Fall Mish-Mash

I decided that I was going to do one long blog post to make up for most of the fall that I missed. So here it is. Grab a cup of cocoa (if it's freezing where you are, like it is here...) and get ready for a long post:


In September, we went up to visit Aunt Da and her kiddos. One of my favorite parts of being home so much with G is having the days free to go visit with friends. We love to go visit Aunt Da. G always has fun with "Oocy" and "Zozo". Since this visit, a new addition has come to Aunt Da's family: Baby Vivi. At our last visit, I couldn't figure out what Greta was calling Vivi. I finally turned to Da and said, "I'm pretty sure she's calling your baby "Celery"." Turned out, she was calling her "Sevvy", who is another friend of ours. Still, I think "Baby Celery" kinda has a ring to it. I think it'll stick.

Above, a pregnant Da tries to wrangle 3 kids. Don't you like how I try to help the pregnant woman out by standing back and taking photos?

A photo of Zoe trying to get Lucy to return to pacifier use. Lucy is much too busy singing to her mom. If I'm not mistaken, she was singing "I like bugs, I like bugs" from Yo Gabba Gabba. Greta looks interested in the pacifier, though, doesn't she?

Greta loves this bed. She thinks it's so fun to bounce around on it. As you can see, Zoe is flying through the air on this one.

The three girls pause for a photo

Greta is really into climbing on tables. We have a rule that she can't be on this table. Apparently, whoever took this photo wasn't really enforcing the rule that day. (Confession: It was probably me. Her father is better at enforcing rules)

I don't know if I shared this, but I'm more or less winding my office down. Turned out to be way more time consuming than I had planned, and since I did it to be able to spend more time with G, it wasn't really worth it. I spend almost all my time at home now, but I occasionally do some special prosecuting in a local county. Criminal law is what I know best, so it is nice to be able to work in my niche. On one day when I had to work, we didn't have daycare. Scott took the day off and took Greta to the art gallery. The photos below are from their day at the gallery.

This was before she was walking all the time. Tons of stairs to climb!

In October, we went to Greta's Aunt Jolie's farm to celebrate her marriage to her partner, Shon. It was a beautiful ceremony and it was so fun to hang out there. It's very serene and it's away from the city so it's just quiet and peaceful. This trip was a little different, of course, because there were lots of folks there to celebrate, but it was a great time. This was the first time Greta slept with us since she was a little tiny baby. This was really out of necessity since she let us know early into the night that the pack-n-play wasn't cutting it for her. I don't know that any of us actually slept that great, but every time Greta woke up, she'd sit up and smile really big once she saw she was in bed with mom and dad. Then she'd fall back down and curl up to drift back to bed. Even though it may not have been the most restful sleep, I think Scott and I enjoyed the chance to cuddle with her at night. I tried to co-sleep with her once when Scott was out of town and she looked at me like I was nuts and I ended up putting her back in her crib where she was happy.

Greta usually will not sleep anywhere but her crib. I don't remember the last time she fell asleep on me. The above photo demonstrates how tired she was after our night of co-sleeping. She pooped out on Aunt Jolie's lap. I thought she looked so sweet and peaceful!

Yeah, don't knock the outfit. I promise I don't usually dress her in this outfit for weddings. It was a casual wedding and we had put her in her pj's for the start of the reception. It was so cold that she needed a coat and shoes, though. Anyway, Jolie and Shon's farm is a little hard to find, so the fashion police couldn't find her. No harm done!

Out at the farm. Look at the sky! It was cold that evening, but it was clear and gorgeous!

Greta's dad walking her around. She loved it. Also, Scott doesn't usually wear scarves around. I think we brought it out for her to play with. I don't know. There have been numerous times that I've looked back at a photo and thought, "What in the heck am I wearing?" Once, Scott came home and was like, "What in the world is in your hair?" I had been playing with her in her room and pinned one of her big pink bows in my hair. I forgot about it and had been wearing it all day. Seriously. It's all about looking good at our house, folks.

This is Jolie and Shon's basset hound, Willie. Willie howled the whole weekend. Well, let me rephrase. Willie howled any time the Greta was in his presence that weekend. He was majorly freaked out by our child. She would sit in the window and watch him and he would stare back and howl at the sky. He wasn't a fan.

On Halloween, we met my sister and her family at the zoo for trick-or-treating. Greta was a turtle.

Me and G in front of the sea lion show. G was more interested in the graham cracker than the sea lion. In her defense, that thing moved really quickly and was hard to see.

Tatum was Velma from Scooby Doo. I thought that she was a pretty good one! She came prepared with an actual Halloween pail. I'm not sure what we brought for Greta. Probably one of our canvas grocery bags. We need to invest in some holiday swag for her. Then again, every piece of candy was consumed by her, Scott, or me before it hit the bottom of her bag. With such helpful parents, maybe a Halloween pumpkin to hold candy isn't necessary after all.

Below are two photos of Greta when our friend, Katie, came over to babysit her.

She loves this tunnel. She got it from her Auntie April and she really enjoys crawling through it. She enjoys it even more when the cat goes in there and she can chase her out.

G and Katie having fun.

I had evening classes last semester, so Scott was on full-time daddy duty several nights a week. I went through the camera one evening after I had returned and I discovered that they had their share of fun:

Really.....A pair of goggles, a pair of sunglasses, a patriotic tie, and (although you can't see the whole thing in this photo) a purse from Nepal. Seriously, though, her father encourages a creativity in her that I could never begin to encourage. They have a lot of fun together.

See the look on her face? Yes, that's pure defiance. Notice my hand squeezed around her arm? She's standing up in her stroller after I told her not to, and apparently, she thought it was hilarious. I'm not punishing her with the squeeze, but actually trying to make sure she doesn't fall on her little noggin. It's winter now, so I haven't tested it, but after she went through her "I'm going to stand up in the stroller phase", both my father and Auntie April babysat her. I told both of them, "Watch out. She stands up in her stroller now and gets upset when she has to sit down." Upon returning home, I was informed by both of them that she was a perfect angel and didn't try to stand up once. Hmmm...apparently, it's a trick she saves for her mother.

We found out that for the month of October and November, going to the zoo was free for residents of KC proper. Seeing as how we have horrible snow removal, horrible schools, and have to pay 1% of our entire family income to this city every year, we decided to take full advantage of our free zoo pass. G and I went to the zoo on every nice day in our lame, but sincere, attempt to stick it to the man.

Checking out the benches while waiting for the tram

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I felt really fortunate. We got to watch the gorillas being fed one day. We were right up close to them and it was fun to watch them grab their food and protect it. Above, a big guy is hiding his apple from the other gorilla. There was no sharing going on during this lunch.

Greta and I on the carousel. She really liked it, and as you can see, took her toothbrush with her just in case she had something stuck in her teeth.

In November, we traveled to the Shatto Milk Company to check out their place. Our friends, Colin and Stacy, and their daughter Sevvy came with us. (This would be the actual real-live Sevvy. Not Vivienne, the imposter) It was pretty neat. You got to taste all their milk flavors and they had a little baby cow barn where you could pet the baby cows. It was kind of a long drive for what we ended up doing, but it was fun.

Dad and G playing in the grass by the Milk Company

G really enjoyed the Shatto Milk. I think we overdid it on the dairy that day. Lots of Shatto Milk and cheese curds. Yum!

Greta needed mama to hold her so she could see the cows. In the background, you can see Colin and Sevvy meeting one of the calves.

Greta picking out her fave cow

Sevvy enjoying the fall day

Greta loves our cat. Every morning, she wakes up and says, "Kitty. MEEEOOOOOOOW." Tiny is amazingly patient with Greta. She puts up with a lot of meows in her face.

In mid-November, we went to the park with Aunt Jolie and Aunt Shon. Here's G, running around the park:

We took advantage of one of the last super-nice fall days by taking a day trip up to Parkville. We walked along the river and played in the park. Tons of people were out. It was nice to be outside. We were really glad we took advantage of it...especially after our last storm over Christmas where we were basically homebound for the holidays.

Dad and g messing with the spaceship controls.

Dad decided to take a trip through the tunnel. More adventurous than mama, who was scared she would have to face the truth about her current fitness level. I wasn't prepared to have to spend the holidays stuck in a Parkville children's tunnel. I opted for being the photographer. I still stand by my decision.

G braving the tunnel.

Riding the horse.

Dad and G by the river. I think this was right before we saw a dog attacking a deer in the river. Never a dull moment when we're involved!

G loves to play her dad's guitar. She can identify the pick and likes to strum and play. However, lately, she's discovered a more fun use for the guitar case itself:

I'm determined to catch up on this blog! Keep checking back!