Pumpkin Patch

This weekend we went to the Pumpkin Patch with some families from Newell. I was excited because I had never been to a Pumpkin Patch before.  The day was not ideal for spending the morning outside, but we made the most of it.  We had a great turn out of teachers and their families.

Landon and Monroe are the youngins.  It was hard to do much with them while it rained, so we had a little photo shoot.  They are so cute together.

Miss Monroe, taking it all in.

Baby Vivian

Our friends Matt and Kaleena had a baby girl at the the end of August.  She is four months younger than Monroe, and we've decided they're going to be good friends.  We had met Baby Viv before, but we got pictures of the girls this last week.

Pajama party

This weekend we went to Lincoln to help my sister and her family move.  Before bed, Kaiya and Monroe played on the floor in their pajamas.  They were so cute.

When it was time for bed, Rod offered to cuddle with Monroe.  They were both out.

Vegetables are a hit

Monroe likes vegetables!

She likes them way better than cereal, which is perfectly fine with me.  Sweet potatoes are her favorite, but she also likes yellow squash, peas and avocado.  Last week at daycare, when Mikki would feed Landon, Monroe got fussy.  She now understands what goes on in that chair, and she wants some.  She started food at Mikki's this week, so now Landon can eat in peace.
Here's to hoping she's a vegetable eater for life.

Six months

Monroe is growing so fast.  I can't believe she is already six months old.  She weighs 16 lbs 14 oz (75th percentile) and is 27 inches long (90th percentile).   

It is amazing to me how quickly she changes and learns.  In the last week she has really started jabbering a lot.  She tries to mimic the sounds we make and our facial expressions.  She repeats "da da da" and "mmmm."  She is scooting backward and pulling herself up onto her knees now.  One of her favorite things to do is watch and giggle at Sawyer.  He is not too fond of getting his fur pulled, but he's getting used to it.  Baby food is our new project.  I am making it myself, which I am excited about.  Grandma Burkle and Zach helped me with the first batch.  We are starting with sweet potatoes, yellow squash, and avocado.  Monroe doesn't like cereal, so we'll see if the vegetables go over better.

All dressed up

Playing with Daddy

Big girl

 

Six Month Birthday

Week with the Grandmas

Our daycare provider went with her family to Disney World this week, so Monroe spent five days with her grandmas.  My mom came and watched her Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday.  She brought Monroe up to meet my students on Tuesday.  I couldn't tell who enjoyed it more, Monroe or my students.  On Thursday, Great Grandma Linda got to watch her.  Friday is Zach's mom's usual day to watch her, so they spent the day together.  To top it off, Great Grandma Dee came by for a visit on Friday night.  

Monroe got to see four grandmas in one week.  What a lucky lady.  

The only bad thing is that Monroe now expects to be rocked to sleep.  I think she got a little spoiled :) 

Coach Runcie

Zach coaches 8th grade football at Westridge Middle School.  He loves this time getting to know the students and playing his favorite sport.  This year his team did very well and went undefeated.  

He's never had this happen before, but I don't think he minded.

Their last game together as Cougars.

Baby Yoga

 Monroe has discovered Yoga!  

When she is on her stomach, Monroe pulls herself up into the plank position.  She balances on her hands and her big toes, and then she grunts.  Every time she does it, she moves backward and away from the toy she's trying to get.

What a strong girl!  She does the plank better than Mommy.

Nebraska vs. Wisconsin

Saturday was the day of the big game.  In the morning we headed downtown to go to the Farmer's Market and College Gameday.  I loved the Farmer's Market.  It was huge and made me want to live in a big city.  The highlights were the Amish cookies, cheese curds, and Spicy Cheese Bread.

After that, we walked to campus for College Gameday.  We didn't have a great view, but it was cool to see the whole set up.  The crowd went crazy when Lee Corso faked the cheese head and then put on the corn head.

After that we went back to Ben's parent's house to relax and bundle up before game time.

Four Huskers and two Badgers

  

When we got to the stadium were were excited to see so many people wearing black.  Husker Nation was ready for the Big Ten.    

Our seats were awesome!

The first quarter of the game was awesome.  Both teams were moving the ball, and the fans were going crazy!  That didn't last long, though, as Wisconsin soon ran away with the game.

The Wisconsin stadium was electric.  Their student section was huge, and they kept the rest of the crowd pumped up.  The crowd was constantly singing, chanting, cheering and jumping.  One cool thing was that the band members moved all around the stadium to play the fight song.  Wherever they played, the fans stood up and sang along.  The best part was the wave.  At Memorial Stadium, we can barely get the wave going.  The Camp Randall wave was impressive.  It went around five times and was different each time.  First it was normal, then slow motion, then fast, then it reversed, and finally it split in two and crossed itself.  It was so cool to see and be a part of.  I got tired of the whole stadium saying, "First and ten Wisconsin," but toward the end I joined in.  The atmosphere made the game fun, even though we were getting killed.

I saw this sign on the way out of the stadium, so I had to take a picture.

Wisconsin

Last weekend Zach and I left Monroe with Grandma and Grandpa, hopped in a van with friends, and drove 10 hours to Madison, Wisconsin.  We went for Nebraska's first Big Ten game.  Even though Nebraska was embarrassed on the field, we had a great time.

There were six teachers that made the trip.  Ben, Kirk, and Geoff worked with Zach at Westridge.  Jill is Ben's girlfriend who moved here from Texas and teaches fifth grade.  We stayed with Ben's parents in Madison, which was way better than a hotel.  They were wonderfully hospitable.

Ben's mom works at the capitol, so on Friday we took a tour of it.  The highlight was the climb to the top.  You have to have special permission and a tour guide to make the climb. I wouldn't recommend it if you're afraid of heights.  The spiral staircase you take is incredibly scary.  In fact, they used to let anyone go to the top, but they put a stop to that.  Too many people were having anxiety attacks, and the fire department was getting tired of coming to get people down.  Once you get to the outside, the climb is worth it.  I just don't think I would have gone if I had known what I was getting into.  Here are the pics.

Here is a picture of the ceiling.  

And here we are at the ceiling.  We could touch it.  On the other side of the railing it drops to the ground floor.

Then we went even higher to the roof.  The view was beautiful!

We were at the very top.  It was quite the experience.

A Week of Firsts

Monroe had a big week last week, experiencing a lot of different things for the first time.  

She had her first cold, which wasn't fun at all.  She acted perfectly fine during the day, but she had a hard time breathing and sleeping at night.  We are thankful that she is getting better.

On a happier note, Monroe started sitting up last week.  She has been sitting for a while, but she would still fall over often.  Now she is sitting for long periods at a time, so I can say she is officially sitting.  She looks like such a big girl.

Last week, she also found her feet.  I've been waiting for her to start putting her feet in her mouth, and now she does it every time she's on her back.

Monroe also had her first taste of food last week.  I was quite nervous about my milk supply lasting when we went out of town, so we started her on cereal.  The first couple of times were not fun.  She didn't get what to do, and more cereal ended up on her face or on the bib than in her mouth.  After just a few days, however, she was a pro.  It was amazing to see how quickly she figured it out.

The last big 'first' was much harder on Mommy than Monroe.  Zach and I went out of town this weekend with some friends and left Monroe with his parents for three days.  I knew she would be well cared for, but I hated the idea of spending three days without her.  We had a great time on our trip, and Monroe had a great time with Grandma and Grandpa.  The weekend was a success.