Thursday, April 5, 2012

hobbies of a ten month old


playing with her little baby dolls
  and throwing them

looking at books

reading with big baby


getting top teeth
(which isn't very fun)

brushing those teeth


 letting momma try new hair styles

opening and closing cupboards, drawers, doors, and containers.
(we have had several minor smashed finger incidents)
I have got to get some of those child proof drawer locks this weekend.

throwing food

watching big kids play at the park

trying to get close enough to Fritz to pet him

and one of my favorite things, that I don't have a picture of, is Mabel playing peek-a-boo.
she loves to get her jacket, or her towel after bath time and pull it over her face so we can try and find her.  sometimes she leaves one eye uncovered which is pretty cute.

happy 10 months 
Mabel Jane!


Tuesday, March 20, 2012

Sunday, March 18, 2012

SPICY Farkel

Friday night Nate's parents came over and spent the night at our house. We stayed up late playing a new game they introduced us to: SPICY FARKEL! It's a fun game of chance/luck and we laughed a lot. We played again yesterday and I came out the grand champion!
(Thanks Nate for changing the rules)

We also introduced Nate's parents to the endless hours of fun that webcam effects can provide.
I look like I'm ready to eat Georgia for dinner!

Mabel was teething and fussy (poor thing) but after some baby Tylenol she perked up a little bit.
I really like this picture of these two. :)

A visit from Nate's parents wouldn't be complete without Rick helping us with a project around the house! He and Nate hung up some black out blinds and some colorful Ikea curtains (I need to get a picture of the curtains - they look cute) in Mabel's room. Rick also fixed one of our light sockets down in the basement. Rick is so handy (he built their beautiful home!) and I am so thankful that Nate learned how to do so many things from him.

Saturday, March 10, 2012

Wheeler Farm

Nate and Mabel had a daddy-daughter date with some friends earlier today at Wheeler Farm. I was a little sad because I have always wanted to go to Wheeler Farm but I know there will be many trips in my near future. Plus, I got almost 3 hours to myself!! Went for a run, did some shopping, and enjoyed a long shower with no baby to worry about! Heaven. :)

Here are some pictures of their adventures:

Steve and baby JP, David and baby Soren, Zac and baby Bennett


Crazy geese running free.

Baby Goats only six days old! Cute.
 

Miss Mabel Jane

JP standing on his own!

Check out that crazy shaggy sheep! 
Nate said that Bennett reached out and the sheep took a bite of his cracker.
Then Bennett ate the rest of the cracker. Awesome!


Hoping for another nibble!
Wild horns...

Wednesday, March 7, 2012

wounded soldier army crawl


A glimpse of what she will look like with top teeth....
(meltaway puff perfectly positioned!)


Mabel had her 9 month check up on Monday:
She weighs 19.10 lbs (70th percentile) and is 29.5 inches long! (95th percentile)
Long and lean just like her daddy.

I am trying to imagine how her little smile will look when she gets her top teeth. The doctor took a peek in her mouth and said she has FOUR top teeth about to break through, along with one more on the bottom that we are starting to get a glimpse of.

Mabel is at such a fun stage right now. She stops what she is doing when she hears the garbage truck and we run to the window to see it, she insists on finger foods with most meals (pasta, peas, and blueberries are her favorites), she is a bookworm and loves dumping them all over the floor too, she claps when we sing patty cake and is starting to wave hi and bye, she opens her mouth when we giver her "kisses", she rocks her body back and forth when she hears music, and you know those metal springy door stops? best babysitter ever.

Here is her newest skill:
We call it the wounded soldier army crawl:

Sunday, March 4, 2012

forbidden fruit

why would you want to play with these?



when you can play with THIS:








Thursday, March 1, 2012

Over the river and through the woods...

We had an awesome trip out in Colorado visiting my family. Mabel did really well on the plane which was such a relief. She played with toys, books, and occasionally the hairy arm of the man sitting next to me. (thankfully he was a nice grandpa!) Then on the ride home we had Nate with us and Mabel had a blast sitting on daddy's lap playing with his tray table.

We had such a great time and I didn't want the trip to end.
Here are a few highlights in random order:

Mabel loved her new baby grand piano!

Aunt Kelsey giving Mabel her first piano lesson:










We helped Kelsey make a Valentine's Day treat for her fiance Josiah:

Heart shaped chocolate chip cookie ice cream sandwiches.
They turned out cute and I only ate about 2 dozen cookies in the process.

Kelsey's BFF Claire stopped by to say hello:

The finished product!


That same day my mom made these darling red velvet cupcakes in a jar for her monthly recipe club. She always calls me to talk about the theme for the month (since I enjoy recipe club vicariously through her) and we brainstorm about what she should make. (I keep telling her that Pinterest will ROCK her recipe world!) Then I always talk to her the next day and she gives me details about how things tasted, what other people made, etc. Since recipe club fell on a night when I was out there I got to go with her! We put Mabel to bed, Grandpa Kraig stayed with the baby monitor, and off we went! Lots of tasty food and good company; it was so fun for me to finally experience the recipe club first hand.

Mabel enjoying a cold beverage

Kobe wasn't too thrilled about the new creature
that took over the house and got all of his mom's attention.
(Note: Once when my mom was trying to get Mabel
to smile for a picture and she called her Kobe!)


My mom cooked lots of tasty food for us (as usual!)
and Nate decided to make a crazy taco based off this video.
Too bad we didn't have Parisian crepe batter!

We went to one of Jacob's basketball games:

Here he is mentally preparing for the shot,
then the dribble,
and SWISH! Good job Jacob.

Jacob's Fan Section (including Sophie)

My baby's daddy

Jacob's mad skills
(I can't believe my little brother is 6'3")

Things started to get crazy...
the game tied and the crowd went wild!

The noise freaked Mabel just a bit.

But a few kisses from momma helped the situation.

The game stayed pretty intense during the fourth quarter,

a real nail biter!


29 seconds left and Jacob's team was up by 5 points,
I thought it was a done deal, but no.



Here is how it went down:
The other team scored three points, making the score 68 to 66. Only 13 seconds left and the home crowd started going crazy as the clock counted down to victory!

Jacob's team scored again making the score 69 to 66.
BUT THEN SOMETHING TERRIBLE HAPPENED.

At about 4 seconds left a player from other team shot a
three pointer and MADE IT!
How annoying! So the game went into overtime and Jacob ended up losing.
That was a bummer. I stopped taking pictures when overtime started. Boo.


My mom teaches early morning seminary and Mabel and I would
anxiously wait for her to get home each morning.
Mabel loved to clap her hands at Grandma's arrival!


Mabel was enthralled by my mom's puppet abilities.
She would sit and stare at each one.
She didn't really want to touch them though.



When my mom came out for Christmas she made Ableskivers
and I loved them so much she made them again when we were out there.
Except now we call them Mabel-skivers. HA


The boys.
(Mabel could pass as boy baby in her guitar jammies)


My mom got Mabel a new dress and she
though the ruffles were pretty cool.



Every time I visit we head over to my favorite store, The Barn. This time my mom was really excited to take me because they expanded into the building next door - The Barn Too!


Then Nate watched Mabel when we went to the mother of all antique stores:
Colorado Antique Gallery
51,000 square feet and over 275 dealers!
Needless to say I was in heaven.
We browsed for 2.5 hours and didn't even make it through half the store!
We decided we will just have to pick up where we left off next time I come out.
Here we are with our loot:

Over the weekend Jacob's lady friend Rachel came
over and played some games with us,
and she read books to Mabel.
Way to score points with the older sister!


Josiah and Kelsey came over too.
Nate and Josiah serenaded us on with their guitars.



One afternoon my mom decided to try and give Mabel an updo.
The only clip we could find didn't match her outfit
but Mabel didn't mind.
Salon Sherrill
She thought it was pretty funny.
Ready for Prom

One night at dinner Mabel ate a little too much. Like a bunch of pasta, peas, AND two jars of baby food. Well combine that with nursing at bedtime a short while later and when I put her on my shoulder she burped and this came out. Then she fell sound asleep.
Good times.


We celebrated Kraig's birthday and had dinner at Red Robin.


Mabel was enjoying the freckled lemondade:

Then cupcakes at home:



One of Mabel's favorite things is reading books and Grandma had some new exciting books for her to check out.
She loves her daddy-0!

Mabel thought she was so cool because she could explore inside one of my mom's kitchen drawers that happened to be within her reach.

It was the perfect drawer full of fun kitchen gadgets.

After she tasted and examined each item she would toss it
on the floor so she could hear us all say, "uh oh!"

I think she looks a lot like Nate in this picture, what do you think?


Not pictured are a few other fun things we did:

- Relaxing in the hot tub
-My mom treating me to a pedicure (Shellac is amazing!)
-Watching Survivor
-Jacob and Nate playing drums & video games
-People magazine Second Look obsession
-Creeping around Michaels to find Kelsey
-The crazy hunt for Kraig's birthday hat

Too bad we had to come home back to reality!
:(