Busy, Busy Bees ...

What a busy weekend we had!  

I was out of town on business Friday through Wednesday of last week so that weekend was shot.  I had a productive show in Denver and then did a bit of territory travel and onto Michigan for a bit more.  I got back Wednesday night around midnight and was able to finally give this sweet baby girl a kiss and a hug (although she was fast asleep). Last weekend Lizzy and daddy spent the weekend together.  Who knows what they ended up doing but my daughter was happy and bathed so I was thrilled. 

Lizzy has spent the better part of this past week fighting a nasty cough/cold along with a rough bout of diaper rash.  Is that too much info?  I hope note, if not I suppose you can just skip that part!   Needless to say she was a bit cranky but we pushed through.  We did a little grocery shopping and then made a great dinner on Friday evening.  We were all spent so we cashed out earlier than usual! 

Saturday Lizzy and I woke up and headed to Target.  First we had to check out the new grocery section.  I was more than impressed as the prices matched or were cheaper than Fred Meyer!  We then headed into the kids clothing section.  Uh-oh.  I asked Ben to come along and he said he'd rather work out.  When I got home with ten Target bags in hand I told him he should have came with.  It is always better for my bank account if he is there questioning every decision!  But then again ... as I tell him ... this is why I work (or why we both work may be a better answer)! 

After shopping Lizzy crashed ... two hour nap, before lunch.  Unheard of.  We let her sleep though as we were planning on heading south to visit my dad, attend the Tacoma Holiday Food & Gift Festival and visit with our Western friends (Cody, Kelsey, Mike and Kimberly to name a few).  My dad ended up watching Lizzy and had an absolute blast!  I was going to attempt to take her to the Tacoma Dome but I'm rather glad I didn't.  Too many people and too many trinkets and breakables!  I only ended up there for two hours and then I headed back to Cody's house to hang out with Ben and our friends to watch the UW vs Stanford game.  I was thrilled, the Huskies lost.  I was hoping my UW (Wisconsin) could pull out the win against Michigan State but no such luck. 

Sunday we hung out in the morning with my dad ... it was nice to just lounge around!  From my dad's we headed to my dear friend Lindsey's to visit and catch up briefly.  We are so excited for them to welcome baby Colby into the world!  Kaylen will make an awesome big sister!   Time for lunch so we stopped off at our favorite pizza joint, The Rock.  Lizzy picked up a purple bucket and shovel (I almost had to ask for a new one given the Husky colors! JK!).  We then headed up to St. Bernadette's in Burien to watch our pseudo family play some soccer.  My rule, if it wasn't raining we'd go, otherwise I find soccer completely boring and I'm not watching it when it is pouring sideways!  But the sun showed up and we hung out for an hour watching 5 & 6 year old's play a little bumble bee soccer.  A few of those kids were pretty awesome, including our very own Robster!  Aka our ring bearer (now that makes you feel old)!  Cameryn and Lizzy got to play and hang out (picture above).  

Overall it was a busy weekend followed by just as busy of a week.  I'm looking forward to this weekend and being home next week for the entire week!  Bring on Halloween and my little cupcake.  Pictures to come! 

Happy Fall!

Can someone please explain where the days go.  Each time I sit down to write an update I find myself wishing or rather hoping that the next time won't be a month or two down the road.  Hmmm, maybe its time to re prioritize. 

This past weekend Ben and I spent a mommy and daddy weekend away.  I had volunteered to do a demonstration for work down at a market in Bend, OR and thought it would be the perfect opportunity for Ben and I to get away and have a restful and relaxing weekend.  Or so I thought.  Ben ended up in Yakima on Thursday for a trade show (he only goes to two or three a year) and didn't feel great most of the day.  I drove down to my parents' house late Thursday evening with Lizzy so she could spend the weekend with them and I could head to the airport Friday morning and take a quick flight to Bend.  Well Ben ended up with the flu Thursday evening, drove down Friday to meet me and then I ended up catching whatever he had Friday evening.  Not exactly the best start to my romantic weekend away. 

We were able to catch a flick Friday night, Saturday I did my demo and then we both decided we needed to do something new so we headed to the Bendistillery right outside of town.  A-MAZ-ING time.  The staff was so knowledgeable and although we had both been feeling a bit under the weather the tasting of vodka and gin did surprising little to our stomachs!  After a few tastings and hearing all about the product and the production process we were hooked.  We walked out with three fifths of vodka.  Yikes.  Check it out though and like always ... buy local if you can!  www.bendistillery.com

Now back to our precious Lizster.  She is walking and talking and into pretty much everything.  She is our little monkey finding new ways to climb all over things.  We have an uncountable amount of signs we are doing now and we are learning the words to go with those signs.  Our newest are banana (we did the sign our self on Thursday morning - after probably eight months of signing the fruit!) and cracker (we did this the very first time mom and dad showed her!).  I know everyone says this about their kid but she is brilliant I tell you! 

We went through a bit of a rough patch immediately following Labor day weekend but we now officially have four new one year molars.  Her little mouth is almost entirely teeth.  We chew on our binky but we definitely do not need it.  It is used more as a teething toy than anything.  But we LOVE our bottles.  I think we are on our way to giving up the evening bottle, but she will not touch a sippy cup.  She may take a drink or two here or there ... otherwise, bottle only if you please!

Last weekend we headed to our favorite spot to pick pumpkins, Bob's Pumpkin Patch!  Ben and I were trying to figure out if this was our fourth or fifth time there.  Ben and Bob used to work together at Fastenal so it can be a bit like old home week and it is always nice to patronize those that we know!  So we took a gander at all the pumpkins.  Lizzy loved to touch and feel the big vegetables although it took her a few moments to warm up to what those fuzzy leaves were all about.  We measured her against the Bob's Pumpkin Patch height chart (should be fun to watch her grow!) and we played and raced on the John Deere bicycles.  She figured out how to push herself forward for the first time!  Mommy and Lizzy raced around the track while daddy took pictures! Unlike last year though the hay ride was probably our least favorite event.  We took a ride down to the corn maze and immediately came back up to the farm.

So we'll leave you with this ... Lizzy's list of words to date ... I can only imagine how this will change over the next few months.  Our next goal is to teach her aloha for our Hawaiian vacation in November! 

Lizzy words/expressions:

peas (please)

buh bye (bye bye)

nigh nigh (night night)

hi (hi!)

ma (milk)

nana (banana)

ma ma (mama)

da da (daddy)

baf (bath)



October 2010



October 2011

Quick Update ... Too Busy Lately!

I wish I had all the time in the world.  But alas I do not.  Or maybe I'm just discovering that time management is not my forte.  Literally within the last week I've set this as my year end goal.  Who needs a new year resolution.  I need to learn to prioritize and not get side-tracked now, not in four months.

So I'm on the train and figured it is about time for a Lizzy update!  She stood up and took a few steps on her own last night and I just now received a phone call that my daughter is walking and standing on her own accord.  She just walked from the coffee table to our bistro table if you are so inclined to know.  She is truly becoming a toddler day by day ... complete with the attitude!

Over Labor Day weekend the first of her one year molar's finally broke through.  We also ended up with a yeast rash of sorts.  Such fun.  But we were able to enjoy lots of sun as summer as finally decided to show up here in Seattle with multiple days of 80 degrees.  It is fabulous! 

More updates to come but for now ... I'll just leave you with a cute photo!   No she is not anorexic ... just sucking in her tummy! 

Woof! Woof!

This week was a bit crazy but Ben and I are sitting here on the couch and discussing the blog so I told him I'd type if he told me what he wanted to say.  No promises on what will follow but I do appreciate that he is willing to help write this! 

Bomb, bomb, bomb.  Bomb, bomb, ba-bomb. 
Moley, Moley, Moley (I told you no promise the dude is weird!).

I heard about Jesus, he drinks wine.  I think we'd get along just fine.  (Again, weird and NO alcohol tonight).

Lizzy is beginning to talk a lot more, not necessarily in coherent words but she is signing up a storm and she started saying 'woof' this week.  We always ask what a doggy and kitty say and the 'woof, woof' is the fun one for her.  It will be relevant now that Auntie Megan and Uncle Cliff have a new puppy.  We cannot wait to meet Diesel! 

She is so close to walking, cruising around furniture and climbing up and over us while we are laying on the floor.  We are fighting our naps more and more but literally within two minutes of laying down she is out.  She officially received a cubby in the one's room this week so we are moving out of the baby room at daycare.  She is growing up so fast it is incredible.

Elizabeth, you are now 14 months old and mommy and daddy love you so very much.  We are so proud of you and just know that you make us laugh to the point of tears almost daily.  You will always be our Liz Bug, the Lizster, my pumpkin princess, our Lizard. 

My how time flies ...

July 9th 2011 - Grandma & Grandpa Muldary's House

I have every intention of writing on this blog at least one to two times a week ... in case you haven't noticed that is a far cry from what is actually happening!  So here we go, a month in a photo montage.  I suppose some people may prefer this any way.  July and the first part of August have been extremely busy.  Lots going on and finally some wonderful weather. 

4th of July we painted the entire exterior of our house.  The second weekend in July, as you saw below, we spent celebrating Mike & Kimberly's wedding as well as some much needed time on Tapps.  The next weekend was spent gearing up for Chelan, celebrating our friends Heidi & Tim's 20th wedding anniversary and car shopping.  Luckily we did find a car we loved, bring on yet another 4Runner! 

The 29th of July we left for our annual trip to Lake Chelan.  Ben's family has gone since 1954 ... needless to say there is a lot of tradition.  It is always beautiful weather, loads of time spent swimming and boating and my personal favorite wine tasting with my favorite wives!  Although we will probably never go for a full week again, it was fun but purely exhausting.  Lizzy is not quite walking but into everything and wants to go-go-go.  One of the highlights of the week was definitely her learning to crawl.  Now don't be fooled she has been scooting for probably three or four months now (I mean literally scooting on her behind) ... so we were rather excited for her to learn to crawl.  Honestly we did not expect for it to happen! 

Theme Night - It's A Jungle Out There

Everyone in their jungle gear!

Be sure to check out the photos below, more to follow and links to be sent out to those that went to Chelan.  Not as many photos as last year but still close to 900 downloaded.  Ben got his two rounds of golf in at Bear Mountain and at Desert Canyon ... I got my wine tasting in at Nefarious (thanks ladies and another thanks to Cody and Kelsey for going a second time with me!) as well Tsillian, Lake Chelan Winery and Benson. 

More to follow but right now ... I'm simply proud of myself for completely photo downloads and two loads of laundry tonight!  Haha!  Happy Tuesday everyone! 

We love horses!

Tubing for the first time!

A much needed nap for both mom and Elizabeth!

We got a spritzing safari pool for the kids to play in!

Yum-O!  S'Mores with GIGANTIC marshmallows!

Just chillaxin'

Riding horses with daddy!

Just hanging around!

Wedding and Boating!

What a fantastic weekend of weddings and boating! 

We spent Friday evening at a mansion in Auburn for Mike and Kimberly's wedding.  It was a true princess wedding complete with a flower fairy!  Naomh was the most adorable flower fairy ever.  See the pictures below.  Food was awesome, the weather stayed nice and other than getting eaten alive by mosquito's the wedding was beautiful. 

Saturday we spent the day on the lake ... FINALLY ... we got the boat out on the water.  We even took Elizabeth out for a few hours and she did amazing.  She loved standing on the seat and staring out at the water.  She helped daddy drive the boat and then ended up going swimming and loved the water.  We all thought it was freezing but she loved it. 

Love you miss Lizbug ... each and every day you amaze daddy and I more and more!  We had such a great weekend and it is so fun that Lizzy is getting old enough to do 'big people' stuff with! :)

What a wild ride ...

I love those blue eyes!

To say the last few days have been a whirlwind is an understatement.  I returned early from my trip to Dallas this past week due to Ben and Lizzy being in a car accident and my/Ben's need to be together as a family.  When Ben called me Thursday evening from the side of I-5 to tell me "everyone is okay, but Lizzy and I were in a car accident" the parental instinct definitely kicked in.  Ben assured me all was okay but he was definitely shaken and although Lizzy and him were fine we both agreed it would be best if I came home. 

I booked the earliest flight out Friday and spent the day traveling back to Seattle and then with Ben and Lizzy at the doctor to ensure all was okay.  Other than very sore Ben is doing well and the doctor assured us that Lizzy would be just fine, after all that was what the car seat was for!  Our 4-Runner is another story but we will have to see this week what is determined for the car. 

I cannot tell a lie though.  Last week and this week being on the road it was a bit bittersweet to have two days home versus just one.  We spent Saturday laying pretty low as we were all exhausted and then BBQ'd out on the deck for the first time this year.  Super yummy marinated chicken with roasted vegetables and watermelon, and a little wine! 

Today we headed to church, then to Home Depot (we are painting our house!) and Costco.  We picked up flowers and then heading to the cemetery to visit Ben's grandma and grandpa in honor of Virgina's birthday this past week.  The afternoon was spent hanging out in great grandma's back yard while Ben and grandpa cleaned out and waxed the boat!  Lizzy did great!  We had a picnic lunch along with reading books, working on our walking and eating grass.  All in all it was a great summer weekend.  Have a great week everyone.

Cheese for the camera!

Just kickin' back, catchin' up on some light reading!

The Birthday Party!

Whose crazy idea was it to invite every person to our house on a Saturday when it is supposed to rain and that means having everyone inside!  Yikes!  Well that is exactly what happened yesterday.  We had a total of 56 people (including kids) inside and celebrating Lizzy's first birthday with a lot of food, cake and not so many tears! 

See below for a quick snapshot but she did great.  She loved seeing everyone, even let a few people snuggle and hug her!  Thank you all for making Elizabeth's first birthday such a magical, fun event for Ben and I ... and Lizzy too!  You are all so generous and we couldn't have been more excited to catch up with everyone for this special occasion. 

To those that had to park a mile away, I'm sorry.  Parking is definitely anything but ideal when we do larger parties but we completely appreciate you all coming, celebrating and not blocking our neighbors in!  We are so blessed to have so many family and friends that are close to celebrate with.  To the Minnesota family, we missed you and plan on coming back sometime this fall to celebrate with everyone there.  We'll do a big bash with all the great-grand kids for Grandma Volkert! 

She is such a ham for the camera!

We definitely preferred the cake pop over the actual cake.

The spread ... cake pop anyone!

Playing with cousin Elsa!

Happy Birthday to the Lizbug!

Well we made it.  One year.  Part of me wants to say boy oh boy did time fly and the other part of me wants to say it didn't go fast enough.  I'd say it is a 90/10 split.  I'm in awe of how fast this first year has gone.  Lizzy has grown so much and has changed our lives in so many ways.  I'm more patient, more kind and definitely more understanding and supportive of other mama's! 

We had a day as I took the day off and Elizabeth and I simply spent some quality time together.  We played all morning long, took a good nap (well at least she did) and then headed to the mall to get our pictures taken.  Daddy met us and overall she did amazing.  We went to Picture People, definitely not my favorite place to have photos done, but the pictures turned out pretty darn cute.  From there we headed to Build-A-Bear and helped Lizzy make her very first teddy bear ... we named him Love-A-Lot because he looks a little like a Care Bear!  From there we headed to Red Robin for lunch and home to relax and enjoy the evening as a family. 

Here are a few snapshots from her big day!  Next up ... the birthday bash!

Garage Sale Weekend

Boy oh boy does it feel like summer! 

Every weekend from now until what feels like Christmas is jam-packed with activities, BBQ's, weddings, events and boating.  Bring on the hot weather.  And boy-oh-boy did it finally get warm this weekend.  Pretty sure we topped out around 80 degrees on Saturday. 

But first, Friday night, we took Lizzy to her first Mariners game!  She did ... well she did okay.  Actually she did really well but by 9:30pm she had hit her wall.  We left work around 4pm, headed down to the stadium to get in and get our commemorative train and, because we were there for a CCFA fundraiser (http://www.ccfa.org/), we received our Mike McCready bobble head!  From the stadium we headed to Elysian Fields for dinner where Lizzy ate her first chicken strips.  She loved it.  We saw a lot of friends from college and got to catch up on kids, wedding prep, summer plans ... it was wonderful.  They played Tampa Bay and just womped them 7-0.  We walked around, sat in our seats for probably an hour, walked around a little more and then headed home. 

Saturday was the Tapps Island Garage Sale ... for those not familiar this is simply an excuse to drink bloody mary's and see what crap people try to charge way to much for.  Oh and it is a great way to say hi to a whole bunch of people I hardly see any more.  With the gorgeous weather and drinks in hand we ended up walking the entire island.  Elizabeth was a trooper both with shopping and taking a nap in her stroller (first time in months). 

Lizzy napping in her stroller ... haha!

We headed out to dinner Saturday night to celebrate my best gal's birthday ... yet another delicious dinner at C.I. Shenanigans.  It was prom which was entertaining but the food was amazing, the view even better and the parking spot - right up front (okay come one, Tacoma waterfront on a sunny Saturday, you know you are jealous!). 

Sunday we had brunch with the girls and their girls, always fun and probably been a year since we had done that exact breakfast get together.  Lizzy went in the swing for the first time and needless to say she did not enjoy it.  This should prove interesting as we just bought her a swing for her first birthday!  Haha!  After brunch and the park we headed to my sister's to visit for a bit.  It was nice to just hang out and chat for a bit. 

Overall another busy weekend ... I love summer and hate summer for this reason, but more love it!  Bring on the sunshine and the summer fun!

 

Memorial Day Weekend

What an amazing weekend!  We played hookie a lot but it was quite a lot of fun.  Friday Ben picked me up from work and we headed south.  We made good time and ended up having Lizzy stay with my folks while Ben and I headed out to grab a bite to eat.  The Rock ... one of our favorite establishments both down south and here in Lynn'hood'.  Saturday we hung out with the rents and then headed to Target and Sushi Town (another fan favorite down south). 

Here is where we played hookie again!  Elizabeth ended up staying with mom and dad all afternoon and evening on Saturday while we went and saw a movie and met up with a good friend.  Went and saw Bridesmaids and overall it was pretty damn funny.  Ben and I are big fans of the television show Mike & Molly and we just new that 'Molly' had to be hilarious and she did not disappoint.  We then headed to Farrelli's to meet up with Cody and his girlfriend Kelsey.  This was my first time meeting her and she is just fantastic.  We had a great time, even ended up at a favorite local bar, The Log Cabin.

Sunday Ben and I hit the course, FINALLY.  Ben had yet to hit the Burner's I gave him last year for his birthday and I hadn't played since before I was pregnant (not too easy to swing a golf club with 40 pounds in front of you!).  We played, we sucked, but we had fun!  Ate some tasty lunch with the rents and then headed home.

I'm a firm believer in coming home on the Sunday of a three day weekend.  Always makes it feel like the weekend is just a wee bit longer.  Monday we spent running errands, cleaning, doing laundry, mowing lawns, all the fun homeowner stuff that needs to be done.

Wow ... we are almost a year!

So ... we've effectively taken a two month break from the blog.  To be honest that is mainly because mom is the only one who types and mom has been traveling almost every week.  In fact, I'm writing this from beautiful, sunny, humid Grand Rapids, Michigan.  Oh what fun it is.

Elizabeth is growing like an absolute weed.  She is about 24 pounds and I swear almost three feet tall.  I'll have to double check her stats from her 10 month check up ... bad mommy, I can't remember.  She is scooting everywhere.  We've pretty much decided that she will not crawl, she'll scoot and then probably just stand up and walk.  She is loving cheese and fruit (specifically bananas and pears).  We love reading our ladybug book at night and brushing our teeth and hair before bed time. 

We had another 'head' scare where the pediatrician was very concerned about the size of her noggin.  Essentially because her head continues to grow at a rate that is off the charts they were concerned that she may have hydrocephalus.  I completely feel as this last go around was a CYA (cover-your-ass) move be the pediatrician's office however it is my princess and if something was wrong and we did not get it checked out, how could I live with myself.

So a week ago Monday, May 16th we headed to Children's Hospital to have a CT scan done on her little brain/head and then another appointment to read the scan to ensure nothing was wrong or create a plan of attack if something was incorrect.  I cannot imagine how parents go through dealing with their child being sick or needing treatments at Children's.  I realize you just suck it up and deal with it, because as a parent that is what you do.  But wow, I have a whole new appreciation for how strong you must be.

The CT scan was incredibly short but it was a shock initial that my baby girl would need to have such a thing done.  The machine is huge and they essentially do a 'super swaddle' or better yet it looks as though your child is strapped down and mummified.  So SCARY ... they placed her little head between two wedges so she wouldn't move.  Overall she did amazing.  The first two minutes it was definitely a look of 'what the heck are you doing to me' then it was about three minutes of scared crying.  The tech Ryland (sp?) gave daddy a swirly light up toy and that worked for about 30 seconds but then she figured out it was just a trick! 

We were pretty early but two hours later we finally met with the RN Elizabeth (I saw that as a good sign) and she told us almost immediately that her CT scan was fine, in fact her exact words were 'her head is perfect!'  I couldn't have asked for a more clear cut answer.  Hallelujah!  Her head is fine just genetically huge.  Thanks dad! 

Either way you dice it, it was perfect news to start off a short week as we headed to Vegas for a long weekend and Elizabeth headed to Grandma and Grandpa Swerk's house.  She had a great time from what we can tell ... other than the fact that I'm pretty sure she was incredibly spoiled with being held.  It took us a solid two days to be able to set her down without her crying.  She is so tricky ... but so cute! 

We are really working pretty heavy on sign language now and she does awesome.  She probably has about ten signs or so ... and we are working on about 20 more.  Hopefully by Chelan she can at least partially talk with her cousin Ellie, we will see though.  She does great with hi/bye, milk, drink, bath, oh-no and all done... we do pretty good with more, O's (Cheerio's) and now mommy and daddy need to learn more to teach more! 

Okay enough for tonight, it is 11pm here in Michigan and I really need to go to bed! 

Vegas Baby!

 

 

Just a few highlights from our recent trip to Vegas!!! 

If you head there soon ... go check out the show Absinthe ... best - show - ever!  You can't get closer to the action unless you become one of the actors.  Interactive, hilarious, breathtaking, death-defying ... AMAZING!  Check out a few of the photos from the show below!