Visit with Uncle Brian & Aunt Katie

This past weekend my brother and his wife were in town for the week, so we came over to Mom and Dad's for a long weekend. It was so great to see them - I wish they lived closer. I guess I really didn't get that many good pictures, so I hope between their camera and Mom and Dad's there's some good ones.

They arrived very early on Saturday morning - they took the red eye from Seattle and got in to Minneapolis around 6:00. We just kinda hung out Saturday which was nice - we all did a water balloon toss which turned into a water fight. That evening we went to a birthday party for some friends of the family and had fun visiting with friends. Sunday we went to the Uptown art fair and checked out some art, then went to the St. Paul Saints game in the afternoon. We had family over for dinner Sunday evening and played some games outside. Monday we played tennis in the morning - I haven't played in such a long time! What a good workout. Then we went to the Como Zoo - Katie had never been to a zoo before, and thought it was pretty neat. The orangutans were putting on a great show. Tuesday we slept in, had a huge breakfast and played croquet (which I won - by a lot). We didn't want to come home - what a great vacation!

I love Grandpa!

I love Grandma! Look at all my teeth!

Looking at the bee.

She's discovered the bee decoration Mom has hanging in the window. She loves it! Every time we walked in the kitchen, she'd look at it, reach for it, laugh and wiggle with excitement.

Trying to stay cool at the Saints game

There's a butterfly exhibit at the zoo - one landed on Mom's back! It was a really cool exhibit - hundreds of butterflies all around you.

A close up of her friend

The only picture I have of Katie & Brian

Kailee wearing Jocelyn's hat

9 Months

Okay, okay - I know I've been super bad about keeping up with my blog posts lately, and I know how much some of you love looking at cute baby pictures. Sorry! I was told I had until this week to get some new pictures up, so here they are! :)

Well, my baby is now 9 months old, and she doesn't seem like much of a baby anymore. She knows what 'no' means, laughs after she toots, shows off her skills for people she doesn't know, and knows that we think things she does are funny, then proceeds to do them all the time!

She's got the crawling down, and goes especially fast when she sees paper, a dog toy or a dog (the poor dogs - they may spend her toddler years in hiding). How come they love the things they're not supposed to get into? She pulls up on everything, can move from the couch to the coffee table when she's standing, and just tonight started pulling up with just one hand. She also knows how to get back down - I think that only took a few times of getting stuck standing up. She just never stops moving!

She's started a little of the stranger anxiety, and has cried a few times when Calvin's dropped her off at day care. She likes to carry around a toy every day; not the same toy every day, but once she gets one in the morning, that's her favorite for the day. No more teeth yet, but she sure does chew and drool a lot still. She's saying ma-ma now (not to me, but at least I know she's capable of saying it). Still loves to eat, although green veggies are not her favorite anymore. Bummer. Ice cream, however, is quickly moving to the top of her list. If she sees us eating anything, she thinks she needs to try a bite. And she gets quite upset if you don't share.

We have her 9 month checkup on the 31st, with no shots this time! I'll be anxious to see how she's growing - she may be slimming down a little now that she's so active. She's still a chubber though! Enjoy the pictures - I was ready for a nap after taking them!

Here's the first one - a little fuzzy, but her best smile while looking at the camera

This is when it started going downhill - she got the giggles and just wanted to laugh and move!

All she wanted was the sign. I tried bribing her with sunglasses, but she didn't care.

I even tried other paper, but she didn't even care about that!

Laughing at Ellie

Such a goofball!

She just wanted to be done!

Other pictures from this month:

Getting ready to play in her pool for the first time. We had to put it in the front yard so Ellie wouldn't jump in! She really liked the pool and had so much fun.

She loves to splash, but doesn't quite get that it makes water get in your face!

Her favorite place to crawl to and sit - under the table!

Crawling

Here are two videos of Jocelyn crawling. The first one is from last weekend in Neenah, the second one is from yesterday. She's getting braver and better each day! Yikes - now it gets really busy....

8 months

Jocelyn was 8 months old last Friday! It's been a crazy week since then, so these are a little late. She continues to learn new things every day, and she is on her way to crawling! I'll put up some videos in another post - but she's getting faster at it every day. I think she was glad it was cold today so she could wear pants - a little easier on the knees that way. :)

In addition to crawling, she's pulling up on anything taller than she is when she's sitting down, putting everything in her mouth (still - even after 7 teeth are in!), talking (da-da, wa-wa - no ma-ma yet), feeding herself, trying new foods - broccoli and yogurt today, getting better at drinking from a cup, sleeping 10-12 hours in a row, growing (she's up to 19lbs., 11oz.), waving bye-bye, giving kisses when asked for one, laughing, smiling and making her mommy and daddy the proudest, happiest parents around!

Here are some other pictures from this month:

Last weekend we went to Neenah for my mom's high school reunion, and got to spend lots of time with family. My cousin got a dog this summer, and Molly is 3 months old. She was so good with Jocelyn (much calmer than our dogs!) and loved that they could share treats!

Posing in the adorable outfit Grandma made for her

Playing Twister with Kailee

Daily life

Here are pictures of some random things - they were just too cute to not show off!

These are Jocelyn's leggies. Mom found them for her in Door County -

they protect her knees as she's learning to crawl.... :)

This is my new favorite picture of her. She sleeps on her tummy now, and she had just woken up from her nap.

I took the bumper pads off so she wouldn't suffocate, but now her feet and legs get stuck!

She doesn't normally grab for the spoon when she eats, but obviously this time she did! She did pretty good if I put the food on the spoon, she got it to her mouth with most of it still on. I think she more wanted it to chew on (yes, more teeth are coming in).

Kailee's last softball game. The girls improved greatly this year, and she really had a fun time. I was a little worried, as it's fast pitch, and last fall when she tried it out she got pretty frustrated. Her team was all pretty young and inexperienced though, which helped.

She didn't get to score here - the girl batting struck out. Bummer. At least she didn't have to leave third this time to go to the bathroom....

Her last up to bat - she hit a foul ball over the fence and hit a car! I think it was the highlight of her season!

The Cabin

We took our annual trip up to the cabin over the 4th of July with Calvin's whole family. The cabin is a friend's of the Kavanaugh's, and they graciously let us use it every year! It's up in Phillips, WI, where Calvin grew up. We both took vacation time this year, so we were able to be there for 5 days! It was a very relaxing trip; we did a lot of reading, watching episodes of The Office, eating (I'm not eating for the next week), and hanging out. Unfortunately Kailee was only there the first two days, which were also pretty chilly. I didn't go swimming once! Jocelyn did great, and slept wonderfully. She didn't even wake up when they were doing fireworks off the dock. She had so much fun with all her family - she's not used to playing by herself anymore!

Paddle boating to the island - Kailee and Cory went tree climbing.

Trying to warm up after swimming - it was probably only 65 degrees out!

We made homemade vanilla ice cream by rolling that ball around for about 20 minutes - good thing you can buy ice cream in the store!

Watching the parade - the fire trucks were too loud for her, but she seemed to like the horses

Getting ready for her first swim in the lake!

This is the only smiling picture I got of her in the water - she was not impressed. To be fair, it wasn't the warmest water. And we tried playing where it was shallow and warm, but she didn't like the squishy sand in her toes. I was sure she would love it - we'll try again next year!

What a great day to read and relax!

Her first boat ride - that also was not fun. She hated the life jacket, because she couldn't move. The dogs came with, and they were whining at dogs on shore. Then, the motor stopped and Calvin had to paddle us back in!

She learned how to feed herself! She can do the Gerber puffs and Cheerios (she likes them now). She still misses, and it's so funny because it takes her a minute to realize it's not in her mouth, but not still in her hand either.

The whole gang

They had the BEST time!

Ellie, Bella, Maggie, Ginger and Nettie

It's hard to get two dogs and a baby looking in the same direction!