Friday, August 29, 2008

Gratuitous Bathtime shots & ketchup

I always forget my camera when I go to give Amanda a bath, but last night I just couldn't pass up the opportunity so I yelled at Mike to bring it to me. Here are the results:
DEVIL CHILD!




(Notice her sippy cup... she HAS to have this at all times now. I don't know if it's a carry-over from daycare where other kids try to steal her cup, but she insists on always having it with her!)
(And yes, she was crying because she wanted to hold the camera. Not like I was going to let her have that in the bath!)
Next: killer bubbles!
Her bath bubble machine has started spewing out bubbles that get caught and begin "growing" down the bathtub wall (rather than blowing them out into the air like it should). This seems to frustrate Amanda to no end, and she screams when her bath turtles get "caught" in the bubbles. Here's her rescuing one of them:







And ketchup...
Tuesday night we stopped off on our way back from Home Depot and got some Jack-in-the-Box for dinner, which included fries. Mike decided to give Amanda some ketchup to dip her fries in. She *loved* it!
Mike showing her how to dip her fries in it:



And going to town:



Sunday, August 24, 2008

Amanda update!

Amanda has decided that her world revolves around socks & shoes.  She LOVES to say those two words (among many others she surprises me with daily...  The girl can TALK!  Must take after her mother...), and will spend hours sometimes trying to put them on herself.  First the sock (see how her mouth is open forming the 'o' in sock):

Got it on! (as far as she can get it anyway):

And time for the shoe (as far as she can get it):


Then she'll take them all off and start again. And again. And again. Seriously, she can spend a good hour just doing this over and over again.


Here's a few pictures from the other night, Amanda tried to "play" with Sophie using a string like Mommy & Daddy do.  Only, she didn't quite get the whole... wait for Sophie to come and get it... concept.  She'd run up and almost hit Sophie with the string! Notice Sophie cowering under the water table. She's been a good sport through all of Amanda's antics :)

After that, we were distracted by the Good Year Blimp flying low above our house.  I've never seen it this low, so I was impressed...

And yesterday we took Amanda on the boat again, and she HAD to help me with the flag.  Mike was ecstatic and can't wait for her to be 13 and actually "count" as the 3rd person who holds the flag.  But for now, she was content with her pretzels and imitating me.

Thursday, August 21, 2008

Talking already!

I cannot believe how much Amanda says now. So I thought I'd type out all the words she says so I don't forget them years from now when she asks me what her first words were!
She says:

  1. Meow
  2. Moooo
  3. Roar
  4. Caw
  5. baaa
  6. neigh
  7. more
  8. ni-ni
  9. bowl
  10. bush
  11. grass
  12. "Where'd it go"?
  13. wa-wa
  14. juice
  15. milk
  16. mommy
  17. daddy
  18. car
  19. mine
  20. all-done
  21. hi
  22. bye-bye
  23. book
  24. Dora
  25. owie
  26. Sophie
  27. Toe
  28. eye
  29. nose
  30. ear
  31. mouth
  32. hair
  33. leg
  34. knee
  35. frog
  36. ribbit
  37. bunny
  38. duck
  39. quack
  40. socks
  41. shoes
  42. bubble
  43. bath
  44. crunchies
  45. yellow
  46. green
  47. purple
  48. teeth
  49. cat
  50. woof
  51. spoon

I do have some pics from last night when Amanda was trying to "play" with the cat, using a string... I was laughing so hard I almost dropped the camera! So I don't know how well the pictures came out. I will try post them soon...

Saturday, August 9, 2008

Vegas Baby!

Vegas was SO MUCH FUN!!!  And Amanda & Mike did fine without me.  I have much more confidence in leaving them now :)

So... I didn't take many pictures because we really just did a lot of sleeping, and a lot of shopping.  But when we did something else, I tried to take some pictures.  Here's us going in to see Mama Mia! on Wednesday night at the Mandalay Bay:
(left to right, Mary, me, Erin, Ilene)

And here's us all dressed up to go to the clubs on Thursday night:
(left to right, Erin, Ilene, me, Mary)

And in Studio 54 at the MGM:
(Ilene, Erin, Mary)

Other than that, we did do some gambling, though I just did a lot of LOSING.  We played some Pai Gow on Thursday after breakfast, and then some blackjack.  In the evenings though, it's impossible to even find a $5 table anywhere on the strip anymore.  Everything's $25 and up.  So we played some slots here and there, but for the most part really didn't gamble as much as I am used to when I go with the guys.  This was such a welcome change, and a needed break from the usual "mom" stuff.  I had such a great time, and I'm hoping we do something similar every year with just "the girls" :)

House Painted!

First things first... the house painting is finished!  Here's our house before (taken the weekend we moved in)

And here it is now (same angle)!  We chose a shade of beige with white trim.

And here's the back.

Tuesday, August 5, 2008

Vegas Baby!

I'm off to Vegas tomorrow. Girls trip, just my sisters and I. First time I'll be away from Amanda for longer than one night! I hope she does ok. I hope Mike does ok!

Mike and I are officially aunt & uncle to a new baby boy today. Blake Milton Highhouse was born yesterday 8/4/08 at 4:46pm. 8 pounds 11 ounces, 20 inches long. Mike was supposed to call his sister last night, but we got busy clearing stuff away from the house for the house painters. So far, they've patched all of the window frames, and are working on the eaves today. I believe they start painting tomorrow. I'll come home to a brand new house!

Last night I tried on an outfit I bought when Mike & I were still dating... and it fit! It's been 7 years since I last fit into it! Amazing. I will post pics when I get back from Vegas. Have a great end to the week!

Sunday, August 3, 2008

BIG Update!

Wow, I can't believe it's been a month since I updated!  I've been feeling a bit sick for several weeks, and it finally came to a head this week.  A full blown cold, with lots of congestion to boot.  It's actually the first time I've been *really* sick since Amanda was born, but it is not fun, that's for sure.

And now, without further ado (because I know you want them), here are some pics:

The lady next door's cleaning lady just had a baby, and wanted to borrow a bunch of Amanda's infant stuff, so I brought it out and she had to climb in and test it all again 

Here's me giving Amanda a shoulder ride:

A few weeks ago we took Amanda to the local elementary school and let her play in their playyard:

Amanda has started having "tantrums" when she doesn't want to do what we say.  It's actually pretty funny, because she doesn't quite have it down yet.  Here's her getting down on the floor to start one:

We're getting our house painted (they start tomorrow), and here's the funny wall of our house where we tested swatches:

Amanda the other night sitting at her table:

Anyone who says cats don't like bubbles, hasn't met my cat!  She attacks them like they are bugs!

Amanda playing with bubbles:


And finally, this was last night.  My mom bought Amanda a water table, and she had SO MUCH fun with it!