we had given up on Party City for the time being.  So we finally arrived in Colorado Springs just after 4, which was close to our original goal, but lacked the second stop!  After a little settling, we left Cayle with aunt Michelle and headed off to Party City to get supplies for his upcoming birthday party.  So, by just after 7, we had accomplished our goals for today!

Not sure what took so very long to do our errands today?  It had seemed like a simple enough plan?  Nick and I decided two kids just takes longer.  Planning when they'll eat, and keeping them from getting tired of riding in the car, getting diapers changed, walking slowly through the store, etc. - it just takes more time!  Both kids were so good today, and we did have a lot of fun.  A lesson for mommy and daddy to not expect too much :)

Tomorrow we have a big day planned:  lunch with a guy Ronnie and I grew up with (Chad - he pitches for the Atlanta Braves who are playing the Rockies), then some time in Denver before the night baseball game.  Cayle is staying with a sitter (and so are Ethan and Lexi) and Lindy gets to go with the adults.  We'll head back through Highlands Ranch on Sunday to show off Lindy to Nick's cousin, then be back in the mountains hopefully by early afternoon.  We'll see how things go with our time frame :) 

Busy Day

Took Cayle to music this morning, then to the bike shop to drop bikes off to get a few things worked on, then we headed to Silverthorne to pick up a few things from Target, and buy some new clothes for me! From Target we headed to Wendy's (Cayle's Lunch), Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory for an apple for Natalie, and Jimmy Johns for me. Then back to pick up the bikes, and back home. Made for a pretty long day, but Cayle did great!

This afternoon, he rode his bike for a long time. He has been riding to people's houses to drop off birthday invitations. We got a few good videos tonight. He is progressing so fast on his bike. It's so much fun to watch him learn. He loves it!!!

Cousins Ethan and Lexi

 Hmm... This is not working out so well....

 Ok, that's a bit better!!!

 Little Lexi on Cayle's bike with the seat too high for her!

Cronies....

Made plans to go see Cousins Ethan and Lexi this weekend. Cayle is going to spend an entire day with them while Mommy and Daddy and Lindy go to the baseball game on Saturday night, and out for lunch with one of the players on Saturday afternoon. Cayle and Ethan will have plenty of time to be wound up and be mischievous!