Tyler's 1st Birthday

The night before his birthday, we had a small party for Tyler with a few of our friends that have small boys, and as you can see, Tyler had a blast. It was a bit alarming to see how quickly Tyler sucked down his large chunk of cake. And the two additional pieces that followed. Ha ha. He got a lovely book, a Noah's ark with some animals, and a firetruck to ride on from mom and dad. More presents are on there way from the Durango bunch, and then of course Christmas, so he will quickly get the hang of present opening I am sure.

I cannot believe my little man is already one! He is a peanut, so he looks so much littler than a one year old, but his little brain is already ahead of himself, if you ask me. I cannot wait to see him start to stand up on his own and start running. Crazy, I know, but I just cannot wait. :)

Halloween

Here are some pics of Halloween! Tyler could have cared less, but Averie did not want the trick or treating to end!! We went to Southlands and did there trick or treat during the day (what a zoo!!) and then did 8 or so houses on our street. She wanted to do a lot more, but I think that was enough for a 2 year old. She totally got into the dress up thing this year which was fun.

A Fall Hike

In order to take advantage of the fall colors, we decided it was time to do a family hike. We decided on the White Ranch Open Space area outside of Golden in the Golden Gate State Park. Although there are not a lot of aspens there, it is closer to town, and offers a lot of smaller, easier hikes that are good for kids. Our plan was to go only a mile or so down one path and then have lunch and come back, but the mile out was all downhill, and to avoid a difficult uphill journey for the way back, we did the full loop, putting us at about 3 miles total.

Averie was a trooper for most of the way, and was way excited starting out. Her temperament waned as we drew halfway there, so we needed to stop for lunch, ASAP. Unfortunately, the only nice shady spot was on a road, so there we camped. It was a bit unromantic, but served its purpose. I was not so comfortable, but the kids did not care a bit, as you can see. Tyler enjoyed his first faceplant from an unattended backpack being accidentally swivelled, and then partook of his first taste of "Rocky Road" by placing a fistful of rocks in his mouth for dessert.




It was a fun time, and to our amazement, Averie walked most of the way (albeit with a little bit of whining, but hey, it was past her nap time as well) and only had to be carried for less than 1/4 mile. The kids slept like rocks on the way home, and we all came home happy from a day outside.

And this has nothing to do with hiking, but I thought it was a cute picture. One of Averie's favorite things to do is to cuddle in blankets. Ha ha.

What's New At the Zoo?

The zoo being the Potter household, of course!

Well, let's see. I recently attend my 2nd birth as a doula, and had a fabulous time, even though it was smack dab in the middle of the night. It was an amazing experience as always, and I was once again honored to be a part of someone else's birth! I have one more birth to go before I will have the complete 3 I need for certification, along with a test and some other stuff I have to do. I also finished a training workshop at Mountain Midwifery, and am now one of their doulas that moms can choose from, and I am way excited about that!!

Doug continues to enjoy his work at Jeppesen, and has interviewed for a supervisor spot within his group. He would be a great fit, and we are really pulling and praying that he gets it. He enjoys his work and his team, so either way, he sees it as a win-win. Being a supervisor would definetely have its challenges, which he knows, but we think it would be a great fit for him. He also continues to stay busy around the house doing all sorts of manly projects, which I totally approve of. :)

Due to the hailstorm this last spring, we recently got our house re-roofed and re-painted, all for free! It was a bit of a headache working with all the contractors and getting it all done, but saved a bundle of money since we were needing to do at least the painting within the next year.

As for Averie, she just had her first day of preschool!! We started her out early at 2 1/2, to give me some more time to focus on Tyler a bit, and get her some time with other kids, which she has been craving. We packed up her back-pack (which I did NOT make her wear, but she wanted to, so no lectures on how I am hurting her back) and we were off. After punching in on the fancy pin pad check-in and taking her to her room, she was quickly whisked in and having fun in no time. I made a hasty departure so as to get out of the way. And no, I DID NOT CRY! A little dust did get in my eye on the way out, causing my eye to get a little moist, but that was all. I picked her up 4 hours later (a time-frame I had thought would go by way to fast but ended up being equal to a biblical 40 years). She was blissfully watching a short movie after lunch with the other kiddos (normally she will only be there 3 hours) and as soon as she saw me, burst into tears and ran to me. Ha ha. She had a wonderful day, and only cried when these other two water-work gals in the class cried, out of sympathy. The teachers said she was so compassionate! Of course I did not need to know this, as she begins sobbing half-way through the book "Are You My Mother?" no matter how many times we read it. She brought home several projects, and was able to remember the letter A and the number 1 at the end of the day. So, I would say she is a genius. Oh, and here are some pics for the grandmas. :)

As for Tyler, he is a happy 8 monther now. He is still a little touchy when it comes to sleeping, but is improving. His preferred method of transportation is rolling, at which he is highly efficient and FAST! He has recently discovered the joys of teething biscuits and of rice puffs, which is fun and very messy.

Curly Shirley Goes Straight

Here are some pictures of Averie after I blow dried AND straightened her hair with a straightener. And still the curl showed up! As the day went on, her hair curled up at the ends, into that perfect super model type hair we all want. Sheesh!

WARNING: These pictures may make you cry because my 2 year old all of a sudden looks like a teenager!

Tyler Goes Under The Knife

This last Wednesday, Tyler went in for surgery to have the cyst on his eyebrow removed. Since we have gone through this before with Averie, we were not too concerned, though no one likes to have their little one have to go under and all. We were most worried about having to deny him any breastmilk for the 4 hours before surgery. But he ended up doing great, and did not make a peep the whole way to the hospital or while we were doing the preparation for him to go into the operating room. Thank you to those who were praying for that! He was in surgery for a little over an hour, and then slowly came out of it. Other than being a little more fussy than normal, he has been doing great. As you can see, he has a great shiner, and is now the coolest kid on the block with both stitches AND a black eye.

4th of July, Ouray Style

So for this year, we decided to spend the 4th of July in Ouray, at Doug's family's cabin. It had been quite a while since we had been there, so it was nice to be going back. The ride over was pretty, and other than us finding out just how much toddler puke it takes to cover the backseat of a car, we made it pretty uneventfully. Needless to say, we were ready for the vacation to begin!

We had a great time with both of Doug's parents and his sister Katie, as well as my mom and sister, who camped out in mom's stylish new camper van in the driveway. We busied ourselves with a lot of nothing, like reading, hanging out in the shade, and bothered with a few fun excursions to town for the parade, and a few adventures up Box Canyon, the flume, and to Cascade Falls. The fireworks were a hoot as well, and Averie loved them, though Tyler really would have rathered the silent variety.

Here is a photo montage of some of our escapades. Enjoy!

Tornado!

No, we have not been "relocated" to Kansas, but we had our own bit of excitement. Here is footage from our front door. It sounds like the tornado touched down at Southlands Mall, and did cause some damage. (Less than a mile east of us) You can see the funnel thickening at the bottom near the end of the video. (We headed downstairs after that!)

Doug's car did get damaged from the golf ball sized hail that we got afterwards, and our roof and window gutters did as well. I guess we will deal with that tomorrow. :)

Front Walk Flowers

Thanks to a sunny afternoon the other day, we finally got our flowers planted in our pots outside. Here are a few pics!

The kiddos

Here are just a few recent pics of the kiddos. Tyler is now almost 5 months!