Rachel and Mike's New Baby Adventure

Like Ned

2012-01-14T18:24:00.001-05:00

I managed to catch a little of her reading "One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish." She was doing really well! However, she didn't nap today so she's a little loopy - after she reads about Ned with his head sticking out of bed, she climbed under the covers so she could stick her head out, too. Then that turned into a song, of course.

Uh-oh's

2011-12-22T11:55:00.001-05:00

Tamsin is getting to the fun age where we really have to watch what we say and do! I think this age is where she gets to embarrass us so that we can feel good about being embarrassing parents when she's older.

The other day in Target, I took her to the bathroom. When we got out I was putting her in the cart as she louldy announced that Mommy went tinkle in the potty.

Mike bought me the latest Zelda game, even though I told him not to! Because it's so good and I have to play it now. It's the first game I've played since Tamsin was born I think. Tamsin and I were at a store, and there was a toy sword. She picked it up and started swinging it around "Like Zelda!". Then she went over to a large stuffed cheetah and said she was "swording it." I'm not sure if I should be concerned about the violence (Zelda is pretty cartoony for anyone who hasn't seen it) or excited that she's into Zelda, too.

She just announced to her grandmother that she was "bored of coloring." I may have asked her if she was getting bored with something if she seemed to lose interest so I guess that's my fault, too. Hopefully that doesn't translate too soon into a more general "I'm bored," but I don't think it will because she's very good at staying busy!

Water color painting

2011-10-28T21:03:00.001-04:00

Her first time. She's a natural!

Writing

2011-09-19T18:11:00.001-04:00

Tamsin wrote her name! She wrote T A M S then ran out of space so put the I in front of the T and added the N at the end, but the letters are totally recognizeable! Especially the A. Than she drew a rocket ship at the bottom and wrote the countdown 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 (not recognizeable).

Cute Sayings from a Cute Little Girl

2011-09-11T11:33:00.001-04:00

Keeping up with a blog is tough. I've been having trouble uploading videos from my phone so I haven't even done that. I just started using Evernote on my phone to jot down cute things Tamsin says so I won't forget them. Here are a few recent ones...

Out of nowhere, Tamsin announced, "Mommy's called Rachel!" She also occasionally calls Mike Mike.

She's getting really good at "negotiating." One night Tamsin did not want to go to sleep. She asked for a flying Tamsin story, so I told one. As soon as it was done, she sat up do she could hold up 2 fingers and said "how about 2 flying Tamsin stories?" I said we could have one more story, two flying Tamsin stories, and then it was time to sleep. I told one more and again she held up 3 fingers and said "how about 3 flying Tamsin stories?" I said we already did 2, and we get 2 stories before it is time to sleep. She said how "about 4 flying Tamsin stories?"

The other night I told her it was time for sleep, so she told me a flying Tamsin story. Apparently I follow a very obvious formula, because it went like this:
"Once upon a time there was a little girl named flying Tamsin! One day, she went on an adventure. The end!"

A couple times now she said something was "too tasty" for a strong taste (a lemon and vinaigrette dressing, I think). It's kind of funny from the little girl who loves the strongest tasting pickles you can get!

She loves to dance and copies all the dance moves of characters on TV, and now she even makes up her own dances to songs. She's getting really good at singing and sings along to everything.

Here she is with two of her favorite books. Every night we have to read the Five Green and Speckled Frogs book, The Little Engine that Could, Three Sleepy Kittens, and Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.

We drew a pirate ship with pirate pigs on her chalkboard, then she drew some "mans" on the left. See the circles for the bodies and the two legs?

Reading books with Daddy in our hotel in Philly. She was a flower girl in a wedding! But that's a whole other story....

Reading a book at the library, one of her favorite places to visit. Actually, this is a pretty rare moment because usually she wants nothing to do with books there. She likes to play with the puzzles and toys they have in the kids section. She's pretty good at whispering but of course it requires a lot of reminding!

Goodnight Moon

2011-06-23T21:24:00.001-04:00

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Dinosaurs

2011-06-20T20:21:00.001-04:00

Listen for "quetzalcoatlus." I'm not kidding.

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twinkle twinkle piano

2011-06-19T19:46:00.001-04:00

She sang lots of other songs, too!

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wheels on the bus

2011-06-19T17:11:00.001-04:00

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Silly Little Girl

2011-06-04T14:33:00.003-04:00

Here are some cute Tamsin sayings, mostly just from today. There's no way I could remember all of them because everything that comes out of her mouth is adorable!

On the way to the store this morning, a little voice pops up from the back seat, "Get present!" I asked what kind of present she wanted, and the answer was, "Want BIG present!" Later, when I was in the bakery section to get bagels, she held up two fingers and said, "How about 2 bagels?"

She is having another no nap day. I was lying down with her, and we were face to face. She loves singing head and shoulders knees and toes, and she was pointing to my face to do eyes and ears and mouth and nose. I was saying MRMP! when she got to my nose, which she thought was so funny. Then she took my hand to touch her nose and said, "Tamsin's MRMP!"

There is a dresser with a 3-way mirror in the room I work in. She likes to see her reflection (See myself!) and whoever else is with her. Then she realized there were more reflections and started /counting, "1, 2, 3 Daddies!" Later the same day she was in with her Grammie and pointed in the mirror, saying, "My Grammie, my Mommy, my Tamsin!"

I brought her car seat in the house to adjust the straps and clean the cover. She climbed in and buckled herself in (with help) then said "Ready go shopping with Mommy!"

She still likes to make us draw the same things (ice cream cones, kites and cuckoo clocks) but now she requests an ice cream cone, and then she colors the ice cream flavor in. She also is really starting to like coloring books and choosing different colors for different objects.

Earlier she almost fell asleep, but she opened her eyes and saw her Corduroy stuffed bear. She pointed to the tag and read, "C-O-R-D-U-R-O-Y! Spells Corduroy!" That's the first time I've ever her connect letters to a word other than her own name.

Had to reopen this post to add anther one - While continuing to try for a nap, I said she could have some books to read (so she'd stop trying to leave the bed). She was looking through a book about potty training, and got to the last page. She said, "No more diapers! The end!" and closed the book.

Animal Sounds

2011-06-01T21:27:00.001-04:00

Tamsin is reading a book while watching a nature show.

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Bilingual Counting

2011-04-20T18:00:00.001-04:00

Thanks to Dora Tamsin can now count in English and Spanish! Not sure why there were 10 in English but only 9 in Spanish...

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Twinkle Twinkle

2011-04-15T19:13:00.001-04:00

Tamsin loves to sing and she's getting better and better with the words. You can also see how she has the sofa cushions all over the floor...

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Isa Turn the Wheel

2011-04-14T19:51:00.001-04:00

Tamsin playing at the park. Isa turn the wheel is from one of her favorite Dora episodes where they are on a boat. She was singing it until I started recording, of course. She starts again at the end then changes her mind. No no Isa turn the wheel!

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if you run out of paper...

2011-03-15T20:58:00.001-04:00

She found a new place to put her stickers. This is the end of a trayful, and you can see her look to the cabinet for more once she realizes they are gone.

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coloring 2

2011-02-07T19:29:00.001-05:00

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enthusiastic coloring!

2011-02-07T19:11:00.001-05:00

Tamsin loves to color after she's done eating. Usually it involves ordering one of us to draw endless Ice Cream Cones! CuCu Clocks! or Kites! This one she got really into, though, and except for one ice cream cone! she covered the whole page herself.

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counting

2011-01-20T20:48:00.001-05:00

I've been trying to catch Tamsin's amazing counting abilities. This time I got the video started by 5. She skipped a few in the teens and didn't know what to do after 20 but I think those are impressive problems for a not quite 2 year old!

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Christmas Videos!

2010-12-29T22:52:00.000-05:00

Playing with the toys from her stocking on Christmas morning.

Christmas Videos!

2010-12-29T22:41:00.000-05:00

Tamsin had so much fun dancing while Uncle Joel played guitar.

Playing Music

2010-12-20T21:11:00.001-05:00

Tamsin loves music! Tonight she was playing her keyboard with one hand while drumming with the other and singing Twinkle Twinkle very loudly. The funniest part was that the drumsticks was in her right hand but the drum was on her left so she had her arms completely crossed.

She loves the Wiggles now and is always singing and dancing to their songs. It's so funny hearing her sing to herself while she's playing.

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Let's play!

2010-11-27T16:39:00.001-05:00

Let's play! is Tamsin's favorite phrase. Today she said Let's play dollhouse! She took everything out of the house and then she had all the dolls sit on chairs. She picked up the oven and said cookies! and pretended to eat them. Once I recorded I'm not sure if she was saying cookie, treat or something else.

It's so fun to see her imagination. She was eating soup today. It was a ball that she put in a bowl and was eating with a plastic shovel. She's so entertaining!

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Tuck in for naptime

2010-11-25T11:39:00.001-05:00

This one requires an explanation. Her book asks "Who wants to be tucked in?" Then each animal says "I do" and there's a blanket to tuck them in. Next page says goodnight baby whatever then asks who else wants to be tucked in. Tamsin is reading the book so you'll hear her say I do! Then an animal name and tuck in! The last page asks if you are ready to be tucked in and that's when she points to herself. Last thing she says is "close eyes" which she obviously isn't doing. We're still working on that nap.

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Today's Masterpiece

2010-11-24T19:28:00.001-05:00

Tamsin loves to draw and I thought today's was especially good. She keeps yelling "Write name!!" so that's how it has her name all over it. Pretty soon she won't need my help!

She was smelling the crayons today and saying mmmm pretty! I drew a flower for her and then she sniffed that instead and said it was pretty! too.

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ABCs

2010-11-03T20:56:00.000-04:00

I've been taking lots more videos since I figured out how to upload to YouTube from my phone. Here's Tamsin in the car singing along to the ABC song. You might not be able to hear her the whole time, but she had most of it down.

pretending to sleep

2010-11-02T19:37:00.001-04:00

Tamsin likes to pretend to go to sleep, and she even fake snores! If only she thought really going to sleep was fun.

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Test blog from phone

2010-10-30T11:26:00.001-04:00

Tamsin playing dress up

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Fall morning

2010-10-30T10:18:00.003-04:00

Tamsin and I were the first ones up today (as with every day). We were walking past the bedroom where Mike was still asleep, and Tamsin put her finger to her mouth and said, "Shhhh... QUIET!!" It was so funny because even though the shhh was pretty good, quiet was said in her usual very loud declarative voice.

Then we went for a walk. It started out slow because Tamsin had to pick up and carry every twig we passed along the way. Finally I picked her up. She was chattering away like always, but then I realized she kept saying Y! Y!. I saw she still had one of her twigs and it was forked at one end just like a Y.

Later on we passed a house with pumpkins on a low wall. I noticed them because I heard Tamsin counting 1...2...3...4...5...6 Pumps!! (how pumpkin sounds for her). I looked over, and, sure enough, there were 6 pumpkins in a row. Here they are:

No no yes

2010-10-26T21:28:00.000-04:00

This video is dark because Tamsin was supposed to be going to sleep. Poor little girl has a stuffy nose and a fever, but she's still pretty happy considering. She's been running around saying No No Yes Yes because she has a book with no nos and yeses. She'll even do something she knows she shouldn't and say No No! Doesn't stop her from doing it, but at least she knows...

In case you didn't believe me...

2010-10-06T22:18:00.002-04:00

Sorry about the quality - I was holding her.

Bragging about Tamsin

2010-10-06T19:29:00.003-04:00

I think it's time for a post just to brag about all of the amazing things Tamsin can do now. I really don't know if she's all that advanced or not, just that I'm completely blown away by so many things! Today while eating dinner, out of nowhere, she started counting. I've heard her count before to 3 or 4, but she went all the way to 10! She also can spell her name and will just randomly start yelling T! A! M! S! I! N! She also knows her colors and shapes and the alphabet (sometimes). The other day she brought me a shape book and then went through and pointed to each one and said Square! Oval! Triangle! She sees letters on something and will point and say M! or B! She knows most of them. She says so many words. Her diction isn't always clear but I guess we can forgive that in a 19 month old, and we usually at least understand what she's trying to say. Her favorite phrase right now is All gone! She'll move all of her food off of her tray to the table so she can say it, or her blocks from the couch to the floor so she can look at the couch and say All gone! She is very excited about car horns. When she hears a car unlock she yells Bop! Bop! (Beep beep). She'll pick up car keys and pretend to push a button and yell Bop! Bop! I want to post video of all of this, but she doesn't perform on command and usually tries to grab the phone or camera as soon as she sees it. I promise I'm not making up any of this!

Tamsin reads a book

2010-09-15T20:53:00.001-04:00

This is one of my favorite books that I got from Nana and Pappy when I was little (1986, to be exact). Tamsin loves it! I don't want her to rip the pages, but so far she just pages through nicely.

Lehigh Valley Zoo

2010-09-04T18:47:00.004-04:00

Tamsin and I had a great time at the Lehigh Valley Zoo today with mom, Jenny, Kathy and Blake, and Cayden, Jordan and little Gavin! The kids loved seeing the animals. Tamsin learned some new animal names (goat, otter) and got to see lots of birds and animals. The cutes part was when Cayden and Jordan each took one of her hands and the three of them went walking together. So fun!

Visit from Mimi and Brad and Owen!

2010-08-25T18:22:00.007-04:00

I'm a little late, but here are some pictures of our first chance to meet Owen! It was a quick visit but we were really happy to see Mimi and Brad and Owen here. Owen is almost as big as Tamsin! .

Ball! Ball!

2010-08-01T12:27:00.003-04:00

A couple additions -

Yesterday we were eating at Panera and Tamsin was having fruit. I was cutting the grapes in half for her and all of a sudden she grabbed one before I could cut it and started yelling, "Ball! Ball!" She was so excited. After yelling ball for awhile, she started rolling the grape on the table until it split and then she ate it.

I managed to catch her yelling "Cat!" at the TV. She had been yelling it over and over but I only caught the end. She was watching a nature show and they had all kinds of cats on.

She also played out her in pool yesterday and we got incredible pictures. I'll try to post those soon.

New words

2010-07-31T10:25:00.002-04:00

There's no way I could capture everything that's been going on or all of Tamsin's new accomplishments, so this post will just be about learning to talk. She's known many words for a long time now, but she wasn't consistent with them. Recently she's just exploded with all kinds of new words, and they're getting clearer and easier to understand. Sometimes it really sounds like she's saying something but it doesn't seem possible so I'm not sure if I'm hearing things. For instance, yesterday she was eating some broccoli for dinner (that in itself was a big accomplishment!) and I asked her what color her broccoli is. She immediately said "Grn!" So in addition to naming things, I think she 's getting colors like green, blue, and yellow. She also says "purple!" very clearly. Here are some of her current words that we're sure she said:

Backpack

Cloth

Car keys

Purple

Calliou

Cat (said repeatedly when a cat came on TV)

Ball (also very exciting when one shows up on TV or in a book)

Banana

Dog

All kinds of animal sounds - Roar, Baa, Woof, Meow

Pants

There are lots more all the time and sometimes really random words. In addition to saying more, she very clearly understands pretty much anything we say. She can point to pretty much anything in a book. Her favorite book is a farm with lots of animals in the background. She'll find the rooster, the cat, the bug, the caterpillar, the cow, the butterfly, and pretty much anything you ask her. She's still a happy, curious bundle of perpetual motion. She's always giggling and pretending and tearing through the house like a tornado. She definitely lets us know if she doesn't want to do something, but she's never just cranky or upset for no reason. It's hard to believe she's almost a year and a half already!

Tamsin's drum

2010-07-18T20:20:00.004-04:00

Tamsin got a new drum and maraca set today. Here are some videos of her trying it out:

Small update

2010-06-26T13:09:00.007-04:00

It's been a long time since I posted here! Since Easter we moved, I finished another class, and Tamsin grew quite a bit! She's so fun now. She runs nonstop and can say a lot of words. Most of the time they come out as a very emphatic, "Ga!" but sometimes they sound like the word. She still loves to make animal sounds, she loves to dance and especially loves doing anything outside. I'll see how many recent pictures I can post before she wakes up from her nap and I have to start chasing again!

Tamsin combing her hair.

Hugging her friend Jordan.

Being a super happy baby!

Easter

2010-04-04T22:08:00.006-04:00

I went a little crazy with the pictures here so I won't even try to caption them all. We had a really nice Easter! It started with church where Tamsin and Evaleigh both made it through the entire service! Then we had dinner at Mom's with all of the family and had an Easter egg hunt for the babies. It's so fun having Leah and Joel and Evaleigh here! After all of the pictures there is a video of Tamsin demonstrating what a sheep says. She doesn't quite have the "Buh" sound incorporated yet.

Tamsin's Current Events

2010-03-28T12:55:00.006-04:00

Ever since she could crawl, I would play "I'm gonna get you!" with her when she was crawling away. She always giggled when I picked her up. Recently, she started turning around and running towards me when I went to get her. Now she doesn't even wait for me to chase her. She walks away, then she'll suddenly turn and run as fast as she can straight towards me. I have to pick her up and say, "Gotcha, gotcha" and then she wiggles free and runs off again.

She already used the potty a few times! I think it was by accident during the week, but on the weekend I put her on it as soon as she got up and she went right away! It's still too soon for serious potty training, but she's definitely on the right track!

One of her favorite things now is to put things in other things and carry them around. Here are some good ones of her walking:

(Sorry they're sideways; I guess I can't hold the camera that way for videos like I do for pictures.)

While I was writing this, Tamsin decided to empty her bookshelf. Here's a picture of her with the bookshelf in the background before, and some pictures of her sitting in a giant pile of books!

Tamsin buys a potty

2010-03-21T21:18:00.008-04:00

We went shopping for a potty today. Here's Tamsin checking it out.

Tamsin and the Laundry Basket

2010-03-07T22:02:00.002-05:00

Tamsin was having fun tonight pushing some toys around in the laundry basket. By the time I took this, she had already pushed it down the hall to the kitchen and then back again. She's doing so well with walking now! You'll see a little of it here.

Our little toddler

2010-02-27T22:12:00.003-05:00

Tamsin turned 1! I posted a bunch of the pictures on facebook (though not all of them) so I won't repeat them here. Her party was a whole lot of fun, and she really seemed to enjoy it. I was worried that all the people would be overwhelming. It was for a maybe a minute, then the twins came in and she got excited. She did more walking on her own that day then ever before and ever since she's getting more and more steady on her feet every day. She's officially a toddler! I'll get a video of her walking soon.

Here's a video from tonight. She was eating very sharp white cheddar cheese, demonstrating again that this is a girl who likes her food to have flavor!

One more snapshot addition

2010-01-17T20:25:00.003-05:00

Ok, last snapshot posting and then I'm done for the weekend. Tamsin is learning so much, and even though she still only says "Mama," and isn't really into signing, she clearly understands a whole lot of what we say. She knows hug and kiss, and will crawl across the room to give me a hug when I ask her to. She'll even hug and kiss her stuffed animals. She also knows eyes, nose and mouth. This morning we told her to find Mommy's nose and she grabbed mine, then told her to find Daddy's nose and she grabbed Mike's. He'd really like her to start saying Dada, but at least she knows who he is! She's such a smart, sweet and affectionate little girl. We are very lucky!

One More Thing...

2010-01-16T23:28:00.002-05:00

Something else to add - Ever since she started crawling, Tamsin would just suddenly lunge head first for the edge of the bed if she wanted to get down. Mike's been trying to teach her to turn around and go feet first, and she got it! Today especially, she's been getting really good at it. Here's a video from tonight. It's not her best since she kind of slides off sideways in this one, but you can see that she has the right idea!

Update for (almost) 11 Months

2010-01-16T17:55:00.004-05:00

Christmas seems like years ago now, but we're just getting our tree down. Everyone's healthy again and it's so great to have Tamsin's happy personality back. She's coming up on 11 months(!!!) and I thought it would be fun to give a little snapshot into what she's like right now. Her personality and sense of humor are really developing quickly. Some of the things that make her laugh right now include:

Mr. Brown Can Moo Can You? by Dr. Suess - this one always makes her smile when I read it to her. She loves books in general and will get upset i
Farm animal sounds - I have a farm animal app for my phone, and every time I push one of the animals, she smiles, then looks at me to make the sound and say the animal name.
Stealing glasses - it's even more fun if you put them on her.
Peekaboo - she'll use a blanket, or even her pants while I'm changing her, to cover up her face and then uncover it to giggle.
Tickling - of course.
Clapping - Tamsin loves to clap! She'll giggle and then start clapping back.
Baby Einstein Baby's First Sounds DVD - I shouldn't admit to this, but Tamsin does watch some DVDs. This was makes her giggle whenever the bee puppet or the sheep puppets show up. She'll clap at them, too, and wave when the kids say hello and goodbye. She also loves the music DVD that Leah and Joel got her for Christmas. One of the songs is really upbeat and shows kids dancing and she smiles and sometimes dances a little when she sees it.
She thinks it's so funny when Mike pretends to eat her toys or chew on her teething toys.

I was wrong about her walking by Christmas, but she is very mobile. She's cruising and crawling all around the house and getting into everything. She gets really mad if you don't let her have something she wants, but luckily she can usually be distracted by something else. She's getting her appetite back after being sick, and is eating more that ever so I'm feeling relieved by that. She loves to play with her toys, or with whatever she finds around the house, and especially likes things that make noise. She even rubs her hand on the hardwood floor to make it squeak!

Finally, here's Tamsin earlier today wearing the Star Wars shirt she got for Christmas:

Tamsin reading

2010-01-10T12:36:00.003-05:00

This after-Christmas illness has really kicked our butts, so I'll get around to posting Christmas stuff eventually. In the meantime, here's Tamsin reading a book this morning. She loves books!

Tamsin and Daphne

2009-12-06T11:05:00.005-05:00

Tamsin loves the cats! She shrieks and chases them whenever she sees them. The feeling is not mutual.

Thanksgiving weekend

2009-11-29T10:35:00.004-05:00

Here's Tamsin this morning helping me get photos on the computer. She's such a ham as soon as I get out the camera!

The photos are all on facebook. Here's a video of Tamsin having a great time with a bin of toys, her grandmother, and two new friends:

Tickle Monster!

2009-11-14T22:52:00.005-05:00

Tamsin is definitely ticklish. She even giggles when you pretend to tickle her!

Gimme 5! pt. 2

2009-11-14T11:26:00.002-05:00

Here's the video!

Gimme 5!

2009-11-07T10:38:00.002-05:00

Tamsin learned how to do a high five! She thinks it's so funny. She puts her hand out to touch mine and then just starts giggling. I'll try to get a video of it soon!

Halloween Kitty

2009-11-01T14:02:00.004-05:00

I was away for a conference and missed Halloween (and I missed Tamsin!) so she's wearing her costume today. I told her to say "meow!" and she kept looking for our cats.

Tamsin on the farm Pt. 2

2009-10-25T18:49:00.003-04:00

Here are some of the many pictures from today at Byler's farm. Sorry some of them are sideways. It was the perfect day for a visit to a farm! It's taking forever to upload these, so if you want to see more, they're on facebook!

Tamsin on the farm

2009-10-25T18:02:00.005-04:00

A couple weekends ago we went on a local farm tour with Mom, Esther and Jesse. Tamsin got to see alpacas and cows and had lots of fun. Today, we went to Byler's farm with Kathy and Blake and the twins. They have animals, apples, and a hayride out to the pumpkin patch. Tamsin enjoyed it all, but she especially loved the pumpkins! We got so many pictures there is no way I could post them all, but here are some highlights, first from the farm tour:

Recent pics and video

2009-09-27T19:21:00.007-04:00

Here we are trying out the back hold with the B'eco. Works pretty well, and it makes laundry a bit easier.
Tamsin has a big girl car seat! Here she is trying it out in the house.

Here she is in the dress Aunt Esther got her... I think for Christmas last year!

Here's before dinner...

And after! I don't know if you can tell, but she has squash mashed into her eyelashes!
And here's a video of her waiting patiently in her chair while I got dinner ready.

Tamsin standing up

2009-09-18T07:55:00.002-04:00

Here is the first video from the new camera. Not bad considering how dark it was!

My birthday

2009-09-13T22:41:00.007-04:00

I had a fun birthday today with a trip to the park and dinner at the Melting Pot! We took pictures in the park and so I had to post some of the highlights. There are so many cute ones!

I have to explain this one. She has her two bottom front teeth, so she keeps sticking her tongue out to try to figure out what's there.

More milestones... already!

2009-09-13T08:54:00.003-04:00

So Tamsin is crawling now, has two teeth, and last night I went into her room and she was standing in her crib! I can't believe how quickly this is happening, and I don't quite know how Mike and I will keep up! We have lots of babyproofing to do.

Tamsin and I went shopping at Babies R Us yesterday and I put her in the cart seat for the first time. She did really well, though she was very quiet the whole time, just looking around and taking it all in.

I'm excited that my birthday present this year is a new digital camera. Mostly I wanted it for the video, since our old one doesn't have sound. I can't wait for it to get here so I can get all of these new things on video!

It's official...

2009-09-08T19:52:00.004-04:00

Tamsin is now crawling and about to get two teeth! The bottom two are little white ridges and I'm sure they'll poke through any day now. And she is mobile! She's really good at honing in on whatever is nearby that she can't have and then making a beeline for it. She also enjoys eating her food, especially if I let her hold the spoon. Oh, and banging her spoon on the tray is fun, too.

Fun Weekend!

2009-09-06T09:42:00.005-04:00

I don't even know where to start with all the updates for this week! Leah and Joel's baby Evaleigh Miriam was born Friday morning! Tamsin has a cousin! Holly and Gramma are here for the weekend. We're having such a great time, and Tamsin is really enjoying all of the company and attention. She starting to crawl for real now - she actually moves forward! At the same time she's also starting to pull herself up on things (well, on me, mostly). We are in so much trouble. I have a million pictures, so I'll try to post just the highlights. Happy Labor Day weekend!

Recent pics - Tamsin is 6 months old!

2009-08-30T13:58:00.009-04:00

I just cleared my camera again and found a lot of cute pics! The one of me in the mirror is blurry, but I wanted to show how the sling works now that Tamsin is older. I still use it to get her to sleep sometimes, but now her feet stick out! The last picture shows why it can be challenging to get a good picture. She doesn't stop moving!!

She just keeps getting cuter!

2009-08-16T15:29:00.003-04:00

Tamsin is really trying out her vocal chords these days. This is what you hear from the back seat of the car, from her crib, and anywhere else. It hurts if you get too close!

She's also getting even closer to crawling. Today she was rocking back and forth on her hands and knees, so any day now! Right now she usually ends up moving backwards and getting frustrated, but it won't be long.

Here's a video from awhile back of her on the changing table:

Tamsin sitting up!

2009-08-09T14:54:00.004-04:00

Tamsin can sit up by herself! She's still a little wobbly and tips over, but she can sit up without anyone holding her for a short time! She's also really wants to crawl. She's tries so hard - she pushes all the way up with her arms, but her legs don't quite move like they should and she can't get traction. She practices for awhile and then we have to rescue her because she gets so frustrated. I don't think it will be long before she gets it!

Here's Tamsin sitting up today:

Slideshow?

2009-07-26T18:17:00.000-04:00

Hmmm... the slideshow in that last post doesn't seem to be working all of the time. Go here: http://s599.photobucket.com/albums/tt71/RMiriam1/?action=view&current=f0ccef7b.pbw if you're having trouble. I cleared all of the photos off of my camera, so they start when Tamsin was still pretty small. Look for the pictures of Tamsin in the outfit Mimi made for her! The last ones are from today. Enjoy!

Lots of photos!

2009-07-26T18:12:00.001-04:00

Tamsin and Feet - 5 Months

2009-07-23T21:07:00.000-04:00

Tamsin figured out that she can play with her feet anytime she wants! She just had another growth spurt and now all of her 6 month clothing is too small. We just bought a whole bunch of 6-9 month clothes, but I wonder if we should have just skipped right to 12 month!

She made it!

2009-07-06T20:56:00.000-04:00

Tamsin rolls over constantly now, even in her sleep. She'll wake up crying because she's on her belly. The craziest part is, I really think she's going to crawl soon!

Tamsin Rolling Over (Almost)

2009-07-04T22:07:00.000-04:00

Tuesday morning Tamsin woke up early while I was getting ready for work. I put her in the crib and she was trying to roll over. I walked away and when I came back she was on her belly and smiling at me! Then she rolled back onto her back. She's successfully rolled a few times since then. I haven't quite caught it on video, but here's one of her almost there attempts:

Bubbles!!

2009-06-28T21:17:00.000-04:00

Here's Tamsin having a great time blowing bubbles!

Tamsin 16 weeks

2009-06-13T23:56:00.000-04:00

We had a Tamsin photo shoot today. Here's a slideshow of some of the highlights, but there are so many more and it's impossible to choose just the best! She's so cute...

Sitting up

2009-06-07T20:04:00.000-04:00

She's almost sitting up on her own! When she's lying down she strains her head to sit up. Here she is today:

Tamsin in the yard

2009-05-14T19:48:00.000-04:00

We had a photo shoot yesterday in the yard with our flowering trees. Isn't she cute and chubby?

Tamsin reading her name

2009-05-11T22:03:00.000-04:00

I bought wooden letters from Michaels and painted them to hang above the changing table. Tamsin loves them! Whenever you lay her down, she smiles and talks to the letters.

Another smiling baby video

2009-05-06T19:53:00.000-04:00

Leah wanted more vidoes, so here you go! I'll try to do a video of the day maybe. Right after I took this video she started crying and was so overtired. Now she's sound asleep in the sling. We ordered a Beco baby carrier and I saw that it shipped yesterday! I can't wait to try it out!

Tamsin loves her mobile

2009-04-24T18:35:00.000-04:00

It's a little dark because it's from my phone, but she was so cute kicking and talking to her mobile.

Happy Baby

2009-04-22T11:00:00.000-04:00

Tamsin loves the little pink doll that was mine when I was a baby! This morning I propped it up so that she was looking at it and she gave it a big smile! Here is a video of her in her bassinet this morning:

Tamsin seemed extra fussy over the weekend. Then yesterday I noticed that all of a sudden she was getting too long for her clothes! I think she's going to have to go up a size again soon!

Tamsin at 8 weeks

2009-04-19T13:03:00.000-04:00

Here are some recent pictures of Tamsin. She is now over 8 weeks old and she's getting good at smiling. Sometimes you get little smiles, but if you're lucky, you get a big baby grin! I'm still trying to catch one of those on camera.

Bath Time

2009-03-31T13:34:00.001-04:00

Tamsin is starting to like taking baths!

Baby Wearing!

2009-03-23T18:18:00.001-04:00

Tamsin is sound asleep in her sling. I'm still getting used to it, but it does make it easier to get stuff done!

Minnesota family visit

2009-03-19T17:26:00.000-04:00

Tamsin had a very exciting week! She got to meet her Grampa, Gramma Holly and her Great-Gramma! Now that they're gone she definitely misses the all day long naps in her family's arms.

Visit from Heidi and Erik

2009-03-19T17:11:00.000-04:00

We had a nice surprise last week when Heidi and Erik stopped by with two of their kids, Tanya and Sasha. We were amazed at how they took to Tamsin. Tanya gave her a bottle, wrapped her up and rocked her like an old pro. It was really cool to meet the kids we've heard so much about!

2009-02-27T19:37:00.000-05:00

Here she is ready to come home from the hospital! She's filled out a bit since then and is putting on weight. She was jaundiced, so we've had to bring her into the hospital for a blood test every day since she's been home. She started treatment yesterday and is hooked up to a Wallaby (she looks like a little glow-worm). The results today were good, but the dr. wants us to keep her on it over the weekend and get tested again on Monday. Hopefully at that point she'll be all better and we can hold her and play with her again!

Tamsin Olivia is here!

2009-02-24T18:03:00.000-05:00

She was born at 6:56 AM Saturday, February 21. She weighed 7 lbs, 2 oz and was 19 inches long. We're home now and doing well, and I know we owe everyone some pictures. There are lots in the camera, just need to get them posted. I'll get to that soon...

Pictures - 35 and 37 weeks

2009-02-17T22:03:00.001-05:00

Here I am at 35 weeks, I think...

And at 37 weeks this past Saturday. The dress made me look pretty big, but people are still telling me I don't look like I'm this close to my due date. Whatever they say, it's still less than 3 weeks until the date!

The room is pretty close to finished. I need to take some photos to post of that, so hopefully I'll get them up over the weekend. We still need to get the carseat installed, but for the most part we're ready to go!

Baby Shower!

2009-01-31T19:54:00.000-05:00

Last Saturday was my baby shower. It was so much fun and we got a lot of great things for the baby. Kathy and Suzanne did a wonderful job of organizing it and we were amazed at how generous everyone was. Mostly it was just nice to see everyone! I'll try to get updated belly photos posted soon. My due date is five weeks from today!

There are too many photos to post, so here's a link to them on Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mikeandrachel/

33 Weeks

2009-01-19T22:48:00.000-05:00

I'm now at 33 weeks, and it's starting to feel like we're getting close. The baby should be about 4.75 lbs. She's been mostly head down all along, which is good, and I can tell that's how she is because I feel hiccups low in my stomach!

30 Weeks

2009-01-03T22:43:00.000-05:00

These are from last Saturday at 30 weeks. She gets bigger every week and so do I!

Baby room update

2009-01-03T21:30:00.001-05:00

I hope everyone had a great Christmas and New Year! We've been busy on the baby's room, and now it actually is starting to look like a baby's room. Here are some pictures from today:

Here is the view looking through the door.

The stroller and infant seat from Dad and Holly!

New blinds, new bookshelf, and the Pack 'N Play still in the box.

The crib. We don't have a mattress yet, so it kind of looks like a cage, but it will be nice once it's all together.

Pictures from last weekend

2008-12-10T22:32:00.000-05:00

Before...

During...

After...

Belly at 27 weeks

Long work weekend

2008-12-07T22:21:00.000-05:00

We both took off Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday to get stuff done around the house. We don't get many days off together because of our work schedules, so it's hard to get anything done together. It was nice to have 4 days in a row. We took all 3 animals to the vet, which is something we could never do seperately, so now everyone is up to date on shots. But our big project for the weekend was painting the baby's room! It was quite a production because we had a lot of junk piled up in there, and also in the room that we needed to move all of the junk into. We did a lot of organizing and moving stuff around to start with, but we were ready to paint by Saturday. Esther and Jesse came over to help, Mike's parents were here and my mom was here, too, so it was a busy, productive day! We got a coat of paint, and also lots of cleaning done. Esther even cleaned out and organized two of our closets! Today we got the second coat on, and we'll take a look in the morning to see if we'll need another coat. We used a new paint that has no VOCs, so it was supposed to be safer for me to be around. It hardly even smells.

Mike took before and after pictures, and new pictures of my now giant belly at 27 weeks. I'll post them hopefully in the next couple days so you all can see our progress. It's back to work tomorrow, so goodnight!

Happy Thanksgiving!

2008-11-27T19:28:00.000-05:00

Happy Thanksgiving to all of the family! Here are the ultrasound pictures for anyone who didn't get to see them yet.

24 Weeks

2008-11-15T22:42:00.000-05:00

I'm 24 weeks and some people are telling me I'm huge, others are saying I'm tiny. I've decided ignoring all of them makes for less stress. I'm sure I'll get a lot of good advice, but sometimes all the opinions don't help!

First Post

2008-11-09T22:55:00.001-05:00

So it's late at night and I should be in bed already, but Leah inspired me to start a blog. I'm hoping so keep this site updated so that anyone who wants to can keep up with us as we get ready for the baby and beyond. Right now I'm 23 weeks pregnant. The baby is about a foot long and weighs roughly a pound. So far everything is going so well. We just started our registry, and it's really overwhelming trying to figure out what we need. Next step is getting her room ready, and anyone who knows us knows that getting anything in our house together is a challenge! But I can't wait until we're ready to start painting and putting things together.

The baby moves around a lot, which is really cool. This is probably when she'll be most active, since as she gets bigger she'll have less room for all of the acrobatics she's practicing now. We have a book of 101,000 baby names. That's a lot of names to get through, much less decide on! But we do have a few months left to figure it out. That's it for now, but I'll add some photos and things soon. Goodnight!