Aspen's First Wedding

Sunday evening we attended our friends Brady and Mandy's wedding. It was a wonderful ceremony. Ever since being married when I go to weddings I get a little emotional. Looking at the bride and groom takes me right back to the day we got married--an awesome time for a couple. It was so clear this couple is so in love and we wish them so much happiness!



Aspen was also invited to the wedding, so we brought her along. She did awesome! During the ceremony she spent most of the time bouncing between her dad, myself, Joe and Sara's lap. She had a pretty good game going with Joe involving the fans they had provided, but of course that didn't last long.



No crying--thankfully! Although there was some loud "blabbing" at times. I talked to the bride after the ceremony and she said she loved hearing her "talking", so I'm glad it wasn't a disturbance.

Best Man



Bride and Groom (Sorry for the horrible shot--this is where being tall would have helped!)



After the ceremony Aspen spent most of her time running around. She enjoyed some rolling around in the grass, playing on the playground they had at the location, and running around as much as possible. Basically she wore herself out.

Rolling around...



"Man, I'm thirsty!"



I was able to get her to stop long enough to snap a photo of her and her "Uncle" Grant. Grant has been a long time friend of Jason and myself and it was his brother Brady who was getting married. We are so happy for their family--Congratulations Brady and Mandy; welcome to the club!!

Two Videos to Share

I usually prefer to just put photos up on the blog, but I had to share these two videos I have of Aspen. We have been pretty busy lately. I had a dance show last weekend, so Aspen had lots of babysitters over the course of two days. She had a great time with her Poppy as always and had a chance to hang out with cousin Jessica.

Every morning as part of Aspen's routine I walk up to the local neighborhood park. It's good for both of us--I get my cardio in for the day and so does she! Now that she is walking she just loves roaming around the whole place. She has recently mastered the slide. We took this video at the Central Market playground the other day. You can tell that she gets a little "over excited" at times and we have to keep an eye on her.



The second video is really short, but I had to share. I went to work last night and when I came home I asked how was Dad and daughter's night. Of course Jason went on and on about what a blast they had. Then he handed me his phone and told me to check out the pictures. Most of the pictures were of Aspen smiling or being silly. Then this short video popped up--I guess this is what happens when I leave the three of them alone...



It's finally "cooling" down in Austin (90's instead of 100's), so I've been trying to enjoy the outdoors in the morning as much as possible. Hope you're all having a great week!

You may be far away, but at least we have the blog...

It can be really hard for my mom sometimes living in Boston, not being able to see or spend time with her grand daughter as often as she would like. Also, lots of times I have to just explain little changes in Aspen, instead of her getting to witness them herself. I do have to say--thank goodness for this blog. I started the blog mostly for our family members who live far away and I'm so glad I did.

However silly you might think these couple of photos are--these are for you Grandma!

Check out how long my hair is getting!



Here is my model pose just for you...

Being Spontaneous!

This past Saturday we finally had a weekend where we didn't have anything to do. We ended up finding ourselves completely stumped on how to spend our Saturday. While Aspen was taking her morning nap Jason and I came up with different ideas. Hamilton Pool--called, but they were already at full capacity; Ice Cream Festival--it was way to hot, even if ice cream was involved (plus that's not helping anyone's waistline); drive back to Lost Pines resort and sneak into the pool area--that's kind of weird??

So instead we decided to be spontaneous and drive down to San Antonio to visit Jason's parents for lunch. They were staying at the Hyatt Hill Country Resort for a conference. We looked up the schedule of the conference and saw that there was a break during the afternoon labeled "Family Time"--so we decided to give them some family to hang out with.

It didn't take long to throw together a quick bag and hit the road. Now that Aspen is older it has become a lot easier to do things like this--it was a lot of fun!

Aspen burning off some energy before we hit the road.



And we're off...



I think Jason's parents were really surprised. We went looking for them over in the conference area and turned the corner and there was Jason's mom. She had to do a double take at first. Even though they weren't expecting us, I think they really enjoyed the surprise.



We went and ate lunch with them and then changed into our bathing suits and took a swim in the pool. I have to say the pool area was really nice because it was almost all in the shade. It made it a lot more enjoyable not worrying about Aspen burning or myself.



After the swim we changed and got ready to head back. Aspen was nearly falling asleep on her Papa's shoulder while walking back to the car. As soon as the A/C started blowing she was out the whole ride home. Thanks for spending the afternoon with us Papa and Nanny!

Vacation!

Last weekend after Aspen's birthday party we headed out for a short vacation with Jason's family. This year the vacation was held at the Hyatt Lost Pines Resort near Bastrop, TX. It was only about a 40 minute drive for us and it was a very nice and relaxing trip. I think everyone had a good time!

The best part of the resort was the pool area. They had a huge slide, a "lazy river" with tons of floats, and a sand area for the kiddos. It was great to bring the kids down and wear them out before they took naps.

Aspen with her Dad after a long morning in the water.



The Moore's--Jennifer, James, and Jessica.



Brian and Trevor.



It was fun to have all the cousins together. The last few times they were together they were still pretty young to be really engaging with one another. This trip everyone's personalities were coming out.

Trevor and Aspen feeling each other out at breakfast...





There was a big horse in the lobby that kids could sit on that Aspen just loved. She probably would have stayed up there longer, but Jason was having to hold on so she wouldn't fling herself right off of it.



Of course Jason had to try it out too...



Aspen was very interested in Cameron. She always is going after the older kids at the park too. She just loves watching older kids and all the things they can do. During this trip Cameron and Aspen became food buddies. Nanny did a great job making sure each one took turns getting a bite.



It was so great that Aspen got to spend some time with her grandparents. She is going to be staying with them for four days in about a month, so this was some good quality time to spend together. She really enjoyed her shoulder ride from her Papa.



The day we were checking out of the resort Jason and I went on a 9am horseback ride. It was only the two of us and the guide, so it was really nice. I love horseback riding and any chance I get I try to go. It wasn't that bad since it was in the morning and the trail was very shaded. I imagine in the fall/spring it's a great ride to take!

Jason with his horse "Double Stuff" and myself with "Pokey".



It was a great vacation, we had a blast!

Girl Has Got Some Moves...

For those of you that haven't seen Aspen in a while, she has really taken off walking. It's amazing how quickly they become better and better at it. Of course, she is stumbling a lot and that has increased the bruises, scraps, etc. However, the dance moves continue to get better everyday...

Aspen's Birthday Party

On Saturday we had a little birthday barbecue for Aspen to celebrate her birthday. We went out of town right after the party--sorry for the delay on the posting!



We had just a few family and close friends come over and I thought it was a great mix of people, food, and fun! Jason and I tried to do most of the prep work the night before because the party was early afternoon. We decided to go with a beach theme since Aspen has her birthday in the hottest month of the year.

To go along with the theme we had four different kinds of kabobs. Beef kabobs marinaded in a jalapeno bearnaise sauce, chicken kabobs marinated in a teriyaki sauce, shrimp kabobs marinated in my brother's JFK sauce, and veggie kabobs. We also had guacamole that was delicious (Aspen ate probably half of it) and some pasta salad.



After enjoying some delicious food we moved the party into the living room to open a couple of presents. Of course Aspen was distracted by other things, but Jason and I both appreciated all the thing everyone got her--she's a little spoiled!



Then came the cake! I decided to make red velvet cupcakes with cream cheese frosting for everyone else. Aspen's cake was more of a mound, than a cake. It didn't turn out perfect looking, but it tasted great! It was a chocolate cake with whipped cream and blueberries. She was a bit timid at first, but then she really got into it.



It was a great 1st birthday and even though Aspen won't remember, she was having a great time--that's all that matters!

We Made It!

Today is Aspen's 1st birthday and thankfully we made it through with minimal damage! I'm loving the age she is right now. Old enough to entertain herself and others around her, but too young to start to much trouble and talk back. This past year has definitely gone by very fast, but at times I thought I would never get another full night of sleep or be able to spend the night away from her. Now that seems like so long ago. The past couple of days I have been scrolling through all my blog posts from the past year and it's been fun to see how much she has changed and how much we have changed.

Some of things Aspen has been up to now that she is 1...

* Lately she has been "sleeping in", waking up around 6:45am. This is a huge improvement to the 5:30 am ready for the day mornings.

* We have working on taking the bottle away and she is down to just having one in the morning when she wakes up and at night before her story and bed. She has done really well with the cup.

*She has moved on to drinking whole milk now and loves it. Jason likes having it in the house too for his coffee :)



*She has been working very hard on her walking. Depending on how focused she is she can go pretty far, but when she gets excited she tends to lose her balance.



*She continues to love to go to the park and now plays on more than the swings. Recently she has enjoyed crawling up the slides and playing in the rocks.



*Depending on the day and on the mood she can be a little bit of a picky eater, but we have our tricks to get her to eat her food ; )

*Right now she is in a transition of going from 2 naps to 1 nap. It's been interesting, but I think soon she will be on her 1 nap a day.



*She really enjoys her books now, which has been so much fun. It doesn't matter who reads them to her as long as you're willing.

*Her best friend continues and always will be Bella.



*She is such a character and is always looking for attention. I wish she was more of a snuggler, but Jason and I just squeeze on her anyway.



Her birthday party is on Saturday and even though I know she won't know what's going on or remember it, I hope she has a great time!

Aspen's birthday shots over the past 12 months...

1 month - 4 months



5 months - 8 months



9 months - 12 months