Halloween Fun!

This year we had fun celebrating Halloween with lots of fun festivities. We started the "hoop-la"a week prior to Halloween by participating in the trick-or treat in downtown Laramie. This was the first year since we've lived in Laramie to do the down town trick-or-treating. It was a great way for the community to participate in a safe way for the kiddos to go trick or treating. Luke loved it! I wasn't very creative when it came to costumes this year- Luke was Spiderman and Eliza was University of Wyoming Cheerleader- maybe/hopefully I'll be better at being creative next year.                                

                               

The next Halloween festivity was pumpkin carving! Due to the cold weather here in Laramie, its best to wait until right before Halloween to carve pumpkins. We had some friends over for a carving party- in which everyone got pretty intense in their carving except Luke and I- we did a "boring book pattern"- but Luke still enjoyed it and had a blast!

For Preschool- we let the kids dress up in their costumes and had a fun Halloween lesson full of a pumpkin craft, decorating their own treat bags, dancing to monster mash, trick or treat safety tips, and decorating Halloween cookies and cupcakes. The kids left happy and on a sugar high!

As for the actual day of Halloween, I took Eliza and Luke to another safe trick or treating community even at the University of Wyoming. A lot of the schools clubs and sororities had booths of games and candy for the kiddos. Due to all the candy that Luke got from both the University and the downtown event- we didn't take him out into the neighborhood, but he had a blast passing out handfuls of candy to the trick or treaters that came to our door. Eliza celebrated in her cute tu-tu Halloween outfit.

Field Trip!

I found out that October was Fire Prevention Month. So for my week of teaching the kiddos in preschool I did a lesson on everything fire-fire trucks, fire safety, fireman..etc.  Then I called up our local fire department and asked if we could come for a tour- I don't know who were more excited the kids or fireman!

We had a blast learning about the different Fire Trucks, seeing where the Firemen relax, and watching the Fireman show off going down the fire pole and getting dressed in their gear in a timely fashion of 1 min! 

Thanks Brandy, for being the official "preschool photographer."

Pumpkin Patch

As a preschool we decided to take the kids to a pumpkin patch in Ft. Collins. Well the day came and the weather wasn't the best so most of the moms didn't want to go. I had to go out that way anyway so I had one brave mom come with Luke, Eliza and I.
When we got to the pumpkin patch it was super muddy from the rain the night prior and most of the attractions were closed. The "petting zoo" they advertised were a few animals in a pen. To say the least it was a little disappointing and the other moms and kiddos who didn't go didn't miss out on too much.

We made the best of it and the kids had fun chasing the ducks and chickens. Luckily, we didn't have to go "mud skating" thru the mud to get some pumpkins- the patch owners had some that were already picked and waiting for new owners!

Beauty is Pain

Growing up I always heard my older sister and mom state "beauty is pain." For me, I never realized the truth to the statement until I was teenage and got convinced to "let" my sister pluck my eyebrows for the first time.
For Eliza, she met that statement full on when took her to get her ears pierced. Now, I had gone with my sister-in-law to pierce my nieces' ears, so I knew what we in for with Eliza-Kevin, not so much.
Since Kevin and Eliza have a special bond  I want him to hold her-as well as I did't want to be the bad guy ; ) Both Eliza and Kevin did great! I think Eliza cried longer and louder for her 2 month shots than the actually ear piercing.


Some might not agree with us getting Eliza's ears pierced so young but, for my side of the family its a tradition as well as they don't remember the experience as they get older.
I will say- I love seeing Eliza with a little bit of sparkle on!

Sweet Moments of Pure Bliss

Luke is such a great big brother to Eliza! I love seeing the tender acts of love he expresses to Eliza, and because I know that sadly those tender acts won't last for the entirety of their brother-sister relationship- I have dedicated this post to those sweet moments where the world is perfect in our home-even for just a small moment.
Luke loves trying to help with Eliza-whether its "reading" her a story, playing cars with her, giving Eliza her paci, or giving his sister sweet kisses-its these moments that would make any mom proud! I love hearing Luke say "Eliza's grumpy" every time she cries and how he talks to her in is own little baby voice. I was worried that Luke wouldn't take to Eliza when she was born and it melts my heart how much he truly loves her.
I hope to capture more sweet moments between these two sweet kiddos!

P is for Preschool

Luke is now 3.5 years old and after doing much research I decided to start a preschool instead of enrolling him into one of the preschools in town. Now, those who really know me know what a daunting task this is for me to undertake do to the fact that: 1) I don't know the first think about teaching and 2) toddlers and I don't get a long- unless its my toddler. Well, thanks to a fully-equpt program on-line and some awesome moms the daunting-ness of having a preschool in our house 2 times a week has become a great thing for Luke, myself, and (hopefully) the other kids.
We have about 6 kids in the preschool right now and the kids are actually learning-WOO HOO!!! As I said we host the preschool 2x's/week here at the house in our basement, each mom takes a turn teaching-so its been a great start and the kids seem to love it!

Mirror Lake

While Kevin's mom and sister were town we decided to show them the beauty thats around Laramie. We drove up to Medicine Bow National Park to Mirror Lake- an 1 hr drive from Laramie. We had a nice picnic and then enjoyed a nice little walk-hike. I loved it as it was the first time I did any type of exercise post surgery without being in too much pain!

Eliza's Blessing

We had Eliza's blessing on Sunday, August 17th. We were able to have Kevin's mom and sister in town for the her blessing. Kevin gave Eliza a wonderful blessing and she didn't cry during it one bit! After the blessing we had a little lunch-in with some friends from church. It was a great day filled with the Spirit, family and friends!

Welcome Home Eliza!

When we got Eliza home we had to take her to the doctors right away due to jaundice levels. Poor little girl had to sleep under lights for 2 nights!

Its been fun getting Eliza all dolled up for outings. Luke is getting more and more used to sharing the attention and is a great helper with getting diapers, burping, and giving Eliza her paci. 

                               

Family of Four

On July 25, 2014 at 11:22 am we welcomed  Eliza Hope Bias into our family! Everything went very smoothly! We arrived at the hospital at 8:30am and got hooked up to everything and just waited for my doctor to arrive. I walked into surgery and was given the drugs and within  10 mins I was holding little miss Eliza! She was 7 lbs 9oz and 19 in of pure beauty with TONS of dark hair!

After being recovery for about an nourish my parents came and brought Luke to meet his new sister!  His first reaction to her was "she's red"- gotta love the honesty of a 3 yr old.  Luke was a great big brother and wanted to hold little Eliza. 

After being in the hospital for 2 days i was ready to go home! I loved the staff at Cheyenne Regional Medical Center, but I was ready to be in my own bed to heal. The doctors ok'd both Eliza and myself and we were able to go home a day early than expected! 

Summer 2014

This summer was a busy one for us as we got ready for the arrival of our baby girl. We were able to have some fun though!
I don't think any parent would consider this as "fun" but the result is a proud-parent moment- Luke got potty trained at the beginning of the summer. Kevin won "dad of the year" and spent 3-4 days potty training Luke practically on his own while I was still working- he was a trooper and everyone survived and succeeded!
As a much needed break from baby prepping and potty training, we took a week off from the "real world" and flew out o California to spend a week with my parents in Palm Springs! It was a great week of relaxing by the pool, visiting family near by, and enjoying the warmth of the desert. Luke's favorite part of the week was taking Grandpas car to the Car Wash- oh the simple things that make that kiddo happy- gotta love him!
Sadly, the Palm Springs Vay-Cay wasn't long enough and it was time to get back to Wyoming and to the "real world." When we got back from California I was in full blown "nesting" mode or crazy mode occurring to Kevin. The biggest item on the "baby-getting ready" list was the nursery. Once again Kevin earned major points and took over that project. Kevin did an amazing job with paining the nursery as well as installing a chandelier- i think baby girl already had daddy wrapped around her finger before she arrived!
For the 4th of July we usually drive to Cheyenne to watch the fireworks and spend the day out there, but I was feeling HUGE- and rightly so as my due date was only 3 weeks later. We stayed in Laramie and enjoyed the small town festivities of free ice-cream (a pregnant woman's dream come true) and Luke got to see a firetruck up close and personal! We were able to watch the fireworks from our back patio so it was nice not to have a low key 4th at home!
The week prior to my due date I was measuring massive, I was getting so big that maternity clothes weren't fitting anymore- it was a joyous time for this mama bear-NOT! the doctor wanted another ultra sound to make sure everything was ok and we wouldn't have to take baby girl earlier then my scheduled date for the c-section.  Everything was fine in the ultrasound, I was so massive because I had extra fluid which makes great 3D ultrasound photos. We never did the 3D with Luke so it was pretty cool to see all the details of our baby before she was born!

Baby Bias #2 is a….

We found out over Spring break Baby Bias #2's gender, we decided to do something fun to announce to our family what the gender was. I made these scratchers and mailed them to our family members.

Luke has always called the baby, "Baby Sister"- maybe he had an insight that we didn't. We are excited for this new adventure of having a baby girl in our house. Baby Girl will be here the end of July!

Spring Break 2014!

Kevin and I were counting down the days for Spring Break this year, we both had the week off- which meant we actually got to spend time as a family!
Kevin surprised me with a Spa Day in Denver, complete with prenatal massage, facial, and a pedicure. We left Laramie super early and all I was told is that we had to be in Denver by 9am. When we got into Denver we pulled up to this beautiful Victorian House- The Woodhouse Spa.
I was really thankful that Kevin had thought of this surprise for me. While I enjoyed 3 hours of pampering, Kevin and Luke went to a nearby park and had some quality Luke and Daddy time playing.
We then met up for lunch and had a fun day exploring Downtown Denver.
Although we didn't take any exciting trips over Spring Break- we had some quality family time which was much needed with our crazy schedules. It was a blast watching Luke and Kevin play "super heros" and run around the house shooting "nerf" guns at each other.