September 2008

I've uploaded some new photos tonight, click here to see them.

I was thinking it has been a while since I've written anything here, and had convinced myself that we had not taken any new photos in weeks, and then I realized, Bryan had a number on his phone. And they are pretty good for a cell phone camera (it is an iPhone-I should give him his props).

But to catch you up to speed on what's happening at our house, starting in August:
We took a week of vacation August 11-17, where we puttered around the house. We had an architect in to help us design a ramp to add on to the front of the house. We're pretty excited about this project, and he's done a great job helping us design something that won't cover the entire front lawn.

Rowan went back to school shortly after our week off, and promptly came home with a cold. But recovered quickly.

For Labor Day weekend, we had a nice visit with Grandma & Grandpa Sibthorp, who visited us from Virginia.

The weekend of the 5-7 we visited our other grandparents in Springfield, and Laurel came home with a whopper of a cold. Quickly followed by Bryan, and finally a visit to the doctors office for a double ear infection.

Last weekend we had a WVIK function, saying goodbye to some long time co-workers who are daring to retire and move on.

And finally that catches us up to this weekend, where were went to the Greek culture fest in Rock Island for some excellent greek food and balloon hats for the girls. As you can see in the photo of Laurel, she loved it.

We've also been busy keeping Rowan on track with her therapies: Monday and Wednesday, where she is learning and gaining a lot of strength. Earlier this week she did two really cool and exciting things: She got herself into a four-point crawling position from her tummy, all by herself, with no assistance; and she took three steps in a device called a gait trainer (kind of like a walker, but with more support). We are very proud of how hard she works.

I've been very busy in the kitchen, roasting, pureeing, cooking, and freezing produce we get from our weekly CSA share. You can learn more about the garden we get our vegetables from by clicking here. In the photos, you'll see Laurel helping with the apples we received this week.

She has recently starting eating apples whole and can clearly say "apple". She has lots of other words too: Momma, shoes, thank you, and just about any other word you use. She can run now. And I have this great new gear that really helps keep her safe, recommended by Grandma Anne Marie. Its basically a leash, for your kid. But she loves it. Asks for it all the time. And she can walk with us with a little autonomy, and a little bit independence. I hear a lot of whispers about how cute she is in it when were are in public. Best money I've ever spent on baby gear. Oh and it's a monkey back pack with a "tail" that serves as a leash.

That's all for now. I'll post more as Halloween pictures are taken, and cooler days are spent outside in our huge pile of leaves. Have a great week.

Colleen