Colorado Trip: Friends and Boulder

While in Colorado we got to see so many friends! (only some of which we remembered to take pictures with! Isn’t that always the way?!) Unfortunately we didn’t get to see everyone. It was a short trip and we only spent 24 hours in Boulder!

Miss Leyba got to meet some of my awesome coworkers from my water resource engineering days:



It was wonderful seeing them outside of the workplace, without any work-related stress (for me, anyhow!).

We also met up with my dear friend Bridget for some happy hour hopping:

We ate breakfast at our favorite spot Lucile’s with newlyweds Tim and Sarah:

David, Miss Leyba, and I had so much fun walking around Boulder, visiting our favorite bookstore and restaurants. It was exactly as we remembered it: friendly people, incredible prices (in comparison to where we live in California!), delicious food, beautiful scenery.



This trip felt like a homecoming to me. Despite our great friends in California and the fact that David loves his job, I still feel like Boulder is home. At the end of our trip though we decided that, while we’d love to live there again, we will only move back if we can truly afford to live there and can buy a house in town so we can walk everywhere (just as we did when we rented there three years ago). So, at some point I hope we move back… but for now we are focusing on our life in Northern California. After all, how many people can say they truly love their job and look forward to going to work every day? I can’t argue with that.

We’ll continue to visit Boulder.

We heart you, Colorado.

Colorado Trip: Cool Uncle Lee

After our stint in Colorado Springs, we headed up to Fort Collins so Miss Leyba could meet her Uncle Lee. We had so much fun together!

Just as Miss Leyba adored my sister Laura from the get-go, she felt an affinity for David’s brother. She loved him immediately! (I think they are the only people she has felt completely at ease and comfortable with from the moment she met them. Pretty amazing. I think she sees bits of David and I in our siblings. Or she gets totally confused and thinks that they are us…!)

We did all sorts of fun, chill activities. We took Miss Leyba to her first bar:

Lee gave Miss Leyba her first drum lesson:


Playing the drums with Uncle Lee from Carrie on Vimeo.

And the dog! Miss Leyba adored Lee’s dog… Nona however was not so sure about Miss Leyba. Luckily our daughter saw this as a challenge (and crawled around after her) and laughed hysterically any time Nona growled or barked (don’t worry — we kept a close eye on them!). That dog had such an affect on Miss Leyba that she started pointing and saying “dog-g” when she was chasing her around. SO cute!

(Incidentally we slept so well on Lee’s memory foam mattress that we are thinking about budgeting for a king sized one. Then our guests can sleep on our queen. Like the sound of that, Mom and Dad?!)

Thank you for having us, Lee! We all had a wonderful time.

Colorado Trip: Garden of the Gods

Last week Miss Leyba and I accompanied David on a business trip to Colorado! It was my first time back there since we moved away two and a half years ago. Oh my goodness, we had a FANTASTIC time! For all of us it was a super wonderful, very special vacation.

Since we took, oh, a couple hundred photos, I am going to break up our recap into several posts…

First up: Colorado Springs! We spent the first few days there while David worked before heading up north to Fort Collins and Boulder to visit family and friends.

Miss Leyba and I took day trips around town to Whole Foods, the bookstore, and Garden of the Gods the first two days. Then she rebelled and started hysterically crying every time we got in the car, so I canceled the rest of our plans and we played in the hotel room the last day. Believe it or not, she thought it was heaven. (So many new things to explore!) Some recharge time was exactly what she needed… and I got to spend November 4th near the computer/tv which ended up being exactly what I needed. (Yes, we spent Election Day in the red part of the state. We survived and Obama won. Phew.)

So, back to Garden of the Gods.

Wow, was it beautiful. Miss Leyba and I hiked around and saw the monuments close up. I was totally in awe, while Miss Leyba was completely oblivious to the rock formations. I couldn’t believe it. She didn’t look up once. Evidently the man-made benches, boulders, and little pebbles were way more interesting.

She did have a great time though:


Garden of the Gods (Colorado Springs, Colorado) from Carrie on Vimeo.


Garden of the Gods #2 (Colorado Springs, Colorado) from Carrie on Vimeo.

We’ll have to go back when she’s older.

Letter to Miss Leyba: Month Nine

Dear sweetie,

What a month it has been. We’ve had our ups and downs these last few weeks. We’ve met new friends and been very social. On the flip side, the whole family got sick and you had your first cold, which turned into croup. You were very sick, but are feeling so much better now and we’re tremendously relieved. You are now back to your happy, healthy self and we’re exciting to jump into month ten.

You are nine months old. Amazing.

For the most part, we would call this past month a Mama-only month. You wanted me to hold you, to change your diaper, to read to you, to play with you. And no one else would do. You even felt agitated/distressed when I wasn’t in your  field of vision. Subsequently you were by my side for most of the month. You even sleep cuddled up next to me — we both lay on our sides facing each other with our tummies touching. While I may have complained occasionally to Daddy that I never got a moment to myself this month, I’ve actually really loved it. It feels so good to be loved.

When you got sick this changed, however, and suddenly Daddy was the ultimate comforter. I am so glad you feel this way… I do too! Wow, do we both love him.

Looking back, we will talk about the verbal leaps you made when you were eight months old. While I’ve tried to coax you to call me mama, you seem reserved to calling me mom. Sometimes you’ll call my name and then crawl over to me. In distress, when someone else is holding you, you’ll reach out your arms towards me and call for me. My personal favorite is when we’re sitting next to each other, playing, and you put your hand on my arm and look up at me and say, “Mom.” It makes me smile every time.

You also say “hi,” “bye” and occasionally we hear a “no.” (For instance, one time when I tried to transfer you from my arms to your dad’s, you evidently felt very strongly that you wanted to stay with me, so you grasped on to me tighter and shouted “no!”). You frequently greet David at the door when he comes home from work with a “Daddy!” or “hi, Daddy!” In the mornings when you first wake up, you’ll roll over and look at him and say “Daddy!” You love to say “bye bye” (though it sounds more like bah bah), but only when we are using the speakerphone on my cell phone. The last few days we’ve caught you mimicking us and saying “ove you” (Love you!) — oh, dear heart, we love you so!

This month you had another growth spurt and are getting so long! When you’re in your car seat, you can now turn your head to see me driving. I like catching you smiling up at me.

At the beginning of the month you figured out how to wave and clap. Oh, you love to clap! You clap to the beat when we’re listening to music. You clap when you are proud of yourself (for standing, for turning pages, for climbing over things). You are adorable. Clap, clap, clap! The waving is less frequent, but you still do it often.

I looked it up and, at eight months old, you have reached every developmental milestone children typically reach by the time they are one year old… except for walking and, my goodness, you are on your way! You cruise the furniture all over the house. You stand unsupported more frequently. You keep trying to stand up without anything for support. You love “walking” around the house while holding on to our fingers.

You amaze us every day. We love you so.

Love,
Mama

Lawrentians in wine country

Last month (okay, it’s more like two months ago now) several close friends from high school visited us. We had a wonderful day picnicing and touring around Chateau St. Jean together. David and I so enjoyed showing off the beautiful area where we live and they got to meet Miss Leyba. Of course, we also enjoyed time with each other! We had such a great visit.


“Do you think Mom will notice if I help myself to a strawberry?” (Nice try, kid!)


Unpacking our spread of delicious cheese, fruit, homemade bread, and tomato/mozzarella salad.


Hanging with Daddy.


Char enjoying the glorious, hot weather.


Ick! Thanks, Alice, for snapping this photo instead of taking my shoe out of her mouth.


Playing with their respective toys.


This fountain was a big hit! Alice even helped Miss Leyba put her feet in.


Love this family portrait!


This is so us. I’m trying to crack her up and she’s so over it.


The Spritzer Leyba girls with Charleen, Yuni, and Alice. This photo so belongs in our alumni magazine.

(Can you tell Miss Leyba skipped her afternoon nap?! Where is my smiley girl?!)

Thanks to Alice and Yuni for their beautiful photos.