3/4 of a Year

Miss M is 9 months old and this past month was an exciting one for her.  She has been in Minneapolis this whole month and she seems to be adjusting.  She is definitely developing quickly!

She can now crawl on both her knees (this took her a long time to figure out, but she finally got it about a week ago).

She also can crawl up the whole flight of stairs in our apartment.  Scary for me!

She is standing and walking around the couch and coffee table 

She is always getting into things that she isn't supposed to now, like pulling books off shelves and things out of drawers. Oh the life with a baby.  I'm so exhausted lately from chasing after her all the time.

Oh and she got two more teeth (the top two) yay!! 

Over exposed..but maybe it could look artistic.

Yesterday, I took her to my favorite park around here and took some pictures.  I am so sad because I actually thought I got some good shots (which is so hard to do with a hyperactive baby) but since I've been practicing my photography, I forgot that I left my camera on an indoor setting.  So all my good pictures were over exposed.  

Not the best, but her face is cute.

Lots of Food and Minnehaha Falls

I'm actually surprised that we haven't been out to eat more since coming to Minneapolis, but the past couples weeks we have been frequenting more eating establishments.  We tried a Jucy Lucy, which is Minneapolis' contribution to the culinary world.  We tried one the highest ranked places for this fine fattening treat.  (I guess you can get these most anywhere here).  A Jucy Lucy is an unappetizing name for a hamburger with cheese cooked in the middle. So like a cheeseburger with cheese in the meat, instead of on top.  I wasn't too impressed, but I was glad to say we tried it.

We also tried an exotic sausage place.  It serves things like wild boar, pheasant and rattlesnake (all made into sausage).  We tried the wild boar, which was surprisingly good.  Read about it here.

Finally, on Saturday we met up with some friends to try a pizza place owned by Koreans.  It served pizza with kimchi on it, but Brody and I are always scared of Korean fusion places (we are purists like that) so we opted for more conventional choices. 

Saturday, we also visited Minnehaha Falls and took a picture of us on these surreys.  They were quite popular in the Minnehaha park, but a little too expensive for our taste.  Madeleine enjoyed the front seat.  

Independence Day on the Banks of the Mississippi

The Fourth of July was one of the first holidays post M that I felt slightly prepared for.  I purchased an outfit for Madeleine (though I was a bit late getting to the store and didn't really have many options so I had to improvise), planned outfits for Brody and I, shopped for and made a special dessert and made plans for a fireworks show and activities.

There were a few bumps in the road, like having to go to the store twice because I forgot ingredients and not getting as many pictures as I would have hoped, but all in all, it was a pretty good holiday planning wise.  

I made my jello flag cake, which turned out quite deliciously.  We also visited Stillwater, MN, a small touristy town on the banks of the Mississippi, ate dinner and met up with our friends Parley and Angela for an AMAZING fireworks show.  They had fireworks that I had never seen before.  It was pretty impressive.  We sat feet away from the river, where they set the fireworks off from a barge.

Stillwater Main St.

Our cute friends, Angela, Parley and Brandt

Madeleine wasn't too fussy and even stayed up the whole time.  She was totally mesmerized by the firework show.  It was darling to watch.  She also fell fast asleep in the car on the way home. I was so worried about having her stay up late, but I'm glad that I was lenient with bedtime for once!  Fireworks are always a highlight of my summer and I'm so happy that I was able to enjoy them.  

I am also so grateful for those who fought for our country to make it what it is today.  Brody and I watched some History Channel episodes on the Revolutionary War before heading to Stillwater.  It is so incredible that, America, the colonies of disorganized soldiers and government, actually beat Great Britain.  If that isn't a testament of divine intervention, then I don't know what is! 

Just a Few of the 10,000 Lakes

On the bottom of Minnesota's license plate, it boasts that it is home to 10,000 lakes.  Flying back from Arizona, I definitely saw a lot of lakes and well, everywhere you go you see water, so I'd say the lakes are Minnesota's most notable feature.

We've had the chance to go see a few these past weeks.  Last Saturday, Brody and I rented bikes and a little trailer thing to pull Madeleine in and rode all around Lake Calhoun and Lake of the Isles.  They have super long running and biking trails here.  Its fantastic and would be better if we didn't have a baby with us; we could have rode for hours (but we did do almost 2 hours so that was good for us!)

Yum, a stick

I also recently met up with my friend Angela and we ventured out to Lake Minnetonka (namesake of my favorite moccasin shoes).  They have cute shops there and lots of really expensive houses.  We had fun walking around and stopping for ice cream on the sweltering day.  

Getting the Hang of Things...or so I think...

I have complained a lot in the past of sleeplessness or stress or other random things when it comes to motherhood, but I wanted to write a post with some positives.  For my sake, as much as for those who might read my ramblings... Also, after I have my next child, I'll probably want to know, "when did I finally start feeling normal again?"

It has taken 8 months, but I finally feel like myself most of the time now.  She basically sleeps through the night on a regular basis (except for her recent pesky 5 a.m. wake up calls) so I am getting enough sleep.  Also, naptime is not torture for me any longer and she often take decent naps.  This has helped me have some more much needed 'me' time.  And finally, it is so nice to have Brody come home at night.  His internship here lets him off at a decent hour, which means I have some sort of social interaction (which I constantly crave) at night and get some help with baby duties.  (I can't get too used to that because it will quickly go back to having a work-aholic husband).  

Anyway, I am just happy to say that I am getting some hobbies and feeling more ok with being home during the day and not working much or at all. 

Some of the new things I have started are:

-Reading a book a week for the whole summer (not watching as much tv is some much better for me)

-Becoming a travel agent, just for fun!

-Enjoying the outdoors a lot more and being more active. Thanks to my cool, new Jawbone UP band that Brody got me, I have made it a goal to move 10,000 steps a day.  I love my UP band- it tracks my calorie burn, (resting and active) counts my steps, tracks my sleep and shows me how close I am to my goal! 

She is always trying to crawl us my legs now!

Madeleine and I still have our 'days', but I am getting more and more adjusted to this mom thing and hope we may more more happy days to come!

Loves to stand!