Vail Vacation

So I was asked to join my Manager of Job Procurement Deb to a conference in Vail for the American Institute of Architects (AIA). We participated as Exhibitors at the conference with our booth set up along with other Colorado general contractors, engineers, and subcontractor all advertising our products and services. We left friday morning and stayed in town until Sunday afternoon. Meg and Sofia were able to join me on a little getaway. I worked the crowed with Deb on Friday night and Saturday Morning while the girls enjoyed some fresh mountain air. On Satrday afternoon, we went to Vail Village for shopping and dinner. Most of the shops were closing so we had to stop back Sunday morning. We left Sunday afternoon and did some outlet shopping on the way back. It was a beautiful time and enjoyed by all.

"My future's so bright, I gotta wear shades..."

Hey Daddio, can I have my crayons back?

"At this age, I will climb anything and everything!'
We loved the architecture of all the shops in Vail Village...

Being a Follower isn't always bad.

Hey! I have enabled a new widget on the sidebar of our blog called "Who's Checking Us Out?". We would love to know who follows our blog on a regular basis. To do this, simply click on the link that says Follow This Blog, enter in your info and voila! You're officially a fan! Have fun!

Can You Catch Us?

We have officially entered the fall "speed zone".

Normal Routine: up at 5 a.m. (or before), to work soon after, home by 5:30, PLAY until 7, Sofia in bed at 7:30, sit back down to do work, in bed by 10. Repeat until Friday with various evening activities interspersed.

Speed Zone: Normal Routine + Crazy Weekend Adventures for the next 4 weeks

Let me explain. It all began last weekend when we were watching our friend Matt participate in his first triathalon. It was beautiful outside and so much fun to support him! We were up early and headed to the course around 8. On our way there, we received a call from Jaffer, Chris's sister's boyfriend. He was driving cross country with some of his buddies and would be hitting Denver around dinnertime. Did we want to get together? Absolutely! SO, we watched Matt, had lunch with him, Stacey & the girls, the boys took the kids so Stacey and I could do some shopping and then it was time to get cleaned up for dinner. We headed downtown so the boys could meet. Sofia and I only stayed for a drink because she was a bit antsy for the place we were at. While the boys ate, I headed to my friend Dawn's house and hung out (later going back to pick up Chris and bring him back to Dawn's as well). It was a super fun day. End Saturday.

Sunday, we got up and headed off to church. Going to church has been such a great outlet lately as I have been singing in a gospel trio with two of my friends. We have such a blast and the music we have been doing is amazing! It feels great to be singing again. :) We sang at the 8:45 service and then I stayed for the 11:00 service to sing a song during a baptism. After church, BRONCOS! We had some fun family time watching our favorite team and wound down the weekend. End Sunday.

Insert Normal Routine.

And now, here we go. Can you keep up with us? I am now typing from a beautiful hotel room in Vail. Chris is here on a conference and Sofia and I got to tag along! The weather is beautiful and aspen trees are changing color. It is quite surreal. We will return Sunday only to rev it up for a crazy-busy week, as usual for the both of us. Chris is winding up his job up in Lafeyette and has done a stellar job. He has gotten nothing but acolades for his work. He has grown so much in the past year with his company. I am so proud of him!

On Thursday night, my mom comes for the weekend. Woo hoo! Next weekend, our friends Jen and Randal are getting marriend. I am singing two songs in their wedding AND doing Jen's hair! The following weekend, Chris's dad will be coming for a visit and there is a forecast of some MAJOR golfing on the itinerary. We can't wait!

Needless to say, life is busy. Sofia is fabulous as usual. She seems to grow and learn something new every day. I just love being her mom. :)

That's all for now. We will be sure to post some pics of our weekend in Vail.

A Short Story

One of the things that I love most about Denver is the unpredicatbility of the city. For instance...

Last night, Chris and I were driving downtown and looked over at a twinkling marque outside a theater that said that Martin Short was performing "tonight". I said to my honey that that would be such a fun show to go to. He is so hilarious! We pulled up to the end of the block and the light turned red. Two people crossed in front of our car...one of them MARTIN SHORT!

Chris dared me to say something. So, I rolled down my window and wished him luck at his show. He turned around with a huge smile and waved. Ha!

Besides coming within just a few feet of Jared, the Subway guy, that might be my closet brush with a celebrity yet. :)

Uncle Dick

Chris's Uncle Dick has entered a long road of recovery after his motorcycle accident last week. He is currently undergoing treatment in Minneapolis and will be there for quite some time. His son, Ryan, has created a great CaringBridge website for him in attempts to keep everyone updated. Be sure to check it out and sign the guest book if you feel so inclined.

http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/richardweltsch

Sofia Overload!

Here are a few videos of our little stinky winky. Hope you enjoy!

Prayer Request for Uncle Dick

My Uncle Dick (mom's younger brother) in MN was in a bad motorcycle accident last night and is in critical condition. His leg was broken multiple places, broken nose and facial wounds, and he may have a cracker vertibrae. A while back he had Whipple surgery that rearranged his organs so his body is in quite a bit of shock. He has lost a lot of blood. Please provide prayers and keep our family in your thoughts....

I Said It's A Bunky!

Grown Up

This week has been big.

I turned 28 on Monday and I discovered that working with grown ups is totally different than working with kids. Go figure.

Here's why: When working with kids, they try desperately to be like adults. When working with adults, they revert to being babies when they don't get their way.

Now, those of you who don't spend your day with pre-pubescent teens, I'm sure made this discovery long ago. Apparently turning 28 opened my eyes to what being a "grown up" actually is like. Better late than never, I suppose.


P.S. We took a GREAT video of Sofia tonight. I will get it up ASAP. :)

Sailor Child

The setting: Grocery store
Characters: Sofia and Mom
Background: Sofia refuses to stay seated in the grocery cart

Mom: Sofa, will you sit down please? Thank you!

Sofia laughs without sitting.

Mom: Sofia, sit down please.

Sofia laughs, again, without sitting.

Mom: Sofia! Sit!

Sofia: Shit! Shit! Shit!

We might have to work on the "s" sound.

Operation Big Girl Bed

So we are now 5 days into Sofia sleeping in her new big girl bed. I have to admit that after the first night we were a little worried that we had made a big mistake. After it taking nearly 3 hours AND a car ride to get her to sleep and then three night-time wakings we were dreading night number two.

Monday night was much better - only 45 minutes to get to sleep and one wake-up.

Tuesday night - 20 minutes and one wake up.

Wednesday night - 15 minutes and NO wake ups!

It has stayed the same since then!!

The funniest part about this entire experience took place on Thursday morning when I went into Sofia's room to wake her up to leave. When she didn't wake up at her usual time, I decided to just let her sleep and I would wisk her away when it was time to go. So the time came for me to grab her and I opened her door to find her sitting in the middle of her bed, light on, reading a story! She looked at me with an expression of, "What are you looking at, lady? I'm reading."

Can you say, Independent Woman?

Labor Day Family Time!

Today was the last day of the Stapleton pools being open so the Daniel Family took full advantage! In addition to Saturday, we packed up a lunch of sandwiches, raisins, crackers, grapes and juice and headed off to our brand new pool. Unfortunately it closed last week and we were sent the other direction to the Puddle Jumper pool. Still in bike riding distance, this pool is designed for little ones like our growing princess. There are many fountains and play features in and out of the pool to keep hold of the attention span of little ones. Right after lunch, we asked Sofia if she was ready for a nap and she replied with a new, very clear word "yes". So, both days I loaded her up in the bike chariot and took her for a ride. Both times she was out before I figured out which route I was going to take. Once back to the pool, this nap time allowed Mom and Daddio some nice quite time in the sun.

Anyone remember the song by Dave Mathew's Band "Don't Drink the Water"...

I will never get enough of these checks....

Sofia learning to kick, kick, kick...

Actually suprised how long the sun hat lasted. Its a bird, no it's a plane, no it Super Sofia.
What a yawn from a tired girl in her new bed.
Good night little sweetheart. Childhood innocence in it's purest form.
This bed was Meg's back at home in GR when she, and I mean as in Meghan alone, adopted Jack. He has been laying on this bed since we put it up last night.

Bye Bye Baby Days

Today, Chris and I had a dose of reality that our little baby girl is not quite a "baby" anymore. Aside from the constant mention of "poo poo" and pointing to her bum as an indication of toilet training in the near future, we were feeling fairly secure that our wee one was still, well, wee. The other night, however, we went to check on Sofia before falling asleep and realized that she looked HUGE in her crib. Was it time? Really? Time for the Big Girl Bed? So it was.

Before Sofia was born, we had used her room as guest room and had a queen sized bed in it. We decided that since we had this bed in storage it would be stupid to purchase a toddler/twin bed when we could simply put the queen bed back in the room AND now have a place for people to sleep when the come to visit. So, this morning, we headed off to Target on a decorating mission. We are quite pleased with our finds and the reusability of our crib! We screwed the two ends of the crib together to make a headboard. It turned out great! ...Sofia seemed to think so too. :)

We also had a dose of reality when we just looked at Sofia today. I pulled her hair back in a ponytail and she just looked so much older! Both Chris and I both had a moment of getting choked up today. Where has the time gone?



We also found this 90+ set of play food items by General Mills for $10. It even comes with minature boxes of hamburger helper, Cherrios, and Taco Kits. These are real boxes with ingredients, heath labels, and instructions! I can't wait for G-Pa to join us on a web chat and teach Sofia the average profit margin and best marketing methods for each item! If the peas go missing, I'll bet Sofia pulled an Aunt Lindsey and dumped them in the trash can!

Say what?

Me: Sofia, what did you do today?
Sofia: poo poo

Chris: Are you a big girl?
Sofia: poo poo

Hmm. Maybe it's time to think about toilet training.