Happy Fourth of July! Oh, am I late?

Oops. Time sure flies by and it doesn't seem to get slower, ever. Every year it just goes faster and faster. When I was a kid, it took forever for my birthday to come and even though Christmas was only two and a half months later, that also took forever to arrive. But now, I can't believe our little girl is 9 months old. Really? When did that happen? Where has the time gone to? I don't know, but we're enjoying all of the smiles a 9 month old gives....


We were in Eden for the fourth and had a blast. Lots of good food and visiting.











Eli plays hide and seek in the cupboard. He can actually fit in it and close the door and everything!



Abbie has two dolls to play with and is trying to figure them out...



Abbie teaching daddy some dance moves...


And playing outside while daddy grills supper...


Oh, so serious...


But now we're happy...


Mealtime has been fun and we've experimented with lots of things. Peas. She can get them to her mouth, although they mostly end up on the floor.

Success!!


And corn on the cob was a huge success....

Ok, so maybe we just handed her one that we had already eaten. Makes for a great photo, though! :)

And a sign that our little girl really is growing up. Teeth marks on the top rail of the crib. Yes, she has learned to pull herself up to a standing position and chew on the crib. I tell her no, she stops and then she looks at me and smiles. She smiles that cute little grin, like she knows I'm not really serious because she knows that I know that she is too cute for me to really mean no. But I do. And we deterred her a little bit when Derrick moved the mattress down one level. It's tougher for her to get to a standing position but she still does it. I was just so worried that she'd pull herself up and fall out of the crib. Now she can't fall out but she is learning to pull herself up even though it's lower.






She also likes to play peek-a-boo now and I love her little giggle when she really gets going!

editing photos... at last

It's taken me forever to edit photos lately, so I'm trying to catch up. Here are the rest from June.... yeah, I know. lol July is yet to come......

As always, I have to start out with pictures of our little sweetie. She is growing so fast and becoming so much fun. She loves to giggle and smile and is such a joy... most days. :) She's been teething and has four teeth through now and more on the way. She doesn't like to lay on her back any more and although she isn't crawling yet, she's getting closer and closer. Scotting around in the walker is probably her favorite thing. She follows wherever I go and has discovered the garbage can. Yes, baby proofing is underway but meanwhile she has managed to grab two things out of the trash can and almost tip it over a number of times. It is now in a different place that she can't get to. Yet.
But I love her smile. I love her giggle and I love her baby feet.




Bath time has become fun. And it's become our ritual to have supper and then go directly to the tub while daddy puts everything away and clears the table. Which works well for both of us. I'd rather give Abbie a bath than clean up the mess I made making supper!



I do way too much baking... but I can't help it! I love to cook and bake and see if I can't replicate something from some restaurant at home for way less. So one of those things lately was Max & Erma's cookies. And I followed the recipe the first time and it was perfect - Derrick really liked them and so did I. The next time I tried them with some whole wheat and they were good and the third time I didn't melt and then cool the butter and I used more whole wheat so they didn't quite turn out. I think the problem was the butter so I'm waiting to try them again when I can melt and then cool the butter.... I hate to wait, though. I want cookies NOW! I have a serious problem when it comes to cookies. And fresh baked ones right out of the oven with a glass of milk... mmmm! mmmm!


And then we had the Hoines reunion, which was nice. Hank and Ardell are just the sweetest couple and are so fun to visit with.







And I got a break while Evelyn held a sleeping baby.... it's just as sweet to see her in somebody else's arms while she sleeps.


And the month ended with a newborn shoot. No, not mine, but a friend of mine is a photographer and invited Abbie and I over while she took photos of this little girl and I remembered how tiny Abbie was when she was born. This little girl was slightly larger than Abbie was at birth, but still pretty close. So precious.

new dress

Just a quick post, since I was kindly reminded how long it's been since I last posted. I know, I know. I will get new pictures up soon, but for now, this will have to do. Thanks, mom, for the beautiful dress you made Abbie!

(and I got to test out new photo equipment and props - yay!)

Father's Day

This post we get to celebrate Father's and in particular, the father of my beautiful little girl. But first, I have to share that we got a high chair. Finally. We had been using a little booster seat type of high chair, which worked, but I was afraid that once she gets a little bigger, she will tip it over off the chair. So, we took that to Grandpa and Grandma Fox's house to use there (they have chairs that have arms on them, where I'm not so afraid of her tipping the seat over). We found the high chair for $10 at a yard sale. Woohoo! That's my kind of price range. It's wooden, which I wanted, but it's been painted white. So, it's not exactly what I wanted, but it's pretty close. And I really like it. And we use it a LOT. Seriously, when I go in the kitchen to bake, cook or wash dishes (which, by the way, needs to be done... again. Why don't dishes wash themselves? I love to cook and bake but hate the clean-up process afterwards), I put her in her little white high chair and go to it. I'll give her some toys, or daddy's spare watch or measuring spoons to play with and it usually keeps her busy long enough so that I can finish.... but not always.


And daddy has been feeding her in it, too, which I love to watch. He gets such a kick out of feeding her and it just warms my heart when she makes him smile or vice versa. We have now tried sweet potatoes, avocado (which didn't agree with her stomach), bananas and peas. I think carrots are next on the menu. Maybe only because that's what I want. lol


This past week we went to Wylie Park and mini-golfed. It was Derrick's first attempt and while I beat him by a mile the first time around, the second time he caught up and I only beat him by 1 shot. So... next time I'm sure he'll blow me in the water, which is why I'm enjoying my hard-earned winning bliss. Because, after all, I even shot a couple holes while holding a baby and still beat him. hehe



On the way home we took a detour and drove by the wind towers that went up recently in our area. They are huge, but we still can't quite get just how huge. I'd love to stand directly underneath one to get a real comparison and idea just how big they are.


My sister had an idea for Father's Day to get updated pictures of us three girls together and also of his two grandkids as a gift to our dad. So these are the result of her idea, which he loved.




We also took this shot of my Grandma Steiner (Great-Grandma to the two little ones in the picture with her):


And a couple random pictures from that day at the park:




Father's Day came and it was a great day! We spent it with family but first we had our own little celebration at home for Derrick and he loved the book I made for him (it's kind of for him to read to Abbie, but it's mainly a photo book).




Then we went to Eden and visited Grandpa Steiner (Great-Grandpa to Abbie).


And then it was Grandpa Dempsey (Great-Grandpa to Abbie).


And although I somehow managed to forget to take one of my dad with Abbie, I do have an older one of them together (from the last post).


And of course, my mom with Abbie.


And my adorable and rambunctious nephew, Elijah.


And my dad took this last pictures, which concluded our visit to Eden. Thanks, dad!!