Hi There!

Welcome Jonathan

Early this morning my friend Ashley had her little baby boy. 7 lbs 13 oz and 20 3/4 in long. Tonight Arden and I went to see them. He is so sweet and definitely has his mom's eyes.

He woke up when Arden went over to see him. She was tickled to watch him move around and loved pointing out his little head and tiny nose. Arden also got very upset when Jonathan cried because he was getting a little hungry.

One the newness of the baby wore off Arden focused in on the fish screen saver on the computer in the room.

Congratulations Matt and Ashley.

Question of the Week

Why will it not rain for more than an hour at a time especially since we desperately need the rain?

Taking Time to Smell the Flowers

We have some beautiful bearded iris' in our yard. Each year we have more and more flowers that appear from Dave spending so much time on the yard fertilizing it. Last weekend, the bearded iris' were so fragrant. We showed them to Arden and she loved smelling them.

This week her and I haven't been in the yard that much but today when she was out there playing she kept going back up to the iris' wanting to smell them. I am more and amazed at how much Arden remembers. I just love how much she keep exploring the world around her.

Working with His Daughter

This post is in honor of taking your son/daughter to work day that was yesterday. Now there is no way that Dave could take Arden to work with him because of the environment that he works in but he does take her to work him here around the house.

Last Saturday, he was putting down fertilizer with the spreader and she was following him around back and forth across the lawn. I wanted to catch the scene on film but by the time I got back from getting the camera this is what I found.

Apparently, Arden got tired of walking back and forth that she hitched a ride with Dave. They finished out the back yard. They had a very productive day they finished up before it started raining.

A Ray of Sunshine

While my mom was here we took some picture of Arden in our flowers. It is so hard to get Arden to stand still or even look at the camera anymore. Here are some of the best that we took that day.

Scraped knees

Arden is really enjoying the warm weather and is taking full advantage of it. As you probably know we spend a lot of time at the park on nice days. Well Arden plays very hard and well sometimes she falls as she is running or bumps her knees as she climbs the stairs to go down the slides. It's pretty normal for her to have some bumps and bruises.

But what makes me smile about her bumps and bruises is that as she wears her skirts and shorts she will point to her bruises and say "uh-oh". I keep explaining that they will heal and will go away but she keeps getting new ones.

Sweet Treats

I was looking over my pictures of last week and found some pictures of Arden eating a very warm cookie and enjoying every moment of it. Arden was spoiled with my mom being here. My mom taught Arden how to snack throughout the day. Now Arden is always asking for more in the middle of day. She will climb up in her high chair and ask for more. She hasn't ate anything recently to be wanting more of something.

Since I have no idea that what she wants I go through a list of items that she could eat and she responds "no". I then pull out the yogurt covered raisins that my mom brought Arden. Arden's response is a head nod yes while signing more and trying to wink all at the same time.

Street Art

On Saturday Arden opened up her new box of sidewalk chalk and went to town outside. She is a natural. She had such a great time drawing on the sidewalk. She was covered in blue chalk and would step back and admirer her work. It was a lot of fun.

Question of the Week

Do you think the market will stay like this for long? Everything I'm reading in Money magazine says were in for a bear market. Would someone please go find the bull that got lost?

A Little Diva Day

Today Arden wanted to show that she can be a diva as well as a little girl who loves to play in the dirt. Today she did not want to eat her lunch until she had her sunglasses on and was sitting on her daddy's lap. It was pretty priceless.

Gran Gran

Gran Gran was here the past couple of days and Arden took full advantage of her being here. They had a great time playing, reading and eating lots of food. We enjoyed having her here for a few days and look forward to her coming back.

A Little Gymnast

I am going to start looking for a gymnastic class for Arden. I did not teach her how to do forward rolls. She starting doing these around the house today.

The First Ponytail

Arden had a first on Friday. She actually wore her hair in a pony tail for me. This week when we walk to the park I have pulled my hair back and on Friday she took my ponytail holders and tried to put them in her hair. Since I haven't bought her any because she refuses to wear a bow I used mine to pull her hair back and she left it up all day. And when Dave came home she proudly showed off her new do'.

New Friends

Arden and I spent a lot of time at the park this afternoon (we were gone about 3 hours). Which is not anything unusual for us on a warm sunny day. We packed the stroller full of bubbles and balls and headed out.

She chased the ball and the bubbles around the field and laughed as she swung. A few children with their parents showed up and Arden immediately walked over to all the kids and said "hi" as they ran towards the play ground. There were 2 - 2yr old girls and a 4-yr old boy and and girl and they all wanted to play with Arden. They would help her get up if she fell, they would all slide down the slides together and they all crammed into the tunnel. At one point of them playing together they all held hands and ran around the sidewalk (which is a circle). Arden was laughing and enjoying herself so much.

She didn't want to leave but once she said good-bye to everyone...all the kids gave her a hug before she left. It was such a sweet day of play. I just wish that I would have taken my camera because I missed out on some great pictures. I just love warm spring days.

A Big Breakfast

Arden likes to eat a very large breakfast. For example, today she had a bowl of oatmeal, a yogurt cup, half of my eggs and 2 small bowls of cereal!! The girl can put away some food in the morning. She normally eats a later small lunch and then eats a pretty good dinner. Here's a picture of her enjoying some grapes after eating her big breakfast.

Me and My Duck

Arden has fallen in love with her duck. She really takes much better care of him than she does her dolls. Lately she has been feeding Duck. She will run in the kitchen with him in her arms and say "eat". She'll put the duck in her high chair and go over to the cabinets and ask for food. After he eats she will take him upstairs to go potty. I just have to be quick on my feet when she takes Duck to the potty because she would rather him set on the big potty rather than hers and the last thing I want to do is fish a duck out of my toilet. She is now getting her milk out of the fridge for him and giving him some milk. Tonight, Duck was put in the stroller for her to take on an after dinner walk.

Of course these are all things that I do with Arden during the day. It looks like I've been pretty good at keeping her in her routine that she's now repeating it to Duck.

Tip-Toe Through the Tulips

On Sunday when the sun started peaking through the clouds yesterday we took Arden outside to take her pictures with the tulips in our yard. We did it last year and I can't believe how much she has grown over the past year. She really did great and enjoyed exploring the flowers. I was hoping to have her in a dress but the causal look turned out better than I thought.

Question of the Week

Do these shoes make my feet look big?

Reason #1

I discovered the number one reason to keep my bathtub sparkly clean. Tonight during her bath Arden reaches over and licks the tub. Gross! I was so thankful that I had scrubbed it down this afternoon.

The Climber

I am going to have to find a new place to put Arden when I need to contain her. She has learned how to climb into her exer-saucer. I walked in the other day and she had put herself in there. She knows how to hold herself up and drop her feet in the correct holes if she doesn't get into it right the first time. Now if she wants to watch TV she drags it to the middle of the floor and climbs on in even if that's not what I have planned for us.

Today I caught it on film and probably encouraged the behavior but it will be great when she's old to look back on it. Enjoy!

Playing Dirty

Yesterday Arden and I went to the park to take advantage of the warm weather. Once we were there she thoroughly enjoyed herself. She really enjoys the slides and now can go down both the covered slides and can sit herself down for the regular slides. She has discovered the tunnels and really likes playing/discovering what's in there.

She also likes the dirt. She loves the dirt path. She could play in the dirt all day. I still can't believe how much she loves playing in the dirt. Let's just say that I am glad that I had her play clothes on yesterday and nothing too nice.

I was able to get some great pictures of her. I think my photography skills are improving. Arden has given me lots of practice the past 19 months.

Breakthrough

Tonight was a milestone at our house. Arden finally pee'd in her potty. She's been sitting on her potty now for almost 2 months on a regular basis but nothing comes out.

Tonight Dave was drawing her bath and as always had her sit on her potty before she got into the tub. Night after night nothing. So tonight she got up off her potty and walked over to her take her bath...I just happened to look not really expecting anything and she actually pee'd in her potty!!! Dave and I were both surprised and know that we still have a ways to go but we are so excited that she is starting to make a little progress.