rob + hannah

washington

2012-01-28T12:45:00.002-07:00

We left Cedar with the grandparents for a weekend while we visited good friends in Washington. We enjoyed a relaxing time of food, wine tasting and a beautiful, but very wet hike. Cedar is now paying us back for leaving him for a few days by being extra clingy and fussy, but it was a great weekend.

almost 15 months

2012-01-27T08:55:00.003-07:00

Taking a moment to watch the birds.

A few things I don't want to forget about this age...

• He has this habit of rubbing his head when he is tired or cranky or done with eating, which results in so much food in his hair that he needs a bath most nights.

• Falafel and hummus are favorites while peanut butter is always thrown on the floor or fed to Lucca.

• Lucca is amazingly tolerant of the constant "attention" he gives her. The attention is often a one sided wrestling match. When she is napping he likes to sit on her, lay back and make himself comfortable... she is his la-z-boy.

• He is in an annoying clingy stage and won't even let Rob read him a book if I am in the house. This makes the time when I am cooking dinner torture for all three of us.

• Morning can come anywhere from 4:30-7:30am.

• He is very good about setting up his little people and cars right side up.

• He has perfected a nice back-handed swipe that he uses to push his cars and balls and also to tell us when he doesn't want something.

• I didn't realize that having a book lover would be so exhausting at times. Some days we read for hours and often the same book over and over until we can manage to hide it while he is a bit distracted. Most days involve littering the house with every book that we own.

• He shows an amazing amount of excitement for things that he loves and an amazing amount of emotion for things he does not.

• I am not a winter person, but spring can not come fast enough this year. Cedar wants to be outside and the cold windy days that are so nasty are killing us both. Give him a shovel (or spoon) and something to dig in and he is a happy camper. He is just happy walking around in an open field. We hope this love of the outdoors continues. And as Rob says about me, maybe Cedar is also solar powered.

ouray

2011-12-31T16:24:00.005-07:00

What started out as a family Christmas in the mountains turned into an ice climbing trip for Rob and my dad when the others didn't want to travel or couldn't get the time off. The men enjoyed beautiful weather at the ice park while my mom and I followed Cedar around town as he explored every set of steps on Main Street. I am looking forward to the end of this "morning" sickness so that I can enjoy food and travel more. We got back late Friday night and were awakened at midnight to Cedar fighting Croup. After 3 hours in the ER we came back home and finally got some much needed sleep. We are just thankful it didn't happen on the trip. Rob is now scheming to find a way to purchase a vacation home/rental in Ouray.

christmas

2011-12-31T16:12:00.004-07:00

We went to church on Christmas Eve where Cedar spent the entire service walking around in the back of the building. He was much more interested in walking than the service. We had dinner at Caleb and Amanda's before trading a few gifts and then heading home to bed. After waking up and opening a few gifts at home we went to my parents for a day of gifts, food and relaxation. Cedar got a new basketball hoop from my parents, which he loves. He now has something to do with the 15+ balls that he has collected. New indoor activities are always appreciated since this winter has been so cold and snowy. We are all eagerly awaiting spring when Cedar can go outside for more than 15 minutes at a time without putting on so many clothes that he can't walk.

walking

2011-12-31T16:07:00.003-07:00

Cedar has been taking steps here and there since before he turned one, but decided at 13 months to make the switch from crawling to walking. He went from 15% walking/85% crawling to 85% walking/%15 crawling in about 2 days.

2011-12-13T16:21:00.003-07:00

Our annual Christmas tree cutting was almost jeopardized by snow and a family bout with the stomach flu. We finally made it up this past Sunday afternoon, barely making it into the cutting area before it closed. My dad, Rob, Cedar and I went up and cut three trees. We were the first to succumb to the bug and were the only ones well enough to go up to the mountains so we got trees for everyone. We all enjoyed some snow and sun.

2011-11-25T12:10:00.002-07:00

I am glad we do not have a sliding glass door at this point in our house. When we visit friends and family with one he sits in front of it and points and cries until we let him outside.

halloween

2011-11-25T12:08:00.001-07:00

Cedar was "Where's Waldo" for halloween thanks to Rob's grandmother who knitted him this matching hat and sweater when he was a baby.

2011-11-25T12:06:00.001-07:00

2011-11-25T12:04:00.001-07:00

1 year

2011-10-29T13:36:00.003-06:00

Hard to believe it has been a year since our lives changed so much. This little boy is full of life and energy. He loves being outside and will scream when we bring him indoors. He will eat pretty much anything... broccoli, tofu, artichoke hearts, tomatoes, but doesn't have any teeth yet. We were not prepared for our grocery bill to go up so much, but he is worth it.

12 month favorites:

the fridge (he has realized where we hide the food)

the dishwasher

throwing balls

blueberries

grapes

pulling everything out of every cabinet

slides

stairs

walking with a little help

party

2011-10-29T13:32:00.002-06:00

We had Cedar's first birthday party last night. Just a small family affair, but in our little house it seemed like the perfect size. He loved it! Blueberries are a popular food with this kid so I made blueberry cupcakes (wheat flour and low sugar) thanks to Eating Well magazine. Of course he ate the whole thing and wanted more. He got a few new balls to play with and some other noise making toys. We didn't take many photos, but other people got a few so I will add some as they come.

kitchen help

2011-10-28T14:16:00.002-06:00

Our little boy is going to be one year tomorrow. Making a cake with this kiddo either hanging on me or pulling everything out of the cabinets is challenging. This is his way of helping get ready for his little party tonight.

60

2011-10-28T14:13:00.001-06:00

We celebrated my dad's 60th birthday with brunch, fat bat, trampoline time and some basketball. A fun time with family.

boys

2011-10-28T14:11:00.001-06:00

An evening with camp friends. Yep, Cedar is the one screaming thanks to a 20 minute afternoon nap.

11 months

2011-10-03T15:18:00.003-06:00

11 month favorites:

still loves any and every ball

walking with his little walker

being outside

blueberries

dirt

petting Lucca

water - drinking and playing in

pulling dishes out of the dishwasher

being read to

his cousins

outside

2011-10-03T15:13:00.001-06:00

Today was a beautiful day for playing in the hose. Cedar loved it and kept spraying himself in the face. This kid is so much happier outside that inside.

fall

2011-10-03T15:03:00.002-06:00

we enjoyed a weekend at the YMCA Snow Mountain Ranch with the family. The aspen were at their peak and the weather was beautiful. A weekend of disc golf, putt-putt, archery and hiking. Before leaving we hiked to a waterfall on the property and witnessed a woman fall and break her arm pretty badly. We called search and rescue and helped her while we waited for help. Every time she sad up she started to pass out so she had to be rescued by carrying and ATVs. Our ergo baby carrier made a great arm splint! Luckily it wasn't a life threatening injury, but it took about 3 hours to get her out.

cedar plants a tree

2011-10-03T15:00:00.000-06:00

10 months

2011-09-01T14:24:00.004-06:00

Cedar is really into giving us whatever he has in his hands. He kept giving me his number 10.

10 month favorites:

giving Lucca her ball

strawberries from the garden

water - drinking and playing in

the hose

chasing his ball around the house

opening and closing cabinets and drawers

black beans

the dishwasher

the refrigerator

pulling all his books off the shelf

this is what we do

2011-09-01T14:18:00.006-06:00

warrior dash

2011-09-01T14:13:00.002-06:00

picnic rock

2011-09-01T14:08:00.002-06:00

BBQ at Picnic Rock to celebrate Katie, Tim and Zoe moving back to Fort Collins. We are so happy to have them back. The kids played in the river, Cedar ate rocks and we were joined by dozens of wasps for dinner.

mt. sherman

2011-09-01T14:02:00.002-06:00

rob climbed mt. sherman a few weeks ago with some friends.

cortez

2011-08-10T10:21:00.000-06:00

9 months

2011-08-10T10:07:00.005-06:00

he destroyed this number and ended up swallowing a fair amount of paper.

9 month favorites:

The Very Hungry Caterpiller

his green Gertie ball

Grandpa (I think because my dad still does kid things, like jumping on the trampoline, he is a magnet to his grandsons)

peas

plain greek yogurt

water (good thing, because I am holding out on juice until he graduates from high school!)

opening and closing cabinets

watching Lucca chase her ball

frisco

2011-08-10T09:55:00.004-06:00

camping

2011-07-20T14:58:00.004-06:00

we went camping last weekend with friends. cedar woke up the first night at 2:30am ready to play and crawl around the tent. rob and i were not ready to play at 2:30 am. he slept better the second night. keeping him out of the dirt now that he is crawling was a challenge and what harm is a little dirt anyway? now that we have a little boy, dirt is just going to be part of our daily life.

crawling

2011-07-08T21:33:00.004-06:00

These are for my dad who is climbing mountains in Peru and wants to see his grandson crawling. Take care dad!

4th

2011-07-08T21:27:00.004-06:00

We enjoyed a wonderful shrimp boil with some great friends on the 4th of July. Cedar officially crawled for the first time at the party. He's been doing a weird gimpy crawl for the past few days, but this time he got both knees and arms going.

This is probably the closest Cedar will get to Sea World for a long time.

8 months

2011-07-08T21:21:00.002-06:00

This child does not sit still. He has started crawling and will no longer stay in one place. It is getting harder and harder to take his picture with all or most of his body still in the frame.

2011-07-08T21:19:00.001-06:00

Dale and Linda came to visit and brought Cedar the wood airplane that Rob had made for his nephews almost 20 years ago.

breakfast with friends

2011-07-08T21:08:00.003-06:00

i love that cedar has two other boys about his age to grow up with.

2011-06-02T11:57:00.003-06:00

i figured i should start taking a few more videos of this kid. he is growing up so fast.

7 months

2011-05-31T20:27:00.005-06:00

this is cedar's personality summed up in 7 photos.

cedar and his dog or lucca and her boy

2011-05-31T20:23:00.002-06:00

dinner party

2011-05-31T20:17:00.005-06:00

rachel planned her own birthday party this year. it was a fun dinner party that unfortunately rob missed out on because he was sick.

6 months

2011-05-02T21:57:00.004-06:00

if you are looking at these photos thinking to yourself, "wow, that kid's head is growing out of proportion to his body!" you would be correct. i took him for his 6 month check up... 17lbs, 8oz, which is the 50th percentile, 70th percentile for length and 90th percentile for head circumference. not too alarming unless you know that his head was in the 10th percentile at his first week appointment. that's right, his noggin has gone from the 10th percentile to the 90th in 6 months. i have to take him back in 6 weeks to make sure that it starts slowing down. i am just thankful that i didn't birth a 90th percentile head!

these pictures were a little challenging to take. cedar has become obsessed with lucca and i could not get him to smile at the camera because he just wanted to watch her.

sweet potatoes

2011-04-28T18:23:00.003-06:00

we started cedar on solid foods this week since he will be six months tomorrow. we have been holding out because frankly, solid foods are a hassle and rob and i both get disgusted by babies and small children with food all over them. we decided to start with sweet potatoes because they have more nutritional value than rice cereal. although, he actually has to swallow to get the benefits of it! you can see from the bottom photo how much he enjoyed the experience. i promise not to post anymore eating photos, because if rob and i get a little grossed out looking at him eating (and we are his parents!), then i'm sure others do too.

easter

2011-04-28T18:12:00.003-06:00

we had a wonderful easter... church, brunch with friends and family, a competative egg hunt and a lively wiffle ball game. barb and susan put on their game pants and showed us all up during the game. toby and cedar each had one egg which they were enjoying until addie came up and announced that she had a lot of eggs in her basket, but not enough eggs and then waited there until the boys gave up their eggs to her basket.

kickball

2011-04-23T16:47:00.002-06:00

we are undefeated this season with one game left. thanks jake for photoshopping me into the photo - i was taking cedar and his cold little hands to the car to get warm.

2011-04-23T16:33:00.003-06:00

we had a belated birthday picnic for jake at city park. unfortunately the wind has been terrible lately and we had to eat quickly as our potato chips were flying off our plates. we finished up indoors where we ended the afternoon by signing grandpa's cast.

laundry & naps

2011-04-23T16:31:00.000-06:00

we do a lot of this. rob and cedar take a lot of naps and i do a lot of laundry.

5 months

2011-03-31T16:46:00.005-06:00

current loves:

paper

feet

scratching anything and everything, including his parents

the jogging stroller

rolling over

chewing on his bottom lip

drooling

his dad when he gets home from work

the changing table

his mobile

standing up (with a little help)

when his mama sings to him, which i am sure will be short lived once he realized how bad i really sound!

starting seeds

2011-03-23T15:29:00.000-06:00

florida //part 1

2011-03-23T15:06:00.010-06:00

on the plane

first swim

by the look on his little face you can tell that cedar thinks papa tells great stories.

lunch with papa at mar vista.

my parents took us to florida for spring break this year so that we could spend some time with my grandparents and relax in the sun. cedar had lots of firsts this week... first plane ride, first swim, first roll from back to front, first vomit, first day at the beach. he did great on the plane ride there - made many friends and the flight attendant carried him around the plane for a while. he met his great grandpa and wouldn't stop smiling at him the whole trip. the first swim was a success and we knew it would be because of the amount of giggles and splashing that goes on during baths. the ocean was a bit too cold for his liking, but he got some naps in while we soaked up some sun. we ate an enormous amount of key lime pie and had some good dinner conversation. the plane ride home wasn't as calm... it involved lots of fussiness and some vomit.

florida //part 2

2011-03-23T14:54:00.006-06:00

"oh papa, you're so funny" - cedar

le macaron

trying to get a drink of nanna's lava flow.

watching the sun set over the ocean. i stole this photo from jake.

music lessons

2011-03-06T17:36:00.003-07:00

rob is exposing cedar to the guitar at a young age. you can see from the photos that he is he is paying very close attention. he is actually probably more interested in getting his chubby little thumb into his mouth. hopefully cedar will take after his dad more that me when it come to musical talent and rhythm.

4 months

2011-03-06T17:23:00.004-07:00

cedar's dedication

2011-02-24T14:51:00.003-07:00

this is a long video of cedar's dedication at church (and poor quality because i had to downsize it for blogger). watch at your own risk.

cedar talking

2011-02-24T14:29:00.003-07:00

ignore the booger coming out of his nose... he is getting over a cold.

happy valentines day x2

2011-02-21T20:49:00.005-07:00

pre-valentines dinner with friends. stuffed chicken, potatoes, asparagus and lots of laughs.

valentines day fondue with caleb, amanda, rachel and jake. addie and eli joined us for the cheese portion of the dinner.

the boys

2011-02-05T09:52:00.002-07:00

toby, cedar and jude... these boys are going be trouble in the coming years. hopefully lily will keep them in line. it's fun to see their different personalities developing and they all have their dad's hair.

3 months

2011-01-31T14:42:00.003-07:00

2011-01-27T10:15:00.002-07:00

cedar, lucca and i are taking advantage of this beautiful weather, before nature remembers that it's winter and dumps snow on us again.

lovin' the bath

2011-01-27T10:09:00.001-07:00

11 weeks

2011-01-14T17:36:00.001-07:00

our day

2011-01-14T17:26:00.004-07:00

this is what we do all day... it's hard to get a non-blurry photo of this kid... he is always moving. he loves to stand up (with a little help) and is happy on his stomach.

random

2011-01-14T17:19:00.002-07:00

we are so lucky to have such a happy little boy. i love watching his personality develop.

cedar :: 2 months

2011-01-02T14:45:00.005-07:00

i feel like he hasn't changed all that much since the last photos, but he has definitely put on some weight and you can tell from the photos that he rarely sits still these days. the cloth diapers are much cuter than the disposable even if they make his booty look a bit bigger.

christmas in new mexico // pt 1

2011-01-02T14:30:00.008-07:00

cedar did great on his first road trip. we had a wonderful and warm christmas in new mexico with the breshears clan and ended it with an anniversary bash for rob's parents.

christmas in new mexico // part 2

2011-01-02T14:19:00.004-07:00

melby christmas pt1

2011-01-01T12:11:00.005-07:00

pictures courtesy of jake.

melby christmas pt2

2010-12-31T13:42:00.003-07:00

continuing the lefse making tradition... still trying to find the perfect recipe.

watching the broncos lose again...

2010-12-16T17:07:00.001-07:00

i love this smile.

2010-12-16T16:59:00.005-07:00

cedar at 7 weeks. notice all the spit up on his shirt... i don't think he was too happy about the enchiladas i ate last night.

tree cutting

2010-12-05T14:20:00.006-07:00

cedar had his first of many christmas tree cutting outings. it was a beautiful day... lucca enjoyed plowing through snowdrifts and cedar slept through the majority of the experience. this is a tradition that rob and i both love and will continue for many years to come.

november 29 :: 1 month

2010-12-05T14:17:00.004-07:00

we will be documenting each month in this way and after a year will have 12 photos to see how much he has grown!

thanksgiving

2010-11-26T13:25:00.003-07:00

3 weeks

2010-11-26T13:23:00.000-07:00

Cedar and Lucca are buds

2010-11-13T10:13:00.002-07:00

2010-11-02T20:20:00.005-06:00

Cedar Lee Breshears :: 10/29/10 :: 7lbs 8oz :: 21 inches

waiting...

2010-10-28T15:59:00.005-06:00

his bedroom... just waiting for whenever he decides to arrive. i am not much into cutsie baby stuff, so we went with more of a vintage-y, thrift store, craigslist theme! somehow we ended up with a lot of animal stuff, but it wasn't intentional. i think we spent a total of $50.

this time has been good to practice our patience and trust in God's timing. it's a good reminder that we can not control everything.

rachel + jake

2010-09-30T20:26:00.004-06:00

9 adults + 2 babies + 3 dogs + 1 canoe

2010-09-06T11:32:00.010-06:00

we spent labor day weekend camping with friends a few hours west of fort collins near walden. it was a relaxing time with beautiful weather and lots of laughs. our hand-me-down canoe got its first taste of water in about 15 years... it held up well. lucca even got a few rides and rob was nice not to tip it over with his almost eight month pregnant wife paddling in the front. it is bittersweet to know that it was our last family trip with the truck... we can't fit a car seat and 2 adults in the cab. life is changing!

giant 4-square

2010-09-01T13:59:00.000-06:00

yes, we are adults.

30 weeks

2010-09-01T13:55:00.001-06:00

a few weeks ago...

budget kitchen makeover

2010-08-05T14:19:00.004-06:00

we (rob) replaced our peachy tile countertops with some inexpensive laminate ones from ikea and put up a corrugated steel backsplash. we love the results and don't miss the hard to clean grout or peach color at all. i'm not sure we will ever have a home project that would not be labeled "budget makover", but this one was definitely one of the cheaper ones! rob did a great job with all parts of it... now to the next thing on our list.

san francisco

2010-08-02T15:19:00.000-06:00

i spent the weekend in san francisco with the girls... we ate loads of good food, walked up and down lots of hills, got fresh fruit at the farmers market, saw Beach Blanket Babylon, explored the small shops and had a great time seeing the city. the cool weather was such a nice break from the colorado heat. thanks mom for a great trip! (and the guys who helped make it possible)

st. elmo

2010-06-26T18:34:00.003-06:00

st. elmo is a ghost town near mt. princeton. a lot of the town is still intact and fun to walk through.

b&b

2010-06-26T18:25:00.003-06:00

we were given a two night stay at a bed and breakfast near buena vista from some good friends. we had a wonderful mid-week vacation seeing parts of colorado that we have never seen before. the front range heat followed us to the mountains so we spent a good deal of the time looking for water to play in.

races at the oval :: fathers day

2010-06-26T18:20:00.002-06:00

we spent fathers day watching rob and caleb run the father's day 5k, which we all did as a family last year. next year rob or i can run with the jogging stroller. we had brunch with family and took a dinner picnic to the bike races at the oval.

triathalon

2010-06-07T15:27:00.004-06:00

rob and his friend skylar did the greeley sprint triathalon on sunday. they both finished strong with good times. it was a beautiful day for sitting and watching some great athletes.

twenty weeks

2010-06-07T15:25:00.002-06:00

halfway down. two more weeks until we find out what we are having!

new fence

2010-06-07T15:17:00.002-06:00

we were forced to put up a taller fence because lucca has discovered that our old chain link fence was no match for her jumping abilities. she made friends with the neighbor dog and jumped the fence daily for play dates. in order to be on good terms with our neighbors and to make sure lucca wasn't going to hurt herself, we hired a good friend and with some volunteer work and now we have a beautiful, sturdy fence and a kickass gate!

Flordia Spring Break

2010-03-20T09:31:00.002-06:00

Here was a highlight of our spring break trip to visit Hannah's grandpa with the rest of the Melby clan.

Ice Climbing

2010-03-20T09:06:00.007-06:00

I tried ice climbing a few weeks back in Rocky Mountain Nat'l Park. It was really fun! Hope to do it again, but I am ready for warmer activities now!

2010-03-04T22:11:00.002-07:00

rob was the Promising Teacher at his school this year, which is an award given to those who have been teaching 5 years or less. each school in the district can vote on one promising teacher and one excellence in education teacher (those who have tought 5+ years). after submitting a lot of paperwork and references rob was selected as one of the 5 final nominees for the district award. quite an honor! we enjoyed a nice banquet with some of his fellow teachers and rob was given a certificate and a gift card for another free dinner. (we love free food!) the top photo is rob with another nominee from his school and his principal.

tree cutting

2009-12-05T14:49:00.003-07:00

thanksgiving

2009-12-05T14:44:00.001-07:00

we didn't take any photos of the dinner, but it was wonderful!

so-pro

2009-12-05T14:32:00.002-07:00

we sold out and moved south of prospect road. the lower mortgage is nice and rob is less than a mile from his school. since we have way more room that we need right now we are thinking of renting out our basement for a while. lucca has learned to jump our chain link fence, so this spring we will be building a new fence and putting in a lucca-proof garden.

Winter already? (October 10)

2009-10-10T10:33:00.004-06:00

It has been coming down all night, is still coming down hard, and is expected to continue through Sunday. Gotta love Colorado!

breckenridge

2009-09-30T17:37:00.004-06:00

this past weekend we rented a condo in breckenridge for a wedding of some camp friends. we had 6 adults and 1 baby in the '92 toyota previa on the way up to the mountains. it was a wonderful, relaxing weekend with great friends. congrats keith + stephanie!

climbing with katie + tim

2009-09-30T17:32:00.002-06:00

come back soon! we miss you guys.

Backpacking for Sonlight Camp

2009-08-16T19:50:00.011-06:00

We guided 3 different backpacking trips for Sonlight Christian Camp this summer. We had some amazing experiences and saw unbelievable sights that few people will ever see. The pictures just don't the backcountry justice. Lucca was an awesome hiking dog except for the rolling in and eating of elk poop.

harvest

2009-08-04T21:51:00.007-06:00

we are really enjoying the garden that came with our new house... strawberries, rhubarb, green beans, peas, carrots, lettuce, squash... we are finding new veggies every day!

grays + torreys

2009-07-04T10:02:00.003-06:00

a few photos (courtesy of peter melby) of our climb of grays and torreys. rob, my dad and kyle climbed the lost rat couloir while peter and i hiked the normal route with lucca. we still needed our ice axes on the regular route in a few sections.

dear little house,

2009-06-16T20:26:00.013-06:00

dear little house on loomis avenue,

i am not quite ready to say goodbye to you yet, but the promise of a lower interest rate lured us to sell you a few years before we had planned. we loved our two years inside your 100+ year old brick walls. i fell in love with your beautiful old wood floors the moment we walked in your door. rob had a harder time looking past the cat hair and all the rocking chairs, but i knew you had potential. your kitchen was perfect for us... functional, but not so nice that we couldn't have a little fun with the budget makeover. your walls have heard a lot of laughter and a few tears in the past few years. your walls have collected some memories during our stay... lots of swearing while playing settlers of catan, a few shrimp boils, my first garden, rob slicing his hand open, a new puppy peeing on your floor, and most recently lucca and i waited out a tornado warning in the empty basement. we have crammed quite a few friends in your little living room. your location was perfect for bike-in movies at new belgium, running on the bike trail and tubing the poudre. there have been a few things that we haven't enjoyed though... the leaky kitchen roof, the lack of privacy in the the bathroom and the ONE closet. i would like to remember you as full of life and rather than empty and echoing like we left you today. we are glad to have been a small part of your history.

love, hannah & rob

zoo

2009-06-01T22:29:00.010-06:00

my mom and i drove to denver to visit the zoo with addie, eli and amanda. the sparrows that scavenged the lunch area were the most fascinating for addie,the carousel was a big hit with both kids, and you can't beat cheerios dipped in salsa to top off a great day.

good-bye nasty linoleum, hello cork!

2009-06-01T22:19:00.008-06:00

rob and elliot spent a day laying cork flooring in our kitchen. it looks so much better that we wish we would have done it earlier. thanks elliot, i am sure we will have more projects to tackle in our new house! we will be sad to leave this beautiful floor behind.