one more

Even her Daddy said it was okay to post this.

eye candy

Hmm, don't feel like writing anything but here are some pictures for you to enjoy.

the scootchy bootcher

Even though the pics are a little blurry, I think it actually accentuates the speed this girl gets. Plus, I had no idea her leg gets that far off the ground.

cassie's daycare

There was snuggling on the brown chair.

There was walking to Starbucks.

There was snacks and drinks and resting feeties.

There was...a lot of kids.

Poor Nikki finally fell victim to the strep that has made its way around our house and was out sick on Monday and Tuesday. On Monday our evening babysitter, Andrea filled in, but Tuesday was all me. Monday night Cathryn texted me that her Tuesday childcare fell through and was wondering if Nikki wanted to watch all of the kids. Since I was going to be home, I happily agreed to watch Annabelle and Madelyn despite to potential chaos that having four small children in my care could create.

Chaos it wasn't, except for the toys. The mess was biblical. A sea of primary colored objects littered every inch of floor, but it was a great day. All of the kids had impeccable behavior and we even made it out of the house to snack at Starbucks and run around at East High School. Every single person of sound mind (and this is questionable on Colfax) we passed commented on the herd of children I was ushering around. Every single one.

Cassie's Daycare - One Day Only! 

when you live with avery...

you can find your sippy cups here,

puzzles are assembled en masse,

your bath letters are organized like this,

your toe nails are painted like this,

friends line up perfectly for meals,

your risk pieces are sorted like this,

carpet corners are folded back to allow for parking,

your ride with your friends in style,

your nanny makes work sheets like this, and

your life is more wonderful, more filled with laughter, more amazing than you ever thought possible.

father's day

Ok, so not the greatest photos, but at least we got a few.

As part of Scott's Father's Day celebration, we packed up and headed to the baseball game for the afternoon. The Rockies were playing the Tigers so we were a house divided in terms of whom to root for. Since Avery and Vivi are Colorado natives, they naturally were for the Rockies, and Scott is for the Tigers since he is a (suburban) Detroit native. Viv is wearing a Rockies onesie (thanks, Itens) and Avery got a free Tulo jersey but of course, would not put it on. He did however, end up on the jumbo tron which was pretty exciting!

Also, Avery got to experience The World's Most Crowded Playground. By the 5th inning every single other kid at the game was restless and congregated at the one play structure to burn off their nachos, hot dogs and dippin dots. There was even a Baby Wrangler to make sure that the kids went down the slide in an appropriate manner. The line was 30 deep at all times. I was constantly planning Avery's exit strategy should there be some sort of mass squishing, but he, like all the other kids, didn't seem to notice, mind or care that he was shuffling around on a structure built for 15 kids but instead held at least 150.

Happy Father's Day, Scott. We all love you so much and appreciate all of the big and little things you do for us each and every day and I am especially thankful for all of the love you give our children. 

soccer!

Getting all geared up. This is his first time using shin guards and cleats.

Ready to play

Would you just look at that form!

With some practice, I think he might have a successful amateur soccer career.

The girls enjoying the game. Avery is in the background in the first pic.

Just a couple of sweet moments at soccer.

Avery started soccer yesterday and boy was he excited. He's been counting down for the past two weeks each and every day. He is currently very interested in what happens on what particular day and knew that Saturday was soccer day. 

It was so stinkin' cute. We're trying out a different place than last year because it's closer and cheaper and so far, we're really pleased. There was a gaggle of parents and Scott even got to be a troll in one of the games. Avery had a blast and informed me that he likes soccer better than swimming because they play better games. Apparently, seeing Daddy as a troll was quite entertaining for him.

sand park

Sugar and spice.

Snips and snails.

Doing some jumping.

Going on a nature walk.

Playing in the sand.

Jo and I took the kids to Sand Park for some fun in the sun...and sand. This is probably my new favorite park because it has shade, a great sand area, play structures and some 'nature.' The boys had adventures of all sorts while the girls ate, chewed on a variety of things and then tolerated us putting them in the sand. They actually liked it quite well.

Avery asks me every day when we can return to Sand Park. Luckily, I gave Nikki directions so he doesn't have to wait for me. He loved it so much that he keeps referring to it as a Holiday.

avery shots

These are just a couple of shots I got of Avery before Annabelle's recital. My beautiful boy.

annabelle's recital

She was the best one by far. She showed so much personality up there and was I.N.T.O. it. Way to go, Annabelle!!!

Apparently, Annabelle was super excited that her pal Avery was coming to watch her dance.

 

After Annabelle's last recital, I complained to Cathryn that I had not received an invitation and invited myself and Avery to this one (she was trying not to impose on anyone). Well, I can't think of the last time I was this entertained. I was also a wreck. I cried almost the entire time watching those big and little kids performing up there. It was so emotional.

Annabelle was fantastic. I was so proud of her and so happy that she has something in her life that she's this passionate about. There are so many wonderful things about watching these babes grow, and the girlie costumes don't hurt either.

Vivienne is 100% taking ballet. I might need a sedative at her first recital.

the post with 3 titles

1. The Royal Gorge Train
2. The Day Avery Watched 5 hours of Avery Shows
3. Watch 5 Hours of Videos All For an Adventure (as offered by Cathryn)

All Aboard!

Avery and Grandma Carole on the train.

The kids were actually pretty excited to be there.

Looking out the window.

Can you spot the lady with her hands full?

We went and had ourselves a little adventure. My friend Cheney had recently taken her family including her newborn on the train and loved it. Well, if she can take a newborn 2 hours in the car, 2 hours on a train and 2 hours home, then I could certainly do it with a 3.5 year old and an 11 month old, right?

This seemed liked a great idea in theory because my mom absolutely loves trains, I've been wanting to spend more time in the mountains and for some sadistic reason, I was curious to see how the kids would do being out of the house for the entire day. I'm a fairly schedule oriented person if you didn't know and it makes me a little nervous to stray too far from normal.


You're wondering how it went, aren't you? Dying of curiosity to know if this was a complete bust? I am happy to report that the day could not have gone better, despite the fact that we hit rush hour traffic in both Colorado Springs and the Denver Tech Center resulting in a 3 hour trip home rather than 2. 


Vivienne slept almost the entire way there and our scheduled stop in Colorado Springs, about half way there, was unnecessary. Avery was too engrossed in the limitless videos I allowed him to watch in the car. If you're unaware, Avery has a tendency to toss his cookies on long car rides, especially those into the mountains. He only complained once on the way home that his tummy hurt but luckily we had some medicinal veggie straws to aid him.


We arrived in Canon City with time to spare, got our tickets and boarded early. Avery was super excited and Vivi was content to eat her lunch and rifle through my purse. The Gorge was beautiful and the Arkansas River running adjacent to it was raging. There were lots of beautiful rock formations and old gold mining sites. After about half way, Avery lost interest in the natural beauty but was luckily entertained with the cars I had brought him. I've traveled enough with kids to know what to expect and what kind of provisions to bring.


Vivi did great as well. No whining, no crying, just happy to play and look out the window. Her mood has been much better lately and I'm thinking her teeth aren't bothering her as much.


So, I wasn't too worried about the ride there or the train, it was the ride home at the end of a long day that I was concerned about. However, Avery got interested in his videos, Viv slept for an hour and then was entertained with toys and completely destroying her car seat with milk and snacks. It immediately went into the wash upon arrival. She started to lose it a little when we were about 20 minutes from home, but not too bad.


I was thrilled when we got home, exhausted, but thrilled that the day went off without a hitch. I do think 2 hours is our max car travel time for any one trip, but it's good to get out of one's comfort zone every now and then, especially if it means letting Grandma ride on the train with the grandkids.

***I forgot that I forgot. So, halfway there, I realized that I had forgotten my camera and was devastated. I had even made a mental note in the shower that morning saying, "Don't forget your camera," but then I laughed at myself, and thought that I never forget my camera.  Luckily, my mom brought hers so we were able to capture a few great shots. Then, when I wrote the blog I forgot to mention the forgotten camera. I really am getting forgetful even concerning the critical appendage known as my camera.

behind the scenes

Thought you might enjoy a behind the scenes look at what goes into a photo shoot at the Turbow household. FYI, Avery is not so interested in doing whatever he is doing behind me so that Vivienne looks my way. So, in addition to trying to take good pictures, I am fighting a 3 year old for an 11 month old's attention. It's a good thing I have a few tricks up my sleeve.

vivienne | 11 months - the swimsuit edition

You'll see this chair frequently. It was the only way I could keep her in one place.

I love the one on the left.

Shortly after these pictures, she peed all over the blanked (okay, just reread this...what in the world is a 'blanked'? I meant BLANKET), but we kept going!

My model is starting to lose it, which explains the calming baby wipe.

11 months! You know what happens next month, don't you? I don't even want to think about it. 

Carrying on...


So my sister pointed out a few months ago that Vivienne seemed to have a lot of swimsuits and she does. Granted some of them are hand me downs from Hannah, but I'll admit, I went through a swim suit buying phase. Cathryn and Madelyn saw a different suit on Vivi each week at swim class for three weeks straight. I'm sure you can guess which one is my favorite!


Perhaps it is chronic teething, but our girl has turned into a bit of a fuss pot especially during the evening hours. After lunch out today, I wanted to take Avery to play at REI and Scott commented that Vivi seemed to be really cranky and that we should perhaps go home. I told him that if we kept her home whenever she was cranky, we would most likely not end up going anywhere. Her fussiness is not full-blown but she whines a lot. I'm almost impervious to the noise at this point and just carry on as normal hoping that one day she figures out that it won't really get her anywhere. It also just may be her teeth because, the tooth that appeared over a month ago is still just a tiny little bud, and there is another one coming in as well.

Despite the crankiness, she is still the joy in our lives. She smiles and laughs a lot. Does silly things and really has gotten her scootch on in the past week resulting in a consistent rug burn on her non-leading leg. She really doesn't get into anything she's not suppose to and is a fantastic listener. 


She has started signing this month and can sign 'please' and 'all done.' Her spoken words include:

Mama, dada, baba, hi, bye-bye, all done, up, please, cheese, and Nik

If she's playing with a cell phone, she'll keep saying 'hi' over and over again. She loves to observe just like Avery did and is working on repeating our actions. Her love of trucks remains strong, but she also loves playing in the open kitchen cabinet that I have set up with lots of baby safe objects. She puts things in other things. She enjoys being outside and loves riding in the red car. It is a constant chore to keep her hair neat and orderly but she doesn't mind the tugging and brushing. 

While we were playing on the floor together on Saturday, I was hit with the full weight of the love I have for her. I felt completely helpless and overjoyed. The years I spent dreaming about this girl and here she is, right in front of me, better than I ever imagined.