A year Ago... - Baltimore, MD - May 2011

A year ago yesterday...

We took a train to meet our baby.

A year ago today...

This little lady stole our hearts.

A year from tomorrow...

We will love her even more than we do today.

Happy 1st Birthday Monkey!!!

Till next time,

Bon Voyage!

Meet "Mader" - Baltimore, MD - May 2011

Meet "Mader"...

Yeah, I know, you thought her name was Kitty Sticks, but she has an alter ego. She's a Super Villon. (Doesn't she look super villon-ish?)

Destroyer of all things tomato! LOOK OUT!!! She'll strike in the still of the night, or the broad daylight of the afternoon. Roma's or vine ripe, cherry or giant stake tomatoes she isn't picky. She doesn't discriminate. No counter is too high, no corner or cover can fool her. Once it crosses the threshold of the front door, no tomato is safe.

As we were preparing to plant this year's porch garden I ran across these pictures and thought they were too funny not to share. Hopefully we'll be able to keep this year's harvest safe!

Till next time,

Bon Voyage!

1st CAKE!!! - Baltimore, MD - May 2011

To kick off the Hubs week of vacation we went to a birthday party for a good friend's little boy. He and the Monkey are only a month apart in age so they've become fast friends at play group.

The party itself was a first for our little lady, among other things that day, but the highlight was definitely her first taste of cake.

I think she liked it!

And she looks so darn cute in that hat that we just might have to do hats at her little party, which is only 9 days away!!!

Till next time,

Bon Voyage!

11 Months: Traveling Monkey - Baltimore, MD - April 2011

Another month has come and gone so fast! It's literally just a couple weeks now until her first birthday! I look at these pictures of her and think 'how were you ever that tiny'!

There's no official 11 month doctors visit so once again we're relying on the bathroom scale and the STANLEY construction tape measure for her stats.

Monkey Brand New

Monkey 1 Month

Monkey 2 Month

Monkey 3 Months

Monkey 4 Months

Monkey 5 Months

***Monkey 6 Months: MIA***

Monkey 7 Months

Monkey 8 Months

Monkey 9 Months

Monkey 10 Months

Monkey 11 Months

Here are her stats for this month:

Weight: 16 lbs and 8 ozs (3rd%)

Length: 27 inches (15th %)

Head circumference: 42 centimeters (3rd%)

This month Mommy and Monkey took to the sky on their first solo girls trip. It was hopefully the first of many we take together. We went to Memphis to visit family and friends that we haven't seen in a while and we really had a blast! (More to come on that trip in an upcoming post.)

We are proud to announce that the Monkey is CRAWLING!!! The morning we were headed out to the airport to Memphis, I was packing her final things in our carry on bag and from the living room the Hub said, "Uh, she's really crawling in here". I ran around the corner and there she was, scoot, scoot, scooting across the floor. Since then there's been no stopping her. This has opened up a whole new world for all of us. She can now get to pretty much anything she wants. This means that we've had to start telling her "no", which is often met with monster tears and lots of crying, but we can honestly say she's learning and for the most part she doesn't go for things she's not allowed to touch. And if she does, usually one, maybe two "no"s stops her in her tracks. Some of her favorite "untouchables" are the fire place screen, daddy's glasses, laptop computers and their cords, shoes (the dirtier the better), paper (folders, receipts, instructions, magazines, news papers, I think you get the picture).

Her little vocabulary is growing as well.she can now say "cat" which comes out as""ca-T)and a pretty good attempt at "fish" that comes out "Ffffff". She has also started gesturing with her hands as she talks. (just like her mom) and she jabbers in a language only she knows.

We've introduced whole foods like sliced peaches, mandarin oranges, pineapple, and her daddy has slipped her a few bites of ice cream sandwich, all of which have been a hit!

Another huge milestone of this month has been her learning to sleep unswaddled. I know this is a mile stone that lots of babies hit a lot earlier, but she's never minded being swaddled while she sleeps, so until now we've not minded swaddling her. However, just before Easter she started rolling over in her sleep and although she was fine on her belly it made us nervous that because she was swaddled, her arms were not free to push herself up or back over if she needed. It took about a week and a half of rough nights and NO naps, but thankfully she's now back on track, sleeping through the night...

UNSWADDLED!!!

Another thing she's really gotten good at this month has been the 2 baby signs we've been working with her on. "more" and "all finished". These have been quite helpful at the dinner table but she's also started using them for everyday play. "More" - toys, "all finished" - with this diaper change, "more" - pet the cat time, "All finished" - sitting in this car seat, "more" - bath time...

So fun!

This has been a big month and 2 more teeth arrived, bringing the grand total to 8, and with each passing day she grows more independent. As much as I want her to grow up, I am so sad to see some of the baby parts of her slip away. She continues to be such a joy in our lives. God has blessed us with such a special little girl. It's amazing to think that as much as we love her, God loves her more than we ever could, and that she was made by Him. Through her he is teaching us patience, humility, and love beyond all understanding.

Till next time,

Bon Voyage!

Swiming This Morning... - Delray, WV - May 2011

In the early hours of Thursday morning morning...

this 14" rainbow trout was swimming in the cool waters of West Virginia. Thursday night he was broiled and on our dinner plates glazed with a thin layer of clarified butter, sitting along side a colorful vegetable melody and some tasty garlic bread.

However, there's one thing that must be pointed out. This was not an ordinary fish dinner. In true hunter gatherer fashion, Thursday morning the Hub set out to procure dinner for his family, and in particular his daughter, and as a result, the 14" rainbow trout he caught just after 10:00 in the morning became our little girl's first taste of meat.

How cool is it that one day we'll be able to tell her that the first meat that she ever ate was something that her dad went out and caught and prepared for her.

Till next time,

Bon Voyage!