A Trip to the Zoo - Blogged by JME

N8 and I celebrated our 9th anniversary yesterday by taking our little June Bug to the zoo.  It has been a tradition in the past to go to the zoo for our anniversary, but this was the first "official" year that June Bug came along.  

I say "official" because last year she was with us, just not in the same way.

Our little one had a wonderful time.  She saw a giraffe for the first time, aside from the 'Sophie' squeak and chew toy she has. 

 
She also saw some Lions . . .

Tigers . . .

 





 

And her very favorite . . . Bears!!!

 

She has a stuffed bear at home and a couple of books with pictures of bears.  She recognized the word when we were showing her the bears.  She became very excited and interested.   

I'm almost convinced that if we had let her, she would have climbed right into the bear enclosure and mauled those bears more than they would have her.

 

She did get to touch the statue of a bear.  She liked that a lot. 

 

June Bug's favorite books are the Llama Llama books we get from the library.  She absolutely loves Llama Llama and finally got to meet him at the zoo. 

 

The zoo wasn't very crawler-friendly. June Bug was constantly in the stroller or in Mama's arms. It took us awhile, but we finally found just the place for June Bug to stretch her legs.

 

She even got to play a game of peek-a-boo.

 

 

 

We had to make sure we stopped in and saw Daddy's favorite animal . . . the sloth. I'm not sure if we've posted this in the past, but N8 was able to hold a sloth when he was in Colombia during his old sailor days.

She was fascinated with the bright strange birds she saw. 

And loved the monkeys.   June Bug's great Aunt A gave her some fun jungle-themed stickers to put up on the wall.  It has monkeys on them and ever since she was very small, we would show them to her and say, "Monkey . . . OOOO OOOO OOO EEE EEE EEE."  That was probably the first word she recognized and when she first started to crawl, all we would have to say is monkey and she would crawl right to it.  She even tries to mimic the noise. 

Somebody made these out of Lego's.  We thought they were real from far away.  They were really cool! 

 The gorilla was very friendly.  He came over and posed for us. 

This orangutan was a little shy and kept his distance. 

I told June Bug that this ape-statue is a statue of her daddy.  She thought that was pretty silly and laughed and laughed.  Mama's so funny! 

She loved riding the elephant's trunk.  You almost have to make an appointment to get your child a chance to get this close, let alone take a picture on this elephant.  It is always overrun with kids. 

We had a fun time seeing this goose with her goslings.  She was just out roaming around with the little fellas.  Not something you see every day. 

 

Of course, the peacock has to show off. 

 

 

 

 They added this new exhibit to the zoo and this was the first time we were able to see it. It had seals, a sea lion, and otters. It was pretty fun to see.  

 

We had a really great time.  I think June Bug really enjoyed herself.  It was a very cold day.  We had to stand in the sun a lot to keep warm.  June Bug ended up with a little sunburn on her cheeks but I think it was worth it.  It was nice to spend our anniversary as a family.  I'm so grateful for the man I married and for the father that he is. 

Spring Fever - Blogged by JME

We kicked off spring by celebrating St. Patrick's Day with one of our favorite meals, corned beef and cabbage.  We love St. Patrick's Day, and maybe don't go all out with the decor, but we sure love the food that goes with it. 

For dessert, we enjoyed 'Million Dollar Dessert,' which was not only green, but delicious.  It was also very simple. 

Million Dollar Dessert

Crust: 
1 cup flour
1 cup butter
***Mix flour, butter, and 1/2 nuts (optional).  Press into 9x13 pan.  Bake 15 minutes at 350 (until light brown). 

Filling:
1st layer: Cream together 1 cup powdered sugar and 8 oz softened cream cheese.  Add 1 medium (8 oz) size cool whip
2nd layer:  Mix 2 pkg instant pudding with 3 cups milk.  Spread over 1st layer. 

Chill in fridge until pudding is set up.  Enjoy!

Then we ended the night playing a nice "mostly" clean game of Scrabble.

 

I think we may have planned things just right that none of us in our household got pinched.  (We gave June Bug a break during bath time and diaper changes.)

 

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A few weeks later, we enjoyed our first Easter with our little June Bug.  With the help of my sister Lee Lee, and N8's sister Pookie, she ended up with some nice things.  The Easter Bunny even brought me, N8, and June Bug little chocolate covered eggs with our names on them. 

 

My sister helped me out so much.  The few days before Easter, I had to work and so couldn't get out to get some of the things for the "Easter Bunny" to bring.  My sister ran to the dollar store and got bubbles and also got her a $2 book from Seagull Book and Tape.  She even got me some plastic Easter eggs.  We got her some fun spring PJs that were on sale, a nice pink bouncy ball, and some bath toys.  Pookie gave her a beautiful hand-me-down dress for her to wear to church.  She ended up with a really nice Easter on a very slim budget.   

June Bug had her first taste of a jelly bean Easter morning.  The plastic eggs we got were 100 for $1 and there was a reason for that.  They wouldn't stay closed very well.  One of the eggs opened up while June Bug was looking at it.  N8 saw what happened right away and started cleaning up the jelly beans but it was too late.  Before we knew it, June Bug grabbed one of the jelly beans and shoved it in her mouth.  She sure enjoyed it and did pretty well gumming it up really good. 



 

This is her in her new Easter dress.  She is so beautiful and had so many old ladies cooing over her at church.  Thanks again for the dress, Aunt Pookie.  It is for an 18-month-old but fits our little one perfectly.  It is a little long and so she has a hard time crawling in it at church, which make my job of keeping up so much easier. 

 

Spring could not have come at a better time.  We were starting to have a little bit of cabin fever at the end of winter and it has been nice to get out.  June Bug accompanies me on my runs and has become a bit of a cheerleader for me.  She squeals and sings at everything we pass by, dogs, birds, fire hydrants, etc.  When we get home, she shakes her rattle at me while I do sit ups and push ups. 

 

We are looking forward to some fun activities like going to the zoo, flying kites, and hiking.  The sunshine has done us good and we love soaking up all this vitamin D.   

 

Dating Life (Post Kids) -- Blogged by JME

I was telling N8 yesterday how much I missed him. Our opposite work schedules are great so that one of us can be with June Bug at all times; however, with our work and church callings, we are really limited with the time we get to spend together. I headed out to his work for lunch yesterday so N8 could have a double date with his two girls, but I spent most of it wresting with my almost-toddler trying to get her to eat and not fall off the chair. Not a super romantic date. I was pretty bummed about it, but then N8 sent me this comic. I laughed so hard because it really summed up how I'm feeling at this moment in my life. There is one thing I know for sure.  I can always count on N8 for a good laugh. 

Goblin Babe - Blogged by JME

Santa brought our June Bug some fun Christmas PJs that she has continued to wear, even though Christmas is over.  We loved them for the holiday season.  With a little Santa face on the bum and some Santa faces for the feet, they were very festive. 

However, now that Christmas is over, we have started looking at these pajamas a little differently.  We find that whenever June Bug wears these pajamas, she resembles little Toby from Labyrinth.  She even has some fun magic dance moves.  Dance magic dance!!!

We've posted the famous David Bowie scene with Toby for those of you who have never seen Labyrinth, need a refresher, or are big fans and watch it regularly.  Enjoy!

I might be biased but I'd have to say that she is the cutest goblin babe I've ever seen. 

June Bug's First Hair Cut - Blogged by JME

 

My kid has started looking a little scraggly.  Her sideburns had grown out so much, N8 said she looked like a Hasidic Jew.  We decided it was time to get her hair trimmed. 

I brought her to one of my good friends who cuts my hair, and with the help of Grammy Lu, we were able to get her to sit still long enough to trim up all those long ends. 

My friend has fast flying fingers, and it is a good thing too.  Little June Bug is so active, it is hard to get her to sit still for long. 

 

What a big girl!  She did so good and looks so much better. 

Shiner - Blogged by JME

 

 

 

My little June Bug has been very active lately.  She hasn't started to officially crawl, but that hasn't stopped her.  She looks like she is swimming as she kicks her feet and drags her body with her arms, doing the classic 'soldier's crawl.'  She is getting really good at the soldier's crawl and is really fast.   Her toys aren't that interesting to her anymore.  No. . . . She wants the phone charger, or the floor lamp, or the wire for the surround sound.  She wants to play with the heater vent and anything else that, to most of us, would seem rather boring compared to her colorful and noise-making toys.   

 

She has recently discovered the return air vent and loves strumming her fingers on it.  The other day, her and I were playing together with this particular vent.  She was laying on her tummy but decided that she would rather be up on all fours.  When she got up off the ground, it looked as though her head bonked the wall.  It didn't sound like it hit very hard but she cried and cried.  I downplayed it, telling her that she was okay. 

While I was feeding her dinner, N8 pointed out to me that he thought she had a shiner. It wasn't her head that hit the wall. It was her little eye that hit the corner of the return air vent. I felt so bad, especially because I downplayed her little injury that was bigger than what I thought.   Her black eye wasn't too bad at first but got worse as the days went by . . . .

I was a little embarrassed taking her to church or to the store, worried that everyone would think that I was a bad mommy to let her get hurt or worried that someone might think that I did that to my sweet girl. 

It's been nice being able to talk to other moms, however, and have discovered that it is all part of growing up and getting around.  As I notice other little ones around my June Bug's age, I notice bonks and bruises on them, too, and it makes me feel so much better.