What is going on around here??

So the blog has fallen by the wayside, which I hate, but I keep things updated these days on Instagram and Facebook. I do love looking back at the old posts though, so I will do a recap of the last few months. First, I quit my job in September. I went out on my own and started my own law practice. I am LOVING it. I have a small office at 17th and Grant in uptown. We renovated the space with new lighting (chandelier), paint, furniture, etc.. It is in an 1800s mansion. Isla is getting huge. Walking (actually running) everywhere. Hudson is starting kindergarten in the fall!! He is learning to read and loves letters, numbers, writing, etc. Brandon started a new job in August and is doing great. We are still working on some house projects, including changing out lighting and redoing the office and playroom (eventually). Most of all, we are happy, and healthy and blessed as can be. Enjoying our holiday season very much. Should I not get the chance to update again-Merry Merry Christmas to all!

Hard to believe that THIS girl is almost one!!!!

Happy Almost 11 months baby girl!

BUSY BUSY

We have been super busy around here. Isla is growing like a weed and her hair is no exception. Following in family footsteps, she has a lot of it. Hudson had his big four year old appt, complete with shots, which he despised. We replanted all of our gardens, which were previously destroyed by hail, and we are enjoying the wonderful warm weather! We visited family in Texas, and had a wonderful wonderful time! Our fence finally also got painted white. Here are a couple of pics from the last few weeks.

Crawfish Boil

So it is snowing now-but we just beat the bad weather with Hudson's crawfish birthday party on saturday. It was so much fun. Here are some pics!

Wednesday Updates

These past few days have been BUSY! Our new sofas arrived and I am so excited about them! I contacted the upholstery people to get them scotch guarded before Hudson's party on Saturday....let's hope they can make this happen. We are in full prep for Hudson's birthday, school party and big Crawfish Boil on Saturday. Busy Busy Busy. I think we are pretty much good to go now! We will head out to Benihana on Thursday evening for Hudson's birthday! It is his favorite restaurant and he is pretty pumped! The weather has been amazing, the grass is turning green and everything is back to life in Colorado...we have done our fertilizing, yard clean up and I am ready ready ready for summer! Baby Isla is getting so big and has been doing some crawling poses recently. She is SO close to crawling, instead of dragging herself across the floor like she does now. I am excited/ dreading it at the same time. It is nice to leave her in one spot and know she isn't leaving. :) Can't wait for the weekend!!!! Happy Birthday to my favorite four year old tmrw and Happy Mother's day to all those mothers out there!!!

Dear Hudson

Dear Hudson, I cannot believe you will be four in a week. We are so lucky to be your parents. You are the love of my life, kid. You and your sister are the best little people I know. I cannot believe how caring, smart, wonderful, kind and loving you are. We are so immensely lucky. You make us better people everyday. I told your daddy last night that I want you to be by my side forever. He agreed. About you: Your favorite thing to do is to play outside, play with your animal figurines, eat frozen yogurt, go out to dinner with us and just generally have a good time. You LOVE making s'mores in the firepit in the backyard. You love juice, strawberry milk, goldfish and fruit. Your favorite toys are your animal toys, your new barn set, and your scooter. We love you sooo sooo much. Mommy can't believe you are almost four! XOXOX Hudson

Lovely Weekend

The weather has been beautiful here-although is getting a bit colder this week. Everything is FINALLY turning green. Thank goodness. Here are a few pics from the weekend. Isla has been perfecting her sippy cup skills, and even tried a teething cookie. We did a lot of playing in the backyard and relaxing. Life is good.

6 month stats

Isla weighs 17 lbs, 4 oz and is 25.25 inches tall. She is doing great and was healthy as can be at her 6 month visit.

Easter and Warm Weather

We are loving the warm weather! Our sprinklers are on, our gardens are planted and we are just praying the snow is over! The temps this week are supposed to stay above 60 all week! Hallelujah! We had a wonderful Easter holiday! Here are a couple of recent pics:

Six Months

Hard to believe baby girl is 6 months old! She is such a doll, started solids, doing great and loving everything. She is the funniest little gal. :) We are so in love.

What are we up to?

Things are busy in the Albano house. Brandon's 35th birthday is tomorrow! We spent the evening out for a fun dinner at Benihana. It is Hudson's favorite restaurant and he loved it. Tomorrow night we head out for a fun dinner and drink night out with friends downtown. I can't wait as we haven't had a night out in a while :). Heidi-our new nanny is working out really great and Hudson has been with her all week due to spring break and is doing great with her. Our laundry room renovation is underway and our light yellow "fortune cookie by Martha Stewart" cabinets were installed yesterday. Today, the countertop person comes to measure. Everything should be wrapped up in a couple of short weeks while we wait for the counters to be cut, and will likely be getting the room painted a light ivory :) We also ordered new couches finally (two to face each other in the living room). I will post pictures when those arrive in about 4 weeks. Things are finally coming together!!! Oh and the weather is warming up :) Thank goodness. Can't believe Isla will be 6 months in a few short weeks..

Five Months

Isla turned five months yesterday. What is she up to? She is experimenting with solid foods, including carrots and prunes. She LOVES carrots and is doing just great. She is drinking around 24-30 ounces of milk a day and is doing great. She is rolling across the house, sitting up unassisted in her bumbo and generally flourishing. She is a happy happy girl, always smiling, and goes down for a nap and to bed quite easily. On the weekends her naps are short and she is busy, leading mommy to be very very busy. :) Isla loves toys now and grabs everything she sees. We are having such a great time with our big girl!! Hudson loves Isla too and I can't believe he is almost four! Yikes. He is totally potty trained, and is independent, helpful and very very smart. All around, we are doing great and there isn't much else to report. On the home front, we are working on getting things hung up on the walls (still lol) and looking to purchase new living room furniture in the near future. Our laundry room should be underway in a couple of weeks also. So exciting!

Isla...Almost Five Months! YIKES :)

What has big brother Hudson been up to?

Wanted to do a quick update on Hudson, since I have been terrible about the blog as of late. Hudson is doing so great! He is loving school, has tons of friends, loves socializing and playing on the playground and in general is just flourishing. We are so thrilled. We opted to keep him in school from 8:30 am-3:30 pm and I still get to pick him up because of my early 6:30 am-3:00 pm schedule, which I love. This means Isla has Heidi (the new nanny) all to herself and I think it is really helping them to do well during the day because Heidi's attention isn't split. Hudson is doing great with letters and sounds and we are working on writing letters and reading them. He loves his little sister a ton and is so great with her. He is just so grown up and so awesome, we are so lucky. I am also thrilled to announce for the first time in my life, I have hired a cleaning person. I am so excited-their first day on the job is tmrw. Yes...a nice clean house for the weekend. :) That is the update on our front. Hope everyone is well!

What is our little Isla up to?

Isla learned to roll over this week and is even in crawling position and inching herself forward! We were so excited to see our little girl starting to move! Eeeek. She is holding her own bottle, sitting up great and all around is really doing well. Time is going too fast!

Isla's Four Month Stats

Isla was 14 lbs, 9 ounces and 24.5 inches long at her four month appointment! She is leveling out, as she was 95th percentile previously and is now 55th%, and the doctor said that is fine and she is just doing awesome. She is also starting the teething process he said! Yikes! :) Our big girl is getting bigger. In other news, we ordered new laundry room cabinets last weekend and new white quartz countertops. The cabinets are Martha Stewart maidstone in Fortune Cookie. I am so excited to have a pretty place to do laundry!!! 6 weeks or so to go until those arrive...

Four Months :)

Hard to Believe Isla will be four months on Monday! Yikes. What is our precious girl up to? I won't have her stats until tuesday, BUT she is a chubby monkey. She is super happy, and only cries when tired or hungry. She has gotten past all the newborn fussiness and is laughing at everything. Bottom line, life is good. I am back at work and all is going great so far. Isla LOVES her sophie giraffe, loves sitting in her bumbo while we eat dinner and just generally being included in the action. She loves watching, learning and especially is happy when people are smiling and talking to her. She is quite the social butterfly, we can see it already. Isla also LOVES baths. We end up doing them more often than I did with Hudson because she loves them so much, and she has even sat in her bath seat a couple of times. I have been working 6 am-3 pm, to be around more for the kiddos and to pick Hudson up from school. I am loving the freedom in the afternoons. Heidi starts March 3 and I will take it day by day as to what our schedule will look like then. This month, Ellie Bubbie is here and we are so grateful to her and are having a great time. We are enjoying life as a family of four, and so far two working parents is working out too!

I love Hawaii. So. Much.

We had a wonderful time.

The kiddos adored it as much as we did. I have never seen a baby as young as Isla so at peace in the sea. Guess we picked the right name for her.

Isla's Nursery

Loving having a baby girl :)

Still working on some finishing touches. LOVING her peach room...

Grateful

How can I express how grateful I am to have two healthy kids? How can I express how lucky I feel to be able to call them my children? I read a story this morning about a mom who lost her 3 year old precious daughter. It made me feel physically ill. I was sobbing uncontrollably even imagining such pain. It reminds me to pay attention to the everyday blessings, even when stress sometimes gets in the way.

PAY ATTENTION.

These moments are fleeting, these little hands will grow much bigger, someday our kiddos will not think we are the coolest people in the whole wide world.

And it reminds me how much I love these kiddos and how much I fear for their health, their safety in the big world out there.  So this weekend and every day, I will focus on playing with them, holding them, loving them. Because they are SO precious.  I hope we all do this today and everyday. XOXO

My baby-a LONG time ago :) oh how time flies.


And baby girl:

This picture is a mess and was over a month ago, but oh my goodness are they precious.

New Years Resolutions

It is the beginning of a new year. Hard to believe this blog has existed for 7 years! A few resolutions for the new year I wanted to share:

1.) Organize the basement
2.) Stay on top of laundry, folded and put away (I am currently in violation of this resolution as I type)
3.) Eat healthier
4.) Find an exercise plan and stick with it
5.) Enjoy the kiddos (This goes without saying but in the hustle and bustle of daily life it sometimes is hard to do)
6.) Go on date nights.

and most of all:

7. TRY TO BE HEALTHY, DON'T WORK TOO MUCH and BE HEALTHY :)

Happy 2014 everyone :)

Excited for Spring and Summer

It is snowing here today, which is a total bummer because yesterday it was beautiful and 60 degrees and here is what we spent our time doing:

Hudson, mommy and Isla went to two different parks. I LOVE spending time with the kiddos outside-it is my favorite. Isla LOVED the sun and was smiling the entire time.

Loving being a momma to two sweet babies and Hudson hasn't had school in two weeks and we have settled in quite nicely... yes I think I could do this permanently :) But I go back to work at a conference January 30 and formally to the office February 3 :( Oh well-for now, I'm enjoying my free time!

:) XOXO