Our little guy is ONE...

It is so hard to believe how fast life is spinning right now.  It seems that it was just yesterday that we were caring for a newborn, searching for a house, living in friends basements.  But, wait!  That was a FULL YEAR AGO.  Our little Uriah turned 1 in June and I popped over to the blog only to realize that I have not updated it since 2012.  So sad.  I probably have no one looking here for updates, but I wanted to keep one for myself if no one else.  Amelia is going to be entering the 1st grade in just a few weeks and she is so smart and full of an internal desire to learn and conquer.  Aliza is 4 1/2 and as full of as much rambunctious energy as possible, but she is sweet and loving as can be.  And, Uriah.  Oh, sweet boy.  He keeps us laughing and smiling and cuddling around here all day long.  Until he screams.  I think the neighbors must hear him! 

Photo update

Once a month seems about right for a mom of 3...right?  I am trying to keep updates for those of you far away :)  But, a Kindergartner, a preschooler and a still nursing baby keep me quite busy!  Here is an update through pictures of our fall.

playing in the leaves

my big 6 year old

blue eyes

4 months!

I'm a pumpkin and I know it :)
 

Colorado Balloon Classic...

It is now a family tradition!  2 years in a row :)  We missed Grandma Lewis getting up to go with us this year for sure...but we had great weather and only had to get up early one morning this year!  And of course we had a new addition with us to experience the fun.  I think this may be the first picture of all 5 of us taken. It isn't the best but I treasure the photos with the whole family.

 family of 5!

 Daddy and the kiddos...do Aliza and Uriah look alike or what?

 Mommy and her big girl!

Good Morning sunshine! 

Hope we make it again next year :)

Announcing...Uriah!

Does anyone even read this thing anymore?  I am not a blogger by nature and the absolute chaos of our lives in the last year has definitely hindered the progress on this blog.  But I would like to share Uriah with you.  We had a beautiful baby boy on June 4, 2012.  He was 8 lbs. 15 oz!  He went unnamed for 7 days as we were both apparently certain that we would have another girl.  We packed up our home and moved to Eagle Lake camp where Shawn had accepted a summer position 11 days after he was born for a peaceful summer in the mountains where meals would be shared and community would be close and life would be simple.  We had an amazing 7 days which ended after a morning of canoeing with the girls and sitting in the shade with Uriah when a few guys noticed smoke plumes over a ridge in the distance.  This small smoke plume turned into the Waldo Canyon Fire which devastated the mountainside and over 300 homes in Colorado Springs.  Needless to say we were evacuated from camp that day and have spent the last month in a friends home while looking for a home of our own. 
We are so thankful for the friendships that we have here and the people who have reached out to us.  I never would have thought that I could have made it with a newborn, 2 young girls, and no home to call our own.  But it has been an adventure in faith and surrender this summer that has turned out to be much more fun than I could have imagined :)
So, here he is...the smiliest baby boy there is :)  He has really rolled with it this summer!

It says 1 month on his shirt...and technically he still is.  But, he is actually 7 weeks in this picture.  Because, well, I have a few things on my mind.
Love to all!

Finally! Some Maternity Photos

I have been terrible about blogging during this pregnancy.  It has been a very difficult one full of sickness, exhaustion and random pains.  And, all of a sudden I am finally 3 weeks from meeting the newest Tilden!  We are even more excited since we did not find out the gender this time around!  I am dying to know if this is a little boy or a little girl to complete our family :)  Our great friend Erin was gracious enough to share her talents and take these awesome pictures for us.  I am so happy to have these memories!  I do not think we have had a picture taken of the 4 of us in possibly years.  Enjoy and stay tuned for the announcement of baby Tilden #3!

Happy Valentine's Day

I know, I know...it is March already!  But, the girl's cards for school were so cute this year I had to share.  I stole the idea from a friend who stole the idea from the internet so it was not my creativity.  BUT, I was pretty impressed that I actually executed it instead of buying "hello Kitty" valentines at Target while I was already there doing my grocery shopping because I am so exhausted these days and all about simplicity.  Enjoy and much love,

Merry Christmas to All...

We never quite made it to see Santa earlier this season so we made a last minute stop on Christmas Eve to see him in Old Colorado City before he departed for the North Pole.  The girls were thrilled and though Aliza was too awe struck to speak she did manage a big smile and a hug for the big guy :)  I love that it took one picture with Santa to get them both to smile and an hour and candy bribes with me for our Christmas photo.  I guess I need some flying reindeer on my side :)

Merry Christmas!

Winter fun!

Wow...time flies.  You can tell exactly how I have been feeling for the past 8 weeks due to the major time lapse on this blog!  For those of you who do not know, we are expecting baby #3 in early June!  This makes me 16 weeks pregnant and the past 8 weeks have been a blur of nausea and exhaustion.  I am starting to come out of it though and thankful to eat food again :)  So, here are a few pics to catch you up on our first winter in CO! 
We had our wonderful friends Melissa, Jack and baby Emerson visiting with us from Nashville for 10 days and Amelia got a taste of what it was going to be like to be a big sister again. I can't stress enough how helpful and into that baby she was. Here is Amelia holding her...

 We took the kids to the "electric safari" at the zoo.  They have millions of Christmas lights around the zoo and a chance to see some of the animals at night.  Here is Aliza feeding the giraffes...

 And the giraffe eating her glove :)  No worries.  We got it back.  But, not before Aliza was traumatized by her very favorite animal in the world.

Daddy and Aliza with some zoo lights

 Buddies snuggling on the couch and the girls modeling their absolutley adorable handmade hats and legwarmers lovingly made by mama Kane (Melissa's mother).

 Making snow angels

 ...and snow ladies

...and digging tunnels in the snow

There is much winter fun to be had here in CO...come and visit!

Merry Christmas and much love!

Trick or Treat!

I cannot seem to stay on top of blogging...I have so many pictures piling up that I want to share!  But, I had to get these in before too long.  Here are my Halloween beauties.  Amelia wanted to be a ballerina, but she wanted a full length tutu.  SO, she picked out shocking pink and lavendar tulle and I went to town and she looked like a doll :)  Aliza really had no preference for what she wanted to be so I took advantage of this probably being my last year to choose her costume for her.  I chose Alice in Wonderland because she fits the part so well!  Of course, I had to make her costume as well and appliqued  the apron so my little Alice would be unmistakeable.  They had school parties, trick or treating at the zoo, trick or treating with friends...and amelia just wears her tutu around for fun.  We have had lots of dressing up around here.  Enjoy!

boo at the zoo!

trick or treating with friends

I aint afraid of no cat!

It's Party Time!

Tea Party that is...
Today we celebrated Amelia's 5th birthday!  We typically celebrate outside at a park, but she chose to have a tea party because we have never spent an October in Colorado and were not sure of the weather.  I am glad we chose inside!  We woke up to snow!  Not just flurries, but snow that started around 7 am and lasted until 2pm and accumulated on the ground :)  It was very pretty though and the girls were in heaven watching from the window.  Then the sun came out at 2 and it melted.  Interesting weather.

Her tea party was a hit.  Nine little girls, face painting, cupcakes baked in tea cups, tea, accessories, new "tea party" dress, a pinata, crafts and screaming....lots of little girl happiness screaming :)

Visit from Grandma

Life has been so busy and full of excitement that I haven't updated in a month!  We had a visit from my mom (Grandma Lewis) who flew in from Nashville for a week.  And it was perfect timing!  We got to experience the Colorado Balloon Classic for the first time together :)  This meant waking up at 4:30am on Saturday, dressing kids at 5am, driving to the park, parking and walking to the field at 6am only to find out that the classic was CANCELLED due to high winds.  Well, that night we decided to check out the balloon glow where some of the balloons are inflated and their fires Glow and light up the balloons at night.  It was spectacular! 

We had so much fun and it was so impressive that we decided that it was worth it to get up at 5am the next moning and do it all over again.  This time we slept an extra 30 minutes and I put the girls to bed in their clothes :)  It did not disappoint.  This will definitely be an annual event for me!

My mom and I also got to go to dinner by ourselves and decided to dress up and go the the Broadmoor.  We had a fabulous gourmet meal and spectacular views of the mountains. We all had a great time and wish it was longer.

Amelia and Aliza also started at their new preschool!  Here they are on their first day.  And, if you are curious...it was cool that day but actually the temps here are still in the 70s and gorgeous (but the nights and mornings are COLD)!

stay tuned for some gorgeous pictures of the Royal Gorge where we went this past weekend!
love to all!