Advanced Ian

Ian has a pretty limited vocab... I mean, he just turned one a few weeks ago. Pretty much it consists of "dog"  "dog" and more "dog"....and more recently he added in "ball." Sure he says "mamamama" and "dadadada" though I'm not convinced he has any idea who he is referencing; it's just babble. So he really decided to step it up and move onto a multi-syllable word: Barbara.  This happens to be the name of his day care "teacher," and he probably hears it a million times a day with all the other little ones calling for her (frankly it's amazing Barbara is still sane. I know I want to lose it on a daily basis at work when I hear my name one too many times).  He didn't even bother to go for "Barb" as many of the kids call her... he went right for Barbara. Anyway, I was able to capture little man spouting off his new word on Friday night....

Excuse the snot coming out of his nose...whatchagunnado?! It still cracks me up every time I watch it...he says it was such vigor and passion.  My mom is of course pissed that he said Barbara before Dede; mostly because it's my Aunt's (her sister) name too and now she is jealous. 

Oh, and he has also added "baby" to his list which provides extra entertainment since he generally points and says it to babies that are older than him.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Thank you, our Friends Are Really Freakin' Funny

At Ian's B'day party a few of our friends came up with an extra clever gift...

 "From: Ian

 To: Daddy"

Post-it's so Dad doesn't forget us

And this is why I know our friends are awesome, witty, funny, and keepers.  If this makes no sense to you, then refer back to my post  here about my Christmas travels home to Denver. I love that I have friends that make me laugh on a daily basis...otherwise I'd be certifiable. 

Thank you "Auntie K & G" for keeping it real. 

The 'hood

So some sarcastic dude went ahead and put together a Judgmental Map of Denver. If you want the full story click on the image of the map below and it will take you to a Westword write up on it. Anyone who knows me knows that I love myself some judgmental and un-politically correct generalizations (I'm sorry, they are funny).  For all the Denverites, enjoy.

So let's see where the McG's live and where they are going (yes I'm talking in the 3rd person)....

Well, we are currently in City Park West which happens to be sort of sandwiched in between "tattoos", "young active hobos" and "foodies." Since we are sans tattoos and have a home, I guess we're foodies? Um, ok. I do in fact love food, oh, and I often grocery shop at the not-so-lovely "UnSafeway" also featured on the map. If only we were a few blocks further north we could be gangsters.

Now when we started our house search the neighborhood that I was campaigning to be in (Park Hill, just east of our current place) is marked as "Wealthy Drive-By's"  (clearly I'm not that, as John refused to drop that much money on a 2 bedroom bungalow). And I often found myself driving through "people's bosses" and "almost rich" looking for houses thinking "damn it, why am I not rich?"

So where will be going? Well folks, just look where it says "Gay-pleton." That's right, Gaypleton! Well sorta. We are actually going to be right where it says "Yuppies" and "All the babies in Denver" (I'm pretty sure our house is being built where the "i" of the word "in" is). Considering we both graduated from Miami University (aka J.Crew U), appreciate a good Polo shirt, and have a baby, we might fit this stereotype. I just threw up, and had an awful self realization. I'm going to bag up all my polo's for Goodwill next weekend.

Ok, on the plus side at least we are on the "gay" side of Stapleton and not the "stab" side.... safety first, and my gay friends have better taste than most so I'll take that as a compliment. I'm pretty sure this also means well manicured yards, and "welcome muffins" from the new neighbors. Bring it on!

Framed Up

Exterior w/ Hardie Board

This week was some new housing milestones... all the interior walls are framed up! We did a walk-thru with our builder to confirm the framing, and despite all of our changes and my picky expectations they really got it right. There was one minor tweak and that was it...most impressive! The exterior has the Hardie Board going in, so it's really starting to take shape. We are also only ones on the block with a 2nd floor balcony (off our master), and I have to admit that is one of the coolest things as we see it all come together....John already has visions of having a beer up there while listening to the Rox's game while the sunsets, and I can't say that isn't a really good plan.

My Fireplace all framed up!

Validation:  (not that I needed it) The builder agreed during our walk-thru that moving the fireplace was a really great decision, thankyouverymuch. And to think all the backlash I took over that....

Kitchen looking towards the island

Framing for our shower ... makes me happy to see our customization taking shape!

What is this?? Oh, it's just a mountain view from our master bedroom balcony. Damn straight.

Basement

Cherry Pie Park - Across the street 

So this is cool...  there are 5 "pocket parks" in our area of Stapleton (Bluff Lake) that will be based on the 5 senses, and the park right across the street from us is called the "Cherry Pie Park." This particular park is based on the sense of taste, so they are planting a bunch of berries and whatnot in this park that are up for the pickin'! Pretty sweet....especially since Ian is a fruitaholic. We can just waddle on over an pick what we want for a snack. Interestingly they are relocating a bunch of the landscaping for these parks, and the big tree you see in the background was actually just relcoated from the Denver airport. 

HaPpY BirTHdaY liTtle mAn!!!

We celebrated Ian's First Birthday this past Saturday, January 26th.... yes his real b'day was 2 weeks prior, but my parents really wanted to be here for the celebration and they couldn't come the weekend of his actual birthday. So, little man was none the wiser when we waited a couple weeks to party. I planned a "snowy/ winter" themed party since he is a winter baby in Colorado. I mean, at the ripe old age of 1 it isn't like he has a list of real "interests" that would make for a better theme, so I thought celebrating the winter season would be perfect. And it would have been, except it was 60 degrees and sunny in Denver on this Saturday in January ..who would have thought?!? Oh well, it might have been beautiful outside, but it was a Winter Onderland in the McG house.  Complete with a hot cocoa bar and lots of warm comfort food! Here are a few of the details from the party...

I also decided to skip the whole party favor thing... I mean it's right after the first of the year and everyone is still somewhat focused on not eating crap typically found in goody bags, right? So I had a different idea... When my dear friend Pam passed away earlier last month her family asked that people make donations to the Make a Wish Foundation because Pam always loved everyone's kids as her own...she was "Auntie Pam" to many...so they felt that was an appropriate cause she would appreciate  I still vividly remember the day after Ian was born Pam came to visit us in the hospital...and of course being "Auntie Pam" she came with a huge bag of gifts and a big smile on her face... but more than anything I remember how excited she was to see us an hold Ian. Therefore, I thought there was no better favor than to make a donation to Make a Wish in the names of the attendees in honor of Pam. 

Hope you were smiling down on us Pam-ella!

John, Jess, Todd, Gretchen, + Krystal

Dede and her girls

Mama + Ian

Ian's "Smash Cake" 

Hummm....

Tasty...this icing is...

"Well my hands are dirty."

I SAID "GET THIS HAT OFF ME!"

Some of Ian's Friends 

More Friends!

Opening Presents 

The coolest thing happened right after opening presents. IAN TOOK HIS FIRST STEPS!! That's right folks, right there in the middle of his party! It's his party and he'll walk if he wants to. He was playing with the toys he opened over by my parents and he was standing up (holding onto my dad)...the next thing we knew he took 6 steps!  Then we had a few repeat performances of a few more steps before he got rubber legs and had had enough. I must say he was quite proud of himself.

Practicing to walk with Uncle Bacon

The McG's

We were so thankful to have such a fun day with many good friends in attendance! Thanks to all who came to celebrate Ian's first year!

One step closer to play dates

The house marches on and we are one step closer to Ian having a street full of friends! Can you believe how quickly the block is shaping up?! Remember in my last post the 2 houses to the left were nothing but a hole in the ground.

Here's the latest progress: the windows are in, most of the walls are framed, and they are beginning to install insulation.  Oh, and I went inside again to scope out that progress...

Up close and personal

The living room....looking towards the fireplace

Standing in the dining area looking towards what will be the kitchen/wall of cab's

Looking towards open staircase and living/dining

And if you want a little sneak peak at what else we have planned for the interiors you can see that here!