Good Ole' Home on the Range

-just a side note before I start the blog. For the past 3 years the ice cream man has been my nemeses. For 6 months out of the year this dumpy truck drives around all day playing way too loudly Home on the Range-THIS IS NOT THE RANGE! Agh! One day it played a different song and for a moment I was relieved...until I realized it was a Christmas song. So if you are ever looking for a good side to high gas prices, just think of the ice cream man. I haven't heard that obnoxious song in a month thanks to $4.30 a gallon! Anyway, the point: it's always nice to get back to the real range.

We've been gone the last week and a half. Ben went to Romania to work in the same orphanage we did 6 years ago. He had an amazing experience, but I'll let him tell the story in another post. I have a feeling if you could adopt from Romania we would have a few extra kids in the house right now-which I have to confess would be 100% ok with me. I've always dreamed of adopting kids and I will be thrilled if we have the opportunity to one day. Alison and I went to Kansas for a week. Ben and my dad arranged the trip so I wouldn't be home alone for the long trip and I'm glad they did. I got to spend a lot of time with my niece and see her grow and change. She started cooing and it just made my day hearing her voice. I love being an Aunt. Alison wanted to be the baby one day so I put her in Beth's sling she has for baby Kate. I thought it was more funny than she did.



Alison loves eating at Grandma and Grandpa's. I think she's going to grow up thinking a day consists of 2 dinners because we feed her dinner at 5 and then we eat around 6:30, but she insists on eating our food too-even if she got the exact same thing earlier. Every food we put in front of her she loved; even things I tried giving her at home and she refused. She had her first Vareniky meal and then enjoyed a fruit platter with grandpa. For goodness sakes she even ate tomatoes! Ben and I hate tomatoes!












We took Alison out on the boat to make sure she would be okay for our upcoming vacation. Kids are unpredictable and about the time you think they'll be great, they trick you and something makes them upset you didn't see coming. Alison showed that she has some Yoder blood in her and she loved every minute of it. We stopped several times to jump in the water and Grandpa taught her how to jump off the back of the boat. The only problem was then we couldn't keep her in the boat. She loved the water and would just lay back on the vest and relax. When I said, "Swim to the boat" she would splash her hands in the water like she was swimming and when I said, "be a boat" she would buzz her lips like the motor. We sat up front and the first picture shows you Alison's hair style after a bumpy ride across Clinton Lake. I thought the life jacket would bug her because it sure did bug me trying to carry her in it, but she didn't seem to mind. The last picture is one of my new favorite pictures. She was helping Grandpa drive, but I have no idea what the expression means. People have been telling me a lot lately that she is very expressive. I suppose it's a good thing, but I need a manual for what they mean.

I went to dinner with some friends and our good friend Katherine came over with her daughter Anna.






Alison loved playing the piano, yet another thing I don't understand why she only does at Grandma and Grandpa's. She spent a lot of time climbing up the stairs and she will now walk holding only one hand. She also started standing up on her own without pulling up on anything. The funniest thing she started doing was saying consistently "Bop, Bop" and "Ding, Ding" and I teased my parents that she had new names for them.


We attempted a cousins photo shoot with the matching outfits my mom bought them. It didn't turn out very well since Alison was trying to crawl away and Kate would cry every time we set her down. Alison tried to help quiet her, but it still didn't make for a good picture.




My baby turned 1 today. Pictures to come tomorrow.

Big Mac

Alison loves her MacN'Cheese, especially when Daddy feeds it to her with a big spoon. Ben pointed out that we should have figured out how much she likes eating from a spatula months ago-it would have made some meals a whole lot easier. We've taught Alison to sign "more", but it just looks like she's clapping.

We bought Alison her first Birthday presents. Ben and I are more kids than her though when it comes to the gifts. We can't stand not giving them to her now. So we bent the rules a little bit and gave her one gift early and the hot pink ball is the new toy of the house.



Ben leaves tomorrow for Romania and I leave Tuesday for Kansas. I'm thankful to be able to spend time with family, but I'm dreading the week and a half without talking to Ben.

Kisses

We were sitting at dinner and all of the sudden Alison started making kissing noises over and over. I began to repeat her and then threw in some other noises she was learning; she did a great job following and repeating and I'm so glad I got it on tape.

Ben and I have waited a long time for Alison to start clapping. Our wish finally came true this afternoon.
One of the many things I love about Alison is her growing love for books. I love how she wanders into her room, sits in front of her little book shelf, and pulls a book at a time off into a little pile around her. She'll sit there quietly or talk to herself and flip through the pages of the books.

She's starting to look a little more like me!

After I took this picture this morning I realized that Alison's starting to look a little more like me. Maybe it was just the cute Pony tail.



If you look closely you can see her top tooth poking through! Oddly enough she has a top middle and side tooth in and the second middle one is working it's way through.


Don't you love the Mohawk? Alison's new found adventure is climbing in the bathtub. It's cute until you're in the shower and she jumps in with her clothes on. I never thought taking a quiet shower would be my greatest challenge.

4th of July

We had a simple 4th of July this year. This actually was the first year Ben was home for 4th of July since we've moved to Michigan. He left this morning for Kentucky and last night was one of the few short windows of quality time we have together this summer. We grilled steak for dinner and played with Alison until bedtime. We were prepared for her not to sleep since it sounded like we were in the middle of a war zone and she's big time teething right now, but she pleasantly surprised us and didn't make a peep all night. Ben built a bonfire and we made s'mores and watched the firework show from the comfort of our backyard. It was a perfect evening in my books; home with my family and s'mores...I don't know how it could have been any better.

11 Months

This is how Ben does Alison's hair when he gives her a bath. I guess she thinks it's funny. Alison's top right tooth finally broke through yesterday-hence the binki. She was not a happy camper and wanted something to chew on constantly, which I can understand. She's gotten more confident in her standing. A couple of times she's picked up a toy and stood alone for a moment. I get too excited to concentrate long enough to get a picture. Ben says I squeal so loud that I scare her into sitting back down. I'm working on containing my excitement so she can learn to walk.


I've noticed that Alison is only in a diaper in a lot of my posts and I just want assure everyone that we do dress her. Ben might be slightly embarrassed when he sees that I posted this video, but it will just give you all a glimpse at how great he is with his daughter. He's always on the floor playing with her and teaching her new things.

I ran in the Freedom Run this past Sunday. I finished the 5k in 31 minutes and although I wasn't happy with my performance, I had to remind myself that I still accomplished my goal. I blame the stupid water cart for my time. How can a runner pass up water half way through the race? Maybe everyone else has it figured out, but I wanted my water and I can't run and drink so I stopped and enjoyed my cold beverage. Next time...no water carts. They handed out Popsicles at the finish line. It seemed very odd to me. I didn't want a popsicle at the end of a race, now's when I want the water! I can run and lick a popsicle!