A Great Surprise

Matt surprised Baikal and I with a wonderful gift! He had the front and back yards landscaped while we were on vacation in NC. He even put in a play set, complete with slide and sandbox. It is so great we have been outside everyday since.







It has been really hot here, so we have to water everyday. We have a 30 day water exemption from any restrictions since we have newly planted greenery. Baikal's job is the water the plants. It takes her about 3 hours.

Birthday parties

Baikal was invited to two birthday parties this weekend. She only had enough steam for one of them. She enjoyed blowing bubbles, eating cake, and having a juice box. The next day when I asked her about the party, she replied the following three words: dance, bubbles, and cake. Sounds like the event made in impact.

Miss Independence

Now that she is fully in her toddler stage, Baikal asserts her independence wherever she sees fit. I am trying to encourage this, since baby #2 will take a lot of my attention. We are currently working on having Baikal walk next to me instead of me carrying her or using a stroller for outings such as the grocery store and going to the park. We went to the zoo a few days ago and I did not take the stroller. Keep in mind that I let her pretty much go at her own pace, so there were not too many power struggles. Below are some pictures of that outing. She has also really taken to self-feeding. I've included a picture of her trying to put cream cheese on her toast by herself. She calls this tubby toast.

Rockin' Girl Blog Award

My blog has been tagged as a rockin' girl blog. What an honor! I'd like to start by thanking the academy, god, my family, my dogs, my daughter, and mostly my husband.




To pass on the honor, I'd like to tag www.cederbaby.blogspot.com as a rockin' girl blog. It is hosted by my cousin, Lisa Cederbaum. She documents the adventures of her family, including her husband, Rob, and her six month old baby, Ella.

Lake Junaluska

Last week was our annual trip to Lake Junaluska. It was a great week and Baikal is getting to the age where she can really take advantage of all of the neat things it has to offer. Her favorite two things were the playground and the pool, until she fell at the pool and hit her head at the playground. Oh well, that is the life of a toddler. She was also able to enjoy her first meal at Joey's pancake house, a staple for the week.

Dress

Baikal is now interested in dressing herself. She still needs help, especially in the outfits that she selects. Her current favorite styles are: pants on head, overalls with no shirt, and mom's shoes. Here are some pictures of her fashion sense.

Millers are here!

We had a great visit with Grandma Bookie and Grand Pooh-bah. I especially enjoyed the free time it allowed me to devote to finishing the last Harry Potter book! Baikal enjoyed bossing her grandparents around. Fun was had by all!

Doctor's Appointments

Being pregnant means lots of things, and one of those is waiting at the doctor's office. I find it a great time to catch up on my reading. As long as I have snacks and a book to read I am pretty content. At my last appointment I had to fill out a questionaire that contained the probing item, "Are you and your husband cousins?" It had other items such as history of diseases and spousal abuse. I felt like I had really achieved something when I was able to check off the NO category for most of the questions. Hooray!

First haircut

You know the joke, "How many people does it take to screw in a light bulb?" I have a new take on it. How many people does it take for Baikal to get her first haircut? The answer: 4. One to cut the hair, one to hold the child still, one to distract the child, and one to take pictures.

Yesterday was a rollercoster ride! On the way to the ultrasound appointment my car died. I called Matt to pick me up at the post office. He said that his car was running hot and that he was having to turn it off at every stop light and had the heater running full blast to keep it from overheating. We made it to the appointment and found out that I am having a boy! Matt and I are so excited. I also found out that because of my previous pregnancy causing me to become hypothyroid, I will have to have an ultrasound every four weeks to make sure the baby is developing normally and that my thyroid levels are healthy. The doctor also recommended a c-section due to the fact that with my last delivery Baikal and I contracted an infection which had us both on IV antibiotics for a few days. He said that post delivery infections can potentially weaken the body's ability to heal well and that going through labor would put me at an increase in "bust a gut" syndrome (uterine rupture). The due date is now at Dec. 14th. He said that our boy looked great and everything looked normal for this stage of development. Woohoo!

Look ma, no hands!

Baikal is eating a cookie without using her hands. She is the master of creative food eating. Her latest obsession is dipping her cookie in milk. Sometimes she dips it, and it disappears from her hand into the bottomless abyss of her milk cup. Tomorrow is her 18 month check-up and I can't wait to see how much she weighs. Last check up the nurse told me to "put more butter on that girl's bread." She had dropped in weight to the 5%. So operation fat baby began. And abruptly ended when Baikal figured out she did not like anything spread on her toast. She is your average toddler food consumer, but I can't help to feel like a bad provider when she fills up on blueberries at snack time and pushes her dinner to the side.

Summertime is callin' me

It is summer in Atlanta! There are several ways to beat the heat. Sprinkler chasing is just one of them. We also had a great time at the Decatur beach party. They blocked off the roads and loaded them with sand and fun. There were two live bands, BBQ, and lots of activities for the kids. We had a great time there with the Frilingos and York-Simmon families.

Pickles and Ice cream

They say each pregnancy is different, and so far that seems true for me. The first trimester was filled with extreme nausea and extreme hunger. Yes, you can feel both at the same time. I have been a sugar junkie! My current favorite snack food is gummy worms. I have been feeling much better lately and now am trying to cope with the reality that although I was back to my "normal" wardrobe for a while, I am now into baggy shirts and draw-string pants.
Yesterday in the grocery store I actually stopped at the pickle section and my mouth began to crave the crispy crunch of a dill spear-shaped pickle. That was quickly followed by a wave of nausea which sent the jar that I had just selected back on the shelf. Ice cream is not of much interest to me either, but I do like a nice tall glass of whole milk.
I try to sleep when Baikal does and I have been very thankful to Matt who lets me take long naps on the weekend while he keeps watch over baby and dogs.

Two lines and its official!

Hooray! I am now 13 weeks pregnant with baby #2. Matt is busy coming up with names. I am busy keeping up with baby #1. Yes, your math is correct. My current due date is around Dec. 15, just 3 days shy of Baikal's birthday. I use "current" because this date is usually adjusted after the 20 week ultrasound. We are planning on finding out the sex and that should be posted sometime in Aug. I have already bought a brand new pregnancy week-by-week book for the second baby, so I can tell you that today it is approx. 3 inches long and has started to develop its teeth sockets.

Nude Art

All great artists have to start with nudes. Here is Baikal's nude art. She is currently in a blue period.

New Garvin Cousin

My cousin, Jacob, and his wife, Isabel, had a beautiful baby boy this week! Corbin Thomas. We visited them at the hospital and it was a party! I did not bring my camera, due to an unfortunate milk spilling incident in the diaper bag, but thankfully others did.

On the go

Baikal loves to be on the go. Now that she has discovered running, it is her preferred method of transport. That is, unless she happens upon a hand trolley, like she did at Aunt Courtney's work.

More Beach Photos

Here are some more beach photos. Enjoy!

Playing in Charleston

Baikal and I headed down to Charleston last week for two reasons. The first was so I could hang out with my long-time friend Ginny who was about to have her second baby. The second was so that Baikal could get to visit with her Charleston kin. She had a blast with cousins Willa and Abbott. Baikal isn't around older kids often, but when she is she loves it! I hope this will be one of many family beach trips.

Outside playtime

It is beautiful weather here, so we have been really enjoying our outside playtime!

Trip to the Aquarium

We had a nice family trip over to the Aquarium today.

I think this was Baikal's favorite fish.


She had a busy time and enjoyed running around when she could.

Playroom almost done

One of our 2007 goals is to finish the playroom. It is almost done! Here are some pictures.


Baikal is celebrating by blowing a trumpet (straw). Here ye! Here ye! The playroom is almost done!

Baikal making sure all of the blocks are in place.


Baikal checking out her new desk and chairs from Grandma Bookie.


Baikal is signing "more" ...all this organization must be making her hungry.

Dinnertime

Baikal is now feeding herself. It takes longer and is very messy. There really is no upside, but it is fun to watch!