Working the Crossword

The crossword puzzle is usually completed before Nana & Papa head to work but this day Sylvia saw a few blanks she thought she would work on.

9 Month Pictures

Sylvia turned 9 months old this week. She is learning to do so many things. She now crawls, pulls herself up on furniture, walks around furniture, pushes the kitchen chairs around, and climbs the stairs. She also got her 6th tooth in today. Eating is going very well now. She enjoys being fed but also feeds herself pretty well. We've still only tried fruits and vegetables but we'll be adding more to her diet soon. Sylvia now enjoys breakfast, lunch, and dinner as well as nursing 5 times a day. That will probably change to 4 times now that she's cutting out a nap.

Our picture shoot today went very well as you can see below. It's still difficult for me to figure out what the best time is to take her. Sylvia just moved from three naps to two a day this week. She fell asleep in the car on the way to the studio but woke up happy after a 30 minute nap. Hopefully she'll still sleep well tonight but at least we got some good pictures.

If you want to take a look at how she's changed you can check out her 3 month and 6 month pictures.

House Update

The last time you saw pictures of our house it was all soggy and wet. Well, it has since dried out and we are in the process of rebuilding. My wonderful family "gave up" their family reunion to come work on our house in July. They hung the insulation and drywall (with Fransico's help), scraped the "cottage cheese" texture off our ceiling, picked away at wallpaper, removed dead bushes and landscaping rocks and had lots of fun...I hope. My dear aunts also helped me organize our preschool storage room which my teachers are very thankful for.

Thank you all so much for your help and for being "God's Hands at Work."


These pictures show the house after the mudding and taping was done but before we painted. We need one more coat of paint in our bedroom and then we're done painting. The remaining work that we (I should say Dan) are doing ourselves is...

1. Hanging kitchen cabinets & installing the counter top and sinks
2. Installing bamboo floors in the family room
3. Tiling the entryway and kitchen
4. Hanging interior doors, closet doors, and trim

The plumber installed our water heater and is going to do some work on the 2nd bathroom. The electricians should be there tomorrow to finish up and get our power turned back on. We've been using temporary power since shortly after the flood. Our carpet is ordered and will be installed as soon as we're ready for it. We have a couple of estimates for furnace and air. I'm sure there are things missing from my what-needs-to-be-done lists but things are progressing.

Here's a quick tour of the place. I'm going to label these pictures because the whole place looks the same and you wouldn't know which room you're looking at. Our small group Bible study has helped us out a ton as well. You can see a few of them in these pictures.

Living Room


Sylvia's Room


Guest Room (I just bought a daybed with a trundle that pops up and makes a king from craigslist. I am so excited about this bed because I wanted one but I didn't even know if they existed and then I found one for pretty cheap on craigslist. I am addicted to craigslist.)


Our Room


Family Room


Kitchen


Garage


Here's what the house looked like before the drywall.










We think we'll be able to move back sometime late October or early November. Then we'll have a nicer place for my Grandma to sit when she comes to visit.

First Words

Dan had a dream a few nights ago where Sylvia said her first words. The two of them were sitting at the table with Sylvia in her highchair and she said, "ba-bacon." Then she said, "poop." I'm pretty sure I heard her say poop today in real life. Our friend was changing Sylvia's diaper and commented on how it was always poopy and Sylvia said, "poop." Although I don't think she knew what she was saying it was the first time I've heard her end a "word" in a consonant. We're still holding out for her first real word although she has done some signing. She started signing "more" a few weeks ago. I'm working on hungry, milk, tired, thank you, please, and potty with her. All that means is that I do the signs throughout the day and she stares blankly at me for now.

Nana & Papa's

We were evacuated from our home on June 12th because of the immenent flooding and have been living with Dan's parents for the past two months. We are so thankful for their hospitality. As you can see from the pictures, Sylvia is enjoying her time at Nana and Papa's. I cannot believe how much she is changing. We thought we'd get to slowly baby proof our house but there's a good chance she'll be walking by the time we get home. I know everybody says it, but she is growing up so quickly. Here are a few of my favorite pics from the last two months.

I love a diaper picture...especially cloth. For those of you who don't know, I cloth diaper and I love it.


I like this one because she looks like she has just completed stacking the rings...at 7 months, right!


Dan's Grandma came to visit in June. Sylvia enjoyed having another person to play with.


GGma enjoyed the chance to snuggle when Sylvia would sit still.


Papa installed a swing from Grandpa in the back yard for Sylvia to play on. She likes to hold on to the ropes.


I don't know why, but my daughter likes to chew on shoe laces. Probably because she likes to chew on everything. I guess she's building up her immune system.


Now that Sylvia can pull herself up she is enjoying many new discoveries. She recently found the pool balls. She can palm them so maybe she'll play basketball someday...or maybe not.



Sylvia's great-aunt, Marsha, came to visit this past week. Although she spent most of her time working over at our house, Marsha did get some Sylvia time in. Thanks for all your help at the house Marsha. The Bee Bop Band has been a new favorite around here. Sylvia really likes the drum sticks.


Bath time is always a favorite. I love this pic because you can see all five of her teeth (click to enlarge).


Our kitchen floor might get cleaned more frequently when we return home with all the water splashed on it during Sylvia's baths.

Jaya's Visit

Yesterday our friend Jaya came to visit for the afternoon. The two girls had a great time "playing" together. Sylvia and Jaya have been friends since before they were born. While in the womb, they attended Bradley Natural Childbirth classes. Jaya must have been a better student. They also went to yoga together as well as camping at Devil's Lake. Earlier in life, they took an infant massage class and now we see Jaya every Wednesday for playgroup. Jaya and her parents will be moving at the end of the month and we will miss them dearly.

Here are some games we played...

Follow the Leader


Pass the Tambourine





Stand Up and Sit Down


Listen to Birds and Pick the Grass



"Share" the Drumsticks



Pound the Ottoman

Being Creative

Since I learned that $40 would buy you a yard of fabric called a "Hooter Hider" I have been interested in making my own baby products. A list of ideas has been compiled but I've been to preoccupied to get started. Plus, there's hardly ever any funky fabric in the $1 bins. With Sylvia in bed and a creative bug in me late the other night, I headed to Walmart determined to pick up the supplies needed for some type of craft project. After finding elastic, buttons, and silk flowers this is what I came up with. I will admit that I saw the idea on another blog, but I took it my own direction and really enjoyed the chance to be creative. I've got 5 made now but I'm out of elastic. I'll probably head to a craft store this time around because I wasted approximately 30 minutes in the check-out lane at Walmart.