We had to pick up a quick souvenir for our trip so headed to the beach as soon as Brad got home. He enjoyed calling up his mom so she could view the web cam that was showing us as we were at one of the monuments along the boardwalk! (There were posters that said "call your friends and have them watch you right now!") He looked pretty amusing waving up at the sky. ;) We decided we better take a little walk and get our toes out in the ocean while we were there. Even though we tried to keep Lorelei from getting wet she did get her shorts soaked, but of course it didn't bother her. Now we are excited to get packed up and head to the beautiful weather and family in Nebraska! Not sure how often I'll blog while we are gone but will have one for Lorelei's birthday for sure. :)
We took a trip to the children's museum on Monday. Needed to get out of the house and found out they are closing to remodel and moving to a smaller place. Wanted to get there before they did that. There was even a discount because some of the exhibits were already being torn down. It was a great price for two hours of entertainment. :) I have to say it isn't geared for younger children as much as the one I have been to in Lincoln, but is still good enough to keep Lorelei exploring and entertained. One of our favorites was the music section which had a huge guitar, some pipes you could play with flip flop bottoms, a huge drum, and a recording studio. There was also a toddler section so that was a great fit for Lorelei. Oh and we cant forget the gigantic computer...knew we had to get a picture of this for Brad!
That afternoon Mirinda came over for a visit. She hadnt seen Lorelei in quite a while so was amazed at how much she had grown! This is Lorelei saying hi to the baby in her belly! :)
Later that evening Lorelei started doing this interesting new trick. We aren't sure exactly where she picked this up. I assure you her mother does not walk around the house doing the chicken dance all day... My only guess is that they do show it on one of her Elmo DVDs...but she hadn't even watched it recently!
Lorelei being entertained by the Fridge DJ. A great investment from the sale! We also went back and got part of Lorelei's birthday present on Friday... a bounce and spin zebra... $15 at the sale instead of $45 in the store. :) So far she enjoys that as well but hasn't quite gotten the hang of bouncing and spinning it herself. I was told from other moms and read reviews that it will be a huge hit. :)
Friday night we went out to dinner at Texas Roadhouse to celebrate Brad getting his bonus from work! Yay! As we were walking in we were saying "boy we haven't gone out anywhere nice in a long time...we will have to do this more often..." Well after about 10 minutes in the restaurant we were quickly reminded why we DON'T do this!!! Lorelei enjoyed the yummy bread but that only lasted so long, and soon she was not behaving very well. I took her outside until the food game, then after we ran out of food to put in her mouth to keep her quiet, took her back outside. Not exactly a relaxing evening of shoveling our steaks in as fast as we could, but it was good food at least!
Saturday we were excited to go and get our portable dvd player! Although shopping was a bit of a disaster, we are happy with the purchase and it has already made driving anywhere about a million times better! We actually got to carry on an adult, uninterrupted conversation on the way to church! I didn't have to be constantly throwing toys and singing while running errands this morning! We are hoping this will make the plane ride much easier for us...cross your fingers. :) We also tried peanut butter and woo hoo no allergic reaction!
Sunday we tried to have a little more fun. We are always up with the roosters so figured we may as well head to the park. The weather was great that time of day and Lorelei enjoyed some play time. We had a nice stroll there but a pretty good power walk on the way back since it was nap time. (we also learned there is NO WAY we are ready to give up morning nap yet!) It had rained the day/night before, so Lorelei ended up soaked, as you can see. Church went well and she had no problem being left in the nursery again. Then in the afternoon we went out for ice cream!
This week has been one of short naps and lots of screaming...can't say it has been one of my favorites. I am really hoping that it is teething rather than just a rebellious child...and the teeth do seem a bit hard under those gums. I'll spare you the aggrivatedness of each day and try and tell you the good parts!
Monday - here is when I started needing something to help my sanity. We made a trip to Micheal's and found a few things we could use. Had seen an idea of "water painting" so got a few foam sponges and Lorelei was entertained for about 10 minutes, but at least it was something! She liked stirring more than painting. Then when Brad got home they used side walk chalk on the balcony while I made supper. This was the night the MOMS group was having a game night at our house, so we were also trying to get ready for that. Well only ONE of the ladies showed up, so we just sat and visited for a while. Was a bit disappointed but I guess that's more margarita's for me right? :)
I should mention with the photo that Lorelei has also become a TV junkie like her father! I'm trying to limit it and need to find a better hiding place for the dvds...she has found all of them and then hands me the dvd and whines for me to put it in! It is the only thing that keeps her quiet and sitting/standing still so sometimes its a much needed sanity break.
Tuesday - Went to the beach with our friends Melissa, Chase and Kira. We had not been in over a month! Lorelei dragged me around everywhere and ate a lot of sand as usual. She also got to pet a dog which was probably one of her highlights.
Wednesday - MOMS group play day at the park. It is still very hot and humid but we trudged out to the park today. :) We were very thankful for the shade. Lorelei was so excited as soon as she saw where we were. She walked as quickly as her legs could carry her to the swings. Then she enjoyed dragging me all over the playground. Up the stairs, down the slide...again, again, again! :) Glad she can enjoy the playground, but they should make those slides a bit easier for moms to crawl into! She also saw some dogs and dragged me quickly in their direction (this was exciting enough to take her away from the playground) and then later she was fascinated by a man raking up pine needles. It was as intriguing as the vacuum at our house.
Thursday - Big consignment sale. We got there almost an hr early and were still the 38th person in line. Very thankful they gave us numbers so we didn't have to stand in the hot sun. Found a few good deals and lots of books. She always plays in her clothes when we bring them home and also tries to put her shirts on over her head. :) The picture is showing her attempting this.
This afternoon was a complete change, so the teeth must have given her a break. She screamed the entire sale, but then after nap (which was very short) she was like a little angel and we were wondering where our child was. :) It was sooo nice to have a peaceful night and hope we have a lot more. She was trying to climb on her lion so we lowered it for her to ride, can't quite push hard enough with her feet but had fun anyway. :)
Lows: teething; heat/humidity; missing my extended family who is all together in Wisconsin partying for Grandma's birthday!
Highs: going out for steaks tonight to celebrate getting Brad's bonus!; excited to go visit our Nebraska family in a week! (and finding out Lorelei gets to be Hannah's show and tell!)
Quote: (I overheard Brad saying to Lorelei on the moniter) "Have you ever heard of a pain in the drain?"
We had a pretty low key weekend since we were a bit limited because of Brads gigantic owie. :) We didn't think getting sand and salt water on the wound was the best plan, so decided to stick close to home. Since Lorelei seems to get bored with her toys rather quickly and prefers to be outside anyway we went out on the balcony to enjoy the nice weather and thought we would give coloring a try. Most of the coloring stuff in the stores says 18 mo+ so I figured we would have to wait, but it went fairly well...kept that paci in the mouth to keep the crayons out. :) She enjoyed it, cant say we have a mini Picasso or anything. :) She has also been working a lot on walking of course. She enjoyed going back and forth between us and the chairs. She is getting more and more confident each day.
Should also mention Sunday...Lorelei is getting worse and worse to try and keep in church, so I had resolved to try the nursery next time. We still keep her in as long as possible, but left by the sermon (we are doing good to make it that long). Anyway I stayed for a few minutes while she started playing and then snuck out. The lady said she just looked around and saw I wasn't there and then just kept on playing! I was relieved that she did well and figure I'll take it as she is confident that we will return rather than could care less if her mother is there. ;) Glad to know we have that option for Sundays...got to sit in peace for about 20 minutes for the first time in about 12 months!
Lows: Brads swollen up ankle; Lorelei's lack of naps; errand running
Highs: Lorelei sleeping in earlier this week; good family time; Lorelei's joy in walking
Lorelei has really started to love her stuffed animals the last few weeks. She give them lots of hugs and cuddles. I just make her come over by me so I get "left over puppy/bear/etc hugs" from her since she doesn't care to hug her mother! So far we don't have one that is her absolute favorite, but a few she tends to seem to like a bit more. This morning she had her puppy from Aunt Heather and was walking around with it holding it by its ear! It was so cute but couldn't get a picture. Amanda sent her birthday present early with me and one of the gifts was this teddy bear! Lorelei seemed to not want to give it up at snack time so took a few pics.
Monday night we were headed out to go swimming and Brad ended up missing the last step and getting a sprain and scraped up pretty bad. This is totally gross but we could see his skin the the pavement! Here are his war wounds. Thankfully it seems to finally have dried up and is hurting less.
Yesterday I got a pretty good start on getting birthday supplies for Lorelei's party we are going to have here after we get back from Nebraska. (This girl is going to get 4 birthdays...we are setting the bar pretty high on the first birthday!) After showing them to Brad, Lorelei intentionally walked over the bags and was thrilled that they were then stuck to her feet. She walked around all proud...so got a video of that.
She seems to keep making new faces so we caught her doing this last night:
We had our usual Wednesday playgroup today at the Lynnhaven mall and one of the ladies was nice enough to use their birthday gift of tickets for the carousel to give us all a ride. Lorelei seemed to really enjoy it. :) After that we played with friends a bit longer and ate lunch with Sara and Lily, who even shared her french fries with Lorelei... now that's a true friend! :)
Big congratulations to Amanda and John! Well while they are off enjoying their honeymoon I'm going to write about our busy weekend. :)
Friday: Crazy early flight, but got sent off just fine. The last two flights I even had a seat open next to me which was so nice. Got to Amarillo around 12:15 and was picked up by the Gragert boys as we headed out to lunch. Was so excited to see Amanda's family again since I haven't seen them in a few years and some of them even longer. We go way back since I traveled with the Gragerts on many occasion. Also was excited to meet Amanda's friend/roommate from Alaska for the first time. Sarah and I got along great and she took many of the pictures you might see! :) She was an amazing help with running around doing anything she could the whole weekend.
Then we headed off to get nails done. I opted out of the pedicures most of the ladies got and did a french manicure with fake nails...OUCH. This was not the most relaxing experience I've been through, but they do look beautiful! :) The other ladies seemed to enjoy all of their nails getting spiffed so it was worth the trip. Then quickly went and changed for the rehearsal...got to the chapel and then set off the alarm so a policeman had to come help us...rehearsal was fairly uneventful...rehearsal dinner was delicious! I enjoyed getting to chat and hear fun cowgirl stories from Christina who has married into a rancher family and now gets to ride in the back of the pickup with her mother in law who seems to enjoy tossing her around a little. :)
Oh cant forget to mention the awesome coffee cup lid we got on the way to change for the rehearsal! (I was needing some caffeine by this point) Here is a wonderful video for all of you to see. :)
Then after the rehearsal we ended up going to the reception hall to finish getting it all set up. Stayed there till around 10 and then chatted with Amanda till a little after midnight and after 23 hrs (remember the time difference) I finally went to sleep!
B/L day: Lorelei was sooo good for her dad today. He was amazed at how wonderful she was being and of course I was very relieved. They went to the mall in Norfolk and played at the play place today.
Lows: freezing airports and airplanes; finding out getting your nails done is actually a minor form of torture ;)
Highs: seeing the Gragert family; getting to know John better (will mention more later)
Saturday: The big day! After a lovely few hrs of sleep (very few for Amanda who couldn't fall asleep until 4 something) we were getting all spiffed up for the big day. Amanda's cousin, Mary, is a hair stylist so she came over to get us all beautified.
Off to the chapel for pictures, no problem! The photographer was wonderful and seemed to get some great ones. Will have to post the ones I get copies of for you. Amanda looked beautiful and happy and was very excited to walk down the aisle.
The ceremony went very well. I think it was all Amanda was hoping for. One fun part was Amanda having to ask the pastor to repeat the vows twice because they were so many long words put together! I know I couldn't have done it very well! It just added a lot of cuteness to the ceremony.
The reception...more yummy food! :) They had tasty finger foods and then topped it off with a cupcake cake! The speeches went well (whew) and then they ended up opening some gifts before heading off to Vegas. I was so amused to hear Amanda tell me about their plans. "Well we are both foodies so the only plans we really have are to eat at some really nice restaurants." It sounds delicious and I cant wait to hear about it!
Then I was able to visit with my mom and sister for the rest of the afternoon. We did some light shopping and then enjoyed Cracker Barrel for supper. They even brought margaritas and chips for us to enjoy that night. Yum! It was nice to be able to visit with them again even if it was a quick visit.
B/L day: Today Lorelei tested her dad's patience! Guess its a good thing so he can appreciate me more? :) But it was still a frustrating day for them. Brad tried to go to a fun place to play that I had gone to once a few months ago, but then when he got there it was closed! They ended up taking a short trip to the park and that was about it. He also took her for a walk to get out, but it has been very hot here lately. He did enjoy having two full nights (plus nap time) to watch THREE movies. :) He also got his fill of tv, which is normally impossible to accomplish. :)
Lows: not having Brad and Lorelei with me Highs: Amanda getting married of course! Fun time with all the girls, ranging from Amanda and Christina to Mom and Heather
Sunday: Got to sleep in a bit this morning! The big highlight of the morning was being able to eat a Texas-shaped waffle! Yum. We took our time getting ready and such, then ran to a couple more stores trying to find me a blanket for the freezing airports. We found a great one for a great price! Yay! Then they dropped me off at the airport (with way too much time, guess that 2 hrs early doens't apply to Sunday mornings in Amarillo...)
Flights went fine minus the yucky smell of tomato juice. Sbarro's pizza never tasted so good when I had it for supper in Charlotte. It was even picture worthy. ;)
Brad and Lorelei happily picked me up (today they took a trip to the mall and Lorelei enjoyed her first Subway sandwhich (roasted chicken breast) and apparently loved it...didnt make it to the play area this time because she got tired) and Lorelei was very sleepy and went right back to bed when we got home. Three days, one wedding and six airplanes later, I was finally home! I was so glad to be able to share the day with Amanda.
Some things I learned about John: 1) he's considerate - he picked up Amanda's car to "have the fluids checked" (whatever that means) to prepare for taking it on the road; he then left the windows of the vehicle cracked so it wouldn't be too hot for us; he also left her a rose with a cute note on her seat! 2) he's funny - Amanda told me a story about him that was amusing...he accidentally turned on one of the butt warmers on her car without realizing it and then was like "man it is really hot in here my butt is burning up!" You can imagine her amusement... 3) loves Amanda sooo much - you should have seen the way he looked at her :)
Was jotting down some fun quotes throughout the trip so just decided to save them for the end:
"She is so wackadoodle isn't she?" (Christina talking about me)
"She is not the lid for your pot...she does not fry his bacon..." (Sara giving Ojay a pep talk about his ex girlfriend pre rehersal)
"Apparently the name Pete sounds just like the Chinese word for 'butt' so then we kept calling Pete butt...but then they started calling me Mrs. Butt and I just didn't like that"(Mary telling us about her husband while fixing hair) ....then when I asked Sara, who speaks Chinese, if she knew that it meant butt Christina said "They don't study "butt" in the text books okay?" ;)
Well I hope you all enjoyed this loooong blog. It was a wonderful weekend!
Well I'm going to make this as quick as I can since I am supposed to be packing and heading to bed VERY early before we leave for the airport at around 3:15 AM!!! Please pray for me as I'm an anxious flyer and have to change planes twice! Also for Brad as he is attempting single parenthood for three full days!
Anyway, today Lorelei has really seemed to improve on her confidence walking on her own, so wanted to get that up for you to see. She did this quite a bit today and did it even further between Brad and I after we taped this. Woo hoo! :) I'm sure she'll be running by the time I get home. ;)
The pictures above are all she wanted to do today...be outside and then of course climb up and down the one and only step we have...(other than the ones to our apt)
Will let you know how the trip goes and also Brad's father/daughter weekend! :)
We have not had a very eventful couple of days, but eventful enough to write about I guess! Monday started out a little crazy as I was headed out to the MOMS club meeting and could not find my keys! I am not really one of those people who looses their keys every day...turned the apt upside down looking for them. The bright side was I got the diaper bag all cleaned out! I looked for probably 30 minutes and finally found them wedged behind the black table at our front door. I had looked on the floor below it thinking they had fallen, but apparently they hadn't made it all the way down. We didn't make it to the meeting since I didn't want to go in late. Instead we played for a while and then ran over to Barnes and Noble to get a book and magazine for my flight on Friday.
I should also mention she managed to climb up onto her basket full of blankets for the first time today. Only got a picture with the cell phone since I couldn't really leave her up there. The climbing begins!
We also picked up a mat to use in the bathtub that night so it was Lorelei's first time using the big tub! She seems to really love having more space and is fascinated with the silver naturally. We also got a cover for the spout so she wont hit her head.
Tuesday we had a very messy lunch...this is somewhat normal but she seemed to want to put it in her hair a lot today. Then when I took a video she did another one of her tricks for you as well so you get two for one! :)
We also had our friends Carly and Silas over for a visit that afternoon. He enjoyed checking out all of the toys and Lorelei shared very well. :) After Brad got home we all went swimming. Then we just let Lorelei hang out while we were making supper. She has been wanting to go out on the balcony ALL THE TIME now. She goes to the door and points the the knob and whines until we take her out. Guess she is communicating at least! She is definitely an outdoor girl. I've gotten over worrying about her being on the hard wood, she walks most of the time (with help) so its not too bad.
Its hard to believe Lorelei is now 11 months old! We are amazed as we realize something new each day that she understands or can do. We took a few pictures Sunday morning (her official 11 month birthday of course) so here are a few of our favorites.
Our weekend was not too eventful. We just went to one garage sale that had some girl clothes (so organized they were all in baggies and labeled! - this is why we chose this sale :) ) Brad also found some CDs. Oh and I can't forget the salad spinner that we got per Heather's recommendation :) Can't wait to spin some lettuce! It was even an early bird sale (which we naturally had nooo problem getting up for thanks to our pint sized alarm clock) so we got home, had morning nap, and then went to a craft fair to check for some gifts. The rest of the day was just spent at home. Sunday was also a normal day, but she wore a dress we got from a shower last year! Everybody enjoyed seeing it, so putting a picture of that as well. One of the bows from Sara matched perfectly! :)
Have a few cute "peek-a-boo" pictures...yes we went through about 4 outfits on Sunday!
And last but not least, put in pigtails and then tried these tiny bows Mom sent me forever ago and just love it! Also fitting into 18 month outfit! She is waving. :)
Ok one more...I went a little picture happy this weekend...the only time we can get the girl to sit still...watching baby Einstein farm animals!
