Planting Trees

The other weekend Sam and I bought nine trees and two tons of brick at the local FFA fundraising auction. (That's Future Farmers of America not free fatty acid.) We went to the auction just to check things out after our neighbor said they had lots of trees. We knew we wanted to plant trees on our lot as there aren't many, but weren't planning on doing that for awhile. Well, it was just such a good deal we may have gotten carried away.

Saturday morning the local excavating company came by to dig the holes. Sam and I were not about to dig 9 holes by hand. We were just going to plant a couple, but our neighbor came over with his son-in-law practically begging to help. (My neighbor had his whole family over for Easter and I think there were too many women in the house.) We ended up putting all 9 in the holes and fully planting 6. We still have 3 left to fill in with dirt. It was a long day of working and made a little harder by a very teething baby (first tooth finally made an appearance!). I am really happy with the trees. They will look very nice in a few years.

6 Norway Spruces along the property line

Sunset Maple in the back corner

Dawn Redwood

Hemlock in the front yard

7 Months

What happened to my little cuddle bug? I used to rock her to sleep every night and now she prefers Ornery the Otter and her thumb. Sigh. She's growing up too fast.

She is fully established on solid foods and only wants milk for snacks and comfort. She is starting to explore more textured food, but doesn't have any teeth yet. Although, I keep thinking she is going to get some any day now. We have been using the baby Advil nearly everyday for the poor girl.

She wants to be a part of everything Mommy and Daddy do. Now that we have a bigger kitchen I can set her on the floor near the pantry while I make lunch and dinner. She just chews her toy and watches everything I do. She was even content to watch Mom and Dad unload bricks the other evening (part of our patio project).

She is a vocal girl. I wake up to lots of burbles and raspberries. Every few days she discovers new sounds. She is also picking up language and getting better at communication. She understands the word "nursies", which is of course the most important word to understand.

Mostly she is just really happy and giggly all the time.

Bear hug

Still got that gummy smile

Can I eat the camera?

We got a life vest for her since we are going on a beach vacation and staying at a house with a pool. She thought it was super awesome.

The Big Move

We closed on our house on Friday and moved on Saturday. We've been pretty busy packing boxes and getting all the loose ends ready for moving. I even remembered to take pictures of the move.

A couple weeks before moving with boxes stacked in the corner

Empty kitchen on move day

Our new house and the sweet 26' moving truck

Grandma watched Inga while we moved boxes and furniture

The new living room (notice Inga making a bee line for underneath the couch)

New kitchen

New dining room

Super happy to have a big place to play (and super happy for her new consolation prize lego set)

We had our washer and dryer and stove delivered on Monday. I didn't know I would be so happy to be able to do laundry. Inga has her own room and is adapting nicely after a rough first nice. She sleeps a lot better now that midnight snacks aren't so easily accessible. We still have a lot of work to do not just on the inside, but the outside as well. The yard is a total mess and all our neighbors keeps immaculate lawns!

Side note on the Inga front, she now says "Da" when Daddy comes home from work and "Mama" when having a total meltdown.

The Boring Half of a Business Trip

A few weeks ago, Sam went to a super important trade show in Anaheim, CA. Right across the street from Disneyland. For anyone who's ever worked a trade show, you know they are usually in a pretty cool location, but you're too busy working to actually see anything other than the convention floor. So it always sounds like Sam is going someplace exciting, but I really know he is actually standing on his feet all day talking to customers and then going out to dinner to talk to more customers. Disneyland is just a cruel temptation.

Well, that might be me trying to make the best of being stuck in Ohio instead of out in California. Anyway, while he was gone the weather turned rather spring-like. Inga and I took a walk around Dawes Arboretum to scope out some landscaping ideas for the new house.

Teton tower Colorado blue spruce.

We walked the conifer glen since nothing is flowering quite yet (aside from daffodils and crocuses!). I saw several nice plants for low ground cover, but liked the Teton tower the best.

Buckeye "17"

17 Buckeyes planted to form the numeral 17 since, that's right, Ohio was the 17th state in the nation.

Having a great time in the sunshine. (ERGO Carrier FTW!)

After our walk, Inga discovered that a dress is also great to play with! She doesn't wear dresses very often and was pretty excited to be able to chew on her own clothes. Also in this picture are a couple new toys because every little girl should get new toys as a consolation for Daddy going away on business.

We picked Daddy up from the airport the next morning. Inga took her morning nap in the car on the way to the airport so was very confused when I woke her up in a strange place. She was even more confused to see Daddy in the strange place. I'm not sure if she thought she was dreaming or what, but she warmed up to Daddy pretty quickly.

For those wondering (or not), we will be moving to our new house very soon. Don't worry (you weren't), I will post pictures of the house as soon as we are moved in (you know, in like August).

6 Months

We've been so busy around here I was surprised to see Inga was 6 months old already! When did that happen? (For those who don't know, we are in the process of buying a house and look set to move at the end of March!)

Inga is so grown up compared to a month ago. She can sit up all on her own and just a couple days ago rolled over from tummy to back (finally). This means she is more or less mobile since she can also roll from back to tummy. Gah!

She is so giggly and happy especially when seeing new people and places. Since the weather has been amazing lately, we have taken lots of walks in the afternoon. She loves to look at all the new things and fall asleep in the sunshine in her stroller or on Mama's back. She is so easy to run errands with because she loves seeing new people so much. She tries to make eyes with all the cashiers. She definitely takes after her Daddy for much of her personality.

All smiles for the camera

Eat the bear? Who me?

Mom, you're so funny:)

We are still working on eating solid foods. She is working on the whole spoon/swallow thing. Her favorite foods are all vegetables except for avocado. She just doesn't like banana, pear, or apple. Weird, but she likes carrot, sweet potato, mashed potato and broccoli, avocado, and beets. She also prefers to feed herself, which is a bit problematic. We have a system worked out where she grabs the spoon and directs it to her mouth, while I hold onto it to make sure she doesn't jam it down her throat. She also started exploring a sippy cup the other day. She was starting to get the hang of it and liked the cool water on her gums.

Why do I keep her dressed during meals?

She has a check up in a week, so I will find out them how much she weighs. I'm guessing she is pushing 20 lbs. She's our big girl!

Springtime Walk

Sam and Inga took a walk today in the amazing spring weather. Spring can come 6 weeks early every year, if you ask me!

Unfortunately, I was home sick (and still am feeling under the weather). Inga was happy to spend the day with Daddy, but was super glad Mommy was around for nursies even if Mommy was sniffling and sneezing all the time.

5 Months

Inga is five months old already. She can almost sit up unsupported, makes lots of loud noises, and is exploring the world of solid food. She keeps getting bigger and carrying her around in her carseat is getting very difficult. It will be time to move to a different carseat soon, but I like the infant seat because she can take a nap in the grocery store in it. She's still working on rolling from her tummy to her back and is starting to try to inch worm around the floor. She enjoys sucking her thumb and her toes when she can reach them.

Oh so close to sitting up on her own.

She and the bear were having a very funny conversation.

She is much more interactive with the big, pink bear.

We have been exploring food at breakfast and dinner for a couple weeks. She likes everything she's tried so far just not the spoon. My freezer is full of fruit and veggie ice cubes. She likes avocado and banana a lot, which is good because they are super easy to fix.

Daddy tries to make dinner time super exciting. Inga is not so sure.