big city livin'

we're back! bet some of you might have been wondering what had happened to us eh? well, we were on a little mini-vacation of sorts. in colorado. the daddy had a conference so isa and mommy tagged along for a little big city living. you know-- good food, nice hotels, indoor swimming pools, general consumption and gluttony, etc. it was great and we really enjoyed ourselves. even got to hang out with some friends we hadn't seen in a long time. the mommy got to spend her birthday money in actual brick and mortar stores (the luxury!) and even got to walk into a fabric store and buy some business things, while not shopping around on the internet. what would we do if there was actually a good fabric store within 300 miles? wow.

among the highlights was isa's trip to the denver children's museum! it was really an amazing place and one that we will definately visit again when we are back in the area. the original plan was to go to the zoo (which we also hear is spectacular) but the weather did not cooperate. we won't complain however, as the museum was a ton of fun. you can see for yourself in the slideshow; don't forget to read the captions! but speaking of weather, we are relieved to have come home a day early. as now the interstate is closed. classic wyoming weather. the drive back was actually slower than usual due to the conditions, so we are doubly glad to be back home safe and sound and riding out the spring storm in the comfort of home-- in our sleepy little mountain town, with only a handful of cars on main street, four stop lights, and general peace and quiet.

so now it's back to life as normal and the mommy is actually glad to get back to work. isa will be glad to get back to her routine. and the daddy, well... he'll keep working and traveling his little buns off. but he seems to be glad of that too!

celebrity who?

Mountain Aven Baby has gotten a review (and a great one!) on the Celebrity Baby Blog. say what? crazy huh! i was contacted by one of their writers a few weeks ago, and here is the end result. being that the site gets 4.2 million hit per month, we are slightly excited about the free press!

happy easter

don't forget to stop and smell the flowers!

flashback friday...

the nanny reminded me that it's flashback friday, just in case anyone else forgot ;-) but we decided this friday to do a "then and now" photo. here is the goose at 5 months, and then yesterday at 19 months. crazy how much she's changed huh? way to grow goose!

the photoshoot...

... was an affirmation that i am NOT cut out to be a preschool teacher, or a mother of many children. holy cow. get five babies and toddlers together and what do you get? alot of crying. alot of whining. alot of hitting and touching and throwing of snacks. luckily kristy is fabulously talented and incredibly patient and can manage to get the most gorgeous photos amidst the mayhem. seriously gorgeous photos, people. the small glimpses that i could get from the camera view finder were incredible and i cannot wait to see more! the dresses did fine, they photographed beautifully with the light and the lovely babies wearing them. the bigger sizes need some tweaking, as they are too wide in the chest for skinny and petite kiddos. but all that aside, it was a successful shoot and i am so glad it's over with! now if i can just be patient to see the final product and get some pictures up! patience is a virtue right? right? well, i guess.

dress up

this is what happens when mommy leaves the house... nanny and isa play dress up. so we figured while they were at it, might as well try on some of the new dresses that will be photographed on friday. ignore the unfinished hem and the fact that this dress is actually one size too big for the goose. the pictures were too cute not to share!

kiss me...

... I'm (1/10) Irish. But lemme wipe the cookie off my face first.

HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY EVERYONE!

crackin' the whip...

that'd be miss isa, cracking the whip on mommy. isa told me to share twice today. i have never heard her say the word, though she hears it alot when we are with friends and at the sitter. this morning i was sitting in front of her kitchen with my legs stretched out. sitting this way, she couldn't get close enough to play. so she picked up my foot, moved it over, looked at me and said, "share!" with a very furrowed brow. how dare that mommy not share the play kitchen space!

and if that we're not enough, she also "sssshed" me while i was feeding her! apparently i was being loud, as she put her finger up to her mouth and went, "shhhhhhh!" again with the furrowed brow.

good thing isa's around to keep me in check eh?

cooking it up

isa's kitchen has been moved back upstairs, after being in the "play corner" of the shop for a while. the change of scenery was good for peaking her interest in it again. this morning she was very excited to make the mommy some breakfast in her "kicken". oh and that last shot... she's reading me the menu. so what did i get for my breakfast, you might be wondering? baked lemon and friend tomato. mmm mmm good.

flashback friday

what? did you think we forgot? oh no, we did not forget!

the daddy is out of town taking a big certification test, which means the goose and i are on our own for a few days. and with the ear infection/no sleep combo, that means we are both quite tired. but not too tired for a little flaskback friday. this picture was actually taken last year around the same time. we had just moved into the new house and the there was enough sun (and little enough snow!) that we broke out the short sleeves! and while it is presently snow (again) at the moment, we thought this little springy goodness was just perfect for today. and, as a matter of fact, that shirt still fits her. oddly enough. so much for the bigger sizes, who needs um? apparently not the goose.

skills

apparently the time of dry cereal is over. after weeks of fighting isa over my own bowl of cereal, it was time for someone to get her own bowl-- with milk and spoon. this made my own bowl of cereal much more enjoyable. the need for the spoon is debatable, but there is an entertainment value as well!

as seen in Small Magazine...

i have been meaning to post a little (shameless) self-promo for the ole shop, but amidst the recurrent illnesses just never had the chance.

mountain aven baby was asked to be a part of a fabulous publication called Small Magazine. they asked for a lotus onesie for a photo shoot in their spring issue. as you can guess, we were more than happy to comply, as we love Small Magazine! so, the spring issue is out and while i would be lying if i said i was totally satisfied with the mountain aven baby coverage (that cute baby in the lotus onesie is so tiny in the background)... well, beggers can't be choosers. or something like that. according to their editors, the spring issue got over 15,000 views in the first week and their online presence grows leaps and bounds with every seasonal issue. way to go Small! we like them, we like what they do, and we were flattered to take part!

we also bought ad as well, thinking it was a good one-two punch kind of combo. this is the first ever paid advertising for the business and it seems to have been a worth while venture. while it's hard to know exactly how many people have purchased items after seeing the Small coverage, sales have started to pick up again after a minor lull towards the end of February.

sneaky peeky

a little glimpse of what's to come in the ole shop. fully reversible, pearl snap jumpers. ohhhh! we're doing another photo shoot with the fabulous kristy next week. can't wait! stay tuned!

mvp

as in most valuable patient. being on a first name basis with receptionist at the doctor's office was not one of my aspirations. but alas, that seems to be the case. guess who has an ear infection and a sinus infection? that'd be miss isa. and if you are wondering... yes, we are banking up karma like it's our job and it had better mean that this is the last sickness for a long, long while.

raucous caucus...

it's a BIG day here in the cowboy state. and i mean BIG. not since 1960, when JFK went on to be elected as President, has wyoming actually had a meaningful say in the Democratic nomimee. that's forty eight years folks, forty eight. so it's no surprise that people are coming out of the woodwork here for today's caucuses. we've had all three members of the clinton family, as well barack obama, speaking in the state over the last few days. not to mention front page headlines in newspapers around the globe. you'd have to live in wyoming to understand just how exciting that actually is, being that the only other big headlines we've made in recent years involved "that gay cowboy movie" and mad cow disease.

for those unfamiliar with fremont country (which i assume is everyone but me!), here is a little primer: fremont county is massive, and covers more than 9200 square miles. that's larger than the entire state of massachusetts. and in that expanse, there are only 37,000 people (the whole state only has 515,000). according to many of the "old timers" at today's caucus, the usual turnout for the democrats is about thirty people. yes, thirty. today we had 625+ officially, though unofficially the feeling was far larger. as a bonafide "young person" i was really surprised to see how many elderly people were in attendance. and while it was impossible to gauge how far everyone had traveled to stand in line this morning, there were people from the reservation, as well people from dubios (1.5hrs away) and other far flung corners of the county. impressive to say the least.

so what's the count? well, it's certainly not official but there appeared to be a slight advantage for Barack Obama. hard to tell when that many people are crammed into a small space, but that was our best guess. let's hope the official tally is announced soon though, otherwise the daddy might be forever glued to his laptop, eagerly hitting the refresh button to see just how things have changed in the last 5 seconds since he last looked!

here's to democracy!

the goosey caucus...

because we know this is what the grandparents really want to see ;-) here are some pictures of the goose and her caucus activity. more on the actual event to come!

as they say

a picture is worth a thousand words. and this one fits the bill. but since many of you may be wondering about the absence of new posts, we thought we'd explain. it's been an infirmary around here as of late. isa continues to cough and wheeze and snot. and the mommy had the misfortune of contracting some god awful food poisoning or stomach virus. not sure which. the dysentary and giardia and parasites of bolivia could not hold a candle to this sickness. BUT! we seem to be on the mend! three cheers for wellness! we even went to the Democratic caucus this morning, which was awesome! more on that to come, but in short it was really incredible to see so much enthusiam for the democratic process regardless of where your political loyalties may lie. so stay tuned for more pictures and a post-caucus wrap up!

our new motto...

think spring. think spring. think spring.

flashback friday...

yeah, yeah, so it's a day late. better late than never!