One Apple Pickin Second

This turned out to be the week of Alexis' first of many firsts. This is actually the first blog of firsts, too... but enough about first, let's get to the blog. First thing first: Alexis finally learned to crawl this week. Yup, only took her 10 1/2 months to figure this out. She learned how to say "Mama" and now continuously says it over and over. We've gotten her to say "Ball" and "Dog Dog," although not consistently. I pointed to the cat today and asked her what it was and she said, "Dog Dog." So, let's just say it's a marathon, not a sprint. And most important of all of these firsts, she had her first apple picking experience. We knew this would only come once in her lifetime, so we invited the whole family to come along. Mom and Keith made the journey as well as the Eldred clan (Ron, Julie, Ryan, Emily, Addy, and Jack). As with all of my blogs, the pictures do a better job telling the story than I could, so here are some shots from the outing:

I love making JL do goofy things and then promise her that I wouldn't dare use it on this blog.

Everyone has fed a yak an ice cream cone, right?

Just the beginning of these two "butting heads"

Finding the perfect apple with Grampon.

It's hilarious how serious she is about her food. Addy always keeps a safe distance away.

Addy risking life and limb getting that close while she has food in her hands.

Using Grampon's hair to wipe her hands after a long day of eating apples.

The happy family

We tried leaving without getting a maple creemee and that was NOT a good idea.

Back home thinking about the great apple picking adventure.

Alexis almost looks skinny in this picture... and pretty darn cute, too.

Relaxing with Nanna

Over a Month?

I can’t believe my last post was on the 1st of August. So much has happened in the last month and a half: I began preseason and have since gone into the regular season with the girls JV soccer team. School started. Alexis learned how to use a straw (we’re still working with her on that whole crawling and walking thing… she’s in no hurry). Jaimelee became a master. We knocked down three huge trees. I got to use a wood-chipper. Football started and San Diego made the knock out pool all the worthwhile for me. We once again sealed our “hick” title by making it to yet another county fair. We welcomed nephew Jack into the world. We got a visit (two feet from the house) from a pretty good sized black bear. It's no wonder that I'm sleeping so well at night.... hopefully next month won't be so busy.

Here are some photos from the last month:

Here's the newest Sports Illustrated swimsuit model (this bathing suit is really painted on)
Here's my JV soccer team. I thought it would be a good team bonding experience taking them downtown for lunch. They then convinced me to go shopping. Has anyone ever taken 22 girls shopping? Yeah, I'm nuts.

I'm so upset that I didn't get a picture of the bear. Here's what the little guy did to our bird feeder:
It was all fun and games petting the dirty sheep at the fair... until we found out that Alexis was majorly allergic. An hour after this picture was taken, Alexis was a wreck with puffy and watery eyes with a continuously flowing nose. You think it had something to do with her sucking her fingers after petting this guy?
This is my Christmas present this coming year from my wonderfully loving wife. Check out my skinny right leg. Atrophy is pretty cool.
The newest member of our family, nephew Jack.

Alexis has learned more than simply drinking from a straw in the last month and a half... oh yes, she's very talented. She has mastered the art of balancing wipes on her head. Yes, she's very special.

... but she's also pretty darn cute, too.

She found some new toys. There were other pictures with these new toys, but she had them in her mouth and didn't think those would be appropriate to put on the web.

Amanti is going to teach Bob's kid how to play second base, he now has to teach my kid how to ride a motorcycle. Vroom, Vroom, Amanti. Vroom, Vroom.

Jaimelee kidnapped Alexis on Sunday and tried to corrupt her by putting a Teddy Bruschi jersey on her. Tommy B broke his knee during this game, so I think that's the last time she'll be wearing a Pat's anything. She told me when she got back home how awful it was having to wear this jersey all day. She apologized and told me it would never happen again.

Is it possible to have two dumber pets than these two? In the last month Maddie has eaten a full diaper (the number two variety) and also has snacked on a couple of the things Alexis was playing with in the above picture. Yup, she's an idiot.

Jaimelee finally folded and agreed to have Alexis' get her first haircut. It was a success, but she still has hair hanging in her eyes. I think they charged by the 1/2 inch or something.