The Lia Crawl

Lia has a very distinct crawl style. She is fast and efficient. The down side is the right side pant leg gets very dirty from all the dragging.

Aqua Girl

Please check out our future swimming champ!

Lazy Day in the Park

We got together with the Wilsons, Schmidts, Salts and Romans at Stony Creek for a relaxing picnic and fun in the sun. The weather could not have been more perfect!

Wisconsin Visit

We made the 12-hour drive through the U.P. into Wisconsin to visit Oscar and Lynette. They have a beautiful cottage on the lake somewhere in Central Wisconsin. The weather was cold the first night, and of course I did not pack any jackets or socks of any sort. Mmmm... well, at least the bugs will stay away for the time being.

Rich has all sorts of extended family in Wisconsin. There are enough of them to make a town! Doris alone has 9(?) living siblings in the area. I could hardly keep track of everyone I met. Lia had a good and got along well with everyone.


There was a lot of fishing to be done. The lake was so serene in the mornings.


There actually is plumbing, but you never know if you need to go on the roadside.


I caught one! Only to have to release it.


Little napper gets the best seat in the house.


Ahhhh....


With Oscar and Lynette


Rich takes a turn.


The Toltzman dairy farm.


Race, race.


Just another day at the park, mommy.


Baby's first stair-climbing exercise.


Martha's dog Bumpy.


Everyone loves my toes.


@ Concrete Park.

Face of Many Expressions

This is my fashion pose. Watch out Paris, Lindsay, Miley...


I am only pretending to like this food. Ha ha!!


Ok that was actually kinda bad.


I can do it. I can do it.


See I told you. I got the mambo down!


Yes I know I got nose snot.

Grandparents' Visit

Grandparents Ron and Doris made their annual cross-country drive to the midwest and got lots of Lia-time. Lia got a week off from daycare and they played and took walks.

Lia's First Camping Trip

Ok. It was an ambitious undertaking: tent-camping with an 8-month old baby. I was introduced to camping after I met Rich and loved the experiences we had. But this is different. We did not know what we were in for and only hoped for the best. The 6-hour drive up to Leelanau State Park was no problem. When we got there the Wilsons had already set up and warned us of the mosquitos. I guess being "by the water" is only a great thing if you are in a HOTEL where you can turn on the AC and shut the door. Not here! And I know bugs LOVE me. So I was a bit nervous. I only hoped the Burts Bees spray would work (read previous blog for why no deet). At least we had a brand new *large* tent. I wish I could spent the entire camping trip in it. It was fun!

All in all Lia did well. She hated to be put down in the Pack'n'Play at first but got used to it. Sometimes she shared the space with Meredith but it didn't take long before she wanted out. And because we had dinner late, it threw off her sleep schedule a bit. I didn't want to leave her in the tent by herself (it got chilly after dark) so I held her while eating.

I think the whole experience was ok but not raising my hand to do this again until she is older- able to walk and little more independent. It was just a lot of extra work and I couldn't really enjoy myself much. At least we tried!