Goings on...

A little friend in our garden.

We harvested the carrots!

Copperhead kills lizard, Dan kills copperhead!

Our Ari's little bum.

Run for Mercy

Following a rough night of crying and stuffy-nose-breathing, Ari awoke to gear up for her first 5K run. Mosaic partnered with some other churches in the area to support Mercy Ministries. The run was a short 3.2 miles in a nearby wooded park. It was ALOT more rugged than we expected but it was a gorgeous morning.

Her friends, twins Cullen and Lane, were there too! All three of them were a little uncertain of the crowd of people.

We did NOT train for this run but went into the race with a positive attitude. Support a good cause and enjoy the scenery. We ended up feeling really good and running a lot of the way! (I drank a loaded Vitamin C drink and felt a lot better than I expected after waking with day 3 of a cold).

Ari, obviously enjoying the run, was asleep for the majority of the very bumpy road!

We finished in under 40 minutes which I think is pretty good considering the rough terrain, the lack of training and an under-the-weather participant.

That park is very close by and we plan on making this run more often.

Movin' Out

It wont be long before she's 'movin' out' and off to college but for now, we'll enjoy her crawling!

Camping 2010

(Ari helping put the tents together)

For Labor Day, we met the Eakers for a short stay in the 'jungle' as Allie called it. We set up camp at a campground fit for more serious types (displayed by their Dish Networks and palm-tree-Christmas-lights). But, we set up our two tiny tents and made a Boy Scout-worthy fire (thanks to Ranger [unkie] Dan).

We ate Hobo foil dinners (more to come on www.groundedgirl.com) and on-the-fire popcorn. We roasted marshmallows and made s'mores.

Panda joined us for some sand-building creations. The kids did great! Ari slept fairly well considering the circumstances. She only woke three or four times total. We were rudely awakened by an angry crow caaa-ing at our campsite.

There was a pretty big lake nearby and we had a few minutes to play before the sun went down.

Yeah for Camping with an 8 month old!

8 Months!

I'm not going to repeat myself about how quickly time is flying. It just is and I'm not ready for it. However, I am ready for FALL! Cooler temperatures, College football, cooking warm foods, camping out around the fire... can't wait!

8 Month Milestones.

• Ari is crawling (mostly backwards)
• Stands up with us holding her hands and even takes a few 'steps' with our assistance.
• Eats all sorts of vegetables and fruits
• Puts cheerio-like puffs in her own mouth and chews
• Rolls all over the house
• Says mamamaama and dadddadada but not towards anyone (no favorites here)
• Sleeps 2 naps a day and 7-8 hours at night.
• Still nurses 4-6 times a day
• Communicates what she wants without words (with certain squeals, grunts, motions and hand-signals)
• Drinks from a sippy cup (with assistance)
• Gets excited when Dan or I walk into a room: flaps arms and legs
• Reaches for Dan and me to be picked up.
• Voices her anger and frustration at not being able to do something or when you take something away from her.
• Is still very observant and watchful of everyone.
• Loves playing on the floor and in her jonnie-jumper.
• Plays in the bathtub until the water gets cold.

Ari weighs around 18 pounds and is 28 inches. She still fits in some 6 month clothing except for pajamas, she's long and is fitting in 9 month size currently.

Her photo shoot went down similar to last time: eat the paper, get mad when I take it away. I tried to tempt her with other toys or paper but it didnt work out so well. She ended up ripping the sign in half and eating some of it. Oopsies.

Happy 8 months Ari! Only a few more to go :(