California Gurls...

At the end of January, Phelan and I got the rare (and welcomed) opportunity to spend a week in San Diego with Gabi and Aunt Angie.  Ang had to be there for work, and since it's a pretty quick drive from here, we decided it was the perfect chance to have a girls' trip!  Phelan and I hit the road pretty early on Monday morning.  The timing was perfect for Phelan and her naps.  We pulled into San Diego right as she decided she was sick of the car seat.  We got to stay in a great hotel right on the marina.  This was the view from our room...

 

 

While Ang was working, I got to spend some quality time with Gabi and Phelan.  What we liked the most was going across the street to the park.  This was really the first time Phelan had been to a playground, since it's hot in AZ, and we don't have any close by!  She loved playing with her cousin Gabbers, and the swings were her favorite.

 

 

 

 

After Ang was done working each day, we visited a new beach.  We went to La Jolla, Mission Beach, and Coronado.  We watched beautiful sunsets and ate delicious dinners.

 

 

 

 

 

The best part of the trip was watching Phelan and Gabi play together.  Gabi was less than a month away from becoming a big sister, and hanging out with Phelan was good practice.  She was so nurturing, sweet, and fun.  The girls probably won't remember the trip, but Ang and I will, and we will always have pictures and videos to remind us of our awesome vacation to San Diego!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

oh, you make me smile...

This is a short post, but I had to share one of my favorite videos of Phelan thus far.  Her little cackle laugh is the BEST. 

i'm strong just like you prayed i'd be

We had a great visit from my mom in January.  We haven't decided on what her non-grandma name will be, but that's okay!  It was so nice to have my mom around.  She and I got to spend some much needed mother-daughter time together.  We watched Phelan play for hours, took a drive to look at the mansions in Paradise Valley, bought a new pack and went for a hike at Pinnacle Peak, played with Dylan, had an impromptu Valentine's Day photo shoot, and made lasagna.  My favorite memory from the week is discovering a new fabric store.  They have awesome deals and beautiful fabrics!  However, the best part about the fabric store was the layout.  It was perfect for playing hide-and-seek.  Phelan loved hiding behind the big bolts and surprising Gigi/Memaw/Mamaw.  She would just crack up!

My mom's visit makes me think of one of my favorite Miranda Lambert songs, which provided this post's title.  Below are the lyrics.  We love you, mom/gigi/memaw/mamaw/whatever your name is!  Thank you so much for visiting!!!

"Mama, I'm Alright"

Well the sun just got through going down on a sleepy little Texas town
Population plus one minus one
A new grandma rocks my sister's kid just like twenty years ago she did
The same thing in that same chair
She said "this one's born to run"

Every day at noon like a chapel bell find her Jesus keep her well
Help her do more right than wrong at the end of the day
I got 5 good years and a tank of gas, fifty watts and Johnny Cash
A guitar and a broken heart just full of things to say
You taught me how to stand those tests and trials
But you can't see a desert sunrise in the bible

She loves me more that anything
And she wants the world for me
Her west dropped off in El Paso,
And her north in Abilene
Mama I'm OK out here
I've seen how hard the world can be
My step is sure and I know my name
I'm strong just like you prayed I'd be
I'm strong just like you prayed I'd be

If I'd have done what you and daddy done, would have never lost and never won
Or gotten myself kicked when I was down
I would not know how to travel well, A hundred bucks and cheap motels
I would not know how to fight for my own heart next time around

Now don't you cry another night about me
In this city I've got angels all around me

She loves me more than anything
And she wants the world for me
Her west dropped of in El Paso
And her north in Abilene
Hey Mama I'm OK out here
I've seen how hard the world can be
My step is sure and I know my name
I'm strong just like you prayed I'd be
I'm strong just like you prayed I'd be

I felt it every time you prayed for me
I'm strong just like you prayed I'd be

a quiet christmas morning...

in the colorado snow...

 

phelan's first christmas!!!  it's amazing how much fun the holidays are with a little one!  somehow the tasks that can seem stressful are fun and enjoyable!  phelan was a FUN age for christmas.  she had just started crawling -- therefore getting into the presents, the boxes, and the christmas tree... when she would crawl over to me with glitter on her face, i knew she had found an ornament to play with. she also liked helping us wrap.

 

our first celebration was actually the week before christmas in colorado.  it was SO nice to be in the snow!  it really felt like christmas!  over a few days at the condo we got to spend time with koko, gigi, pops, ang (and baby joey in her belly), gabi, roy, amy, mike and jen.  parker, pops, roy, and amy skiied at winter park one day.

after our condo stay we attended the annual young christmas party.  this year the party was at kathy and phil's cabin in winter park.  quite a few people had to miss the party, but it was beautiful anyway.  we had an extra special visit by santa, and phelan didn't even cry!

it was a fabulous, wintery christmas in colorado!

oh, what a beautiful baby...

yesterday was a very important day... phelan's bestie, dolton, turned 6 months old!  oh, what a beautiful baby!  unfortunately, phelan and dolton have only played together once.  they were both very little, but they had a blast...

being the sweet girl that she is, dolton bought phelan an outfit for christmas.  this isn't just any outfit... dolton has the same outfit, so they can be twinkies, even though they are far apart!  hopefully someday we can get a picture of the girls in their outfits together, but until then, here they are separately...

happy birthday, sweet dolton!  we miss you and love you so much!!!

baby, what a big surprise!

i have the best family a girl could ask for.  my husband and my dad will be featured in this post.  it's not easy to get something by me, but they really pulled it off!  the saturday after thanksgiving was the day mike and jen left for colorado.  i was ready to veg and be lazy all day.  parker had plans of cleaning the garage.  he immediately washed the sheets from the guest room, which i thought was kind of weird, but i still didn't figure it out.  sometime that afternoon, parker came in from the garage and told me he had to run out and help cale with a repair he was doing.  a little while later, while pk took a nap, i was doing dishes.  i heard the door open and dried my hands.  i turned around and my dad came strolling in like he owned the place ; )  "hey, melis," he said, just like he had been there for weeks.  i was shocked!  it was such a fun surprise!

it seems i get more girl time than guy time when we're back in colorado, so it was good to spend some qt with pops.  he also got to hang out with phelan one-on-one.  he read phelan her big bird book, and, in true pops fashion, called big bird's friend "a little cooky."

we spent a little bit of time crusin' around old town, where we picked out a cool scarf for mom and took this keeper of a picture...

and we took a quick trip up to sedona to visit joann and see the red rocks.

uncle gary came with us, which was awesome!

all in all, a fabulous time.  i am one lucky girl.  thank you guys, so much, for putting that little surprise together.  i'll remember it always!

i want to thank you, thank you

how thankful we are for our friends and family.  we had another great thanksgiving this year.  uncle mikey, aunt jen, and cuz' delaney stayed with us all week.  scattered in houses nearby were more visitors -- uncle gary, aunt pat, eileen, craig, joseph, and johnny all came to celebrate thanksgiving in the az.

we had a great week of family fun!  tuesday night we hosted the first annual pre-thanksgiving game night.  we had a great time!  we played shanghai, which is just like the hawaiian rummy that is played at young family functions.  it was a lot of fun!  we had prizes for the female with the most points, the female with the least points, the male with the most points, and the male with the least points.  kathie, pat, emmanuel, and joseph won prizes... we won't say who won and who lost ; )

kathie hosted thanksgiving dinner on thursday.  it was so delicious!  with a little bit of help from the guys, parker fried another turkey.  yum!

phelan was a little bit shy with the people she doesn't see all of the time, but she sort of warmed up by the end of the week!  it was great to meet nathan and catch up with eileen and craig.

friday we tie dyed shirts, which was also a lot of fun.  now we have something to remember the weekend by.

one of the week's goals was to get a picture of all 3 babies.  we had the hardest time getting everyone on the same page at the same time.  finally, mission accomplished!  sort of...

so flippin' cute!  thanks, everyone, for coming to visit!