walk this way

I love how babies walk!

This is another old one, from about a month ago.

moving and shaking

What a dancing machine!

This is a little old, sorry! I think this is from early August.

a year ago

One year ago today, I was anxiously waiting for the arrival of my daughter. She was due on the 10th of September, but once that day had passed and no arrival, I started hoping that she wouldn't be born on September 11th. My wish was granted, and at 2 am on the 12th my water broke. 11 hours later my beautiful daughter was born and life as I knew it changed. No one could have prepared my husband and I for the trials that awaited us. Surgery at 3 days, diagnosed with Cystic Fibrosis at 12 days... It was horrible! But here we are almost a year later, and all I can think about is what a tremendous blessing Baby R is. Everything we went through made me appreciate life even more and appreciate these wonderful bodies we are blessed with even more. As I look at my wonderful, healthy, happy daughter, I can't help but smile. Her smiles are contagious, her laughs are contagious, her happiness is contagious. She loves life and wants to be a part of everything. I learn so much from her - she stops to smell the flowers, she says "Hi" to strangers, she loves the outdoors, she laughs at cats and dogs, she talks to inanimate objects, she loves food... The list goes on and on. Children are wonderful. I love being a mom. Happy Birthday tomorrow Baby R!

waiting

We officially made an offer on a house in Howell yesterday. I really love the house, but it was extremely over-priced. Especially in today's market and comparing it to the other houses in the neighborhood which have sold recently. We are really hoping they will come down, way down.

catch up

Next week marks a big event in our lives, Baby R turns one! I figured it had been a little too long since my last post, so here is a little recap of the past almost two months.

Baby R can walk on her own, but won't do it by herself. Meaning, if I let go of her she will walk - but she won't just let go and take off. She easily walks 20 steps or more, and is very stable. I am not too eager for her to let go though, because she is quite the little mischief maker. At least for now I can steer her away from potential disasters.

Can you say "rectangle" or "octagon"? Baby R can. I don't know where she got this little genius streak, but she easily adds one new word a day to her vocabulary! And the strange part is that she prefers two or three syllable words. The only one syllable words she says are: hi, bye, keys, tree, book, jack, cheese and up. The longer words include: kitty, doggy, ducky, turtle, daddy, mama, becky, austin, susie, little, delicious, fishy, bu-bye, whoopsie, grandpa, tractor, pasta, rectangle, octagon and triangle. She also recognizes the Old McDonald song and sings "ee-i-ee-i." I know, she amazes me!

Rick started his new job with the IRS, and is enjoying it. He will be going to DC in a little over a week for some more training.

The house hunt is getting better, we have found two we really like. We will be making an offer on one of them next week.

Other than that, here are a few pictures from when we took Baby R to the zoo last week (courtesy of Grandma).

temporary abode

Well we officially moved out of Nemoke Trails into Rick's parents' house last weekend. Our apartment complex would no longer let us rent month to month, thus pushing us out on the streets. Luckily, Rick's parents took us in until we can find a house of our own. Since my computer is packed up somewhere, our blog will have to take the backseat for a while. And all of you loyal Baby R fans will have to wait a little while until I can hook up my computer to send out her 10 month pictures. In the mean time, here are a few pictures from our move...

My little packing buddy...

The gang after emptying the apartment (which included moving our piano down the stairs - did I say thanks?!) Baby R tried to hide her spoon from her Cousin Steve... After the move was over, we decided we needed another relaxing day at Uncle Jack and Aunt Susie's pool...

harry potter and the order of the phoenix

Although I did enjoy the 5th Harry Potter movie, it was nothing in comparison to the book. The top ten things missing from the movie (in no particular order):

1. Harry's interview with the Quibbler
2. The Weasley Twins' dramatic exit from Hogwarts with the Swamp and great dialogue with Umbridge
3. Hermione's charm on the DA sign-up that resulted in Marietta having purple pustules and the word "SNEAK" on her face
4. Kreacher's role in the whole story, especially regarding Harry going after Sirius in the Dept. of Mysteries
5. The Golden Statues fighting for Dumbledore in the Ministry of Magic
6. Hagrid's experience when visiting the giants
7. Luna, Ginny, Ron, and Neville's great escape from the Inquisitorial Squad
8. Cleaning Number 12 Grimmauld Place
9. The rooms in the Dept. of Mysteries, and the real battle that takes place there (where the students use the skills they learned from the DA)
10. Harry never really gave Lucius Malfoy the Prophecy

Are there any other events that you really loved in the book, that weren't in the movie?

Oh, and I missed Dobby and Firenze...