21 JULY 2005

We just finished up a visit with my parents on Monday. They arrived last Tuesday. Unfortunatley, it did rain much of the time. My dad was able to golf the first two days of his visit, but I think he would have liked to go more. Some friends of my parents were also here in town on vacation. We went over to the beach house they rented for dinner one night. There were 4 families sharing 2 beach houses with about 5 teenage girls to play with Annie. She absolutely loved all the attention. The girls enjoyed their grandparents. Annie was totally in awe of her grandpa. She wanted him to hold her constantly. It was sad and sweet at the same time. Sad because she is obviously in need of her daddy. My mom is already talking about another visit for Annie’s birthday since their birthdays are only a day apart. My mom and I got on a purse-making kick. A friend of mine talked me into making a purse to give to her grandmother. Once my mom saw the finished product, she had to have one. So we went fabric shopping and made 2 purses by the end of their visit. They are actually very easy to make and usually only take a couple of hours. I’ve posted some pics of them on the projects page. Take a look. And, NO, I won’t make one for you. Check out our photo shoot pictures posted on the Memories page.

We are slowly getting back into the daily routine since my parents’ departure. Annie had a few rough days, but I think she’s pretty much back to normal. She is pickier than ever with food. I’m getting very frustrated with her and refuse to go through all the cupboards and fridge until I find something she will eat. She’s even gotten to the point where she doesn’t like food that she used to love. I’d say breakfast is the worst meal for us. I would usually give her any combination of oatmeal, eggs, yogurt, cereal, waffles, pancakes, and fruit. She pretty much hates all that stuff now. Urgh!!

While Mimi was eating her “dinner” last night, Annie brought over the “Clap Your Hands” book to me. It’s a book that Mike’s mom gave to Annie that has the child do all sorts of cute stuff. I got her to do many of the things the book asks. Of course, I wasn’t able to get her to find “something yellow” and other more advanced requests. But she clapped her hands, stomped her feet, rubbed her tummy, patted her head, twirled in a circle, sat down, roared like a lion, etc. In other news, Annie still doesn’t know her alphabet beyond the letter “B”. And “A” is still tricky for her, meaning she thinks it’s “B”. I work with her for a few minutes several times each day showing her different letters from the foam and magnet alphabets that we have. She will repeat the letters quite readily. But when I ask her to tell me what letter I’m showing her, she will usually say “B”. It’s frustrating (and kind of funny at the same time), but I’ll keep working with her.

It’s been a big week for Mimi. I started her on the rice cereal. I figured it was time to begin because she has been wanting to eat more often than usual. She seemed to struggle with the digestion of the new substance the first couple of days, but she seemed fine with it today. This morning when I gave it to her she would grab my hand to help shove the spoon in her mouth. I figured she would enjoy moving onto solid foods since she’s such a stout baby. We went to the pool on Tuesday. An extra babysitter was on hand to watch Annie, so I got to spend quality time with Mimi in the pool. She hated it. She cried the entire time, but I think it was because the rice cereal was giving her tummy trouble. Nonetheless, she finally got her first swim. Blowing raspberries is her new favorite pastime. I’ve added just a few more pictures of the girls to their July pictures. I’ve added another video to the girls’ video page. Feel free to view it anytime. Just a reminder: you need Flash Player to view the pictures of any recent picture albums and Quicktime Player to view any of the videos. Both are free, safe, and quick to download.

Only two months to go for Mike. He has requested that no more packages be sent after this week as they may never get to him. Keep up the emails and MotoMail though. He will be on the move again next week for one last time. The replacements are expected to arrive in about a month or so. Nothing exciting to report and no new pictures. I think Mike is just happy that his time there will end soon.

7 JULY 2005

Not much new here. We’ve been trying to go to the beach as often as possible. We’ve been twice already this week. Annie and I are really getting brown, and, yes, I put the highest possible SPF on Annie. Mimi is always so great when we go to the beach because she will usually fall asleep on a towel under the umbrella. This allows me to spend quality time with Annie in the water.

We didn’t get to see fireworks on the 4th of July. I didn’t think it would be worth keeping the girls up way past their bedtime, and I’ve seen so many other kids Annie’s age freak out from the sound of the fireworks. So we instead met up with another woman with her kids for dinner. We took the kids to Dairy Queen afterwards to play on the outdoor playground and eat ice-cream. Annie discovered the joys of throwing mulch at other kids and on herself despite numerous reprimands. She can be so naughty. We also went to a double birthday party on Saturday for a couple of one-year-old girls. The mothers of the birthday girls set up three different wading pools, a bouncy house, and allowed access to the backyard swing set. Annie had a blast taking turns between the pools and the slide on the swing set. I couldn’t get her to sit still long enough to eat a decent meal.

Mimi has discovered that she can use her rolling skills to get from one place to another. She was getting so close to crawling, but she put her practice on hold in order to give the rolling transportation a go. I’ve added a July album on the girls’ page. I decided to get yet another new digital camera, this time an Digital Rebel SLR. I can’t believe how different it is from just a typical digital camera. I had a friend come over the other night to practice taking pictures with it. We set up a studio with a black backdrop to take pictures of the girls. Of course, Annie wouldn’t cooperate. Some of those pictures are on the girls’ July album, too. Have a look-see! My friend and I also want to try to go out to the beach right before dusk to take pictures with the SLR. The plan was to go out to the beach tonight, but it’s supposed to rain. We’ll probably just wait until the weekend to give it a try. I will, of course, post pictures once we’ve had a chance to go. I know I said that I would add more videos. It takes more work, so I will have to find some time one day to sit down and do it.

We are past the halfway mark for Mike’s return from Iraq. It’s just over 2 months away. Mike is doing fine over there. He just transferred again to another base for a couple of weeks. It’s a base he’s already been to in Ramadi. He has mixed feelings about being there. The cons are that it’s a small, “dirty hole in the ground” with limited phone and computer access, and the food is not as tasty. He also had to leave his garden behind. The pros are that Mike has many friends there with which he has much in common. I don’t have any new pictures to post, but I certainly will the next time I receive some from him.