Kirsten and Mark

From the second day we moved in and the box with my cookie cutters was found Britton has been asking to make cookies. I just LOVE that! For a while I was a little worried that I wouldn’t have a holiday cookie partner, but since Christmas last year he’s been all about the making and the decorating of our sugar cookie tradition.

It took a while, but as soon as I got the kitchen into some reasonable sort of order I told him it was time. More than a week before Halloween, but why not?

He got to pick which shapes we’d use. It was really hard not insisting on the Halloween shapes, but in the end, he picked those ones. And Mickey.

Adding sprinkles

frosting the moon

and a purply gray witch

Kaia dug right in

Yummy!

Some of the finished product. Not super cute, but they tasted pretty good!

We took a Sunday drive to see the beautiful mountain leaves…some are blurry ’cause they’re taken from the window

Climbing a rock while climbing his mountain

Summit achieved

Kaia had to climb too

Britton loves Thomas, and trains. When we became members of the Colorado Train Museum we found out about the annual Day Out With Thomas and knew we just had to take him. We bought the tickets back in June or July, but didn’t tell him because we knew he would ask constantly when we could go. Then PBS Kids started advertising for it and the asking/telling us about it started. Finally we told him that we already got tickets, but it wasn’t until September. So we had to look at the calendar and see how long that was. Then every time he’d see the add he’d tell us that Thomas was in September and he wanted to get to September.

Finally the day arrived! Yay for us all! He had a lot of fun, and I think Kaia did too.

Waiting to for our train

All aboard!

A big Sir Topham Hatt

And a whole tent full of train tables. It was little boy heaven. We barely made it out of there.

We all had a fun day with Thomas and his friends.

This is what greeted us the morning of Miss Kaia’s birthday

What a little doll!

Then it was off to swimming lessons. She was doing really good floating by herself.

I just had to put this one in. She looks terrified! She’s more looking at me like “mom, how could you do this to me?” She really didn’t like it, but could do this:

Float all the way by herself, so I told her to get over it.

When we got home she got a bath and some new bath toys. Then we opened her presents

Ripping open her presents

She loves books lately

Talking on her new phone

It was the members only opening day for the new dinosaur exhibit at the Denver Science Museum. They had Sue, the most complete (and maybe largest) T-Rex skeleton ever found. Plus a few different robot dinosaurs that were really cool, and lots of dino info. We couldn’t take any pictures inside. =( But, Kaia LOVED the T-Rex robot. They looked real and moved around. There was a Triceratops and a Velociraptor too. But, she kept wanting to go back to the T-Rex. Britton liked the whole thing.

Afterward, we stood in line to meet Buddy from Dinosaur Train (on PBS)

Kaia and Mommy

Kaia and Daddy

The whole fam

Kaia with Buddy

We left and stopped at a cupcake place down the road. They were very pretty. And tasty. Kaia picked the Vanilla.

Yummy Cupcake!

Fingers are good too

She doesn’t mind getting dirty like Britton did, so she reached right in.

We think she had a fun birthday. It turned out she really liked the dinosaurs, so that was good. We love this little girl! She is so fun and adorable. Happy Birthday Angel!

And everything nice. That’s what my Kaia is made of.

Don’t you just want to hug her?

For her birthday we had a Sugar and Spice party because our girl is super sweet, but definitely has her spicy side. She knows what she wants and isn’t afraid to let ya know it!

I had a lot of fun with her theme. I’m a little bummed that I packed her invitation before I got a picture. It was a cupcake with accordian folded vellum to look like the wrapper, then the writing on the other side. We had pink, purple and white balloons, which were her favorite thing.

The party hadn’t even begun and her headband was already off…

For the Spicy side we had Mexican food: salsa, quesadillas, jalepeno cheese bread, beans and chips.

On the Sweet Side we had fruit, cinnamon rolls, sugar cookies shaped like a K, cupcakes for dessert and lots of candy. Some sweet, some hot (cinnamon flavored.) Drew was saving us from the flies.

A cute little party goer

Kids playing. We’re so glad our friends let us have it in their backyard.!

The party girl ate too. She’s always up for some tortilla and cheese!

She loved Daddy throwing her up in the air.

Get ready...

Yum!

Kaia was much more fun that Britton. He wouldn’t even touch his.

Loving her new owl

Birthday girl with Mommy

We had a great afternoon and were so happy that some of our friends were able to come and celebrate our little girl’s birthday with us. She had a lot of fun, and so did everyone else I think.

After this, I could hardly wait for her “real birthday.”

Britton has been saying he wants to go to school for months. I had to finally make a calendar that showed him all the months till it was time.

Unfortunately because of his show, he had to start two weeks late…so 4 school days. We went before we left and he met his teachers and just went right into the classroom and started looking around and playing with things. So, I knew he’d be just fine.

Ready to go!

The link below is a very short video of him just before we left. I don’t know why it didn’t embed it into the post, I’ll work on that. But, anyway, here it is:

Brit preschool

I know it cuts off weird, but the rest is me asking questions and him sort of answering and playing with his bag.

And, he LOVES it by the way. His favorite part is the “Question of the day.” So far they ask if they’re wearing a specific color.

For Labor Day we decided to visit Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs. It was the perfect day! Not only was it gorgeous, but the weather was perfect too.

Jump!

B and Daddy

He found a cave!

And a tunnel!

Cute lil "hiker"

So strong!

The wall

The wall

Kissing Camels (really)

cool formation

B "hiking"

The rocks

Daddy and the kids

The sibs

B and his new friend. They had sooo much fun!

We loved it there. It’s so gorgeous and Britton loved “hiking”

Afterward we were driving toward Pike’s Peak when we saw a sign for the Indian ruins. They were cool, but definitely not worth as much as the admission cost.

B in a house

on the 2nd floor

It was interesting seeing how small the “houses” were. They’re built kind of like apartments and usually just 1 room per family. So I would think I was looking at a nice 2 story place, and the sign said it was for 4 families. Very interesting artifacts in the Pueblo and museum too. I find Native American history fascinating and like learning about their cultures.

We never made it to Pike’s Peak. After this we were starving and headed to Rudy’s BBQ for dinner. They have it in Texas and Mark is a huge fan. Me, not as much. But, their chili is delicious!

I was glad we were able to see it before we go. At least we got 1 thing checked off our list!

Whew, I made it. Barely. It is still her birthday though.

I can’t believe my baby girl is 1 already. This year has gone by so quickly.

From her very quick entrance into the world,

to her sunny wake up this morning

She has done things her own way. She’s so sweet, but knows exactly what she wants and has a mind of her own.

We love her so much and can’t imagine our lives without her. Even Britton said today “I love Kaia so much mom.” Aw, so sweet! Because often she’s trying to take something of his or pull his hair. And follow him around because she thinks he is the best person ever…next to me and Daddy.

Here are some of our favorite things:

She is the queen of mimicing and learns a lot by watching us. A few weeks ago she  folded her arms. Then shortly after that she did it for prayers all on her own. Now, every time I put her bib on she folds her arms. Just want to hug her!

She understands most of what we tell or ask her to do. Like stand in the bath to get washed, legs up for diaper changes, putting down something we say she shouldn’t have, giving us something we ask for, puts things away when it’s clean up time. Though, the opposite of that is one of her favorite games called “empty the container” where she pulls out everything in the diaper bag, cupboard, box, drawer etc.

She loves to clap, dance, play with Britton, look at books, play with letters, push buttons, get her picture taken, give hugs and kisses, pat our backs when she gives us hugs, blow raspberries when she’s done with her food–or wants something else, has started signing: milk, more, drink, all done.

She loves to eat and is really good at it. Tonight she ate with her fork for the first time after I got the food on there for her. But, she likes stuffing her mouth full and then almost choking, so I have to watch her.

I’ll post about her party and what we did today later…but I just want it to be recorded that we love our Kaia more than anything and are so grateful to have our sweet girl in our family. She is a joy and keeps us on our toes.

Almost exactly a year after I took Britton to the Denver Zoo and only made it half way through, we went as a whole family and saw the whole thing.

It’s a good zoo with a lot of animals and some fun things. Warning now–there will be a lot of pictures.

Elephants

They are getting used to the containers before they are moved to their new enclosure that will open next spring.

Kaia liked the monkeys. Me too. They’re my favorite!

Britton getting sooooooo big. He definitely doesn’t have monkey arms!

Enjoying the view

Can't you see I'm eating here?

B reading about the monkeys

This flower was the size of a dinner plate

Hangin' around with the giraffes

The sea lions gave us a show

K climbed up on the rock in the jungle. Quite happy about it.

vivid blue tang in the anemone

Beautiful flamingos

We had a great time and the kids did great without naps. Though, they were out in about 5 seconds of our ride home. Britton said his favorite was the sea lions. Mine are the monkeys. I think Kaia liked them too. Mark liked the penguins.

What’s your favorite animal at the zoo?

After more than 40 years on the air, All My Children is ending its over the air run on September 23rd. It has played a major part in the lives of millions of people and will be greatly missed.

After a year and a half, Britton’s run on the show has also come to an end. He has made many great friends, made many fun memories and is sad that it’s over (well, maybe me more than him).

The last couple days of shooting were a lot of fun because he was with all of the other kids and they always take care of him and play with him.

The Kids

Britton and his buddy

Favorite teacher Dana

Britton with his "grandma Erica"

B with friend Nichole

After the shooting wrapped and they got a cast photo, the next day was the AMC Wrap Party. It was fun to go out with Britton and spend time with him. Plus, we enjoyed getting out and doing something “adult” as well. Kaia was with my mom and was reportedly an angel.

It was at the:

in Hollywood.

Amazing cake made by a fan

Britton with his friends

Drai's rooftop

B and stage manager Michelle

M, B with his fan Bob (casting director) and assistant

Making crazy faces with "Aunt Bianca"

B with his "two" mommies

Playing and colliding with T and J

Getting a good view

Elizabeth, Ellah, B and Mark

There was a video that they had a hard time getting to work, but it was behind the scenes photos, videos with the cast and crew, clips from the show etc. They had a part in there from this week where they took “family photos” but also videoed and there was Britton in the front saying “Oh, they’re taking pictures.” It was so cute. I hope we can get a copy of it, because there were supposedly more pictures of the kids too.

We had a really fun night visiting with people and saying “see ya later.” Britton liked playing with the kids and getting passed around by his friends. Everyone will be missed! But, we do look forward to keeping in touch and seeing them again.

Farewell AMC!