Johanna's Day Out

Our babies are little bald things and don't start getting hair till around their first birthday. Over the Summer Johanna's hair had grown long enough to pull up into different piggy tails and pony tails and I was having too much fun with different styles to cut it. Now that it's growing in a little more and the weather is cooler I figured she was due for her first hair cut!

I googled children's hair salons in our neighborhood and found a cute one nearby that specialized in baby's first cuts as well as Mommy and Me cuts. I wasn't sure how she would do so I thought it would be fun to get my hair trimmed right along with her.

 Johanna may be terrified of the Doctor's office but I should have known she'd be in her element at the hair salon! She loved the primping and pampering but most of all loved, no really -LOVED- the Barbie car she got to sit in. She even got to pick a movie to watch while she got her hair trimmed.

JJ and Daddy came along to be a part of Johanna's big day and to help out. Don't worry JJ was very entertained with the yellow hummer he got to hang out in.

After Johanna got her hair cut the hair stylist did her hair and let her choose a little clip. Johanna picked a purple bear. Then she brought us to the tween lounge room for her 'minicure.'

She led us to the different polishes so Johanna could pick her color. Johanna spent about 10 seconds looking the colors over then went right to the neon pink. I asked her if she was sure that was the color she wanted and she assured me she was very sure.

She sat so nicely on the little zebra chair while she had her nails done. You could just tell she was having the time of her life and that she thought she was such a big girl.

After her nails were painted the stylist asked if she wanted diamonds on them. Johanna said yes.

Then she got to pick a ring to wear, she chose the yellow one. She wouldn't stop staring at her pretty pink nails or pointing her little diamonds out to us.

All dolled up!

While I got my hair trimmed Johanna spent most of her time playing in the Barbie car some more. She sat in my lap for a little while but wasn't a big fan of the blow dryer. I felt a little silly getting my hair done since Johanna wasn't right next to me the whole time like I'm sure a true 'Mommy and me' haircut is supposed to be, but I'm still glad I did. It'd been 7 months since my last trim!

Last but not least she was given her own purple balloon as part of her first haircut package. The hair stylist said she was very impressed with how well she did. She wasn't scared at all and loved every single minute of it!

 We let her pick one prize to take with her, she picked a purple sparkly bracelet.

Enjoying her haircut sucker and balloon with our new do's.

We finished the morning off with some pictures in front of the shop and their little mascot, Sharkey. Johanna is holding her first haircut certificate complete with a post-picture and her first lock of hair.  

She loved getting her hair cut and sitting in the Barbie car but she especially loved getting her nails done.

Her little diamonds didn't last long so she still asks about them when she looks down to admire her pretty pink nails. Anyone know where you get little nail diamonds?

Considering Johanna didn't have much hair to begin with it wasn't a major change. She trimmed the back up and took off about an inch off to even it out. She is growing out her bangs but she got those trimmed up a little too. It looks so cute. They say it's more about bringing them in to get familiar with getting their hair cut so they aren't afraid but something tells me we'll never have to worry about that being a problem.

What's New

Johanna is 23 months old today. She is one month from turning 2 years old. Wow. I can't believe I'll have a 2 year old soon! Today we celebrated with decorating her pumpkin that she picked from the pumpkin patch last weekend.

Some funny things she's been saying this past month:

In Grandma and Grandpa's backyard the next door neighbors were outside playing. They are 4 and 5 years old. Johanna runs over to them saying "hey girls! hey girls! It's me...Johanna!"

As we were driving to their house the following week we passed through a construction zone lined with orange traffic cones. Johanna: "wow! WOW! Whats going on?!?!"

After doing something fun or challenging: "Hot Dog!" or sometimes "Oh boy!" (while swing arm up across her chest like Mickey Mouse)

I caught her this morning looking down at her foot. J: "Johanna's sad." -dramatic sigh- Me: Why are you sad? "Johanna's booboo." -another dramatic sigh. Me: Oh no! Want me to give it a kiss?" I start to give her little scab a kiss and she stops me. "No, no. Boo boo here. (Pointing to nothing.) Kiss better. Ariel bam-baid" I tell her we didnt' have any band aids right now. Five minutes later Johanna starts sliding off our bed like she always does. I hear her start to cry. "Mommy, mommy! owwie, owwie right there." I come over to see if she's legitimately hurt. Me: "What happened peanut? Did you get a boo boo?" J: Uhh ...sniff.. huh! Right here! (Points to foot.) Belle bam-baid!" Oh boy, little girl is persistent. I caved in and got her a princess bandaid, funny thing she never questioned how I managed to find one with just a few minutes earlier I had told her we needed to get more at the store... 

 Tonight at bedtime prayer all on her own: "Fad-der, Son, and holy spir-Rit! God Bless Mommy, Daddy, baby JJ... Un-cull Russ...Leo, Max...TylerNate-an..AMEN!"

 

 When she's mad: "Wait! WAIT! Why you do this?!"

Favorite Foods: bananas, peppers, yogurt raisins, lima beans

Favorite show: Mickey Mouse Club

Size 5 diaper Size 2t clothes Size 6 shoes

She is the sweetest little girl ever and is constantly telling us how much she loves us all on her own. I just love her to pieces!

JJ will be 6 months in 3 hours! Well 6 hours and 16 minutes if you want to be exact. He is such a cutie pie and we love him more and more and more each day. Recently Jeff's cousin Leah posted some camera tips she's picked up at a photo class. I decided to try it out and got some pretty good JJ shots. I'm hoping to take a photo class myself here in a few weeks to learn some more. No more auto settings for me!

 Has 2 bottom teeth with a possible 3rd coming through on the bottom (not quite sure if it's a tooth or not) his little daggers are very sharp and he is constantly biting my fingers. Luckily we have only had one incident a few weeks ago while nursing which ended in me scaring the daylights out of him after I screamed bloody murder when he chomped down on me. His little lip puckered up and the big crocodile tears came pouring out instantly. Needless to say, he hasn't bit me since then ;)

He is a laugh-a-holic. He laughs when he's tickled, we whisper in his ears, we kiss his nose or chin, we throw him up in the air or even just smile in a goofy way toward him. I love the sound of his giggles. He adores his sister. Lately they've been playing with each other all on their own and it's the silliest thing to watch. Yesterday they were playing sleepover in the hallway while I changed our bed sheets. (Sleepover is pretending to be asleep while snuggling on the blankets and pillows.) Those two were just having the time of their lives giggling up a storm together. I love it!

 He is working really really hard on crawling. He kicks his legs frantically and gets so frustrated when he doesn't go anywhere. He is still rolling around doing the JJ steamroller.

He loves to watch everything and everyone. The only times he cries are when he's 1. hungry 2. stuck in his car seat for too long 3. not where the action is.

He loves his big boy food. So far he's had bananas, avocado, pears, apples, peas, butternut squash, blueberries, peaches, sweet potato, brown rice cereal and oatmeal. I've been having fun making his baby food again even though it seems like I was making Johanna's food just last week. He's also had a couple baked beans off Daddy's plate and tonight he enjoyed gumming a piece of pizza crust. You should have seen how upset he got when Mommy had to take the crust away from him after it started to fall apart in his mouth. That boy was angry! He eats his big boy food twice a day and is nursing every 2 to 3 hours in the daytime.

Size 6 month and 9 month clothing Size 3 diapers

Sitting up on his own for about 10 seconds or so at a time

He does NOT like his car seat. If I'm lucky he'll fall asleep but if he's wide awake I can guarantee he'll start fussing after about ten minutes of sitting in his seat.

 

We love you two so much forever and ever!

Broadmoor Hotel

 On Monday JJ and I had the privilege to tag along with Jeff to the Broadmoor hotel in Colorado Springs while he attended a work conference. It is a 5 diamond hotel and absolutely beautiful! As we pulled up to the hotel I began to rethink the jeans and t-shirt shirt I'd been wearing. I also began to rethink the infant I brought along. Rich people don't bring their kids to hotels, that would be so un-cool. Or maybe there is a secret nanny entrance that they sneak them in through that I didn't know about? The valet men were so polite and helped unload the car of its pack n' play, numerous 31 bags, car seat and other baby paraphernalia. All joking aside I bonded with the common folk, they were all super nice. Gary (our valet) had 5 kids; 3 boys and 2 girls. He was in the service for 20 years. George (our bellboy) was from Bermuda and just arrived 9 weeks prior to attend school here in the states.

 Wanting to avoid looking like a complete tourist snapping photos with my canon I secretly took some with my iPhone instead then instagrammed them. These are some photos I took from outside our hotel on my morning walk.  The main building (which you see across the lake) was built in 1918 by Spencer Penrose.  Jeff always makes fun of me for the shows I watch on tv. Ghost hunters...fact or faked...destination truth...celebrity ghost stories. Yeah, I'm a nerd. Which also means I am afraid of staying in old buildings by myself. We were staying in the West building which was built in the late 1970's so I was secretly a little relieved we wouldn't be visited by Mr. Penrose ghost or anyone else for that matter.

I really was just teasing about JJ, he is such an easy baby I knew he'd be no problem at all. In the morning I bundled him up into his stroller and headed out the door to explore the grounds. There was a little cafe where I picked up a warm, flaky feta and spinach croissant and latte along with an issue of Woman's Day (Fall issue, yay!). JJ instantly fell asleep by a babbling fountain while I was able to spend an hour -gasp- on breakfast. I think it was the first time in six months that I've gotten to drink my entire coffee without having to microwave it three times.

 This is a picture of the hotel we were staying in. It reminds me of a picture from somewhere in Scotland which is funny since that is one of my dream vacations. I guess this can hold me over while I wait the ten years till I can go. The mountain in the background is the home of the Cheyenne Mountain zoo. Remember our race to the shrine? The tower that we ran to was built by Mr. Penrose. The bells would chime hourly and we could hear it from the hotel, it was beautiful!

There was a gorgeous pool connected to the lake. It was a little too cold for me to test it out, but it looked very refreshing.

 Look, a  child! They do exist here. And he wasn't afraid of the cold water. 

The fountains and exotic flowers reminded me a little of our honeymoon to Punta Cana.

Another shot of our hotel.

 The hotel also has three 18-hole golf courses; the East Course has hosted numerous USGA championships, most recently the 2008 U.S. Senior Open. Jeff was more than a little dissapointed he didn't have any time to sneak away from work to try the course out.

The room was gorgeous complete with the most comfortable bed in the world. I don't know what it was about the bed that made it so comfortable, but man I want one! Doesn't little man look so tiny?

It's the little things in life that I enjoy the most like this comfy plush robe for instance. I've got my good ol' Target robes but something fancy like this is amazing in the morning after a hot shower. It would make a great birthday present...hint hint hubby :)

Or if you can't get me a robe how about a bathroom that looks like this? This picture doesn't do much justice. The floors were a beautiful white marble, huge mirrors stretched to the extra high ceilings and tvs adorned the walls (as if you really needed that, although I'm sure Jeff would argue he DOES need to watch ESPN while using the restroom.)

 The mini fridge reminded me of the movie Home Alone II. I joked with Jeff that I wanted to see if they had room service ice cream bars like in the movie too. While Jeff attended a meet and greet Monday evening I stayed behind to put JJ to bed. He helped me choose something from the mini bar to enjoy for after he went bed and I enjoyed my current nook novel, Firfely Lane. I may have helped him a little with his choice of red wine ;) Oh and I also ate some 7 dollar cashews.

After spending the day exploring the hotel and visiting with Daddy we came back to our freshly cleaned room for a little nap time.

Isn't he such a little old man!

After naps Johanna and Grandma joined us. Johanna had spent the night with Grandma and Grandpa so she wouldn't miss school the next day. Grandma dropped her off and picked her up from class then headed down our way. Johanna was full of beans from the car ride and spent the first ten minutes jumping on the bed. I think even she could tell it was a super comfy bed.

 

After all that jumping she realized she was very hungry and wanted some more lunch. We took her down to the cafe to pick something from behind the glass. She chose banana nut bread.

Of course then she decided she didn't want any of the banana nut bread but wanted to throw a fit and jump up and down on the chairs instead. Oh boy... We rushed out of the cafe and headed to some shops instead, surely some shopping would spark some distraction? Kicking and screaming Jeff carried her out of the hotel to head down to the hotel mall. A few minutes later, still kicking and screaming, we left the hotel mall and headed to the pro golf shop. Luckily there was a giant fireplace and big comy couches to please her. I knew she was hungry and grouchy from a shortened nap but was hoping she would calm down for our planned date night for the evening. She seemed to be doing great with Grandma's phone.

 But when we walked back to our room she wasn't having it anymore. Don't you love our family photos lately? As you can see we've reached the terrible two's stage. Sadly, after spending an hour trying to calm Johanna down with movies, toys and snuggles I made the decision to call it an early trip and head home. We knew that there were people there spending lots of their own money (not just their employers) on a nice stay and I didn't want to be the one to ruin it for them with an ornery toddler. Instead of a fancy steak and lobster dinner date with the Husband, Lori and I enjoyed some McDonalds on the drive back. As soon as Johanna had some milk and was comfortable in her seat she perked right up, little stinker. It ended up being for the best my trip was cut short, there was a cold front coming through and the next morning was gloomy with rain. I still really enjoyed my one night getaway to a beautiful hotel, thanks for taking me Jeff!

Lori was so nice and offered to watch the kids the following night so Jeff and I could still get away for a nice dinner. Jeff took me downtown to the same restaurant where we celebrated our first anniversary, Fogo de Chao. It's funny looking back at the blog because we had that exact same Brazilian Chef come to our table!

 

The hotel was beautiful and I'm so glad I was able to experience a night there. Maybe some time in the future Jeff and I can make it back on our own. Oh and in the Summer too so I can swim in that pool. Actually, next time Jeff and I are able to leave the kids long enough to stay somewhere on our own why don't we just make it somewhere nice and tropical with fancy pina colada drinks instead :)