18 Months

Dear Vivian,

It is so hard to believe that 18 months have gone by this fast. You have changed so much over the last few months (sorry I did not get to update month 16 and 17) and have done so many new and crazy things that it is hard to keep up with everything.

You are now running and your coordination is improving every day. You are a born climber and have gotten really good at climbing on our kitchen chairs without being detected. You still enjoy your baths and have your bedtime routine down to an art.

I believe you are going to be an outside kind of kid. It has been too cold for you to get in much outside action, and many evenings you look outside and cry because you really want to be playing. Sticks, rocks, dirt, and dandelions are your favorite toys in the whole world. I wish you would quit putting all of them in your mouth, but at least you will spit the stuff out in our hands when we catch you in the act.

You have picked up a few new words - Cooks is one of my favorite (Cookies of course). You also have gotten better at patty cake and say cake and love to end the rhyme with an enthusiastic "and ME".

You are generally in a great mood in the mornings and enjoy getting your Mommy up particularly when Daddy puts you in bed with me. If I am sleeping on my side with my back turned to you, you pull on me until I roll over on my back so that you can snuggle up to me. You are also starting to pucker up to give us kisses which is a real treat.

You also like dancing to your Farmer Tad Fridge Farm and entertain us with your routine. This evening I danced with you a little bit before I took the picture of you. It was a particularly good evening and you laughed a lot - probably at my dancing.

You and Tibbs are still friends - even when you try to lay down on her to go to sleep. Although Tibbs can be annoying to your parents sometimes, she is certainly very good to you.

In closing, you are a real blessing in our lives. We had no idea 18 months ago that you would completely take over our hearts.

Love you, Mommy and Daddy

Outside Fun

It has finally warmed up a bit - enough to get outside and play after a long winter cooped up inside. Vivian decided to try out her soccer ball on a much larger playing surface than our living room. I think she has pretty decent form for her first time kicking it around the yard.

Of course she had to stop what she was doing briefly to run back to the camera.

She is awfully focused, but eventually she wears out and........

Crashes on the couch with her buddy Tibbs. (Her Father took this picture - just so he gets the credit)

Things have been going pretty good for us. I am feeling a bit better and have a little more energy. I am almost 12 weeks now. I had a doctors appointment last week and we got to hear the baby's heartbeat (although it was only for small intervals because the kid was moving around a whole lot). Otherwise, everything is pretty good still working on lots of little projects when I have the time - I have to fix my sewing machine and get back to making Vivian's quilt for her new big girl bed and we are working on our yard and garden for the summer. Hope everyone is doing well and enjoying what bits of nice weather we get.

Skipping Church

By the time Sunday morning rolls around, I am totally exhausted. Lately, I have been trying to sleep in on Sunday mornings, so I have not exactly made it to Church much this month (Rick has to go because it is his month to be an usher:) Anyway, when I skip, Vivian hangs out with me. Now Vivian does not like to sleep in. She could spend a whole night awake, fall asleep at 6:45 am and be up and ready to start her day promptly at 7:00 am. Not cool. Usually after she is fed, I let her watch a movie while I stay in bed - it does not always work out really well as you can see.

Imagine my surprise when Vivian and Tibbs come out of the bathroom with Vivian wrapped up in toliet paper. She was so pleased with herself.

Then it was time to go back for more - Tibbs is following along to take care of the paper trail.

It is a good look for you kid. Now let Mommy get some sleep!!!

Putting Out an A.P.B. for CBR

It would appear that the month of February got away from me in blog world. To those of you who check this blog often and have been totally frustrated with my lack of posting, I apologize. I do have a pretty good reason though, you see February was a pretty crazy month at our house.

I feel the need to do a top ten - so here it is, the top ten things going on at our house in February (in Letterman countdown format).

10. Vivian is EVERYWHERE and into EVERYTHING.

9. Vivian went for a checkup at her doctor and got a great report - she was 20 pounds 14 ounces (finally got to 20 lbs.) and she does not have to go back until her 2 year old appointment:)

8. I now have 2 bosses and the same paycheck - seriously, although I am still on the GT and am not like taking work home or working weekends, it is definitely different and I am still adjusting.

7. We had a good valentine's day - I took Rick and Vivian out to dinner the night before Valentines day and Rick cooked dinner on Valentines day - very nice.

6. My husband was busy getting ready to spend the end of February trapping. My husband's trapping sent him to the hospital when he caught one of our outside cats and instead of letting her go by dumping her out of the live trap, he decided to pick her up - bad move. He got bit on the index finger several times and had to spend almost two days in the hospital. After he was better (well after I knew he would be okay), I laughed.

5. We had some pretty sad news in our community because Rick's boss's son got killed in a car wreck. That was pretty hard on everyone who knew the family and it continues to be difficult for a lot of people.

4. I injured my thumb and was unable to type for a while. It was a very silly accident that still makes me cringe - trust me, you don't want to know. Good news is my thumb is feeling better now.

3. I have been sick on my stomach.

2. I am always sleepy.

1. I am pregnant.

8 weeks 3 days to be exact. We went to the doctor week before last and everything seems to be okay. I am due October 22. Vivian will be getting a baby brother or sister for her second birthday on October 13. It is cool, I wish I felt better though. We have so much to do to get ready for the baby - particularly to get Vivian ready for the baby. I hope it all goes smooth.

Anyway - that is what I have been up to. I promise to blog more in March.

Snow - for real this time.

Well, we got our snow afterall. It is a snowy, icy mess here - but it did provide some pretty good times this morning when we took Vivian out to play in the snow. Vivian was pretty excited about being out in deeper snow this morning. She started out by getting down and rolling around and had a good taste of snow.

Then it was into sled #1 for a trip around the yard. I don't think she trusted it too much since she kept one hand on the ground.

Then her Daddy picked her up out of the snow to go get on sled #2.

She brought some of her snow with her - and put it down his coat.

After the snow was out of Daddy's collar he tried to get the hood out of Vivian's eyes so she could see what was going on. The hood was an issue all day (we cannot locate her pink hat - it would have been very handy).

So then it was off to the top of the hill (not much of a hill, but enough for a 30 year old and a 15 month old to have fun). It took a minute to get going, but then....

Down they go!!! Notice that the hood is still covering her eyes, so Rick tried to adjust it.

After her eyes were uncovered - she closed them.

And then she covered them up.

But towards the end - she was enjoying the ride.

We took a couple more trips down the hill and then it was back to the house to warm up and take a nap. It was a fun morning and I was really glad to catch a shot of her covering up her eyes with her mittens. It looks like another snow day for me tomorrow so maybe we can get into something else fun.

Snow - sort of.

We did not get much snow, but since Rick had Vivian bundled up to go check his traps - we let her walk around in the snow. I think she liked it. She was really impressed that the snow stuck to her boots and that she could see her footprints in the snow. I think Vivian has cabin fever big time - she really wants to be outside, but it is just too cold for her to be out long. I figure come spring and summer we will have a very hard time getting her to stay inside.

And here is Vivian and Momma. As you can see, I was having myself a casual Monday:) The weather calls for much more snow overnight and into tomorrow. Maybe we will get enough to have a sled ride - I am sure she will be up for it. Stay warm bloggers.

15 Months

Dear Vivian,



I cannot believe you are already 15 months old. You have been keeping us busy lately with all your antics. Over the past month you have been so much fun because your personality continues to develop and you keep on getting more adventurous in all that you do.



I am particularly fond of your new hats. I don't know what gave you the idea to wear a washcloth on your head, but who am I to argue with your fashion sense. You do wear it well. I am also glad that you are a pretty good eater - now you try a few more things and seem to like it best if it is something we are eating.







I have not been particularly crazy about your sleep schedule - every other night you are up at 2:00 and do not want to go back to sleep for hours. We are sleepy. I hope this changes soon. It has given us the challenge of completely wearing you out before bedtime and for that we have enlisted the help of Tibbs.







You two are real partners in crime. Whatever one cannot get to, the other can.








As you can see, it does not take long for a clean house to be a total mess.








Tibbs also encourages you to do things that you should not be doing, and no I am not talking about taking off one sock and leaving the other on. The stairs, Tibbs, and Vivian just do not mix. Other things that scare your Momma is the sound of glass breaking when you are out of sight. Luckily it was just a bowl you broke and ran away from - truthfully, I think it scared us both.



You also have added a new favorite movie - KungFu Panda. We now have it committed to memory and we watch it every day. You still love your books though, and often prefer being read to over anything else - particularly in the mornings when Mommy is getting ready for work and you follow me around with a book until I stop and read it to you. Lately we have read a whole lot of Go Dogs, Go. In the evenings when I get home, you want to spend at least an hour with me just playing and reading. I sometimes feel like there are so many things around the house that need done, but then I realize that this time is special.





I have also enjoyed seeing how willing you are to share. You love to try to give things to me and your Daddy. You really like sharing your food for some reason and get the biggest kick out of feeding us - you also share with Tibbs which is sometimes a problem, but all and all I am glad to see this part of your personality emerge.



In closing, you are a super-special kid and I am one lucky Momma. Love you always.