The Baby Did It

Chase was fiddling with the blog and tried to get rid of our comment service, but, naturally, she was a baby and didn't know HTML and muddled it all up. Anyway, we're working on fixing it now and wanting to tell you that we are not deleting your comments on purpose.

Why the Light Update?

Sharing what she stole from the recycle bin with Brutus.

The view is better from the top.

Apparently, the best seat in the house.

Clearly did not approve the way I wasted the cabinet space.

And these are just the non-dangerous stuff that I was able to grab the camera for. This past week I've found her on the kitchen counter (she learned to push a step stool up to the cabinet to climb up), scaling a small slope in our backyard up to the patio all by herself, getting out of her swing while it was in motion, and trying to ride both dogs. Beginning to pity me, aren't you?

Sliding Love

I'm in soooo much trouble now.

Sliding Love from UMA STEINHAUER on Vimeo.

I know this is blogging lite, but you can't blame me for wanting to soak up every last bit of the warm sunshine and clear blue sky before the horrid winter creeps in on us, can you? We're heading out to Bad Dürkheim Wurstfest, which bills itself as the largest wine festival in Germany, this afternoon. I love that we're only 40 minutes away from the gorgeous Deutsche Weinstrasse now, and just the thought of it gives me a warm buzz. Wine and processed meat....hmmmmmm. I so heart the German harvest season.

P.S. My dear buddy Mari's husband, Gabe, is finally safely back home with his precious family after 15 long months in Iraq. Welcome home, Gabe! Thank you, Gabe, Mari, Caroline, and Annabelle, for your services and sacrifice! We can't wait to see the pictures of the reunion! I've got a giant box of Kleenex ready to go...

A Few Trips in Pictures

Pooped

I'm still adjusting to caring for a busy toddler, who now only naps once a day. I know a lot of moms will roll their eyes at me when reading this, but Chase had the same routine of 2-3 naps a day since she was about 5 months old and we loved it! She's still speed teething and cutting her 5th tooth in 7 days as I type. It's so weird to think that last week she only had her 2 bottom ones and now there are nearly 5 more on the top row as well. There's the biggest and most adorable gap between her top two bucky beaver teeth. I love her new smile as much as I miss her gummy one.

Here's a video that was shot a few weeks ago. Our little baby is a bit obsessed with her hand sanitizer, and we have to hide the bottle from her or she would ask for it constantly. I think she already looks so different from when this video was taken. Sigh.

Nurturing Her Inner Germaphobe from UMA STEINHAUER on Vimeo.

The child is literally growing like a weed and learning new words and signs everyday. Her new responsibilities are opening and closing the door for the boys when they want to go outside or come in. All I have to do is ask her to get the door for the boys and she'll hop to it, which proves to be a welcoming distraction for that one minute that I need to warm up a sippy cup of soy milk for her in the morning now that we stopped breastfeeding. 16 months and 6 days of the most wonderful experience that I will always treasure.

I have lots of pictures to post but we have a bit of an issue with our hard drive at the moment. Hang tight, Grandparents. She's worth the wait :).

Be Maddie's Friends!

I landed on Heather's blog one late night after clicking on one link after another about a month ago. I've been a faithful follower since although it wasn't until today that I finally left her my comment. I struggled to come up with the right words to tell her how horribly sorry I was that her beautiful baby girl Madeline was no longer with us but realized that no such words existed. I wish that we lived close enough that I could bring her dinner and give her a hug. We donated a small amount of money in Maddie's memory to benefit the family of NICU babies (please read about Friends of Maddie here), but Maddie has inspired me to do more. I'm in the process of completing my first quilt for Chase (one of her Christmas presents) and will be joining Rheinland-Pfalz Quilt Guild in making baby quilts for their Baby Love outreach program. The end of the year is coming up quickly along with what sure to be a busy and happy family time for many of us. I just would like you to keep Friends of Maddie in mind when/if you feel the urge to contribute to a charitable organization. Thanks for being our friends and, hopefully, Maddie's!

I Pledge

*This post is brought to you by Wil.*

I do not consider myself political. I am probably one of the most laid back people you will ever meet, but there is a video going around really causing a stir of emotions to put it lightly among different people. I have watched the video a few times now to see whats the big deal. It actually reminds me of one of the most enduring speeches from one of our Presidents that our country seems to rally around. Anyone remember JFK "Ask not what your country can do for you but what you can do for you country". Well everybody seems to take the stand that the President works for you. Alright, so he being so far removed from your everyday life how do you fix whats around you? You take a pledge to fix what you can where you can and by doing so make your world a better place. This video is not satanic or any kind of throw back to Adolph Hitler, (which is just crazy, REALLY). Im tired of living in fear, get over it, move on, and do something good for the world. Your telling me that by pledging to recycle, I'm actually saying hail hitler. REALLY!?!



I pledge my service to My World, My Country, My President, and by doing so make this place better for my family and the generations to come.