winter.

this winter has been rough.  avery now has the flu (which is the fourth time she's been sick this winter), both charlie and i had it earlier, and i'm just praying that ellie escapes it.  our pediatrician is not above attempting to scare me into flu shots for all (i refuse!) but it doesn't help my worry when one or all of us fall sick.  anyway, add that to subzero temps, a baby who can start screaming at the drop of a hat (for no apparent reason), and a husband working around the clock with lots of travel thrown in and things have not been easy.  

i feel bad for my kids.  it's always sad to see a baby cry and cry and not be able to figure out why and i hate seeing anyone i love get sick, but i'm not going to lie, i also feel bad for myself a bit.  ellie seems to do better when we get out of the house and that's not possible when a is sick.  so housebound we are.  there are moments of peace.  usually in the middle of the day but the evenings are really rough a lot of the time.  even if ellie isn't crying i'm always on pins and needles just waiting for it to start.  if charlie's around i don't worry as much because if she does start crying i can just go take care of her but if he's not around then it's so hard because i still have to feed avery, clean up dinner, get her ready for bed, etc. etc. when all i want to do is stop the baby from crying.  i think ellie's pretty sensitive to light and noise (i thought second children were supposed to be immune to this stuff) so come 6ish she's ready for a dark and quiet room and avery doesn't go to bed until 7.    

the one saving grace has been that avery sleeps well, both naps and nights, and even when she's sick.  and ellie actually does really well at night.  it can take a while to get her to sleep but that first stretch is usually around 6 hours, which is pretty good in my book!

i've been reading the long winter to avery at random times.  she seems to like it even if she's way too young for it and it's been fairly appropriate as we've been feeling trapped in our house staring longingly at the playground.  i don't know how people in colder climates do it!  are they just hardier and therefore they brave the cold and everyone survives? or do they just stay indoors?

last week we had a few doctors appointments and we also made a trip to the bookstore to read books and play with legos.  avery had a great time and then got the flu 2 days later.  poor kid.  we have so many makeup gymnastics classes to do but i see no point in attempting to make them up until the flu season is behind us.  

yesterday i spent hours slaving over a soup that was dinner for that night but also supposed to be dinner for the next three nights for avery and i.  i cannot cook in the evenings unless charlie's around to soothe ellie and he's gone this whole week.  also, this is my soup that i like to make when people are sick since it has all of those good-for-you things in it to help fight off germs.  anyway, i came downstairs this morning and found the pot of soup sitting on the stove.  i had forgotten to put it in the refrigerator.  and so i started crying.  avery was in full blown whine/cry mode because she wanted juice, no not that juice the other juice, and then she wanted a paper towel from mommy NOT daddy, but mommy was busy crying in the corner.  

we will survive.  i am counting the days until spring.  and i know ellie can't be this volatile forever.  i still love her a lot.  but man, the constant crying sort of breaks my heart.  when she falls asleep i just stare at her, trying to freeze the image of a sweet sleeping baby and save it for those evening hours when i need it most.    

a bit of snow.

we haven't really had much snow this winter.  i keep telling charlie that i'm expecting this winter to be just like last winter where we didn't get much until march and april and then it snowed at least once a week.  i really hope i'm wrong about this but i'm mentally preparing for no spring again this year.  anyway we got a few inches the other week and avery finally agreed to go out and play in it.  she doesn't have real snow boots.  we really need to get her some, but we got this snowsuit at rei at the end of the season last year for something like 60% off and i love it!  she does, too i think.  we got some use out of it last year and it still fits her fine this year since we bought a size bigger so she could wear it this winter.  i took her out in the front yard and she ran around and crawled around and caught snowflakes on her tongue and ate it by the handful.  i finally had to drag her inside because i was freezing.  i'm on the hunt for some boots and hopefully we'll get a few more snowfalls for her to play in.  

a snowy saturday...

it snowed all day today and avery and i spent the day doing random things around the house and trying to recover from our week.  charlie left to go skiing at 5 am and thankfully both avery and i slept until 7. we had a hard week last week.  between mastitis and last minute work deadlines i was ready to just spend some time with avery without trying to do a million other things at the same time.  and although usually by the time saturday rolls around i'm dying to get out of the house, the fact that the snow was piling up outside made me happy to get a few things done around the house and play with avery.  we took two naps, 'painted' with yogurt, did a bunch of laundry, cleaned out closets that i've been putting off, ate grilled cheese for lunch, read lots of books, and watched the dogs run around in the snow.  

tomorrow we're looking forward to french toast and i think after this snow i'm ready for spring.  and with the forecast showing temperatures in the 70s next week i think we may just get it. 

this weekend.

we spent our weekend playing darts (highly unusual), eating breakfast for odd meals, running errands, buying bonsi trees, cleaning, watching football and football themed movies, grilling hotdogs in a toaster oven, eating cheese and crackers, saying goodbye to friends, playing in the snow, and drinking lots of coffee.

there was not a lot of productivity that happened.

i did happen to conquer the world's largest pile of laundry.

and the hole in our wall got fixed.

you wouldn't think a pipe this small could cause as big of a problem as it did. but apparently it can.

saturday it started snowing.

and we let the dogs run around a bit.

and by sunday morning there were a few more inches of snow on the ground.

just enough snow to make everything look pretty.

frozen pipes: round 2

today i woke up to a balmy negative nine degrees.

i realize to people in the midwest this is nothing. on the plane to hawaii we were with a bunch of people from minnesota. it was negative thirty the day they left. yeah, -30. i can't even imagine what that feels like.

but after spending a week in 80 degree weather -9 feels pretty chilly. and last night before i went to bed i was doing a chemistry problem set (quick flash back to hell undergrad), which meant that i wasn't really thinking about the fact that the temps were going to dip into the negatives at night. so today i woke up to frozen pipes. now, this happened last year so you think i'd be prepared. except last year the only pipe that froze was our kitchen sink because the pipe runs through the garage. (seriously who runs a pipe through an uninsulated garage in a place where design temperatures are -10?). this time that pipe froze AND the pipes that run to our showers. so not only can i not shower, but if that pipe happens to burst it would soak 3 floors of our house, which is everything we own. oh, and did i mention that we don't have renters insurance? yeah, we're idiots. and charlie's in las vegas right now (just like he was last time), which means i'm left to deal with this one on my own. so i called work and let them know i'd be working from home but i have class today that i have to go to. i'm really hoping that these pipes unfreeze before then (because i'd really like a shower) and then i won't have to worry about coming home to a drenched house.

the dogs also hate it when the temperatures get this cold. they usually limp around on three legs because their paws get too cold. and then henry starts whining.

devil's thumb.

the monday after christmas my parents and i drove out to devil's thumb ranch.

they had been last year to go x-country skiing and have been talking about how beautiful it was all year long. charlie and alex were over skiing at mary jane and i debated going with them, but figured i could downhill with charlie any weekend i wanted.

so henry, my parents and i piled into my carolla and caused a small traffic jam on route 40. i'm oh so happy my little car made it safety to tabernash although it wasn't exactly easy getting there.

i had decided to go snowshoeing while my parents skied and while everyone tried to talk me out of it, i'm so glad i didn't listen because i loved snowshoeing. loved as in, forget skis i want snowshoes. cheaper, more practical, and both the dogs and i can get some exercise. and the best thing about snowshoeing, i stayed warm the entire time! every time i go skiing i freeze on the lift, which i hate.

anyway, devil's thumb ranch. it was beautiful. and peaceful. and i never thought i'd be the kind of person to pick a snowy cold mountain over a warm beach, but this place won me over.

yesterday i was here snowshoeing with henry.

and let me tell you, it was so.much.prettier in person.

winter love.

this happens to me every year.

without fail, in the middle of summer and winter i start getting nostalgic for the opposite season.

i don't feel this way about spring and fall.

maybe because fall is my favorite season?

maybe because i'm ready for a change by the time they come around.

maybe because in colorado, they're both about a week long.

but when i see pictures like these:

... and this,

it makes me miss winter just a bit.

as long as i have a warm hat and boots and jacket when i'm outside.

and a hot toddy and a fire to come home to.

so.over.winter.

seriously, i'm so done with winter.

normally i start feeling like this in march, but this year as soon as the holidays were over i was ready for some spring.

although, if colorado decides to provide me with a huge snowstorm. (one that actually closes schools) i might be able to change my mind for a bit. ;)

ever since winter started i've been trying to convince charlie that he needs to go snowshoeing with me. i've never been and always wanted to go. and since we're REI members we get pretty sweet rental rates.

when my parents were here over the holidays they went cross country skiing at Devils Thumb Ranch. they pretty much couldn't stop talking about it and the "ranch" has both skiing and snowshoeing trails. it's also a pretty easy day trip for us, although i was thinking it might be pretty nice to head there for the weekend.

they have the cutest dog-friendly cabins. that i've been thinking would be perfect to share with some friends for a weekend.

i also wanted to try skijoring with henry. i realize this might be a death sentance. henry LOVES to pull, which is pretty useful when we're backpacking, but i haven't been crosscountry skiing in 20 years. i'm betting my skills aren't that good. and if he happens to see a rabbit, or a bird, or a deer, or a coyote .... well, it could get ugly. but it could also be pretty fun.

i've got spring break coming up at the end of march ... hopefully i can convince charlie to give up a day of downhill skiing. if not, i might have to check this out on my own.

frozen pipes and Blurb

Whiny portion of the post:

Last night it was cold. Negative something. I woke up this morning to frozen pipes. Now the good thing is it's only in the kitchen, so I can still shower and all of that good stuff. But no water in the kitchen. Since we live in an apartment (VERY happy about that right now) I went down and filed a work order. And do you know what the woman at the desk told me? Oh, don't worry, that happened to a lot of people. Maybe you could try using a hair dryer on the pipes. Um, excuse me, what?!

A. The frozen part of the pipes is most probably not something I could reach with a hair dryer.

B. I am not spending my day holding a hair dryer to pipes.

C. How is it supposed to make me feel better that EVERYONES' pipes are frozen?

Blurb Book portion of the post:

I mentioned before that I ordered some books through Blurb. I ordered wedding albums for us, my parents, and C's parents. Overall I think they came out pretty well. I don't have PS so I just used the layouts in Blurb's BookSmart.

Things I liked:

... the imagewrap covers came out really well.

... the printing quality was really good! i used the premium paper and the colors and detail was really good.

... i ordered the 13x11 size for us and it seemed to work the best with cropping, etc.

... you can create your own custom layouts and/or change their layouts.

Things I didn't like:

... i used the 8x10 size for our parents and the cropping was a little off on some of the pages. it wasn't like they cropped the areas that they warn you might get cut in printing ... it was like they shifted the entire page up. i had selected a black background for a few of the pages and there's about a 1/10 inch white space at the bottom of the pages.

I was happier with our book than out parents' books but I think that was just because of the size. I would order through them again. I wouldn't order the 8x10 size again. Probably because I just think it's an awkward size.

Here's 2 pictures from our album:

It's 5 degrees ...

which means my dog grows icicles on his face when he's outside.

Poor Henry was not made for cold weather.

Even with his jacket on he was still shivering like crazy.

Snow love.

i love snow.

i love snowflakes and

snow on trees.

i love snow at night and tire tracks in the snow.

i love dogs in the snow.

i love throwing snowballs at charlie (not so much when he throws them back).

i love hats with pom-poms and warm mittens.

lovely snowy weekend.

Fuzzy Slippers and Bully Sticks

A few years ago my sister gave me these pink, fuzzy slippers for Christmas. They looked like something Reese Witherspoon would have worn in Legally Blond but they were so comfortable. I wore them all winter long. Then last year Henry ate them.

You see he went through a phase last year where, when we left the house he would go into our closet, take out all of our shoes, and rearrange them throughout the house. I thought it was cute. And then one day I came home and my shoes were rearranged and my pink fuzzy slippers were shredded. He was quite proud of himself. After that we started closing our closet door.

Anyway, a few days ago I went out and bought myself some new fuzzy slippers ... I mean winter's basically here and I hate socks. I made sure when I brought them home that I showed them to Henry ... we had a long discussion about the fact that these were not toys. He seemed to understand. Then today I got home from running errands. Charlie and I were eating lunch and I looked around and noticed that my fuzzy slippers were in the living room, when I had left them in the closet upstairs. Basically, Henry didn't listen to a word I said during our "fuzzy slipper" conversation. I'm wondering how long these slippers will last.

Henry, if you're reading this .... these are NOT toys.

I decided to buy him a toy that he could chew on. I got a rawhide for him and a bully stick for Dunkin. He ignored the rawhide and stole the bully stick from Dunkin.

Cozy...

Couldn't you just hibernate here all winter long?

I know I could. Curled up by one of the fireplaces with some dogs at my feet & and an endless supply of hot toddies ...