Bring On the Shoe Shopping

CECILIA'S WALKING!!!! I am counting TODAY as Cecilia's official "first steps". Today, she is 13 months and 1 day. We have been working on it for a few weeks now. She has been walking with anyone who would hold her hands, but today she took the initiative and walked unprompted several times. She even showed off for Daddy tonight, and I caught it on video.

Pre & Post Wedding Fun

The Tuesday before the wedding we were lucky enough to have a suite at Coors Field for the soon to be newlyweds. The Glenn family and the Ambrose family had a blast, even though the Rockies lost, horribly. Pat & Sarah even had a shout out on the jumbo screen.




On Thursday, before the wedding, the ladies went to Tootsies to get manicures and pedicures for the big day. Then, we enjoyed a delicious lunch together at a little place called House. Here are the BFFIL's (Best Friends Forever In Law) relaxing:
Then it was time for the bachelorette party! The girls all met at my house for pizza, and then we took Sarah to Sing Sing for her last night out as a single lady. They did a swell job harassing her on stage, and fun was had by all.


AFTER the wedding and honeymoon, Pat & Sarah returned to Denver before heading to KS. Jon & I did up their car to show all of I-70 that they were newlyweds. We were sad to see them go, and we miss them so much.

Don't look away...

We have been in the process of reorganizing the basement so that my office is closer to what is now the play room. The play room is the main area right at the bottom of the stairs, and we need at least 4 baby gates to keep Cecilia contained. I found a great deal on Craig's List: 2 gates for only $10! SCORE!!! They desperately needed cleaning. I scrubbed them down in the front yard while Cecilia played with her ball. The second I turned away to rinse the suds off the gates, guess who found the suds bucket? Yep, and she had so much fun! She was soaked, drenched, covered in bubbles and dirt. I'm pretty sure she drank some of the soapy, dirty water too. I couldn't get too mad- she's too cute!

Summer Excursions

Looking back through our summer blogs and pictures, I realize just how busy we have really been. My goodness, could we pack any more big events into one summer?!? We have had some time in the past few weeks just to enjoy summertime.

Cecilia got a backyard pool for her birthday, and we've had a few days to play in it. She loved to splash around, and move her toys. It's just deep enough and wide enough though, that Mommy has to go swimming in it too.
We also got to go to a neighborhood pool with my MOPS group and play with all the other kids. Cecilia was content playing with the noodles and tubes.We ventured out to the Denver Zoo with Grandma Cheryl. This was long overdue. We talked about doing this "sometime this summer" back on Mother's Day. We had such a good time. We were a bit rushed because we went between naps, but we got to see all of the important and exciting animals.

Cecilia and I went on our first trip to the Children's Museum with Amanda and Jace. Before they arrived, Cecilia and I played on the playground. She wasn't to fond of the slides, but she liked the tire swing and the big rocks. Her favorite was the car that she could "drive".
We had so much fun in the "Creepers & Crawlers" room. My friend Emily gave us some "$1 gets you in" coupons, and that is about all I would pay at this age. There were really no other rooms that our little ones could enjoy. In the future, this will be a place that we frequent often enough to warrant getting the annual pass.
We also took Cecilia to her first Circus. We went to the Zoppe Family Circus out at Mile High Marketplace. It was perfect for her. She loved all of the animals, the dog show was her absolute favorite! It was a one ring circus with about a dozen different acts. We had such a good time!

Knot Tied 08.07.2010

(I know, I know, I've been slacking! In my defense, I had over 1,500 pictures to go through from this event, and I got it down to 62 for the blog post. I didn't take a single one of them, so a BIG THANK YOU to Ma, and Sarah's Uncle Tim. I collaged many of these, so click on them to see them bigger- its worth it:) )

We are finally back into the normal swing of things after the main event of the summer: Patrick & Sarah's Wedding! It was truly the most beautiful, fun, emotional, and sincere wedding I have ever been to (dare I even say, including my own)! These two love birds are already back from their honeymoon, and I am still relishing in the memories of their wedding day.
We headed up to Mt. Princeton Hot Springs & Resort on Friday after the rehearsal in Fairplay. It was so gorgeous up there! The wedding was on Saturday, August 7, 2010, the weather was perfect. The ceremony took place in the church that my dad built, St. Joseph's Catholic Mission in Fairplay. It was packed full with over 225 people that came to witness the marriage. I was lucky enough to stand as a bridesmaid, and Cecilia got to be a flower girl for the first time. The ceremony was presided over by Monsignor Ken Leone. It was reminiscent for Jon and I, because he married us 5 years ago. Fr. Ken has known both our family and Sarah's family for a long long time, so it was only fitting that he married them. In fact, Fr. Ken introduced my parents and Sarah's parents over 21 years ago at a retreat, and they have been friends ever since. Sarah was the most beautiful bride, and Pat was so handsome. You could see and feel the love between them. There was not a dry eye in the place when Sarah walked down the isle with her Dad.The family pictures from this wedding will be cherished. The first one is the Glenn's and the Ambrose's. The second, is all of the Gormley's (my Mom's side). This is the first time in over 6 years that we were ALL together. And the last is my Dad's side.After the ceremony we headed back to Mt. Princeton for more pictures and the best reception of all time!

The food was good, the toasts, oh the toasts were the BEST! Perry (Sarah's Dad) had all of us laughing and in tears. His toast was so thoughtful and personal. Sarah's sister Emily, the Matron of Honor, talked about how well Pat and Sarah work as a team, and how you can just tell that they were meant to be together. It was very sweet. My youngest brother, Pete, was the Best Man. He gave the BEST Best Man speech EVER! It is on video somewhere, I will have to post it when I get my hands on it. He had everyone rolling with laughter, but he also did a good job acknowledging Pat and Sarah's marriage.


Instead of a traditional wedding cake, they opted for PIE. YUMMY! This didn't stop them from getting a little messy though ;)

Then it was on to the dancing. Pat and Sarah had been taking dance lessons, and it showed! They danced beautifully together, and their song choice was perfect for them. They danced to "The longer the waiting the sweeter the kiss".The rest of the festivities were perfect! When Pat went to get Sarah's garter, he pulled out a plastic pirate sword first! It was hysterical!! The guys also serenaded Sarah with "My Girl". We had fun pirate and party gear that we brought out periodically to keep the party going.

Jon & I were reminiscent again when Pat and Sarah left the party around 9 PM. The car that drove them away, was the same car that drove us from our wedding to our reception (thanks Rockie!). After they left, there were still over 50 people keeping the party alive well past 11. It was so much fun!The day after the wedding was my birthday. It was great to spend the day in such a beautiful place with all of my family. Pat and Sarah opened all of their wedding presents and then, we all went to the water slide.
Oh my goodness! The water slide was so much fun! All of us adults had way to much fun. I think that my Dad had the most fun. It was so fun to be kids again, especially on vacation.
Congrats Patrick & Sarah! You are beautiful together and we wish you all the best.

Cecilia Kathryn at 1 year

Last Thursday was Cecilia's 1st birthday. We still can't believe she is 1. I had an easier time with it than I though I would. We celebrated with Happy Cakes. Cecilia LOVED her V.O.V Giant cupcake. It was the perfect treat for her birthday.

Today was Cecilia's 1 year appointment. It was very surreal for me to be walking in to the office, remembering the first time we took her in. She was just 5 days old then, and so tiny. Today, she could have walked herself in to the office (holding my fingers, of course) if I would have let her. Here are her stats:

Weight: 18 lbs, 10 oz., 15th percentile
Height: 28.75 inches, 45th percentile
Head: 17.75 inches

She is still tiny, but let me tell you, she is strong! Through out the entire visit, she did not stop moving. She pulled herself up onto the chair multiple times. She pushed the doctors stool all over the room, and she explored every corner of that 5x7' room. She is healthy and that is all that matters.
At one year old, Cecilia

• is getting brave enough to stand for a few seconds on her own.
• will walk no more than 3 steps, and only if you trick her.
• scoots across the floor like a monkey.
• climbs up on the couch by herself, and gets herself back down.
• takes two naps a day.
• eats like a champ. She still has not found food she doesn't like.
• dances to any music. She will swing her arms around if its a really catchy tune.
• has more hair than most babies her age, but hates to have it pulled up.
• "talks", mostly in the morning (just like her dad).
• loves, LOVES, her bath. This also goes for any body of water.
• has 2 teeth, with 4 on the top that are going to pop-pop-pop-pop through any day now.
• hates to lay down on the changing table.
• waves to anybody.
• goes to anybody, with out a fuss.
• loves her kitty's.
• asks for water/milk by signing.
• tells us she is "all done" with her food by signing.
• says "Mama" on occasion.
• responds to "What does the duck say?" with a "aaa aaa"
• loves to play ball.
• is starting to use a plate, fork, and spoon for meal time.
• will extend her first finger when you ask her how old she is.
• does NOT sleep through the night.
• plays peek-a-boo and so-big.
• recognizes her Grandma and Pops in person and on the phone.
• puts objects into containers and then takes them out.
• claps her hands.
• snuggles at nap time.
• flips pages in her books and tells us the story.
• plays contently for up to an hour at a time by herself.
• is sooooo loved!