New Hair

My hair color has always been a funny thing. Growing up I was naturally a blond. As I got older it gradually got darker and darker but I still saw myself as a blond. After I had Sarah my hair had turned really dark and I started doing blond highlights which I loved. Last week I decided to go back to my original hair color. Highlighting my hair was getting to be too time consuming and expensive especially now with two kids. I went a little darker than my natural color and at first I wasn't too sure about it. Now I am really happy with how it came out and Kevin loved it so much he took a few pictures.

An added bonus!

Sarah and Hailey

HAILEY AT ONE MONTH OLD

HAILEY AT TWO MONTHS OLD

HAILEY AT THREE MONTHS OLD

Rocky Mountain National Park

Right after the 4th of July we went to Rocky Mountain National Park. It was so beautiful and there were wild flowers all over the park. The day we went it was a little chilly but we had a good time. Sarah had so much fun exploring the meadows and seeing the mountains and wild life. On the drive up she kept saying, "Look mommy there's the mountains!" I loved hearing her get so excited about them. Hailey slept most of the time of course. We saw some amazing sights that reminded us why we love living in Colorado.

Sarah walking through a field of flowers backed by Aspen trees.

Taking time to smell the flowers.

Sarah loved this little stream that she and Daddy found.

Sarah at a lookout on our way over the continental divide.
It was very cold and windy. She was a trooper!

"Look ma, no hands!"

The beautiful Rockies. I love living in Colorado!!

Sarah ready to get out of the cold wind.

A marmot that was out on the overlook.

Here is a mother duck swimming with all her little babies.

If you look closely you can see the ducklings walking in front of their mother.

The little ducklings swam so fast when they were in open water.

Our Summer in Review

So many things happened this Summer that I wanted to blog about but didn't get a chance to. I thought I would give a few highlights.

At the beginning of the summer we got Sarah a little wading pool and Sarah was so excited that the first time we filled it up with water she jumped right in with her diaper and clothes on. Her diaper swelled up to about five times it normal size. I had no idea diapers could hold that much water! It was so dang funny we were laughing about it for days.

The diaper was so heavy it fell down over her bum!

Sarah has always been fascinated with bugs. Her favorite bugs are rolly-pollies and she would spend hours outside looking for them and collecting them in her hand. Then later in the summer she discovered worms. One day she asked me if she could look for worms so I emptied her pool and put a few shovel fulls of dirt in it for her to sift through and look for them. Well it didn't take her long to find some. She had to show me and thought they were the coolest thing. She kept saying they tickled her.

"Look mom, worms. See?"

My dad and his wife Rebecca got us this double jogging stroller for Hailey's birth and I absolutely love it. It is so nice to take the girls out on a walk and the girls love the change of scenery. When I took this picture the screws for the foot plate had not come yet so it's not on in the pictures.

And of course it wouldn't be Summer without watermelon! Sarah loves watermelon and could probably eat a whole one if we let her.

Over all we had a great Summer. I tried to take Sarah to our community pool as much as possible after just having a baby. She taught herself how to swim with the help of floaties and can now swim in the big pool with them on. She would swim for hours at a time and loved every minute of it. She is definitely like me, we both love the water!

Arapahoe County Fair

On Saturday Kevin surprised us by taking us to the Arapahoe County Fair. We got there about 12:30pm and left around 6:00pm. First we saw a stunt dog show which wasn't that great. Then we went through the petting zoo and tried to get Sarah to milk a cow. She wouldn't but Kevin did. After that we went into the livestock area and saw all the animals. Then Kevin took Sarah on a bunch of the rides. Sarah had such a good time on the rides with Daddy. I was a little nervous because she freaked out over the horse ride in the grocery store a few months ago but she loved the rides at the fair. She even went on the Ferris Wheel with Daddy and loved that as well. Of course we had to eat some of the food while we were there. We had snow cones, kettle corn, frozen lemonade, smothered burritos and tacos. It was a wonderful surprise and a perfect day. Thanks for such a great day sweetheart!

Petting the pigs

Daddy milking the cow

Look Mommy, sheep!

Sarah holding a baby chick

This seriously was the biggest rooster I have ever seen!

Pippi the Clown

Sarah and Daddy on the Super Slide!

Sarah's first ride by herself!

Going on the Circus Train

Sarah loving the Ferris Wheel

More Potty Training News

Overall potty training is going well. Sarah is so excited to be wearing big girl panties and using the big potty like Mommy and Daddy. Friday was accident free. Saturday and Sunday she had a poop accident and so far today we have had a poop and pee accident. I was so proud of Sarah yesterday at church. We were about half way through Sacrament meeting when I asked her if she had to go potty. She said yes and I looked over at Kevin. He asked me if she would use the church potties because at home we use the cushy ring that fits over the regular seat. I told him I didn't know and off Sarah and I went to the restroom.

At first she didn't want to go into any of the stalls so I told her to pick one out. She did and of course it was one of the smallest ones. So I made my way in the stall with her. I got her up on the potty and asked her if she wanted me to hold her up there. She said she didn't and she was able to balance herself on the seat. Then I knelt down on the floor in front of her because she likes me at eye level when she uses the potty. It was extremely uncomfortable and felt pretty humiliating but I kept reminding myself that I was doing it for Sarah. She went right away and didn't have any problems. When she was finished she told me she wanted to go out of the stall before I flushed the toilet. She is afraid of the loud noise the public toilets make. It's funny because I hate that noise as well and still get kind of freaked out about it. I have never been able to figure out why. Anyways, Sarah didn't go potty again until we got home after church so she did great.

Today Sarah is starting to go pee by herself. This morning I asked her if she needed to go potty and she said yes. I was right in the middle of something so I told her to go ahead and get on the potty and I would be right in. By the time I got in there she had already went. Then about an hour ago she was playing in her play room and I was in the kitchen. All of a sudden she ran past me in the kitchen. I didn't think anything of it because she runs around the house all the time but then I heard her going potty in the bathroom. I peeked in on her with a big grin on my face and said to her, "you used the potty all by yourself and I didn't even have to remind you!" She was so excited and I told her how proud I was of her. We have gotten to the point that I don't have to give her stickers or blow out the candle. Just the excitement of using the potty is enough for her. I am so proud of how fast she is understanding the feeling of having to go to the bathroom and responding to it. We just need to work on the poop area.

It's funny, I have always heard women complain about the many hardships of motherhood and one of them has always been dealing with poop. I have never had a problem with it...until now. Can I just say how gross it is to clean up after a poop accident? I try very hard to hide my true feelings when I am in the process of cleaning one up because I don't want Sarah to feel bad for having an accident. She is just learning. But it is a challenge not to grimace or comment over it.

There is still work to be done but I really feel like Sarah is doing a great job with this whole process. I'm glad I don't have to buy diapers for her anymore. One child in diapers is expensive enough.