How do you spell...

George, Drew, Joel, Avery, Hallie, Ben, Carter, umbrella, violin, wolf, xylophone, yo-yo, zebra, king, lion, monkey, nest, ox, piano, queen, radio, ship, train, apple, bell, cat, dog, elephant

Lauren typically asks how do you spell...and writes the letters as I tell them to her, but when I picked her up after work the other day I found all of these papers full of her hard work in her cubby. I asked her who told her how to spell these and she said she looked at everyone's cubby and wrote their names and then found the other words around her room. I love this girl!

Quote of the Day!

Lauren laughing..."You looked like a dinosaur. Your head was little and your belly was really big!"

Lauren referring to her mother when she was pregnant.

7 months old!

7 months old already! My mommy says I have become such a big girl. I love to eat!!! I have tried pears, sweet potatoes, peaches, carrots, apples, peas and prunes. I love love love it all (except the prunes). I had a little constipation problem this month, but it is now under control and I feel much better. I usually breastfeed (or take breastmilk from a bottle at day care) about 5 times a day. I am still not very great at naps but cat nap a couple times a day. I am very social and don't want to miss a thing going on. Prior to this month I was sleeping at night really well, but my Daddy and Mommy decided to go have fun for a week and didn't take me with them. So, I decided I would make sure they are still around during the night (and they are). Mom says I am slowly getting back to my schedule, but I hear her talk about wanting to get more sleep. I am sitting up really well by myself and love to play with noisy toys. I love it even more when my sister plays with me. I laugh at her all the time.

I still don't have any teeth yet, but I chew on anything I can get my hands on.

I have quick hands and like to grab anything and everything...hair, paper, plates, earrings, your nose, silverware, food..etc. My favorite toy is my jump-a-roo. I go CRAZY in this thing! My eyes are still deciding what color to turn. I am a mover. When I lie on my belly I love to act like I am flying/swimming and kick my legs and arms. I am LOUD! I have tried some new sounds out and like to hear myself try all the new sounds.

So nice to be home!

We enjoyed a trip Clay got through work, so we couldn't pass it up. We boarded our cruise with 6 other couples and took off through Miami and then traveled to Grand Turk, Half Moon Cay and Nassau in the Bahamas. We had a little rough of a start and the weather was a little overcast and rough waters but we did enjoy having time to ourselves and a little R&R. We did miss the girls terribly and were happy to get home.

Leaving Miami.

We enjoyed a lot of time relaxing and catching up on some good reading.


Our first stop was at Grand Turk. This island was absolutely beautiful! The water was around 4 different shades of blue/green. It was wonderful to see the sun (it had been overcast the 2 days prior) and colorful flowers. We got off of our boat, shopped a little bit and then hopped onto another boat and went out to snorkel. We saw an array of beautiful coral and fish. There was a shark and barracuda that everyone in our group (but us) saw.


Then we went over to another small island and swam with some wild stingrays. We each held one and I (Melanie) kissed one. These pictures were taken with a water camera, so I don't have them. You can see our leader holding a stingray here.

We were unable to stop at Half Moon Cay, Bahamas due to the rough water, so we had another day at sea.

Our last stop was at Nassau, Bahamas. Another overcast day, but we enjoyed the day viewing some historial sites, bargaining at the straw market and some time and drinks at Senor Frogs.

Then off to Miami and home with the girls and our busy life!

Pictures!

I apologize for the delay on posting these pictures. We had Lauren's 4 year and Meredith's 6 month pictures taken. Lauren did wonderful and had a lot of fun posing for the camera. Meredith was tired and did not want to give us any of her beautiful big smiles. But, they still turned out pretty good. I apologize for not being able to turn or edit these, but enjoy. Also a little delayed info from Meredith's 6 month post. When she went to the doctor for her 6 month check up she in the 75% for weight/height...16 lbs 11 oz and 26 1/2 inches.



This was Meredith's attitude...seriously guys..you want me to do what? Smile?

6 months old!

I can't believe that I have already experienced half of my first year of life. The first part of the month was a little rough. I was sick for a little bit and had a little trouble breathing, so I had to get some breathing treatments (which I liked). Thank goodness I have a lot of fat reserves, because I didn't eat as much during that time, but now I am all better and loving life. I am still very particular with everything in life, but I love love love to smile. I like to watch what is going on around me, so I don't sleep much during the day. I am trying to get back on my parent's schedule since I was sick but I still prefer to get up once a night. I still always go to bed at 6-7pm and get up at 4-5am. I love my jump-a-roo and I go CRAZY in that thing. I love to bounce and jump.

I try really hard to sit up, but I move around too much to balance just yet. I can finally roll from my back to belly. I had my first trip to Wyoming and loved it!


I went to my first high school wrestling championships. There were so many people to look at and I just couldn't stop watching. I love to grab anything in my reach...faces, hair, plates, food, toys, my sister, my toes.

I am very happy and get very excited when I see all my favorite people!

My mom thinks I look like I am ready to pounce on someone in this picture.

I had my first baby food just a few hours ago and I LOVED it! I wanted more and more!

We couldn't get enough snow...

here in Iowa, so we decided to drive 700 miles to Papa Rich & Nana Kathy's cabin in Wyoming for more snow. We drove half way on Thursday night and the trip went great. We stayed in North Platte and Lauren had fun swimming at the hotel. Here the girls are just hanging out before we left the next morning.

The drive on Friday morning was great and we didn't run into any snow until the last few miles to the cabin. Here is a picture of the amazing cabin that Papa Rich has built.

Inside the cabin with the girls.

With Papa Rich and Nana Kathy.

On Saturday morning, we decided to take Lauren skiing at the Snowy Range Ski Resort near Centennial, WY (the cabin is only a 25 scenic minutes away). Well.....we all learned our lesson. We can't teach a 4 year old to ski..our 4 year old is very strong willed and wanted us to just let her "do it myself"...so we finally did and she did great. We didn't get any pictures (don't ask) but she did do it by herself 3 times really well. She only went down this run once (this took an hour and many stubborn tears) and then we were all done with one another. She said later that she did have fun and will try next time (when she did try she did really well, the rest was spent throwing a tantrum). Maybe next year.

This is the true picture of Lauren's attempt to ski. Me smiling and Lauren crying.

Papa Rich came to pick Lauren up and take her back to the cabin while Clay and I enjoyed some ski time. I am not good, but enjoyed the time with Clayton. We had good fresh snow and liked the privacy of this resort. We were able to go again on Sunday also. The drive back to the cabin was difficult and we ended up getting stuck and had to dig ourselves out of snow.

Meredith enjoyed the warmth of the cabin.

The rest of the time we just enjoyed in the cabin or playing in the snow. Lauren had a little, okay big vomiting incident due to the altitude but other than that we all loved it. Clay and Lauren playing dominos.

What a wonderful cabin they have built. There is still a little work to be done, but it was amazing to the see the progress since we had been there 2 summers ago. Lauren's favorite part...the bunk beds. She loved sleeping up there. Here are a few views from the loft.


Lauren watching Nana Kathy snow shoeing. "Look Nana is going into the forest!"


Lauren's favorite place to hang out in the cabin. She could see everything from this view.

Enjoying some quiet time with the girls.

The ride home wasn't as pleasant, but let's just end on a good note!