Raising Cubs in a Campground

Ok, so they might not make onto Star Search or any of those other talent shows, but we're still their #1 fans.

Julia had her 9 month check-up today. The most memorable moment wasn't when the nurse asked me if she would stand on the scale to be weighed, or when I learned she'd gained 3 pounds since her last appointment. It wasn't even when I did the math and discovered she'd grown 4 inches in 3 months. It was when we were making her 12 month appointment and the mom and daughter next to me were rescheduling an appointment. The daughter appeared to be in her teens, perhaps going off to college in the fall. The receptionist asked for her birthday, "2-14-92," the girl replied. While a different receptionist oohed and aahed over Julia, I waited for the mom to correct the daughter on the year. Of course the girl knew her birthday so there was no correction to be made, but I was stumped. I was a sophomore in high school when this girl was born. How could that be? Oh yeah. I know now. I'm 30. It's been 15 YEARS since I was a sophomore. It's true, t...

Berries along the trail - it doesn't get any fresher than this! Princess Julia enjoyed a comfy ride in her "carriage".

Protect your heels! Here he's standing still, but only because I bribed him with the promise of a cookie. Thanks Meat Man! This ham will make my Samitch yummy! Is it worth it to chase and bribe my way through the grocery store when he's having so much fun? Yes, but it's REALLY hard when I'm trying to pay for the stuff and Sam is putting his cart away (out of my sight and right next to the automatic opener exit door) and then helps himself to the little cups of water that no two year old should be allowed to dispense. We finally upgraded our cell phones and our new ones have camera phones. Oh joy! The photo opportunities are truly endless now!

I took this picture a few days ago and despite her expression decided that I'd use it for a post about her six teeth. I haven't had many opportunities to get pictures of her teeth and at the rate she pops them through, I needed to hurry up or she'd have a mouthful before I preserved this stage in her life. I didn't realize it at the time, but her seventh tooth had probably already popped through. When I changed Julia's diaper this morning I thought I caught a glimpse of something - sure enough, there was another one (upper right). Sometimes it pays to get behind in my blogging.

I posted this using Picasa, which has been known to not work for me, but for some reason Blogger isn't uploading pictures right now. Is anyone else having that trouble too?

We have been seeking relief from the horrid humidity wherever we can find it.

How can he be so sweet and loving one minute and then.... chomp down on her fingers the next??? He broke the skin again!

The other day Brian was reading out loud what I thought was junk mail when I let out a big yelp. I kept repeating, "ARE YOU SERIOUS??" He then showed me a letter telling me that I was advancing to the semi-finals of a photo contest I'd entered at picture.com. (a different contest from the Hp one that I did a post about) I still didn't believe it. In fact to this day I don't know how legit this whole thing is. They want to publish my photograph in a book with other finalists. I have been working on an artist's profile that will also be published and thanks to Jennifer and her editing savy, I won't make a fool of myself with my poor grammar and spelling. There's more.....today I got an email from picture.com requesting another photograph of mine so they can publish it in The Best Photos and Photographers of 2007. Come on! Really?

This week we are talking about our favorite baby items . When Sam was a baby: Sleep positioner This product made napping anywhere a breeze. No matter where we were he always felt like he was at home in his own bed. The book: Super Baby Food by Ruth Yaron Metrolite stroller (by Graco)- I never envied the mom's who had to lug big heavy strollers around. The Metrolite had just as much storage room and is way lighter. Favorite items for Julia: Hands-down my most prized baby item is my video monitor . I HIGHLY recommend them. I have one made by Summer that makes me feel so much better about Julia being in her own room. It's already been a life-saver when Julia discovered how to sit up in bed and was very close to launching herself out of the crib. My Kangaroo Korner, adjustable fleece sling comes in a close second. They are worth every penny when you have more than one child to care for. (kangarookorner.com) I also can't live without my lidded prep bowls (some from P...

Our final day in Denver was the hottest of our entire vacation. The first two days it was 70 and sunny - perfect in my book. From there it got progressively warmer, but we didn't have any rain so I can't complain. We had bright blue skies and a good breeze to keep us cool. There was also the pool.... "Do it aDEN Sharon!" The pool fun ended abruptly when I had to pry Sam's teeth off of Julia's finger. Poor little girl! I think she's going to have a scar from the bite - that's how hard he bit her. We left for the airport at 3:00 even though our flight didn't leave until almost 7pm. There was always a lot of traffic so we wanted to be safe. Going through security with Sam sleeping on Brian's shoulder was interesting - and unsuccessful. Why we had to put Sam's blue blanket through the X-ray machine is beyond me, but that was the end of Sam's nap. We camped out by our gate and watched all the planes go by. The two hours we had to ki...

This was a very cool spot to visit although we didn't anticipate spending quite so much time here. but.... when coolant is oozing from the car..... you make the best of the situation and play with Bob the Builder toys in the snow. We "lost" some time in Winter Park while Brian and his dad worked on the car some more, but then we continued on to Rocky Mountain National Park. There are elk grazing off in the distance. A few minutes earlier we'd spotted a moose. This was turning out to be a pretty good day after all. or so I thought...I was terrified and I mean TERRIFIED of the drive we took over these mountains. My nerves were fried by the time we got back down. I couldn't enjoy the beautiful scenery because one wrong move, one flat tire, and we would tumble thousands of feet over the side of the mountain. I don't know why they even bothered painting a white line on the side of the road an inch from the drop-off. I wish I had pictures to post of ba...

We had quite a weather system move through last night. At our house we only had a little rain, but I talked to family members nearby that had golf ball size hail and saw funnel clouds. YIKES! I had so many pictures of the clouds that I thought I'd use them for my TT, but it turns out I only have 11 worth publishing. Oh well - close enough. Do you see the moon in the upper right-hand corner?