20 lbs 1 oz!!!!

We had Alexis' 15 month checkup on Friday, which included an important weight check. She still hadn't hit 20 pounds which means we couldn't turn around her car seat so she can face forward. (The child has to be 1 years old AND 20 pounds to make sure their neck muscles are developed enough and strong enough to endure the force of any sort of crash)

Well, she just slid in there... by an ounce! We couldn't have been more excited. We installed her larger car seats this weekend and in this one, she looks like a little princess in her throne. The Element has stadium seating in the back so she sits up really high and has a great view. I was just glad after all the time she's ridden backwards that she didn't get sick driving the other way!

She's still a little peanut and is still wearing 12 month clothes (12 month jeans are just too big in the waist! Last week someone suggested double-diapering her. hehehe). But I had planned on her wearing her 18 month stuff as it got cooler and that's not going to fit her anytime soon. So, we'll have to get a little creative for the fall.

We also took her into acute care tonight because she's been having some problems with her right foot. I noticed it was a little swollen yesterday & after watching her this weekend, we noticed she's really favoring it: won't roll over the ball of her foot, is walking more on her heel, actually started crawling more. They took a couple x-rays and didn't find a break, fracture or a bone infection so we're just supposed to keep giving her Ibuprofen for the swelling and keep an eye on it.

My Favorite Summer Photo Yet!

Our first attempt at pigtails!

They didn't stay in very long, think her hair was too clean, but it's a start!

On The Market

Our house is listed! (Click here)
It's hard to believe we've been back in Sioux Falls for long enough now that we're ready to move on to our next home. I feel like we just got here, but in reality, we've been back for more than 5 years already!

Just off the top of my head I can think of so much thats's changed...
We've gone from 1 dog to 2 dogs to 0 dogs. :o(
Have had 6 different cars parked in the garage
Have re-painted the entire upstairs twice
Of course now have a 1-year old & baby on the way
I've lost track of my different hair lengths
And we now have twice the house we had when we moved in...

However with a 2nd baby on the way, that still just isn't enough room. We decided we would like three bedrooms on the main level and have found it very difficult to find that in a multi-level (the layout we prefer) within our price range. So we're going to make our dream come true by having it built for us.

But in order to make sure we don't get stuck with two mortgages, since the housing market just isn't what it used to be, we've moved forward with listing the house before even buying a lot to see what happens.

We sat for a week, as patient as possible and a bit nervous, and nothing. I remembered a little something that might help: St. Joseph.

I picked up a "House Seller" figurine and prayer card last week and by Wednesday, we had our first showing scheduled for Thursday. Now I just had to put him in his place. We held the ritual burial in the back yard on Thursday morning (the semantics vary depending on who you talk to, but I decided to do the back yard, on his back facing Heaven, feet toward the house. It worked within a week for my co-worker's parents.).


And while the first showing wasn't meant to be, we already have another one scheduled for Saturday. We also have an open house on Sunday.

So we're keeping our fingers crossed, saying our prayers and working to finalize blue prints so we can buy a lot and dig into our next yard.

My daughter...

The Buckethead

She can walk around remarkably well without seeing where she's going.

The Dishwasher

Give her baked beans and she'll lick them from the plate!

The Lion

She will wear her towel around the house for hours after her bath.

The Pianist
The Fashionista/Shoe Addict

She can keep the heels on much better than the flip-flops.

A Quick Trip To Minneapolis

In a second attempt at a mini family summer get-a-way, we headed to the Cities with the Matterns for a weekend of fun.

We started at Como Park Zoo on Saturday. Chris and Jamie had never been there and with Alexis being one, it was great to see her take everything in as I've seen pictures of me there when I was about the same age.
She had fun watching the big kitties... and they had fun watching her...

Saturday night, Jamie and I stayed at the hotel with the kids and tried to take them swimming. Madison loved the water, but Alexis freaked out... again. It was a little cool, even for us adults. So our second attempt at taking her swimming summer just didn't pan out.

On Sunday, it was our turn to head to the ball game! We hopped on the tram and rode to the Metrodome. I really wanted to go to a game there this summer before they move to the new stadium. I guess it was really a weekend of me re-living some of my favorite childhood memories through my one-year old daughter.
The only hiccup through the whole weekend was a stomach flu. Alexis had something the week before, Bill came down with it Friday and I was up all night Saturday with stomach pains. I thought it might have been the pizza we ate the night before giving me severe heartburn, but it turns out that wasn't the case.

I tried to grin and bear it through the game, but Alexis just wasn't having it. She got a little restless by the fifth inning, wanting to sit in her own seat (we NOW know why the Metrodome draws a line at letting kids in free by size and not age. She slid in under the 30" minimum at 29.5" but maybe we should have just bought another ticket).
We decided to leave during the 6th inning as the Twins continued to fall behind the Angels and headed home for the weekend. I only wish we would have gotten a family photo of the three of us at the game in our Twins shirts... hey, we got one in the Cubs T's!