Happy birthday daddy!!

Family birthdays are getting more and more fun now that the kids really get excited and look forward to it.  They helped Mayensi decorate Bill's office with balloons and each made their own card - Isaac even wrote "I LOVE YOU" and drew a picture of himself! Caitlin used all different colors and drew lots of "scribblenauts" :) They both woke up excited to give him birthday loving - we even heard Cate singing happy birthday in the monitor when she woke up.

Family tradition - candle in the toast

so proud to give daddy their cards

very helpful in mixing (and eating) the cake ingredients 

and icing the cake (one spoon for me, one for the cake...)

isaac was more of a perfectionist, making sure it got on every corner

Finally, we went out to a family dinner with Mayensi and Uncle Evan and the kids got to eat all of Daddy's birthday tiramisu :)

The family celebration was great, and now we are looking forward to the real celebration this weekend when we go away overnight sans kiddos to Colorado Springs to hike the Garden of the Gods and stay at the Broadmoor!

Vail & Winter Park

In January, we had a great weekend in Vail with the whole family stuffed into the Schrutt condo.  We had a great day on the mountain with all of the kiddos (except Sebastian) making their way down on skiis.  Arielle and Isaac went to ski school, and the rest of us skied the greens and blues (except for one run where Bill and I accidentally took Caitlin down a black diamond mogul run - oops!!) I had a blast racing Jaden down the mountain - it's amazing how quickly these Colorado kids become ski bunnies - we are definitely psyched for Isaac and Caitlin to follow that path!

Aunt Alli cuddling with Talia and Caitlin

Alli and me skiing together for the first time in 5 years!

Bill and Caitlin (pre bump-run)

Alli, Jaden, Talia and Jen accompanying me down the blues

Isaac and Ari in ski school - Isaac was doing a jump!

post-ski snacktime

post-ski beer time :)



Dinnertime for the kiddos

The dads got in a day or real skiing on day 2 and we hung around the house.  The kids had a blast running around and playing with each other and didn't even complain. 

In March, we headed to Winter Park for another fun ski weekend - this time at Uncle Evan and Aunt Adrienne's condo.  Instead of cousins, the kids had a blast playing with Ludo and Nala (dogs) and got spoiled with attention by their aunt and uncle.

Caitlin is obsessed with Ludo - who is approx. 6 times her size.

On our way to the first ski run - the kids were bundled up and excited - but the (below?) freezing temperature didn't make for a long day of skiing.  They were troopers for the first few runs, but by noon the wheels fell off and the hysterics could only be cured with the promise of hot chocolate and no more runs!

Evan rode with Caitlin (back) and Bill rode with Isaac (front), and they both made serious progress on their ski skills as a result of the Anderson Ski School attention

Isaac got down the whole mountain on his own on the greens and made an impressive effort to get down the blues too.  He has no fear, and loves to try to get in jumps wherever possible.

Cuddling with Uncle Evan post naps and baths!

On day 2, we got bundled up again and went tubing.  We all had a blast - I thought they would be scared because it was fast, but the kids loved it and wanted to go back down again and again.

Overall, 2 great weekends combining our two favorite things about Colorado - hanging with family and skiing!

Revolving guest room door

We have been making great use of our guest rooms over the last few months! First we had a really fun visit with the Taft-Vazquez clan over new year's eve.  They came to visit for almost a week and both the kids and the grown-ups were happy to see each other and had a blast together.  We hope they will come back to visit again soon!

The boys spent the day skiing - Carlos and Bill got in a bunch of runs while Isaac and Charlie went to ski school

Genevieve and I stayed back to entertain Diego and Caitlin who were really cute together

We also had visits from the Grandpas.  Papa Rich came for a quick and fun weekend visit and Grandpa came for a week to help with the transition as Mayensi learned her way around and got more comfortable with the driving thing.

One of my good friends from high school brought his family to visit on their way to ski in Beaver Creek for the week.  Logan and Max had lots of fun with Isaac, Caitlin and Sebastian and it was lots of fun for us to watch them all play together while catching up.

We also had a really fun President's Day weekend visit with Lusa's family and they brought Cesi with them which was an AWESOME treat for all of us.  Isaac and Lusa could not have been happier to see each other and were inseparable all weekend, including sleepovers in Isaac's room which did not result in very much sleep, but made them both very happy.

dual family story-time

The Cesi and Caitlin reunion was equally sweet and we all fell back into the comfort that was having Cesi a part of our family.  She was tireless in playing with and chasing the kids around the whole weekend, and dressed Caitlin up adorably with lots of adorable hairdos. I had forgotten how much Caitlin lights up around Cesi and we all loved having her around.

Both of our families trekked up to Cooper to go skiing for the day on Sunday.  We got one private ski lesson for Isaac and Lusa (who had never been on skis) which went really well and we got a separate lesson for Cesi and Mayensi who got to be great friends over the weekend, in part due to the bonding that happens when you spend the afternoon laughing at all the silly falls you take on your first ski lesson :)

Bill and I took Caitlin skiing while the others were in ski school and she had a blast, reveling in the only-child spotlight and giggling on the chairlift with us both.  We accidentally took her on a black mogul run, but she rolled with it letting Bill carry her with the harness over the hard parts :)

Finally, Bill's Uncle Jim and Rox came to spend the weekend with us this past weekend which was as much a treat for the kids as it was for us as they schlepped along with us through sledding, hockey, dinosaurs park and lots of yummy dinners and bottles of wine.

Last but not least, Aunt Ray Ray came to spend the weekend and even played Nanny for a day while Mayensi took a driving lesson and took her driving test. It was GREAT having Rach in Colorado, and she was lobbied hard to make the move with the rest of the family.  Let's see how long she can resist these faces...

Caitlin's first dentist appointment

Another benefit of living in the 'burbs - pediatric dentists! We walked into this dental office and Isaac and Caitlin didn't know where to turn first - games, fish tanks, toys, and movies playing to make the kids feel comfortable and want to come back. We should have taken Caitlin long ago, but that's the way it goes with second kids, right?

Isaac went first so Caitlin could see what was in store for her (and because Isaac always has to go first at everything).  He had a first this time too - his first x-rays which were only partially successful - he gagged so much they gave up after the first two :)

Isaac was  a great big brother, explaining everything to Caitlin as it was happening

And watching the hygienist closely to make sure she didn't hurt Caitlin

Caitlin was a great patient sitting still and following directions (it didn't hurt that there was a tv on the ceiling)

Overall, a great visit - no cavities for either and they got cool new toothbrushes and little tooth timers that they are brushing to every day religiously! They have already asked when they can go back!

snow day!

We got a LOT of snow today! After a morning stuck in the house, we decided to brave the elements to go sledding down the big hill we found at the Louisville Rec Center.  The roads weren't plowed and the snow was still coming down pretty hard, so it wasn't too crowded and the kids had a blast.   

Daddy took the first run with each kiddos to get them comfortable

Then they went off on their own - no fear!

I took one run with them-but when I thought we were going to run into a group of kids at the bottom I tried to use the handbrake and caused us to capsize -- so no one wanted to go with me again after that :)

Going down the hill was easy and fun - getting back up was HARD!

Daddy collapsed after his 10th trip back up!

After all the runs, they got to make some awesome snow angels

Milestones and new activities

One of Caitlin's nicknames has been the milk-monster because she loves her milk and drinks several bottles a day. It creates a total conflict because she is clearly too big for bottles, but because as her other nickname "the carb queen" indicates, she doesn't eat too much in the way of protein other than her milk. Nevertheless, before the holidays, she decided that she was ready to give all of her bottles to her cousin "Baby 'Bastian" so we gathered them all up and put them in a bag and said goodbye.  She was very brave (although you can tell from her face that she wasn't totally on board) and even accepted milk in a sippy cup that night.  But that was the last time.  She asked for her bottle the next morning and was a little sad when I reminded her that we gave her bottles away, but when I offered her milk in a big girl cup, she said, no thank you, I just want water and since that day (2 months ago) she has not had one sip of milk! Can't imagine where she gets that strong will...

Another milestone - Isaac moved up to a real bed.  He was super-excited about the bed, especially because it has a trundle-bed underneath for sleep-overs.  Even though he had been sleeping with a bedrail, he was so confident that he would not roll out of his new bed that he wouldn't even let me pull out the trundle bed just in case.  I gave in until he fell asleep and then gave in to mommy instincts and snuck back in and pulled it out.  Good thing I did - guess where I found him when I went in again before I went to sleep?? When he got up the next morning he thought it was hilarious that he rolled out, but was even more convinced that he wouldn't roll off again and refused to let me pull out the trundle bed and made me promise not to pull it out after he fell asleep.  I honored my promise (although I did sneak in and put some pillows next to the bed) but it was unnecessary - he hasn't fallen off again!

On the topic of milestones - Isaac has also basically given up his nap.  I know we shouldn't complain since he was such a great napper for so long, but we will definitely miss the mid-day break!

 

Although Colorado has not had too much snow over the last couple of months, we have still managed to take the kids skiing a couple of times.  While Isaac was in ski school, Caitlin made her debut at Loveland and loved every second of it.  Bill was super-patient and directed her skis between his legs onto and off of the ski lifts and down the bunny slopes and even some green runs.  Whereas Isaac was ready to ski on his own after the first day, Caitlin enjoyed the harness more, happily allowing Bill to do the hard work, basically carrying her like a rag doll.  Not sure if that is a personality difference (likely) or just a function of starting her on skis 6 months earlier than we started Isaac.  Either way, the idea of skiing together as a family in the near future is something fun to look foward to!  

He still has some work to do perfecting his ski skills in ski school, but after watching his cousin Jaden play hockey, Isaac decided he also wanted to begin taking hockey lessons.  We went for his first lesson and he went from being excited to terrified in the time it took me to lace up his skates.  He was hysterical crying when I pushed him out on the ice (literally) and the teachers were SO unbelievably nice and patient and by the time the hour was up, he was skating on  his own and pushing the puck around with a stick! And of course, now he loves it and can't wait to go back.  Amazing...

Finally, another important milestone - we have a new aupair! Things weren't going exactly as we were hoping with Luz so we decided to make a change.  Fortuitously, things also weren't going exactly as Mayensi was hoping in Virginia with her first family and she was looking for a change as well.  Timing worked out perfectly and Mayensi (who is from El Salvador just like Cesi) flew in on January 2nd and instantly fit in perfectly with our family.  The kids love her and we are all a lot happier and looking forward to a great year!