Thea isn't eating food yet, but we are planning to start her on it when she turns 6 months. In the meantime she has been trying out the high chair. She likes to sit with us at dinner time and practice on her toys!
I think she is plotting her escape, so the swing is now out of the baby soothing rotation. It was nice while it lasted.
This morning Cory wasn't feeling well, and I decided to brave taking the girls downtown by myself to get us out of the house. I titled this post building memories because on days like today when the task of two little kids all by myself at a crowded outdoor event seems too overwhelming, I have to remind myself that I am building memories for Leila and I want her to remember doing fun and unusual things, not watching cartoons (which she already does too much of!) This event is called Sand in the City, and it was really cool! Lots of giant sand sculptures to see, and we got to watch them working on carving out a herky! Aside from the sculptures they also had a couple of giant sand piles for the kids to plan in and some other games and balloons. So out we went! Just mom, Leila, Thea one umbrella stroller and my Ergo baby carrier. The Ergo is nothing short of a lifesaver, I don't think Leila would get to do nearly as many fun things if I didn't have the option of wearing Thea in a baby carrier. Thea even seems to really like it, so much that has been known to take a snooze or two in her cozy carrier!
Here are some pictures of Leila and the sand experience:
And this is how Thea has been traveling these day! :)
Cindy and I took the kids to the Childrens museum on a rainy day this week. They had a lot of fun shopping in the city market and Leila made me lunch at the pizza parlor. Great fun was had by all...taking 4 kids under 3 years anywhere can be a challenge, but we had lots of fun! 
My dad the handyman made this frog pull toy for me to give to a good friend of mine's 1 year old son. My job was to paint it, and as much as it pained me to let Leila paint, I gave in and let her have a turn. I would post a finished product picture, but it isn't finished yet :)
And of course she is already sporting some hawkeye gear...only 2 more weeks to football!! Go Hawks!
I hope my dad doesn't mind my candor, but I felt the need to share ;).
This morning I called my parents house to see what they were up to today. I admit that a weekend rarely goes by that I don't see my mom and dad, and I like it that way.
I could sense some sadness in my dad's voice when he reminded me that today they would be moving my littlest sister back into the dorms at UNI, and that next weekend my brother will be shipped off to Madison Wisconsin where he will be starting a new job for Hy-Vee.
My sisters Andrea and Cassie both live in the same town that Cory and I have made our home, and until the end of this month, Clay is also here in North Liberty. Though this is the second year that Dani has spent off at College in Cedar Falls...about an hour and a half away, and the furthest any of us Howard Kids have ventured from the comforts of Mom and Dad, it is still hard to see her go. Dani spent the summer working with Cassie at the Van Allen Summer Day Camp and we had the pleasure of her company on a consistent basis.
But Clay-boy is making the biggest move yet when he packs up his car for Wisconsin in another week, and we are all feeling the gloom of knowing that he won't be here with us all of the time. Though he has been working hard for Hy-Vee for some time, at least we knew that if we ever really need him, we could go walk around the store for a while where one of the managers would recognize us as Clay's family and page him to come and see us. I am thinking that this move may require a Hy-Vee boycott, it just won't be the same without Clay.
My brother is one of the funniest people I know (don't let that go to your head cheese boy), and at the same time, a very smart and well spoken young man. He has the sensitivity that one would expect from a guy who grew up in a house with four sisters, but at the same time, he can be such a guy. I reminded him when he told me that he was hoping to move to Wisconsin for a management job with Hy-Vee that he had better very closely consider the move and to keep in mind that there is not a single person in all of Wisconsin that loves him. What I didn't follow that up with at the time, but as we are all thinking about with his upcoming move is that, there are a lot of us here in Iowa that really do.
I reminded my Dad this morning that though Clay's moving away is going to be hard for all of us to swallow, the fact that he has the confidence to go after his goals and to take on a new, unfamiliar city is a testament to his parents.
I then told him about my little Thea finally making it over from her belly to her back and rolling all over my living room. Dad says, "well that is mostly good," and I agreed. As long as she doesn't try to roll off to Wisconsin.
So the Price we pay for Love...I read this quote once, "Grief is the price we pay for Love." And I couldn't agree more. Love is expensive, but worth every penny.
I love love love a homemade bag. I made my own diaper bag, and I made the one that I used when Leila was a baby...I have made a few different purses, some for myself and some as gifts for my favorite ladies.
I ran across this blog today, and I was almost inspired to get out my sewing machine! Here it is for anyone else out there with a bag problem like mine! :) 
I do like to remind my husband when he rolls his eyes about my fabric buying that my homemade purses generally take less than 10-15 dollars in materials for me to make, and I could always cut back on the fabric stash and buy myself a 400 dollar Coach bag!
Thea's first boat ride...I think she liked it!
Daddy helping Leila fish...they were unsuccessful, but Leila did get to see another kid catch a cat fish. She asked me, "Can I pet it?!?!" I told her she could pet her own fish if she caught one. I am glad she didn't catch one.
I found this picture on my phone memory card when looking for vacation pictures. It was taken in July of 2007, during my Uncle Jim's funeral Cory took Leila outside to walk around and she found these very friendly kittens.
These pictures are from the last time that my Grandma Dalene saw Leila before she died. How the time has flown by.
I recently finished reading this book and I had to post about it. The Author is a pediatrician named Mark Sloan, and here is the book:
This book was truly amazing! I haven't really been into reading books in the last few years with everything else that I have going on, but lately I have rediscovered the public library as a great "Mommy Day" Activity when I am home with the girls, and as a wonderful resource for information on whatever I happen to be interested in learning more about that day.
I tend to read non fiction books. I generally feel that if I am going to take the time to read a book, I want it to be filled with truth...I can create my own fiction, but good informative prose feels like a good use of my reading time.
On the day that I discovered "Birth Day" I was browsing through the new books section of the library and since I am a mother who recently gave birth, this book drew my attention. I have to say though, that this was such a really interesting read that I would recommend it to anyone, no matter what your experience is with childbirth.
The book is filled with interesting medical information about the process of childbirth as a child goes from fetus to newborn and also includes lots of interesting historical information. I had always kind of wondered how it happens that a baby goes from living in a bag of water to breathing air in no time flat and now I know, and you can too!
On top of everything else, the Author adds a personal anecdotal touch to his book, that really keeps you engaged. Definitely check out this book, I can't recommend it enough!
My sister Cassie has been living with us since sometime early this year...before Thea was born. She had kind of a crappy living situation and were more than happy to coerce her to move in here with us to escape the creepy roommate and not have to pay rent at two places.
So anyway, today is a very sad day for me...Cassie is moving on to her next home. When I moved out of my parents house in 1999 Cassie was 13 years old. We didn't have much in common, and I think we irritated one another more than anything else. Over the past ten years a lot has changed, and the 5 year age difference between us seemed like much more of a real difference back then. After being blessed with a few short months sharing a roof with my little sister again I feel like I had the opportunity to get to know Cassie the woman, and realized how much we have in common, and how much I like her.
Cassie is great friend. It was interesting for me to hear about our childhood through her eyes, something that I hadn't really heard before. Maybe the best part of having a Cassie was the help. She has been a lifesaver during these months with a new baby around and a very active 3 year old. It is kind of like having a sister wife that you don't have to share your husband with! I have had it good, and I haven't taken it for granted. I think that decades from now I will remember this time that we had together and I will be happy to have had the pleasure of sharing my home with my sister. Cassie is pretty awesome, even aside from the help around the house and with the babies, she is funny, smart and beautiful and one day she is going to make one amazing mother.
I love my Cassie, but I think Leila will miss her the most. Cassie's new house is only across town though, so she best plan on making frequent visits so we can all get our Cassie fix in.
I feel like I should have more to say, but right now I am just not feeling inspired, so I will just say this-- Everyone should have a Cassie.
We spent a week in Missouri visiting with family and hanging out by the lake. Thea and I had a very relaxing week of napping and hanging out in a cabin where I didn't have to think about my mess and all of things I need to do around my house, so I had a very nice relaxing time in spite of the fact that we didn't spend much time out and about. The rest of the family had a great time out on the lake in Dad's boat and with Uncle Randy's jet ski's.
Thea did take her first boat ride, a short little cruise around the lake. Since the water is so smooth down there, it was nice to get to take her out. The water on the reservoir up here is always very choppy and I wouldn't feel comfortable having my little baby jostled around in a boat.
Unfortunately, the day before we left for our trip Cory's Dad suffered a stoke. We decided to go ahead with our trip as he seemed to be doing pretty well on Saturday morning. Things turned badly for a bit but Ed seems to be recovering very well and you would never guess that a week ago he was in a very sensitive medical state. He is still in the Hospital at the University and Cory and I and Thea came back early from vacation to spend some time with him. We expect him to be released next week and then he will have some therapy. Leila stayed with Grandma Lori and Papa Carey and continued to enjoy her wonderful vacation eating chips, playing on the boat and staying up way too late. When Dani asked Leila what her favorite part of vacation was she responded with, "My family!" That makes me feel really good, and I think the rest of the family would agree.
I have some pictures that I will try to add later when we locate our card reader, including pictures of fun on the boat, and Leila's first (and unsuccessful) fishing experience.
Cory and I have decided to take on a big project this fall that is going to keep us from getting ready to list our house. So we have decided that to save ourselves some stress we are just going to put off our plans to move for now. So our new plan is to work on getting Thea to sleep in the crib in Leila's room. Once we have that worked out, I think I will feel a little better about staying put for a while. Maybe this way we can afford more of what we want in a house by the time we are able to get around to selling.
We heard this song on the radio during our long trek back to North Liberty on Thursday and Cory and I agreed that this about sums up our feelings lately...things will slow down sometime, right?
