Doctor Doctor Doctor

This morning was spent running from one doctors appointment to another to another. All for good reasons. Cecilia had her 15 month check up and I had my 12 week midwife and ultrasound appointment. Cecilia's appointment was first, but they were running really late, so we did the visit with her doc, and then ran next door for my appointment, only to find out that we were too late and could come back in 45 minutes. So, we ran back to Cecilia's doc to finish getting her shots, and then back to the midwives office. Whew! That was exhausting!Cecilia is doing great. She is right on track with everything. She is saying the appropriate number of words for her age, even though only Jon & I really understand them. She says "ankie" for blankie, "oggy" for doggy, "addy" for Daddy, "ickty" for kitty, and "mmmmmm" for milk. We are still working on "Mama", she says it, but only when she has prompting and after lots of it. She also knows a few of her body parts, she knows belly, feet, nose, and mouth. Belly is her favorite, or should I say my belly is her favorite. She loves to pull my shirt up and try to blow on my belly and then she will break out in fits of laughter. She got three shots today, and she was so good about it. NO TEARS! She fussed a little tiny bit, and that was it. I think it had something to do with the Smartie I gave her just before the first poke. Here are her physical stats:

weight 20 lbs. 10 oz. - 20th percentile
height 30 inches - 60th percentile

We finally got to the ultrasound appointment, and Cecilia was starting to get fussy by this point. She was a trooper though. My Mom was able to make it to the ultrasound too, so it was extra special. It was so AMAZING to see Sweet Potato. I think that Ultra Sound technology has improved even since I was pregnant with Cecilia. I thought we were looking at the 20 week ultrasound, everything was so clear. We could see little fingers and toes. We could see the little nose, and mouth opening and closing. It was incredible. And to think that at only 12 weeks, only 3 inches long, and there was no mistaking this precious being for anything other than human. It brought some serious tears to my eyes, to Jon's eyes, and to my Mom's eyes (Cecilia was crying too by this point, but for other reasons). On our way out of the midwife appointment Jon found something on my jacket: a LADYBUG! A sign of good things to come. We are so excited about this little one!

Practice Round

Cecilia, aka Lady Bug, got to do a practice round of trick or treating before the main event next weekend. Our neighbor helps run a trick-or-treat street at an assisted living and nursing home facility about a mile up the road from us. So, we got our little lady bug dressed up in her lady bug costume and went to check it out. She was so adorable if I do say so myself, but I didn't need to because all of the staff and residence said it too! She walked independently down the halls, going to each person to say "hi". She could have cared less about the candy, but I'll take it :)

Over the River and Through the Woods (Part 2)

As I mentioned in Part 1, last weekend, Cecilia and I went to Grandma's house, and Jon went over some other rivers and through other woods to South Dakota to go pheasant hunting. He went with our friends Emily & Shawn Martini to Shawn's Uncle Mel's farm in Huron, SD. They drove all day Friday with a stop at the Corn Castle in Mitchell.There was a large group of hunters that hunted on Saturday and Sunday. Jon said there were 16 hunters and 20 total in the group. They walked and walked and walked through acres and acres and acres of fields, shooting birds as they went. He thinks they walked at least 5 miles each day. The bird population was down this year in comparison to when he was there 3 years ago. This meant that the birds that were in the fields were older, smarter, and faster. Pheasants can run surprisingly fast, and you can shoot them unless they are in the air. This year, they had a dog with them, and Jon was so excited when the dog found his own bird and brought it back to the group. Ah, maybe someday Stella will be good enough to hunt (ya right!). On Sunday, Emily shot her new gun for the first time. She is definitely the most stylish hunter I've ever seen. In all they got about 80 birds, and Jon brought 6 home.






As I mentioned, they were staying with Uncle Mel. Jon felt so welcomed by Mel's family. He enjoyed hearing all the stories about the olden days and sharing cheap beer and cigars. For Uncle Mel, opening day of pheasant season is another holiday. It brings his entire family (and then some) home, just like for Thanksgiving and Christmas.Jon enjoyed getting away and doing something out of the ordinary, and I am glad he got to go too. He was home on Monday before dinner, and Cecilia and I were so happy to see him! Thank you to Emily, Shawn, and Uncle Mel for your generosity, kindness, friendship, and great photos ;)

Over the River and Through the Woods (Part 1)

Last weekend Jon went hunting with friends up in South Dakota. That will be part 2 of this post. While Daddy was gone, Cecilia and I went over the river and through the woods to GRANDMA & POPS' house! We were gone all weekend, Friday through Monday, and it was great! It has been a long time since Jon and I have been away from each other for that long, so it was good to not be in my own bed with out him. A change of scene was a good thing. Cecilia and I had a wonderful time visiting.

On Saturday morning, Cecilia helped Pops make pancakes for breakfast. She loved the tasting part 0f the making. Pops even made her a special pancake shaped like a certain mouse...

We helped grandma collect pine cones to make fire starters for the winter.


She also helped grandma pack up the flowers for the winter.

Of course, Cecilia's favorite activities included pulling a duck around the house, playing the keyboard, playing in the dirt and the dog water.
Mom and I got to go on a nice long walk. It was gorgeous up there- you would have thought it was late August for how nice the weather was. Mom and I also got some much needed quality time after Cecilia went to bed on both Friday and Saturday nights.

Sunday brought us into town to visit a brand new baby of one of my Mom's friends. We went to church, and then to a small gathering for church friends that were moving. I was worried about how Cecilia would do because all of these events took place at the exact time of lunch and nap. She did great, and was definitely the social butterfly of the going away party.

On Monday morning, Cecilia and I headed in to town to visit Grandma at work. We got to see all her students and have lunch with her before we headed home.

We had a great time, and it was much needed. Thank you Grandma & Pops for a wonderful weekend!

Haircut

Cecilia had her first real haircut yesterday. (I say real, because I trimmed her bangs back in May, but I'm not counting that.) Our friends Jen and Josh came over for dinner with their little girl, Sienna. Jen is my hair stylist too, so I asked her if she would give Cecilia her first haircut. She said she was honored. Jon didn't want to miss it, so he came home a tad early from work so that he could participate in the fun. Cecilia did really well, considering the circumstances. I'm glad we had it done. I was a little apprehensive to cut bangs on her, but since she is refusing to keep her hair up any more, I had no choice. She looks like a big girl now, not my baby. I love that we can see her big beautiful brown eyes, and her perfect eyebrows now. And, Jen only slightly trimmed the back, so she still has those sweet little curls. Thanks Jen, you did a great job.