Memorial Day

This holiday weekend was very nice. Despite the severe weather in Iowa and the rest of the mid-west, we enjoyed the weekend. We had some rain and strong winds on Sunday, but just enough to shake the dead branches out of the trees. Monday night is was beautiful outside and we ate supper on the deck and then went down to the pond for a bonfire. It was so peaceful watching the fire and listening to the frogs croak.

"Look Mommy, a tooth!"

I know that is what Rebecca would say if she could. And actually there are two teeth. Both her bottom teeth have popped up with little fuss. They are a little hard to see in the photos because all she wants to do is grab the camera and her tongue and spit bubbles make it hard to see them, but they are there. Our little girl is getting so big and mature! Almost nine months old!"Give mommy a big toothy smile."

"Open wider.""Let mommy see again."

First Mother's Day

My first real Mother's Day was very enjoyable. The weekend as a whole was good also. Here is a quite recap. Saturday morning I hit garage sales again, in Prairie City this time. I went with Rebecca and Dan's mom and sisters. We found some great deals and had fun despite a little rain. In the afternoon the women scrapbooked while Grandma watched the girls. At night, all of Dan's family came over to our house for supper. Sunday we went to our church and then to Dan's parents' for lunch. Rebecca barely slept on Saturday, but gave me a Mother's Day present of a 3 hour nap!

Farming

Since our post is "The farmers" I guess we had better include a few more farming pictures. Earlier in the week Dan helped our friend Scott do some field work and Rebecca and I rode in the tractor for a little while too. This was Rebecca's first tractor ride. She seemed to really enjoy it for a while and took everything in with big eyes. But after about 20 minutes she was ready to get out and play again.These next pictures just give you an idea of how happy Rebecca is at her new found mobility!

This weekend..

...was full of activity. Saturday I went garage sale shopping in Monroe. I had a couple neighborhoods in mind that I found good stuff at last fall and sure enough, I hit the jackpot. I went to two different sales and got all of Rebecca's summer clothes that she'll need and even a few fall clothes. I thought I was done, but on my way out of town I saw one more sale that I thought would have some good stuff and bingo - look at Rebecca's new kitchen set!!Here is one more picture of the basement. We got two new chairs and soon hope to bring the couch from upstairs down, but first we need to find some new stuff for upstairs. For now Rebecca likes the wide open space to practice getting around. She'll really close to crawling! Although trying to crawl is hard work, so sometime you need to relax and chew on a remote.We didn't make it to Pella's Tulip Time, but Sunday before evening church we drove around and took a few pictures.
According to local reports, these last tulips are suppose to be the largest and are very, very rare. They are said to be big enough to hold a quart of water, if they could hold water.

Other things that kept up busy this weekend were Dan hauling manure (aren't you glad I don't have a picture of that :) and we also got a new car to replace Dan's Contour. If you are in the market for a '98 Contour in fair condition make us an offer!

Signs of Spring

Here are a few signs of spring around our house. Those little black spots are the all to familiar Japanese Beetles. Thankfully they are on the window in the garage not in the house - at least not in mass amounts.
Looking past the bugs you can see the grass is green, the trees are budding and the pond is very full from all the April showers.

Here's what the tulip look like in our front yard. And a little green bean fun.

On the Move

Rebecca is on the move. Two weeks ago I took this first picture of her because while I was in the other room she rolled from right by the TV all the way to where she is. I was amazed with her acheivement and took a picture. Now you can't leave her for 1 minute or she will be into something she shouldn't.

Case and point: This past Saturday I took Rebecca into the basement so I could do some touch up paint on the walls. Rebecca happily played in the middle of the room while I did some spot painting. She started to get a little fussy so I thought I would quick close up the paint and bring her upstairs for a nap. I left the room for 1 minute to put the paint away and while I was gone she rolled all the way to the wall, found a wet spot, and stuck her hand in it! I caught her before she touched either herself or the carpet and quickly wiped her hand. That incident and her pulling a house plant over have caused Dan and I to "baby proof" the house a little more.

Here is Rebecca enjoying the finished basement. So much room to play and so little time!

The following are a few videos of Rebecca. The first is of her new found mobility. She loves to roll and flip around in order to get places. It was taken a week ago and I almost feel like it is out of date. She is now getting up on threes (she keeps one leg tucked under her, so she's not quite to all fours :). And last night she started to try and pull herself up by the couch. It's amazing how kids grow and learn so fast!

This next video is of her new found tongue. She discovered that she has control over her tongue and that it is great for blowing bubbles and making funny sounds. She also knows that if she sticks out her tongue mom and dad will laugh and do the same.

And finally, Rebecca and the Bug. Last night she tried very hard to catch the ladybug but thankfully failed. If she had succeeded it probably would have ended up in her mouth.