She's a big girl now!

 Sweet little Daphne turned the big 1 a week ago. She is officially a big girl now, walking and eating all grown up food. She is very proud of her four teeth. At 20 lbs. 4 oz., and somewhere around 30 inches tall she would look like quite the child if she only had some hair. As it is, she's still pretty bald and kind of looks like an infant when she's being held.

 

We had a little party with some ward friends on the 17th, her actual birthday. She was one spoiled (but adorable birthday girl.

She didn't quite get what to do with the cake. Luckily she had a friend to help her out.

 Then this past weekend we had a BUG themed party with her two buddies Luke and Max. You can read  Kim's cute post about it here. We made bug antennas for all the kids, did a pinata, a bug hunt and playdough. We had cute themed food. And I have to say, I am a big fan of splitting up the party prep three ways. I think I will spend the rest of Daphne's life looking for other kids with close birthdays to be her friends.

some of the party guests wearing their antenna and ready for the bug hunt.

All the birthday babies, with their matching bald heads. So cute!

 

 

 We love our little birthday girl so much. Happy birthday Daf!

Canal & kilts

 This weekend was Indy's Irish Fest. We're big fans. but before we went to the festival we took a little walk on the canal.  Daphne is usually content to enjoy our walks from the stroller, but this time she was determined to do all the walking herself.

 

 

 From her new vantage point she could much more easily check out the fish, pet the passing doggies and just be more cute in general.

 Then we headed to Irish Fest where we listened to Irish music and tried on some kilts,

 looked up our family Coat of Arms, won some silly prizes from a radio station, played robin hood,

 We watched a dog herding demonstration and petted some doggies,

 but then we had to head home early because those Irish with their drinking ways were a bad influence on our little girl. We didn't even get to see any Irish dancing this year. :(

Irish fest is definitely one of the things we'll miss about this city.

Working hard on labor day

After a fabulous breakfast at a fun breakfast place Bryce rented a ladder and spent the day putting up this ceiling fan. While he was doing that, I got to clean up what I am sure will be the first of many poop explosions in the crib. You know the kind...where every surface and every item in the crib (including the baby) are covered with a healthy smear of poop. Casualties included a pillow and two stuffed animals that couldn't be saved.



I'm so proud of my handy man husband. But I'm not pleased about the catastrophe that used to be the living room. I guess I'll spend the rest of the day cleaning up after my other mess-maker.

State Fair

At the state fair the highlight for us was watching the draft horse competition. Bryce has a thing for giant horses.
We also enjoyed:

helping Daphne pet some animals

Going on a couple of rides

And of course, seeing the giant cheese sculpture.

Last year, during my first visit to a state fair I was 8 months pregnant, and couldn't stomach the idea of trying crazy deep-fried fair food. This year at the fair I was 12 weeks pregnant and totally couldn't stomach fair food. Hopefully someday I'll go to a state fair when I'm not pregnant, or at least somewhere in the middle of a pregnancy so I can finally see what all the hype is about over deep-fried oreos and snickers bars!

11 months

Our little bug is 11 months old. Almost a year!
She's such a big girl these days.
She can wave, clap, stand unassisted for about 8 seconds and walk along edges.
She finally takes a bottle, won't eat baby food, but will eat anything else and likes to feed herself.
Still a mama's girl with some major separation anxiety, but loving her daddy more these days. Loves other kids, dogs and anything that's not a toy.
She's a good sleeper as long as she's at home in her crib, still likes to be swaddled at night and likes climbing out of the bath tub more than sitting in it.
Two bottom teeth, still not much hair to speak of but lots of personality.

We can't get enough of this darling, happy girl. She makes us happy in every way and it breaks my heart that she is almost a year old. She's more fun everyday but I don't want her to grow anymore. Any tips for that?

Pictures to go with the last post

Epic Road Trip

We went on a big summer road trip, and had a wonderful time. Unfortunately we majorly failed at taking pictures; I think we took 8 in two and a half weeks. Oops. So here is our big adventure in miles.
Indianapolis to Overland Park, KS: 8 hours 2 mins, 502 miles
-We stayed with Bryce's brother Kyle.
-Daphne played with her cute cousins and loved crawling all over 3 months younger Soren.
-Rested up for the next leg of our journey.
Overland Park, KS to Breckenridge, CO: 10 hours 36 mins, 685 miles
-Caravaned with Kyle and Kristen. Driving across Kansas was the most boring thing that ever happened to me. I was almost glad when my brother-in-law got pulled over because it broke up the monotony.
-Stopped in Highlands Ranch to visit our cute friends Tom and Ashley. They're having a baby soon!
-Stayed in an enormous cabin with the entire Fortner family.
-Went on a few hikes (nature walks)
-Road bikes.
-Survived the stomach flu.
-Played with the cousins.
-Whipped down a mountain on an alpine slide.
-Fell in love with Colorado. It's on the list of places I think I should live some day.
Breckenridge, CO to Yellowstone:9 hours, 17 mins, 506 miles
-Stopped in the charming old west town of Dubois, WY for Daphne's first camping experience.
-met up with my parents, brothers, Aunt and Uncle Geddes and Cousin Elisa and her family.
-Camped in Teton National Park for three nights.
-Saw a moose, elk, bears, pelicans and herons.
-Visited Old Faithful and bunch of the other awesome geysers and hot springs.
-Swam in a glacial lake
-Did a little hiking.
Yellowstone to Lehi, UT: 7 hours 7 mins, 402 miles
- Stayed with My brother Daniel and his family.
-Daphne played with some more fun cousins, and again enjoyed crawling over Beatrix whose 4 months younger.
-Went to 7 peaks
-Rented bikes and road down the Provo River trail.
-Wandered around BYU and relived our college days
-Spent time with my favorite sister!
-Went to a wedding reception for Bryce's old roomie Justin Hale, and hung out with some of Brycee's old friends.
-Ate venison steak, Yum!
-Decided we want to live in Utah. Too bad you can't spit in Utah without hitting a dentist.
Lehi, UT to Omaha, NE: 13 hours, 32 mins, 955 miles
-Stopped at possibly the coolest rest stop ever.
-Experienced humidity again.
-Stayed the Night With Bryce's sister Becky and her family.
Omaha, NE to Indianapolis, IN:9 hours, 37 mins, 608 miles
-Made it home to an air conditioned house and dinner in the fridge thanks to my amazing friend Courtney.
-Never felt quite so happy to be home.

So add in about 300 more miles for trips from place to place in each location and about 8 more hours in the car and that equals about 63 hours and just under 4,000 miles.
Yeah, it was long. Daphne was a stinker and I had to sit in the backseat with her almost the entire time. I was also nauseated the whole duration. But we had a great time. There were so many little good moments on this trip that in spite of everything, I think it was one of my fave vacations ever.

My favorite part of our trip was seeing Daphne and Bryce spend so much time together. Bryce pretty much took over the childcare. He changed diapers, took care of bedtime, managed meals and basically relieved me of parenting duties. He was amazing and besides the obvious enjoyment on my part, Daphne loves him a lot more now. Yay!