Amelia In Action

Here are some updated pictures of Amelia in action.....

 Amelia doesn't believe in playing with just one toy anymore.

Bath time is so much fun!  But not so much for Mr. Ducky! 

"Mommy, what are you doing?! Ugh" 

Bedtime stories!  At Amelia's conference the other day - her caregiver said Amelia likes to read and look at books!  She also loves to turn the pages! 

Amelia's new favorite place to hang out! 

Sweet smiles! 

Outside with the doggies 

Amelia thought this was hilarious!  She laughed and laughed! 

Amelia eating bananas - she has been doing so good with table food! Even with only 2 teeth. 

Such a happy girl 

Yummy food!

Salty Beacon

Salt of the Earth and a Beacon of Light

I can only figure that Saturday Amelia woke up and decided to be a Salty Beacon to those around her!

We woke up and went to Grandma's Bakery (hmmmm) and Amelia had her first plain donut!  She loved it and almost took one of my fingers off :-) 

Fast forward to the afternoon - we decided to go to church and after working around the house we needed to get showered and dressed.  Amelia was crawling all over!  (We recently had to put up a gate on the top of the stairs to contain her :)  We have also been playing hide and go seek with Amelia in different rooms.  She must have thought Daddy was playing hide and go seek - because Amelia was seeking!  And Amelia found her Daddy - in the shower!  She whipped that curtain aside and she was so proud of herself that she found her daddy!  I brought her back to our room and off to seeking she went again!  This time I just left her bouncing by the shower for a while and by the time I pulled her away she was so soaked and happy that I had to change her clothes for church.  We laughed and laughed.

Off to church we went!  During the winter we got into the habit of going in the parent/child room and we decided that night we would do the same.  Amelia got right into playing with their toys - happy as can be.  Enter parents #1.  Amelia was very curious....and so she crawled over and sat just out of reach, in front of them....and stared......and stared and kept on staring at them.  Finally, I got her attention and she huffed and buzzed her way over and as I picked her up she let out a happy little squeal!  In my lap...well not for long!  Enter parents #2 and #3.   Parents #3 had a girl about 4 years old, who was quite a happy little girl.  And Amelia was fascinated!  The parent/child room is setup with a screen for breastfeeding mothers.  The little girl was playing behind the screen - and once again - Amelia went seeking!  She sat right in the entryway of the screen and just watched the little girl.   She eventually went behind the screen and I went to get her.  She wanted down, off a seeking she went again (read previous lines about 4 times...you get the picture).  The last time I went to get her she decided to entertain parents #2, who were behind me.....if she could have climbed over my shoulder - she would have!  Of course, all of these antics were not without noise!  Eventually, Daddy decided he better take her out as she was kind of distracting.  She proceeded, to crawl all over the foyer!  And our church foyer is huge!  According to Daddy - it got to the point where she could barely lift her arms or would lay her legs out straight with only her arms holding her up...but with a huff huff huff - off she would go again unil church was over. 

Our little salty beacon ended her night - exhausted and happy.  She slept in the next morning until 8:30!

All Things Amelia

This past week Amelia turned 11 months old!  I cannot believe it - how fast time has gone by!  Before Amelia - people always said how fast time goes by when you have kids, but its hard to understand until it happens to you.   It has been so enjoyable - truly enjoyable to be Amelia's mom.  She brings such joy to our lives and every day I give a heartfelt thanks to God for bringing her into our lives.

With time going by so quickly - I realized I had better take a post to write down some of the cute things Amelia does.....

- About 1/2 way home from work Amelia will start buzzing her lips and be covered in spit & bubbles by the time we reach home or she will randomly start laughing

- When Amelia eats, when I say, 'Hmmm, that was yummy!' - Amelia will get a grin on her face and click her tongue as if to say 'Tasty'

- When I go to pick up Amelia up from daycare, she gets so excited she will squeal and flap her arms like a bird

- Amelia will play hide and seek with us - she crawls to find us in the hallway or doorway

- If my legs are in the way and Amelia could go around them - she would much rather bulldoze her way over my legs, land on her face and wiggle the rest of her body across

- Amelia is much more interested in her blankies and will try and stuff as much as she can in her mouth

- Can stand by herself - until she realizes she is standing by herself

- Snuggles with me in the morning when I wake her up, though it seems to becoming less and less these days

- LOVES the dogs so much.  Whenever she can bet them she laughs and giggles.  And I am positive she can almost say Indie

- Has decided her new favorite spot in the loft is in front of the window and spinning the window handle

- Loves to be outside

- Sleeps with her rear in the air

- Gives her mommy and daddy hugs

Off to the Races!

Last weekend, we went to see my cousin, Ryan race and his wife Melissa.  We got Amelia ear muffs, which made her little face look even chubbier than it already is!

She did a really good job keeping them on - we only had to pull her hands away a couple times

Amelia played with Mommy and Daddy's sunglasses for most of the time!  She thought they were fascinating!  She also tried to see how much of Daddy's glasses could fit into his mouth.

 

Ryan racing

Ryan made it to the finals and we actually made it to see him race.  I didn't get any pictures of us together unfortunately.  Next time!

 

Daddy and Amelia watching the races

Here Daddy and Amelia are in front of the race track during a break

Amelia had so much fun

 

We got Amelia little shoes, since we knew her feet would be dirty otherwise.  She has the smallest feet!  She is a size 4.  All of her shoes we bought for the summer are all way to big!

 

Amelia and her chubby cheeks! 

Memorial Weekend

For this year's Memorial Weekend, we decided to stay home - partially because we just got home from vacation and we just needed some time to get things together.  One advantage to staying home - was that we were able to spend Saturday with our good friends Ron, Val and their son Seth!  It had been so long since we had seen them and it was just good to spend time with them.  Amelia had some firsts as well - we went to the Farmer's Market and the Como Zoo!

Como Zoo is a free zoo - which is wonderful!  It is very well maintained and a perfect place to go on the weekend with kids. Amelia loved the little monkeys with mustaches!  She did a really good job of following them as they walked around and one even walked in front of her!

Checking out the flamingos! 

Daddy and Amelia by the seals! 

Daddy and Ron look at the lions 

The lion eating his lunch 

Amelia (love her face), Seth, Val and Ron behind the fence. 

Another picture of both kids looking at the camera! 

Mommy and Amelia in front of the lion 

Amelia also took her first carousel ride!  Wow - it went round and around - so next time Daddy is going to take her! 

Amelia on Daddy's shoulders!  Amelia thinks she is the coolest girl in the world on top of her daddy's shoulders!  She thinks its so funny to be so high and laughs constantly!  Though the funniest moment, was when Amelia decided to take a bite out of daddy's ear!  The hypothesis is it may have started out as a kiss, but quickly progressed to a Mike Tyson!  Needless to say - daddy was quite surprised.  As I expressed a stern 'No-No we don't bite daddy's ear', her face was the epitome of innocence as her mouth sat half open with daddy's ear still partially still inside!

Summer Evenings

Tonight we got home and spent time outside on a blanket with a box of toys.  As the dogs played around us, it was so relaxing.  Amelia loves the dogs!  She squeals with delight anytime she can pet them.  Amelia was not quite ready to crawl off the blanket, but she watched as mommy and daddy worked around the yard.

After feeding Amelia and Daddy got cleaned up I was in the kitchen, when I heard shrill laughter and 'peek-a-boos'!  I found Amelia in her new favorite place - in front of the window in the loft - playing peek-a-boo with daddy!  She would pull the curtain in front of her face and when daddy said, 'Where's Amelia?', she would pull the curtain away from her face and bubble over with laughter!  So precious! 

Welcome summer!

Time with Family

While in Hawaii, Amelia got to spend lots of time with family!  Gramma came and picked Amelia and the dogs up from Minneapolis and headed back to great OC (Orange City - for the non-locals :).  She also spent at weekend at Nana and Papa's house and a wonderful time bonding! 

Very excited in Gramma's arms 

Amelia found the drawer of rubber maids and had lots of fun going through it! 

Amelia's face is so cute as she is sitting in the mustang! 

Amelia had her 1st Tulip Festival experience this year! 

And got her picture in front of the tulips! 

All smiles! 

Grandpa and Amelia with one of her favorite things...her sock! 

 Amelia in a few years!  AHHHHHH!

It just so happened that while we were in Hawaii - Tom, Michelle, Noah, Emma and Elijah were in Orange City!  So while Patrick and I missed them - Amelia was able to spend time with her cousins, Auntie and Unkie

Chillin' on the deck 

Elijah has gotten SO big!  I can't believe how much he has filled out since Christmas!  What a cutie! 

Playing together with Elijah and Michelle 

Noah taking a self-photograph - he does a good job taking pictures 

Emma smiling! 

Getting some lovin's 

 Amelia and Elijah

 Elijah, Tom, Noah, Michelle and Emma

All 4 cousins together 

The girls! 

Tom and Noah playing piano......and Amelia trying to get in on the action 

Yay!  Mommy and Daddy are almost home! 

Mommy's first reaction at seeing Amelia after10 days!  (It was sooo long!  I missed our girl so much)