Thea at one year

Thea had her 1 year appointment this week.  I had already made plans to visit my friend and her twin babies in the NICU so Cory had the task of taking Thea to the Doctor.  She weighed in at 26 lbs, 9 ounces, and she is 30 and 3/4 inches tall.  She is a big girl.

She isn't walking yet, but she stands unassisted and will give you the, "look at me, aren't I hot stuff?" face while she does it.  She has taken one step and fallen quite a few times, but she is in way too much of a hurry to try to slow down and balance herself walking, she would much prefer to turbo crawl.  This is really fine with me, she is already growing up too fast.

She is a great baby girl, she loves to eat bananas.  Her boppy pillow is a big hit, she is so cute lounging in it like it is a recliner. Blankets are a big hit with Thea too.  She has a favorite pink blanket that Grandpa Warren got for her, but she will smoosh her face in and roll around on the floor with just about any blanket she can find.  She loves toys that play music she can dance too and she has a couple of words.  She says Mama, Dada, LaLa (Leila), Dog, all done and yeah.  I haven't heard her say no yet, but I am sure that one will come soon.

Leila and Thea still get along pretty well, but for some reason they both always want the same toy.  That gets really frustrating for all of us!

Cory and I are trying to get moving on the packing business...next week we close on our lot and then two weeks after that we get our apartment so we can move out of here and get it cleaned up before our house closing.   I am anxious to get to a slightly more settled point in this transition so I am looking forward to May!  Not only will we be settled into our new temporary home, but we will be welcoming a new baby girl into the Howard family when Andrea and Steve's daughter arrives.  We can't wait!

The underdogs

Sometimes I will flip on a football or basketball game, even though the Hawkeyes aren't competing, just to watch a game (especially in tourney/bowl season!). I will watch the game, and as time ticks away on the game clock, I inevitably pick a team to root for. My heart generally does the picking, and I am sucker for the underdog. I love to see hard work pay off over prestige, it's in my nature.

I try to look at politics from this light as well. I don't want to be a narrow minded party line voter, and I am disgusted by divisive and misleading techniques used by both political parties. I used to enjoy politics. Not anymore. So I guess it is more like being forced to watch a hockey game than choosing to watch football or basketball, but anyway, you get the point.

The hotly contested health care bill was signed by President Obama today, and I have been doing a lot of reading. Reading to help me understand what the bill means, and mostly to calm some of my fears. The uncertainty and inevitable change that it will bring to all Americans is definitely unsettling, but I couldn't help but root for the underdog, and I was happy to see it pass, and the more I read about the bill, the less I worry about the future, and the the happier I am for those who are immediately and positively effected. Like the 5 year old cancer survivor who has now beat cancer twice, and no longer will have to worry about not qualifying for health insurance because at 5, she has already nearly exhausted her lifetime limit imposed by the insurance company, not to mention that ugly diagnosis that works against her as a pre-existing condition.

Everything comes at a cost, and some things are just worth it, in my mind. I am praying for America now, because I know there are a lot of scared and unhappy people here now, but I am hopeful that good things are to come, and I have to believe that we are doing God's work by taking care of each other. It isn't perfect, but it is a start.

Thea girl

Andrea and I took Thea with us today while the big kids went to daycare.  From the moment that I loaded her into Sawyer's big kid, forward facing car seat, you could see in her face that she felt like hot stuff!  Every time I looked back at her in the back seat she would give me a big grin and a giggle, and I loved that she felt special. After a morning of shopping we went to lunch at the Olive Garden, just the three of us.  I watched my big girl sitting in her high chair and I realized how much this day meant to me.  I now know that I need to take more time with Thea alone, and not let her position as second child mean that she is just an add on to what we have already built, but also a really special little girl who needs attention all on her own too.  Or maybe it is Mommy that needs to focus more on my individual children, but either way, I had a great day with my little girl, and I look forward to more days like this, and some big girls days as well! :)  Life is good and I am going to pretend it isn't snowing tonight and my bank account isn't empty. 

Since it has been so long...

I look weird, but Thea is so cute...She loves that toy too!
A left over gift bag filled with one of my top two gifts of all time! :)
She looks so grown up here sitting with Stewart at the mall
Dancing!
Cuties!

She's 1!

The favorite gift of the day! A wagon from Grandma Lori and Papa Carey!
Thea likes getting presents!
Thea does not like birthday cake.

Springing...

There is something about the melting snow, longer days and boxes of girl scout cookies that makes it really hard to stay unhappy. Spring is in the air, and I am anxiously awaiting the day when I can take the girls out without jackets. I can tell it is coming!

I still can't find my card reader, and that is a real bummer. Thea is growing up so much and doing many cute things that I have caught on film, but have no way of sharing. The girl loves to dance and she loves her maracas. It is very sweet to see her holding them and doing a little dance.

She is standing on her own for a few seconds at a time, but she promptly sits down as soon as she realizes that the toys in her hands aren't supporting her. She just seems so grown up, the last couple of weeks have seemed to age her tremendously. She is such a joy, I can't imagine our family without her.

Leila is her same super sassy and sweet self. She got to go bowling with her dad for Bowl for Kids Sake a couple of weeks ago and she loved it. She has asked to go again several times since then. She was the only little kid around, but that didn't bother her a bit. She loves people, and she loves parties. She followed that up with attendance at a retirement party for one of my teammates, and a graduation party for another work friend of ours. Quite the socialite she is turning into. One common theme...the fit she throws when she has to leave.

Thea's party is next Saturday, and I am really hoping to find that card reader before then!

Sisters

The other day I was sitting in the car with my two girls while we waited for Cory. Thea was cranky and tired in her car seat. Leila reached down into the space between the two car seats and grabbed a toy. She flipped the switch on and the maraca began to play music as Leila held it out across the back seat and handed it to Thea, "our baby." Just one small example of what a wonderful sweetheart of a big sister Leila is.

Thank you Leila for making our family of four such a loving place to be.