Birthday, again??? Didn't we just do this?

July 23rd, about three weeks after her first 1st birthday, we celebrated again. Since hubby's parents were going to be in town for our camping trip, we invited my parents to town to celebrate sweet pea's birthday with family. My aunt and uncle who live about an hour away came in too!!!

The bowl you see (orange with melted spots on the bottom from too much time in a microwave) was actually my bowl growing up. My mom was kind enough to bring it for sweet pea to use. There are many pictures of me and my brother sitting on the couch with a T.V. tray (you remember the metal ones, usually green with a horrible gold-leaf design on them) eating spaghetti with butter and parmesan cheese (yep, the stuff in the green can) and these orange bowls. So, sweet pea using this bowl was extra special. In the picture above, the eating was just beginning. She's working on pasta and tomato sauce... only for the picture opportunities and the damage that tomato sauce can cause! And yes, we have taken her dress off... she IS half naked under that bib!

Further into the eating frenzy... we were good enough parents to add some fruit and vegetables to her dinner. Yummy green beans, strawberries, grapes, and blueberries - some of her favorites! She really hasn't run her hands through her hair yet, much to the dissapointment of our family!

Here is sweet pea's cake. My mom always made cute cut-out cakes for our birthday's (when we were little, I've seen pictures but I don't actually remember :). I did a super simple ice cream cone shaped cake... cute yet simple and yummy. Thanks, duncan hines!

See, sweet pea likes it!!!

She got a much needed quick bath, thanks to both of the grandma's, and then to the deck to open presents!

The best of all was having so much family there to celebrate sweet pea's birthday. A true blessing! Thanks to you all for making her day a day to remember, always. Hubby and I are so lucky to have such wonderful parents and sweet pea is super lucky to have such great grandparents.

Camping with Grandma and Grandpa

So, Hubby and I will be married for 10 years in September and we just went our first vacation with his parents. We had a wonderful time (remember, guys, new england in two summers!)!!! We headed north to Chippewa National Forest and camped for three nights/four days. The fishing was great, the weather was great, and seeing family was absolutely great. Above, you'll see two fish that hubby and his dad picked up - they only kept them because the fish swallowed their lures. The fish wouldn't have survived lure retrieval, so they were eaten for lunch! The previous day, hubby's dad caught a HUGE northern Pike that we all ate for dinner. I didn't know a family of four could feast off of ONE fish - and have leftovers. It was soooo cool.

The morning we left, we spent a few hours packing up the car and getting all of the food ready. By 10:30 we were in the cars and ready to go. We turned onto the street that led to the highway and our 'check battery' light came on. We were about to pass our favorite car fix it place so we turned in. They ran a check and decided we needed a new alternator. Huh, that stinks. So, the family walked to a nearby restaurant and had an early lunch while Jake (the dog) hung out at the car place... boy, was God ever watching over us that morning. Losing the battery somewhere in the middle of no-where on our way to the middle of no-where would have been very bad (courtney, I know you grew up in one of those no-wheres... sorry).

The weather up north was a really nice break from the heat. I'm sure some of our friends are feeling it in their regions, but I am SO stinking tired of 100 degree heat! We live in an area where it's acceptable to complain about the cold and snow, we aren't supposed to have to deal with this heat. It's supposed to rain tomorrow and Wednesday and drop back into the 80's... oh glory, I'm so excited to have 80 degrees... maybe I'll turn off the air conditioner for a little while (our electric/water bill more than doubled in the last bill - sorry honey, it's HOT).


Sweet pea had a great time, again. The ground at this site was pine needles and dirt (personally, my favorite ground to camp on) - when we went to Illinois earlier in the month the ground was grass and a little bit of dirt. The dirt/pine needles aren't great for a non-walking toddler! She was SUPER filthy!!! No problem though... we didn't mind and we just washed everything when we got home!

Grandpa and sweet pea touring the area :)

Mom and sweet pea just hanging out!

So, if anyone wants a recommendation for a wonderful campsite (and doesn't mind not having flushing toilets or showers), I would highly recommend Chippewa National Forest - Clubhouse Campsites!

heat, heat, go away. come again next summer...

A little picture to remind us that we hate winter and this heat isn't so bad :) Are we really ready for the snow again?

(march 13, 2006 - 5 months old)

Heading out, again

Hubby's mom and dad arrived today. We're leaving in the morning to venture north! Yes, we're camping again. Some call us camping fools!!! Have you looked into the cost of camping??? It's practically free!!! $12-20/night to sleep and you bring your own food. Plus, you're living outdoors so no body cares whether or not you are dirty or smell (I don't like the smelling part too much - if we're camping for more than a weekend a shower is usually in order).

I'm not really sure where we're going... I wasn't in charge. Actually, I didn't want to be in charge!!! I'll report when we get back.

Today, I took Sweet Pea to her swimming lesson and daddy took pictures. Grandma and Grandpa got to watch too. We did our little motor boat, kicking on belly, kicking on back, blowing bubbles, etc., then went to the slide and diving board again. What fun!!!

No, no diving board for her... not until she's actually walking!!!

the roof, the roof, the roof is on fire... not really

So, we're getting a new roof put on today. There are four non-english speaking gentlemen on my roof... it's weird, not being able to communicate with people working on your house. I just keep refilling a gallon pitcher with gatorade and ice and setting it outside and smiling at them. It's really sad that I can't speak any other language... very sad.

Sweet pea, who doesn't normally take a morning nap, is sleeping right now. I put her in her room because they weren't making alot of noise at the time. I know, not very smart, but I did it anyway. I can actually hear the workers pounding nails through her monitor, LOUD and clear yet she is still sleeping. She's a funny girl.

The reason she's probably tired is that she had her one year check up this morning. I had to wake her up (couldn't bring myself to take her to the doctor in her pj's with no breakfast) a bit early. She got three shots in her arms and blood squeezed out of her finger. She did not like that lady squeezing her finger... she didn't even feel the prick!!! The shots though... oh, that face, the one that says "MOM?! What are you letting these people do to me? That hurts! Mom?!! Do you still love me?!!! I thought you said you would protect me?!" It's amazing that she can say all of that with eyes, lips, and tears. Daddy is taking her in for her next set of shots!!!

Sweet pea is growing well. She's in the 95% for height, 97% head circumference, and 90% weight. WOW! We think that means that she'll be tall, 'muscular', and SMART! HA! And, if you're wondering, NO - they didn't include her ears in the head circumference measurement! She DOES take after her daddy when it comes to ear size and shape... luckily she's a girl and can grow her hair long. She just might not be able to pull her hair into a pony tail without getting laughs!

Did you all know that they recommend little ones stay away from peanuts until they are 2 or 3 now? Huh?! She's already had a little "pad thai" - and it had small chopped peanuts in it. I guess she won't be enjoying her first peanut butter and jelly sandwich for a bit longer.... bummer. Thankfully, she still enjoys her macaroni and cheese... two childhood favorites!

Can anyone say HOT?!

So, it's 200 degrees today with 150% humidity... hubby hates the winters here, I hate heat and humidity.

Yep, the curly hair I was blessed with hates the humidity too... holy cow, it's a wild hair day (thanks, mom)!

At 4:50am, it was already 71 degrees... not the best day to get a long run in. Luckily, the long runs are supposed to be sllloooowwww. We (my friend, heidi and I) started running at 5:45 and finished around 8:30 and it was blazing hot. Heidi described our pace at the end as the "ranger shuffle" (she spent a few years in ROTC and then the Army), I'll describe it as the "old lady shuffle". The running club we usually run with was starting their run at 7am... that sounded HORRIBLE to us since the highs today were supposed to reach high 90's/low 100's. On days like today, it's really fun to weigh yourself before you leave for a run and then again after. I actually lost 5 pounds in 3 hours today!!! I know, not so good, not so safe in such heat... I carried water with me though and refilled the bottle when it was empty!!!

The family spent the afternoon walking around the mall. Yes, the mall. The good thing about the mall is that it's not house, it's air conditioned, and it has great potential for people watching. Hubby really took one for the team there... he's more than happy to sit around the house, I need to get out!

Sweet pea still isn't running around and shooting baskets. She can walk, she's shown us quite a few times. I guess crawling is just easier... takes after her dad, "do what's easiest" or "why do today what I can not do tomorrow?" Thankfully, I love them both... even though they are procrastinators!!!

swimming, take two

Me, the loving wife that I am, signed sweet pea up for swimming lessons (no, she's really not walking on her own yet) with her daddy. It's the baby class, and she is actually the youngest 'baby' (I was peaking at the roster last tuesday).

This past tuesday was her fourth lesson. She's splashed, blown bubbles (daddy's actually blowing the bubbles, sweet pea's just licking the water - "don't drink the water sweet pea, little boys PEE in that water"), kicked, and closed her eyes to get ready to get dunked. Yes folks, you heard it right - get ready to get dunked. What they do is blow in the little one's face so they close their eyes and hold their breath before they get dunked. Well, daddy blows in her face, she closes her eyes and holds her breath, and then daddy chickens out. There are 2, yes 2 life guards in the small class... she'll be fine!!! Oh well, maybe next week.

So, back to this past tuesday. I saw the group of swimmers and moms/dads walking to the other side of the pool towards the slide and diving board. I looked at this sweet little grandma as I got up to walk around to the other side and she said "they're not taking them to the diving board and slide are they?" and I said, "Nooooo, my little one just turned a year old and really isn't walking yet". Well, silly me, they WERE taking them to the slide and diving board.

Ha... do you think the daddy that won't put sweet pea's head under water would let her go down the slide? His exact words were (something like), "she can't walk yet... are you nuts" after I asked him if he was going to let sweet pea go. We were the only loser family not letting their little one have fun... just kidding - about the loser part.

So, I talked him into it (even though I wasn't quite sure about this, but there were 2, yes 2 lifeguards on duty). I took sweet pea to the top of the slide, gave her a little shove, she flew down the tube slide - maybe 4-6 feet long - daddy caught her and she LOVED it. She went down at least 5 or 6 more times before class was over and then whined and cried as daddy walked back to the other side of the pool to leave.

Today, I went over to a friends house for a few hours. She had a kiddie pool set up with a kiddie slide in it. Sweet pea had a blast. Everytime she went down, she turned around to climb back up and do it again... she was climbing up the slide part though. She hasn't learned how to take turns yet, either.

Here are a few pictures from her first lesson... she wasn't exactly thrilled that day.

food? really, you want food?

So, I'm a big believer in baby sign language because at 8 months of age or so sweet pea started WHINING! And, when I say WHINING, I mean WHHHIIIINNNIIINGG!!! What in the world, this laid back, easy going kid is driving me BATTY! Hubby and I had taken a baby sign language class (can you see hubby, in a class with other couples - husbands obviously not there by their own free will - practicing the sign for banana... Tooo funny) a bit earlier, so I thought I'd check this out.

We started with the word 'drink' which looks like your are tipping a cup towards your lips. Huh, no luck. Maybe our genius baby isn't so smart after all... and she's still WHINING. Around 6 months, I had started showing her the sign for 'milk' while she was drinking milk (no, she wasn't drinking cows milk at the time... use your imagination). Huh, about 3-4 days into me trying to teach her the sign for 'drink', she came back at me with the sign for 'milk'. Now, if you don't know, the sign for milk looks like what dairy farmers used to do to milk cows before machines took care of the duty. Sooooo, my daughter, as cute as she is, is now sign language confused.

Fast forward a few months and sweet pea's sign for drink (no mater what type of fluid she is consuming) is the sign for milk. Sortof funny but super cute too, especially when she looks you square in the eyes and signs 'milk' with force, with both hands.

Back to the point... food... The sign for food is your fingers towards your mouth, like you're placing something in your mouth. It's the second or third sign she learned. The past few days, she's been whining again and I've looked at her and asked her "sweet pea, what's wrong? what do you want?" and she looks at me back and signs 'food'. "sweet pea, it's not eating time, you just had a snack (and entire nutra-grain bar) and we're eating dinner in an hour" and she says, "food, food, food". This exchange continues on a few more times. Last night, I gave up and put her in her high chair at 4:30 (after 30-40 minutes of the conversation you just witnessed above) and fed her peas for another snack (she actually loves peas)... then cheese, then sliced turkey, then a little banana. Huh, I guess she was hungry? And, yes, she ate again at 6:30 with hubby while he ate dinner.

Can she be having another growth spurt? Have you seen the pictures of her thighs? Can she live off of the fat of the land for awhile?

While we were having this 'discussion', I almost told her to grab a slice of cheese out of the fridge. Yes, the wrapped American kind... it's what my mom told me to get if I was hungry before dinner.

As a side note, her sign language vocabulary is pretty nice. She can say; drink, food, more, please (new one!), bath (not sure why I taught her this one), and we are currently working on 'love'. It's really fun, we can actually sortof kindof talk to each other. She's still whining, and she's still asking for food as she whines... I hope she doesn't become a statistic in the growing trend of large toddlers. Naw, we wouldn't let that happen, I'll strap her onto the treadmill with me!!!

a few words on sweet pea's few words...

So, she has a bit of a vocabulary. It started out with "da, da" quite a few months ago. "ma, ma" was a close second (she quickly forgot about "da, da" and started saying "ma, ma" NON-STOP).

She then said "Jake" (sounds like "yake"). Then, her fourth word... was... "NO". Emphatically stated while pushing her arms away, pushing whatever you are trying to do or say away. It's really cute - now - but can't imagine it staying cute for much longer.

Our favorite (at least mine) is "all done" which she says while waving her hands doing the sign for all done. SUPER CUTE!!!

Her favorite, other than "No" is "uh oh" which she says while dropping whatever she might be holding, usually while riding in the cart at the grocery store!

There are other words that she might be saying, we're just not sure... like "hi", "hello" (which daddy swears she's been saying since she was three months old), and then the full sentences said with inflection in her voice like she's having a conversation with me...
Sweet pea: "mommy?"
Mommy: "yes, sweet pea"
SP: "mommy?"
M: "yes, sweet pea"
SP: "do da da blah de la ya doda youea?!"
M: "really?! i love you to!"
(repeat OVER and OVER and OVER again... especially while riding in a car)

Yes, she's super cute and we love her SO STINKING much!

Birthday presents from Great Aunt Weez...

We got home from running errands on friday and found a GREAT BIG BOX on our front porch! Well, sweet pea started SQUEALING in delight (not actually, but it sure would have been cute).

We had fun opening them, Jake was a little disappointed though :)


She loves playing with her catepillar, wouldn't let me take it out of it's box...

Thanks, Great Aunt Weez... we miss you so much!

she took steps!

The entire time we were camping we were waiting for her to walk, but nothing. She was standing on her own, bending down to pick stuff up without falling, but no walking. One friend was betting that she was actually running around in her crib at night, waving her arms about, laughing and walking but we couldn't see her.

Not two hours after we get home, she takes her steps towards me because I was holding a graham cracker! Amazing. She thought it was the funniest thing too!

By the end of next week, she'll be running about and shooting baskets!

(nope, no pics and we didn't get the video recorder out... we're such bad parents!)

She's one years old - and we survived 4 nights camping!!!

We can't believe it, sweet pea's already one year's old! We left on July 1st for Chain of Lakes state park in northwest Illinois. After dinner with some friends, we had cupcakes and sang happy birthday. Of course, daddy and I forgot the video recorder... oh well.

It was super fun. A great weekend visiting with friends. It's so wierd to think that just three short summers ago, there was only one child between the four couples!!! Now, there are 6!

It rained just a bit during the 5 days/4 nights. We survived it pretty well by hanging out in our tents for awhile and waiting for it to pass. That day, we found a big mall and had the kids run around. We then headed out later that night to try and find fire works - with no luck. We were pretty worried about getting locked out of the state park, which closed it's gate at 11:30. We would have had to walk three miles to our campsite, with sleeping kids and no flashlights :) HA!!! We decided to walk around lake geneva and eat ice cream (nice compromise, if you ask me).

Sweet pea sleeps in her own sleeping bag, which works pretty well throughout the night. When she's 'falling asleep' it's a little tricky because she's crawling all over the place. We just go in when we are ready for bed and pick her up and put her in her bag for the night. Last time we camped, in May she had JUST started crawling so she slept well in between us. Now, she has to sleep on an end because she rolls to much and likes to plaster herself against something to sleep. Next summer, she'll probaby be able to unzip the tent, who knows what we'll have to do then!!! The three other couples brought pack 'n plays for their babies/toddlers... I guess we'll need a bigger tent to fit the pack 'n play?! Thank goodness my aunt and uncle were kind enough to watch Jake (the dog) for us for the weekend! It would have been tight quarters, especially when it rained!

I should go... back to reality tomorrow. Hubby's heading to work, I'm tutoring in the morning, and I still need to unpack the camping stuff and disinfect everything :)

few more pics :

"mommy... mommy... Mommy... MOMMY?!!!" (sweet pea didn't want to be ready for bed... I don't think she liked the fact that we were all laughing and I got up to get the camera)

Our friend's little girl was so good with sweet pea, we wanted to take her home with us. She was reading to her in this pic... and sweet pea LOVES her books! Favorites are any cardboard lift the flap books and the touch and feel books, especially "playtime" because grandma taught her where her hair is with that book!!!!

This is a picture of everyone exept hubby... he didn't trust anyone to touch his precious camera and take the picture for us!!! Funny, funny man! It's while we were walking around lake geneva... around 9pm!!! I'm so impressed with the kids - there wasn't a melt down in the bunch. I'm sure they were all on the edge, but kept it in! Two of the families were from eastern time too!!! Their kids thought it was 10pm!