Jumping Daisy

>An afternoon Hawkeye game was the perfect opportunity for us to take the girls out to enjoy the ambiance, so Thea attended her first tailgate last weekend for the Arizona game. Fun was had by all and the day couldn’t have been more perfect. Great weather and a big Hawk win!

Leila went early to reserve a spot with daddy

After a while, Thea and I arrived with Grandma and Grandpa Howard

Happy family!

Thea taking a break….

And after watching the game at Andrea and Steve’s house…these baby girls were spent!

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The post is late, but I swear the picture is only one day past 6 months. We were traveling back from Tabor on Thea’s half birthday, so we didn’t get around to the picture until the next day.

I have been having a hard time dealing with my friend’s passing, and it brings up lots of feelings and questions for me about the afterlife, and God and all of that business that tends to take over my mind and my life. On top of that, I have a cold or some other sort of nastiness. As much as it hurts, life goes on…there are no breaks or slow downs to catch your bearings when you have been thrown for a loop. Enough about me!

Thea is doing wonderfully…she is the sweetest happiest little thing! Today we took her for her 6 month check up. She weighed in at 21 lbs 11 ounces and is 27 inches long. 97%ile for height, off the chart for weight. I looked back at Leila’s stats and she was 19 lbs at 6 months, so Thea has her beat in that contest. She is very mobile, she rolls all over the place and she is getting up on her hands and knees and rocking a bit…I think it is onl a matter of time before she takes off crawling, and I have to say that I am thankful she is such a chunk, I think the weight is slowing her down some. I am in no hurry for her to take off on me!
She is sitting up on her own really well and really enjoying her toys. I think her biggest source of joy would have to be her sister though. She gets so excited when Leila is near! I love to see their interactions and know how much they love each other.

This picture makes me laugh…Thea looks HUGE!

Thea’s appointment was rounded out with shots for everyone…though Thea definitely got the worst end of it, we all got our flu shots together.

My friend Laura took Thea’s picture’s on her half birthday in Tabor, I will be sure to post some when I see them…I am sure they turned out great!

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During the summer of 2006 I had just gone back to work after having Leila and I felt like I was this totally different person, but no one else could see it. My whole world had been turned upside down, and as much as I love being a mom, I was having a hard time adjusting to the new me. It was around this time that I happened across a message board. I found it by chance, searching for information about a local child who had had an accident, and I joined to learn more about her condition. 3 years later, that child’s mother is a dear friend of mine…along with about 100 other women (and the occasional man). This place helped me find my way in the new “me”. These women have supported me through many rough times, and celebrated many happy times with me over the last 3 years, and I have done the same with them. It is a community like no other, and I am blessed to be a part of it. I have been exposed to people from all over the world, with all different experiences. So yes, I am a dork, and I love my computer because my friends live in it.
Over the weekend a terribly sad thing happened to us. My dear friend and fellow mother Vaike passed on far too soon, from cancer.
I felt a bit silly sitting at my computer and crying with a bunch of other women, sitting at their computers reading the same news. Trying to explain to my family why I am so upset was hard for me. I don’t think it is an easy thing to understand, but when it comes down to it, these women know more about me than most of my “real life” friends, and I love them. I love Vaike. I love her husband, and her children, and I am torn apart inside for all of them. The world has truly lost a beautiful person. After a few days of constant tears, I am finally trying to follow the advice that Vaike left for us, to “look for beauty” so when I got to celebrate the new pregnancy of one of my dear “real life” friends today, I felt a small amount of sorrow lift away from me.
I am so blessed to have known her, and to have the rest of my online family to lean on, but once again I am reminded that Grief is the price we pay for love, and the more you love, the more you grieve. I would like to think that I don’t let that hold me back, if there is one thing that I am good at, it’s love, it is the grief part that I always have a tough time with. And getting through the days without a breakdown, has been a challenge for me.

Here is a gift that we made for our friend Vaike. She was able to watch it and be reminded of all of us that love her and support her as she faced her journey to a better place with such grace. Her faith is inspiring.

>She isn’t so sure about this…

Before…look at how long it was!

Not about to do this without Daddy!

Daddy was helping to distract Leila by naming the fish on her cape.

Beautiful girl!

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Thea isn’t eating food yet, but we are planning to start her on it when she turns 6 months. In the meantime she has been trying out the high chair. She likes to sit with us at dinner time and practice on her toys!

I think she is plotting her escape, so the swing is now out of the baby soothing rotation. It was nice while it lasted.

>This morning Cory wasn’t feeling well, and I decided to brave taking the girls downtown by myself to get us out of the house. I titled this post building memories because on days like today when the task of two little kids all by myself at a crowded outdoor event seems too overwhelming, I have to remind myself that I am building memories for Leila and I want her to remember doing fun and unusual things, not watching cartoons (which she already does too much of!) This event is called Sand in the City, and it was really cool! Lots of giant sand sculptures to see, and we got to watch them working on carving out a herky! Aside from the sculptures they also had a couple of giant sand piles for the kids to plan in and some other games and balloons. So out we went! Just mom, Leila, Thea one umbrella stroller and my Ergo baby carrier. The Ergo is nothing short of a lifesaver, I don’t think Leila would get to do nearly as many fun things if I didn’t have the option of wearing Thea in a baby carrier. Thea even seems to really like it, so much that has been known to take a snooze or two in her cozy carrier!
Here are some pictures of Leila and the sand experience:

And this is how Thea has been traveling these day! 🙂

Cindy and I took the kids to the Childrens museum on a rainy day this week. They had a lot of fun shopping in the city market and Leila made me lunch at the pizza parlor. Great fun was had by all…taking 4 kids under 3 years anywhere can be a challenge, but we had lots of fun!

My dad the handyman made this frog pull toy for me to give to a good friend of mine’s 1 year old son. My job was to paint it, and as much as it pained me to let Leila paint, I gave in and let her have a turn. I would post a finished product picture, but it isn’t finished yet 🙂

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And of course she is already sporting some hawkeye gear…only 2 more weeks to football!! Go Hawks!

>I hope my dad doesn’t mind my candor, but I felt the need to share ;).

This morning I called my parents house to see what they were up to today. I admit that a weekend rarely goes by that I don’t see my mom and dad, and I like it that way.

I could sense some sadness in my dad’s voice when he reminded me that today they would be moving my littlest sister back into the dorms at UNI, and that next weekend my brother will be shipped off to Madison Wisconsin where he will be starting a new job for Hy-Vee.

My sisters Andrea and Cassie both live in the same town that Cory and I have made our home, and until the end of this month, Clay is also here in North Liberty. Though this is the second year that Dani has spent off at College in Cedar Falls…about an hour and a half away, and the furthest any of us Howard Kids have ventured from the comforts of Mom and Dad, it is still hard to see her go. Dani spent the summer working with Cassie at the Van Allen Summer Day Camp and we had the pleasure of her company on a consistent basis.

But Clay-boy is making the biggest move yet when he packs up his car for Wisconsin in another week, and we are all feeling the gloom of knowing that he won’t be here with us all of the time. Though he has been working hard for Hy-Vee for some time, at least we knew that if we ever really need him, we could go walk around the store for a while where one of the managers would recognize us as Clay’s family and page him to come and see us. I am thinking that this move may require a Hy-Vee boycott, it just won’t be the same without Clay.

My brother is one of the funniest people I know (don’t let that go to your head cheese boy), and at the same time, a very smart and well spoken young man. He has the sensitivity that one would expect from a guy who grew up in a house with four sisters, but at the same time, he can be such a guy. I reminded him when he told me that he was hoping to move to Wisconsin for a management job with Hy-Vee that he had better very closely consider the move and to keep in mind that there is not a single person in all of Wisconsin that loves him. What I didn’t follow that up with at the time, but as we are all thinking about with his upcoming move is that, there are a lot of us here in Iowa that really do.

I reminded my Dad this morning that though Clay’s moving away is going to be hard for all of us to swallow, the fact that he has the confidence to go after his goals and to take on a new, unfamiliar city is a testament to his parents.

I then told him about my little Thea finally making it over from her belly to her back and rolling all over my living room. Dad says, “well that is mostly good,” and I agreed. As long as she doesn’t try to roll off to Wisconsin.

So the Price we pay for Love…I read this quote once, “Grief is the price we pay for Love.” And I couldn’t agree more. Love is expensive, but worth every penny.

>I love love love a homemade bag. I made my own diaper bag, and I made the one that I used when Leila was a baby…I have made a few different purses, some for myself and some as gifts for my favorite ladies.
I ran across this blog today, and I was almost inspired to get out my sewing machine! Here it is for anyone else out there with a bag problem like mine! 🙂

I do like to remind my husband when he rolls his eyes about my fabric buying that my homemade purses generally take less than 10-15 dollars in materials for me to make, and I could always cut back on the fabric stash and buy myself a 400 dollar Coach bag!

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