Seven Blessed Years

Our 7th Wedding Anniversary

I've decided I'll have to make a tradition out of taking this sort of picture of myself when we go out to celebrate our anniversary. It wasn't until I got home and loaded my pictures onto my computer, I realized I did exactly the same shot last year, at The Oxford Hotel. Weird.

I have to be honest, Justin planned this little anniversary getaway 100%, he completely spoiled me, and I fought him on the whole thing, believe me. I didn't want to leave Eisley {clingy pregnancy hormones} and I told him we didn't need to do anything this fabulous, especially while I was 9 months pregnant. He reminded me that: 1. We wouldn't have a chance to get away again in quite a while, no thanks to Miss Violet and her expected neediness upon arrival. He's right, who knows when our next vacation might be? And our last vacation was well over a year ago... And: 2. Our first five years of anniversaries went uncelebrated.

I caved. And I'm really glad I did.

The first thing we did for our mini-getaway was to go see Cirque du Soleil's Alegria. It was, of course, magical. We've seen two other shows before, Varekai & Corteo. We have yet to see a CdS show that didn't leave us astounded. It's an art form on it's own.

They have everything: contortionists, trapeze artists, flame throwers, clowns {the artistic, non-scary kind}, out of this world costumes, tantalizing music... we love this art form.
Since Alegria was running down in Colorado Springs, Justin decided to make reservations for us to stay in nearby Manitou Springs - a quirky, hippie town that sits at the base of Pikes Peak. I've always loved a trip to Manitou Springs - it's the town Boulder can only aspire to be. Seriously. Gorgeous old buildings, history, amazing views of the mountains and rock formations - there is no town quite like it in all of Colorado. It's a CO gem, to be sure.

And Justin, he picked the most lovely place to stay: The Cliff House.

Except it wasn't all green & lush when we were there last week, for obvious reasons. This hotel was brought back to life just over a decade ago after a fire destroyed it's original body. Still, the hotel carries a sense of history with it, and still looks just as lovely as ever. Yes. If you know me, even just a little, you know Justin made a fantastic choice in staying here. Just like last year with The Oxford. The man knows how to aesthetically please a woman.

The Cliff House has suites named after the celebrities that have stayed there, such as Kathy Bates or Buffalo Bill. Ours was the Jenny Lind Suite -she was a Swedish opera singer, just like me.
To say the least, it was very nice. Too nice...
It was wonderful and superfluous. Wonderfully superfluous, I won't ever forget how lovingly my husband planned this.
A TV behind a painting! What the...? Take that, Holiday Inn Express...Our gift from The Cliff House. {So beats a shower cap. Even though there was one of those, too...}
Except there was no butler. We had to serve ourselves our own drinks. Lame...

No, but seriously, in case you have any doubts on the quality of this hotel...
behold! You know a place is really schnazzy when they provide you with Aveda products. When I saw these I knew we'd be okay... {but I still checked the mattress for bed bugs.}
The Cliff House, to my surprise & delight, was furnished with well over 20 {just from the rooms we saw} original Rockey paintings. Charles Rockey is a famous Manitou Springs artist. I love his work, and I recognized it almost immediately as my mother owns an original Rockey. She obtained it when she was living in the Springs doing theatre at the Iron Springs Chateau Melodrama and Dinner Theatre. Today he's quite famous - it was amazing to get to see so many of his works up close.
The Cliff House was filled with historic items that I wanted to steal... but Justin reminded me that they had our credit card on file and this wasn't just some hotel bathrobe you can charge to your room...
Another Rockey of The Cliff House during it's restoration:
We didn't have too much time to bum around Manitou, but we did walk down the main strip just a bit. It's a very eclectic little village!

I panicked when I realized we'd forgotten to pack chocolate. But no worries, the local fudge shoppe had us covered.
Most of their little shops weren't "my type" of chic boutique, but interesting and lovely nonetheless.
We even took a stroll down Lovers Lane. Seriously.
And then headed back to our room {I labeled our room on the picture below}.

We got cozy and watched... The Fugitive. Most romantic movie. Ever.
Justin had made dinner reservations at The Cliff House's dining room. It was absolutely delicious! We had a dinner for two special with house salads, fillet mignon, and creme brulée. Although I did get really angry at myself for not bringing the camera down, especially when another couple a few tables over had the waiter snap their picture - I was insanely jealous. In the morning it was time to pack up and go home, leaving all luxury behind - but getting back to Pie was worth it. One last stop, however, was to get a couple's massage at the Columbine Day Spa. This was a first massage experience for both of us - and this sent our weekend anniversary getaway over the top.

It's a joy to look back on 7 years with Justin - and to look forward to many more. The weekend ended with me feeling like an incredibly spoiled wife, which is exactly what I am. But I still look back on last year's anniversary with so much fondness, I know the memory of this year's anniversary will last a long time as well. Next year I think we should just go to McDonald's...

The Violet Report

In case you can't make out her face:
With just over 30 days left until my due date, I'm posting a Violet Report. I just got home from visiting the doctor, and I feel so blessed every time I visit and get nothing but good news & "everything looks good's".

Here are some stats:

• Violet is currently head down {although that can still change}
• So far, no dropping, no dilating, no effacing - which is all just fine
  
• My BP is okay, but slightly higher than average - no worries there yet {and I did have a crazy day, so that can contribute}
• Violet's heartbeat is 130, perfect
• In another 4 days I can go into labor and they won't try and stop me!
  
• I've only gained one pound since last month, which is especially great since they technically diagnosed me with gestational diabetes - even though I really don't believe I have it because my glucose numbers have been normal despite not changing my diet dramatically {I have to stick myself 4 times a day to test}, I haven't needed any meds like insulin, and the perinatologist I saw told me during an ultrasound, "If it wasn't for you failing the glucose test I'd never believe you have gestational diabetes." I really believe, if anything, I'm barely "borderline" gd. But anyway, one pound, and after the holidays no less - yay!

Please keep myself & Violet in your prayers if you think of us! Now that I go to the doctor every week until she arrives, I'll keep everyone posted on how we're doing.

{Don't miss the previous post - a video of Eisley's 2010!}

Hello 2011

Dear Eisley,

This year was fabulous, but you probably won't remember the best moments as you're only 2. Please enjoy this video/slide-show of some of my favorite moments {set to a Flogging Molly song, oh my!}:






Love,
Mommy
P.S. You are beautiful.
P.P.S. Next year you'll have to share the spotlight.

Christmas Traditions

It's Christmas Eve, 2010. Just about an hour ago I woke up, picked up my phone, and checked a couple new emails. One from my mom has me thinking about Christmas traditions, and how much they mean to me...

"Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols is on." was all the email said.

I know exactly what that is, of course. The Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols has been on the radio for decades, every Christmas Eve, broadcast live from Cambridge, England. And my family has tuned into it for almost as many Christmas Eves as it's been on.

Not like we sit around the radio with perked up ears, don't get me wrong, but it was always a part of my Christmas growing up. Always there, in the background.

Something about holidays solicits families to create and carry on traditions. And you know, I really like this about holidays. Many of my best memories in life come from the traditions we celebrate.

For the most part. There was one other Christmas Eve tradition that wasn't my favorite. Growing up, for whatever reason, my mother always made borscht for Christmas Eve dinner. Borscht is a Russian soup made from beets, and thus it's dark red like blood with a little purplish hue. I love you mom, and I'm sure your borscht was wonderful as far as borscht goes, my sister and dad never had any complaints. It does not appeal to my palate, I'm sorry to say. I am admittedly a picky eater. It's just that, to me, beets taste like dirt and minerals. So, yum, dirt soup. Every Christmas Eve. I typically went to bed on Christmas Eve with an empty stomach.



And we're not Russian. Just sayin'.

Other Christmastime traditions include listening to my parents amazing Christmas music collection for weeks each year. Justin recently called me a "music snob", and he's probably right. But I just can't tolerate that pop music Christmas crap they have on the radios. My parent's collection includes The Christmas Revels, Mediaeval Baebes, and, true to our Lutheran heritage, a little Garrison Keillor. Those are just a few of my favorite artists out of their vast collection of Christmas CDs. These days, it's not Christmastime unless I hear me a little bit o' the Revels. The best part is that this music isn't about gifts & Santa & getting things - the Revels sing songs from the old world. Songs about Christ and history. Can you see why I find it superior? Yes, Virginia, I am a snob.

When Bea & I were kids, as soon as the tree went up we'd start checking our little personal ornaments that opened when you squeezed them. A little elf was known to frequent our house and leave Hershey Kisses in our ornaments each day. This year, my mom picked up a few box ornaments for her grandchildren. Now the elf can come back for them.


When I moved out of my parent's home as an adult, I missed the cookie baking & decorating we'd do each year, so I proposed a baking party. This year was our (5th?) year of doing the annual "Women of the Clan Bake & Take", as my mom has dubbed it. My poor mother usually ends up hosting and thus is left with the mess, but it is a good time, nonetheless. These days, the grandchildren are involved, and that brings new joy to have little ones experiencing this tradition.


One year - after my parents got sick of waking up at 5am with overly excited children, opening gifts, and then making it to a church service a few hours later all dressed up - we decided to start attending the Christmas Eve candlelight service at church. It was a much more peaceful & relaxed way to attend a church service for Christmas, and now to this day I still look forward to that service after dark. Tonight in church as we sing songs like "Silent Night" I will hold Eisley close and thank God for our baby savior born centuries ago and who still is a light in the world.


Then there's the big fat guy, too. St. Nicholas, who brings toys & candy for the children. Now that we have children of our own experiencing this, a few family differences have been brought up. In my family, Santa always left our gifts unwrapped, in a well placed pile under the tree; displayed so that when we ran out on Christmas morning it was joy overload - our eyes taking it all in at once. In my husband's family, he remembers Santa delivered wrapped gifts. {He also learned something new this year, "Stockings are from Santa???" That's what happens when you're the youngest of four kids.} While I can see the benefits to both, I don't think Santa is up to wrapping Eisley's gift this year, so we'll probably continue in the tradition of sensory overload.

Which leads me to deeper understanding of my mother. I was always a little frustrated with her when I was a kid, that she would insist that we wake her up before going to see what was left under the tree for us. As a kid, I didn't get it. As a mom, I totally do. As the matriarch of the family, you spend weeks baking, composing Christmas cards, shopping, wrapping, cooking, decorating - etc. One thing that makes up for all the hard work is seeing your children's eyes light up on Christmas morning, seeing what Santa left for them. Kids, you owe your mom.

Finally, one tradition might have been started last year, when we made a little music video set to Bob Dylan's "Must Be Santa". Plans for shooting a quick video tomorrow at my parent's house is in the works... we'll see if it comes to fruition.

This is Eisley's first year of comprehending {at least a little bit} the joys of the Christmas season. And so for the first time in years, Christmas is as exciting to me as it was when I was a child. She doesn't understand the significance of the "baby Jesus" in her nativity set yet, but she can point him out when asked to. She doesn't know why suddenly this month she sees candy canes all over, but she knows they're tasty. She's not quite sure why we decided to put a big tree in the living room, but she has fun "rearranging" the ornaments.

She doesn't know what all these details {the music, the church service, the baking of cookies} are quite about yet, but someday she will know these tradition's significance. That she experiences them, each year, with the people who love her most.

"What an enormous magnifier is tradition! How a thing grows in the human memory and in the human imagination, when love, worship, and all that lies in the human heart, is there to encourage it." ~ Thomas Carlyle

Yoooooooooooooo.....

...Gabba Gabba!

Yes, we met the Gabba Gang! And sadly this is my only decent picture {why, why, why did I not take my real camera that night?} since it was part of the VIP party package we paid a "little" extra for. Are you thinking what I'm thinking? "Where the heck is my 7 month pregnant belly?" Violet is camera shy.
{For those of you who are not aware, Yo Gabba Gabba is "the cool" kids show. The one parents don't hate or get overly annoyed with - ahem, Elmo & Dora, I'm talking to you. It's hip, it's full of celebrity guests like Jack Black & bands like The Killers, and it's fresh material.}

The Pie & Daddy wearing DJ Lance Rock glasses.
Maybe it made my day more than it made Pie's? I think she was a little shocked and in awe of the experience. The show was a lot for a 2 year old pie to take in.
But it was a great show. A giant screen, all the characters, confetti guns, thousands of balloons {Pie's favorite} released from above, and bubble machines. It was the ultimate rave for a toddler.
The crowd went wild when the Gabba Gang appeared.
And there they were, the friends we've been watching on TV since Pie was 10 months old, now right in front of us.
Eisley sang along to the songs, danced like...well, like she was drunk, and partied harder than a frat boy.
And I mostly watched her the entire time. The joy on her face was more important to me.
Although she did take a couple breaks to rest from the excitement during the show.
Here's a shot of "There's a Party In My Tummy!", in which the Gabba Gang cleverly entices children to eat their vegetables because the carrots & beans cry and are sad when they're not "invited to the party in your tummy." Clever, clever... and a little bit of a guilt trip.
Having VIP tickets, after the show we were invited into the lounge to meet the Gabba Gang in person!

Here we are with the guest celebrity, Leslie Hall! You know, LESLIE! Of the gem sweater fame? I kid you not, I'm a fan of this lady. Above all other humor, I most enjoy and appreciate those who are not afraid to poke fun at themselves, and not afraid to be ridiculous. Leslie Hall is a lady, only my sister's age, who brings humor to the world by dressing in outrageous outfits, collecting dated gem sweaters, and sporting a frumpy hairstyle. I love her. {She said I smelled good, and seemed charmed when I told her I was a fan and wanted a picture.}
Anyway. Back to the point.
Pie met Plex (the "Magic Robot") first.
...and Muno ("He's tall & friendly")
THERE - that's the face that made it all worth it.
Lastly, we met DJ Lance Rock. He is really nice in person, called Pie a sweetheart and kissed her on the cheek after this photo. She fainted. Just kidding. {Sigh... my cell phone actually takes really good pictures. Just the lighting in there was horrible.}

Razzle Dazzle!
{That's what the Gabba Gang would say.}