Goof......

Well, I know that some day my daughter will be so unhappy that I posted this, but, oh well!! We recently had family pictures done and Annie likes to goof off, as we all know! So, Greg caught her on camera with this lovely pose! Nice.....

And here she is enjoying Aunt Cathy's birthday gift.....yah, another reason for Annie to pay absolutley no attention to her dad and I ;-)

Sis and Tony, etc....

My sister and Tony came to visit at the beginning of August. Nic, Kay (Nic's girlfriend) and the girls came too, this time. So, we went and did touristy stuff, which was alot of fun. Unfortunatley, I didn't seem to bring my camera ANYWHERE we went! So, I actually had to go to my sister's blog to download the pics....I think I was just trying to remember all the baby stuff that has to come along EVEYWHERE we go! So, then I forget the camera! I need to just put it in the diaper bag!! But, here's the clan on there way back to California. You can visit my sister's blog (Cathy's blog on the right) to see more pics......

Happy Birthday Annie!!!

Annemarie turned 8 on August 1st. So, we decided to have our first sleepover. But, since my house is really on the small side, we had it at mom's. The girls all made their own pizzas and then the adults had a turn...

nice, Bubba......

then it was time for presents.............everyone's favortie time!

This year, since Annie is going into third grade (also hard to believe!), we decided to redo her room. She'd had Disney Princess' since Kindergarten, so it was time to get the big girl room. It's a really pretty set, but not too "girly" and Annemarie LOVES it! She was very excited, but really loved all her gifts (and thank you again, to eveyone!).

Annemarie opening her gift form Aunt Cathy--a Disney MixStick (MP3 player). Annie was thrilled because she's been asking for an iPod but her dad and I have said no. But this is a good start--if she can keep track of her MixStick, than we'll see in a few years.....

And of course, Aunt Cathy had it loaded with some songs so she could enjoy it immediately!

Ashley, Caitlyn, Christina and Bailey enjoying the many Nintendos that were at the party!!

All Annemarie really wanted to do was take all her friends to Paul Bunyan Cook Shanty for breakfast (especially when she heard that Caitlyn had never been there--Annie thought that was some sort of a crime or something!!). So, we packed up everyone (in the rain!) and headed to Paul Bunyan's in the Dells. They serve family style pancakes, ham, sausage, eggs and potatoes. But first, you get these warm, buttermilk donuts!! They are SOOOO good! We will miss you, Paul Bunyan's.......

Purple Belt Promotion

Yep, Annie has promoted in Karate again!! She really likes it and it really helps with her concentration. So, here she is going through the all the skills to get that belt! And, conveniently, purple is her favorite color!!

Paying attention to instructions....very good......

"What'd they say????"

Finally, a smile................

unwrapping her purple belt......

And the wonderful, "Do i have to smile much longer?" smile.......

And now it's time for Mia's pics.....

These are my favorite jammies and I just wanted a picture of Mia in them. And since Scott was here.....And there's that closed-mouth smile......

The second attempt at a biter biscuit went much better, obviously!! We'd also been trying Macaroni and Cheese and green beans. At first she ate up the Mac and Cheese, But, then, I don't know if it became too much work or what, but she won't eat it now. She'll eat green beans, but only if they are in baby food. So, I cut them up and smash them just a little and mix them in some kind of meat. She likes that alot!

And Mia's little trick, mixed with a bunch of food is even better!!!!

There's that front right tooth peeking through the mess!!

And a great smile for daddy!!!

In this shot, you can almost see her "fang". It's on the top, on her left side.

Scott's mom sent us this ducky toy. It's really cool. We fill it with water and then she can push on the water part and there are little floating fish inside of it. This saved us--Mia hated tummy time for so long, but she loved this duck, so she'd actually paly with it on her tummy, now she loves her tummy so much we have a hard time keeping her on her back for bobo changes, etc.....

Mia loves Cherrios!! But, really, who doesn't! I noticed that she was pointing and using her pincer grasp, so we tried Cheerios, and she LOVES THEM!! We joke that she's going to turn into one!! And in her Safe Feeder, is a banana--her favorite, but not ours!! think of a half masticasted (good word :-) ) banana in a mesh bag.....poor daddy the dishwasher ;-)

Lately, she's figured out how to give a close-mouthed smile. It's cute, but I'd love to get a big smile with all those teeth! Here she's giving her dad a nice smile!!

You can alomost see those two teeth on the bottom. They're small but they hurt (if you're dumb like me and stick your finger in there to check on her other teeth that are coming in....)

When Annemarie was little and it was time to get jammies on, we would take her shirt off and give her "hair". Like Annie was, Mia is quite bald still so the other night, she got hair for the first time......

So funny............

First time with a biter biscuit....not too impresssed......

same with mashed potatoes. She liked them, a little, but she didn't gobble them up like I thought she would......

"I'm getting stronger!!"

And this is a pretty good shot of Mia when she squenches up her face and tries to breathe through her nose. However, when she does this, her upper lip actually blocks her nostrils so then she gets all snotty.....it's really funny!!