Things around here have been chugging along.  I survived (barely) the three weeks without Anthony, but I think I had PTSD by the time he got home!

These little hooligans have been dubbed "Double Trouble" when they're together, because that's just what they are!  Their favorite thing is to wait until I'm otherwise occupied with something (and I don't try to get much done when they're awake!), go behind the sofa, and engage in all sorts of naughtiness, like taking off their pants to pee in the window sill or showcasing their artistic talents with markers that the big kids drop on the floor all over the windows and blinds.  At least I can keep them happily contained for a few minutes by transforming Harrison's crib into a fort with a fitted sheet when I need to do jobs like toilet scrubbing!




Ever since Alaina's been little, she's loved to sit and watch cookies bake.  Looks like I've got two tiny bakers now!


The weather in March was mostly beautiful and warm, making neighborhood walks and trips to the river appear in our schedule early this year!








Alaina had her first school performance.  She was so nervous about performing her line, and I would be, too!  She got the longest line of all: "The six social values of the traditional games were, and still are, highly important"!  She did it perfectly in 2/3 performances and dozens of times at home, but her eye caught mine as she spoke at the parents' performance, she got nervous, and missed a word.  With that line, though, nobody noticed!




Taking this wildman anywhere where quiet is expected is an exercise in patience, ninja skills, and emergency candy preparation.


This is a pretty accurate description of spring in Colorado...seventy degree temps the day after a 6-inch snowstorm, ice cream on a patio after playing at a snowpacked park.


Future gamer


It did snow a few times this winter, and the latest one was too blustery to enjoy outside, so we brought the snow in.  I don't know if I win "Mom of the Year" or "Numbskull of the Year" for thinking it would be a great idea to make snow-cones with red Kool-Aid inside, but we all survived and got a treat nonetheless.


Harrison is the king of beggars and hounds people who  are eating anything by saying, "Bite bite!  Buh buh bite!  Buh buh buh bite BITE!" until you put something in his mouth.


Gotta say, snow cones made with real snow are THE BEST.

To say that things have been busy around here is an understatement, but it seems like everyone can relate!  We've been adjusting to me trying to learn the ropes as an internet assessor and watching another toddler three times a week, and Anthony has been just as overwhelmed preparing for and giving a FIFTY minute presentation at his company's summit this week.  He travels to Palm Springs next week, then Michigan the next (during spring break, so it's all Mama, all the time!), so it doesn't look like this pace is going to let up for a while!

Once I got the job for Lionbridge, I decided the easiest way to get the work done would be to wake up at 6:00, a full hour and a half before Harrison.  He must have some Broadhead in him and must have checked my alarm before he went to bed, because he's been getting up at 5:30, grumpy as a bear.  It's difficult to juggle him and working, so I don't get much done.  Here he is, insisting on helping me with rating some songs.


January and February pretty much decided not to show up this year, and I am so grateful for the warm days to get the kids out of the house!  Connor brought home some bubbles from his Valentine's party, and they were spilled by a sneaky toddler moments after getting them out.  Thank goodness for Dawn dish soap and its awesome bubbles!






I love happy little photography accidents, like this magical picture, the second a bubble burst!


I love that our house is positioned so that our driveway gets sun from morning until night...we've only had to shovel twice this winter and it makes for such lovely evening light (and warmth)!


Connor felt like a super villain with his bubble hands...






"It's like an orange on a toothpick!"


Meet Garris, our little buddy.  He is softspoken, squishy, sweet, and funny when he's mad, so it's pretty safe to say that he's stolen my heart!  When Harrison has his incredibly loud meltdowns, Garris just looks at me and says, "Whoa."  I bought this hat for Harrison to wear this winter, but he hates it, so I was smitten when Garris put it on out of nowhere and wore it all day, complementing his big brown eyes and curly hair.  He's independent and quiet, so if I'm not completely focused on the boys at any given time, like making lunch or switching the laundry, I can pretty much guarantee that they are somewhere getting into trouble together.


Of course, Garris wearing Harrison's hat triggered an epic battle between the two of them, but Garris couldn't quite figure out how to get it back on right.


Harrison gets so territorial when Garris is around, and wouldn't leave this stroller for days after Garris made it clear that he loved it.


I am grateful that Harrison has someone to pal around with during the day, even if there is a whole lot of "MINE"s being said!


I'm about ready to start calling Harrison "Your Highness" because I feel like my entire existence is catering to his needs!  This picture, for example.  The only way I could get him to chill out and stop having tantrums about the atrocity of having to wear clothes and having your diaper changed every now and then was to pull him around in a pillow and blanket lined laundry basket  as I picked up the house.  May I refill your beverage, Sir?

December and January have been incredibly busy months, so here's a recap to get us up to date!

On December 6, Amanda broke out of the norm and proposed to Ryan.  He said yes, and they're planning a date for sometime this spring!


Anthony and I celebrated our tenth anniversary by going snowshoeing in Estes Park, then spending the next day recovering, going to see The Hobbit in HFR, then out to dinner at Ace Gillette's, a lounge with live jazz in Fort Collins.  We had so much fun and it was wonderful to be able to reconnect without the everyday responsibilities (thanks to Anthony's parents for taking care of the kids)!


Anthony turned 33!  Since his birthday fell on a Sunday and both his teams were playing, we spent the day watching football! :P




We had an incredible Christmas, and Santa and Mommy must have been in cahoots, because most of their gifts were ONE PIECE (I definitely learned my lesson giving them those craft kits last year.  I swear I was vacuuming up googly eyes through July!) and perfect for playing with in THE BASEMENT.  Definitely the right choice, since now we have the fun house where the neighbors like to play and there's very little cleanup, even after hours spent down there!


It was fun to have Harrison enjoying the morning instead of being terrified of the paper like last year!  He was somewhat interested in opening gifts, but since it was so early (up with Connor at 2, Alaina at 3:30, and Harrison at 5:30), he mostly wandered around while drinking his milk.


Can we say, "glassy-eyed"?


It snowed most of Christmas Day, so when we got the kids together on the 26th, we all had lots of fun in the snow!




Poor Harrison was so excited to get out and play in the snow, but I think he assumed it would be soft, squishy, and WARM, like our bed that he's used to diving around in face-first.  Once we were outside, he immediately dove face first into the snow, then understandably couldn't wait to get back inside!


I managed to photoshop the tears and snot out of this pic so we could look back on these pictures and pretend like he had a great time! :)


We all spent the week between Christmas and New Year's passing around a cold, so that wasn't any fun, but at least we didn't have anywhere else to be!


On New Year's Day, we woke up to a beautiful sunrise.  We were saddened to hear the news of my Grandma Broadhead's passing, and are relieved that she no longer has to suffer.


Harrison and I flew out to Utah to be at the funeral, and it was a lovely tribute to her life.  It was so nice to be able to reconnect with family that we probably wouldn't otherwise see.  All of the beautiful touches that she requested reminded me of fond memories of visiting their home that was always beautifully clean, smelled delicious from her home cooking, and had such feminine touches, in spite of being surrounded by her 7 living sons and husband!  I love you, and I'll miss you, Grandma!
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A few days after we got home, Connor had surgery to remove his tonsils and adenoid. 2015 better hold a reprieve from surgery for us...three surgeries in 12 months just shouldn't be a thing.  He's 6 days post-op right now and we're definitely over the hump in terms of pain, so that's good!  I've been helping a friend clean and prepare her house to be rented, so that has filled my nights, and the past few weeks have also been filled with jumping through hoops and taking my first exams in over a decade to try to get an online position as a search engine assessor with Lionbridge (for Google).  I'm also starting to watch a friend's little boy 2-3 times a week beginning next week, so things have been a little hectic around here!  I always beat myself up for not taking enough pictures January-March, so I'll do my best to keep clicking and keep this blog better updated!

November came and went in the blink of an eye!  We had beautiful, warm weather the first week of November, and a 70 degree day before a 70 degree plummet the next.  Mother nature was kind and bid adieu to autumn gently with this beautiful sunset.  This was taken with my phone camera and not edited at all.  Gorgeous!


The biggest news of all this month is that our little H-man is now a walker!  He started to take a few steps while Anthony was in Michigan for a week, so I didn't encourage it at all.  By the time Anthony came home that Friday, he was up to taking 7 unassisted steps.  By the end of the next week, he was walking confidently, and now, he's RUNNING!  AH!  He's such a little Dietrich man, throwing stuff while doing his German grunt/scream to show you how macho he is...


I have to laugh when I open up Connor's doctor bag (where he keeps his most important stuff) and it's like a glimpse into his brain!


Huge flocks of geese fly over our house from the field behind our neighborhood to Long Pond every day.  We love to hear their honking and see buffetting sunshine because there's just so many of them, but we are not fans of the poop.  No, we are not.


I found this detailed "Crismis" list in Alaina's backpack the other day.  It made me excited, because she's definitely getting some "stuf" for Christmas! ;)


I don't know how this is even possible, but Harrison is more and more into things every day.  His capacity for mess-making astounds me!  He's always trying to get into places he knows he's not supposed to go, unsnapping his high-chair tray liner to shake his food all over the ground, throwing his sippy cup, peeing on the bathmat after every shower.  Sometimes I wonder why I even try to do any housework while having a toddler.  If I'm cleaning up one mess, he's making another.  His cuteness and mischievous grins and giggles are his saving grace!  He's a monster, but he sure is funny!  He's starting to say more than Dada and Doddie (Doggie) now, expanding his vocabulary to "hot" (with an accompanying blow on whatever is hot), "bye-bye" (with a wave), and we think he's saying "Please" with "Bee".  He's a busy body and keeps me on my toes, but this stage is so fun...I wouldn't mind it lasting a little longer!
 

This happened while I was in the bathroom for about three minutes.


He has also learned to take advantage of the odd moments when people forget to close doors.  He loves to go into rooms and shut the door behind him because he knows that buys him about 5 minutes of mess-making before I realize he's no longer playing with his toys in the living room.


This is his cute, puppy-dog begging face when he wants something I have.  Here, he's trying to distract me with his cuteness and saying, "Bee bee bee bee" while scootching toward me to get in range of grabbing my camera.


We keep opening our door to find little brown bunnies in our yard, and I absolutely love it!


Two weeks ago, Kelly was in town and we all decided to go down to the Christkindl Market, a German street market in the heart of Denver.  I love the unobstructed mountain views from the highway.  I know, it's not Utah, but it's still pretty!






After meeting up with Anthony's cousin Alex (far left), we indulged in pretzels, brats, pastries, and beautiful German ornaments and decorations.  When we had finished with that fun, we walked around Larimer Square.  While I wouldn't want to raise my kids in Denver, this area is still near and dear to our hearts.  Anthony and I loved to go downtown before we had kids, and even though it was only for a year or so of our lives, we made the best of living in that crappy Aurora apartment only 20 minutes from the heart of the bustling city.  I miss the people watching and cool architecture, but that's about it.




We had dinner at the Ted's Montana Grill where Ryan used to work.  I have pretty vivid memories of that place, so it was weird to walk into the bathroom that I'd used many times before we moved to Castle Rock, but this time to change a baby while Anthony took care of our two older kids.  When did I become a grown up?




Harrison entertained us throughout dinner.  Lately, he's been making an "OH" shaped mouth, then inhaling audibly to sound amazed.  He points at stuff with his middle finger, while making that sound (he especially likes unique ceiling lights) to make sure we're all seeing how awesome the stuff around us is.




I can't believe the holidays are already here!  December is the busiest and most fun month of the year, so we're ready (just keep the caffeine flowing!)