Anniversary Party

On April 5 we dropped Copper off at his foster mom's house for the weekend, and prepared to go to Iowa to celebrate Grandma and Grandpa Jay's 65th wedding anniversary.  Saturday morning we hit the road at about 10:00 am, and had a fairly uneventful drive (except for when I dropped my cell phone in the rest stop parking lot and we had to go back and get it--but it was right where it fell!).  We stayed at Aunt Lisa and Uncle Bouck's house along with the Notz family, and Kate had a blast hanging out with her cousins.  Papa Ronnie and Vickie even came to visit, and Papa John brought Kate a gift--a Dora balloon--that will make several more appearances on the blog :-).  We also discovered that Kate loves, loves, LOVES to take baths in the big bathtub.  I've never seen her little legs so busy kicking and splashing, and she doesn't even mind when water gets in her face.  I think they'll be some swimming lessons in her future!

-- Spending some time with Max --

-- Hooray for cousins! --

-- Snuggling with Daddy --

Sunday morning we got up and got dressed for the party.  There was such a wonderful turnout!  It really was a testament to how many people have been touched by the Rubels.  We had a great time catching up with everyone, and Kate's feet (and bottom) didn't touch the floor all day--she just got passed from one person to the next!  But she was a trooper, and she loved all of the activity that was going on around her.

-- Happy anniversary! --

-- We got to spend more time with the Notz family! --

-- Taking a spin around the dance floor with Mommy --

-- Everyone is dancing! --

-- Max and Uncle Erik --

-- We're getting down! --

After the party Brandon did a bit more visiting while I put our tired baby to bed.  Monday morning we packed up and headed out--it was just a short trip, but it was so much fun!

Easter Sunday

Even though the first day of spring has passed, and Phil, that silly groundhog, predicted a quick end to winter, Mother Nature has been keeping us guessing out here in southwest Illinois.  Nice sunny, warm, spring-like days have been few and far between, although they seem to happen just when you think that you might hurt someone if you have to bundle up in a hat, scarf and winter coat to shovel the driveway one more time (see previous entry on our big snowstorm).  Thankfully, we were blessed with one of those beautiful springy days for Easter Sunday.  It ended up being in the mid-60s with lots of sunshine and a light breeze, and boy, did it feel heavenly.  It would have been the perfect day for an Easter egg hunt, and we saw plenty going on in the neighborhood while we were taking a walk with Copper and Kate.

We began our Easter by relaxing at home.  It turns out that the Easter bunny did come and bring a basket for Kate, but he left it with Mommy, who forgot to give it to her.  So she'll get it a day late.  But since baskets shouldn't be the main focus of the day (and she's too little to be impressed or remember anyway), it ended up just fine.  Brandon and I decided that we wanted to go to church.  We had been talking about it for a while, and I figured Easter Sunday would be a good day to blend in with all the other folks who aren't regulars.  So we got Kate dressed in a cute navy and white dress (we were color coordinated of course) and drove about seven minutes to the Lutheran church nearby.  Brandon had never been to Lutheran church, and it had been a long, long time since I'd gone, so it was a bit of a new experience for both of us.  There were some things we liked and some things we didn't, but all in all it was a very nice experience.  We may need to try out a few more churches before settling on one to belong to, but we've started the process.

After church we took a walk to enjoy the beautiful weather.  Kate snoozed in the stroller and Copper sniffed every mailbox, street sign, fence post and bush that we passed.  We passed a man and his grandson walking three Irish wolfhounds.  They were HUGE.  Copper wisely avoided barking at them or drawing any attention to himself...they could have squashed him!  Once we returned from our walk, Copper slept on the couch, Brandon and Kate watched basketball and played, and I worked on Easter dinner.  We had ham, scalloped potatoes, glazed carrots, roasted asparagus, and spinach salad.  We knew that we'd have more food than two of us could handle, so we called in Josh to be our reinforcements.  He helped us put a pretty healthy dent in everything, and we had a nice time eating and catching up.

-- I've got a ruffly butt --

-- Mommy and me --

-- Wearing my "first Easter" onesie --

-- Just relaxing with my lamb --

-- Sitting like a big girl --

-- I like smiling.  Smiling's my favorite --

-- With Daddy on Easter Sunday --

-- In my Easter dress --

-- After church --

Snow Storm

Remember that old saying about March coming in like a lion and going out like a lamb?  Well, we're still waiting for the lamb to make an appearance.  In fact, on the 24th of March, we were hit with the most snow we've gotten in the three years that we've lived here--over 8 inches (and it probably ended up being more like 10, but we didn't measure once it stopped snowing).  Despite the meteorologists warnings (they seem to be out to frighten the greatest number of people possible about the weather) we were a little skeptical that we'd actually even get snow, but for once, they were right.

We had a lovely day all cozy and warm in the house, watching the snow come down.  The snow came up to Copper's belly and he wasn't a big fan of going outside in it--but he sure was funny to watch.

Five Months!

March 19 marked our Bean's five month birthday!  When we look back at pictures of her from the last few months, we can't believe how she's changed.  Her little legs are starting to get rolls on them, and her hair continues to fall out in a little ring around the back of her head (it looks like she wears a sweat band).  You can tell that there's clearly some Pittsburgh in her genetic makeup, because despite her balding pattern, her baby mullet remains thick and dark.  On top of her newfound mobility, she's starting to eat more, grab for bottles when you're holding them, and she even tries to hold them herself when you feed her.  She'll pick up her sucko (that's her pacifier--we can thank Grandma Brenda and Uncle Shiloh and Uncle Dakota for that one) or take it if you hand it to her and put it into her mouth, even though it might take her a few times and it's usually upside down.  Sometimes we'll give it to her when we want her to calm down, relax, and take a nap, but she's outsmarted us--she'll lay there and suck away until she starts to get sleepy....you can see her little eyes starting to close and her blinks getting longer...she knows she's about to lose her battle to the sandman, so she pulls the sucko out to wake herself up.  Then she'll pop it back in and suck some more until she starts to get sleepy again...and the whole process repeats.  She's so very close to sitting up by herself, but still plops over face first every once in a while.  She no longer uses the infant insert in the baby tub--she was too long--and now she sits up like a big girl.  We put her in the shower for the first time the other day and she was TERRIFIED of it.  I couldn't help but laugh at her little face--she looked absolutely horrified.  But after a few minutes she got used to the feeling of the water on her skin and she didn't seem to mind it.  She's starting to fight back when we put her into a position she's not interested in (like on her back for any reason) and always wants to roll over onto her tummy.  This makes getting her dressed and changing her diaper difficult because she always arching her back and squirming around, and she seems to have inherited my lack of patience, so if you can't get those things done in record time, you'd better be ready to hold her down with one hand while you complete your task with the other.  She loves to watch Copper and will reach for him whenever he gets within striking distance.  He's learned to stay away after she grabbed a few fistfuls of puppy hair and didn't let go.  Even though he tries to stay at a safe distance, every so often he'll sneak in when she's focused on something else and give her some puppy kisses, but as soon as she makes a move like she might try to grab him he takes off like a shot.  We've been lucky and have been able to take her out to parties, restaurants, and other events--she loves to people watch and people are always commenting on how alert and attentive she is, and how expressive her little face is.  When we introduce her to people or she sees a new face, she gets bashful and will bury her face in your shoulder (but her curiosity always gets the better of her and she ends up peeking out).  She's started to really enjoy peek-a-boo and playing with the "mirror baby".   Five Little Monkeys remains a favorite song, but she also enjoys a little island music--Bob Marley's Three Little Birds-- and songs about frogs and ducks.

We had better luck with her five month pictures than we did with those we tried to take at four months, but our little bug just wouldn't lie or her back.  So we switched it up a little.

-- Five months old today! --

-- I'm doing some spelling --

Hilarity ensues during a game of peek-a-boo.

On the Move

I think I've mentioned before how amazed Brandon and I always are whenever Kate does something new.   It's astounding how quickly she masters tasks, and I think that it's so fun to watch her figure out new things.  It usually takes her a little while to grasp a skill, and we get to watch her work through figuring it out.  But this month, we blew us away with her ability to do something new when she, almost suddenly, starting crawling.  Let me qualify this story by saying that when we say crawling, we're not talking about her being up on her hands and knees and motoring all around.  It's more of an army-style  low crawl, where she pushes herself with her feet and drags herself with her arms, but don't let that fool you--she's still motoring.

When Kate wakes up in the morning during the week, we usually bring her into the bathroom with us (this is probably the only time that I appreciate there being carpeting in the master bath) and let her play on the floor.  There's usually all sorts of things for us to jump over and maneuver around--the playmat, her Bumbo, miscellaneous books and toys--as well as Copper and Kate herself.  One morning, we happened to notice her doing something new.  She was laying on her tummy, her favorite position, and pushing herself up with her arms so that she was in a baby pushup position.  She'd kind of hang out like that, looking all around and rocking a little back and forth.  We've read enough baby books and talked enough with friends who blazed the kiddo trail before us to know that this was often the first step to a mobile baby.  Brandon and I looked at each other and said "she'll be crawling soon".  And that, as far as I was concerned, was that for the time being.  I figured that our little bug, who hadn't even had her five month birthday yet, would practice pushing up into that position for at least a few days before she started moving.  But  I was wrong.

After work, I left Kate with Brandon and Copper and went to the grocery store.  When I got home, Brandon excitedly said to me, "Guess what Kate did?"  Usually, that means that she had a pretty spectacular diaper blowout, but I wasn't pleasantly surprised when Brandon told me that wasn't it.  Instead, he showed me a video he'd taken with the iPad.  A video of Kate CRAWLING.  I couldn't believe it!  In the span of 12 hours, she'd figured out that if she got into baby push up position, pushed with her feet and pulled with her arms, she could scooch herself forward to get whatever toy or object had struck her fancy (in the video it happened to be a clean diaper...weird).  So of course, I cried.  Not because I'd missed it, but because our little peanut was so very clearly growing up.

Kate took a little break after that day, deciding that her newfound mobility was quite a bit of work, and she didn't move around too much for a few days.  Well, that phase is over and she's moving around like crazy.  She's gotten quite good at turning, and can get turned around so she's facing you in a jiffy.

Here's some video Brandon took of the first time she moved on her own...

March Is Here and Gone!

I did a terrible job of updating the blog this month--in fact, I didn't do any updates at all during the month of March.  So here's a few entries that should have been posted as they occurred...

March was a very busy month for us.  I started a new job on the 4th with the Air Force.  I was chosen to participate in a year-long developmental exchange program, so I'm technically still employed by the Army, but for the next year I'm detailed into a position with the Air Force.  I'll learn this new job, and then after a year, return to my old position.  It's a great way for me to learn something new and get trained in a totally different area.  So far I'm really enjoying it, but I'm not really able to do much of anything yet.  The work is so very different from everything I've ever done that it will probably take me 11 months to understand what I'm supposed to be doing, just in time to head back to my Army job.  But the people are nice and the mission is interesting, so I'm liking everything so far.  In fact, one of my coworkers is an avid photographer, so he brought me a flash to try out over a weekend.  Kate and Copper have never had their pictures taken so many times in two days!

-- Hiding behind my giraffe --

-- What's this funny new thing Mommy's pointing at me? --

-- Ah!  It's bright and it hurts my eyes! --

 -- And now I'm happy --

-- Still smiling --

-- Do I have something on my chin? --

-- HI there! --

-- Even puppies sometimes get caught mid-blink --

-- I'm pretty in purple --

-- Somewhere in the blanket there's a Copper --

We celebrated my 30th birthday on March 7.  Kate got me a beautiful necklace with, you guessed it, a little bean on it!  Such an appropriate gift from my munchkin :-)

We were lucky enough to spend some time with Shiloh and Dakota when they came to St. Louis with their friends for the weekend.  We also had a lovely visit with Grandma Brenda, who came to see how big Baby Kate is getting.

-- Playing with Grandma --

-- I love my orange --

-- Looking sneaky --

Some more photos from March....

-- Wearing my snuggly outfit from Wally and Maureen --

-- Bundled up for a walk in my sweet ride --

-- It's a little brisk out here! --

-- Practicing for when I have teeth and we visit the seafood buffet --

-- Practicing for when I have a full belly after the buffet :-)  --

-- Playing with the Mirror Baby --

-- Mom put this silly bow in my hair --

-- Sometimes Copper really gets in my personal space --

-- This is one loud puppy! --

-- Goalie training! --

-- This thing is NUTS! --

-- Snoozing in the Bjorn --

-- He's always kissing me --

-- Ready for St. Pat's --