Day 1

Monday was the first day of my summer break. The first full day I had with Ingrid to start the summer. And we wanted to kick it off right. Normally we would call up mom and galavant around with her. But she was down in LR staying helping out a friend, so she missed out this time. We did, however, call up Heather and Amelia and Elise. And those three were ready to meet us at Target. We both needed new beach bags desperately. Somehow I ended up with five sacks full though...All the girls were great shopping around in Target so we stayed and ate at the food bar and Amelia was in heaven. She loves that place. Turns out, Ingrid loves it too! I didn't even think to snap a pic. Drat. I did catch couple at our next stop, T.J. Maxx. Elise was asleep in her stroller, so we let Ing and Amelia share a cart. It started off great--Ing was playing with her toy in the front, Buzz was slurping her ring pop in the back.

Until Ingrid noticed that ring pop. And she wanted that sucker so bad! Amelia kindly told her "NO Ma'am!" 1,000 times but it didn't help. She still wanted that sucker. And if she couldn't have the sucker, she was determined to get Amelia's bow!

But Amelia was able to walk around the rest of time like a big girl. We had to head out after the Maxx because the girls were maxed out and ready for naps. Ing took a thirty minute nap on the ride home and then she was ready for more fun!
Fun=Puzzles, didn't you know?


And pulling all your toys out of the toy box.

And showing off your new top tooth.

And standing all by yourself working hard to get that other tooth in.

And the fun can't stop when dad gets home! So Ing slipped on her suit and hat and hit the pool. With her new water toys we just had to get at Target.



Day 1 of summer break was a definite winner!

Eleven Month Birthday

Dear Ingrid,

The countdown is on for your big birthday bash! I can't wait to celebrate this past year with you. You have brought so much joy into my life. You are such a loving baby. You give me kisses all day long. Sometimes you will stop right in the middle of playing and crawl over to give me a kiss. You love to kiss your babies and stuffed animals. You even kiss the animals in your books. Books are so dear to you. You love books about animals best. At home, In My Tree, Owl Babies, and My First 100 Animals are you favorite titles. Another favorite activity of yours is puzzles! Oh, Ingrid, you don't even know how happy this makes me! I hope you keep a love for puzzles your whole life because Mama LOVES to work puzzles too. You have one Melissa & Doug puzzle with handles and two vintage Playskool puzzles. You love them all. This past week you worked your Playskool bathtime puzzle 23 times in a row! I couldn't believe it. You can put all the pieces in by yourself except for the soap with bubbles. It's a tricky one. If I turn it the right way for you, you can push it into place. You are so proud of yourself each time you get a piece. When you aren't reading or working puzzles, you really want to be outside. You absolutely love outside and get so excited when you hear the word. Swinging is your favorite thing to do. I think you would swing all day long if I let you. You also love to go on stroller rides, and most recently swim in your little whale pool. We are going to have such a fun summer! You are still talking up a storm. You start babbling away as soon as you wake up. You ask for a baba first, then meow-meow second. You want to see the animals and hear their sounds on KidsZoo on my phone! You have added a lot of words since last month. I've tried to remember them all, but it's so hard! You can say: more, thank you, puff puff, night-night, Amelia, Gammy, Gampy, ball, wheeee, what's that (real fast in a whisper voice), and papi (for paci). You've started taking a lot more steps and you can stand on your own without hanging on for a long period of time. I know it won't be long and you'll be taking off all over the place! You now have three teeth--two on bottom, one on top--and your other top tooth is almost through. You have been working so so hard to get those teeth in. You are still in a good mood and play like there's no tomorrow! But there is tomorrow. And mommy is so happy to spend it with you. You are the light of my life. Summers are more special than ever now, because I get to spend every single day with you. I love you so much Ingrid Cate.

Love,
Mommy

blue-eyed beauty

kisses for dada

book time and more kisses

puzzles

Memorial Day

We got back from the reunion on Memorial Day. And we did not want the fun to end. Since it was super hot out, we (Derek) blew up Ingrid's little whale pool, filled it up, and sat it in the sun to warm up. We (me) unpacked all Ingrid's stuff and settled in for a much-needed nap. When we awoke we found that the pool was very warm indeed. I put on Ingrid's most patriotic swimsuit (thanks Amelia!) and we headed to the backyard. I just new she would love it since the water was much warmer than the reunion and she had so much fun there. I was a little surprised when Derek sat her in the water and she quickly hopped up and held on to Derek for dear life.

That only lasted for a brief second and then she was back to her water-loving self.


Ingrid splashed and splashed and splashed. She started getting pretty wild and water was all in her eyes and nose and mouth. She didn't care one bit! She just wiped her eyes and kept on splashing.



Ingy didn't really want to get out of the water, but it was time for supper and Derek and Darren needed to work on a surprise project.

While we were inside drying off and eating dinner, they were busy hanging her new swing from our best shade tree in the backyard! I knew she would love it, because she swings at her Gammy and Gampy's all the time.

First Swim

I've already mentioned that the water in the pool at the reunion was ice cold. Icy water + me=Not Happening. So Derek got to swim with Ingrid on her first go in the pool. I could tell she thought it was cold when they first got in, but very soon after, she loved it! I think she's going to be a little water baby. And I'm glad since I can't stop buying her swimsuits!

Family Reunion

Before I begin to rant on about how awesome my family is, I have a small side note: I am two days away from 15 weeks and my appetite is BACK! Proof: Breakfast=two bowls of frosted flakes, Lunch=cup of tomato basil soup, cranberry turkey sandwich, bag of chips, Supper=chicken strip sandwich, cheddar peppers with ranch, large vanilla coke, double stuff oreo blast. I'm officially back on the eating bandwagon and it feels oh-so-good. A special thanks to Ingrid for reversing my lactose intolerance. And for all those that say this new bambino is going to reverse it back, I have one thing to say...HISS!

Okay, okay, back to the reunion. I have the best family of all time. Immediate and extended. We have had family reunions every single year for as long as I can remember. They've slowly progressed from one-day, sun-filled picnics at Tucker Hollow, to three-day, air-conditioned feasts at Indian Hills Resort. We had a wonderful Memorial weekend and I have way too many pictures to show for it. Although almost every picture is just of our immediate family, no extended family. Mostly due to Ingrid's shy nature. She wasn't so sure of all the people. She wouldn't go to anyone except the fam she was familiar with. But she didn't cry or crawl up me like I thought she would. So overall, I was very happy. Our cabins were right by the lake, and we took advantage of walks by the water and trips down to the boat dock.


This was Ingrid's first time to ever stay away from a family member's house. She slept in her pack-n-play like a champ for naps and nights. She loved our cabin!

Mom and Dad bought the girls a new water table to play with while we were there and it was a big hit. Amelia and Ingrid wanted to play in the water 24/7. They had a ball. Elise watched from her exersaucer a lot of the time and she was an angel. She's seriously the best baby. She just goes with the flow and has such a laid-back attitude. (Unless you try to make her go to sleep. heehe.) This picture also shows off Amelia's french braids. I've been trying to get Buzz to let me braid her hair for months upon months and she won't ever let me. But, she was so distracted with the water table, she didn't even realize I was braiding until I got one done! Then we convinced her to let me do the other braid by telling her she would look just like Jessie from Toy Story 2!

Ing was so busy all weekend that she didn't have much time for the bottle. She preferred her sippy cups most of the time. She seems like such a big girl! At least this made me realize the transition away from the bottle in a couple weeks won't bother her too much!

Mom got a new little doll house for the girls too and they played together with it really well.

Mom got all three girls matching dresses for the first dinner and they looked soooo adorable. I got ZERO pictures. I have no idea how this happened. Heather got some cute ones, so hopefully she'll let me steal a couple. The only picture I got of each girl in their dress was while they were eating.

After dinner the first night Amelia wanted to swim "very, very bad." So Derek and Ross told her they would brave the frigid water to get in with her. It was the coldest water of all time. I told Ingrid she would have to wait until the next day since it was so close to bed time. She wasn't too thrilled. Amelia, however, was very thrilled with her dad and Uncle DD. She didn't act like it was cold in the least.


Ingrid Cate did get to swim the next day, but I'll have to save those photos for another post because I took wayyyy too many! I had so much fun with my two best friends.

Back-Tracking (Part 3: First Trimester=Over)

I've said a thousand times how much I loved being pregnant the first time. And I truly meant it. And I'm so thrilled to be pregnant again. But I am not one bit sad that my first trimester is over. This one was a little more difficult than the last. I was much sicker. With rounds and rounds of dry heaves in the mornings and dare I say I even threw up once. (GASP-My first time since 1996 mind you) I never ate another thing before 8:00 after that morning at school. My appetite in the mornings and evenings has been pretty much non-existant. I've tried to eat very well at lunch since that's the time of day food doesn't sound repulsive. And I've forced down dinner every single night. Forced being the operative word. With many gags throughout the meal. I do think I'm on my way to hungerville. I was very hungry all day today and ate well at lunch and supper. I'm now 14 weeks pregnant, so I think I have surpassed the hard part. I'm slowly gaining my energy back. I have been so extremely tired. At the beginning of the school year when Ingrid was still getting up in the night, I was pumping during the day, working 10 hours a day at school, and still trying to live in a house that wouldn't be condemned by the city, I thought I couldn't be more exhausted. I was wrong. These last few weeks have been the most tiring of my life. When I was pregnant with Ing, I could come home and take a little nap or even pass out on the couch for a couple hours. That is no longer the case! You just forge on and tell your brain you are NOT tired and you just keep going. I am happy to say that it made me feel very accomplished to keep going. Kind of like I won a major award each day I would make it to 10:30pm. I don't feel quite as tired now and I'm so happy I only have 3 days of school left so I can catch up on a little rest. I've been documenting my belly growth just like I did with Ingrid. I'd like to say I'm showing sooner with this baby, but I think it's just those 9 pounds I never lost after I had Ing. HA!





I am so thankful for the invention of "jeggings." After I had the baby I stocked up on these stretchy-banded wonder pants. They made me feel like I could still look decent without fat spilling over a waste-band. And they're perfect now that my belling is growing again. Let's face it--they are basically like maternity pants. My doctor visits have gone well. I got to hear the heartbeat at my 12 week appointment and I was so excited to hear that wonderful sound that I didn't even ask what the rate was. I'll find out next time for sure. We get to have an ultrasound at the next appointment too. June 20 is the big day. I can't wait to see every healthy little body part and organ staring back at me from the screen. I'll be 17 weeks, so there's a chance we can find out gender also! Of course I'm super anxious to begin planning the nursery. SO FUN. My stats have been good. Blood pressure normal. Weight okay--same trend as last time. Still losing weight--I'm sure I'll get my big gain all at once and slowly get bigger and bigger with each appointment. I had lost 4 pounds before I went in and I lost another pound at the last appointment. So we'll see how I am next time now that my appetite is returning!

Is it just me, or do I look much bigger in the 11 week photo than any of the others? Must be the tight green pants. EEK.

Back-Tracking (Part 2: Shopping/Shindig/Shine after the Storm)

I mentioned that I have now added Mother's Day to my long list of much-loved holidays. Here's another reason why. An extension to my already-wonderful Mother's Day gifts was a shopping day with my mom and sister. Kid-free! We haven't had a day for just the three of us in a long, long time. We had the best time. We got to the mall at 10:45 and left at 8:00. We ate lunch and supper in the food court so we wouldn't waste any time driving around. It was my dream day. I bought and bought and bought. Tons of good deals. Tons of clothes suitable for a growing belly. Tons of memories with mom and Heather. Meme and Jen even met us for lunch.

And since Derek did such a great job with Mother's Day, the pressure was on for Ing and I to come up with something good for Father's Day. What's better than a new pair of Chacos?? We were too excited and gave the sandals to D early. He loved them.


Next on the back-tracking list is Darren's birthday. We went to Glenda and Daniel's for his 25th birthday shindig. We grilled out, had a delicious homemade chocolate pie, and played with our little Ingy Bingy. She's pretty fond of her Uncle Darren!



Towards the end of the party, the weather started getting a bit scary and we headed to the house. We had a severe storm every night for several nights in a row. We are so lucky that we didn't endure any damage or major threats. So many across the state and surrounding states were injured or killed. And many, many others lost their homes, pets, and everything they've ever known. These people need so many prayers. We must keep praying long after the media stops reporting. Praying they can move on. Get their life back together. Gain peace and understanding. Leave the fear and hurt behind. I was so happy to see God's promise after I put Ingrid down for a nap the other day. What a beautiful reminder that God is always in control and his love is endless.