Birthday girl! 8.25.12

I can't help myself, I just have to share this photo.  It's out of order from the events of the day of her party, but I just really wanted to share!  In the evening we took her outside to take some photos of her with her balloons.  We got some really cute shots, but I'm hoping Quent will do most of the editing on them (but I might get impatient and do them anyway).  I grabbed the camera at one point and started shooting...and this was one of those lucky photos.  I LOVE this!  She's so sweet!

 

Birthday Girl 8.24.12

She turned ONE on this day!  We didn't do anything too exciting since we had a party planned for her the next day, but I let her open some presents that evening. 

 

At ONE she has 8 teeth, is really close to walking, says words like "clock", "hi kitty cat", "Shadow", "Tigger", her own version of "Shelly", "Dat" (for "what's that?"), and her favorite word in the whole wide world..."Dada!"  Does she say "Mama?"  She can, but not very often.  She doesn't have the "mmm" sound down yet.  She waves and claps.  She can sign for things like milk, cereal, all done, and more.  She loves to swing, dance, read books, and play with Olivia (our next store neighbor)--along with pestering Tigger.

 

Good/Bad Hike 8.18.12

After Jeralyn took a very short morning nap, we packed up and headed south to take a hike on the Silvis trail.  It was at least 70° this day (which means it was quite warm for us Alaskans).  It was beautiful!  Quent said there was a new trail constructed, so we ventured up the mountain to check it out.  The first part of the trail we have done many times.

 

At the Lower Silvis Lake we stopped and had a picnic lunch.  It was a beautiful spot, and the bugs weren't too bad.

After this point we hiked through the woods and then came to the Upper Silvis Lake.  That's when the new trail started.  But it wasn't completed like Quent had been informed.  And that's when Mama (that's me!) got a little upset (ok, a LOT upset).  The trail wasn't pretty, and I wasn't pretty either.  I felt that it was too dangerous to be taking a baby on, even if Quent is part mountain goat.  Ha!  I was happy when we turned around!

This was the part I really didn't like.  Too much of a drop-off for my taste!  And not very good footing!

 

Overall it was a great hike and it was a great day to be outside!  We hiked for 5 hours total.  Jeralyn slept for part of it.



Breakfast: a succession in photos 8.18.12

Quent took these photos.  I thought it was funny how much her expression changes during one meal.

Down to the beach 8.6.12

Backtracking a bit here.  These are photos from Quent's camera.

It was a beautiful day that deserved a hike down to the beach.  We ate some burgers, fed Jeralyn, and hiked down in the warm sunshine.  I thought it would be a good opportunity to try out the backpack with Jeralyn.  Yes, I could definitely tell I was carrying 20+ pounds!

Quent was doing things to make Jeralyn laugh, which in turn makes me laugh.  Her smiles and laughter are contagious!

At the beach!

Quent put on his "dry" suit and went into the water.  I thought he was crazy!

We did let her out of the backpack, but she tried to eat all of the rocks on the beach.  *smirk*

Smile 8.20.12

Hello blue eyes! 8.19.12

Cat Towel 8.14.12

We have these towels with cat faces on them in the bathroom we give Jeralyn her bath.  She started noticing the cat face on the towels and she gets REALLY excited when she sees it!  Quent said she practically tries climbing out of the tub if she sees the face, so he said he has to hide the towel so she will sit down in the tub. Ha!  Funny baby!

Rocking Horse 8.10.12

Isn't she the cutest?

Plate 8.3.12

It was time for baby girl to use a plate.  I was hesitant to start because it seems that every foreign object on the high chair tray gets thrown off.  She did great though!  I was impressed!

Shelly 8.3.12

She has become quite attached to Shelly the turtle.  We now have to have the "rule" of keeping her (Shelly) in the crib.  No playing with her anywhere else.  I know...so mean, right?  And now she likes to throw Shelly out of her crib before taking a nap.  Poor Shelly has cataracts because of someone gnawing on her eyeballs.  Poor thing!  I've already had to do one repair on Shelly.  I have a feeling she is going to be her buddy for a very long time.

Strainer & pipe cleaners 7.31.12

I've been finding some fun ideas on Pinterest for things to do with Jeralyn.  It's challenging because everything likes to go into the mouth.  Most of the things I try to do with her she doesn't really have much interest in.  Maybe someday...

This was an idea I found of poking pipe cleaners into the strainer holes.  This was the 2nd attempt at playing with this and she thought it was more fun to put it over her head.

Watermelon 7.29.12

I let her play with the watermelon. She rolled it around and kissed it!  She thought it was so great!

Little Piggies 7.28.12

I just couldn't help myself!