To: Uncle Erik

Dear Uncle Erik,

This is a post just for you. (Well, other people will probably look at it, but the pictures were taken just for you.) One I am in my totally sweet MSU bib before I ate cereal one day. The other picture is from today. My mom told me that you were tired of seeing me in orange, looking like a boy. Well, today she put me in a pink onesie and purple pants. Is that girlie enough for you? I look pretty good in pink. Makes my hair look really red.

Can't wait to see you in two weeks in Missoula! Go Cats!

Love,
Etta

Sleeping Beauty

For the longest time Etta always slept like this...



Then one day I went into her room and low and behold...



So then I was able to get a few more "alternative" sleeping shots...

Green . . . beans?

After highly enjoying rice cereal and oatmeal for a month Etta did not respond to green beans quite the way that I thought she would. After studying them for a few minutes, feeling them, looking at them, getting a taste in her mouth, she decided with the first spoonful that she was NOT interested. To the point of throwing them up! I felt really badly, but knew that she wasn't hurt. I did not make her choke down the rest that day. Scraped up a bit to kind of mix in with the rice cereal helping that I made to finish the meal. Tuesday I did two parts rice cereal:one part beans, Wednesday was equal parts and today will be two to one with beans being the main thing. It can take more than a few times to get kids to eat something. I'm not discouraged!

[To those mothers out there thinking, "She should have started with orange vegetables". "She should have started with fruit." "She should have..." Thanks for the advice. Everybody is different. And since Etta gained 9 oz last week(!) I think that we'll be okay in the long run.]

These pictures don't really do the whole thing justice. But when your baby is literally throwing up the last thing on your mind is getting a good picture!

Hmmmmmmmm, what is this?



It looks like poop!



I let it touch my lips mom. That's as far as it goes.

Fall: Bumbo Style

Decided to rake up some of the leaves today as it is supposed to rain the rest of the week. And what a better way to include the baby than setting her up in her Bumbo in the middle of it all? She loved being in the leaf piles, grabbing the leaves, shifting the leaves, eating the leaves...I tried to stay close so I don't think that she got any actual bites.







And this happy Bumbo picture is from just before going on our walk the other day. Etta absolutely loves being outside. I hope that I can maintain enough energy to let her grow with that love. Healthy habits = healthy life!

Fall: A baby's eye view

Yesterday we took a nice fall walk in the beautiful sunshine. I tried to get some different pictures of what Etta sees - when she is in the front pack. Made it a little difficult to get a couple. Hope that you enjoy them all!

Roto-Rooter to the rescue

Last Monday night I needed to do a load of whites because we were quickly running out of burp rags. In goes the load. We settled in to feed the baby and watch a little TV. Suddenly the toilet starts making strange bubbling noises. We weren't really sure what the deal was. I casually mentioned to Bob that he may want to go check the drain next to the washer in case of "flooding". In he goes, and out he comes with a frown and a grumble. Next he checked the shower. Sure enough, water was coming up through the shower too. Great! How much fun is this going to be? He got everything cleaned up and called to leave a message for Roto-Rooter.

The next morning I got a call from the company. "Um, can it wait until tomorrow?" Uh, yeah, I guess. I was pretty much caught up on laundry and we don't HAVE to run the dishwasher on Tuesday...So sometime between 9:00-11:00 on Wednesday a guy was going to come by and check things out. I rushed home from choir practice so that by some off chance he happened to show up at 9:00 I wouldn't miss him.

He got here at 10:00. Started checking things out. Apparently we don't have a "clean out" valve or something so he was going to try a roof vent snake. Um, okay. Amazingly enough Etta slept through the ladder being slammed against the roof - right outside of her window - and the whole snake contraption being run - right outside of her window. What finally woke her up? When they STOPPED to come in to tell me that that wasn't going to work and that they were going to have to take the toilet off...

So after two and a half hours...all in all the guy was super nice, worked as fast as he possibly could, and cleaned up after himself. The whole situation could have been MUCH worse. We were actually truly blessed with the entire situation.

Enjoy a few shots from our adventure of the week...

Race Day

Yesterday I participated in my first "race" since before I got pregnant. I was pretty apprehensive about the whole thing for some reason. Probably due to the fact that even though I have been training a bit I am not anywhere near in the same physical condition that I was pre-pregnancy. But with Christine by my side cheering me on I finished the 4.65 miles strong. (Well, if you look closely I did not finish as strong as Christine...) Etta was sleeping in the car when we first arrived and registered. I was afraid that she would continue to sleep and would miss out on being in her first race. But while we were waiting to start she woke up and daddy quickly got her bundled up and to the start line. Thanks Bob! She slept most of the time as she does during our morning runs. It was a great time and I'm glad that I did it. Thanks Christine for being the support that I needed. On to Missoula!

Waiting to start



Ready, set, GO!



The final stretch. (Check it up close. A look of someone who has been training and someone who obviously has not!)



I'm pooped. Take me home, Bob.