Wow, Ramona is really starting to know things. This video is her latest trick. We've been working on it for a week or so, and she totally gets it now. So cute!
Also, she was smart enough to eat my Thin Mints, hence her chocolate covered face.
Her other cool trick right now is "reading" her Colors book and pointing to the picture of the ball and yelling "Ball!" I just keep telling Joe, "My baby can read! Just like the commercial says!"
Cool cool cool triiiiiiiicks! Yeah! (She also yells Yeah! during that song on Yo Gabba Gabba. It's awesome.)
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
More Baptism Pics
Joe's mom sent me some more pictures awhile ago, but I finally got around to downloading them today. This picture has most of the people who were at the baptism. (And pretty much everyone looks terrible, which makes it extra hilarious.)
I just like the evil look I'm giving Ramona in that one.
A cute one of Joe and Ramona
Most of Joe's family
Ramona at the church
There were a lot more, but these were my favorites. I felt like garbage today and ended up leaving work early. I'm feeling a lot better now, but I'm hoping bedtime goes well tonight because I'm still pretty exhausted. I really need to get a lot done at work tomorrow, so I'm hoping I feel awesome when I wake up.
Monday, March 21, 2011
17 Months
The Fish is 17 months today. It's hard to believe. After work she and I played in the backyard and then went over to the park to play. She had so much fun on the swings and kept yelling "whee!" and "wow!" After that we went to run some errands at Target and the Fresh Market. I realized that Ramona's mimicking is getting pretty hilarious. She says things that I say all the time and I don't even realize it. Like, whenever I see something I like I go, "Oooooh!" and she kept pointing at things and going "Ooooh!" at Fresh Market.
She's become quite the climber and finally figured out how to get up on the coffee table yesterday. I knew it would happen soon since she figured out how to get on the ottoman recently and they're about the same height. I'm ok with the ottoman, but I've been trying to quash the coffee table because 1) no one is allowed to stand on the coffee table and 2) it's slippery and dangerous, especially when she's wearing her footsie pajamas. She's already had a close call with falling on it.
I have really been enjoying this weather and am bummed that it's going to cool down again. I want spring for real! None of this fake out crap. I mean seriously, didn't the groundhog say spring is a go ahead? Let's stay with this weather. It's so nice to spend the evening outside with Ramona instead of dying of boredom in the house.
She's become quite the climber and finally figured out how to get up on the coffee table yesterday. I knew it would happen soon since she figured out how to get on the ottoman recently and they're about the same height. I'm ok with the ottoman, but I've been trying to quash the coffee table because 1) no one is allowed to stand on the coffee table and 2) it's slippery and dangerous, especially when she's wearing her footsie pajamas. She's already had a close call with falling on it.
I have really been enjoying this weather and am bummed that it's going to cool down again. I want spring for real! None of this fake out crap. I mean seriously, didn't the groundhog say spring is a go ahead? Let's stay with this weather. It's so nice to spend the evening outside with Ramona instead of dying of boredom in the house.
Sunday, March 20, 2011
Spring is Here
Ramona is loving spring- especially the little burst of nice weather we had last week. She played outside for the first time in a long time and had a great time running around and investigating all the pine cones and sticks in the backyard.
We've been seeing my family a lot lately which has been nice. We went to hang out for my mom's birthday, then the next weekend Erin had the high school musical which she was managing the backstage for, and then this past weekend was some play Kathleen was involved with due to her affiliation with Mitch. Both the plays were enjoyable and I had a lot fun getting to see everyone. Ramona seems to be having fun playing with Mom.
Today we went over to see Joe's parents since we hadn't been over there in awhile. It's weird to deal with how often we should visit our families. Now that we've moved home and especially since we have a kid, it's a balance of trying to not be a burden or a bother and show up too often, and making sure we visit regularly so we can see everyone. I think we're doing ok, but who knows? It's hard to know what people are thinking.
Ramona has added some to her vocabulary- now she says mommy, daddy, up, ball, wow, hi, and bye. She says other things by just repeating things I say, but those are the ones she actually uses independently of my prompting. She also enjoys saying "Arf! Arf!" when I talk about what noise dogs make, and thinks high fives are totally awesome. Her favorite song right now (other than ANYTHING on Yo Gabba Gabba!) is Old MacDonald, which I change to Old MacMony, and she loves to sing the EIEIO part. She has been extra lovable this week due to her enthusiasm for the new things we've been doing.
She's my favorite little lady!
Wedding update- we went to look at Ward Pavilion today and I liked it a lot more than I thought I would. I was worried about the wood paneling and drop ceilings, but it's actually really cute! The wood paneling is more lodge than 80s basement rec room, and the drop ceiling panels are faux wood (or real wood, I didn't look that closely) so they looked nicer. My only concern is that it's a little small. But, we're planning on a small reception, so I think we should be fine. We also have the option of tenting the patio area, so that's something to consider. But I think I'll book it when I get paid Friday. I like that it's
1) directly across from the church
2) in a park, since Joe and I have such a history with the parks
3) not "fancy". Pretty much every reception hall in Toledo is fake fancy in a really cheesy way, and our reception is about being fun and silly not fancy. I mean I want to wear a pretty dress, but that's the extent of the fancy. I want to be happy, not classy. I mean, I'm not going out of my way to make it tacky, but I want it to be casual and fun.
4) adjacent to a little playground, since we're inviting quite a few kids.
5) not too expensive, and finally
6) not requiring a specific caterer so I can pick what I want within my budget.
In other news, I asked my sister Kathleen to be my maid of honor and she said yes! We haven't nailed down the rest of the bridal party yet (except my other sister Erin, obviously, who I need to invite over for an official type bridesmaid request since she was out prom shopping on Saturday.) It kind of depends on how many attendants we want to have, which we haven't determined, and getting Joe to discuss wedding details is like pulling teeth. He wants to be involved and get asked about things, but he takes forever to make decisions which would be fine if we had more than six months to get this crap together but we don't. I'm a little more worried about pulling it off than I thought I'd be (both financially and pure planning-wise), but I'm sure it will be fine. We meet with Pastor Bob this week to get that whole ball rolling, so we are slowly making progress.
We've been seeing my family a lot lately which has been nice. We went to hang out for my mom's birthday, then the next weekend Erin had the high school musical which she was managing the backstage for, and then this past weekend was some play Kathleen was involved with due to her affiliation with Mitch. Both the plays were enjoyable and I had a lot fun getting to see everyone. Ramona seems to be having fun playing with Mom.Today we went over to see Joe's parents since we hadn't been over there in awhile. It's weird to deal with how often we should visit our families. Now that we've moved home and especially since we have a kid, it's a balance of trying to not be a burden or a bother and show up too often, and making sure we visit regularly so we can see everyone. I think we're doing ok, but who knows? It's hard to know what people are thinking.
Ramona has added some to her vocabulary- now she says mommy, daddy, up, ball, wow, hi, and bye. She says other things by just repeating things I say, but those are the ones she actually uses independently of my prompting. She also enjoys saying "Arf! Arf!" when I talk about what noise dogs make, and thinks high fives are totally awesome. Her favorite song right now (other than ANYTHING on Yo Gabba Gabba!) is Old MacDonald, which I change to Old MacMony, and she loves to sing the EIEIO part. She has been extra lovable this week due to her enthusiasm for the new things we've been doing.
She's my favorite little lady!Wedding update- we went to look at Ward Pavilion today and I liked it a lot more than I thought I would. I was worried about the wood paneling and drop ceilings, but it's actually really cute! The wood paneling is more lodge than 80s basement rec room, and the drop ceiling panels are faux wood (or real wood, I didn't look that closely) so they looked nicer. My only concern is that it's a little small. But, we're planning on a small reception, so I think we should be fine. We also have the option of tenting the patio area, so that's something to consider. But I think I'll book it when I get paid Friday. I like that it's
1) directly across from the church
2) in a park, since Joe and I have such a history with the parks
3) not "fancy". Pretty much every reception hall in Toledo is fake fancy in a really cheesy way, and our reception is about being fun and silly not fancy. I mean I want to wear a pretty dress, but that's the extent of the fancy. I want to be happy, not classy. I mean, I'm not going out of my way to make it tacky, but I want it to be casual and fun.
4) adjacent to a little playground, since we're inviting quite a few kids.
5) not too expensive, and finally
6) not requiring a specific caterer so I can pick what I want within my budget.
In other news, I asked my sister Kathleen to be my maid of honor and she said yes! We haven't nailed down the rest of the bridal party yet (except my other sister Erin, obviously, who I need to invite over for an official type bridesmaid request since she was out prom shopping on Saturday.) It kind of depends on how many attendants we want to have, which we haven't determined, and getting Joe to discuss wedding details is like pulling teeth. He wants to be involved and get asked about things, but he takes forever to make decisions which would be fine if we had more than six months to get this crap together but we don't. I'm a little more worried about pulling it off than I thought I'd be (both financially and pure planning-wise), but I'm sure it will be fine. We meet with Pastor Bob this week to get that whole ball rolling, so we are slowly making progress.
Thursday, March 10, 2011
The Sickness
Once again, Joe got sick and made Mony sick, too. Joe was sick Mon-Wed and Ramona started up last night and today was-lay-around-with-a-fever-sleep-all-day sick. It was like having a newborn again. She just laid on me and slept while I did whatever I wanted. It's a nice change of pace, but I feel sorry for my little fish. Hopefully she'll be better tomorrow. I'm fine so far, which probably means I'll get sick over the weekend, because that's how my life is.
We gave up meat for lent, and so far it has been pretty easy. I just eat fruit for breakfast, pb&j for lunch, and something veggie for dinner (so far grilled cheese and soup and vegetarian sushi.) It's kind of fun because it makes me look up recipes and get excited about cooking. It also has taught me that zucchini is called courgette in New Zealand, since they have some good recipes that I found confusing at first because I didn't' know what they were talking about. I feel that I should buy a kitchen scale because all the recipes from overseas call for grams of food.
Wedding-wise we have a meeting with our pastor on the 24th. Tomorrow I'm leaving Joe with the task of calling the venue we're thinking of and seeing if we can look around and get that set up. So things are kind of getting rolling with that. Spring was starting to spring this week with rain instead of snow, and almost everything was melted, but I think it was starting to snow when I came home from work, so it looks like this never ending winter will continue to never end.
We gave up meat for lent, and so far it has been pretty easy. I just eat fruit for breakfast, pb&j for lunch, and something veggie for dinner (so far grilled cheese and soup and vegetarian sushi.) It's kind of fun because it makes me look up recipes and get excited about cooking. It also has taught me that zucchini is called courgette in New Zealand, since they have some good recipes that I found confusing at first because I didn't' know what they were talking about. I feel that I should buy a kitchen scale because all the recipes from overseas call for grams of food.
Wedding-wise we have a meeting with our pastor on the 24th. Tomorrow I'm leaving Joe with the task of calling the venue we're thinking of and seeing if we can look around and get that set up. So things are kind of getting rolling with that. Spring was starting to spring this week with rain instead of snow, and almost everything was melted, but I think it was starting to snow when I came home from work, so it looks like this never ending winter will continue to never end.
Thursday, March 3, 2011
Hmmm
Well, September 24th is going to be the day, it seems. Everyone so far has been open to that date, so I got penciled in at the church today. We just have to meet with the pastor and it will be official. Then I have to plan everything else- which I don't even want to think about right now. But I will have to start thinking about it pretty quickly. We've been putting together a guest list, but that's pretty much it so far. Blaaaaaah- it's a lot to think about.
In other news, we went up to the winter beer festival up in Grand Rapids over the weekend, which was pretty fun. We got to try quite a few beers, and there were some really awesome ones. I had a lot of fun and Joe got pretty goofy. I hadn't seen him so obnoxious since my sister's 21st birthday. We went to Hopcat and got another shirt for the brew blanket and went to Founder's but didn't get a shirt because they were too busy. I had a really great time all around, even though I felt like garbage the next day. I got a nap once we got home and felt much better. It was definitely nice to see friends we hadn't seen in awhile and drink some new beers.
Ramona stayed with Joe's parents while we were gone and even though she cried when we left (and it was the cutest crying ever- she is really into waving right now, so she was screaming but still waving bye bye) she had a lot of fun eating way too much food and even got to take a trip to Toys R Us. So obviously, she didn't miss us too much. She did seem really happy to see us when we picked her up, though, and I was certainly happy to see her.
I'm almost done decorating the living room. I'm pretty much waiting until it's warm enough to paint before I put up the finishing touches (the paint, valances, a plant, a desk lamp, and pictures) so it's just a matter of time. The dining room is pretty much the same story. I need paint, and I ordered a table cloth that hasn't come in yet. I'll probably get some napkins and place mats and a few more pictures and I'll be done in there. The big challenge left there is figuring out what I want to put in the built in cabinets. I'm undecided.
So, I'm excited for spring and painting, warmth and bike rides, sunlight and picnics, but am wondering how I'm going to survive a summer filled of rushed wedding planning, running after a toddler, and going back to school. My mom said that she's interested in baby-sitting Ramona once school lets out for the summer, which will help a lot. But it will still be a crazy busy summer- but I'm always happiest when I have a lot to do, so I'll be fine.
In other news, we went up to the winter beer festival up in Grand Rapids over the weekend, which was pretty fun. We got to try quite a few beers, and there were some really awesome ones. I had a lot of fun and Joe got pretty goofy. I hadn't seen him so obnoxious since my sister's 21st birthday. We went to Hopcat and got another shirt for the brew blanket and went to Founder's but didn't get a shirt because they were too busy. I had a really great time all around, even though I felt like garbage the next day. I got a nap once we got home and felt much better. It was definitely nice to see friends we hadn't seen in awhile and drink some new beers.
Ramona stayed with Joe's parents while we were gone and even though she cried when we left (and it was the cutest crying ever- she is really into waving right now, so she was screaming but still waving bye bye) she had a lot of fun eating way too much food and even got to take a trip to Toys R Us. So obviously, she didn't miss us too much. She did seem really happy to see us when we picked her up, though, and I was certainly happy to see her.
I'm almost done decorating the living room. I'm pretty much waiting until it's warm enough to paint before I put up the finishing touches (the paint, valances, a plant, a desk lamp, and pictures) so it's just a matter of time. The dining room is pretty much the same story. I need paint, and I ordered a table cloth that hasn't come in yet. I'll probably get some napkins and place mats and a few more pictures and I'll be done in there. The big challenge left there is figuring out what I want to put in the built in cabinets. I'm undecided.
So, I'm excited for spring and painting, warmth and bike rides, sunlight and picnics, but am wondering how I'm going to survive a summer filled of rushed wedding planning, running after a toddler, and going back to school. My mom said that she's interested in baby-sitting Ramona once school lets out for the summer, which will help a lot. But it will still be a crazy busy summer- but I'm always happiest when I have a lot to do, so I'll be fine.
Monday, February 28, 2011
Getting Married for Real
So we are actually serious about getting married now that Joe is working, and we have three dates picked out. Since I know some people couldn't make Mony's baptism due to prior engagements, I wanted to give everyone a chance to weigh in on this- here's the three days; if any of them is super terrible or super awesome for you, let me know. I'm going to reserve the church by the end of the week, so let me know ASAP!
August 27
September 24
October 8
I'm leaning toward the August or September date because I think it will be a lot of pressure on Joe to have my birthday and our anniversary in the same week if we end up doing October 8.
August 27
September 24
October 8
I'm leaning toward the August or September date because I think it will be a lot of pressure on Joe to have my birthday and our anniversary in the same week if we end up doing October 8.
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