Closing this one out

So, I started this blog to track my pregnancy with Daniel. He is 5 months old now and has his own blog started. I am moving on and closing this out. I am really glad I kept this going, so much has happend in the past year. Please visit our new blogs and make yourselves comfortable:-)

If life were only as simple as a database.....

The Adventures of Daniel and his dog

Chad can't wait for Daniel to be old enough to mow the lawn.

Daniel can't wait make his paws green like Belle when daddy mows the lawn.





Chad and Daniel on a hike with friends. The trail guide we had said this hike was easy, and even novice for dirt biking. I am not to sure if the trail guide author even saw the trail. There were plenty of steep hills, brooks

with nothing but tree limbs to cross, and narrow sections. It was fun, but that was becase I wasn't carrying Daniel the whole time. However Chad seemed to enjoy it just as well, and Daniel slept during a lot of it.

This is fairly early on in the hike, after the first steep hill. We have been trying to get more pictures of us together. Last year we started to realize we don't have much record of us together from our first 6 years of marriage:-)







So to explain this picture......the almuminum foil roll got all untangled, and it was impossible to roll up. So Chad decided everyone should just make foil hats. For the record, Joanna did have a foil hat on, but she gave hers to Belle. Later that night I heard the people at the campsite next to us making fun of our foil hats. However, which is sadder.....wearing a foil hat, or having nothing else to talk about other than the next campsite wearing foil hats?

Ready to move

Well...we are more than likely going to move, soon. No we have not got an offer on the house. However when Chad looked at how much we are spending on gas, daycare, a storage unit and some other miscellaneous things, he realized all those "extra" payments were equal to another whole mortgage. After talking with a mortgage person we found out that it would cost a lot less to have a loan on 2 houses. Not a bridge loan...just a really really large loan amount. So we are going to take some time to look and not rush it. However it’s weird to think we might be deciding soon on the house. Its hard because I know I won't find my "dream house"....well because my dream house would be:
-Large...but homey
-older... historic would even be better, but with the layout of a modern house
-On a Lake, but in a neighborhood
- A walk out basement
-Enough land to have a large garden....and a small orchard, but close enough to neighbors to be
neighborly possibly in a quaint little older neighborhood.
-Enough room to entertain and allow guests to spend the night...but no unused rooms.
-3-4 bathrooms.....but I only want to have to clean 2 and one of them has to be in the master bedroom...oh and I would like that one to be large (find that in a "older historic" home!)
-A large kitchen WITH A SILVERWARE DRAWER! we haven't had one in while
-A master suite
-Hardwood flooring, lots of natural light, a fireplace, and a hall closet to put coats in.
-A nice sized garage for Chad
- All this in a nice diverse little community
Most of what I want contradicts something else. So the best we can do is pick the priorities and go from there. Even if there was something out there that was close to all of the above, there is no way we can afford it, and if I could I would just feel guilty living in such a big house when people are starving in the world. But anyway we want to be in the next house for a while so we are really being picky.

We went camping 2 weeks ago with friends and I have some great pictures from that weekend. We had such great time, and we brought both Belle and Daniel. However blogger is taking ForEVER in posting pictures so I will put those up after I get this posted.


I am actually closer to starting a blog for Daniel. So hopefully those changes will come before moving:-)


Belle: "Daniel this is how you roll over, like this, see Daniel"








(edited to change anyways to anyway....since that is the grammatically correct term;-)

Sweet Freedom

Happy Birthday America!

(edited) Also happy anniversary to me! I started my blog a year ago today. Kind of weird that I thought to check and see when I started....and it just happens to be today. Well not to weird considering I started this blog to track my pregnancy with Daniel and we figured out last year afer the 4th that I was pregnant. So I really do need to change the layout soon:-)

This holiday seems to always sneak up on us. Lately it also seems to end just as the holiday begins....guess that is what happens when it falls on a Tuesday.
This year we got to cram much into the holiday....camping, bocce, swimming, hiking, fireworks, movies, and hotdogs. No parade though.

Daniel had his first camping trip. It was only one night, but it was a good practice for when we go camping for real this weekend. I have a feeling I got off real easy because we camped with a Grandma, Grandpa, Great Aunt, and a couple of female cousins...ha I barely saw him! Daniel got to go swimming in a pond.
Then we went to my mom's and relaxed up there. There Daniel got to swim in Lake Huron. He did ok for being 4 months old. It wasn't really swimming...actually he got held while in the water...but it was fun none the less. His pediatrician said it was fine to put sun block on him even though all the "experts" say not to put it on him until he is 6 months old. It was nice to be given the go ahead since I was going to break that "rule" anyways;-)
What really surprised us this weekend was that Belle swam...of her own free will. You would think she would love the water, since she is a spaniel type dog (Brittneys are not technically spaniels...even though they used to be called brittney spaniels, the spaniel part was taken off a while ago). Well no our little web-pawed little dog does not like to swim (or did not). She avoided me near water because I would try and make her swim. However on Daniel's first "swim" I stood there jaw dropped because my little doggie was doing what I always expected her to do SWIM! She would always wade in the water, but once it got to deep she would jump out. However she just swam and swam and swam some more. I just can't wait until Daniel is old enough to go swimming with his doggie. I used to have a blast with my dog Bandit growing up swimming with him, the two of us could be in the water all day.
Chad and I are both really lucky to have come from families that embrace teaching children to swim young (also teaching water safety). Water has always been a big part of my life, which is one reason why I look forward to our move so much. I just feel so peaceful being near water. I loved living in the Soo. Just even seeing a large body of water on a daily basis keeps me calm.

Monday night Chad and I got to see a movie. We saw Cars, while my mom watched Daniel. It was our first time to a movie theater since Daniel was born. I love Pixar movies. They are so creative. One of my favorite movies of all time is Monsters Inc., however Cars just might have beaten it out. I will definitely get the DVD. I can't wait to see the special features on it.

Last night we tried to take Daniel on his first Geocache. However we went before a fireworks show and it got late before we could find it, also Daniel was crying the whole time on the hike in. I got him calmed down and he really enjoyed the hike out. I forget that he needs a few minutes to absorb new surroundings. If I would have taken the time before we headed out we might have been successful....but it was a nice hike anyways. We then moved the truck to get a better view of the fireworks. It is a huge park, so we could sit where it wasn't so loud. Daniel actually noticed the fireworks, it was nice to sit down and enjoy a traditional Independence Day event.
Now I am back here at work, however our new software tools have been launched, our client is gone for a week, so things are dead around here. I love being in the office this week, it’s so quiet and so easy to get into work. I hope much of the stress our team has been experiencing for the past 6 months will subside...Of course thanks to Daniel I did not get to experience all 6 months of it....lol....GOOD BOY!
Hopefully I will have time this week to finally make the changes to the blog.

Well happy Independence Day everyone.....Remember those who fought for our Freedom, those who continue to stand for our freedom, and the families of those who stand for our freedom.