Tag Archives: high low

Our Daughter’s Birthday Recap: She’s Freakin’ Two!

To clarify, this is a recap of her birthday party, a day before her actual birthday, but close enough. Low key and no frills was the objective, and I’d say we mostly succeeded with our mission. A few friends and family came over to wish our growing girl happy 2nd birthday and we avoided any kind of major drama.

Just like the format of my Roller Coaster Recap of August, I am going to recap her birthday in High-Low fashion. And, just as before, the plan is to end on a high note!

High – Just the fact that we’re celebrating the 2nd birthday of our beautiful, smart, healthy, and happy (most of the time) little girl is awesome! It’s cliche, but true, they really do grow so fast!

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High – Opening a gift from G-Ma in bag with polkadots. Gasp, and her shirt has polkadots!

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Low – Avery was overwhelmed by so many people giving her so much attention all at once. So I helped matters by sticking a camera in her face to capture the moment.

Can I just eat with my turtle in peace?!
Can I just eat with my turtle in peace?!

High – Going Mom kept decorations simple yet elegant, and the food was placed for easy access.

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Low – We had a nice assortment of Beanitos Black Bean Chips, crudites, hummus, and cupcakes homemade by a neighbor laid out for our guests. Unfortunately, we completely forgot about the giant bowl of fresh strawberries in the fridge and Costco-sized peanuts we were going to set out too.

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High – Avery loved her trampoline birthday gift and got to jumping right away! Hellloooo, nap time!

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Low – Nap time never happened.

Why sleep when I can jump? It's my party afterall!
Why sleep when I can jump? It’s my party afterall!

High – I made chocolate protein pancakes with a banana, NuttZo and chia seed frosting for her birthday cake.

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Low – My decoration skills fall somewhere between 0 and a negative number. That’s supposed to be a “2” on top.

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Low – Damn teething took no pity on the birthday girl, or so that’s what we’re going with.

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High – Singing “Happy Birthday” to our sweet girl. She kept clapping for herself after everyone had finished 30 seconds earlier. She really likes clapping.

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Low – Oops, too much attention on her again!

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High – Mommy makes everything better and even helps blow out the double bonfire on her cake.

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High – Avery had no issue with my cake construction and tore right into her healthy confection.

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High – She even saved a bite for me and flew it first class into my mouth on Air Fork One.

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HighAunt Lindsay taught her to say “I’m free!”

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High – Having fun with friends Zoey and Natalie.

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Low – Crazy demon parents (that’s us) put her back in the highchair to recreate a picture from her first birthday. Not a fan.

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High – Holding two fingers to show her age in a fun family photo. She’s much happier when being held.

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Other than the several meltdowns resulting from too much in-your-face attention and teething, the part went fairly smooth and it was nice to see everyone. We’ll be the first to admit that we’re not great entertainers, but it seemed as if everyone was pleased. Either way, we appreciate everyone who came by to wish our sweetheart a Happy 2nd Birthday.

Now the real fun begins, right?

 

Roller Coaster Recap: August

Hey guys, welcome to Monday! Or should it be Muuunnnnddaaaaaayyy? Whatever your feelings towards the beginning of the week, it’s the last day of August and boy has it been a wild ride!

Much like a roller coaster (hence the post title), we’ve had plenty of highs and lows in August. Inspired by Tina from Carrots N Cake (she has a handsome 15 month old boy and talks everything from food and fitness), who I’ve been following since the days of my healthy food blog, Just Add Cayenne, I thought I’d do a recap of August by sharing our highs and lows of the month.

I just need to make sure, like her, we end on a high note! Lets get to it, shall we?

High – Meeting with my mom and little brother for a wonderful brunch at Brewed.

Low – Avery getting the weightlifting belt wrapped around her trike and herself and becoming a little frustrated.

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High – Figuring out how to get unstuck on the trike and keep the belt “on”.

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High – Avery’s first time to fly as we went to Colorado our first family vacation!

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Low – The major change in routine coupled with lack of food and sleep made for a crazy first night. We support co-sleeping, but not under these conditions.

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High – An anniversary surprise for my wife at the Vail Farmers’ Market that almost went Awry, but turned out perfectly!

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Low – Eating at Sweet Basil in Vail and all of us receiving very poor service. We had to resort to feeding Avery a watermelon and red onion salad that we made!

Avery eating watermelon onion salad

High – Nana and Papa obviously have good taste by keeping several jars of NuttZo in stock. Avery may or may not of finished one jar by herself while we were there. Thanks, Steve and Kathy!

High (literally and figuratively since we were in the mountains!) – Hiking with my wife on beautiful Colorado trails.

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Low – Climbing a tree on the trail and sliding on the trunk to get down. Lots of belly and leg scratches followed.

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HighKayaking  with Kelley in Frisco, Co.

 

High – I could make a whole post with the Highs from our trip, but I’ll wrap it up and say it was just great spending time with family and getting out in the fresh mountain air.

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Low – The flight back from our family vacation was right during Avery’s bedtime. That, plus another day of not eating much or napping meant for a long….long trip home.

High – Our official 8th wedding anniversary with my awesome bronze compass, handwritten card, and kettlebell gifts! Good-bye, 7 year itch!

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Low – Going Mom and to go away for work all week leaving Avery and Daddy feeling quite lonely. We had to take selfies to try and keep happy.

Avery & Daddy Sunset Selfie

High – Avery’s first time to ride in the cart when grocery shopping was a big hit. Since Mommy wasn’t there, she picked the BarkThins for her when she got back.

Low – Not telling Daddy she pooped when obviously…..

High – Climbing on the playground equipment and going down the slide all by herself. It’s bittersweet, but so fun to watch.

Low – I brought her to our friend’s/neighbor’s house to jump on the trampoline, but she was scared to move. Hopefully she’ll do better next time.

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High – Playing with our friend’s dog.

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High – Mommy came back home and all order was restored! Avery was obviously happy.

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Hope you enjoyed going through some of the highs and lows of our August. Now it’s your turn, share a High, Low, and High point from your month if you’d like in the comments section below. Have a great week!