8 Months Old

Wow, these photos were hard to come by. As Amelia gets older and more...able to act upon her desires, the more difficult it is for me to get her to stay in one place long enough for me to get a picture. But, here are my best attempts with her in one of her many Christmas outfits in front of my parents' Christmas tree.

Clapping

Some things haven't changed:
-curious about everything
-fearless - will follow your brother anywhere
- love your brother, even if he isn't gentle. He can knock you down ten times in a row and you'd still follow him to the ends of the earth.


Other things have:
-You are eating like crazy! You eat all kinds of baby food and the only thing you aren't excited about is meat. We've even added yogurt into the mix without any trouble. You are figuring out it is fun to feed yourself. You have mastered the Cheerios and puffs. We've also had success with bananas, sweet potato chunks, pears and peaches.
- Finally! A cup! You don't love it, but you'll do it. Which is all that really matters when it cuts off the half of an hour it takes to feed you while we are driving to Minnesota.
-Clapping! I love it! It is adorable. I confess spending waaaaayyyy too much time during the day clapping and trying to get you to mimic me. There is a lot of cheering going on at our house right now.
-So big. Who taught you this game? I think you picked it up overnight. Again, totally adorable. You raise you hands over your head, look around to make sure everyone has observed your talent before giving yourself a round of applause.
- Waving - Anytime anyone says "hi" Amelia will start waving her hands too. There isn't anything better than coming into her room to get her up in the morning and have a small hand waving hello. Wonderful.

8 Months Old!

Amelia was 8 Months old today! And I forgot to take her picture! I was holding her before I put her down and she fell asleep in my arms. This is the only picture I think I took of her on her 8 month birthday. But, it is a sweet one:

Sleeping beauty

I'm going to attempt a photo shoot with her myself tomorrow.

In other news, William rode the bike we keep at Grandma's house all the way around the block by himself! (Okay, I did help with some pushing from behind...) He was so proud - and pretty cold! I'm not sure why we don't have gloves for him?

Tooth

Number 5
lower left side (incisor?)
11/29/09

Happy Birthday Grandpa!

{Wow! I'm so behind! I am determined to try and get caught up before we get to Christmas! So keep checking back!}

Saturday (after thanksgiving) was Grandpa Kevin's birthday!

Tangent: Through preschool, William has developed an awareness that birthdays are Big Fun Deals. Since Halloween he has been asking "Is it my birthday yet?" Apparently at preschool there were a few birthdays celebrated with cake and singing - and William can't wait. So our response has been "No, it isn't your birthday yet. First it is Halloween, then it is Uncle Mike's Birthday. Then it will be Thanksgiving and after that is Grandpa Kevin's birthday. Then it will be Great Grandpa Tom's birthday and after that it is Christmas! Yay Christmas! Then, after Christmas it will be YOUR BIRTHDAY!"

So, any time there is an event to tick off the list and put us closer to William's birthday it is a good thing in his world. Plus, the kid loves cake and singing.

We had a long spell between Uncle Mike's birthday and Thanksgiving in which we discussed Grandpa Kevin's birthday frequently. At some point, William decided that Grandma was going to bake Grandpa a birthday cake "and she will need my help!"

Luckily, Grandma was supportive of this idea and let him help her.

He likes to be right in on the action - he doesn't want to miss a thing. We bake together a little at home, but I don't have pictures because...well you can see how I might need all hands on deck to manage the baking.

William the helper

And bonus points to Grandma because she didn't make a simple box mix. Nope, she made a fancy swirled cake (from a box) that required extra steps.

Swirling it all together

It turns out the cake was so delicious, we didn't take any pictures of it. But we did sing. Twice. And William got over his disappointment with the lack of birthday hats. He likes to go all out.

Warning: He likes to help open presents too. Those of you celebrating Christmas with us should take appropriate precautions. And he might even do it with his back turned so you can't see what you're getting.

Amelia is happy with a bow

Really, any bow will do

I love this picture of both kids getting in on the action!

Sweet baby girl - we are loving this age!

The lesson here is that if you are going to be buying anything for Ms Amelia for Christmas coming up here, you'd be safe with a curly ribbon. It would entertain her for hours.

Family Time

* You would not believe the things I have been busy with. Christmas prep, being sick x2, chasing kids, doing laundry, packing, unpacking, crafting, picture editing, Christmas card producing, and thinking about catching up. I'm working on it.

On Friday (after Thanksgiving) we were able to spend more time with both of our families. We are so fortunate that both our families live in the same town a short distance away from each other. It makes it very easy to see everyone on holidays and spend time together. However, there are times when I start to feel like a ping pong ball bouncing back and forth between the houses. Especially when I feel like our time is already stretched thin or we are expected both places at one time. So, it was nice to have Friday together after such an incredibly busy Thursday.

It is a tradition that I pull out my parents' Christmas tree the day after Thanksgiving and put it up. This job is much more fun now that William is ready to share in the excitement of the season with me.

"Helping" Megan with the beads. Or, making things more difficult for Megan. Luckily my siblings are exceptionally patient with our kids.

The tree goes up....

And how could we not decorate it? William was SO VERY SUPER DUPER excited about this. I had to really watch and make sure he didn't handle any of the breakable ornaments in his hurry to get them all on the "beautiful Christmas tree". The rule at our house is everyone is supposed to be there in order to decorate the tree. If one person is missing, we usually wait until we can all be together.

Uncle Mike decorates

William was one big shiny ball of happy to have everyone together AND decorating the tree. I'll admit I was right there with him.

The only picture I have of both the kids with the tree.

And you can see William was not the only one fascinated. She took a little longer to get to the tree, but she was MUCH more destructive!
Admiring the ornaments. For the rest of the week, any time I couldn't find William I knew to check the tree. He would stand and admire the ornaments and take down a few of his favorites to carry around with him. This year his favorite ornaments were 1)anything with wheels 2) musical instruments which he would pretend to play.
Trying again
And here she is playing chase with her brother around the piano bench. I love the look of trouble on her face. Trouble is what this girl is.

In between all the family togetherness, my sister and I made lots of centerpieces for the tables at our cousin's wedding next weekend. Aren't they tropical looking?

Friday evening, we joined John's family for dinner and some play time for the kids. The big kids decided to play a game of poker. William was interested for a few minutes.
And then decided to find the toys with the smaller kids. Here is cousin Mikey, William and Amelia working on repairing this table.
This stool also needed some work.
Here is Amelia trying to fix a leak with her toolAmelia and her godmother, Cathy. Amelia was fascinated with Cathy's hair. Every opportunity, she would grab and try to work her fingers through poor Cathy's hair.

Amelia and Elena

Amelia, Alex, Elena - I think this younger set has the potential to be trouble in the near future...four grandchildren under the age of three could lead to some excitement!

Thanksgiving, Showers, Thanksgiving

I've been sorting pictures for the last 100 years I think. We have been super busy over the last week! Here are a few pictures from JUST THANKSGIVING DAY.

We did a lot of visiting in the morning with family. William had a great time with Great Grandma Nona and Great Grandpa Budd

My grandma and grandpa with their great grandchildren - they are using bribery to get William to hold still...you can see the bag in his hands

and now all over the ground!

While Mom and Dad were helping set up for dinner, Uncle Mike gave us a hand. Or two.
William absolutely ADORES Mike "Big Guy". Look how happy he (William) is.
We also helped Aunt Megan with a full body workout before she sat down to eat
Amelia in her Thanksgiving outfit with Great Grandma Nona. Amelia had a lot of outfit changes on Thursday!
And just because I think this is funny, here is Scott showing off his halo while getting desserts ready.

The tables are almost ready! We had 19 people at my parents' Thanksgiving

Apparently, we were too busy eating to take any other pictures. But, here is my dad washing the dishes afterward.

My grandparents and their grandchildren (with spouses):
Bottom (L-R): Ryan, Grandpa Budd, Kelly, John, Megan
Upper(L-R): Ashley, Kyle, Nona, Mike, Amber

My grandparents with their grandchildren: Bottom (L-R) Budd, Kelly, Megan

Upper: Ashley, Kyle, Nona, Mike, AmberMore of the same, just different smiles

Again with the spouses

Everyone getting up, chaos

After we got cleaned up from our meal and took our pictures, we threw a small bridal shower for my cousin, Ashley. She is getting married next Saturday! This is Amelia's shower outfit!

William and Big Guy watch some football

The happy bride and groom: Ashley & Ryan

As this was a "family" shower, the men in our family were invited also. They were beyond thrilled!

We played a game with toilet paper. My cousin Kyle is about to get a veil. He is super excited. Team #1: Megan, Kaye, Amber, Kyle (model)

Mike undergoes his transformation.
Team 2 Kevin W, Mike, Kelly, Nona

Creative team consults, model waits in anticipation

Mike's look included a fingertip veil, blusher, crown, sash, wrist corsage and a happy face

Another angle of the bride

The third team's finished look: boquet, garter, necklace, ring and veil
Team 3: Kim, Ryan, Ashley, Grangerry

Three beautiful brides ready for judging

They are such great sports! Kyle's team wins!

Grangerry isn't about to waste toilet paper

Opening gifts

Everyone needs a tropical fish cookie jar!

Tom and Scott couldn't be persuaded to join in the fun.Some of the treats

More treats

After a[nother] piece of pie for the grown ups and a refreshing nap for the kids, it was time for the Heidt Christmas/Thanksgiving. Here is Amelia's Christmas outfit (one of many. I think she has enough for the 12 days of Christmas).

William and Grandpa Heidt

Amelia and Aunt Cathy

There is always room for treats! Even if you weren't hungry for dinner!
Are these two related? Cousin Alex enjoys his treatWilliam enjoyed his time playing with his cousins very, very much! He talked about it for a long time afterward (still)!

And an attempt at the Heidt family picture (note Amelia trying to pull down the curtains)Attempt #2 (note: Daddy peeking, William laughing at Dad, Amelia pulling on my nose)

Attempt #3 Our family looks decent, although serious...but others don'tAttempt #4