Eva's First "Real" Food

If you call rice cereal and pureed carrots "real" that is. Not sure if she liked the rice cereal...we gave that to her for 3 nights in a row. And then tonight, she tried the carrots. I think she liked the carrots more!!!

Our Weekend With Jen & Daniel

Last weekend, our friends Jen and Daniel, came to visit us from Phoenix!!! We had such a great weekend!!

They flew in on Friday night and we headed straight from the airport to dinner...sushi! I have not had sushi since before I was pregnant and that was vegetarian sushi. So I have not had real in over 3 years. It was delicious! From there we headed home, tucked Eva into bed and watched Grey's Anatomy and Private Practice. While this may seem kind of strange to some, Jen and I have known each other for over 10 years so we consider watching TV and relaxing to be a pretty good time. Now the boys? Not too sure how thrilled they were with our choice of shows to watch.

Saturday morning we headed to the Highlands for breakfast at the Coral Room. Breakfast included omelets with brie, apples and spinach, banana bread french toast, lots of coffee and bloody Marys! So delicious! We wondered around the Highlands shops for awhile and then headed to the grocery store for ingredients needed for the cookies that needed to be made for Michelle's Cookie Exchange that evening!!

We spent the afternoon making cranberry & white chocolate cookies and banana & chocolate chip cookies! Soooooo great!!! The boys actually headed off for Drew's work Christmas party while Jen and I packed up the cookies, wine and Eva and headed to the party!

While the boys were eating Filet Mignon, lobster tail, frog legs and fried alligator at Pappadeaux, Jen and I were enjoying a HUGE variety of cookies, fudge, toffee (and other goodies that Michelle prepared) and of course WINE!!! Eva was kind of fussy, but all the girls took turns holding her! It was so nice to see all of my friends!

The four of us ended up back home, very full and relaxing in front of the TV again.

We spent Sunday driving to Silverthorne, Christmas shopping and on the way back from the mountains we stopped at Beau Jo's pizza! Then, sadly, we had to take Jen and Daniel back to the airport.

While I am pretty sure I gained at least 10 pounds from all of the eating we did while they were here, we had such a great time!!

Thank You Jen and Daniel for coming to visit us!!

We miss you!!

It's been a week...

Our good friend Jonathan informed me today that there has not been a blog posted in over a week and that it was unacceptable.

I have been making a list of several things I was going to blog about. So...here you go!

December 2nd, 1990

On this day, this world lost a remarkable and amazing man. And it was on this day, that a little part of me died.

Every year, on December 2nd, I remember my grandfather, Carl Edward Hargroves, Sr. Well, to be fair, I think of him all of the time and I miss him so much, more than any words could ever explain and more than anyone could ever understand.

I think of him on every holiday, every time I eat blackberries, every time I see a little girl with her grandfather, every time I look at my father holding Eva. My heart breaks, wishing he were here with us now.

I was 10 years old when he died of lymphoma cancer. I will never forget the day he actually died. I was in the basement at our old house, playing with my dolls. My Dad had flown to Washington state to say his goodbyes and my mom came downstairs to tell me that Grandpa had passed away. I can't really describe how I felt...lost, sad, afraid, disappointed and I knew that I would spend the rest of my life missing him. Until that moment, I didn't know what death meant...but now I knew it meant never going to visit Grandpa in Washington, never picking blackberries with him again, never taking a nap with him and cuddling into him, never smelling his cigarette smoke anymore, never watching him use one knife to take the butter out of the dish and another to actually butter his bread--all because he hated crumbs in the butter dish, never wandering through the woods with him as he practiced his archery, never playing penny poker with he and his friends in his small town. Somehow, at 10 years old, I knew that things just were never going to be the same.

Fast forward 20 years and it catches my breath to think that it has been so long since he was here with us. I sit here writing about him, still crying as much as I did the day he died and still missing him as much.

My grandfather wasn't perfect. I know in his life, he made mistakes, but he was a good man and I love him for it. I only had 10 short years with him, not near enough. I don't know if I believe in heaven, but I know, without a doubt, that Grandpa is here with us, looking over us, protecting and taking care of my family and, because I can't physically have him here, I take comfort in knowing that he has never really left us.

Carl Edward Hargroves, Sr.

October 11, 1924 - December 2, 1990

If you get there before I do, don't give up on me.

I'll meet you when my chores are through;

I don't know how long I'll be.

But I'm not gonna let you down, darling wait and see.

And between now and then, till I see you again,

I'll be loving you. Love, me.

Between now and then, till I see you again,

I'll be loving you. Love, me.

4 Months Already!!

Our beautiful baby girl is 4 months old! It seems like time is flying by and I can't hardly believe that it has already been so long since Eva entered this world! Here is a look at her evolution so far! She is getting so big!!!