Baseball & Birthday Cake

Go 'Stros! I'd like to thank you boys for winning the game today. It was fun.

Now on to the good stuff. First Birthday pictures. These were taken this morning before formula, breakfast and lunch were added to the design on her shirt:


I took cupcakes up to school for her class to eat after lunch. Here's Queen Laney presiding over her birthday party:
Noshing on some cupcake.
I enjoyed it. But I feel kind of bad for her teacher, Miss Maggie. She had to sweep up most of 4 cupcakes off the floor and try to put 4 sugared up babies down for a nap after I left. And I upset Elena when I left without her.

Finally, the birthday dinner. I asked Elena what she wanted and she said Chef Boyardee. Okay, she didn't. But as you can see, she would have:
One year ago today my baby was yellow. (She had infant jaundice) Now she's orange, or she was. She left an orange ring around the bathtub, people! Not kidding. So no more birthday. Until tomorrow when my parents get here. And then it's over. Until Sunday, when have the real party. And then I think we're done. I hope.

Finally, a note on the last post. Apparently, day one was hard on one of the bears. Laney was not the only victim. But there have been no more biting incidents. Seeing the kids together today, they seem to be getting along great.

The 8th Grader & The Bear

Big day for both the girls - so we dressed appropriately
Elena joined a new class at day care today - the Bears. Each class has an animal designation and the Walkers class is the bears.
Kathryn started the 8th grade and they pretty much act like monkeys. You know "Monkey See, Monkey Do. . ." I kid. Actually, she wore this because it was one of the new shirts Katy and Tara bought her while we were in Georgia.
Kat was ready to go, not a worry about eight grade was apparent. The bus was late because it's a brand new driver. She enjoyed her first day of school - except for the math test! She's in the Honor (highest) Band and Art 1. Rob and I just finished all of our homework. Man, there's a lot of forms to sign and checks to write.
I worried a bit about Elena adjusting to her new class. On our way in to day care we ran into Elena's teacher from her previous class (of all of 3 days ago). She immediately leaned over for Ms. Anne to hold her. I took advantage of the moment and took a pic. But when I tried to take Elena back she was having none of it. Ms. Anne had to walk us to Laney's new class. I was afraid she'd get upset when Anne left, but once she was on the floor with the toys and one of her classmates that was promoted with her she was fine. Thank goodness.

The Bears class is different from the Bunnies (crawlers). They don't have cribs, they nap on mats - at a scheduled time (eek!) and they eat at a table rather than in high chairs. Oh, and apparently they bite. Someone bit Laney on the right leg today. I understand this happens at this age and I am not upset (kind of happy Laney was the bitee and not the biter) but what a first day!

Stepping out!

It loaded! Last night I waited almost a half hour to load a video using the new Blogger feature and nothing ever happened. I eventually shut down - hopefully that explains my amazing disappearing comments on some peoples blogs.

Anyway to the subject of the post - Look what Laney can do! We shot this last night and she has gotten so much better in the last 24 hours. We've had quite an exciting couple of weeks while I've been barely posting. She's gone from standing and cruising with extreme speed to taking small steps to taking about 5 steps at a go. She's still not ultra confident, but she's getting there.

I also haven't bought baby food in a couple of weeks - she's been eating the day care lunches most every day and either what we're having for dinner or the occasional Chef Boyardee. And there is no question that she's learning - she can assist us with getting out of her car seat, she recognizes her favorite toys and the apple juice bottle, it's a remarkable time around here. She's also learned to play peek a boo - which basically entails putting both hands somewhere on her head, pulling them away real fast and then laughing.

It's also a big time for Kathryn - she starts 8th grade tomorrow. Wow! It still blows my mind how fast time has passed. Here's my oh-so-mature teenager and her dad after a dinner of homemade corn dogs Thursday (he's a bull, she's a walrus):

We had a quiet weekend at home. I have been so lapse at posting I thought I'd share a few in addition to the video:

Laney plays in her house for the first time since my parents brought it here in June

Before and after shots of the Rory-dog. She had her quarterly hair cut and style this weekend.

Hanging out in her rocker. She's learned to climb in and out of this chair and now insists on doing it herself:
Hope you all have a great week!

Happy birthday to me

Today's my birthday, so I'm doing the obvious - posting pictures of my baby. We had a pretty normal day (running errands, hanging out at the house) with a nice lunch out at Red Lobster. Laney had her first restraunt food today, she ate the seasonal vegetables side and loved the summer squash! Then we went to the mall (which was nuts thanks to the Sales Tax Holiday) and got Kat new glasses & jeans.

This evening we all partook of my birthday cake - Poppyseed Cake - it's a pudding bundt cake with no frosting and quite popular with the short set, so I thought Laney would like it. In fact the first time my mom made it many many years ago, I apparently looked up from my piece and said, "This is good, Mommy!" and she knew the recipe was a keeper.

"This is good, Mommy . . .
"And it looks good in my hair and down my onesie.
"So good, I'm gonna clap."

The first cake experience went well. Twelve days until frosting!

Hanging out in the big chair

A little trip back in time:

Wednesday night:
Late January:
New Year's Day:
September 30th
Rob took the first pick earlier this week and I thought it demonstrated so well how our girls have grown.

Random comments from my crazy world

2 days and counting
8 cases left to file (out of around 50)
There's a light at the end of the tunnel . . . hopefully it's not a train
My cold's almost gone, too.

Oh, and cool announcement at work - as a bonus for all the hard work (in addition to free pizza for lunch tomorrow) we're going to a baseball game during work hours in 2 weeks! I love free baseball. Even if the Astros can't seem to get themselves out of this slump.

Finally, I'm a little blown away that my daughter is 11 1/2 months old! And Evan is 8 months and Derrick is 6 months. Time is flying . . . And it's been pretty fun.

A visit from Marilyn

Saturday my godmother, Marilyn was in town and she came by to meet Elena and take the fam to lunch. I really hope my girls have a as wonderful and durable a relationship with their godmothers as I have with Marilyn.
Elena and her Mimi (that's what Marilyn wants to be called)
Me and Elena at the Olive Garden
Kat and Rob
Laney's newest skill - walking while holding only one hand.
This is the best picture I have of the onesie - it says "I'm the little sister". How cute is that?

PFFFFFFFFFFFFFFT!

That about sums up the last two days and the next 10.

Mr Mom

There was a story on the news this morning about the fact that more and more men are staying home to help out with the kids. I know a several of my readers have hubbies who watch the munchkins during the day sometimes due to their non-traditional schedules.

Well, I've been working more and more late hours, so Rob's been doing more than his part to help out. Last night I left work at 7 PM and came home to the best sight ever - Laney crawling around the corner into the kitchen with a GIGANTIC grin to greet me.

She'd had a some Beefaroni for dinner, since I didn't make home in time for the family to eat together. Rob knows I love a picture of my daughter covered in food, so he took some shots
Queen of the Sippy Cup!
Hope you all have a wonderful weekend.