Taking steps!!

Photo proofs from her first school pictures! You have no idea how difficult it was to get her to smile just this much!! Very unusual for her!!

Today Karmann turned 11 months old! And, she surprised me by taking 3 steps all by herself tonight!! She was standing by herself at the TV and I was on the floor with her, and I asked her to walk to momma and she did!! I was so proud of her!!! We celebrated by hugging and screaming joyously!! Of course I couldn't get her to do it again! She seemed really confident about it, so I am suspicious that she has done this before!! All I have to say is we better watch out!! She is on the move!

This past weekend I spent my first night away from Karmann. Kris watched after her as I watched after my dad who has had a bought of health issues. He is much better now, but I wanted to stay with him this past weekend to help him out and go with him to a few of his appointments on Monday. Both Karmann and I survived, though I know Kris was worn out, but he did a great job! I missed her tons, but to be honest, I thoroughly enjoyed the whole night of sleep! But, while I was waiting at the hospital and doctor's offices, I did think a lot about how extremely blessed we are by Karmann. She has the most beautiful blue eyes and the longest eyelashes! She's already learned to "batt" her eyes, which just melts your heart! The number of expressions she gets on her pretty little face just cracks us up! She is the sweetest little soul and is always so happy. When she holds our hands and walks us around the house, she has the cutest little strut to her step! She takes her time when she eats, and always eats one piece at a time with her dainty little fingers. She knows what she wants and she usually wants it now or she will let you know about it! She loves to talk and talk with her hands too. She's learned to clap now, as well as click her tongue, which is hilarious. She copies us when we do those things too. She's still nursing, and is otherwise a good eater. She pretty much has eaten a wide variety of food at the daycare, including turkey, eggs, fish, yogurt, pineapple, and she loves her peas, green beans, sweet potatoes and zucchini! I hope that lasts! Wherever we go, strangers come up to us and complement us how beautiful she is (which we already know) but it is nice to hear. She's pretty social, but is reserved with strangers until she gets a feel for the person, and then she'll let loose and surprise them with her (usually loud) chatter! Yes, she definitely has a personality and we are very proud parents!!

We are looking forward to the Holidays these next few weeks and can't wait to see all of our family and friends. And we can't wait for those who haven't met our little angel yet to get the opportunity. She won't let you down!

Post 101

So, I just realized that this will be my 101 blog post! I'd say that's a mommy milestone. This weekend has been really fun with K. She has clearly learned to clap and stand up by herself, though she really doesn't know she's doing it. She's also insisting to feed herself, so food is limited to finger food right now. Though, I did coerce her into eating sweet potatoes with apples tonight and she loved it. This weekend Kris racked up a few bonus points by helping the Dunlop's with part of an addition to their house. The points will be redeemed soon, as we plan on "breaking ground" in December. We hope to have a 1st birthday/ ground breaking ceremony together before we head to Illinois for the holidays.

While the boys were working up a sweat, Monica and I took the kids to a Kids convention at the OCCC. We got a lot of free food and hand sanitizer - and our exercise too! Here's a picture of Daniel and Karmann in the back seat. We found them holding hands on the way home - it was too cute!! Taken from my iPhone, it was a little blurry.

Testing Tollerances and Time Change Challenges

I must say, the last week and weekend have been rough. Karmann has not been sleeping well and has had both of us up late/early when she doesn't want to sleep. She has also not gone down

to sleep very easily, and has tested our patience by trying to let he

r cry herself to sleep (which I hate doing) and I usually give in and at least pick her up to comfort her and in turn starting the whole process over again. This whole routine was not any better with the whole time change this weekend. I was so hoping a miracle would happen and she would sleep in - what was I thinking? The sleep deprivation must have kicked in! Beside all these issues, we did have some fun the last week and weekend.

Since the Cardinal's didn't make the world series this year, Kris has moved on to Magic Basketball. We celebrated opening game with Bev and Kirby and ate out and had a few beers at a sports bar near our place. Kirby and Karmann hung out watching the big screens.

We also went to a co-worker's Halloween party which was a lot of fun. Karmann went as a pumpkin, which matched Daddy's Illini Fan outfit! (Go Illini!)

Kris and I also attended our neighbor's wedding on Saturday. Karmann was lucky to hang out at Aunt Judy's house and help hand out candy to the trick-or-treaters while Mommy and Daddy were having a good time at the reception. Then Sunday, Grandpa came to see Karmann, and we took her on her first trip to IKEA! She enjoyed that and gave Daddy some time alone at home to get a few things done for his class!

More pictures are at the following link - enjoy!

http://www.kodakgallery.com/gallery/creativeapps/slideShow/Main.jsp?albumId=577710384805&ownerId=96446290305