Stuff

Yesterday was Paige's one year doctor appointment. Seriously. For such a big appointment you would think there would be great fanfare and excitement - but alas - it was just Paige and myself. Eric felt that he needed to get some work done - the nerve, and Emily was so put off by the amount of waiting she had to do the last time we went, she declined to go as well.

Well, my darling youngest daughter is doing just fine. She is 31 inches tall, and 21.6 pounds. A little ahead of the curve height wise, and right on in terms of weight. She got two shots, and cried for about three seconds, and then got VERY excited because I put her shoes on her, and put her DOWN. I had been holding her in my lap for over an hour, and she was clearly over that.

We have been playing a lot up in Paige's room, mostly because there's a lot less trouble for her up there. Since we got the gate, she is confined to only the three bedrooms and the hallway, which is good. Did I mention that I LOVE the gate??? Her favorite thing by far is reading books. She really loves to pull them all off the shelf. And, oh, I love that as well......guess who puts them all back? At least three times a day.




Notice the baby on the floor behind Paige? She's resting from her exhausting day on the obstacle course. :) Oh, and Emily took the picture of Paige and I. Forgot to tell you guys that I had all my hair cut off....and I don't like it too much.

Emily still has her loose tooth. She is anxiously awaiting it's departure from her mouth. She asks me everyday if I think it's going to fall out. Eric has offered to pull it out for her, but she's not taking him up on that. We'll keep you posted.






That's pretty much it from excitement central. Have a great weekend.

Babies in the cart

So, it's summer. I look outside, see the beautiful weather, and try to think of ways to enjoy it. We like to go on walks, bike rides, go swimming when the opportunity presents itself, play on the playset, play with friends, etc.....

Since we have done all those things, what else is there? How about an obstacle course in the backyard? Good idea. I told Eric this morning about my idea, and he got all excited and started planning.....big surprise to those of you who know my husband, right?

Well, as soon as all of our packages were picked up this afternoon, Eric was off to design and set up the course. It took him about 90 minutes to get the job done. He used all the plastic chairs we had, Emily's bike, car, Little Tikes car, the lawnmower, snow thrower, saw horses, a picnic table, pop-up tent, boxes and patio furniture. I am sure that I am forgetting something else, but you get the idea. It was a serious course.

Our good friends from across the street came to test it out - and after a few test runs, we were in business. Kids from all over the neighborhood came by to give it a try. Some were very serious competitors. Eric was out there until I called him in for dinner. Oh, and even the adults gave it a try. Eric had the best time, 36 seconds.

Just so you know, the object of the course was this: At the start/finish line there was a stroller that contained twin dolls, a bin with a bunch of "groceries", a Little Tikes grocery cart and a Nino's grocery bag. You had to fill your shopping cart with all the groceries from the bin, put the babies in the cart, run the course, empty your cart contents into the grocery bag, and secure the babies in the stroller. Not too complicated - and hilarious to watch.

It was so fun to watch and root for everyone. The kids had such a great time - despite the majorly muggy weather. Eric took it apart after dinner. It was kind of sad, but we had to water the lawn.

Till we obstacle again............

(click on picture to enlarge)

In case you are wondering what "Babies in the cart" means - it was what Eric said to EVERYONE as they were filling up their cart. I guess he thought they would forget to put the dolls in the cart as they took off for the course. I must have heard it about 1,000 times as the afternoon went on. That and some other pretty serious play-by-play commentary.....I think he may have missed his calling. :) Love you hunny!!

Random Stuff

I would have posted this last night, except my ridiculously SLOW computer decided that it just wasn't up to the task of opening Photoshop. This means that I cannot edit and resize photos - and thus, no blog entry. As it stands, I was able to open Photoshop today, but that was over 40 minutes ago, and it has taken me forever to resize and edit the couple of photos I have for today. You could say I am a LITTLE frustrated.

We are finally over the excitement of Paige's birthday. Because I had her party a few days before her actual birthday, I feel like the celebration went on forever. It was fun, but time to move on to bigger and more troublesome things.

Emily went to a friend's birthday party this Saturday at Pump it Up. She had a blast. Her friend that she saw is the daughter of one of my childhood friends. There were a bunch of us there - a reunion of sorts. We all collectively thought how interesting it was that we were all grown up, and now OUR kids are playing together. I even got to see Erica's sister who I have not seen since I was probably ten. That was pretty cool.

On Sunday, we went rocket launching again. This time we went with our next door neighbors. They have a son, Salvatore, who is ten and had a couple of smaller rockets to launch. They also brought their other son, Dominic (7), and daughter, Olivia (2) - who loves to play with Emily. It was a little windy out - but no more windy than it was last time we launched. Unfortunately, Salvatore lost one rocket, and one parachute landed in a tree. Eric's rocket pop rocket also got caught in the high branches of a tree. Dominic tried to climb and get it, but it was way to high (see circled object in photo below left...and Dominic below climbing up).

above: Emily and Olivia

above: Eric, Sal and the boys getting ready to launch

Eric and Sal (the Dad) did end up going back after dinner to try and retrieve Eric's stranded rocket - they were successful due to Eric climbing up the tree and using a long tree trimmer to knock it down. Salvatore is looking forward to a trip to the hobby shop today with his Dad so that he can get a big rocket like Mr. Eric.

We rotated Paige's car seat to the forward facing position. She kept giving Eric these looks as if to say, "Daddy, this isn't right." But, in spite of her initial trepidation, her first ride facing forward was filled with many screams of excitement and much hand clapping.

And then there's this....she did it herself people. Both stethoscopes, because, apparently, you have to have backup. Paging Dr. Paige.........

Have a great Monday!

One more thing....

Twelve Months of Paige and her puppy. You can click on it and make it bigger if you like. I am not sure why she looks so much younger in that nine months picture...I remember I had the same thing when I did Emily's first twelve months.

Paige's First Birthday

So it is finally here. I cannot believe it. I was doing some reminiscing about last year, the day Paige was born, and it feels like it was yesterday. It was a rainy morning, but it turned out to be just like today - blue skies and sunny. Beautiful. Just like my girl.




At one year old, Paige is a very busy little girl. At the moment her favorite thing to do is run towards any stairs, and climb up them before you even realize that she is gone. She loves books - to look at, and have you read to her. Her favorite books are little ones that have little or no words at all. She doesn't have time for a whole story. She loves to play ball, and with any of her shape sorters. She is just getting the idea that each shape goes through a specific hole, and I suspect that she will soon have that all figured out.

She likes to go for walks, but does not like to stop. She likes the bike trailer, but she prefers to go in it all by her self - not crammed in with her BIG sister.






She is a BIG time Mommy's girl. She loves to be held when she is cranky. Lord help you if you try and put her down. She follows me everywhere - sometimes crying and running after me at the same time.






She still loves sweets. You can't eat them in front of her - or else you will have a whining baby at your side, begging for a taste. Actually, that pretty much goes with anything you are eating in front of her. She loves turkey, chicken, steak, pork, carrots, watermelon, strawberries, macaroni and cheese...actually, I will just list the things she is not into at the moment - peas, broccoli, green beans, blueberries, plain pasta and lettuce. These are the cake pictures from today. My Mom was HORRIFIED the whole time that we let her make such a mess. I loved it. So did Paige, do you think?




I spent the better part of the day at a car dealership with my Mom getting her new - well used, but new to her - car. Since it was a used car, we had to get it today, or it would be gone. Not the way I would have liked to spend my daughter's first birthday, but what can you do??




And this child - she was perfectly willing to give me at least one good picture today - unlike her little sister, who would not sit still for ANYTHING. See picture below. I think she was over it.


Happy first Birthday Paige. We love you so much.

Last time

Only a few hours left on this twenty-third of July. One year ago tonight I was so excited and nervous to meet our new baby girl. It feels like yesterday, and it also it feels like so long ago.

Nothing huge planned for tomorrow - we already had her "big" party last Saturday. But I am thinking that there will definitely be some more cake, a few presents and another round of "Happy Birthday". There will also be the final monthly photo shoot with Porter the Puppy. Check back later tomorrow for pictures.

Nothing new

Just another hot and humid summer day - not that I am complaining. Paige's birthday is in two days. Hard to believe that my little firecracker is just about one year old. It's all downhill from here right?

Emily's last swim lesson is today, so tomorrow we are officially free from any weekday "must-do" plans for the rest of the summer. What do you do so that your one year old, and your five year old are entertained at the same time........such problems I have, right?

Have a great Tuesday!