Where our milk comes from

There is something fun and unique about getting to hang with the cows that provide our milk. :)

The Sweetest Girl!

This is a blog to brag on my daughter. I have discovered THIS, 12.5 months is my favorite age! She has become so adorably charming over the last week!
Here are a few reasons why:
1. She gives kisses. Now, in addition to the snuggles, she will give me kisses. Earlier tonight I was laying on the couch exhausted. Multiple times she stopped from her activities to walk over and give me an (un-prompted) kiss or two. It was utterly adorable, and some were a little slobbery. She also loves to kiss pictures of babies (ie herself), the dog, baby dolls, little kids, and on occasion, another relative. :)
2. She lights up a room. Seriously! We were at a wedding this weekend. If she is in the middle of a group of people, she strives to win their attention and keep it. She succeeds.
3. She smiles at strangers. She will even push me out of the way if I am in the way of her giving a big cheesy grin at the person behind me.
4. She is honing her dance moves. Boy, did she get her grove on this weekend! I only wish I had video of this. The best we have is this picture (below). Once she heard the beat, she was out of her seat, clapping, dancing, doing this adorable 5 point spin - pivoting on one foot. She has repeated that, and other adorable new moves, several times since being home.
5. She is imitating us; she walks around the house clicking her tongue (what I do to get her attention), she tries to put shoes on her father, she clasps her hands to pray, she swats bugs from her face, etc.

She is her own, most unique, adorable self....growing into an adorable, beautiful little toddler.

From Then...to Now...

Miracle Baby...meet Miracle Worker!

We had the chance to see Dr. Hilgers last weekend and snap these priceless pictures. For those of you who don't remember, Dr. Hilgers is the founder of Creighton Model Fertility Care and NaPro (Natural Procreative) technology. He also preformed two of my surgeries, which led to the conception of our miracle babe. Thank you Dr. Hilgers (sniff sniff) - you are truly doing God's work!!

Birthday Party

Here are a couple of pictures from H's party. Sorry for the delay, we have been having some computer problems of late!






Note to parents...red and black icing do NOT make for easy clean up! Lesson learned. :)

One Year Old!!!

We have spent the last couple days reflecting, tearing up and now...it's official. We have a one year old!! A gloriously wonderful, toddling, lovable, giggling, adorable (did I mention, wonderful) one year old baby girl. We had party, part 1, tonight with family. It began with Mass, and concluding with angel food cupcakes and a gifts. Saturday we will have party, part 2, and we are expecting Hurricane Hanna to rain us in. Ironic. :) I had hoped to update sooner...but obviously, our life has been chaotic. Chaotic, but wonderful. We moved, successfully on August 17th & 18th. We got busy immediately. My parents arrived later as reinforcements. I will try to update with pictures as more gets finished. For now, enjoy pictures from tonight and the last two weeks, don't miss the two video clips at the bottom!

Latest Happenings

A new highlight in our "organic" lifestyle! I decided to let H "air out" the other night. Not only did we have this mess...we also had a puddle on the floor following dinner. :) Note to Self: Naked babies and rice make for fun pictures with big clean up!







And, today we finally pulled out our bikes and explored a new trail. H didn't have the best view (or enjoy the fresh air as much as we did, lol) - but we all had fun.



And....2 weeks to Settlement!!

To Florida and Back

We went to Florida last week while Papa was at Steubenville. Here are a few pictures from H's first trip to the Ocean - and visiting with family (and a trip to Ikea with my friend Jennifer).

Homeowners...once again!

Well...I guess the first update is that we sold our house, in less than 1 week!! We had a total of 5 (exhausting) showings. From that we got 3 (exciting) offers! We accepted one and sold our home for our asking price. In this market, we were thrilled and elated, and never expected it to go so quick.

And, so the next update is we bought a new home! Our bid was accepted this morning!

Here are some pictures of the new house!

a non-blogging month update

:) Sorry it's been so long! I have probably lost half my readers...but we are still here! H is growing faster every passing minute. I will get to her updates in a minute, but the reason we have been neglectful bloggers: we decided to sell our house. Due to a course of events that brought this to the forefront of our minds, I got moving and have been busy analyzing finances, interviewing agents, cleaning out our house...and finally, as of today, it is on the market! Pray for a quick sale and that there is something wonderful waiting for us on the other side of this deal.

Also, today, right before our agent came over - the door bell rang. And my birthday gift arrived in a big truck with the writing "P O T T E R Y B A R N" on the side! ACK!!

THIS is the wonderfully gorgeous, magnificent bed we now own! (thanks baby, i love it!!) :)

Speaking of birthdays...it is 3 days until my 3-0. The end of my youth! :-P But the beginning of so many wonderful, fabulous things ahead. Having H in my arms to celebrate turning 30 makes all the difference in the world. I am so blessed!

AND, Happy Birthday to Paul's Busia who just turned 90. We are so sorry we couldn't be there to celebrate - HUGS AND KISSES (and H screams) from PA.










AND - now, our H update. Mobility is exhausting! For us...not for H! She is getting into EVERYthing (exhibit A)













She is crawling, now climbing steps - EEK, standing up (almost on her own). Every day it is something new and exciting. There are 4 more teeth that just arrived; but apart from the extra pain - she is her usual uberly joyful self.

I will try to be better in the month of July, but don't hold me to it! If all goes well, we may be offline for a little while....but we will keep you updated.

Lessons learned from my 9 month old

Here are a few lessons I am learning from my 9 month old:
1. Quiet does not mean sleeping
2. Babies can still make a mess while being quiet
3. When you start to figure out a pattern, it changes
4. You can never really baby proof
5. Crib = prison
6. Pathetic looks work
7. So do drama cries
8. Newspaper is best when eaten
9. Ears are made to be screamed into
10. There is NOTHING like the joy a child brings into your life!