Newsflash: Sadie's Walking

Finally, at the ripe age of 15 months, Sadie has figured out how to walk. She still is wobbly but she willingly let's go of the sofa and can get around the house. In my opinion, she's been able to walk for months, but due to her cautious personality she chose to play it safe. In the end, it was not about learning how to walk, it was about learning how to fall. Once she figured out how to fall without hurting herself she gained the confidence to venture out. Anyways, whatever it was, everything clicked in place for her this weekend and she is a mobile little person now. I'm thoroughly enjoying having my finger back and being able to walk with a straight back.

Ben and I feel agree that this is the best age yet. Sadie is becoming a little more social and independent. She enjoys exploring (and destroying) the house without witnesses, which means I am finally able to have a little time for myself. She 'talks' from sun-up to sun-down, and although I don't have the slightest idea of what she is saying, it is extremely important to her and she either has some juicy gossip to share or she is mad at someone....can't decide which. She loves to laugh and make us laugh and she giggles at the strangest things. Her newest tricks are holding her index finger up to show that she is one, doing peekaboo, pointing to her body parts (her favorite is tongue) and when asked about the ABC's she has learned the sounds for A and B (AHHHH and BABBABBAB). It's cute; real cute. I wish I could hit the pause button on life right now!

You've Got to See This!

Chante posted this on her blog and I was shocked by it. This is great entertainment! Sit back, relax, and rejoy :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lp0IWv8QZY

An Easter To Learn From....

This was our first attempt at a kid-type Easter holiday. It was a bit of a flop but I think I am learning ways to improve for the future!

Ben and I decided that now that Sadie is getting older we should probably do some traditional type activities for her. So, we boiled eggs and bought a basket, candy, and little toys. However, we never found the time to color the eggs and the 'Easter Bunny' was going to come after church because we were running a little late in the morning. But tithing took over three and a half hours to count and we had to get down to the 'Homestead' (aka: my parent's house), so we never did any of these traditional events.

Luckily, they had an Easter Egg hunt for the little kids at church. I don't think Sadie understood the concept because she kept picking up the leaves and twigs instead of the eggs. Once I showed her there was chocolate inside of the eggs though, she caught on quick!

(Sadie says: Hmm...chocolate!)

Once we arrived at the Homestead things slowed down and became more fun. We ate a delicious dinner - Fillet Mignon, Almond/Parmesan broccoli, scalloped potatoes, amazing salad and chocolate covered strawberries for dessert. Afterward we went to the Agricultural Farm which is just a block away and fed the animals. It was Easter for them, too! They had stale bread and palm frawns for dinner. YUM!

(Sadie shown here telling us how old she is.
Her only problem she always points her finger at us instead of up in the air)

(Sadie shown above eating the stale bread and refusing to share it with the cow)

We also went for a walk around Walsingham park for sunset. The weather was beautiful!





Here's what I learned from this Easter:

1. Holidays use to mean sleeping in and long naps, but I can't expect that any more. Now it means staying up late the night before to prep and getting up early in the morning to celebrate. But it makes it so much more fun and it's definitely worth the investment of time!!
   
2. We need to decide what traditions we want to establish and then make those a priority. Anyone have any fun traditions?
   
3. Also, I want to understand the reasons behind traditions and remind ourselves of how they tie back into the real meaning of the celebration and reflect on that meaning throughout the day.
4. Lastly, I need to learn to just be happy even when things do not go exactly as planned. Sadie was fussy all through church, Ben was expectantly gone for several hours after church, and it wasn't until 5 o'clock that I finally took a deep breath and started having fun. I really need to learn to loosen up a bit and role with the punches!
   

I know we're amateurs at this, but hopefully we'll learn from our mistakes and improve for next year when Sadie really starts to catch on to what's going on.

Even though it started off a little rocky, by the end of the day I was in heaven. A walk through a peaceful park at sunset with the people I love most! Does it get better than this? I don't think so.

Conference Weekend

Before and After Moments

(Before: Sadie shown above petting her beloved, Shadow, on Friday night)

(After: Sadie finally gives up after a hard day's work and cuddles with her duckie.)


(Before: Saturday morning session. Sadie and Ben shown having Binky wars.)


(After: Sadie puts Ben to sleep during the Saturday morning session.)


(Before: Patiently waiting to drive down to the homestead)


(During # 1: Sadie becomes jealous of Grandpa Joe holding cousin Ethan and demands to be held. She then steels glasses and offers them to photographer. Ethan shown here looking mellow.)


(During # 2: Sadie has an identity crisis and thinks she's a punk rocker. Ben shown looking calm and cute.)


(After: Sadie shown here being to tired to eat)

The End!

Kurt n' Des

Ben's brother, Kurt, and his wife, Desiree, came to visit this past weekend. They are the wild and adventurous type and we had lots of fun showing them around Florida.

DAY 1
You can't come to Florida and not visit the beach. And every one knows that Ft. DeSoto is our favorite beach around. Unfortunately, it was the windiest day I've ever seen. But we had fun watching the kite surfers and baking in the sun. We visited my parents house that night to pick up the kayaks and we had rocklettes for dinner. Rocklettes is something Mike and Sarah introduced us to. It's an indoor grill machine where we grill beef and chicken and veggies on top and there's a section below where you can melt Gouda cheese over potatoes. It's delicious and a lot of fun!





DAY 2
We went kayaking with alligators in Hillsborough River. There were dozens of alligators. We probably should not have gone this time of year because it's mating season and they're feeding a lot after the winter. There were just too many to keep my eye on and it made me nervous. At any given time there were two or three on the right and left banks of the river and usually a couple floating ahead of us and they would sink down in the water as we approached. I was terrified I would hit one with my ore. But we survived and fun was had by all.

(No we did not take Sadie kayaking.
We were only in a foot of water and it was for picture purposes only!)

DAY 3
Sunday we had a pleasant day at church and we had a get together at my parents in the evening. Ben's Aunt Nancy and Uncle Richard, who are serving a mission here, also joined us for dinner. We then had a nice walk on the beach and watched the sunset.

(Ben was pretending I was too heavy to lift, not a funny joke if you ask me!)

DAY 4
Monday morning we toured the model homes in our community - which is surprisingly fun. They are decorated pretty cute. We met Ben for lunch at BDs Mongolian Grill, and then we went to Tarpon Springs for pastries and souvenirs. Afterward I took them to the airport and it was sad to see them go. But the fun didn't stop there....Ben and I got to go golfing that night and we had a blast! Thanks to dad for the golfing coupon and thanks to mom for babysitting. I didn't play the last 4 or 5 holes because I was so frustrated, but even if I am awful, it was wonderful to laugh with Ben and drive the zippy little golf cart and lie about our score and watch the sun go down. Thanks to Kurt and Desiree for giving us a reason and an excuse to have fun!

(Mike, the name of this boat was St. Michael, so I took a picture of it for you.
Last time we went to Tarpon Springs I found one named after Joe)