Oct. '10

The first weekend in October (Oct. 1-2) we went to Davenport to help my parents begin moving things into their new house. They are going to continue living in their current house until it sells (hopefully soon) so the guys just moved a lot of extra things they don't need for now. (This included a lot of heavy cabinets!)

Mom, Grandma, and I started taking down the wallpaper in the dinning room. (This took several weeks of work after this as the glue was on THICK!)

Alice continued working on her stair climbing skills and learned how to go down.


Oct 8-10 we went to visit Jameson's cousin Stephan's family in WI along with Jordan's family. On the way up we stopped at a park for lunch. We had a great view of the lake for lunch.

After lunch the kids had a great time playing at the park. This is the first time Alice has really enjoyed anything beyond the swings at the park.





Enjoying the beautiful weather outside.

Alice enjoyed playing in and with this car.

Just down the road from Steph and Dawn's is a beautiful lake with CRP and trees that they have permission to ride four-wheelers on. Jameson took me on a ride down there and then we all walked down there after coffee time (trying to work up an appetite for supper).

One night at supper Alice just started clapping for the first time- super cute! (Oct. 11)

Recently Alice has been having fun looking at books w/ flaps and sliders. She plays peek-a-boo with the pictures and frequently will giggle when she uncovers the picture. She also like to play peek-a-boo with her curtains when I'm changing her diapers.

I recently got several new Discovery Toys which are age appropriate for Alice. I find it SO fun to watch her play!!!
Playing with Sunshine Market.

Playing with the Story Stacker.




ALICE's 1st BIRTHDAY!
Alice turned 1 on Saturday. We celebrated Saturday afternoon with Jenessa. (Our parents will both be up in the next week so neither of them came for her birthday). We began by singing and giving her a cupcake. She wasn't sure what to think at first but after a slow start, dug in and got messy!




After cupcakes we gave her some playtime in the bathtub (which was obviously VERY necessary).

Then we gave her a few presents. She enjoyed pulling on the ribbon and thus she needed a little assistance getting started with her toys.

Fun telephone!

Hammer Away! (Discovery Toys)

Winter coat, hat and gloves!

Jameson playing Ultimate Frisbee. He started playing with the Waterloo Team at the beginning of the summer and then took several months off after hurting his ankle. Now they are playing at Peet (just across the street from us) on Thursday so he's starting playing again this fall.

Alice and I went to watch for a little while when the Waterloo Team played the Wartburg team. I did a mini photo shoot while with Alice while they were warming up.




My parents came through Cedar Falls on their way to/from Rochester the Tuesday and Thursday after Alice's birthday so we celebrated her birthday with them then. They got this rocking chair at an antique show and my mom refinished it to match our furniture. Alice LOVES it and plays on it A LOT!!! It looks great with the rest of our furniture and will certainly be a keepsake! It has a home in front of our big picture window where Alice spends most of her playtime.

Alice reading a story to Grandma T.

My grandpa made me this cradle for me when I was little. Alice likes to take the dolls out and climb in herself.

Sept. 10

We went to the farm for a visit Labor Day Friday /Saturday. Alice enjoyed playing with a fun toy that Grandma R. had got from a friend.


She is exploring new places in the house. Here she found that the shoe shelf in our closet was a fun place to climb and sit.

She also LOVES to look out the front window. She spends a lot of time playing by the window and watching what's going on outside.

Another favorite place to play for several weeks was the shelf under the piano.


Drinking her first cup of cow's milk (Sept. 28). I started mixing cow's milk in with her baby cereal several weeks before this to ease her into it. She drank it right up and seemed to like it. A few days later, after she was good at drinking this, I weaned her down to 2 feedings (morning and before bed).

She's had 8 teeth for several weeks now, this is the first good picture I got of them.

August '10 (St. Louis trip and more)

Alice continues to try and enjoy more and more foods. Here she is eating blueberries- a new favorite of hers and an extra special treat b/c I don't normally buy fresh blueberries.


My brother came to visit this middle of August (during his break before fall classes start).
Alice and Uncle Matt

My brother took a few daily life action pictures of Alice, which I'm not always good at getting. Alice loves to see what is going on when I'm cooking or preparing food so I frequently pick her up and tell her what I'm busy making. I look forward to the days when she'll be able to help me in the kitchen!

She enjoys playing with plastic bowls or anything I'll let her have while I'm working in the kitchen. This time she was actually trying to put the bowls back in the cupboard after she took them out.

The middle of August I made a trip down to see my parents new house. I stopped in Eldridge at my friend Michelle's and met her new baby girl, Ellie and shared new mom stories. This was the first newborn baby I've seen since Alice was born and I could hardly believe how tiny she was and realized I'd already forgotten how precious a newborn baby cry is!


Jameson started his MBA classes again Aug. 19. He has 1 year left and they made a change to the program so now he is just taking one 4-hr night class each week now (instead of two 3-hr night classes/wk).

Aug. 20-22 we went to St. Louis with Jameson's college roommate Loren to visit my brother. The guys went to a Cardinals game Friday night.

Saturday we toured Covenant Seminary Campus (where my brother is going), went to the Science museum,

went up in the St. Louis Arch,

toured the Budweiser Brewery,

and went out for pizza. (Alice did great given minimal naptime!) Sunday we went to church with my brother.


Aug. 25 Cedar Falls schools started so I started my first sub job. I subbed for a teacher at Holmes who's was out on maternity leave for the first 2 1/2 weeks of school. My mom and my friend Rose are watched Alice. I enjoyed the classes I got to teach and Alice did great during my time away but by the end of the 2 1/2 weeks Jameson and I were both VERY thankful that I don't teach full-time.

Roose 3rd Annual Family Camping Trip

This year for the Roose Camping Trip we went to Rock Creek State Park in Kellogg, IA. This is our 3rd year of meeting at an Iowa State Park to spend time as an extended family camping, relaxing, playing yard games, canoeing, hiking, and eating great food. Jameson's parents, his brother Jordan and his family, brother Austin, and sister Jenessa were all able to be there the whole time (except when his dad went home to fed the cattle and check the water level on the flooding of his river bottom fields from the S. Skunk).

The weather was hot on Thursday when we arrived and a little rainy on Friday but otherwise beautiful. We were thankful not to have any bad storms like we'd had the last two years.

Here is our camp.


Everyone gathered around the fire.

Here we are eating one of many tasty meals. As we've done each year, each family cooks one meal a day. Jen provided us with 'coffee time' snacks and tasty peach cobbler.This year we contributed BLT's for lunch on Friday, BBQ chicken sandwiches for supper on Saturday, and Mountain Man Breakfast for breakfast on Sunday.

Washing Dishes

Playing some Ladder Golf


Alice spending time w/ daddy

Alice sitting on her lawn chair like a 'big girl'.

Waiting for the rain to stop so we can have lunch.

Thankfully the rain stopped and we were able to have lunch. However it started again after lunch so we decided a good 'rain plan' was to gp to Bass Pro in Altoona. Her is Alice in the cart. I still usually keep her in her car seat carrier when we go shopping so whenever she gets to ride in the cart like a 'big girl' she thinks it's great!

The boys (and men) had fun playing on the four wheelers.

Hike

This was the first time we used our hiking carrier with Alice and she loved being up high!

Alice loves swinging and laughs like crazy- it's absolutely adorable!


Bath time for the little girls!

Still trying to wake up.

Alice spending some time w/ Aunt Joy.

Canoeing!



Alice had more fun playing with the canoe when it was out of the water. First she had to walk down the outside and check it out.

Then she pulled the life jackets out of the canoe and put them back in.

Finally she decided it was time to explore the inside o the canoe, so she bent over and crawled on in.

Her cousins came and tipped the boat from side to side, keeping her entertained for quite awhile!

The beach was a disappointment as the water was very muddy and gross. We didn't want to risk Alice drinking any water or eating any sand so she stayed on the grass. Her cousins sure had fun though!

Jameson cooking some tasty supper in his new dutch oven.


This year we decided to have our own family worship service instead of finding a nearby church to go to (after a bad service last year). We sang songs together and listed to a great John Piper sermon on the computer. It is such a blessing to be growing in our walks with Christ as a family.

Packing up.

Timothy played with Alice while we packed up. It is so much fun to see him play with and take care of her. She is blessed to have such great older cousins!

Alice travels great! She sleeps most of the time but when she is awake she 'reads' books- so cute!


It was a great weekend!