Marie with all of her favorite peeps (as Heidi would say).
I have to apologize to Grammy Cindy. While we were at your house, we didn't take any pictures! We'll more than make up for that at Marie's 1st birthday party next month in NC. Can't wait to see you then!

Marie is beginning to show signs of being a daddy's girl.
She points at him and says "dada" whenever he enters the room.

Mommy is still her favorite cuddler, though.

Heidi and Chad practicing their parenting skills.
Oh, you didn't hear? They're engaged!


Marie with her fun-loving and extremely youthful grandparents.


Dan pretending to enjoy kids for the camera. Hehe.
We appreciate the effort.

Marie with the Meehans. Tim, Carissa, Naomi, Isaac and Baby #3 in Carissa's belly. We'll meet him or her in August!

"Mom and Dad, please put me down
so that I can play with my cool cousins."

Grandpa and Nana out at the farm. Marie loves Zsa Zsa, their lab mix. Marie's parents won't let her play with their other dog, Missy, a pit bull! Yikes.


Since Uncle Patrick wouldn't smile for the camera, I am posting an embarassing picture of him with Marie. That'll learn ya.

We're snowed in!

I (Maggie) have been awful about taking pictures lately. Marie's new tricks (not that she's a trained animal) include: clapping, waving "hi" and "bye bye", eating table food, and making some terribly funny new sounds. Her favorite food so far is cheese. Surprisingly, broccoli is a close second. She's enjoying turkey and chicken, and is NOT a fan of peaches. Still no crawling from our 9 1/2 month old. I'm trying to be patient. Her daddy didn't crawl until a year, so I'm not holding my breath. She's got two new teeth coming in and has been a bit on the fussy side lately. But when she is teething she is really cuddly, so that makes up for the whining.

We're moving on January 6th and are trying to enjoy our time here and not view this last month as a count-down. We have loved IL, our friends, our neighborhood and our church. It's not going to be an easy move, but at least we won't be 7 months pregnant starting all over again. It will be interesting to see God's plans for us over the next year. I never imagined that they would take us back to NC. It's exciting and confusing at the same time.

Well, here you go. I only have a few to share this time...

Broccoli is bliss.

Turkey's great, but the carrots I could do without.

Nana Carolyn treating Marie to a reading of "Brown Bear, Brown Bear". Marie can sit there and have books read to her for an hour straight. Believe me, I know.

Sweetie.

Iowa State's biggest fan...

Halloween...

Yummy!

You mean I really get to play with this stuff?





Other:
I like getting my head scratched

Eatin' part of a cereal bar

Helping Mommy recover after her wisdom teeth were removed...

We love the Swartzentrubers. And we can spell their last name.


An action shot.


Grandpa Ralph teaching Marie how to walk.

Bucket Head


Hours of entertainment in a laundry basket.


A rocking COW? Whatever. It was 4 bucks and it makes Marie smile.


A party with Marie's animal friends.


Nice booties.

Okay, the blog is up and running again. Here are the pics!

Pretty little pumpkins

Mommy hugs

The fam in the maze


Marie kinda looks like a hobo in this picture. A cute portly hobo.


The Three Bambinos. Ike, Marie, Naomi.


They were mistaken for twins a couple of times in the double stroller.
Fraternal twins, that is. Their appearances are slightly different!
(that's a nice way of saying Marie is a chunky monkey)


Uncle Tim with his two kiddos.


Tim taking the kids out for a drive.

Some pictures from the Eden Prairie Meehans' visit.
I will post many more later,
but unfortunately the blogger website is acting up!

Two of the cutest little pumpkins I've ever seen...

Marie's First Trip to Chuckie Cheese's

We took a group from Special Touch out to lunch
today and had a great time!
Joel and I are convinced that places like this are
the reason behind the ADHD epidemic in the U.S.

Mom and Marie with the Chuckmeister

Dancing along...

Sitting at Chuck's feet.

Alisha, Chris and Clark

Clark and Marie

Laughing about something.

This picture has nothing to do with Chuckie Cheese - I just like it.