I thought it had been forever since I last posted. Not so. Only a couple of months. Not too bad for a tired mommy of a busy toddler! Yep, toddler. This kid is FAST!!!

Edith is still not talking, but she really wants to. She's still saying "dig dig dig" and "dug dug dug" and "mamamamama" and "dadadadada", and of course, she's still barking, but we have no actual words yet. I'm not worried. She's clearly smart and she's clearly observant, but I think she's too busy running around to learn words. Plus, Einstein didn't learn to talk till he was like four, so whatevs.

We went to the Morton Arboretum the other day with Jeremy's parents (AKA Grannie and Papa) and we had an amazing time. We spent most of our time in the Children's Garden, which is amazing. Edith did a lot of playing in whatever water she could find, and a lot of running. It was so fun to watch her! I bought her three books in the gift shop and Grannie bought her a cool book that was made from recycled materials, and then on our tour of the shrubs, Edith fell FAST asleep!

We ended our trip with a ride around the Arboretum on the Acorn Express tram...it was really fun, and we learned a lot and took some cool pictures.

We have travelled a bit - went to my HS reunion August 8th, then visited family in Kansas City - both were wonderful! And in early September, we're going to Seattle to see Jeremy's cousin get married! We're hoping the plane trip goes well, because we're planning a trip to Cancun in January, and we don't want the plane ride to suck!

We've been talking about baby #2, and we have decided to wait till Edith turns two before we start the process. We have a lot to do - we need to completely gut our guest room to make a big girl room for Edith, and we want to replace the carpeting upstairs and downstairs...the house is one big, unending project. I can't wait to finish, and get the heck out of this house :)

Okay. I've been a little busy...Edith learned to walk just before her first birthday and she hasn't slowed down. We still don't have any actual words, but she speaks really well in her own language. She also dances to ANYTHING...especially bluegrass and 80s punk.

Here she is doing The Bartman:

That's all I have now...I hope to get back here before the summer is over :)

Hey all...here we are again! Nice to see you :)

In no time at all, our beloved daughter will be celebrating her first birthday. Nope, I can't believe it either, and sometimes when I think about it, it brings tears to my eyes. My baby - my tiny little girl - isn't going to be a baby anymore. She's already cruising behind push toys and she laughs whenever you do (because SOMETHING is funny and she is NOT going to be left out). She is fascinated with the dog, daddy, mommy, and her friends, and she is well on her way to being a seasoned traveller.

We're in the throes of planning her first birthday party (if you weren't invited, I swear it was an oversight...please let me know that you want to come and I'll pass along the details) and I have been shopping and planning for about a week now. It's bittersweet. I have always been excited to plan and execute birthday parties for my kids, and here I am at the first one. I had hoped that this year would go by a little slower, but it seems that the happier I am, the faster it goes!

Only a day late!!!

1. Everyone has been sick in this house in the last couple of weeks. I seriously cannot wait till Spring when I can open the windows.

2. In Chicagoland, Spring happens when the temp is over 50 degrees. I love that time...people are out with shorts on :)

3. Jeremy and I have been looking at the things we need to do to our house to get it marketable. We want to move before we adopt again, and we need to do some fixing up to our house to be able to sell. The house across the street sold in less than 2 months, so we have hope for ours since theirs wasn't updated at all.

4. I have already found my dream house...it's beautiful, not too far from where we are now, and in our price range (and not even at the top!). I would move tomorrow if we could swing it.

5. We have a lot of vacations coming up this year...the first of which is next week already! We are going to the Kansas City area to see my brother and his wife and our chosen cousins and their families.

6. Edith is firmly ensconsed in her "big girl" carseat...still facing backwards, but this one goes up to 40 lbs and is quite nice. We like Graco as a brand and we love the GracoPedic foam because it is cushy and we believe will last through Edith and Kid #2.

7. Jeremy and I talked about names for Kid #2, and decided on a girl name and a boy name, but I am not making the mistake I made with Edith's name and we are keeping our choices to ourselves. No one with any tact or class says they hate the name you chose after it is attached to the kid.

8. Again, we have chosen classic names that aren't currently being overused. I love that people haven't heard Edith's name in a long time, and I love that she will most likely be the only Edith in her class, and probably her school...unless she has a teacher with the same name.

9. I have been enjoying my newest job of babysitting my friend's daughter...she is a delight! She and Edith are fascinated with each other and they are enjoying having someone to "converse" with. What a hoot.

10. Lucy went to the groomer last Saturday and she still has the bows in her hair...she usually has them out by the time we get home, but this time she managed to keep them in. She's awfully cute with bows in her hair :)

Tuesday Ten (really late/really early)

1. Edith is getting more and more mobile every day. She is crawling, standing and cruising like a pro, and I can see that walking is in our future soon. Probably before she turns 0ne in a couple months. Can you believe that in less than two months, we will have a one year old? No more baby!

2. We're going to be in Kansas at the end of February seeing family and friends...mostly in the KC area, but we're going to go to Manhattan for a day or two just for fun!

3. Edith is still in her helmet...she has made incredible progress so far, her head is filling out where it needs to, and staying the same where it needs to. The difference between her head now and her head when we started is amazing!

4. Jeremy and I are de-cluttering and getting rid of stuff right and left. I have reorganized all of the kitchen cabinets and gotten rid of old stuff that we don't use...we actually have space for stuff! My ultimate goal is to be able to use the kitchen island for an island instead of storage.

5. Edith and Jeremy and I were all dancing to my iPod this morning...she LOVES music! She is definitely Mommy and Daddy's girl.

6. OH! Something interesting and fun...from now on, I will be watching my friend Ann's daughter Rachel on Wednesdays and Fridays! We are so excited! The girls are about 5 months apart, so they can't really play together yet, but they are fascinated with each other! They spend a lot of time talking to each other.

7. A friend of ours is giving us a double stroller so I'm not confined to the house with the girls...and Wednesday is my mom's group so Edith and Rachel will be able to socialize with other kiddos :) And then Friday, Auntie Mish comes over to play so we'll be able to use the single strollers if we go out.

8. I am excited about having a little extra cash in my pockets...it'll be nice to be able to save up for some stuff I want :)

9. We are like Old Mother Hubbard over here...we really need to shop, our fridge is bare! We do have bones for the dog though...we always have treats on hand.

10. I am excited about all of our vacations this year...Kansas, North Carolina and Seattle. It'll be so much fun to show Edith off to our friends who haven't met her yet :)

9.