Let's Go Blue!!

Yay for football season! We hope our team impresses us today!
We've got our gear all ready - including the Michigan wind suit. Now... we must clean. Grandma Lorraine will be here this afternoon (and we just found out this morning). Lots of work to do today!

Baby Sweater

We need to get out our warm clothes, and fast! It is a whopping 63 degrees here today and not getting any warmer. Abby and I both got our warm clothes out. We much prefer t-shirts to sweaters, but if we are going to stay warm this winter we won't get a choice.

I tried to make Abby a baby sweater yesterday. I found a pattern that said 6 to 9 months, but it must be a very different 6 to 9 months than I'm used to because it would not fit. But it's cute, so it may be finding a sweet baby girl to be gifted to soon. Now we just need to go to JoAnn Fabrics to find some pretty buttons for this little sweater. We'll have to find a new pattern to make Abigail her own sweater. Maybe we'll try another variation of this pattern again too for a smaller baby. Who knows... now that I've done one I know I can do another!

Just Another Good Day

Abby and I have been having a very normal, very good day. She is getting to be quite a clown and we have a great time. She just cracks us up and cracks herself up in the process. Today she really had a great time playing with her duck rattle. She chewed it, shook it, and chewed it some more. And the whole time I was making up rhymes for her or making silly noises, which only intensified the laughter. It is so nice to have a happy baby!

Other than that there is not much to report. We are waiting for the big rain from the hurricane to get here - it is supposed to start raining this afternoon and rain until tomorrow afternoon. Blah. Steve and I are on our post-Labor Day diet and workout plan. I am not sure how many more salad lunches I will be able to handle, but so far so good. I just want to get my waistline back into its pre-pregnancy shape so I can pull out all my old suits and fit back into them since I've lost almost all of the baby weight. We shall see if this works.
Here's another photo from camping for Grandma Jennie - it isn't exactly the camping tree, but it was pretty close. And, this girl just would not smile for us. Either she's hamming it up or she's ultra serious, there is no in between for us. Have a wonderful day - we are going to snuggle, read the Lord of the Rings, and stay dry!

Back to Normal

After a lot of craziness I think we are finally back to normal. Abby slept until 7 am this morning had her bottle and was back to sleep by 7:40 am. And... it is 10 am and she is still asleep. I love normal ~ especially the part of it that allows me to sleep in a little and get a shower before I have a baby to start playing with, feeding, and changing. It's my own little luxury.

After all this terrible hot weather we are finally back into more reasonable temperatures today. I am so glad it is going to be cool ~ Abby behaves much better when it is cool and so does her best friend Maize.

We are going to start a new food this afternoon. I am still debating - it is either going to be banana baby food or white grape juice. Hmm... too bad Abby can't just tell me which she'd rather try. Either way she is going to be getting a new fruit for 3 days then a new veggie for the next three, with her old favorites mixed into the feeding schedule of course. We've given up on peaches - she won't even do two bites. I tried to explain to her that they are practically the favorite fruit of many of her relatives on my side of the family, but she will not eat them. I can already tell she is going to be a very strong willed child... and I probably deserve it.

Let's Eat Squash

Abby loves to eat squash! It was an instant hit. And she made a huge mess eating it - but since bath time was on the agenda for the evening, we figured a little shirtless squash eating would be okay.



We are going to have to go to the beach today if the weather man is right and it is going to be 86 degrees. That is too hot for us Yuppers. And I need the exercise anyway - after a weekend long sugar binge Steve and I are both going back on the eating healthy bandwagon. Maybe I can even get Steve to try some squash - the big people kind, not the Gerber variety.



And so it is before 9 a.m. and I was planning to sleep in while she took her usual nap right after eating, but Abigail decided to wake up and stay up this morning. She is getting sneaky and is now back to sleep, but it is too late for me. Oh well...

Our Beach Adventure

Campsite Report Card:

1. View From Campsite (see photo above)..........A+

There was a totally unobstructed view of Lake Michigan from our campsite. There was about 75 yards of stony field full of wildflowers and lots of monarch butterflies between us and the water. It was beautiful! If you click on the photo to get the original sized version you can really appreciate the great view we enjoyed.

2. Camping Facilities..........................................................B-

The outhouses were clean and well stocked and for an outhouse not totally unbearable. The sites were well spaced and probably half had a spectacular lake view. Our site (Number 8) was a little small and we had to put our big tent partly on the drive, so it was a little stony underfoot.

3. The Beach........................................................................D+

We picked this location because it was on the beach, but the shore behind our site was rocky (large boulders, not Lake Superior stones). There was a small amount of sandy beach both to the east and west of the campground, but it was narrow and the water was no more than knee deep for at least 100 yards out. Abby appreciated the super warm waves, but Steve and I were disappointed.

4. Our Fellow Campers..................................................................F

We came home a day early because we were tired of listening to a bunch of out of control teenage girls and another family with at least 4 kids who were up and screaming in the middle of the night. There was also an inordinately large number of dogs running loose and trying to dog fight with Maize, who was restrained at all times as per campground rules.

So.... we had a good time camping. We forgot a few key items, but otherwise Abby thoroughly enjoyed her first camping experience and her first lick of Pop Tart, which happened to be a Michigan Wolverine Pop Tart. But... eating soup without spoons and sleeping without pillows was not the most fun.

We all enjoyed the hammock - it's a good thing I insisted Steve get me one when he was in Guyana a few years ago. Abby had a great time swinging and even Maize enjoys an occasional snuggle in the hammock. And it's a great place to read a book or two.

And Abby in the last two weeks has decided that she loves the water. She didn't like Grandma Mary's pool, but she was instantly a fan of waves washing on her legs. We got lots of smiles and giggles, even when we sat her down in the water. We even put an umbrella up right in the surf to keep her from burning so she could play longer.

Unfortunately our football team lost, but Abby still loves them. And she was mighty glad for the camping sweat suit that Great Grandma Jennie got her. She wore it during the day and over her pajamas at night too!

Lake Michigan Here We Come

Picture from the internet of Little Hog IslandWe are headed to the beach near Little Hog Island this evening. We can't wait. Last night Steve loaded up our car, so all we have left to do is wait for him to get done with work.

Abby did great with her second set of shots. She didn't get any fever and wasn't grouchy at all. The only sign that she had any shots is the red marks where they gave the injections. She is a real trooper.

And... tomorrow is the start of a very special season in this household - Michigan football season! Since we are going to be camping we have already set up the tivo to record the football game. We LOVE our tivo - it is probably the best piece of electronic equipment we have ever purchased. It is WAY better than the average dvr's that the satellite dish companies provide since I can access it from anywhere in the world as long as I have internet and tell my machine what it needs to record. And it searches listings for me based on keywords - which we are currently using to increase Abigail's collection of Disney movies. Yesterday we taped 101 Dalmatians from tv onto the tivo and then from tivo onto dvd with that dvd recorder Steve got us. We are having lots of fun with technology!

Abby and I are going to play and play today so she is ready to take a ride tonight. We'll update you again on Monday evening or Tuesday :-)

Still Getting Bigger

Well, it is official. Abby is still getting bigger and at a good clip. She was in the 90th percentile for weight and the 75th for height. She's growing like a little weed! She had no fun getting the shots today, but a little pain now is a lot better than a lot of pain or illness later. She really did not like the shots or the poor nurses who had to deliver them, but she liked Dr. Mackie just fine. Unlike the last time she got shots, this time Abby's been pretty happy and playing afterwards. I was really worried we were going to have a whiny afternoon, but we are having fun instead and watching 101 Dalmatians together.

Abby is getting ready for camping. She is getting her bags packed up and ready to go and we got the tent and sleeping bags around yesterday. We are also reading our new library book - The Lord of the Rings Fellowship of the Ring. Abby has learned lots of information about Hobbits and Wizards so far. She is going to be very smart someday and very well rounded (we hope).

Here are some Abby and Jack photos from yesterday morning. We did some rough measuring and weighing of Jack when he was here. Based on our very unscientific measurements Jack was about 22 inches - otherwise known as the same length as Abby was at birth. But he has grown 3 inches since he was born, so that's quite a bit of growing that he has done. Abby still dwarfs him for now, but by next summer he'll probably be able to wrestle with her pretty well.

And now... back to packing :)

Bye Bye Bamboo

We had a surprise visit from Grandma Mary, Aunt Hannah, Aunt Melissa and cousin Jack last night on their big drive from Hastings to Minnesota. We had a fun time visiting. Abby and Jack had a good time playing in Hastings last weekend (see photos below). They only had one "fight" - Abby hit Jack and he pulled her hair. Hopefully there won't be many more fights as they get bigger.

The wild and out of control bamboo is being removed from the yard this afternoon. It is a bittersweet removal. I really enjoyed having the bamboo for privacy purposes since it grew so tall that it blocked the view into our kitchen window and also made a great hedge around the backyard and hid the unsightly shed. But... it is invasive and out of control and was starting to block the back door. I'm sure it will be back, but for now Maize has gained an extra area of the yard to explore.

Tonight is the camping gear round up. We need to make sure we have it all in one spot so we don't run off into the woods and forget something important. We are really excited for a little rest and relaxation away from the busyness of home and work. I checked out some library books for the whole family today so we should have something to keep us busy when we are not sleeping or beaching.

Tomorrow is another check-up for Abby and her boosters for her shots. No fun. I'm sure lots of cuddling and a warm bath will be on the agenda for tomorrow.

Being Sleepy, Silly, and Sassy

Abby's new favorite hobby is being silly. She is a real ham sometimes. We haven't really figured out what is so funny, but obviously this house is hilarious because our little squirt is cracking herself up on a regular basis. When she's not busy being a nut she can be quite the sassy little thing too. She has this habit of never looking at the person who is holding her and smiling away at the other person across the room. This is especially annoying for Steve, who likes to hold her when she gets home. She spends all her "daddy time" smiling at me and making funny faces. I just remind him it's better than having her cry the whole time.

We have the food boxed up for camping. Now we have to get the gear around to make sure we have everything we will need for a weekend of fun somewhere in the woods. I got a twin sized foam mattress pad and cut it down to fit into the pack and play since it had a very hard mattress. Now we just need to figure out what the weather will be so Abby has enough blankets to keep her little fingers and toes warm :-)