MckMama

About a year ago I found out about this blogger, MckMama. She's a stay at home mom to five children, ages 5 and under. She's a Christian woman and homeschools her children. I quickly fell in love with her blog because she shares so many of the same values that I do, and she does so many wonderful things with her children. She also takes beautiful pictures. In April she and her family went on an RV trip. They were going to make several stops along the way so that she could take pictures. One of her stops was Chicago! I quickly signed up to have her take our pictures. I'm still eagerly waiting for the arrival of our picture CD, but she shared a picture of Micah on her website yesterday. So adorable! I can't wait to get the CD and see the other pictures. Head on over here and see for yourself just what a cutie he is!

My Outside Boy

Micah loves being outside. It's so obvious, even though he's only 7 months old. He never cries when we're outside. He's always looking around at everything and laughing. He's happy to be an observer, he doesn't need to be involved in whatever is going on, watching is just fine for him (he gets that from his dad because his mom wants to be part of everything!).

When I was little I always wanted an older brother. I dreamed of having someone to look out for me. Someone who would protect me and stand up for me. Since I never had that I always said that I wanted to have a little boy first so that my little girl(s) could have what I didn't. However, once we fount out I was pregnant I wanted a girl. I had three nieces and I knew girls. Girls were fun. They were girly. I could play Barbies with a girl. Or put little flowers and big headbands in her hair. I could dress a little girl up in cute skirts. I had visions of baking cookies with my little girl, like I do with my nieces. There are so many "things" for little girls. I just didn't want to miss out on any of that.

When we found out I was pregnant with a boy we were shocked. It actually took me a little while to get over it. I had to change my thinking. Instead of hairbows and headbands my life would be filled with bow ties and hats. Instead of Barbies I'd have to play with fire engines and trucks. Instead of baking cookies, I'd be baking mudpies. Nice, relaxing bubble baths? Forget it, he'd be splashing all over the place! I knew that my life had suddenly turned way more active.

Now that Micah is here, I'm so glad to have my little boy. The one that future girls will look up to to protect them and guide them. And, I was right, he is a very active boy. Seriously, just this week his activity level has probably tripled...and he's not even crawling yet! I can see already that he is going to be an outside boy. My summers are going to be spent outside in the backyard, digging in the dirt, splashing in the pool, riding bikes, playing "Tag," and searching for bugs. And I'm okay with that because I wouldn't trade those moments for anything. I look forward to getting dirt in my fingernails because of the time I will spend playing with my son. And someday, hopefully, I will also get the chance to play Barbies again (I hope so because I miss Barbie!) and do makeovers, but for now I'm perfectly happy with trips to an airport just so that my 7 month old can be outside.

These pictures were taken today at the Cavalcade of Planes at Clow International Airport. Awesome event. I'm sure Micah is going to love going there when he's a bit older!





And these were taken at Brookfield Zoo, where we went on Wednesday with Grammy. It was a beautiful day and Micah loved seeing all the animals. But he enjoyed people watching even more!

OBX

Well, obviously, we just recently got back from our vacation to the Outer Banks, NC. Let me just say it was amazing! Seriously, a much needed break from everything. My family started going to the Outer Banks 9 years ago. My whole extended family went one year for Easter. We stayed in two houses for a week. My family loved it so much that we decided to go back two years later. And we've been going every two years since (well, there was a three year span once). When Brad and I were dating in college he came with once. He just fell in love, too. So, when we started talking about going this year he was all for it.

My parents wanted to drive with us so we rented a mini van and made the 18 hour drive there. I was a little worried about how Micah would do in the car because he doesn't always enjoy car rides, but he did great. He didn't cry at all and was able to find lots of ways to amuse himself (with his feet, the mirror attached to his seat, my mom's pillow, Boompa, whatever).

We stay on the southern part of the island, in Avon. The house that we rented was gorgeous. It had five bedrooms and five bathrooms. We also had our own pool (a must since the ocean is still too cold to really enjoy it). Micah loved being on vacation! He is such a little fish, just like his Mommy (and his Daddy, from what I hear). He would just splash and splash in the pool. He sat in his little float, kicking his feet, and laughing at his cousins. It was obvious that he was having a good time. He also enjoyed the ocean. I was worried that he would be afraid of the noise of the ocean (all of my nieces were when they were younger),but he didn't care. He wanted to keep watching the waves, and he didn't mind when they came up to him and got his feet wet. He also didn't mind playing in the sand.

I think his favorite part of the trip was the ferry ride to Ocracoke Island, thought. He just laughed and laughed as he felt the wind blowing on his face. Seriously, he was blowing raspberries the whole time, which is a sure sign that he's excited! We also rented a bike with a child seat so that Micah could go on bike rides with us. We love riding our bikes around town and looking at the houses. It's such a small town and they have a lot of little tourist shops, plus it's nice to ride by the ocean. Micah wasn't too fond of his helmet (we bought him one at home before we went, but we also were able to get one with the bike rental), but once we got moving he really enjoyed the rides. In fact, we're hoping to get a bike seat for Micah this summer so that we can enjoy more family bike rides together.

I wish I could tell you more about what we did on our vacation, but we honestly didn't do much. We went to the pool every day and walked at the beach every evening. We went to Ocracoke one day. I went to the outlet mall with my mom and sister one day. We went for bike rides. We visited a lighthouse. But mostly we just relaxed. it was so nice. We didn't have any time restraints. Nowhere to be. Just time spent outside, together. It was so perfect. Wish we were still there.

May 31, 2000

I know I'm a couple days late, but better late than never, right? May 31st is an important date to Brad and me. It's the day we first started dating.

Brad and I met in high school. We were in the same sophomore chemistry class. Yes, my corny husband loves that we met in chemistry...afterall we have a little "chemistry" between us. Haha... Interestingly enough neither one of us was interested in the other initially. In fact, the only thing Brad was interested in was seeing my homework. And the only thing I was interested in was playing Tetris on his calculator. We had a very laid-back teacher. Sometimes I wonder how we managed to learn anything in that class. But, anyway. Really it all started because we went to a dance together. See, I really wanted to go to the dance but none of my friends were going and he wanted to go because all of his friends were going, but he didn't have a date. So, we decided to go together.

After the dance we had a friend serve as our intermediary. She basically told Brad I liked him and told me Brad liked me. Sneaky girl! We spent the next several weeks (months?) exchanging notes, e-mails, and phone calls. Every night at 9:00 we talked on the phone and I could count on a note in my locker every day. Finally, we decided to hang out one day after our finals. So, we went to Brad's house and hung out on his patio. We played on his trampoline and when it started to rain we went inside to watch "Big Daddy" (a cruel joke because I told him that when I first saw the movie I cried like a baby). When Brad took me home he asked me to be his girlfriend while we were sitting in his car in my driveway.

And that's the beginning of our story. :)

The oldest picture of us I could find on my computer:

7 months

I'm a day late with this post, but that's because we're still recovering from our vacation to the Outer Banks, NC. More about our trip soon. This post is about Micah. And how my baby is 7 months old! I can hardly believe it! I know I say this all the time, but this was such a fun month for Micah. He's really started to be more mobile and he's becoming more and more independent (gone are the days of just sitting on the couch and holding him). He's still a very "lovey" baby, though, and will shower you with kisses and smiles. He's such a flirt, too. Wherever we go, he's always smiling at the people, especially other kids. He loves to watch big kids playing, I can't wait for him to be able to play with them! Here's what's happened in Micah's 7th month:

*He weighs 17lbs. 15 oz. and is 28.5 in. (50th percentile for weight and 92nd percentile for height!)

*He took his first trip to the zoo. Technically it wasn't his fist time to the zoo, but it was the first going to see the animals. He loved it!

*We had our last day of MOPS for the year. Micah and I love going to MOPS and can't wait to start back in the fall.

*We celebrated our first Mother's Day. Brad helped Micah make me a little stone with his handprint and footprint. It is so cute...and I can't believe how much bigger his footprint is than when he was just born!

*Micah had his first non-family baby sitter--Miss Jenna. Brad and I are both attending Bible studies at our church on Tuesday nights. Every other week Brad's mom baby sits and on the off weeks Jenna baby sits. Jenna goes to our church and just graduated high school. She does so great with him and Micah loves playing with her!

*Micah and I joined a playgroup and we attended our first playdate. We just played at one of the mom's houses, but we're really looking forward to doing more activities.

*Micah went on his first vacation to the Outer Banks. We went with my mom and my sister and her family. We all rented a house in Avon for a week. It was so much fun! The ride was 18 hours and Micah did great!

*He had his first time in a pool and loved it! He's definitely part fish!

*Micah went to the ocean for the first time. He could not take his eyes off of the waves!

*First trip on a car ferry. He loved the wind blowing on his face--he squealed the entire time.

*Went for his first bike ride. We rented a bike with a child seat and Daddy and Micah went for a bike ride almost every day we were on vacation. Brad can't wait to get a seat for his new bike so that he can take Micah for bike rides all the time.

*He's eating more solid food including graham crackers, cinnamon french toast, squash, lemon, and yogurt.

*We're working on clapping our hands. He loves when we clap his hands and say "Yay!" but he won't do it himself yet.

*He's starting to pull himself up to sit. He pulls on Mom and Dad's hands all the time and pulls up but he doesn't understand that he can use other objects, too.

*He is so much more mobile now! He's rolling all the time and just so wiggly! He's not crawling yet, but I suspect it will happen this month.

*Those darn teeth are still not in! However, they've been giving him a real hard time the past couple days and his gums are really swollen so maybe this month (I know I say that all the time, so really I'm giving up on predicting when it will happen...in fact, I'm convinced he'll graduate college with a gummy smile and no teeth!).

And, of course, I will leave you with a ton of pictures of our little cutie!

 

Micah Goes to the Zoo

A couple weekends ago the weather was just gorgeous so we decided to take Micah to the zoo. We called our good friends, Vic and Mina, to see if they wanted to meet us there. After church, Vic, Mina, Isaac, Ian, Brad, Micah, and I all spent the day at Brookfield Zoo. Technically, this wasn't Micah's first trip to the zoo, but it was the first time we walked around the zoo and looked at the animals. Brad wore him in the Ergo the whole day and Micah loved it! I think he was more interested in watching the other people, but that's okay. I can't wait for the day when he gets excited to go to the zoo and can't wait to see his favorite animal.


He was so good, but the zoo really wore him out so Daddy shielded him from the cold/noise and he was OUT.


Waiting for the dolphin show to start. I think he was more interested in the water than the dolphins.


He loved being worn in the Ergo.




The boys: Brad, Micah, Isaac, Ian, and Victor.

Cake Cookies

This is one of my favorite cookie recipes. I first tried them when I was student teaching in New Mexico. Now, I make them all the time and everyone who's ever tried them loves them. They taste just like the Lofthouse cookies. The recipe can be found on the side of the Pilsbury Funfetti Cake Mix box, but I use them for any type of cake mix. Today I made them with a white cake mix. Yum! Enjoy!

Pilsbury Cake Cookies

1 Cake Mix of your choice
2 eggs
1/3 c. oil

Mix together. Drop rounded teaspoons onto cookie sheet. Bake at 350 for 6-8 minutes. To make them extra tasty frost with your favorite frosting and add sprinkles!



The group I student taught in New Mexico with.