New Toys

Here is Samara's magnetic board, musical pots and animal radio.

Mara and her alphabets, making a large mess!

Samara telling you a thing or two about her musical pots and how good she is at stacking them inside one another.

Talking again. Such a loud mouth!

Samara and her animal radio. She loves this thing!

This is from tonight. When I got home and checked in on her, I caught her sleeping like this! She is absolutely, hands down, the busiest sleeper I have ever seen! I don't see how she gets any rest!

What a BIG Girl!

Samara is officially done with her nuk (aka pacifier) and bottles. We weaned her off of the pacifier last week (no problems, except daytime naps are a little rough, on me! Cause she whines and cries a bit before going to sleep) and we tried a sippy cup and water at bedtime last night and that went great! Her dentist doesn't want her to have milk at night because it can linger in her mouth and cause cavities. Oh yeah, Mara had her first dental appointment on Friday and did a great job!

Samara had a great time playing and impressing all of Mommy and Daddy's friends during our party on Saturday. She was so friendly and not afraid of anyone! It was great! She also loved her floating ducky in the pool! We also had a community garage sale in our development and Samara got a cool ridealong thingy that lights up and has all sorts of buttons and sounds and a chalkboard/magnetic board that she plays with all the time. Much better for her magnetic alphabets and animals, because they scratched our fridge!

Next up: camping this weekend (hope it isn't too hot!) and maybe potty training next week (Really, potty training only involves sitting on the pot and getting used to it). She is also standing alone and doing a great job at it! We are working on strengthening her ankles because they are very weak and cave in when she stands up. We might try some orthodics, we'll see! I will get some pics up soon, I promise!

Another first

Samara has mastered the art of walking with a walker (her shape stroller). Saturday while we were loungin', watching yet another dramatic episode of Veggie Tales (The Toy that Saved Christmas, no less!), she just stood up with her walker and pushed it and walked behind it. We had been trying to get her to do this since we bought this thing about a month ago, but I guess it is in her timing, not ours!

Cutie Patooty

Samara eating her spaghetti, pears and milk out of her big girl bowl.

Mara wasn't too excited to take a pic because her hair wasn't done.

Mara in her Zoo hat.

Mara not listening and climbing on her chair, backwards.

Another trip to the zoo

Today Samara and I went to the zoo with the kids from the after-school program I run, as a reward to the kids. We had a good time, the weather didn't cooperate but wasn't horrible, and Mara was great. She got to do some fun things this time that she didn't do last time.

We also had lots of fun at home with a box (had to get a new car seat for Daddy's truck). I also had to include some video that you all will enjoy!!

Samara, the happy girl enjoying a cold day at the zoo! She got so much attention, there was no way that she wasn't going to enjoy it! The kids were fighting over who could push the stroller, who could check on her, who could sit by her, who could come with me to the bathroom to change her poopy diaper! RIDICULOUS!

Our carousel ride.

'I'm Stuck!'

'Daddy is playing with my box! No Fair!'

'I'll teach him to play in MY box...down the stairs you go!! Bye bye da da!'

Here is Samara saying 'hi.' Before we could find the camera, she was saying this much clearer and wouldn't stop until we put the camera in her face, then she got shy?!?!?

Pics to prove it

Here are some zoo and picnic pics and Samara brushing her 'toofs' tonight like a big girl!

Mara in her new Zoo hat, because we forgot one at home!

Flamingos!

Mom and Mara and the polar bear (there is a pic just like this with Trav and Mara last year, when she was only 1 month, with the bear, also).

Mara with auntie Jen and Uncle Renard.

Daddy and Mara at the Zoo.

Getting our pic-a-nick all ready.

A slightly scowled face from trying grapes and blueberries for the first time.

Trav, playing it cool with his samich.

Mara's fav park activity, swinging high!

This was Samara in action tonight, getting ready for bed like a big girl is supposed to!

Nothing like a baby playing in the mirror!

Caught in the act, yet again!

New Firsts

Catching everyone up on new firsts:

-Samara brushes her teeth every morn and eve. However, we are super smart- instead of one holding her down and the other brushing, we found strawberry-flavored toothpaste and she loves brushing her teeth now. Granted, we have to do it for her, but we don't have to hold her down! Praise God for the simple things!

-Pack-N-Plays in 3-person tents: At first hearing this sounds cramped and completely uncomfortable, which it was in the Smokies. Horribly cramped. But the pack-n-play enabled Mara to pull herself up more than ever. So, now she pulls herself up all over the house and can be caught trying to walk on her hands, with her legs straight behind her (I have no other way to describe this and no pic, so imagine). Walking is coming very soon!!! (insert sigh here!) It also convinced us to get a bigger tent, which we can't wait to use over July 4th camping!

-Picnicking: We had a great Sunday (we try to keep Sunday's like the Sabbath, with not much work and lots of family time)! We went on a bike ride to a park and had our first picnic. Mara loved eating blueberries, grapes, bread and apple juice while we had a lunch. We then played on the swings and dug holes in the sand. I would have loved to let Mara go crazy in the sand, but we could tell she was tired, so back home it was. I think that we will do this every Sunday now. The simple things in life.

-New Smiles: Again, I will try to catch this on film, but Mara is such a cheeser! We played at the zoo on Saturday with friends and my cousin Amanda, and all everyone could say was how happy Samara is all the time. All she could do was smile and giggle at everyone. But this smile looks very different than before. It seems much more genuine, so we love it!

-Dora: Again, no pics, but Sunday was also Dora la Exploradora day. She wore her Dora dress (from auntie Shelle) to church and we read Dora's ABC's before bedtime last night. Granted she has a hard time listening and prefers to be an explorer, climbing the great mountains of Racine (or, climbing over mom and dad, which appear to be huge mountains!), but there are spans of time where she actually stops and looks at the book, so we'll take that!

-Lots of new foods: Mara has tons of finger foods that she loves now- pears, bananas, waffles, spaghetti (tried that yesteday. She sure had fun dumping her bowl on the kitchen floor! Off to the bathtub!), bread, mangos, avocados, mac-n-cheese (we will try that tonight, but I am sure she will love it, since I *heart* mac-n-cheese!), peas. I have been kinds slow in introducing finger foods because it took her a bit to master the mashing she needs to do with her jaw, plus the fact that she double-fists everything (piles things in her mouth one handful after another!). She is growing up so fast...=( and =)

With the quickness with which the summer goes, I try to take in one great memory every day so the days feel like they are going a little bit slower, otherwise the summer will be gone and I will be saying the same thing everyone else says, 'Man, that went fast'...

On a side note, I just have to post this link. I absolutely love Tobymac (Christian band); have loved his lyrics and passion for Jesus ever since the DC Talk days. He brings an incredible accountability to the importance of having racially diverse relationships and working towards racial reconciliation in the Body of Christ, something my pastor back home is very passionate about. Anyway, this new song with Kirk Franklin and Mandisa (of Idol Season 5 fame) is awesome and I found the video on You Tube. It is along the lines of Matthew West's 'Going Through the Motions,' (you should Google him, too) about how our lives are more than about the here and now but about making our life matter, doing something above and beyond ourselves with our life and, while doing this, not losing our soul to this world but staying true to who Christ made is and what our mission, the Great Commission, is. Check it out...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Duj9sS-mqSo

Smoky Mountains (part deux)

The rocks Trav had to climb to summit Chimney Tops, an incredible tough hike we made, with 1700 ft in elevation gain. I didn't summit it, though. Mara and I stayed back, drank a bottle, and hung out with some red squirrels.

On the way down from Chimney Tops, that is the only reason I look happy.

Trav posing with our happy hiker at the trailhead to the Appalachian Trail. She babbled at everyone she saw on the 3 hour, 6 mile hike. Look close, she is smiling from ear to ear! This baby backpack was absolutely awesome!

On old homestead we saw on a motor nature trail in Cades Cove. Also on this trail, we saw a grouping of bears (mom and babies). Mara and I stayed in the truck while Trav went to take pictures. He must have scared them, because all of a sudden, all the bears took off into the trees. I freaked out and made him come back to the truck to put up the windows. Not too much of an animal person, if you didn't know.

Beautiful sunset in Cades Cove.

Some more beautiful views.

Wildflowers on an off ramp into Asheville, NC.

So I wanted to go to Asheville to see the Biltmore (a 250-room mansion built by George Vanderbilt in the 19th Century, the largest home in the US). Needless to say that the drive took a lot longer than I anticipated- strike 1. The admission price was higher than their website said ($55/ea)- strike 2. When we tried to fine the Pisgah National Forest to do some hiking instead (I do have some smarts NOT to pay $110 to tour a mansion) so the whole day wasn't a loss, we couldn't- strike 3. We turned back and wasted the whole day seeing the interstate and the ticket center at the Biltmore.

So, as soon as we got back to camp, Trav headed out on a late afternoon hike to Jake's Gap. This pose is his Wisconsin 'W'.

Why they are called the Smoky Mountains. This was the view on our way out Sunday morn, when it was raining like crazy. The smoke comes from the abundance of closely grown trees releasing A LOT of carbon that does something and quickly makes the 'smoke.' But also, there are lots of places, summits and high tree areas, where the trees are dead or sparse. The acid rain from the coal plants in the valleys has burned the trees and killed them. The elevation here is no higher than 6600, so there is no tree line (line where trees and most vegetation won't grow due to lack of o2).

Overall, we had a good time and are happy to be home. On the way home we also passed by a Loc outlet (they sell cast iron cooking gear) and a Coleman outlet. We were sucked in and found a new tent and a saucepan. A 3-person tent does NOT work with two adults and a pack-n-play! Well, they had a great 7-person tent on closeout that we couldn't pass up, so we are anxiously planning our next camping trip over July 4th and Labor Day to include our new 'portable house.'

The Smoky Mountains! (part un)

We made it back from our hiking/camping trip to the Smoky Mountains! Trav and I were sooo surprised at how great Samara was and how much fun she had! She was the hit of the trails and every other place we went. Her new thing is to say 'hi' (she mastered that on the ride home today) along with lots of waving (not so new, as most know).

Samara, wide awake and ready to play...at 1am when we got into Indy.

So curious: Mara playing with our morning paper before we head out of Indy to the Smoky Mountains.

Samara and Daddy with a 'sculpture.'

This one is for Rachel: There is something in the tree for you!

Finally There!

Mommy and Mara at our campsite.

The scenery.

Trav and Mara hiking up to Clingman's Dome, the highest point in TN, 6,600 ft.

The observation tower at Clingman's Dome.

Family pic.

The famous Appalachian Trail, from Maine, through the Smokies, to Georgia.


Scenery during a Mommy and Mara hike.

Look at that belly!

Mara having a great time on our hike.

A fireplace, remnants of an old homestead that was here.

One of 8 bears that we saw (at three different times).

Trav being Trav.

Laurel Falls, 80 ft. high, our first hike on Thursday.

Us.

Just one of the amazing views of this incredible Earth that was created for us by God! I have no idea what peaks or valleys this pic is of.