10 months old

Mimi, You are ten months old now. I just can't believe it. I thought it would go slower wtih me staying home but that doesn't seem to be the case. You have done some many exciting things recently that I needed to write it down.

1) You are finally starting to eat some food other than carb items. I had the roughest time getting you to try anything other than cheerios, puffs, veggie straws, bread, animal crackers, etc. But you have finally started. I have learned that you eat better when you are eating at the same time as the rest of the family. You have a texture issues. You don't like bananas, or anything that tastes like bananas. And I can put just about anything in your mouth when we are out to eat. I think it is because there are so many different things for you to watch that you don't even pay attention to what is going in your mouth. The first time you ate really well was at Dixie Stampede in Branson. You ate chicken, pork, biscuit, corn, and more and more chicken. I was so excited!

2) You have figured out what to do with the food you don't want to eat and Loki loves it! You grab your food and look over the side. Loki gently takes it out of your hand and you get so excited that you laugh and clap.

3) You learned how to use the gumball machine. Your sisters are so excited. They keep wanting to make you do it again and again.

4) You are on the verge of walking. You cruise around all day with the walker and using tables, chairs, etc but you actually took your first unassisted step yesterday. It was only one and you reached for me when you realized you did it but it won't be long now.

5) Finally, you LOVE your daddy.  You light up every time you see your daddy.  And you are constantly trying to get him to pick you up.  This is how daddy usually sees you. 

When he leaves the room or the house you cry for him.  It is too cute. 


I can't believe how old you are getting!

Love, Mommy

P.S. You could work on sleeping through the night a little bit more. Sometimes you do but you usually get up once; twice every once in awhile. I wouldn't be against you sleeping all night long. : )

Bumpkin the dictator

It has been my intention to put some of the funny things the kids say on her so they can look back someday and laugh at themselves. My mom says she has all the things I have ever sent to her saved on her phone so I do plan on putting those on her but I haven't got around to putting anything current up until today. Bumpkin, Troublemaker, and Hoppy Bunny are downstairs playing with some princess set. I heard Bumpkin tell the other two that they had to jump on one foot and touch their nose 13 times before she would give them a certain piece. They did it! This type of playing continued for about ten minutes before Troublemaker and Hoppy Bunny realized she wasn't being fair and decided to go play something else. :)

Mickey, Barnyard, and Castle Gray Skull

I recently made some cakes for birthday parties for my friends kids.  There really isn't much to say about the cakes other than one is Mickey Mouse

another is barnyard cupcakes,

and finally, Castle Gray Skull, for a throw back, She-ra birthday party. 

Father's Day Questions

Daddy was on shift for Father's Day this year so we had to get creative on what type of present we gave him.  So first, we made him hugs to take to work.  I wish I would have gotten a picture of the hugs but it is the girls hands on a piece of paper, attached to a ribbon.  So now, when daddy is lonely at work he can give himself a hug from them. 

I also had them fill out a questionaire answering questions about their daddy.  Here is Bumpkin's answers

My daddy's name is Jeremy. 

My daddy is 34 years old. 

He is 50 ft tall & weights 9 lbs. 

My dads favorite food is dessert. 

My dad loves to spend time with me. 

For work, my dad is a firefighter. 

I am like my dad because I am his kid. 

The thing I love most about my dad is when he takes us somewhere. 

It makes dad happy when I am good. 

He is smart because he knows what is happening. 

My dad always tells me that he loves me. 

I really love it when my dad plays rough house with me. 

If I could give my daddy anything it would be a sports ball. 



Here are Troublemaker's answers. 

My daddy's name is Jeremy.

My daddy is 33 years old.

He is large & weights 64 lbs.

My dads favorite food is bacon.

My dad loves to go out to eat.

For work, my dad saves people from fire.

I am like my dad because I he loves me.

The thing I love most about my dad is doing something with him.

It makes dad happy when do something for him.

He is smart because he knows he loves me.

My dad always tells me he loves me. 

I really love it when my dad does something for me.

If I could give my daddy anything it would be a present/surprise/a fishing thing.



I think it is obvious from these answers that we love our daddy and love spending time with him.  The girls both  mentioned how fun it is to go do special things with daddy; it's a good thing because that is one of his favorite things to do. 

First tooth

You lost your first tooth today Bumpkin. You have been working on it for awhile but you lost it tonight in the car on the way home from a tball game. You are so excited and proud of yourself. Actually, you wanted to go over to E's house and show her but I wouldn't let you because it was too late.

The tooth has been coming for awhile but I am so glad it finally fell out. Your adult tooth was already up and behind your baby tooth. It has been for a few weeks. I actually got worried enough that it wasn't going to fall out that I took you to the dentist yesterday because I didn't want any damage to be done. The dentist told me to give it a little bit more time to fall out on its own before we have it pulled. Apparently this is pretty common for the bottom front teeth. So glad you got it out on your own. Now the tooth fairy gets to visit our house for the first time! Exciting!

Branson 2012

Last year Daddy and I asked if we could use grandma and Nana's timeshare to celebrate our anniversary in Branson.  Then, for various reasons, daddy couldn't go so grandma and grandpa were going to come, then daddy could go again, so we went as a whole family.  It was only for the weekend though and we didn't have any idea how much there was to do.  So during last years vacation we booked a vacation for this year as well.  We convinced them to get a big cabin though and invited Grammie and Aunt Janet, and some friends.  Unfortunately, Aunt Janet broke her leg just days before the trip so she couldn't come but the rest of us are here having a good time.

Here is the cabin.  I tried to get pictures before we "made ourselves at home" but it didn't work out the best. 

We also took some family pictures.  I wish we would have gotten more during the week but atleast we got one at the very beginning.  The girls wanted to be unicorns so I told them if they did a good picture we could also be unicorns.  I think it worked out ok. :) 

After getting settled into our cabin and taking a look around we got ready and headed to our first show. It was Joseph. Last year I wanted to go to Noah but for a variety of reasons we weren't able to go so I wanted to make sure and go this year. The theater is huge and beautiful and I have heard that the productions they put on are amazing.  So, we went.

Mimi stayed back at the cabin because she wouldn't appreciate it like the rest of us but the other two loved it. Well Troublemaker loved the first half, she feel asleep during the very beginning of the second half. But Bumpkin loved the whole thing. After being there over three hours she asked if "that was all" when it was finished! Crazy!

The next day we did a whole lot of swimming. It was beautiful outside and the weather was perfect. Then, at night, daddy and I went on the Branson Showboat Belle for our anniversary. We had a nice surprise too because it was Memorial Day Weekend so there were fireworks while we were on the boat. It was a good time.

On Monday and Wednesday we went to Silver Dollar City. I love how many businesses in Branson (and most other places actually) support the troops. But Silver Dollar City's deal was pretty great. We bought a two day pass for the cost of a one day pass, and got the kids in free.

It was great not having to rush around and try to fit everything into one day. Instead, we could take our time, enjoy some rides, see some shows, and come back in a couple days to do anything we missed. It was great to have that ability! So, we visited the kiddie ride area a couple different times then took breaks and did other activities.

I was so excited to convince the older girls to go on the river raft ride. I didn't think they would do it but they were excited and love it. It is actually one of the few rides that we went on both days. Unfortunately, there are no pictures of them riding the ride for obvious reasons but they had a blast. On the second day Troublemaker was tired though and chose not to ride again. Instead, we stood at the area were you could pay to shoot the riders with water guns. She thought that was the greatest.... and of course we had to get in a few practice rounds before our group came by. On the first day at the very end we took a ride around the park on the train.

It was a 20 minute, site seeing, entertainment ride where at the middle the train ran into some robbers. Troublemaker was having a good time but once we stopped for the robbers she lost interest. Apparently she wasn't very concerned about them.....

On the second day we went to a saloon show. It was pretty cute and the girls thought it was funny. I was amazed but Bumpkin didn't want to take her picture with the girls. Troublemaker did though. Oh wow, she is cute!

Another thing that I was so excited that the girls tried was an indoor roller coaster. For indoor roller coasters it was pretty tame, most of it was riding around looking at different scenes, but there were three dips that were done completely in the dark. The girls talked about it nonstop when they got off and told everything they needed to go, but I couldn't get them to go with anyone again. haha

Stay tune for Branson 2012 Part 2

Troublemakers T-ball

Troublemaker has started T-ball now like her sister. She has been so excited and had her first game last night. She hit off her first at ball. I couldn't believe it.  (When I got home I couldn't believe I actually got a picture of her hitting the ball as well.... :)

She does enjoy practicing with daddy in the yard but I was impressed with her being able to do it in a game. She doesn't like being in the field as much as hitting the ball (I'm not surprised) but she is pretty good at both. I know she is only four but she seems to be pretty gifted in the area of physical sports like tball and soccer. I am curious to see what she is interested in down the line. Right now, gymnastics is her "thing", she waits all week for it, but I could see her doing well at other active sports as well.