push ups

Here is Kendra is doing push ups.. She must have secretly enlisted....


"how's my form mom?"

She is so much stronger than Isabella was! It's quite scary really...
We have determined she is MY child.. She sleeps like I do, wakes up like me, has a lot of my mannerisms. It's so neat to see!

Isabella is Patrick's child... need proof?


or this one?

Honeydude

Yes, last night we had honeydude melon. It was delicious. While cutting it up I learned it was called honeydude melon.

summer

Summer is such a fleeting period. You anticipate, plan, dream of things to do when it comes then somehow life happens and you don't do the plans and dreams.

40th birthdays CAN be fun

I threw Patrick a surprise 40th birthday party for a few friends and family. He was adamant about NO parties. As a good wife I disregarded that and threw him an AWESOME party.
I arranged a scavenger hunt with about 300 items. We had 3 teams:
Jason, Patrick and Jeff
my mom, Lars, and Joe and Alysha
Michelle, Rob and Everett
This is "entire team on a slide":


"Entire team doing a handstand"

"Enttire team jumping, Feet must be off the ground"

"Entire team in a tree"

"Entire team on a teeter-totter"
(they even balanced)
"Entire team in a shower"



We had a great time!
Thank you Mom and Amber for all your help getting the house ready.
Thank you Michelle and Rob and Everett for driving all the way south for this.

Thank you to everyone who came.

It really means a lot to know you have such great family and friends.

Happy Birthday Patrick, we all love you.















"

playtime

Kendra did great today...
she played by herself with her play gym for a good 20 minutes before letting me know she was done.

Bellaisms

Isabella turned 2 Feb 27th. And her talking turned 200 miles per hour.

Last night, while getting ready for bed she coughed, and then ended with what I thought was a sneeze. So of course I followed with "God Bless You".
She looks me in the eyes, "No, no, mamma, no Bless You" "a-hem mamma, a-hem" "no Bless You, only a-hem" "different (and signs different)

Kendra

Well, baby number 2 is wonderful.

I can't believe she is even more patient than Isabella was.

Kendra Helen arrived quickly on Sunday Feb 8 2009. at 12:50 AM.

Isabella is a proud sister and loves her very much.

ultrasound 2

It has been a couple of months... as much has happened.

Christmas was wonderful. We got to stay home. I think that was the best gift of all, being able to stay here and family came to see us.. I was overjoyed!
We had a relaxing Saturday with my family, then on Sunday SuperDad's family came over, and that was perfect as well!

January has proved to be a fast month. We are in the home stretch for baby 2 to get here. I was VERY excited for Isabella's birth, but for baby 2 it has been more fun. I don't know if that makes sense...In our new house we have 3 bedrooms, one is ours, another is the girls' and the third is the office. So I was able to decorate a room.. a real space for Isabella and her sister to be in together. It is going to be awesome.
We repainted a dresser that was Patrick's when he was a child, and we are covering my twin bed that I had as a child with fabric on the head and foot board. Then the crib and the shelving unit are in the room and it is just perfect!!!!
I would like to do some final touches, like put up a couple shelves, or decorations, but that of course isn't as important as making sure we have clothes, diapers, wipes, etc. BUT I am wishing I had the crib set that I got the inspiration for the room's colors from.
http://www.kidslineinc.com/products/infant/bunny_meadows.php


We are having a TERRIBLE time agreeing on a name.. I instantly KNEW when I heard Isabella.. with baby 2.. nothing is clicking. I really want to name her from my side of the family, but nothing is reaching out and GRABBING me.

so.. today I had ultrasound #2. The doctor was concerned that the baby was too big. I think the measurements are just a bunch of crap. The midwives were concerned about the same thing with Isabella and she came out perfect! 7 lb. even. I was a little baby, so was Patrick, yes, baby #2 may be a little bigger, but seriously. The ultrasound was 1 lb and a half off with Bella, the technician even said that they could be a pound over or a pound under. Either way, who cares, everything looked good! The technician said that she looks to be about 71/2 lbs right now.. so by the time my due date comes around.. will be about 8...81/2 lbs. We'll see how accurate they are! :)

I will try to keep up more with this now that we are getting more on a regular schedule. But once the baby comes.. all hell will break loose.... HA HA HA!

Thanks

I really am thankful for my family.

It is still small, but I really am happy what I have is mine. I see the achievements my daughter reaches and I know I created that. I am so enamoured with her. She teaches me so much.

Today is Thanksgiving and I can't help but feel a calm joy for being me.
(Then I try to stand up and reminded that I'M PREGNANT AND FAT!)

We had a great day at my grandma's. She gave Isabella a flowering cactus plant. Isabella actually pointed and chose between the salmon colored plant and the yellow one. Now it has become an obsession. Where fowler go? translation: where did the flower go? I then tell her in the kitchen. Then she proceeds to tell us. "My fowler, Bella fowler"

It really is a thankful day. But did you know.. you aren't supposed to thank anyone who gives you a plant. Apparently it is bad luck, according to grandma.

new house

well, we finally found a house..

I enjoyed living with my mom.. she REALLY liked having her granddaughter here.
She got to watch her grow and learn, and pee on her floor.

so, yesterday we started moving into our new home. It is perfect.

We had a little help. My sister and neice came, Patrick's brother came, his mom and dad stopped by to see the place.

We just made trips back and forth from the storage unit with boxes. It was nice to set up my kitchen. The kitchen is small, BUT, we plan on adding furniture to supplement the lack of counter/drawer space.

It was definately a good day yesterday.

We plan on moving in slowly, and organizing as we go. I like this plan. I want to paint a little too. At least the kids' room.

Today will be another box day. YAY! It's like Christmas all over again. We find surprises we haven't seen in months.

Naptime

Naptime is one of super dad's favorite times..
he gets to hear the Bear get scolded just as Isabella did sometime earlier in the day.
he gets to hear her extensive vocabulary to persuade her way out of her bed...
he gets to hear all the songs we have been working on..
he gets to hear how her day was..
he gets to watch all the new acrobatics that can happen in the space of a crib...
he gets to see the Bear then get ostracized from the bed for being naughty...
he gets to see her fine motor skills as she learns to remove her diaper...
he gets to hear her say "I love you" and then hum herself to sleep...

its a wonderful thing

"hmm-hmm"

"hmm-hmm" is what you will hear when my daughter needs to get past you..
"hmm-hmm" is what you will hear if you burp or fart near her and you don't excuse yourself quick enough
"hmm-hmm" is what the chair hears before she moves it out of the way....

no matter how much I work with her, I CANNOT get her to actually say the words "excuse me" it has always been "hmm-hmm". It is with the same intonation you would hear if you couldn't say the words and only the hmm-hmm's though.. hilarious.

MORE new developments

So... Patrick got a new job. In Ann Arbor. He started there July 28, 2008.

It's a decent job. The same pay, worse hours, but there is opportunity for advancement. That was NOT available at Chippewa Hills.

So.. we looked and looked for houses. Then it seemed that God placed the PERFECT opportunity in our lap. We just wouldn't be able to move in until the end of August.
Fine, I can wait for a good thing. Our lease was up August 15th, so what do we do until then? put all of our stuff in storage, and just live with my mom. (yay, who gets to move BACK in with their mother.... *sigh*)

Which, side note.. we would not have been able to do with the worlds BEST FRIENDS!!! a person could ever have. Jeff, Amber, Jason, Dan, Joe McL, Becky, Mike (which there will be a separate blog about these wonderful people), Everett, Brooke, Anthony, Stacey, Ronda, Joe McC. My mom, Lars, Sarah, Patrick's dad. THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!!!

So, we just moved in with my mom and made do here on August 18th. Well, it is now Sept 9th and we are still here.
AND I NEED MY OWN HOUSE!

Just a few things heard along the way...
"moving is good, it keeps things new"

"you'll love Ann Arbor, you'll meet so many new people"

"you'll LOVE your new place, it will give you a chance to purge your excess"

new development

Well,
Isabella has grown and has learned quite a lot already.. She is very excited to point out all the body parts... I have taught her to point to my eye, and say eye... my ear... and say ear.. my nose... and say nose.. my belly and say "baby".

Yes, it is true.. I am pregnant again!!!!! YAY!!!

We are not positive when this one is due, but we think January sometime.. sorry Teresa, you weren't the only one pregnant at the end of the school year! Ronda's instincts are spot on every time. I just didn't know it yet.

We have an appointment with our midwives on July 17th...I guess we find out then when we are due.

wish us luck!
thanks,
spread the word,
Erica and Patrick

language, learning and life

It is now summer break and I am home for the summer. YAY!

I have high expectations for this summer....
I want to try potty training.. I wouldn't do this if I didn't think she wasn't ready.. but she has already started to show signs of interest in the potty.. She has a seat that rests inside of the adult seat.. We have such a small bathroom I couldn't imagine giving up part of the room for a chair just for her. Anyway, she will sit down on her seat while we say the abc's and count to ten.. and one time in 10 sits, she will go potty. AND.. she signs potty when someone flushes.

We are working on signs and learning language..
Today Super-Dad was putting on some hiking socks to hiking with his super-neice, and Isabella looks down and signs and says socks.. I had only worked with her a couple times on that one.. amazing how quick they pick it up now!

We saw fireworks for the first time this past weekend.. The annual summer festival has them every year. Isabella stayed awake for them, and really enjoyed them I think. She even clapped a couple times..

(just now she was standing at the kitchen gate, and looked at the windowsill, and said/signed apple. I said, nope..those are tomatoes on the windowsill, so she signed tomato.. amazing)

well, it's going to be a busy summer, I better get to it.

-supermom

Alone

Isabella is down for a nap. Grandma and MarFar stopped by to say "hi" on their way home from "up north" at their cabin (trailer), and woke her up early from her morning nap. SO, afternoon nap came quick.

We finally had her birthday party March 29th, at noon at Winding Brook, and it was great. My mom and Lars came, my sister and neice, all of "the group", which includes people driving from 150 to 200 miles away.. Patrick's brother Joe, his friend from work, two of my friends from my work, all just for my baby's first birthday party. YAY!

Patrick even got them to hang around for a "burger challenge" at the local greasy spoon to see how many burgers or coney dogs they could eat. They all succeeded in getting their name up on the wall there. They had to eat at least 10. Even one of the girls did it!

Anyway, the birthday party was great, it was pot all of "the group"luck and everyone brought something. Which was SO nice! Isabella did NOT get into eating her cake though. She just wanted to stare at it.

I made a 3D bear cake for her, but nope... she just couldn't destroy all of momma's hard work!

That was a great weekend.

Now, this past first week of April totally sucked. It was my spring break and nothing good happened. Well, I take that back, Bella was good, and fun.. but I did NOTHING for myself..yet again, spent all week taking care of sick children and sick people.

anyway, I am alone now, and i think I am going to take a nap.

one

yes, my baby is going to be one.

one year old. this exact day in 2007 it was Sunday, I was making sure everything was ready for the week at work.

I haven't written all the great things my sweetheart can do...

she says:
mama
dada
diaper: biaper
yellow: lellow
Bye bye
Becky: baboo
No

she signs:
mama
dada
want
thank you
yellow
bye bye
eat
more
peas
banana
bed (night-night)


she knows where her nose is, sometimes where her ear is, and definitely where her mouth is

she is still sleeping through the night

is eating everything we give her

and loves it all!!!

she's my little angel

tipping the scales

So Super dad and I have a bet going that whoever can lost the most weight between now and my birthday (May 4) then wins..

yeah, after yesterdays snacks.. we are both WAY off our goal.

AND if I want to get started thinking about baby #2, I have to get seriously back in better shape.

Isabella is learning by leaps and bounds..
she is mimicking all our sounds and syllables. It's amazing. She was doing.. Salsa
"aah-Aha" and diaper "ai-pa"

Amazing huh?
Baby girl you are so smart.

Out with mom

Well, today Isabella and I went out for a bit. We ran to Wal-Mart, the Party Store, and the laundromat and it went splendid. She slept through the laundry, and the start of Wal-Mart. It just shocks me how good she is.

We got to spend all day together on Friday. I had another snow day. We played and played and played.

I must admit she does cling a bit and that is starting to bug me, I never thought I could find anything she does as bad, but when she climbs up my pant leg.. it just drives me insane.

our sponge

Well, many people told us that at 10, 11, 12 months is when the learning explodes.
Isabella is no exception.

Today she turns 11 months.. and she is our little sponge.

She was in her exersaucer, and there are some animals on it. She has started to point and ask what these things are.. so daddy showed her the sign for zebra when she pointed to it.
It was repeated maybe 10 times... About 5 mintues later, she pointed to the zebra again, and daddy showed her the sign, and she signed it.. It was amazing.

Then I had the laptop on the coffee table, and I started to shut it.. she immediately came over and peeked down under it to see what was going on.

And now, any time daddy lays on the floor, (which he does quite often) Isabella thinks this is a great time to attack. She crawls over to him, pulls up his shirt and smacks his belly. It is hilarious!

She has started to repeat things we say. Not well, but I say "outside" and she says "bluh-bluh" Its awesome.

Last night we were playing the give it to momma game. I started teaching her this so if she finds anything on the floor then she will immediately give it to me or Patrick. So, she did. She picked up some papers, handed them to me, then 10 minutes later when we were almost out of papers... she picked up one, looked across the room, held it up and said.. "da" So daddy came over and joined our game of give it to mommy, thank you. It was so much fun.

She has her left eye tooth coming in. As well as both eye teeth on the bottom.
She is dealing with it well!!