Smiley Baby!

Mara was a happy baby, even though she has a stomach virus, and wanted to show it!

The last picture is of the hat that she came home from the hospital with. It is now her 'skull cap' or as close to one as she will ever come!

Ready for the game

We are dressed and ready for the big game today. Not much else is going on since I am sick and Trav is gone...

Anyway, Mara is doing well. She has some GI problems (no more info is necessary, use your imagination!) so we are going through lots of clothes and stopping her rice cereal for now to see if that is the culprit. She is trying to sit up but tends to tip to the side when she is tired. Otherwise, she is doing wonderful and we are lovin' all the new stuff she likes to do. She can also touch the floor now when she is in her jumperoo!

Mara and psycho duckie, ready for a Twins Win!

What a cutie! Too bad the Badgers lost!

Sitting up the best she can do now. She was quite tired of sitting this morning.

Playing in her jumperoo.

Our little girl!

Twins and Talking

We are lovin' that the Twins are not on TV here...NOT! At least we have the Badgers today. Anyway, Mara is ready for the game, as you can see from her outfit. She is also quite the talker. Trav is convinced she is saying 'Dada' but I think that she is just talking for the fun of it. It doesn't count unless she looks at Trav and says 'Dada', right?

Samara pics

Mara riding and eating her first horse at her eye doctor appt. There were no worries and we don't have to come back!!!


Mara asleep on the plane ride to MN.


Mar-bear and Daddy handing with aviator Snoopy at MSP.


Mar playing with psycho duckie to pass the time on the plane back home.

*The video is of us passing the time with a snack in the cafe before Mara's eye appt. Trav thought I was taking a picture, so he stared at the camera, oblivious to the fact that I was videotaping him. Pay attention to the end, Trav's proud moment.

Vacation

Here are some pics from the islands, in no particular order:


Sunset on our sunset dinner cruise.


Trav and I before the wedding.


Me on the beach.


Trav hiking through Virgin Islands National Park, before we got soaked.


A nasty millipede.


The view from where we went snubaing (cross between snorkeling and scuba, where you use a regulator but the tank is on a raft above you).


Coral World


I touched this shark (just kidding, he is in a tank).


HOTTIE!


Trav, Nick, Kim and I on our sunset cruise. Nick and Kim got married.

We're back! Well, most of us!

We finally arrived back to Racine after an eventful week in MN and abroad. Unfortunately, Trav took off this morning for Sacremento for 10 days =( So it is just Mara and I. I will post some pics from the trip along with some older videos later, tonight hopefully! We had a great time and relaxed while Grandma and Grandpa Swanson and Grandma and Grandpa Vickerman had fun with Mara. Thank you!!! You have no idea how much we appreciate your help!!

The Countdown Begins

First off, every Monday blog has to start with the Badgers: 13-10 over Fresno St. Granted, I couldn't stay up to watch, but the screaming and yelling that came from Trav gave me a clue that it was close and there were some blown calls.

Anyway, 60 hours till be are in the Cities (and Grandma has her hands on Mara) and 79 hours till St. Thomas. But why, can I ask, does Weather.com say it is going to rain all week that were are there? Please Lord, NO!!!

We tried rice cereal again with Mara and she hated it even more this time. So we quite with spooning it to her and put it in her bottle. She is getting quite heavy, as my arms are getting more sore!

First cereal adventure (and other fun stuff)

We tried rice cereal for the first time last night on the advice of my mom. Pretty watered down, like the directions said. It was an adventure: I used her medicine dropper to give it to her just so she could get used to the taste. I really think no explanation is necessary, the pics do her justice:

'I wonder why mommy has me in this seat on the table...'

'What the heck is around my neck?'

'Help! Get it off of me!'

'Hmm, this tastes like my milk, but kinda weird...'

'I HATE IT!'

This video is of Mara trying to sit, but getting mad at me cause I wouldn't rescue her from the evils of sitting (she HATES sitting). Granted, it is only 2 seconds long, but you get the point!

This last pic is Mara's door. Her teacher at school made her the star, Mara made the ice cream cone out of her handprint, and her cousin Kameron made the cute Strawberry Shortcake pictures. Thank you so much, cousin Kam!

Playing with my Toys

Mara has mastered the art of making her gym mat toys sing. Such an achievement! When she moves the ball on the Kittie, it sings to her.

In the first video, Mara is trying hard to get the Kittie to play a tune for her, to no avail.

In the second video, Mara got it to work a few times.

In the last one, she is a master at it now!

Crawling? Or Wishful Thinking...

Here you go. Tell me what you think. Watch Mara's butt and legs carefully. I think that she is wanting to crawl.

Comin' home

Trav is comin' home tonight and I don't think there is any other place he would rather be after the kind of week he has had in Sacramento! Unfortunately, he has to go back next week again, but after that, it is vacation time to the Islands! We are praying for no hurricanes while we are on the beach sipping drinks (or juice drinks for me) and snorkeling, but the way the hurricane season is shaping up, you never know!

I will post some pics later today and a video of Mara trying to crawl. Tuesday we had her MRI and chest X-ray, but we don't know the results yet. Thank God that is over!! Yesterday she had her Birth-3 physical therapy eval and she is completely on track in all areas! They were really pleased to see her rolling so easily and passing her toy from one hand to the other. Yeah! One more item checked off of the list. Monday we go back to the ENT Dr. for a followup and then the following week we have an eye exam.

I think that we are going to surprise Trav at the airport tonight...he he. Otherwise, Mara will be asleep by the time he would get home =)