She rolls!

She has officially done the full roll. She is so big and getting so strong! There is video of the rolling below.

Another crazy family picture.

We went to a movie in the park this weekend. It was Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs. We were thoroughly enjoying the movie but we never saw the ending! When there was about 10 minutes left, the sprinklers turned on and let me tell you, chaos ensued. There was screaming, children wailing, it was as if Godzilla had come and torn the movie screen down. We did not get wet, only the front half of the movie crowd got showered on. So Juan and I had a good laugh, packed up and left. And we heard a new wave of screams as we were leaving, so we must have gotten out just in time!

This first is a full 360 degree turn. Go girl!

And then a front angle. She is so proud.

Randoms

~I'm obsessed with Carter's new fall stuff. My baby wears a lot from Carter's. They make clothes that make me smile, and the deals are just delicious. I have yet to visit the Carter's store here in Denver that is 14 miles away. I think I'll be taking a trip next week. They should pay me for this gushing, no?

~Forever 21 cheapness. I love. I bought 3 pairs of earrings for $3.80 total. We waited in a long line and Juan leans and whispers to me, do you realize that the average age of people in this line is 12 years old? Yes, yes I do.

~Speaking of me and Juan. You wonder how having a baby is going to change the couple. I wondered. We are still silly and fun and we've stepped up a notch on that ladder of love. But I will say this, we feel like grown ups now. Before it was, we'll manage, both of us could live in a cardboard box if we had to (ok maybe I was kidding myself even then). Now... this is real life here. We've got a tiny human being to support and offer a good life. And poor Juan, so much pressure on his shoulders. I love him.

~And now to add more pressure on Juan, I've decided I want to live in a neighborhood where the trees canopy over the whole street. All shade. You know those scenes in the movies where people are racing their bikes down the canopied streets. I want that. It is a long-term desire. I can wait 3 years. I kid.

~Last night Juan was playing with Amelia and mentioned that she was laughing with him. I missed it. Then today she was playing on the floor and I picked her up and sat her on my lap facing me and she just started chuckling. I kept smiling but then the tears came as they too often do these days. She was just so dang cute! And then she continued to laugh it up. She thinks it's funny that her mom's a basket-case.

~Ok now really random. I've heard you lose a lot of hair after you have a baby. And I thought, ok to make up for the zero amount of hair I lost while pregnant. But people, this is a lot of hair. I'm afraid it is never going to end and I am going to end up bald! Please share when it is going to stop or if there's any treatment/vitamin I can take to keep my already thin hair in tact. Gracias.

Reviews

We went to the drive-in movies on Friday night. Here's what I thought about

Inception

So original. I am not the smartest movie watcher, I felt like I got lost a few times. But it was overall very entertaining and highly recommended. Juan also liked it. Amelia squirmed and then finally fell asleep.

Eclipse

I mean I am not the biggest fan of the series. I have read all the books. I have seen the other movies. It's fun to watch, but come on, the acting and production is not anything special to say it in a nice way. Juan hated. And he was ok about the other 2. This one was too repetitive for him with too many one-on-one conversations (which to me were the best parts). And Amelia continued to sleep.

I've also read a few books lately, a few I would recommend:

Never Let Me Go

So interesting. Pulled me in from the very start. BUT it is haunting. I don't know how else to describe it. Haunting, eery, in an intriguing way.

The Glass Castle

A memoir. I loved it. It was sad, it was impossible to think that people actually live that way. But the fact that it was true made it even better.

Betsy B Little

This is a children's picture book. I absolutely love it. Maybe because I was always tall. But it is so cute and it is one of the randoms I picked at the library that I now have to buy.

Saturday we went to a volleyball tournament that Juan played in for work. It was such a fun day cheering Juan on and getting to know his co-workers. I caught Amelia in a moment of excitement for her dad.

The Lovely Boulder

First off, our pretty Amelia is 4 months old now. Too fast! I went back and watched video from when she was 4 weeks old. She was so skinny and wrinkly, love it.

So what's new with her?

• She got a new color on her monkey toes.

• She still spends most of her time in this position. When she rolls over all the way it will be the success of weeks and weeks of hard work.

• She smiles at people, not cameras. That takes a quick camera action on my part. The second she sees the camera come up, her face goes stone cold. I caught a little smirk here.

• She keeps her head in line with her body when I pull her up into a sitting position.
• She has become increasingly dependent on her binky. She used to never need it, went to sleep perfectly without it. Now she is Maggie Simpson with that bink in her mouth every second. (That Simpson reference is for you, Juan, Maggie's the baby, right?).
• She loves her giraffe. It moves its head as it plays Twinkle Twinkle.
• She scratches at things. Like a cat.
• She doesn't talk as much as she used to. That darn binky.

Now onto our weekend. We spent all day Saturday in Boulder.

We ate at Foolish Craig's Cafe, known for their crepes. This is my breakfast crepe. Delish.

And the dessert. Are you kidding me? The breakfast crepe was good, this dessert crepe, To Die For. We've got 4 weeks left in Denver. I may drive an hour to Boulder each week just for this.

We walked Pearl Street. We went to the kite store and the candy store. There were street performers. We caught a magic show and this guy above. He juggles torches and knives. Pretty sweet. Street performers, candy shop, doesn't it sound like a charming place?

We headed over to Chautauqua park. Absolutely gorgeous, right by the mountains. Here is our try at a family picture. I like it-Juan's concentrating on taking the pic, Amelia is in la la land. We just sat on a blanket and talked and played with our girl. It was a perfect saturday really.

And to end with my FAVORITE picture yet. Dad and Millie. Take a look at that smile.

Visitors!

Click on pictures to see them bigger.

My parents came in for the holiday weekend. Juan and I loved playing host and also loved hanging out in their air-conditioned hotel, our place has no a/c here in Denver, seriously?

Here are thousands of pictures summing up our trip:

• Molly Brown House - my mother had us watch The Unsinkable Molly Brown the night before. Super cheesy musical, Juan napped during it. I loved it.
• Performing Arts Center where we got pictures with the BEST sculpture ever "Dancers", they are the 2 gigantic skinny unisex people holding hands. And there is a song playing on loop: "Let's Dance". Seriously my favorite part of Denver so far. They just look so happy.
• Denver Convention Center where we saw the Blue Bear
• State Capitol with it's Gold top
• 16th Street Mall and eating at Maggiano's
• And Washington park for a photo shoot in front of the pond. Beautiful park, we'll be going back.

Amelia went swimming for the first time at the hotel. We have a pool here at our place, but I've been too lazy to get all dressed and sun-block on just to leave after 1 minute if she didn't like it. But... we have a swimmer on our hands. Or shall I say she takes an indifference to it. She made a few faces getting used to the water temp, then she just chilled. Didn't matter to her if she was in water or not, she just acted normal. Cute girl.

• Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs
• United States Air Force Academy, Cadet Chapel
• Texas Roadhouse yumminess. We had our first fried pickles, and they were pretty good!

It was such a nice visit and we got a lot in. On Sunday we spent an hour driving around in the rain looking for a place to watch fireworks from our covered car. We had no luck and then as we were walking into the hotel we heard the booms and there were fireworks right outside the door. Perfect view, and we huddled under the overhang to stay dry. It was meant to be, Juan got to see his fireworks.

Happy Birthday to Him

Juan is 26 today!

We've officially known each other 10 years now.

We met 1 day before his 16th birthday. I left youth conference a few days early. I remember begging my friend Miriam to get a picture of him so I could do the 15-year-old girl thing and carry around a picture of a guy I hardly knew. I had a major crush on him.

We had our first kiss exactly 8 years ago, on his 18th birthday.

This is a special time of year for us.

I'm loving this time we have in Denver to be in our own little cocoon of our 3-person family. It is so much fun to be here, knowing virtually nobody, and exploring together. Juan works so hard for our family. I love him.

And of course Miss Amelia always deserves a spot in the post. Here is what she is up to lately, I call it the 3/4 rollover. She is so close!

That big head of hers. She can't quite bring it over.

This Stay-at-Home-Mom Thing

I have to admit, the first day I did this job, I had a pit in my stomach the whole time. What do we do all day? Does she really fuss every time I'm not sitting right next to her? I didn't know about it. My dream job, was it really just a dream and not as good as I imagined?

3 weeks in now.

I put her down to sleep and if I hear her in there talking, I don't want to miss out on it so I have to go get her and let her fall asleep next to me and Juan in bed. Bad habit, I know!

Today we danced and danced to Justin Bieber. She smiled so big as I moved her legs or her arms all over the place. Or I'd pick her up and twirl around the apartment.

She loves sitting on my lap facing outwards, and will twist her head around to look up at me.

This is the rest of my life, can you believe it? I still tear up every day about how much I'm grateful for her. The other night she turned to me as Juan was getting her ready for bed and she spit out her bink and just started talking and talking to me. I cried. She is our girl. We made her. The Lord blessed us with her. We have a responsibility to raise her in the gospel and to be a responsible and considerate human being.

Heck yeah I love this gig.