Win or lose.....

Well, the annual Iowa State/Iowa football came and went over the weekend. As predicted, the cyclones didn't quite give the performance we had hoped for. Actually both teams looked pretty bad but once again, we came up short on field goals and lost to the Hawkeyes. :( We headed to the KC gamewatch which was at Mickey's. Great crowd on hand for the day.

Life of a 5 month old

Things are pretty rough for me these days. 5 months old must be that much tougher than being 4 months old. Why you ask? Well, mom and dad keep shoving this crazy gooey stuff in my mouth. It's slimy, orange, sometimes cold and it doesn't come in a bottle. What's up with that?? I guess it isn't all bad. I get to sit in this big chair with Mom, Dad and Sissy while they are stuffing other crazy looking stuff into their mouths. They don't use a bottle either, isn't that just weird. Maybe if i keep eating this gooey stuff, i can try some of the weird things mommy and daddy are eating??

Mommy and Daddy are putting more and more clothes on me these days too. I want to wear my pretty sundresses but the last few days, I have been wearing long pants on my legs, socks on my feet and Mommy even puts a jacket with a hood on my head when we walk over to Miss Cindy's house. She keeps telling me that it's getting cold outside, whatever that means.

My favorite thing to do besides eating everything i can grab, is watching my puppies play. We have a new little puppy Izzy that really likes to play with Nori. I like to grab her ears cuz she has lots of hair for me to grab at. Izzy and Nori like to roll around together and chase each other around the house. it's lots of fun to watch. Izzy makes this really funny noise when i grab her ears too. Not sure what that is all about. Izzy also likes to play with my feet when I'm in the jumper. I think it's funny but Mommy always makes Izzy stop. We also have a big black dog now too. His name is Kutter. Mommy tells me that he was here when i was born but i don't seem to remember that. He really likes to lick my face.

Who let the Dogs Out...

This past weekend was truly one for the dogs. First of all, Mark and I decided to rescue a 6 month old long hair mini dachshund. She was given up by a family that couldn't take care of her anymore. A friend at work sent out an email to help find a new owner before they took her to the animal shelter. I forward the info and a cute pic of her to Mark expecting a "so sorry" email in return. To my surprise Mark thought it would be a good idea for us to take her so that Nori would have a friend to play with. Nori is pretty jealous of our time spent playing with Julia these days. So on Saturday morning we picked her up. Her name is Izzy. Nori and Izzy spent all weekend getting to know each other, playing, chasing each other, stealing each other's toys....

Monday saw the return of our long lost lab Kutter. He returned from doggy boot camp where he has spent the last 5 months training to be a bird hunting dog. I'm sure there's a correct term for it but bird hunting dog works for me. So Kutter returned to the backyard (his now permanent home). Nori greeted him as she does all dogs and Izzy decided to hide from the big black monster. So our family is now whole and complete. The four of us humans, 3 dogs and one cat. I would say our home is definitely full!

Also this weekend our good friends Andy and Susan were in town. Them and their 3 kids stayed at our place. We had lots of fun on Sunday going to the park, pool and Deanna Rose (Julia and I skipped Deanna Rose). Mark and Andy had their FF draft on Sunday too. Then that evening we had anyone who wanted to come over for an impromptu bbq. It was great to see Joe, Angie & Wrigley; Justin, Kati and Tyler; Jenn, John and Alexa and of course Andy, Susan, Will, Paige and Calvin.

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.