Baby girl is changing so fast!

I just got done putting my little one to sleep for the night, and as I swaddled her up I realized that she is no longer that little lump of a baby that used to lay on my chest for hours on end and find joy in life by just sleeping it away. Sure she's still a baby to most passerbys, but to me she is my little peach who smiles and giggles and like to have conversations about all sorts of nonsense. She's my big girl who rolls over and tries to stand up and finds pure joy in the simplest things. Each day that goes by she grows and changes and becomes more of a little individual...it is so fun watching the person she is becoming. I am not certain yet what will come as each day passes, but I truly hope she never loses that beautiful smile that comes so easily and for what seems to be for no reason at all...

My little punkin's picking pumpkins

OK, so we didn't actually pick the pumpkins...we got lazy after the apple orchard and decided to go to the local nursery to get out pumpkins. We found just the right ones to help us celebrate Anna's first Halloween! Unfortunately Anna was less than enthusiastic about the adventure--she's not feeling well--so no smiles to remember the event. We did stay away from tears just long enough to get a few photos:

Apple Orchard and Loose Meat

The gang, minus a few...not naming any names, Julie Ring and Amy Cook...all went to our annual apple orchard fest, followed by the famous maid-rite sandwiches at Chad and Nicole's. I must say this year I was underwhelmed by the actual orchard. We got about 5 min on the tractor after at least 3 times that long of waiting, followed by one apple stop, and then a walk past the broken down tractor to another waiting one for the last 2 minutes back to the apple lodge. After browsing the goods in the "market", we got a not so good deal on some honeycrisp and then we finally got smart and headed off to the Mc Guires where things took a turn in a positive direction. It was fun to hang out with everyone and catch up after what seems like much too long of an absence. The two pregnant ladies had cute little bellies (maybe not even as large as my non-pregnant one...sad but true) and it's always fun to see how much the little kiddos have grown. I hadn't seen Beckett since he was born a week after Anna and it was fun to see them together again...they grow so fast! Beckett is kickin' Anna's butt in the rolling over department...Anna seems content to just lay on her back and look up at the ceiling fan or lights...but they were both adorable and are sure to grow up enjoying each other's company at group gatherings. We finally headed home after a great afternoon of fall fun. Here are a few pix:


Sawyer eating his apple in front of the tractor

Alix picking the best apple on the tree

The Schloo girls...cute as ever!

Anna's first tractor ride

Anna's so advanced...picking her first apple

the kids

the kids...and the adults holding the kids

Jump Anna Jump

For Christmas Steve and I received a wonderful gift...a video camera! Unfortunately it turns out we are not so techie and the video format used by the camera is not compatible with most internet programs (like blogger), so I've never been able to get the video off the camera and share it with you all. Well, yesterday I decided to sit down and spend part of my day off figuring out how to convert my videos to a different format...and voooila...here we are. I am now a video conversion maniac (OK, not quite, but at least I can do it.) I posted my first video yesterday and had to keep the ball rolling today...

Our video du jour is titled, Jump Anna Jump. Miss Anna loves her jumperoo, but up until recently she wasn't really tall enough to make it go for any bit of time. She'd be able to get a small push and make it bounce one, but that was it. Now her tippy toes touch and she can make it go like crazy...this is just a short sampling...enjoy!

Anna Speaks

Anna shares her first story with you all...

Steve's first business trip

I believe that Steve is on his first business trip since Anna was born. She misses him very much...as a matter of fact a little bit more each second...but then again we all do.


I miss daddy


I miss him more


I really, really, really miss him!!

New Kitchen Floor

We are in the process of picking out some new kitchen floor. We will go with a stone looking laminate b/c there is no heat in the kitchen (darned old house) and we think tile would be too cold in the winter time. We are down to two--Steve and I like one, my mother (who has impeccable taste) likes the other. So, I decided I must put it to a vote. Choose which one you like and vote on the sidebar!


SIDE BY SIDE (TILE #1 ON LEFT, #2 ON RIGHT)

ANOTHER SIDE BY SIDE COMPARISON

TILE #1

TILE #2


DON'T FORGET TO VOTE!!

So Much Going On...

It's my mom's birthday today...wooohooo! I can't say enough wonderful things about her. She means so much to me and continually shows me through her words and deeds that she is the type of woman I hope to become--strong, smart, and caring. Her love, support, and friendship are three things that have gotten me through some trying times in my life--job changes, layoffs, boy troubles, the arrival of a little one when I was all alone, and so much more. And now that things seem almost too good to be true, I feel blessed to be able to share these moments with her too! Happy Birthday Mom--have a wonderful year!!

Other happenings:


Steve ran the TC 10 mile race this Sunday. It was a miserable, cold, and almost rainy event. He was hoping to run the 10 miles in 80 minutes...way faster than I could ever run it (damn him!) Anna and I woke up early and dropped him off at the Metrodome, then hurried home to get our umbrella, snowsuit, and stroller and waited for daddy at mile 5 (Summit and Cretin). He arrived right on schedule and we even got a picture (he's the one in the white hat/shirt to your left.) Then we jumped in the car and hurried our way to the finish line. I actually had to jog from my parking spot to the finish line to make it in time, but just minutes after we arrived Steve ran by...YEA!! He finished just over his goal at 80min 20sec (seems like close enough to me). It then promptly started to rain and so off we went home to change and then a nice breakfast. Steve did and awesome job, and I am so thrilled for him--despite the fact that he is now faster than I am and we won't be able to run together anymore :( I guess I'll just have to kick him in the shins by "accident" so that he's hurt enough that he can lower himself to my speed ;) Anyway here are some pics:

Anna at her first race...all bundled up to watch daddy

Run Daddy Run!!

Steve and Anna after the race




My sister-in-law Lindsay and nephew Marek came in town this past weekend. It was fun to see them again. It rarely happens that we get to see them twice in such a short period of time (they were in town in August as well) so it was an extra special treat. Marek is such a cutie and growing bigger each time we see him. His vocabulary at 1 1/2 is amazing, although I'm not sure my brother Mike has taught him the word anarchy yet (this was the first word her tried to teach Alix 10 years ago.) Maybe that's because Mike has grown up a bit since then and is now a suit wearin' bank man (who would've thunk it?!) Here are some pix of the cutie Marek and his momma (Auntie Amy is sneakin' in there too)

3 months old!!

Anna is 3 months today!! And it was her first day at real daycare!! I will have to post some sort of 3 mo. old picture soon. Oh how time flies...

Steve is crawling through the window

As I stated some posts ago...they say-- everytime a door closes (Cash Systmes Inc.) a window opens (Concur). Today Steve is crawling through that window as he leaves his old job behind (ok, he left it behind a while ago) and begins life with Concur. It is his first day at his new job...Woohooo!! I know he'll do great...they are lucky to have him!! I got an email from his new account at Concur, so it looks like he's already slacking ;) Updates to follow...