New toys for Julia

We finally bought Julia a highchair and a johnny jumper. So far she really seems to like both. She really enjoys sitting in her highchair during dinner and watching us eat. She just likes to be near us and as long as she can see us, she is very content.

It took a few times for Julia to figure out the Johnny jumper but she is getting the hang of it and really likes it. She plays in it while we make dinner. She loves to watch Nori while she's sitting in it. Soon she'll get the jumping part figured out.

busy busy busy

Seems like we are so darn busy these days that i never have time to write and update everyone. Last week was a blur like most weeks as we have school started now, volleyball started for both Nina and I, my professional society meetings started up again for the 08/09 session and of course other work activities.

Last Sat night, the family went to Hamilton, MO for a work picnic at my coworker's Dale's place. It was really a good time as Dale has horseshoes, fishing, wagon rides, a pond with a paddle boat and other activities for everyone to enjoy. We had a really good time.

Nina started volleyball last week too. She is playing with her classmates. Her coaches are Jenna's parents so they will have a fun season. Games are Friday nights for the next 6 weeks. Can't wait to see how they do. I started volleyball too last week. We have a work league that plays Wed nights. We won 2 of 3 last week. Not too bad for a bunch of thirtysomething out of shape girls.

Last Friday, I did something that i never thought i would do. I played golf. Well, I'm not sure you can actually call it playing golf. More like a weak attempt at playing. We had our annual HNTB golf tourney. So four of us girls who don't play (Rachel, Lideana, Gretchen & I) decided that we wanted to partake in the fun so we signed up. Rachel was the only one who had played before and that was just one time. So the four of us looked at this as a social event with some beers and a little golf in between. :) Since you could only bogey a hole, we came in at 14 over. We had 4 actual pars, not too bad. ha ha I do have a new respect for those who play now. I was exhausted when we were done. That's a lot of work to go out there and play 18 holes.

Cereal

Well, we got the okay from our pediatrician to start Julia on cereal. I find it hard to feed her when she's not sitting up yet. Plus we still need to go buy a highchair. For now we are using the bumboo. She definitely doesn't quite know what to do with the spoon and the stuff I'm shoving in her mouth!!
We'll keep going at it and she'll get the hang of it soon. :)

Frist day of school

Hard to believe but Nina started 5th Grade this year. Time really flies so fast. I'll blink and tomorrow Julia will be in kindergarten.

Lake of the Ozarks

Last weekend we (my mom, Nina, Julia and I) traveled down to the Ozarks with friends Steve & Rachel and their kids, Joe & Michell and their kids. Rachel's family has a place on the 57th Mile Marker. Mark was at Craig with his hunting buddies getting the place ready for the upcoming season. It was a great weekend, especially since all our kids (8 in all) all got along so well. Rachel has twin 10 yr old boys and 5 year old girl. Joe has 8 yr old girl and twin 5 yr old boy & girl. So right off the bat Nina and Joe's daughter Lauren hit it off. Rachel's daughter Grace and Joe's daughter Maddie also hung out all weekend. The boys, Nate and Zeke, took in little Nolan so all the kids had their buddies all weekend. We had a great time swimming, boating and tubing. The adults had fun just hanging out and having a few drinks.

4 months

Julia's 4 month appt: She came in at 14 lbs, 25" long, 62% and 75% respectively. She took the next round of shots like a champ.

Rehoboth Beach - Part III

Now I'm way behind in my posting. I haven't even finished our vacation post and i now have Julia's 4 month check up and this past weekend events at the lake to post about. Ahhhh...

Mark and Peter at the Yankee Club

So I'm going to quickly finish up the vacation post. Besides the fun at the beach, pool and boardwalk, there are two other events during our vacation that i need to highlight. First, Mark, Peter and I took off on Wed of the week to NYC for a Yankees game. Yes, i know the Yankees play in the Bronx. Anyways, we had clear sailing from Delaware up to NY via the NJ Turnpike until Peter made the comment on how we made good time from the beach to Manhattan. Then of course, we came to a dead stop. It was the classic jinx. ha ha Took us about 3 + hours to get to the George Washington bridge that crosses in Manhattan and then we cross into the Bronx. Took about 45 minutes to to actually go the last 5 miles or so into the stadium. But it was no problem as we still arrived early enough to get a great parking spot. Mark who hasn't been to a Yankees game at Yankee Stadium since he was 3, was like a kid in a candy store. Most of you probably already know what a huge Yankees fan Mark is. Classic story that if your dad is a Red Sox fan, you have to be a Yankees fan cause it is more fun to rebel against your dad than to follow in his footsteps. That's pretty much the story i get in this case. So anyhoo, Mark is a huge Yankees fan and it is the last year the Yankees will be playing in Yankee Stadium. The new and improved stadium is being built right next door. We had awesome seats to the game courtesy of Mark's Uncle Michael who snagged his firm's season tickets. Plus the tickets came with Yankee Club passes. It was so awesome!! We were a little worried that we wouldn't be able to go though only because this place has a dress code but since it was an afternoon game, everyone was dressed in tshirt and shorts. The Yankee club is somewhat comparable to the Stadium club at the Royals. Yet, it doesn't really compare at all. We had a great lunch and enjoyed the people watching. The game was great too. The Yankees blew away the Orioles. Mark found a tshirt and hat for souvenirs as well.

View from our seats

The final big event of our trip was Peter's 60th Bday celebration. Now this is the whole reason why we all made this trip. Peter's actual bday is August 1st which is also Peter and Sally's anniversary. So Happy 38th Anniversary to Peter and Sally. We celebrated on Friday the 1st with Michael, Felice, Jonah and Kira. The cake actually had 60 candles on it. I think the hit of the evening was our gift to Peter which was a shadow box filled with mementos of Peter's fishing trips to Canada. The whole gift was Mark's idea and he did a great job organizing and obtaining the pictures and items that went into it. We then celebrated again the next night when Peter's sister Jill and her family arrived. It was a very fun evening with all the aunt/uncles/cousins. I'm not sure when the last time everyone in the Friedman clan had been together but I think it was about 10 or more years ago. So for me, it was great to meet Jill's kids who were not able to make it to KC last year for our wedding.

Mark and his cousins

Rehoboth Beach - Part II

Nina and Julia on the Boardwalk

Okay, here's more about our trip to the beach. We arrived late Sat night so we didn't do much that evening but get the chance to talk with Michael and Felice and their kids, Jonah and Kira (Mark's cousins). Sunday I went with Felice and Sally to get the lay of the land. Find the grocery store and of course the brewery!! Important places we need to be able to find. Michael and Felice and the kids were heading back to DC and leaving us at their place for the week. They would all be back for the main event the following Sat which was Peter's 60th bday. The subdivision where they live also has a pool which was great so we didn't have to get all sandy every day.

Dogfish Head Brewery

Nina's favorite place was FunLand on the boardwalk. This is really a great place for kids. Lots of fun games, rides which were cheap and skeeball!! I love skeeball. These games didn't give you tickets. You had to score certain points to win stuff animals. If you won three small ones, you could trade those for a median then the large. My goal was to win the large penguin!! I had lots of help from Sally and Laura but we finally got that penguin, Chilly Willey. Nina had a blast on the rides. Laura, Mark and I would ride with her as well but Nina had no problems going by herself. She is fearless!! On the Boardwalk...

Laura and Nina on the Sea Dragon ride at Funland

Of course we loved the beach. The water was very cold but that didn't stop Mark and Nina. Now Julia on the other hand, didn't quite take too well to the ocean....

Julia's first time in the Ocean

Mark and Nina catching a wave.

Rehoboth Beach - Part I

Sorry for the long time in between posts but we have been on vacation and just got back. Mark, Nina, Julia and I just spent the week in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. It was Mark's Dad's 60th bday so it was part vacation and part family reunion. Both parts was great!! We left last Sat to fly out to Baltimore. This was Julia's first plane ride and she did fabulous. We had bottle in hand and ready to go in case her ears started to bother her but nothing happened. She smiled and played the whole way. She managed to sleep both on take off and landing too. What a trooper.

So we landed in Baltimore w/o incident. Such a relief! Nina had already been vacationing in Penn with her step mom's family so they met us at the airport. It was great how it all worked out for Nina and we only had to buy a one way ticket home for her. Once we got our rental car we were set for our 2 hr drive to the beach. Again, Julia did great on the trip and we finally arrived at Mark's Aunt Felice's house.

The house is just awesome. It's a quick less than 5 min walk to the beach. Mark's parents and sisters spent the week with us here as well.

More to come....