Pick my outfit!

With the success of the Bumbo Growth Chart photos each month, I thought I would let my readers get some pride of ownership in the deal. So.... You my fellow fans will get to pick the outfit I will wear in my fastly approaching Month 7 photo! It's only about a week and a half a way!!! I will post a photo of four options below... You can leave a comment with your favorite, or use the POLL buttons on the left side of the screen. Enjoy voting!!!!

Oh yeah, mom took the photos last night really late and did something wrong. So the photos all have a yellow tint, sorry about that! She might take new photos of the same outfits soon to show their true beauty....

Choice 1 - Giraffe Onsie

Of course Mom picked out this one, you know she loves Giraffes!

Choice 2 - Pastel Dress

I will soon outgrow this, so Mom picked it as my possible last time to ever wear it Choice 3 - Brown and Pink Stripe Dress

This is brand new, still sporting the tags! It doesn't have a funky collar, it has a hoodie folded under the dress. Choice 4 - Tan Sweater Dress

This is also brand spanking new and never been worn yet. Mom said she wants to buy brown tights to wear under it. She had some, but returned them because she bought way too big a size on accident!

Bathtime!

After a long hard day of playing with my toys and wrestling with the dogs, I tend to find a little dirt behind the ears. Welllll, not really. I hardly ever get dirty, unless I'm eating, but the old folks tend to clean me up pretty good after that messy adventure. So needless to say, I don't get a bath everyday. Typically, I've been in my baby bathtub or just in the shower with mom or dad, but a few days ago, for some reason things were changed up.

Dad carried me in to the kitchen instead of the bathroom!!

"What's up doc?" I asked with my best Bugs Bunny voice. (I have been eating lots of carrots , so I feel awful Bugs Bunny recently) Mom put the stopper into the sink and turned on the water. At first I thought she was just going to wash dishes like she does everyday *cough cough* every other day *cough cough* But then Dad put ME into the sink!

"Dad are you sure about this? Did you really mean to put me in here?"

After a few minutes of playtime and getting a nice full body massage, I realized, hey, this wasn't too bad!
In fact, after the official bath was done, they even let me play with the bubbles for a while! I splish splashed for several minutes! It was a hoot! Then I discovered the seperator between the wash and rinse side of the sinks and wouldn't stop messing with that. All in all, my first bath in the kitchen sink would have to be rated as a success. I think I'll let the parents do that again, granted Mom will promise not to take photos EVERY TIME... All these naked pictures could be embarrassing in about seven years!

On the move

With this excessive heat the dogs haven't gotten outside to play near as often as they would like. So the other morning it was a little cooler outside, so the dogs got to stay outside longer and run all they wanted. Mom and I hung out up on the deck and watched them. You can see by how dead the grass is that we are in DIRE need of some rain!!

Run, run, run, run! Ophelia was running so fast we couldn't get a good photo of her, but mom keeps laughing at this action shot of her!

Bet you thought this post was going to be about me CRAWLING, huh? Well, I'm so close, but not yet! I heard my cousin Clayton who is a week older than me is crawling. I can get up on all fours, and even move one of my legs or one of my arms, but I haven't actually crawled yet. I will soon though!

Road Construction Update

A while ago, I posted some photos of the road construction. So I thought I would give you a little update on it! It looks like the bridge is coming along nicely! They've blocked off the road further past our driveway, so now when we want to leave, no matter what direction we go, we have to drive through construction! See the big concrete "things" in my front yard?

Go Chiefs

I thought the Chiefs needed a bit of encouragment after losing their first two preseason games. So I got all dressed up for them and did a little cheer! So next weekend when they take the field again, they will be ready!!

Cowboy Hat - Take 2

Since the first time I posted my cowboy hat photo, my dad took another photo of me in the hat to post. I'm such a cutie!!

Big Dipper

My mom has this strange thing about looking at stars at night. She loves to try to find constellations and identify different planets in the night sky. She's been trying to teach me, but so far I am too easily distracted by the dogs or the loud cicadas. Mom took an astronomy class in college as one of her required science classes. She didn't enjoy the actual class (except when her and Megan would play hangman and write notes back and forth like they were in middle school again - she said something about how she dreaded any class that met in Colden 3500 [whatever that means]), but she adored the 10pm lab class that viewed stars. After college, Mom even went down to Kitt Peak in Arizona, one of the national observatories. Anyway, the other night Mom took the dogs outside to go bathroom and she ran back inside and grabbed both the camera and me, rambling on some Big Dipper. I thought she was going to get me some ice cream or something, but then she just pointed up to the stars.

(she said you might have to click on the picture to see the stars)

She set her shutter speed on 30 seconds and took a few photos! Later, on the computer screen, I could see the constellation, but only becasue she drew in the lines for me!

Cooper Girls

My mother and father both lived in a dorm called Cooper while at college, my mom lived up on the 4th floor with Jillian. Across the hall was Nicole and Sarah. Next door to the right was Megan. Next door the left was Tabitha and Jody. As as crazy as it sounds, these seven girls from all different walks of life became fast friends and family for each other during the four years of college. Between living together in Cooper, or in Village O, or on Water Street in the duplex, they have stayed friends over the years. Here is a photo of all the girls except for Jillian, she had to leave early, but it's one of the few photos of almost the whole group! Here is the breakdown, first is my mom (four months pregnant here!), then Tabitha (about one month pregnant here!), then Sarah, then Megan, then Nicole (six months pregnant here!) and Jody!

And now, they have been learning there is something in the water of Cooper Hall. Beware all you past residents of Cooper. If you EVER drank the water there, you could be infected too! This is quite serious and has already affected my mother, Megan, Tabitha and Nicole. And two of the boys that lived in Cooper, too! My dad and his roommate Micah have been infected, too! Are you curious yet what the symptom is? In the water inside Cooper Hall, there is something that causes you to........HAVE GIRLS HAVE CHILDREN! So far, of all the Cooper alumni everyone has had girls (pretend you never read about Jake in the post below, his dad was a Cooper alumni, too, but he must be an anomaly or something).
Meet my friend Alynna, who is Tabitha's daughter! My mom wants to try to do a photo of me like this, but realized she doesn't have a big basket..... Alynna is just a few months younger than me.
These are Nicole's two little girls, Katie and lil Reagan! So far, Katie is a spitting image of her mother! Reagan is just a few months older than me.
And this is Avery, Megan's little girl. I'm so surprised, she is not on the beach at all, this is in a studio! My mom keeps saying about how real the backdrops look now. When she was a little girl the backdrops were all cheesy looking! And Avery is going to be a big sister! On Friday, her mom found out she is going to have another GIRL! See, there is something in the water!

In September or October, all the girls are going to try to get together again. Since they live across the span of four states, one being CALIFORNIA, a gathering can sometimes be hard to plan. It sounds like all seven will not be able to get together at once, but I hope I can go along, I would love to meet them all!

Jake not Jack

A couple of posts ago, I was hanging out with Jackson, and now I am going to be hanging out with Jake! Jack and Jake, Jake and Jack. Ironically, Jake's middle name is Ryan, which is similar to Jack Ryan. Fifty points to the first person to identify the famous Jack Ryan! Baby Jake was born last week to my parent's friends Ryan and Charla! He looks so tiny! So tiny in fact, that I don't have a photo with him, but I do have several other photos to share!



This first photo is another of my love of dogs... I'm meeting Ellie, Jake's little doggy. She was excited about the attention I gave her! And then look at this proud Papa!! You can tell just how much he loves his new son. I bet he's thinking he hopes his son will grow up to date someone like me.
The new family! Ryan, Jake, Charla and Ellie!
And then finally, I get what I want... I'm in Ryan's arms. Normally he enjoys holding me at church, but now he'll have his arms full with is own child! I'm not sure what we are both looking at, but it's funny how we are both looking that way. Charla was sitting over there, so she must have been talking or playing with Ellie.

Round out the day

To round out my busy, yet joyful, Saturday I attended church with the folks - still wearing my pretty, pretty princess dress. Dad ran sound and Mom helped lead the worship at Children's Church, so I danced in back with Jason! He said I squealed in delight when I saw Mom up on the stage! Then during the service, I kept making googily eyes and exchanging teethy grins with Gina down the row. After church, she came over to me and expressed how beautiful I looked in my dress with the ribbon in my hair! (all four of my hairs!)

Then after church, we ran home really quick to grab a bite to eat. Well, that's why Dad said he wanted to run home, but after we got home, Mom and I found out the REAL season... We got home JUST in time for kickoff of the first preseason Chiefs football game. During commercials, my mom picked me up and explained to me that Chiefs football will usurp Dad every Sunday from now until early January. Dad laughed at Mom and said that wasn't true, but before he could finish talking the commercal ended and the game resumed... Dad never finished his sentence. I looked back to Mom and gave her the "I know, I know" wink.

After the daunting first half with two Chief turnovers, Dad flicked off the TV and agreed to come with Mom and me to go visit lil Jackson. We hadn't seen him since the day he was born, so we wanted to go visit them!

Jackson was laying on the quilt that Miss Ann made for him, so I joined him. At first I think I upset him because he started to cry, but eventually he got used to me. He must be under the impression he can only date girls younger than him. I'll work on him... Later, he fell asleep in my Daddy's arms, a great place to sleep mind you.

All the old people kept talking and talking and talking and talking, so I decided to make myself at home. So away I went into Jackson's bed. Jackson, you know you have a girlfriend after they crawl into your bed and make themselves at home there!!

Princess Party!

After getting to sleep in, ever notice how the whole day seems just splendid? Saturday was that way for me. After sleeping in as late as I possibly could and attempting to crawl (see posts further down on page), I donned my new silver dress! At first I thought it to be a little garish, but Mom and Dad convinced me otherwise when they couldn't stop gushing over how beautiful I looked.

Then mom packed me into my carseat and swept me away in my golden chariot (aka the Honda) and away we went to Princess Land! Today was the day of Selah's 3rd Birthday Party with a Princess Theme. Selah is the big sister of my twin boyfriends Seth and Ethan (all the children of my mom's college best friend and roommate!) When we arrived, she looked beautiful in her Cinderella gown! Eventually Ballerina Barbie, Belle, another Cinderella and a Sleeping Beauty arrived, too! Don't Selah and I look ravishing?

I sat on the floor awaiting my knights in shining armor to arrive. As time past, I was wondering if my own shiny dress was keeping them at bay. Then what to wandering eyes should appear, but my twin boyfriends Seth and Ethan!! They came crawling around me, filled with joy! I watched them earnestly, trying to pick up on their crawling techniques. I will master this whole crawling thing soon enough, oh yes, I will.
After some play time, Aimee called all the girls to the table to help Selah blow out the candles on her Princess Cake!
After getting their fill of cake and ice cream, the party moved into the living room. Presents galore came out of the woodwork and Selah was overjoyed! Selah squealed in delight as she opened each and every gift. When all the gifts were opened, an all out donnybrook for the tissue paper occured... Never in my life have I seen such "madness" and heard such ear peircing screams. Oh to be three years old... I can't wait.

After the party was over, I finally got some one on one time with Mrs Aimee. My mom kept trying to get a good photo, but silly me was too enthralled with her pearl necklace! Maybe another day dear mother.

Chilling with the boys

Friday night, our traditional Friday Night Cards was cancelled and Miss Alison had a meeting at her house. So Mr. Matt and his three boys were stranded without a house. I am always willing to hangout with my boyfriend Meyer, so Mr. Matt, Max, Myles and Meyer joined my family to hang out at our house. We enjoyed a fine evening of playing in the gym while the parents and older kids watched Jack Black's "School of Rock". Check out how relaxed Meyer looks!

Almost Crawling

I am THIS CLOSE (imagine me holding up my finger and thumb close together) to crawling. Since I prefer to lay on my stomach, I have always pulled my legs up under me. And I am lean up on my arms. When you combine the two, it puts me in the crawling postion. When up on all fours, I am starting to "rock," so everyone things crawling will be soon...

Now, just because I can't officially crawl yet,, the word "mobile" is still very much a part of my vocabulary. I can scoot (preferably backwards - those crawdads must have rubbed off on me!) and roll my way across a room in minutes!

Here's a video of my "Almost Crawling" and a still image, too, for those of you who can't watch/see the videos.

Bathroom BEFORE

Two of the bathroom's upstairs are in much need of repairs/updating. My dad is quite handy with things like this, I've heard he re-did the entire upstairs (minus the bathrooms) before my birth! That entailed gutting the kitchen and starting from scratch, and then repainting the entire upstairs and getting new windows and woodwork throughout. But now it's time to update the bathrooms. Mom said I would probably be too young to remember the bathrooms the way they are now, so I better post some pictures.

Here is the bedroom bath BEFORE photos. In this one the "lovely" green tile will be REMOVED! We have leftover kitchen floor tile, so that will become the new floor. Then we'll be getting a new window, new vanity, new sink, new mirror, new sink lighting, new paint (which means probably losing the cloud ceiling), new shower, new woodwork/door/hardware and new toilet. So if you add that all up, that pretty much means this bathroom is getting gutted! Since it's getting a complete makeover, I might post MID shots, too. About the only thing that will stay is the new ceiling light that mom just bought a year ago, becuase it matched the rug.


Here is the hall bathroom BEFORE photos. The "lovely" green tile will be staying, but we will be getting new woodwork (doors and drawers), new window, new light fixtures, new toilet (maybe), new mirror, new storage above toilet, removing Grammy's wallpaper from 1985 and re-painting, and new tub water fixtures. So in a couple of months (well, hopefully not that long, but maybe!) I'll post the AFTER photos and you can compare!

Video's retry...

The other day I had posted several videos, but I was informed that they didn't have sound on them. I host my video's on Photobucket, and I had uploaded those with their beta video uploader. So that may have been the problem. I uploaded them the old way and now they have sound, so I will repost them here.

These are just some random videos my mom just found on the camera. This first one is called "Red Tablecloth" and it's a sound I was making for awhile as I was learning to use my vocal chords and lungs together. *smile*



This one is called "Splish Splash" and it's just me playing in the creek down at the lake in my cute bikini! I can't get sound on this one for some reason. In photobucket I have sound, but when I embed it here the sound gets lost. All you hear is the water splashing...



This one is called "Peas Please" and it's my funny reaction to eating some food! Watch a few seconds and you'll see me shudder and gag! I still can't get sound on this one for some reason, but you can see me shudder, which is funny.

Zodiac

I don't really believe in Zodiac signs, but I got this in an email and I was curious if mine matched me... I'm an Aquarius, what do you think? Is it me? I posted all of them so you can read yours, too, if you want.

VIRGO - The Perfectionist Dominant in relationships. Conservative. Always wants the last word.Argumentative. Worries. Very smart. Dislikes noise and chaos. Eager.Hardworking. Loyal. Beautiful. Easy to talk to. Hard to please. Harsh.Practical and very fussy. Often shy. Pessimistic.

SCORPIO - The Intense OneVery energetic. Intelligent. Can be jealous and/or possessive. Hardworking. Great kisser. Can become obsessive or secretive. Holds grudges. Attractive. Determined. Loves being in long relationships. Talkative. Romantic. Can be self-centered at times. Passionate and Emotional.

LIBRA - The Harmonizer Nice to everyone they meet. Can't make up their mind. Have own unique appeal. Creative, energetic, and very social. Hates to be alone. Peaceful,generous. Very loving and beautiful. Flirtatious. Give in too easily. Procrastinators. Very gullible.

ARIES - TheDaredevil Energetic. Adventurous and spontaneous. Confident and enthusiastic. Fun. Loves a challenge. EXTREMELY impatient. Sometimes selfish. Short fuse.(easily angered.) Lively, passionate, and sharp wit. Outgoing. Lose interest quickly - easily bored. Egotistical. Courageous and assertive. Tends to be physical and athletic.

AQUARIUS - The Sweetheart Optimistic and honest. Sweet personality. Very independent. Inventive and intelligent. Friendly and loyal. Can seem unemotional. Can be a bit rebellious. Very stubborn, but original and unique. Attractive on the inside and out. Eccentric personality.

GEMINI - The Chatterbox Smart and witty. Outgoing, very chatty. Lively, energetic. Adaptable but needs to express themselves. Argumentative and outspoken. Likes change.Versatile. Busy, sometimes nervous and tense. Gossips. May seem superficial or inconsistent, But is only changeable. Beautiful physically and mentally.

LEO - The Boss Very organized. Need order in their lives - like being in control. Like boundaries. Tend to take over everything. Bossy. Like to help others. Social and outgoing. Extroverted. Generous, warm-hearted. Sensitive.Creative energy. Full of themselves. Loving. Doing the right thing is important to Leos. Attractive.

CANCER - The Protector Moody, emotional. May be shy. Very loving and caring. Pretty/handsome. Excellent partners for life. Protective. Inventive and imaginative. Cautious. Touchy-feely kind of person. Needs love from others. Easily hurt, but sympathetic.

PISCES - The Dreamer Generous, kind, and thoughtful. Very creative and imaginative. May become secretive and vague. Sensitive. Don't like details. Dreamy and unrealistic. Sympathetic and loving. Kind. Unselfish. Good kisser. Beautiful.

CAPRICORN - The Go-Getter Patient and wise. Practical and rigid. Ambitious. Tends to be good-looking. Humorous and funny. Can be a bit shy and reserved. Often pessimists. Capricorns tend to act before they think and can be unfriendly at times. Hold grudges. Like competition. Get what they want.

TAURUS - The Enduring One Charming but aggressive. Can come off as boring, but they are not. Hardworkers. Warm-hearted. Strong, has endurance. Solid beings who are stable and secure in their ways. Not looking for shortcuts. Take pride in their beauty. Patient and reliable. Make great friends and give good advice. Loving and kind. Loves hard - passionate. Express themselves emotionally. Prone to ferocious temper-tantrums. Determined. Indulge themselves often. Very generous.

SAGITTARIUS - The Happy-Go-Lucky One Good-natured optimist. Doesn't want to grow up (Peter Pan Syndrome).Indulges self. Boastful. Likes luxuries and gambling. Social and outgoing. Doesn't like responsibilities. Often fantasizes. Impatient. Fun to be around. Having lots of friends. Flirtatious. Doesn't like rules. Sometimes hypocritical. Dislikes being confined - tight spaces or even tightclothes. Doesn't like being doubted. Beautiful inside and out.

It's a GIRL!

Just yesterday I posted on the blog that I wish I had a friend born that was a girl and then BAM! Prayer answered!! How easy was that!? Avery Monet Rench was born this morning at 4:05am via C/S. Her mommy, Tina, is pooped today, so we'll have to wait until this weekend to go visit them in the hospital. Tina is one of my mom's high school/youth group friends, and just the other day my mom found a photo of Tina from when were about 12 years old on a youth group float trip (stranded in Archie! Anyone remember that my mom wants to know!). She couldn't believe it! I'm just happy to finally have another girl around...

In the next few weeks, my parent's friends Amanda and Kate are both due.... But they are both having boys... Baby boom I tell you!

I think I get to hang out with Meyer tomorrow night, and I'm very excited about it. I haven't seen him since he was dedicated and I'm looking forward to hanging out with him!

A new boyfriend!!!!

Guess what? I have a NEW BOYFRIEND!! Yesterday, Jake Blanks was born! His parents, Ryan and Charla, are good friends of my parents from both college and church. A lot of times during church, Ryan loves to hold me and play with me, until I fall asleep or start to get fussy. Jake was just born yesterday, so I actually haven't met him yet, but I have a gift for him in my bedroom. It's been sitting in there for some time just waiting for his birth. So hopefully if they feel up to it, maybe we can visit them this weekend. Jake's entire family has a blog, I'll put in a link in my link section over on the left...

Thinking of my boyfriends, I need to go visit Jackson too! Mom and I were supposed to go visit him and his mommy this week, but because of either car issues on Monday (the Suburban's battery died...RIP) and power issues today (construction workers cut the internet line into our house, so mom had to wait for them to fix it and then had to work all day instead of getting off early like she normally does) I haven't gotten to go see Jackson. Maybe this weekend I will get to see him too...

I'm excited for this weekend though for another visit I have planned. I was invited to a PRINCESS PARTY!!!!!!!!!! My friend Selah is turning the big THREE and is having a Princess Party, we are all supposed to come dressed up as a Princess!! My mom bought me a new dress for the occasion, too! It's silver and it has it has a full skirt that will be perfect for when I twirl. It's a size 12-18 months, so it's really probably too big on me now, but she said it will be perfect for this next spring, too. Mom has some silver ribbon that she is going to tie around my head as a crown, since I don't yet have enough hair for a barret. I hope Selah is as excited for her party as I am!!

Six States

My friend Olivia made a comment that she had been to 10 states so far, which got me thinking... How many states have I been to? After about 12.365 seconds of thought, I realized my state total was six. Not too shabby since I am only six months old so far! Here is the breakdown...

Misssouri - duh, I live here!

Kansas - It's only ten minutes away, and it's where my favorite shopping center/food eatery place resides.

Iowa - Where all my Dad's family lives! Other than Missouri or Kansas, it's where I've been most.

Illinois - okay, so I only spent one night in a cheap motel here, but it counts!

Indiana - I spent a few days here visiting my friend Lily!

Michigan - I also spent a few days here visiting my friend Abby!

My parents have talked about trips to Colorado to visit Uncle Eric, as well as maybe a trip to Arizona next spring to visit Grammy and Gramps and some of Dad's family. So maybe I'll get to add these two States.... I've almost been able to add Arkansas, when I visit my Mom's family we are only about 30 miles from it, or if I ever go to visit Olivia... And we were talking about hitting up the Omaha Zoo this fall, so that will add Nebraska!

Proof of Teeth!!

I finally have photographic proof of my two teeth! I'm so happy to finally show them off to you!! Here is the original photo to prove it really is me....

And here is the altered photo (ala National Enquirer style) to help show them off a little more...

Chicken Parmesan

After eluding Zombies the night before, I decided to try my hand at eating some of my Cuzaunt Katee's cooking. She's joining the ranks in our family of Chef, attending the same chef college that my Uncle Eric went to actually! Why does everyone in my family love cooking so much, but my own MOTHER doesn't? I think she was adopted or something. She's got different genes than everyone else apparantly.

Grant Kathy and me relaxed a bit while Katee made Chicken Parmesen over Dean and Deluca speciality pasta. Her sauce was completely from scratch and she was so proud of it. I wouldn't know if it was good or not, everyone around the table wouldn't stop stuffing their faces long enough to give me a bite. I made all sort of noises like, "mamamamamama" and "bababababababa" and "mmmmm mmmmm mmmm". Finally my mom leaned down towards me with something on her spoon. But it was yellow........ What is that? Lo and behold, it was great!!!!!! I ate several more bites, then ate the rest of dad's too! Katee had cooked some squash in oils, nutmeg and cream. Mom loved it, but Dad wasn't too sure. I'm with mom...that was some good stuff! Thanks Katee!!!

While we were up there eating, I got to meet Abner! He's a Standard Poodle, almost as tall as Turk, but a lot fluffier. I love petting dogs, when they let me. The other day I got ahold of Ophelia's ear and wouldn't let go. She started to whine, but never snapped at me. Mom heard Ophelia whining and was curious why. She just had to laugh when she saw that I had Ophelia's soft brown ear in my clutch. Another time I got Turk's tail, he just looked at me and then yanked it out of my hand.