Over the hump...

Sydney is 6 months old! Can you believe it? She is halfway through her first year, and she is REALLY active now. She is interested in everything around her. She wants to touch things. She wants to put things in her mouth. She wants to pull on them. Keeping up with her curiosity can be a real challenge!

She loves to grab her feet and rock from side to side. She is a real pro when it comes to rolling from her back to her tummy, but she is still trying to figure out the reverse. She plays with her toes, and she can hold her own bottle – kind of. She starts to hold it, but after a few minutes she forgets what she is doing and drops it. She is starting to sit up for longer periods by herself. She leans forward on her hands and she can sit for a while. When I sit with her she can sit all day – or until she gets tired.

We had her 6-month check up today. She weighs 17 ponds and 11.5 ounces (75 percentile) and is 28 inches long (above the 95 percentile). The doctor said he can tell she likes to eat because she is growing so big so fast.

I need change!

Sometimes I feel like my life is too monotonous. I need variety! Maybe I have a slight case of ADHD. I don't know. It's as if something is missing and the only way to fix it is to do a complete home/life/personal makeover. I use to go through this like 6 times a year, but I am improving.

For almost a year I wanted to get a perm to take my wavy frizz of a mane to a sleeker, tighter curl fest. Well, in February I decided it was time. It worked great! My hair was a little curlier than I had previously desired, but with a new born around I needed something low maintenance. I washed, sprayed a little curl spray, and I was done. Perfect.

Well last week I was in Georgia and my twin sister went to get her hair done. She invited me to come along. If you are ever in Atlanta I would highly recommend this place - Bob Steele Salon (404)262-9499. Really, it's great. Anyway, I decided to cut my hair short and go straight. I now have bangs, layers, and no curl. Complete opposite of what I thought I wanted. I love it! Yeah, I have to return to blow drying my hair and using a flat iron, but its worth it.

I satisfied my need for change momentarily, but I still need more. When I returned to town I changed the tablecloth and placemats on my table and decided to rearrange my daughter's room.

Finally I changed the template on this blog. Now, I am thinking of painting my bedroom and bathroom and the kitchen. I just have to convince Donnie...

Pictures from the wedding

Well, I was out of town and neglected my blog, so I thought I would post 2 today!

Donnie, Sydney and I went to Billings, Montana this past weekend for a wedding. It was my first time to Montana and I didn't really know what to expect. I have always heard that Montana is beautiful. As we were flying in, I looked out of the airplane window and saw huge mountains covered in snow, followed by random houses and sporadic bunches of trees. I thought, "Wow! How pretty!" As the plane approached landing it hit me - I didn't see a single shopping complex, let a lone a major mall. I guess it's not so pretty after all.

The ceremnoy was held at Oscar's Park. It used to be called Oscar's Dreamland and it was a tractor museum of sorts. Oscar Cooke opened it up and filled the land with a variety or tractors and tractor seats. There were also some old buildings like a general store, church house, and a few others. Oscar died about ten years ago and his ahses were put in a box in front of his favorite tractor. That section of the land is now the Cooke Cemetery.

In 1999, the place was closed down and everything was sold off -except the buildings and the cemetery. In 2002 they reopened Oscar's Park and now people hold weddings and other special occassion ceremonies there. You can still check out the buildings and the cemetery. There are a few horses and a donkey there too.

Megan and Warren were married by Warren's uncle Robert by the river that runs along the back of the property. Robert began the ceremony and when it came time for the vows, he asked Megan if she would have Warren to be her husband (insert the remainder of the vows) and she answered, "I suppose." Warrens face turned bright red and he looked a little shocked. Then she said, "I DO!"

Then Robert began to ask Warren the same but before he could get out the words Wrren shouted "I do!" Everyone laughed. You could tell he was nervous. After the ceremnoy they had a reception at the lodge, which is close to the cemetery.

Their colors were royal blue and silver and they had lights strung around the screened porch of the lodge. The tables had royal blue table cloths and candles with royal blue and silver ribbon tied around them. Each table had pictures of either Warren or Megan and then one of them together. It was really cute. I even saw a few pictures of Donnie!

When it came time for the toasts, Donnie, as the best man, started it off. It was very sweet, and Warren's mom and sister Amber told me that he set the bar and the rest of the people fell really short.

After dinner and the toasts everyone danced and we left early - about 10 p.m. because Sydney was ready to sleep. Surprisingly she was really good during the whole thing and didn't cry until about 5 minutes before we left.

My little girl...

THIS is how Sydney likes to sleep now. She pulls her blanket over her eyes and rolls on her side. The blanket never goes lower than her eyes. We cover her up with a smaller blanket (it is really hot here), but she manages to wiggle out of that one too.

We have had quite the adventurous month. Sydney and I went to Atlanta on July 9. On the airplane she laughed and "talked" to everyone who looked her way. She is such a great traveller! She finally fell asleep halfway through the flight (it is about a 4 hour flight) and slept until we landed. We went back to my parents' house for a few days and then up to my brother's.

We went to Lake Lanier with my sister-in-law and her family and rode on their ski boat. Sydney loved to ride and splash through the waves created by the boat. I guess it was relaxing for her because by the time we returned to the dock she was asleep!

We left Atlanta and flew to Billings, Montana on July 16 to meet Donnie for a wedding. We had a layover in Salt Lake. Sydney just talked and played the entire flight. She really likes other people - especially kids. Sydney might be upset, but if she sees another kid she stops fussing and smiles at them.

She is just such a happy baby and it seems she learns something new each day. I love having her with me and seeing her experience so many different things. I am glad she is not shy too - it makes it easier to do things if she can be entertained by others.

Test your skills....

I found this IQ test on another blog and thought I would pass it along. It's pretty tough, so good luck and remember, no cheating!

Your IQ Is 125

Your Logical Intelligence is Below Average Your Verbal Intelligence is Genius Your Mathematical Intelligence is Genius Your General Knowledge is Genius

A Quick and Dirty IQ Test

View from down here

Happy Holidays...

For the Fourth of July holiday, we went to Boise with Donnie's sister Deidra and her kids. We stayed with Donnie's parents and spent the weekend playing. On Saturday we went for a bike ride around the "Greenbelt." It's a trail that follows the Boise river and flows through a few parks. We went with Darren (Donnie's brother) and his family as well as Deidra and her kids. It was a lot of fun and a great workout!



On Monday we went to the Boise Zoo. It's not a very big zoo but it was fun. They have a butterfly area where you can walk through as the butterflies flutter around you. Some are even brave enough to land on people! Donnie had a few on his shirt and One landed on Deidra's camera. Sydney loved all of the bright colors and all of the movement. She's not quite six months old, so the splendor of the other animals continues to elude her.

After the zoo we rode on paddle boats around the pond in one of the parks. Donnie, Sydney, Kechi (Deidra's oldest daughter) and I rode together. Sydney seemed to like but by the end of our ride she was asleep on my chest!

We came back home today and went to my friend's house to watch fireworks. The excitement of the weekend tired Sydney out and she fell asleep before any fireworks began. I guess we'll try again next year. She'll be almost 18 months and so fireworks will probably be a little more exciting!