Slides: The New Favorite

Sasha's favorite thing to do at the park these days is go down the slide. We have been going swimming every Thursday through the winter at an indoor facility that has "froggie slide" for toddlers and she is at the point where she now goes up the stairs, turns around to get on her tummy, and then comes down all by herself into the water. She repeats this at least 20 times then--never gets old. We can't wait for the public outdoor pool to open at the end of May.

Sasha and Phil on Easter Sunday. We woke up to several inches of snow--the first white Easter I can remember.

Sasha LOVED spending time with Grandma and "Pa-Pa" while we were in Mexico.

Sasha really enjoyed her first bowl of chocolate pudding. Who needs spoons when you can shovel it in by the fistful? Some days I just feel like giving up on trying to keep her and everything she comes in contact with clean.

Yelapa, Mexico

My parents generously offered to take care of Sasha for a week over my mom's spring break while Phil and I got away for a few days. We flew to Puerto Vallarta on Monday and then took a small fishing boat to Yelapa (no roads go there) about 45 minutes south where we got a much needed break. The most energy expended was getting up from the beachside tables to move over to the hammock under a beach cabana.

One of the things we appreciated the most about the vacation were eating 3 lengthy meals a day uninterrupted with good conversation, something that doesn't happen often with a 1-year-old around. We also enjoyed a daily snack of homemade pie on the beach. The same middle-aged Mexican woman would come by our chairs every morning around 11 am and offer us still warm apple, banana, lemon merengue, or coconut chocolate pie. An unlikely but delicious beach treat....

The fresh water pool at our hotel overlooking the bay where Yelapa lies was very refreshing in the hot afternoon.

We had beautiful sunset views from our thatched roof hut on the beach.

New blog post (FINALLY!)

We have finally managed to download a bunch of pictures from the last month, so I'll try to play catch-up over a few entries. The above is just a random photo of Sahsa in Target. She is drawn to "eyes", her word for sunglasses. It's harder and harder to get her to stay seated in a cart these days.

Megan and Ulises took advantage of this fantastic buyer's market to purchase their first house in Albuquerque. Sasha is "helping" Megan unpack boxes on moving day.

Little monkey.

Sasha looks like she's posing for a senior picture here at the Farmers Market last Saturday.

In lieu of an Easter basket this year, we decided to get her a new rocking giraffe at World Market. What a great store!

We tried hard to capture this new favorite face that Sasha makes when she's either being bashful or thinking about doing something ornery.

Sasha has been so pleasant to be around the last week or so. She has become more independent in her play and less clingy. In hindsight I wonder if some of the fussiness a few weeks ago was due to the 4 molars I just realized popped through in the back.

Still digging the swings this spring....

She has historically hated having anything on her head, but one day last week she brought this hat to me and insisted on wearing it all day. Too bad it was the day AFTER St. Patrick's day. She loves our big shoes of late especially trying to clomp around in them.

March favorites

Sasha and I sit down to read books many times each day.

Tussling with Dad...

I know, I'm a bad mom for snapping a picture instead of reprimanding her for standing on the tractor.

We went to a sculpture park last week just outside of Santa Fe. Sasha was very intrigued by the oversized animals.

Pics from February

I had no idea how wild 14 month olds could be! Sasha has never been busier and more full of energy than now. She is getting so fast on her feet, practically running at times and chattering away all the while. It is so fun to hear her vocabulary expand with a new word every couple of days. When she wakes up in the morning I hear her practicing her words in her crib over the monitor and it makes me smile.

She LOVES to go outside and stands at the front door begging to go for walks. Phil had a day off last week so so we headed to the zoo (above) and spent some time on the huge climbing structure there (below) in between seeing the animals.

On one of our daily walks down Manhattan Ave.

Eventful Week

Here are just a few of our favorites of Sasha the last couple of weeks. She's very into beads right now and loves to wear them every waking hour, usually multiple necklaces at once.

The teeth brushing is just a novelty at this point.

So the real news is that we BOUGHT A HOUSE last week! We were planning on taking our time, just browsing the market with a realtor this spring with no real pressure to buy this year even, but we saw the house above 2 Saturday's ago and signed the papers on Friday. I mouthed to Phil, "This is the one." as we toured it and he nodded in agreement. It's 5 minutes from the Plaza, but has a rural feel to it on 2 acres of rolling hills. The back wrap-around porch facing the sunset over the mountains was what sold me. We close at the end of April and will move in May. So this means, you all will have to come out and visit--we'll have plenty of room for you and all your kids!

President's Day Weekend

We had an exceptionally fun, eventful weekend starting with Phil's birthday meal out on Friday night. The last several years he has forgone a nice dinner at an upscale restaurant for a big, juicy burger, fries, and beer which he claims he gets every bit as much satisfaction from. So we tried a local brewpub new to us. As usual these days when we go out for dinner with Sasha, we got there right at 5:00 (we eat earlier than most senior citizens these days!) and were home by 6:15 to put her to bed. The above picture is our beloved Prelude which we sold on Sunday after posting on Craigslist for a day or so. It's wierd how attached one can get to a car. Although I am really loving the new Audi, I will really miss that low, sleek stick shifting car. I'm happy that it sold to a nice kid who is passionate about it.

Our good friends Zach and Christina drove down from Denver on Saturday with their 6 month son, Nicholas. Phil had a great time skiing with Zach while Christina and I shopped and sat around the house with the kids. Nicholas is pretty much the same size as Sasha, but she throws her weight around more and was very much up in his business constantly.

On Sunday night we all celebrated Phil's 34th birthday with a cheese fondue meal and insanely rich peanut butter cake with chocolate/peanut butter filling, cream cheese frosting and Butterfinger bar on top--Phil's request. Sadly Phil and I polished off the last pieces last night.

Wild hair!

Phil and I later got a lesser form of the stomach bug that Sasha had a couple of weeks ago. Sasha helped to cheer us up as we lay around feeling miserable. We are so thankful that we haven't contracted the respiratory virus that is making the rounds in Santa Fe. So many of Sasha's little friends have been sick this month with one thing or another.

I don't know if you can see from this picture, but Sasha's eyes have turned really dark brown. Not that we were holding out for a blue-eyed kid, but I was curious if they would be lighter brown like mine or dark like her dad's.