First year anniversary weekend

Yesterday was mine and Todd's first year anniversary!

I have to admit, sadly, with our first baby on the way neither of us had really thought too much about our anniversary.  We've been pretty consumed with baby prep and not so much how we would celebrate.  

In fact, the trip we took to Denver this weekend was initially set up to do some baby shopping.  Then we put two and two together and realized it was also our anniversary weekend, so we modified our trip to fit in some couple time.  Kinda sad, I know!

We had dinner at a fabulous restaurant in Cherry Creek, Denver called North.  It serves modern Italian cuisine that is just de-lish!  We both had the salmon filet with faro and it...was...perfect!  I'm salivating now just thinking about it.  

Afterwards, we went out for a drink.  Well, Todd had a drink.  I had a club soda and lime...

The next day we got down to bid-ness with baby shopping.  Denver was pretty much a bust.  We didn't find a single thing we needed there.  Ft. Collins, Colo., however, was a total win!  We found everything we were looking for there!

We also attended a "diapering class" for cloth diapers, which is something we're considering.  I'll chat more about this in the future, but to ease your minds - we are not doing it the old school way with folded material, pins and a plastic shell.  Those are still out there...but cloth diapering has come a long way since then and we're considering a different route.  But - more on that later!  Here's a pic of the instructor demonstrating some of the diapers...

The one big item we've had trouble figuring out is a nursery chair.  While Casper has many furniture stores to choose from, none of them have anything I would use for a nursery chair.  A big, fatty, Lazy-Boy recliner is not my ideal baby chair, though Todd would be thrilled with that!  

So, we've been looking for something that a) looks nice, b) is super comfortable, c) Todd fits in, and d) is that magical low price.   

Not surprisingly, this doesn't exist.

Several friends have chosen the Dutailier brand chair; one that, I have to say, doesn't meet my aesthetic or price point requirements.  But everyone has said these chairs are super comfortable and one girlfriend, whose husband is even taller than Todd, said it is perfect for them.  

The only place we could find that had them on the floor for trying out was BabiesRUs.  I have never been in this store before.  Honestly, I don't even remember shopping in a ToysRUs either.  I must have been pretty young if I did and it wasn't a place we ever went shopping as kids.  So, this was a new experience!  

I didn't take full advantage of my maternity status, but thought this was a nice touch for moms-to-be who can't or don't want to hike from the nether regions of a parking lot into the store...

We tried the various brands of chairs out and decided the Dutailier is indeed the most comfortable. And...we decided for the money we are probably getting a better, (hopefully) longer lasting product than the "knock-off" versions they had sitting nearby.  Todd fit in the chair, which glides and reclines - something I know he really wanted in a chair.  It's not exactly pretty or cute, but at this stage in the game, I don't care so much.  I just want it bought and in the room.  I want to be comfortable in it.  Check and check.

We didn't walk out with one, but instead decided to see if we could find it cheaper online.  Todd did!  By a couple hundred dollars, no less!  It's not the color combo we wanted (dark cloth to hide our black labs' hair and light wood to match the rest of the furniture in the nursery), but again - I've ceased to care.  Let's just get the darn chair at the better price and be done with it!

The chair and footstool will look basically like this, only with dark brown cushions...

So, that major purchase is off the list!

Next...we DESPERATELY needed extra storage for Little Kittel's room.  It is currently in such disarray you can't even walk through it.  That's because we have no place to put half the stuff we have for her!

I've been looking and looking for a cool vintage piece, but haven't had any luck finding something.  Leave it to Ft. Collins and their Antique Row to help us get the job done!

We saw several pieces for a decent price and finally narrowed it down to this...

It's a 1920s pie safe.  It's been refurbished some, but was in pretty darn good shape.  I'm very happy with it and can't wait to get it in the baby room!

We got home that night with just enough time to warm up our wedding pie and have our one-year anniversary bite.  We used the forks Linds C. got for us to eat with at our reception...

The rhubarb pie that served as our "wedding cake..."

Happy first anniversary!

A whirlwind anniversary to celebrate a whirlwind year!