Baby Turned One

My baby is one. She could not be sweeter or cuter. She's nowhere near learning to walk but has started to pull up and can support her own weight briefly. I love that she is growing up a little more slowly than other babies her age so I can enjoy each stage more. She's a delight to watch as she interacts with her big brothers, scoots as fast as she can to greet her daddy or lifts her arms to be picked up by mommy. Her favorite breakfast is yogurt, banana and cheerios. She is also starting to eat pancakes and eggs. For lunch she eats baby food, rice crackers and applesauce. Dinner is sometimes the same or we add in a little bit of whatever we're eating.
We had a great time celebrating her first birthday with everyone on both sides of our family. I decorated in pink and purple with a butterfly theme. It was so fun to be girly!
Lots has been happening in this family in the last two months...my sister in law got engaged and is planning a December wedding...one of my sisters and her family left for the Philippines for two years...my hubby got a new position at work that starts in August...Levi has graduated from Safety Town and moved up to Red Fish in swimming lessons...Ian is finally potty trained...my brother and sister in law gained permanent legal custody of their foster son and they are expecting a new little boy in September...and probably lots more news that I'm forgetting.
This week both Levi and Ian are going to VBS where they are taking an Egyptian adventure. Next week Levi will be going to a day camp at another church while I attend a ladies' Bible study. The following week we are going to a Bible conference for our family vacation and by the time we get back...it will be August! Whew. Can't wait to see what's next.

Summer Review

This summer, with a new baby and all, we never made it anywhere for vacation. So we've been trying to do special things around here, one day at a time. Yesterday we toured the NASA Glenn Visitor Center. I'm glad it occurred to me to visit there because as I was researching our trip I found out it is slated to close at the end of the year. We thought Levi would love seeing the rockets and all things astronomical but it turns out he's an even bigger fraidy cat than we thought. He was even scared during the astronaut movie which he was only able to watch securely anchored to daddy's lap. We wondered around the exhibits for about an hour, viewed the 20-minute movie and then bought freeze-dried ice cream as a treat. After that we ate our picnic lunch in a pavilion at the Metroparks during a light rain.

Last weekend we visited the Lake Erie Nature & Science Center in nearby Bay Village. A great day weatherwise, the boys thoroughly enjoyed inspecting the outdoor grounds and meeting the animals inside. We even played in Critter Corner for a while. We wanted to view the planetarium show but Ian wasn't old enough to go so we'll save that for another time. The science center offers educational programs throughout the year which I'd like to take advantage of. They even hold a pre-school that I was considering for Levi but the $15 per hour rate is a bit hefty for us.

Good-bye Summer

The whole family is feeling well--praise the Lord. This is our last week of summer break before Nate's school starts. We haven't gone on too many outings due to the big vacation in July. Mostly we've just been going to the park or taking walks in the evenings. It still seems special to sit in our own backyard or the big easy chair in front of the large tv that we've never had before. I've enjoyed watching the Olympics every night but Nathan doesn't usually watch because of the womens' skimpy outfits. Even during the men's events many inappropriate commercials make us both uncomfortable. I'm looking forward to celebrating my hubby's 30th birthday on September 5. I'm trying to work out a few surprises...we'll see how it goes. The next big event will be a week apart in mid-Septemeber when Nathan attends a conference in St. Louis. I hope to tackle a couple of projects in the evenings while he's gone and the kids are in bed.