Colorado Pictures- Post 2

Read the post below ("Colorado- Post 1") to understand the pictures....

Reese checking out the hyenas (or "doggies according to her) at the zoo

Her first positive experience with ice cream!

Saying hello to Mr. Peacock with Papa

Eating dinner at the famous Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. with some Kyle's family

Sitting on the bench used in the movie Forrest Gump

Georgetown, CO

Loveland Pass (11,990 ft) TOO HIGH in my opinion! :)

Reese on her first pony ride (with cowgirl boots and all.)

Her favorite friend on vacation, Bandit.

The Eisenhower Tunnel

Colorado- Post 1

We got home yesterday from a fabulous family vacation to Denver (and surrounding areas) to visit some of Kyle's family that lives out there and explore the mountains. We all had such a great time, and I am so glad that I took today off to recover, and do lots of loads of laundry. I'm going to be honest, I was a little nervous to fly with a rambunctious toddler, but Reese did AMAZING. No tears, screaming, or whining on any of the plane rides. HALLELUJAH! I could not have asked her to travel any better.

We arrived in Denver Friday morning, where Kyle's Uncle Mike picked us up and took us over to his Grandma's house for lunch. We had a great time visiting and she was so happy to meet Reese. I have only met her once before for a short time, so it was nice to sit down and get to know her a little bit better. We then headed about 1 hour south of Denver to Mike's house (where we stayed for the 5 days.) Mike and his wife, Linda, live on a gorgeous farm with lots of horses, dogs, and cats for Reese to enjoy. We spent the rest of the day playing with the animals and catching up with Mike, Linda, and their daughter (9) Courtney.

Saturday we headed up to the mountains to visit some of the historic cities and shopping districts. It was SO beautiful. I have never been out west or seen the Rockies, and they are stunning. I highly recommend to anyone who has not done so yet, it is a must see. We spent the day driving through the mountains, stopping at different cities along the way to get out and enjoy the sights. We stopped at Idaho Springs (a cute shopping town), Georgetown (an amazing old mining city), Central City (a mining town turned into a gambling town), and Loveland Pass (a 12,000 ft. summit in the mountains.) And let me tell you, I about had a heart attack driving up to Loveland Pass. It is literally climbing a mountain with no guard rails (with a girl who does not like heights!) But, we made it and took a picture at the summit. Check that off my life list and I will probably not be doing that again :)

Sunday Mike and Linda made a wonderful lunch and invited more of the Montgomery family over that I had not met before. Gary, Kyle's dad, went along on the trip with us, so both him and Kyle were excited to see their family they had not seen in a while. I had fun chatting with the women, and learning all about Kyle's family out there and the history of the Montgomery's. Kyle's dad has 11 (blood, half, and step) siblings, so I had A LOT to learn. I did have a quiz at the end of the day, and could name every one of them but 1. I think I pass the test :) Sunday evening Reese was able to have her first horse ride. Linda has two miniature horses on the farm and Reese got saddled up, put on cowgirl boots, and hopped on. She did well with the help of Dad, but the ride didn't last too long. The horse was much more interesting to her when she wasn't on it :)

Monday was the day we designated to go to the Denver Zoo. Wow, what a beautiful zoo. They had so many neat animals we had never seen before, and the grounds of the zoo are so pretty. We spent all day there, and Reese was in heaven. She most of all enjoyed a male peacock that spread this feathers out wide and let her get up pretty close to it (with the help of Papa Gary.) She rode the carousel, ate ice cream (for the first time and enjoyed it!!), and got a Denver Zoo shirt. I would say a successful day in her book! Monday night we ate at the famous Bubba Gump's Shrimp Co. in downtown Denver. It is the restaurant famous for the movie Forrest Gump. They have the original park bench Tom Hank's sits on and box of chocolates from the movie in the restaurant. They also have AMAZING seafood. A great dinner and neat atmosphere, I again recommend to anyone traveling out there.

Yesterday we traveled back to good ol' Wisconsin and relaxed for the evening. I have lots of pictures to share. So I will do that in a separate picture post!

Oh...by the way, last Wednesday we found out we are having a BOY!! I didn't have time to post a blog before we left, but we are very excited and are starting the name search for the perfect boy's name!

Easter

We had a great Easter yesterday with both sides of the family up for a late lunch at our house. I am pretty sure everyone was tired of hearing Reese say "more candy" by the end of the day :) She sure loves her chocolate :) We had a mini egg/candy hunt with cousins Maddy, 7, and Mekenna, 4. Reese loves watching the "big girls" run around and following them in whatever they are doing.
Reese has had a cold since Thursday and it was turning into a green, snotty nose with lots of congestion, so I took her to the doctor this afternoon thinking it was a sinus infection, while it turns out a double ear infection :( So glad I took her today and we got meds as we fly to Denver on Friday for vacation. That would have been horrible for her had I not caught it! We are also excited this week because we find out the sex of the baby on Wednesday! Any guesses??

Here are some pictures from our Easter Sunday:

"Hey, look what I found!"
Super excited about Easter!
Just taking her "easter bunny" for a stroll down the block :)

A week of firsts

We had a week of firsts here at the Montgomery household. Last week, I had

the pleasure of feeling the baby move for the first time. I tell ya, that feeling will never get old. We also heard Reese sing the ABCs for the first time tonight. She has said Abc before, but never sang the whole song (skipping a few letters here and there.) she caught us by surpise while eating dinner and breaking out in her song. It was pretty neat. She also counted to ten randomly at dinner tonight. Kyle and I looked at each other in shock and then asked her to do it again. She gets one through four and then does six through ten. I guess five doesn't matter :) either way, it was a fun night hearing her count and sing.

We had our first open house this past Sunday and our realator said 15 couples came through (he usually averages 5) so I hope that is a good sign! We were up in the Twin Cities this past weekend for Aidan and Aubreys birthday party and had a great weekend. The kids had so much fun playing with each other and we were all ready for bed last night!

Kyle is in Vegas all week for work, so hopefully I can stay sane enough to make it to Saturday as we have my friend Jody's son Mason's first birthday party!

Happy St. Patty's Day!

Happy St. Patty's Day to all the Irish out there!

We are not doing much here to celebrate, unless you consider cleaning something exciting :) We are listing the house on Monday, and are doing a final deep clean this weekend to get prepared. I am excited and hopeful that we can sell our house within a decent time frame. So fingers crossed! Kyle and I are getting a sitter tonight so we can go out for dinner and a movie. Now that I am finally feeling all better and have no more spells of nausea, I am excited to get out and enjoy the night!

This past week flew by, as we were outside every night this week until Reese went to bed. We are just loving this weather!!

Here are a few updates on little Miss Reese lately:
-She has many words now (probably up to 30-40 that she can use regularly)
-She has all of her teeth (except the 2 year molars)
-She is a fire ball!! Full of energy and gusto
-She LOVES to be naked :) She asks each night before pajama time to be "nakie" so I let her run around for a good 5-10 minutes. From what I hear, I was a child that liked to be naked too, so the apple must not fall far from the tree :)
-Her favorite activities are coloring, naming shapes, and talking about/seeing animals outside (we have lots of neighborhood puppies)
-She is a very persistent child. She knows what she wants, and when she wants it. We have had to practice and implement many strategies of distraction to help avoid tantrums when she does not get her way.

15 and listing

I had my 15 week appt. this past Tuesday and everything checked out ok. The baby's heartbeat was 155- normal and I am starting to feel much better. I still have little bouts of nausea on and off but not nearly as bad as before. I have been having lower back pain, but that is the cause of my job, constantly bending over and picking up kids.
We are prepping the house today (spring cleaning since it will be 64 out today!) to get it ready to list this week. We have been on the hunt for houses for a while now, and have found some potentials. But, we need to sell this place first. We would like a bigger yard and a better school district (we are currently in the largest elementary school district in Madison- 750 kids K-5, and it is not in a very good area of Fitchburg.) So, now is the time to list. Houses have been selling like crazy in our neighborhood (as Madison never really was affected by the housing crash-luckily!) We won't be moving far- just looking at areas outside of Madison. I still LOVE this city and don't want o get too far away :)

Guess Whoo?

Reese will be! We are expecting baby #2 around August 26th! Much to our surprise, and much of our family's, we found out the beginning of January that we will be adding to our brood. I have not had the same easy pregnancy as I had with Reese. Nausea, a little vomitting, and a lot of exhaustion have gotten the best of me these past 14 weeks, but hopefully it subsides soon so I can enjoy round 2. Reese knows there is a baby in mommy's belly, and one day thinking it is a boy, and the next day a girl :) We are excited for the middle of April when we will actually know the gender!