back home

we are back home and not enjoying the heat. i think i could have stayed in detroit lakes, however, not through the winter. joshua has mentioned holing up there so he can get some work done but i am not certain that would be the best thing for the baby and me. plans were made for thanksgiving with the montgomerys this year. that also means a first birthday party for audrey in milwaukee. i assume we will go to tulsa for christmas. more later, audrey wants to go to the farmers market.

Audrey, Destroyer of Worlds

One day a baby alien named Audrey traveled with her parents on vacation. This little alien did not like to sit still so her parents had to travel while she slept. When she awoke Audrey was very happy to see a strange life form called a cat. The cat was not happy to see the baby alien. During the vacation the little alien tried her best to make friends with the cat, to no avail. She also spent time with her grandparents. Grandma taught little Audrey how to play with the interlocking blocks. They played a game called "Push and Pull." Audrey enjoyed this game so much that whenever she was given blocks she would quickly pull them all apart. She played this game so often her father took to calling her "Audrey, Destroyer of Worlds."

Grandmas house

Grandma can make anything work. This is baby's high chair at the
cabin. Notice the tarp.

Cat

Playing with the cat.

New duds

Grandma dressed baby.

Crawling

Grandma is teaching baby to crawl.

a fairy tale, act one

cinderella, cinderella, why do you scrub those floors?
--why, to remove the baby food of course. where are those pesky mice when there is work to be done?
why must you work on bended knee?
--because the mop is not effective if you do not get to a dropped food immediately.
must the baby eat in such a messy fashion?
--apparently she has an independent streak she acquired from one of her parents.
maybe someday you will meet a nice cleaning lady to relieve you of your duties and you too can leave the house.
--i would love to meet such a charming lady.

Smile

You can almost see her teeth

Call in the guard

Breaking News-- Lawrence, Kansas
A state of emergency has been declared for the Adair household of Lawrence, Kansas. The National Guard has been called in the set up a perimeter to keep unsuspecting bystanders out. According to reports the floor of the kitchen has not been seen in some time, maybe as long as a week. Applying water to the afflicted area has made little impact on the situation. It is rumored that the baby terrorist Audrey is to blame. A spokesperson for the baby had this to say: "Audrey says it was her mother's fault and not hers. Apparently her mother gave her watermelon and mango for lunch." The baby herself could not be reached for comment. According to sources she was taking a relaxing soak to remove the sticky residue. Unsubstantiated reports indicate that if the situation is not resolved soon the Centers for Disease Control may step in. The CDC is confident that if called in it could help alleviate the problem with quarantine and containment. A search and rescue team is scheduled for tonight, after the baby is asleep. Stay tuned for updates.

rip bob

august 11th marks the first anniversary of the death of my father. he is still missed. instead of falling into a pit of despair it was recommended by my friends that i create a positive focus for the day. to that end i am posting some happy pictures. he was taken from us too soon and so suddenly that it is hard to realize even now, a year later. life still goes on but it is a little different without him. audrey is 8 months old now and lee is getting married in a few months. we just wanted him to be with us a little longer.

there will be more to come today.

still here

yes i know, its been a few days. no i have no excuse. but i am working on something. it will be up on monday. have patience.

evolution of audrey

almost crawling

i am working on a quilt for my brother and one for my sister as well. it has been a very productive week already and if i continue we will have the house ready for crawling in no time. i repotted some plants into hanging pots, moved the low pictures to a higher area, took the shredder and a stool to the basement and now i am working on a little cover for the bookshelves. joshua is going to bolt the bookcases to the wall and i am going to make sheers for the front on pressure rods so that she has a hard time removing the books. i am hoping this will keep me sane during the day when she starts to crawl. i also need to make a drawer for her in the kitchen. she is starting to move on her own but does not have the full crawling action down yet.

New bath

Baby found a new place to bathe.

Lunch

She is learning to feed herself.

same as it ever was

another saturday at the farmers market. peaches are in and baby loved them. she also got to pet her fair share of dogs, as usual. i saw a few mommies i know and talked to the master gardeners about our chigger problem. all-in-all a fine start to the day. we are waiting for baby to wake up so we can go out for breakfast with joshua's brother and sister-in-law. they are in town for a wedding and are staying with us. it is nice to have relatives to play with the baby. we are also watching the dog and cat next door while the neighbors vacation in england for three weeks. this amuses baby to no end because she loves the neighbors dog. that updates you on the last couple of days. nothing new here. baby is working on crawling and i am sure i will have a video up when it happens. even with the heat we have been getting out more and doing more. we went swimming, to the library, made cookies, cleaned the basement, and went shopping with larissa. i also finished the quilting of my brother's t-shirt quilt and am now ready to add the binding. then i am going to finish the sit-upon for a swap and start on joshua's t-shirt quilt. i am also thinking about making a memory quilt for my sister using photographs.

jumper

i just think this is funny

all quite on the western front

we have been busy. really, that's my excuse. ok, the baby has been busy and i am just along for the ride. she started making consonant sounds recently and now they are turning into regular baby talk. she will be saying 'dada' before too long. today she played in the kitchen while i made vichyssoise and chocolate chip cookies. she helped a little with the cookies. i even let her have some vichyssoise for lunch, we ate it warm though, instead of cold. the house is a mess but we are both happy. she stayed awake for 4 hours in the morning and 3 1/2 in the afternoon. this means no third nap and possibly more sleep during the night. we will see. she has been waking at 6 or 6:30 for a week or so and i am tired of it. so i decided to see what we could do.
last night we went to kc for dinner with joshua's cousins and brother. the girls loved audrey and she loved them. however, every time she was placed in jacob's lap she screamed. i even gave him bread to bribe her with. we will have to work something out while he is here to get her used to him. his wife, lisa, will be here later today for a wedding this weekend. everyone loves audrey and they are staying with us just to see her. that means tomorrow i will have to clean.

Moving

Baby is getting around on her own.

a new discovery

joshua is reading gertrude mcfuzz to baby. she got ready for bed early so he deemed it time for a long story. normally she gets goodnight moon and tucked into bed. that is after the fish is fed. i am glad he is reading to her as she was literally climbing up me for the last hour. she screamed on an off all through dinner. it was an interesting day. we went to the gym, 11:31 for my mile today, and then i kept running for another quarter mile. then we came home to have a fun conversation about finances with joshua (did i mention how fun that was?) and after a trip to the indoor pool for an hour. baby actually liked it for a change. we may start going on a more regular basis. when she woke up from her last nap she screamed at me regardless of what i did. i am tired today. and joshua let me sleep in so i should be in a good mood. also, baby discovered gravity.