A big thanks to the rain...

I got a chance to finish the sheet, it's now on her bed. I was getting to her blanket and changed my plans a little. That will come later, it may take a while to finish it. She was there to show off her sheet, maybe she's aspiring to be on the Price is Right? I also forgot to post some of the pictures of Baylee "helping" me make dogfood. I love that she tried to steal the cupcake off the cookie jar. And yes, she was dancing on the counter. SCARY! Sorry about the chaos of the post...its past my bedtime. I am not dealing with it now.

Parks unlimited

We started out with a lazy weekend in the house due to weather. Though we did go out for Chinese food! :) Monday night, I went to the MOPs group again. It was much much better and a lot more fun with at least triple the number of people as the one I went to in the spring. I met tons of new people. My new friend Christa went too. I'm glad I gave them another chance. Plus it gave Cody and Baylee a chance to play. It was nice for me to get away. We spent the rest of the week pretty much at the parks...

Tuesday we met Christa and Julia at the big park. Julia is only one week younger than Baylee so that's fun to have someone else pretty much the exact same age around. Baylee played for about 2 hours. She loved the merry go round. We turned lots of circles, until I finally got comfortable enough to let her ride while I pushed her as I had seen enough circles for the day. Baylee likes to pet kids heads. She petted Julia and Morgan(a little girl we met there) way more than they would have liked, I'm sure.

We left the park to go for shots. Which I'm still amazed I have to go to the health department for that. They only gave her two, but boy was she angry. I just knew she'd be the same as she always has after shots. So we came home, I fed her an early dinner, gave her a bath and depending on mood was going to put her for a nap or keep her up and put her to bed early since she used to sleep forever with shots. Proved me wrong. She slept for 2 hours (normal nap length). She did wake up one time in the night about the time when the ibuprofen would have worn off and from then on, no one would have known she'd gotten shots. Was perfectly normal the next day too. She didn't even get a fever or bruise on her leg. So pretty much every aspect was completely different this time. But not in a bad way, she just likes to show me up.

Thursday we met our friends Marilyn and Keenan at the other park for about 2 hours of playtime. Keenan is 7 months but he's a little go getter. That was fun as well. Baylee didn't play much. She was ok with swinging for about 20 mins then she played with sticks, mulch, dirt and leaves for the rest of the time. She could not have cared less about the rolly slide. Moody little lady.

Last night we went to the park while Dad went fishing. We ran into Karie, Lady I met last spring at the ghetto park by us with 3 boys from Savannah. She also goes to MOPs, which was fun. Her youngest Carson is about 3 weeks younger than Baylee. He has the cutest curly hair. We had fun with them as well. Again, Baylee didn't play much this time because there were so many big kids there. Too much to watch.

The days when we weren't at the park with others, Baylee and I went on our way home from the post office since we've been walking there. I do feel as though we pretty much spent the week at the parks of Mattoon, but it was nice to be outside since the weather has been very pleasant.

Baylee has been talking up a storm. She has some new favorite words this week. "Begeath" took the honors of most used early in the week. I have no idea what it means. She would say it randomly, never pointing at anything or while specifically doing anything. Towards the end of the week, yuck, back and book took over. She knows yuck and book, but back I think she's still deciphering since I always say put it back. She knows what it means when I say it but she doesn't know when she says it. I love that she's finally trying to really talk and using her words a lot more. Of course that pointer finger has more than it's fair share of workouts still too.

She has become an amazing climber. She scales all of the stairs to the apt now at astonishing speeds and I don't have to carry her up the full flight either. That's been nice for a change, I can take all of the groceries in at once and don't have to carry an extra 22 pounds up with me. She's also figured out how to get down off of everything, including our bed. That one's a little high and she usually doesn't land it well, but she's a little bruiser and pops right up and goes on her way.

We've had so much fun this week as she becomes more and more entertaining and able to do things with us. She even helped me make "dog food". Which she absolutely loves, who doesn't love peanut butter, chocolate and sugar? Oh yeah and she even likes the Crispix. She's doing better at helping me pick up the toys around the house though that one needs work. She's very good at picking up the toys in the tub, probably because it's fun to feed them to the turtles belly. I love that she picks out her own books to bring to storytime before naps now. Not to mention the probably 15 we read randomly whenever she's feeling up for a book. She opens your hand puts the book in it and backs into your lap. If you sit on the floor, it's usually a given at some point you will read her multiple stories. She loves her books and love that!

Apparently I'm chatty this week...haha, last update. Her room, haven't finished like I had hoped. I have to finish the sheet for her crib but I will put up what I have done. Her curtain, and her name sign, which I had to sand and repaint. Her curtain is awesome, and the picture does it no justice. It makes her room have a blue tint when it's closed, it feels like you are in an aquarium. She snuck into the picture. I will show the dustruffle when the sheet goes on. And I still have to do something with the purple table cover. I am still brainstorming more decorations for her walls .... eventually I may finish this. Our plans this weekend look about like last weekends at this point, so again I'm hopeful!

The blooming personality

As each day passes, Baylee becomes more and more her own little person. She was full of it this week to say the least.

We call what most people call the puppy dog face the puss in boots look due to the movie Shrek. Baylee has mastered the "puss in boots look". She has not done it to me. She does it to her Dad. The results, it got her some strawberry pie, exactly what she was after. Smart little devil. It was so funny to watch her do it.

For those of you that know Cody, you know he wears sunglasses all of the time outside. If he's indoors, they end up on his head. People at his work have made fun of him because he always has them. Baylee proved the coworkers right and they have viable proof now. She's been wearing her sunglasses more and more and when she is done wearing them, she now puts them on her head and goes about her business and plays. If they fall off, she picks them up and sticks them back on the top of her head and moves along.

Monday was absolutely a fabulous day outside, extremely sunny and a high of 66 with a slight breeze. I could not resist taking advantage. Baylee and I ran some errands and then we got Happy Meals and went to the park for a Happy Meal picnic. I was surprised on such a day that we had the whole playground to ourselves. It was a nice treat for both of us. She had so much fun, climbing, running, playing and spinning. It was made even better by the sticks we found that she could carry around and the next best thing to rock gardens....mounds of mulch. She had fun on the mound of sticks. She climbed some stairs to the tall slide very well. It was exciting. They also have a rolly slide there and she loved watching her legs bump as she went down. I wish it was like that everyday. It was so nice.

We went to our ghetto park down the street one day. Baylee and I spent 45 minutes picking up trash. It's so sad. Not only is there graffiti on the slides, the swings get thrown over the top bars so you can't swing. I was furious about all the trash. The man was there cutting the grass and mutilating the trash so I got to as much of it as I could before he cut it. He was nice enough to stop and thank me later. By the time we picked up the trash around all of the playground areas and tennis courts, Baylee only played for 10 minutes and we went home. I surely did my good deed for the week. It looked so much better. Sad that I know when we go back this week, there will be more. I have been on a rampage about littering in this town. There is a trash can there, it's not like there's not one. People are pathetic! I'm stepping down from my soapbox for now.

The rest of the week found us indoors mostly due to rain. She's back to saying kitty and hot. And throwing some new sounds into the gibberish. Climbing is going well, it doesn't scare me as much.

I'm working on redoing Baylee's room. Once I finish making everything I will post pictures. I know it's only been a year with the other, but well I had an idea and I'm running with it. I started Thursday. Plans changed after the shelf in our closet fell on Cody Thursday night and we had to take everything out. It turned into chaos. But Cody fixed it yesterday and it's stayed so far.

Baylee is very unforgiving of me doing something she can't touch. Pins aren't so good for her, so naptime has been pretty much the only useful time....and that's after I finish everything else. Needless to say, her curtain is hung(which I didn't make because I found a really good deal and it was the inspiration for everything) and half of the dust ruffle is done. ... that's the extent of it. If Cody is home, he can help entertain her so I can work. Maybe by next weekend I will be done with most of my projects. I doubt I will be done with the quilt but everything else I'm hoping! Cross my fingers!

Lincoln Trail State Park

We went fishing this past weekend in Marshall. It was a gorgeous day. The fishing was stellar for Cody and me. The main difference is what we fished for; Cody caught plenty of fish, I fished for things Baylee thought were funny floating in the water. Her cup, trash, a ball, and Snow White. I saved those numerous times each. However, we regret to inform you that Polly Pocket drowned on Saturday. Thank goodness I was smart enough to only give her Happy Meal toys to take fishing.

Baylee had fun throwing stuff in the water, climbing on her stroller and laying on the blanket and playing with me. She also had fun pulling out her ponytail holder quite frequently.

It was a fun day. I didn't catch any fish, but I wasn't trying very hard. I had to contain Baylee at the end of the pier where she couldn't get into the water. The ramp to the pier was where she could and of course that was where she wanted to be. Not to mention I was busy retrieving "uh-oh" items!

Lots of fishing

As predicted, we did go fishing on Saturday. We tried two different places. Neither one great. I ended up taking a book and laying down on the blanket with Baylee and reading. It was very relaxing. The next place, Baylee ended up of course playing in the water. After being wet and falling in the dirt she was covered in mud and got to ride home in just a diaper. She loved it.

It was one of the hottest days it's been here on Labor Day , so we chose our fishing hole according to access for Baylee to the water. We went prepared with her in her swimsuit and good thing since she spent most of her time in the water, well what wasn't spent playing with our bait(minnows we grabbed in the water) that quickly turned into dead minnows. I was telling Cody I think we got the wrong idea across to the ladies...they both like the dead fish as friends. Baylee had one she carried around and then found a perch for her friend on my leg. I was however not quite as fond of the dead minnow on my leg and would politely knock it onto the ground. Baylee was quick to notice and give me a "what in the world are you doing look" and put it back on my leg. It was definitely not ok for that minnow to be anywhere but my leg according to Miss Baylee. We had fun and spent quite a while out there.

The rest of the week was pretty normal for us, mostly spent in the house due to rain. Friday we had a playdate at the park with some new friends. It was about 70 outside and despite being overcast, it was a nice day. We went to a park that Baylee and I don't frequent and she loved zooming around the new obstacles.

This week I have gotten hollered at many times. Baylee has recently in the past week or so taken up a new skill. She has to throw away her own diapers. Out of habit I sometimes grab them and forget it's her job now, I am reminded very quickly though. She gets so proud of herself when she throws them in the trash. She also learned to go into the bathroom open the drawer, put in her toothbrush, close the drawer and leave when I ask her "are you done brushing?" She understands so much just won't talk.

She is finally getting used to wearing her sunglasses a little. However, her favorite ones to wear are ones that are from a stuffed animal not her little lady ones. But I guess whatever makes her happy.

Back to quiet

It has definitely been a quiet week. We are well back into the swing of just me and Baylee. We went to the park some which is pretty normal. But Baylee has recently learned how to climb things better and she has conquered the stairs to the small slide at the park. However, she still attempts to climb the ladder to the big slide, that's nothing but scary to watch! Thank goodness she's easily distracted by the actual sliding down part. Apparently the wind in her face makes her forget she wanted to get to the big curvy slide. (haha)

Speaking of climbing, she has learned how to get onto the couch to look out the window or to get the kitty. She has taken quite a few tumbles this week due to her misjudgement of trying to sit while she's standing on the edge of the couch. I figure she has to learn somehow. Tough love, I know.

We went fishing last Sunday at Lake Mattoon, not much luck there so we headed to Lake Paradise down the road with our luck continuing. But it was nice outside and we enjoyed that and being with each other.

Wednesday, Cody got off early and was home by noon so we again attempted our hand at fishing. We took a little drive and went to Paris and fished. The flattest spot we could find was a driveway that looked like an old boat ramp. Unfortunately, Illinois is not one of the dry states where you can't make fires. Someone had made a fire in the middle of the driveway where we had to fish and Baylee liked playing with the black rocks. There was soot on everything. She even climbed into the car and jumped up and down on the seat. Fun times. The driveway was sloped and she struggled walking on the rocks uphill. She wiped out a good bit and came home with lots of scratches, but she was determined it was not going to slow her down.

She then became somehow convinced that every rock in the driveway needed to be in the water. I just knew she was going to go for a swim at some point in time. We could not keep her away from the water and from throwing rocks in. I tried distracting her with everything I could think of. I even quit fishing to try but she had one thing on her mind, moving rocks. For once luck was on our side and she didn't go swimming but she threw more than enough rocks in the water for us. We still had a lot of fun though.

I brought in one of the car seats to clean it up and put it back into storage. Baylee "helped" me get it all cleaned up!

Baylee did figure out one more thing this week. Proud I am....she learned her fingers can go in her nose. It's not uncommon to see her walking around with her THUMB in her nose. It's just what I always wanted for her :) I'm a little concerned the next news I report on her nose will be of some random item like a crayon being stuck in it. I hope she sticks to just the fingers! That I can easily deal with.

The rest of the week has been pretty uneventful. Baylee is still struggling with teeth and had a fever Thursday night and Friday. We had a long day on Friday...I pretty much had her on my hip all day as it was the only way she wasn't screaming her lungs out. We are hoping she improves and that this is not the start of another ear infection, so far today she's slept more than been awake so I have high hopes. Cody is off for a 3 day weekend. I'm sure some of our time will be spent fishing. Other than that, no telling what stories we will have for next week!

A normal week with Lillibug

We had a pretty normal week, with the addition of Lilli. It was our last week with her.

We went to the big park one afternoon for the girls to play in the fountain. Lilli loved it after she finally got wet. Baylee not so much. We think she was just scared of the sound. The water is pretty loud. We had fun playing and watching Lilli. She chased a little boy around until he finally ran to his dad trying to get away from her. Poor boy, Lilli followed him and sat next to his dad and talked to them. We went home not long after that so the poor boy could have fun with his sisters. She had a lot of fun playing though and was very sad to go home.

Lilli helped me make cookies one night. She probably got more flour on the floor than in the bowl, but that's what brooms are for right? And our cookies were according to Lilli "yummylicious." While waiting on them to cook, she went to snuggle with her blanket and the kitty came to join her. She was thrilled to say the least.

After naps one day, we went outside and played until it was dinner time. Somewhere in the middle Dad came home. We all played bubbles, walked, chased, swung and tossed the ladies around. It was a lot of fun, they laughed so much and it wore us all out.

One afternoon after Lilli woke up from her nap, Baylee and I joined her in her bed and we started playing around. It led to a wrestling match between Baylee and Lilli. To my surprise, Baylee even got in a few good tackles. They giggled for about an hour straight.

They danced a lot this week. Any downtime and one of them was over pushing the Leap Frog farm animal thingy on the fridge(thanks Caleb!) and they would both start dancing and twirling. Baylee has discovered the one leg stomp and looks like she's right out of a good old fashioned hoedown. (due to my laziness at the moment, I will post videos later) Baylee learned how to spin to the music from her big sister.

Lilli tested my patience and my determination at times, but I did good and stood strong, thanks to my stubborness. She probably thinks I'm mean, but I have some rules in my house that she didn't really appreciate.Eespecially the pouting when you don't get your own way and if you do it, it's done in your room and as soon as you are done, you can come out. But then she could also be the worlds biggest sweetheart when she wanted to. Through it all, we had soooooo much fun with her and many many laughs and will miss her very much, with the exception of the kitty :) We took her to the airport yesterday to meet her Mom. They were so happy to see each other, of course. We are just grateful she got to come out for a few weeks to visit, it was definitely worth every minute of it.

I have really enjoyed having the company and having Lilli here. In all honesty, it's like going home after a trip, it's always nice to be home, that's how I feel. It was a little crowded in our apartment....one lady can make a mess by herself, two ladies, I cannot even explain to you the pile of sweepings from the kitchen floor everyday and the amount of toys that could be pulled out and where they ended up!

I also have to say, some of you know my deep rooted hate for laundry. I felt like I was doing more laundry than possible. Turns out in the past 3 weeks, I have gone through a 51 load bottle of detergent and 1 whole bottle of a Mom's best friend AKA Zout. When I realized that last night, it made me feel better to know it wasn't just all in my head.

Baylee is already back to Baylee despite the soon to show molars she's working on and the long torturous ride home from the airport yesterday. She struggled the whole time. Today, she is being happy and noisy. I think she was a little initmidated by Lillibug and didn't quite know what to do most of the time and just kept to herself. She will learn though.

I took a picture on the ride home yesterday of the Arch...yes, I should not do that while I'm driving, but after missing my exit for the interstate, I had to go through downtown and took advantage of the opportunity. Baylee and I stopped to eat lunch at White Castle......YUM YUM YUM!!!!!! She loved it almost as much as I did.