Crusty Butts

 Excited to have some family visiting!

 kissing camels at Garden of the Gods

 Vacay! Boo-ya!

 Family dinner at Ft. Carson!

 Scenery on the drive to Crested Butte. Ah-maz-ing!!

 Hiking in Crested Butte. Note: I have no children with me. Also note: TZ is the cutest dresser/hiker ever!

 View from our Condo. Crusty Butts doesn't allow franchises so it maintains that rustic, small town charm. I wouldn't mind living in one of those houses either.

 Evie had fun in the condo. She's working hard at trying to sit up,

 Taking Gabe sledding on the slopes!

 Typical V & T pic.

 We got to sneak away one day for a hike. Evie has made it a bit difficult for me to leave her with anyone. That whole not wanting to take a bottle/soilds deal is tricky! Were still working on it.

 We love Aunt TZ!

 It didn't snow the whole time we were there till the morning of departure. The guys got in a few hours of skiing on fresh powder in a blizzard!

 Where are the mtns?

We took this trip over MLK weekend. McGregor organized the whole trip...great job! We had a pet-friendly ski in/ski out condo. What did i do you might be wondering? Well i did get out for a few walks, but i was mainly housebound with Gabe & Evie. I had to suffer by the toasty fire and read a book :) It was fun, a little tricky with babies that can't ski. But super-gorgeous. Nulkie & i are already planning on coming back in July to see the wildflowers! Thanks for the great trip everyone!

Happy Birthday Gabe!

 Happy 3rd Birthday to my lil' buddy! You are such a big boy now!

 You are: enthusiastic and loud!

 you are happy and willing to try new things

 You are creative: you love to play pretend.

 You are affectionate: you love to sit on laps and give hugs and kisses

 You are: a stinker at mealtimes! You do not like to stop playing to sit and eat!

 You are a total goofball! You are also very smart, clever and a bit sassy (a lot sassy) at times!

 You are: the most handsomest, adorable little boy i know!

You are a wonderful big brother! You help me out my talking to Evie when she's fussing. She lights up when you pay attention to her!

 You are curious about everything. You love to try/touch everything everyone is doing.

 You are a ham! You love an audience.

 See that smile on his face? Pure joy! We were singing happy birthday and he was just ecstatic!

We love you Gabe! You are the best son, brother, grandson, nephew and cousin! Everyday is a new adventure for you and we can't wait to watch the next year as you continue to grow and learn! Thanks to all our family and friends that love on our little boy! He is one blessed guy :) 

 Christmas break was awesome. We spent 2 weeks in NY and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. Sorry it's taken me so long to update the blog....i know all 13 of my readers are anxiously awaiting news on the Nulks. I feel so hip right now blogging on our (michael's) macbook. I might as well be sipping some over-priced french coffee to really fit the cliche. Anyhow NY was great. The fam all got to meet Evie who is pretty much the cutest, sweetest chunkiest baby of all time. I just want to eat her.

 example of me wanting to eat her. Could she get any cuter? The answer is yes. She does everyday! Proof is below.

 We took a family hike a few days into our visit. That's where most of these pics are from. We have about 800 pics from Christmas so you'll be getting little snippets of our visit. I think that builds the suspense.

 Gabe had a blast. The uncles LOVED riling Gabe up when it was close to bed time. I can't wait till they have kids and we can dish up a nice plate of payback!!!

 See what i mean? Cutest!

 Look at me blowing bubbles!

 Ah, the happy grandparentals. We used to do this hike when Gabe was Evie's age and was front-packed.

 Check out those winter boots! Those were a x-mas present from the hubby. He wants to make sure my skinny feet stay warm in the cold colorado weather. Wait yesterday it was 65 here. Newsflash colorado it's winter. Must be that global warming business al gore discovered. Along with those boots Nulkie got me Jillian Michaels' 30 day shred and some weights. Nothing says i love you like a weight loss dvd. He would argue he got it for me because i had mentioned my friend doing it and liking it. Whatevs. So far i've done 3 days and have a 6-pack so i guess it works. Actually that's not true. I'm just super sore and want to punch Jillian Michael's in the face. Incidentally, our friend Matt said: "I love my six-pack abs so much i'm protecting them with a  layer of fat". Yes, please to that.

 Look at my stud. And in a Mater hat...could life be any better?

 hiking is exhausting.

 Gabe walked all the way to the waterfall but hitched a ride with daddy on the way out. Michael is singing camp songs to Gabe to keep him happy.  As you can see from the pics, the weather was pretty mild in NY. No snow and temps in the 40s and 50s. Did this warmer weather stop me from having a fire in the family room every night? No it did not. Much to everyone's chagrin, i turned that puppy on as frequently as possible. There's nothing i love more than a good book, some hot cocoa and a cozy fire. Total bliss. My grandma says it's a weird habit Pilons have- we like to warm our backsides by the fire. Well that's the latest. Hope all is well with you. Will post more pics from vacay in a bit!

Soldier's Silent Night.wmv

Get out your tissue box. This is a good one! I'm thankful we get to spend this Christmas with Michael, but thinking of all my friends whose husbands are away serving. May God bless them this Christmas season! Also pray for this guy. I believe he was a classmate of Matthew's.

Check out G-unit. Yesterday i think i left my brain in bed. I thought a christmas party started an hour later than it did and i served spaghetti and stuffing balls thinking they were meat balls. Not my best dinner. The pillsbury bread sticks couldn't even redeem it.

 

Evie had her 4 mth shots this morning. She was a trooper...barely even cried. Those chunky thighs are good for something! Block leave officially starts tomorrow when Michael gets home. Amen! No army business till jan 4th. And we head to NY on Tuesday. I.cant. wait!! I have this dinner cooking right now. Do yourself a favor and make it sometime. It's delish. Pretty much anything with corn bread involved is awesome.

4 Months!

Happy FOUR mths to my lil' chunkerface! We love you SOOOOO much Evinator!

 You are the most beautiful baby girl! My own little pink baby :)

 We like to be matchy-matchy

Currently Evie is:
-sucking on her hands, burp cloths, and daddy's fingers. Will absolutley NOT take a pacifier.
-grabbing at toys either above or next to her
-cooing, smiling and laughing
-staying awake longer between feedings...1-2 hrs now.
-kicks up her legs and rolls from side to side ocassionally. Hasn't completely rolled yet...she will if you give her a finger for help.
-Started on solids. We've tried rice cereal mixed with pumped milk the last few mornings. She did better today than yesterday. She smiles through the whole feeding and spits out most of what you shove in with a spoon. We think she actually swallowed some today because she didn't fuss afterwards.
-not crazy about hats or headbands...no matter how hard i try to arrange them on her head properly, she'll have that sucker down over her eyes in a matter of mins. Hoods too.
-wonderful sleeper. Sleeps a solid 9-10 hrs a night and usually takes 3 or 4 naps a day. Go babywise! Seriously if you're having trouble getting your baby to sleep...read that book. It's SUPER helpful and encouraging.
-has the most delightful disposition! She's just a pleasure to be around. We fight over who gets to hold her!