December 11th - 17th : It's the Thought That Counts... RIGHT?

Holy goodness.  We have had one heck of a week.  Can I just say again how nice it is that I'm attempting the 24 days of holiday fun on a year when Audrey has no idea I'm making things up on the spot and calling them her Christmas Treat?  For example:

Planned for Saturday - ornament painting.  Only thing accomplished?  Shopping at Target and the Outlets.  Overheard in the car... "AUDREY!  We get to go to Target (like we do every other day.).  IT'S YOUR HOLIDAY TREAT!

We have managed to sneak in some actual fun that was intentional along the way, and even had some extra company join us for some of the festivities!

So - Here goes!

Day 11:  I came home from a run at 6:00 to find my dog outside and my daughter in the tub.  Today's holiday treat?  Toddler barf and early bedtime.  she wasn't sick (thank goodness) but made a mess none the less.

Toddler Barf Clean Up Party

Day 12: Audrey got to unwrap the new bath toy we got her (a bubble bath duck that goes over the faucet) but our baby soap was too thick so our attempt at a bubble bath was less-than-awesome (we have cute toddler tub pics, but sorry, not for the blog folks.).

Bath Duck

Day 13: SURPRISE!  Uncle David arrives.  That's your treat.  Sure, it was supposed to be popcorn and Mickey Mouse, but the time just slips on by.  I went to pick Dave up in Denver while Scott picked Audrey up from day care.  She fell asleep in the car on the way home and when she woke up to find we were on our way to dinner with Dave in tow she was less than pleased.  She does not like to be surprised with men in her life (a trait I hope she has when she's 16...).  She cried when Zach went with Scott to pick her up one day and seeing Dave unexpectedly threw her off her game.  She quickly recovered that evening and had a great day with Dave on Friday.  They read books, played dress up, ate a long lunch, and relaxed in jammies watching Disney movies.  Such a treat!

Dave is Here!

Day 14: The Greeley Griswalds - not planned, but definitely going on the list next year.  There is a house in Greeley that has a house decorated with 130,000 lights.  Every 30 min there is a show coordinated to a radio station broadcast from their house.  The owner walks the side walk dressed as Santa (BYE BYE SANTA) and hands out candy canes.  We drove up and Audrey jumped out of the car seat and said slowly...IIITTT'S BEEEAAAUUUTIFUUUUUL. 

Only the Fronts

On the 15th of December Dave, Sara and I went for a long run and by the time Audrey woke up it was time to head to lunch and for some quick shopping at the Outlets in Loveland.  SURPRISE!  Audrey, your treat today is a tortilla and looking at running shorts at Nike.  We also got to have dinner with my teammates, which was a lot of fun.  Audrey emptied all their toys and ate all their ketchup in an attempt to have a healthy dinner.  It must be officially documented that I also ate and enjoyed zucchini and hummus that night as well.  My own Holiday Treat.  

Audrey doesn't even know what a treat she got on the 16th of December.  Although I had planned on having a Christmas dance party that day she was able to cooerce her dad to watercolor with her (a side note:  Scott is amazing with creative play and rough housing but usually leaves the artsy-fartsy mess making to me) while I baked 4 batches of cookies with MY NEW KITCHENAID!  Scott thought he was so clever hiding my gift and throwing me off the scent, but he lingered a bit on the Kitchenaid aisle at Target and I convinced him to let me open my present early, since I was planning on baking and baking and baking that day.  I love my gift and really enjoyed breaking it in!   

           

     

I should also note that Audrey got a second, impromptu  holiday treat when we decided to find some breakfast after dropping David off at the airport.  We drove into downtown Denver and found a breakfast place that offered M&M pancakes!




You know I said they were for Audrey but I loved EVERY BITE of their deliciousness.

      
     

Dec 17th - Back on Track with actual-planned-and-implemented-holiday-treat-ideas.  Scott has to work a basketball game so I used this as an opportunity to get messy without having to worry about clean-and-neat-no-mess-daddy hovering over our creativity and free spirited innovations.  Ever since the hand-print fiasco of early December Audrey is a HUGE fan of painting, especially her appendages.  Tonight we used that to our advantage to decorate some new ornaments for the tree. Audrey got decked out in her painting shirt and got to work.  You can see she has a knack for color blending...

        

Happy Holidays!

Christmas Letter

The Ward-Wards are going green!  A friend of mine inspired this idea by going green on her blog and I thought it was a great idea.  I never have enough room on a 5x7 Christmas card to fit in all the pictures that represent a year and also know that most of the people who receive our cards also follow our family on Facebook so a year-in-review isn't necessarily needed.  Plus, I HATE KINKO'S this time of year.  I always go in ready to make my letter and leave two decades later with what I want.  Also, I hate it so much I procrastinate and avoid going and don't get my cards sent until February, when everything is out-of-date anyway (No offence to Kinko's.  It's not there fault, it's just my impatient-wanting-something-I-can't-do-on-my-own-so-I-spend-an-arm-and-a-leg-to-have-them-do-it's fault).  

Plus, I'm a realist and I know that our letter is only actually read by a small percentage of people anyway (thanks mom and dad :))  This way we have our year documented FOREVER and don't have to keep old copies in the basket-of-awesomeness (which is the only place I'm allowed to keep clutter in the WHOLE HOUSE!).

So!  Here it is.  The Ward's 2012 year in review.

In January our little precious perfect little girl turned 1.  As I type this and she's napping I can't believe how much has changed in the past two years.  I've never been more happy, more fulfilled  and felt more love then when she entered our life.  Looking over how much she's grown, changed, and learned over the past year is AMAZING!

Scott and I both turned the big 3 - 0 this year and to celebrate my parents helped us celebrate with a family trip.  We decided to head to sunny SAN DIEGO.  We had a great time at the zoo, seeing the ocean, meeting up with an old friend from high school, eating ourselves silly, watching 4th of July fireworks, and just spending time as a family.  This trip also documented our first trip to the minor emergency room clinic as Audrey had her first taste of road rash after falling face first out of the rental car (an HOUR after we got to San Diego).  We learned how to parent in a crisis and also got some great suggestions for things to do while we were in town from the amazing docs.  Audrey was a tank and barely showed her battle scars but it was memorable for sure. 

Scott started a new job in July as Director of Creative Services at UNCO.  This new endeavor has been a lot of learning and fun as Scott has taken on less of an SID role and more of a communications role.  He now is in charge of game day filming, team videos, designing billboards, media guides, magnets, flyers, etc.  It means no travel and a lot of time as a family, which we feel lucky to enjoy while we have the chance.

While Scott was enjoying his new job duties Audrey and I made the most of my summer vacation.  She took a music class, we met weekly with the other babies of Range View, played at splash parks all over the state, took mom-and-Audrey swimming lessons with our buddy Jackson, and went to a weekly toddler library class.  I had a harder time going back to work in August after spending so much time with my precious daughter this summer than I did after maternity leave.  Knowing how much fun we had enjoyed and watching her learn and play is something I look forward to for every summer of her life!  I don't know how long she'll let me carry her around the swimming pool, but I'll take it while I can.

Enjoying Library Time

Enjoying the Splash Park 

My Little Guppy

Some of The Range View Buddies

This summer Scott had the opportunity to travel with the UNCO women's volleyball team on a life-changing trip to Nicaragua.  They went to play different national teams but mostly to serve and participate in humanitarian projects.  Scott came back with a wonderful perspective of live and had so many stories to share.  He met some amazing people and came home with a suitcase nearly empty after donating all of his travel gear to the organization that guided them along the way.

To conclude a very busy summer a friend and I reached our goal of training-for and running a half marathon. I decided a year before Audrey was born I wanted to run a half-marathon with my mom.  Then I got pregnant and my plans went on hold.  Lucky Sara mentioned she also wanted to run a half marathon one afternoon and I latched myself onto her training program and got started!  We trained together for 13 weeks and finished the Georgetown Half Marathon on August 11th.  It was an amazing feeling, accomplishing something so athletic, while also making a life-long friend.  Sara and I still run every Saturday and are looking for the next race that deserves our awesome athletic presence.

5 AM - Getting Ready to Dominate

  My brother Luke is a senior in high school this year and for his senior trip he wanted to go to Disney World.  Audrey and I were lucky enough to get an invite (Scott had to work :( ) and at 4 am we loaded the car for our 6am flight and started the fun vacation!  I wasn't sure how my toddler would hold up on such an adventure but she was amazing.  She was not thrilled with meeting characters but managed to be brave enough to see Mini Mouse.  We swam in the pools, saw Scott's Dad and Step mom, ate lots of yummy food, rode lots of rides, played in another splash park, and spent lots of time as a family.  We wish Scott could have joined us but had a great time in the happiest place on Earth.  Audrey can talk of nothing else besides Mickey Mouse now that we are home and has learned to work the I Pod so she can watch her Disney Besties at any given moment.  I would also like to note that we did not start this vacation with a tumble out of the rental car.  No toddlers were injured in the duration of this adventure.



In October Scott and I celebrated our seventh year of marriage and our 11th year together.  We took Audrey to the pumpkin patch to celebrate our little family.  It's had it's ups and downs but nothing in the world could be better than the time we get to spend together.

We wish you and your families a very happy holidays and will continue to Facebook Stalk your lives through 2013.  We love getting all the Christmas cards and keeping up with growing families and feel so fortunate to have all of you in our lives.  We love you, Grandmas and Grandpas, Uncles, Aunties, Cousins, Great-Grandparents and Great Aunties and Uncles.  Thank you for all of your support for our growing family and for your love and friendship.  

Here's to an awesome 2013!

10th Day of Christmas

Hooray!  It's the 10th day of Christmas.  I've learned a few things since my last post I feel it's important to share.  Our motto has now shifted from making this the most fun holiday season for Audrey to making this the most "memorable" holiday season - this means that most of the photos/events of the month have, at one time or another, ended-started-with-began-with tears.  I've also learned to roll with the flow of a toddler.  I've changed the organization of my so-well-planned-out agenda of awesomeness so now it's just a list of ideas and I mark through the ones we complete as the situation arises.  I also include a lot of snacks on our daily adventures.

I also feel it should be noted that we have been able to complete 10 days of Christmas fun while also caring for our Beagle-with-a-stomach-of-steel who ate an entire bag of York Peppermint Paddies yesterday and then proceeded to barf throughout the night in various locations (including under the bed).  Not even a barfing dog can hold this family back!  You might be wondering why we didn't rush to the vet when we realized (as Tober hurled a minty fresh batch all over the living room - narrowly missing my clothing) that Tober had eaten an entire bag of chocolate.  You see, this is family tradition.  Each year Tober eats himself sick on chocolate (cake, a king size chocolate bar, etc) and it's become a holiday routine around these parts.  For those still worried you should know he is acting fine and is completely back to his old self - PLUS we have unanimously decided that York peppermint paddies are the way to go since they made the house smell minty fresh.

Oops!  Side tracked.  Below are days 6-10 of our holiday excitement.

Day 6: Writing a letter to Santa and 5th grade holiday choir concert.

So Far... So Good.

Really Enjoying the Use of Markers

    

Such a Well Written Letter to Santa

Ahh... The Meltdown.  I Asked Her to Hold Her Letter.  Apparently That's All it Took.

Pondering Mickey Before We Leave

Day 7: A trip to see Santa Clause in Denver.  We do not have proof of her official disdain of seeing Santa "BYE BYE SANTA" but I CAN tell you that we waited in a short line and as soon as she saw the jolly man in red she was ready to bail.  We have found the perfect Santa. He quietly got up and we got settled on his bench, and then as they took the picture he popped in at the last minute.  Audrey had no idea, and we have our Santa picture!  Now that we're back safely in our own home Audrey loves the idea of Santa.  We read about him and sing about him every night before bed, because HE'S GREAT of course...

A Little Light Cleaning Before We Leave

Winter Wonderland

Munching on Some Popcorn with Dad in Line

Such a Good Sharer

About to Meet the Man Himself

Of Course She Made a Friend While Waiting

Day 8: Our Holiday Party with our little Range View buddies.  We had a few of our friends and their families over on Saturday for some relaxed fun.  Audrey LOVES her buddies and kept checking the door throughout the day to see if they were there yet.  She has a special little friendship with a little boy and when he arrived she was so very excited!  She is one of the oldest in the bunch and a friend of mine brought their ten month old.  He's already walking and as he toddled into the living room Audrey walked up to him and said "HI! It's Audrey.  IT'S ME!"  She also pointed out her letter to Santa to all of our guests and "read" it to a lucky few.

Audrey Hasn't Met a Grown UP she Doesn't Love to Snuggle

Getting Ready to Party

Audrey's Betrothed

Playing Toys!

Dad's Worst Nightmare!

Day 9: Holiday dinner with Sara and Zach.  We had two of our other friends over on Sunday for a holiday party filled with yummy food and games!  Even though I didn't win I still managed to have a good time, and was ALMOST a good sport, since it's the holiday season and all.  Audrey got a new watercolor paint set and some new paint brushes.  She begged to sleep with the new paint brushes and snuggled them until bed time. 

Dinner Time

Sara's Favorite - OVALTINE!

Opening....

PAINT BRUSHES!

Snuggle Them

New Scarf, Buffs Tickets, and of course...PAINT BRUSHES!

Christmas Girls

Getting to Work

Day 10 - Water Color!  Audrey was in love with her new paint set and so scrap all the good ideas mom had, it's time to PAINT!  I promised her we could paint after school and boy did she remember.  She walked in the door and said strongly PAINT MOMMY!  I had to make a dish of brownies for Scott's holiday party so I bravely spread out the art sheet, watered her paints, and set her to work.  She did great, and really enjoyed painting!  I want to remind everyone of the episode a few days prior, where I attempted to paint Audrey's hands and it resulted in a melt down - fast forward to today and you would have thought that was the best idea ever!  Of course Audrey thought SHE had come up with the idea, as she happily painted and repainted her hands making hand print after hand print, laughing and having a grand old time as if to say "MOTHER!  WHY DIDN'T YOU think of this!"

Painting Her Own Hand

Painting my Hand is SO MUCH FUN!

And just because - who doesn't love a toddler in heels?!

Did Somebody Say Santa?