Time to Baby-Proof

Reed is now 4 months old, he has his checkup on Thursday so I will give his stats then. He is now rolling from his back to his stomach so he is officially mobile. Rick weighed him this morning and the unofficial number is 17 pounds. For those of you not familiar with babies, this is very large. He is wearing 6-9 month tops now and all his sleep sacks are too short. We got out the exersaucer today and Reed was a big fan...Millie too. He was pushing the buttons and chewing on the little toys. He was not able to spin himself around but I am sure it will not be too much longer.

Last night our church had their annual Hoe Down and Millie was very excited. She has been the past 2 years and when she heard them announce it in church last week, she yelled "Hoe Down? I need a hat!". Rick took her out yesterday while I was at a baby shower and got her one. He said he decided against the $800 ones in the glass case and settled on a lesser priced pink one that Millie liked. She had a blast dancing with Lindsey and Maddy and I think her new favorite dance is the Chicken Dance. She also really enjoyed the 2 little girls who did a clogging routine while we were eating. She wanted to go out in the car and get her tap shoes but I convinced her that those girls had been practicing longer than she had so they were allowed to have their 'tap' shoes on.

Chair to Crib

Rocking a baby to sleep is easy. Getting said baby from chair to crib should be an Olympic event. There are about 100 maneuvers that one must make for this seemingly easy task to be successful.

Move arms as to not drop baby
Stand up
Stop and bounce
Step
Bounce
Step
Bounce
Begin to rotate baby
Step
Bounce
Rotate
Bounce
Rotate a little more
Lift baby slightly to clear bed rail
Rotate
Bounce
Lower Baby
Stop
Lower Baby
Lay Baby down
Stop
Remove hands one finger at a time
Release arms
Stand up
Cover baby quickly so they don't feel temperature change
Baby moves!
Crap!
Place hand on Baby's back
Remove hand 1 finger at a time
Step away from crib
Walk across room
Slowly close door

All of this is done while praying the baby stays asleep long enough for you to use the bathroom and blog. However, I hear crying so I must go and repeat the above steps again and add a few more bounces I guess.

Playing Catch Up

I have been gone for a few days due to the election but I am back now and ready to get blogging again. Rick had fun with the kids for 5 days by himself and I got a nice break while I was in Indiana. I have decided Rick is super dad or else he is just trying to make me feel really bad. When I came back, he had the house spotless, a bunch of errands done and the fridge stocked with groceries and leftovers, he even cooked. And, the kids were happy and seemed to be well cared for. I never clean, cook or go to the grocery when I am here with the kids but now he has made me realize it is possible so maybe I should try a little harder. So today I had a major goal...I made the bed. Baby steps!

On to other things, I got Millie a Christmas present while I was in Indiana, but after I was back for about an hour, I had to give it to her, I was just too excited. I found the perfect gift. Perfect in every way: it was cheap (only $10), it was not a toy, it would help her sleep all night, and she would think it was the most wonderful thing she has ever seen. She is now asking to take naps in her bed and even went to bed at 7pm the other night (she usually does not go to bed until 9pm).


A tent for her bed, not just any tent, but a Lighting McQueen tent. She loves Lighting McQueen right now and was very happy with this gift. I always wanted one of these when I was a kid. My cousin Danny had one and I was very jealous of him and his tent, what a punk. But now I had the chance to give Millie the gift I had always wanted and I was so happy she liked it because I don't think Rick would have appreciated me putting it on our bed.

Kickboxing

Reed has been working on his kickboxing skills lately. His loves to lay on his back and just kick, he does it probably 5 hours a day.

Happy Halloween

I thought I should do this a little early since I am leaving in the morning for Indiana and still have not packed/unpacked or done laundry since my trip last week. So this is a picture from last weekend when our Church had a little Halloween party. My neighbor gave us the little pumpkin outfit for Reed and Millie loves her Ladybug costume we got from a friend (I really lucked out this year!). What could be better for Millie than a Ladybug, if you remember her birthday, it was perfect. This Halloween should be fun because Millie is figuring out what it is all about. She was running around the house this morning yelling "Happy Halloween". She was even practicing on Wednesday with some of her friends dressing up and Trick-Or-Treating and saying "Thank You" when she got pretend treats.

Kelly Marsh Photography - How am I supposed to pick?

While we were home, my friend Kelly came to the farm and took pictures of my family. She did a great job. If you are in the Floyd Knobs area and would like photos, give Kelly a call, she is just starting her photography business and wants to build her portfolio.









Click Here to view all the photos.

We're Back

2 weeks is a long time when you travel with a baby and your 3 year old takes over your bedroom because you don't want the baby waking up the 3 year old, or maybe the other way around. Anyway, I always love going home but these 2 weeks were crazy with the election coming up. Mom is super busy so she was not home a lot and dad had tree buyers working for about 7 days straight buying trees that blew over in the hurricane/wind storm.

This was one of the trees dad could not sell because it was split too bad. It was kind of neat sitting in the house listening to the saws and then hearing the trees fall. Dad sold a few ash trees while the buyers were there because of the Ash Bore. One of these 'interesting' creatures was found in Floyd County so all the Ash trees in Floyd County are being quarantined at the end of the month and can no longer be sold and transported out of the county to prevent the transport of the bore. So, dad sold the trees while he could and before they died from the bore. (There, now you learned something new today...)

There are our 2 future farmers, how cute.

I like how dad tries to pretend I am not there taking a picture. This is after I told him to stop driving so I could get out and take pictures and I said "Dad, look at me and smile..." He is funny, he gripes and complains about having his picture taken but he loves seeing pictures of himself:-)

Millie loves to ride on the tractors when we go to mom and dad's. We used the tractors as potty training tools with her and Jacob and told them they could not ride on the tractors until they were potty trained, it works like a charm.

One night mom and dad's good friends had a party where the kids got t0 paint pumpkins. They had a blast even though their pumpkins did not win.

Millie enjoyed playing on the trailer with the big pumpkins.

They both enjoyed jumping off the trailer, I am surprised they did not end up getting hurt.

There was also a wedding while we were home and of course, Harvest Homecoming. That is the largest festival in Indiana after Indy 500 celebrations. I got to meet up with some of my high school friends and we had a great time hanging out again. I had not seen some of them since graduation 12 years ago!

I think that sums up my last 2 weeks. I will be heading that way in 2 more weeks to be home for the election. 11 more days until election day, make sure you vote for Bette!

Camping Trip

Rick really wants to take Millie camping in the Smokies. They have had several dry runs sleeping in the tent but so far, it has only been set up on the bonus room. This weekend, they took their camping adventures outside for the first time. I was a little worried because it got down to 47 degrees and I figured Millie would get cold for sure. And, with the trains that go by every 15 minutes, sirens, and all the neighborhood dogs, I figured she would never sleep. Well, she proved me wrong and now that she has spent all night, outside, in the tent, we think she will probably be ok going on a real camping trip with Rick.


As they enjoyed their adventure sleeping outside, I enjoyed a nice night of sleep with the bed all to myself. Until Mr. Reed decided to wake me up at 3 am. Oh well, I still had the bed all to myself so I can't complain.

Hot Air Balloons

This is a little late but we all went to the Hot Air Balloon Festival last weekend. We loved it last year, it was great weather and I got some beautiful pictures, but we went during the day. This year, I wanted to go at night to see the "Glow".

Millie was tall enough this year to ride in one so we were prepared for that. We were very disappointed when we got there. It was too windy so they were not doing the rides. Millie was not happy at all but she finally got over it.

Then, they told us they were not sure they were going to do the Glow because there was a small shower coming our way and I guess it is not good for the balloons to get wet and then be rolled up and put away because mildew and mold can grow. My thought was they are all getting them out again tomorrow for the race so I don't think they will mold over night. But, it is not my $20,000 balloon so I guess I have a different point of view. Even though rain was on they way, several of them went ahead and got out the balloons and did a little glow for us anyway.

The Pellissippi State Balloon even raised off the ground a little and hung an American Flag from the basket during the National Anthem, it was pretty neat. I would have liked to get a picture of that for you but I was feeding Reed at the time. I asked him kindly if he would please stop eating for a little so I could put him down and take a picture but he just started crying, what a baby...

Rick and Reed look a little confused in that picture, it may because it was pitch dark when I took it and I blinded them both.

7 Things

Nicole sent me this, thanks...It was a lot of work! So, here are 7 random things about me:

1)I am a licensed Civil Engineer in the state of Indiana but I neither work as an Engineer or live in Indiana.

2)Public bathrooms freak me out and I have a major fear of taking showers any place other than my shower or my mom's house. That is why it is so expensive for me to travel, I have to stay in a 5 star hotel for fear of the shower. I would rather be dirty and not shower then get in a less than perfectly clean shower, however, my own dirty shower does not bother me.

3)I usually don't eat the last bite of a sandwich. I don't know why and I don't know if there is a cure for this problem.

4)I usually set nice goals of cleaning the house, doing something creative with a new card or album but use the computer as an excuse for seeming busy and doing none of this. Hmmm...like right now.

5) I would rather be in Floyd Knobs on the farm over anywhere else. Especially in the Fall.

6)I cherish, crave, need alone time more than anything else.

7)I can not spell to save my life, I am horrible, really, I am. I will ask Rick how to spell something and he will say "Sound it out". Honey, if I could sound it out, I wouldn't be asking. I am 30, if I have not learned to spell by now, I never will and don't try to teach me, just tell me how to spell it. He is finally figuring this out.

I hope that is random enough for everyone. If I had more time, maybe I would think of more clever things but I am busy, I have to clean and do something creative with a new card or album...

So, tag kiddos, you are it! I hope I got all my links right... Rachel, Chris and Randy, Jessica B., Kelly, Nicole H. Karen B., and Ashley.