Random-ness....

I have decided that I am NOT a good blogger - I always put it off! But, I L.O.V.E. reading everyone's blogs and know people enjoy ours...so here is a bunch of RANDOM pictures from the last two weeks.

Elle had a friend come visit for the weekend. Chloe and Cami - Chloe and I have been BFF's since Preschool/Kindergarten. We did everything together as kids and I love that we stay in touch. Chloe and I are only 8 days apart - Cami and Elle are only one month apart! It is so neat that we have girls the same age.

We took a HOT walk over to visit the goats. The mommy goat just had babies, and they are (surprisingly) cute! Yes, I live in city limits, but there is a little ranch across the street with goats and a horse. It is the neighborhood's "main attraction" with the kids!

Elle and Cami enjoyed "watching TV" in Elle's crib. Okay, it isn't a TV, it is the fishy sound machine where the same 10 fish swim past every 5 seconds! Elle looks thrilled to have someone else in her crib doesn't she?!?

It never failed, Cami and Elle would trade sippy cups. Chloe would hand Cami hers, I would hand Elle hers and then they would trade. At least they were keeping hydrated in the heat! :)

We spent some time outside, it was SO HOT that weekend, our time was limited and usually involved water! The next picture is classic, something you would see on a Noah's Arch billboard! We put Elle's slide into the pool...Elle was super excited....and this is what her first (and only) trip down the slide looked like! BAHAHAHA Luckily, she did NOT hit her head, she did NOT cry, but she was done swimming for the day! :)

Elle and Cami even took a bath together. Just capturing another photo for Elle's graduation!!! Cami was trying to teach Elle that you SIT in the bath tub, thanks for the lesson Cami. She still insists on standing...urgh.

What do you do try escape the heat? Go play at the mall, of course. We met our neighbors at the mall one afternoon. I have learned from a few wise mother's before me - don't put $$ in the rides, just let them climb and pretend. Elle thought it was great! :)

We weren't the only one's who had this idea, the mall toys were packed! It took Elle a little while to warm up, she sat on this tree stump for about 15 minutes watching all of the other kids.

We finished swimming lessons and on our last day of lessons, we met up with some other mom's and kids. Surprisingly, we are all teachers and we all have girls ranging 1-2 - Elle being the youngest. Claire, Elle, Danaka, and Ellie - it was a busy morning at the park!

Elle continues to enjoy the water, she loves being on her tummy floating - we are still working on being on our back...

We helped Finley celebrate his golden birthday! He was one lucky boy - a real fire truck came to his house! Firefighter Elle!

It has been a summer of BIG house projects. This past weekend, we roofed the house (we as in Dave, Papa Bill, Uncle Adam, Grandpa, and Patrick, I stayed in the house and cooked)! It was a big job and if it wasn't for the HEAT and RAIN, we would have been done Saturday evening. It is now complete and looks great! Thank you EVERYONE who helped and a big thanks to the Sullivan family! Let me know when we can watch the kids! ;)

Elle had her one year check up. She is a healthy baby girl weighing in at 20.5lbs. (50%)and 29 inches long (50%). She did have to get 4 nasty shots - but she did remarkably well.

After being told she was a healthy girl, Elle came down with strep throat. Who knew a one year old could get strep. She was running a low grade fever for three days, so I decided to take her in and see if it was something else (besides her teeth). Sure enough, she had strep and was put on antibiotics. We have been so fortunate to have such a healthy baby, this is her first 'illness" - not even a runny nose before this!! She is back to her happy, healthy little self!

What does our one year do these days:

• LOVES to read books - The Wheels on the Bus, Farm Book, Dogs, Eight Silly Monkeys, How Big?
• LOVES to play with her babies - feed them, kiss them, push them in her stroller or high chair.
• LOVES to play outside - swing, slide, play in the sand, swim, play with the hose, I could go on!
• LOVES to talk on the phone.
  
• Do anything you are doing.
• She is still kind of a picky eater, but is getting better; Here are a few things we KNOW she will eat: grilled cheese, hot dogs, mac-n-cheese, pickles, pineapple, peaches, pears, fruit cocktail, toast, waffles, yogurt, chicken, any kind of cracker, and cookies (who doesn't).
• NO more bottles! She drinks from a sippy cup - even before bed!
• NO more formula! She drinks 1% milk. That was question for the Dr. - she got REALLY gassy and wouldn't drink whole milk. Our Dr. said it might be to fatty for her little tummy to digest, and to try whatever we had in the house.
• She is saying a few words: mommy, daddy, baby.
  
• She can sign: more and all done.
  
• She has transitioned to ONE nap a day. Aprrox. 1pm -3pm
• Bedtime is at 8pm and she will normally sleep until about 8am! 12 hours, lovely!
  

We are packing all of our "gear" and heading to the County of Door this week. Our families annual camping trip! We are soooo excited! Our next post will be of vacation!

Thanks for checking in and sorry for the untimely-ness (I don't thing that is a word) of my posts.