Yes, we're all still alive.

To all the grammas and grampas, we hope you'll accept our deepest apologies. We know it's been way too long since we've updated the blog. This summer has just been crazy busy, and the last 6 weeks were the cherry on the sundae. Well a lot has happened in our lives. Miriam is now sitting up on her own. She's loved having a tiny bit more independence. She now has two teeth. She drinks from a sippy cup all by herself. She started giving real kisses, she'll grab your face and pull it in as hard as she can an give you a big open-mouth kiss. It's so sweet. She also started playing peek-a-boo by herself. She'll hold the burp rag over her face (or just over her mouth, or one eye) then pull it down really fast and give a huge smile.
We just got back from an 11 day trip to Nebraska for two weddings, one was my (Mandy's) little sister's wedding... Jenny. I'll post some pictures from that soon. We had a pretty good trip, but we got sick while we were there. I am one of five siblings, and we all live in five different states, so we very rarely get to all be together at the same time. So this trip was wonderful in that respect because I got to visit with siblings I hadn't seen in years! It was great! I'll post pics.
Well, that's all for now. We're all healthy, happy, and looking forward to a slower life! We love you! See ya!

~ Mandy

Yes, we're all still alive.

No need for a bottle, mom... I'm big.

Chilling out with daddy, looking at the fish.

Rolling around on the floor with mommy.

She rolls off the blankie then cries.

Helping mommy open her birthday presents. She's too slow.

Look how big I am!

Beautiful young lady.

Miriam's very first half-birthday!

Miriam is 6-months old! I can hardly believe it. She is a very big girl... she weighs almost 20 pounds. Wow! We are still behind on our video editing, but catching up, so here's another one that's more recent, it's only a week old. She had just started making this funny face that day and I thought it was just SO cute. I also love on this video that you can see (at the end of the video) how she lights up when her daddy enters a room... so sweet!

Miriam Laughing at the Dog

This video is over a month old but we're behind on our video editing. Sorry. This is June 14th.

I LOVE GRAMMA AND GRAMPA!!!!! And aunt Grace!

Miriam and I (Mandy) flew to Detroit to visit my parents this last week. The flights were... frustrating, but the overall trip was SO fun! She absolutely LOVED gramma and grampa and aunt Grace! Grace had a gift for making Miriam laugh uncontrollably. Teething has taken it's toll on our sanity, but but we're getting through it. Jason is leaving tomorrow for one more week of camp, then he's back home for good. This summer has been hard with him gone SO much, but it's almost over, thank goodness! She's got her 6-month doctor's appointment next week, I'm excited to see how long she is and how much she weighs. She's a big girl!

Gramma Bade, Grace and Miriam

The two baldies

Silly girls being silly

This is her whiny face; not upset enough to cry,

but not happy either

She loves her blankie bear. She fell asleep
telling him a story. I thought it was so sweet.

This is another new face she's been making since she's been teething

She was looking up at Jason as he was talking

and she dozed off. It looked so uncomfortable!

Growing, growing, growing!

A lot has happened with the baby since our last post (sorry). She started eating solid foods. So far she's had rice cereal, peas and squash. She's loved having real food, especially the squash! She wants so badly to sit up unsupported, but can't quite balance yet. She still only has the one three-inch hair on the tip top of her head, no growth anywhere else yet. AND still no teeth... she's been teething for over a month with nothing to show for it. Her new thing has been popping her legs straight up in the air and grabbing her toes. It gives a unique view of her leg rolls, I like it. The fish and the dog are SOOO entertaining to her right now. But nothing can compare to her own reflection, she just LOVES that pretty girl in the window!

Mira with Uncle Brock and her cousin Addison.

Mira with Grandma Kirschenmann.


Grandpa is the comedian.

Isn't she beautiful?

Our little family.

Playin' piano with Aunt Stephanie.

"Where'd my daddy go?"

Not much new to report. Jason is in Slovakia for 2 weeks right now, oh and today is our 5-year wedding anniversary. It's ok though, we'll celebrate when he gets back. My sister, Stephanie came to visit while he's gone, so that's good. Us girls have been partying! I think Miriam is teething, yikes. She's been fussy, and drooly, and gnawing on EVERYTHING she can get into her mouth. She talks to her reflection in the mirror, and just started to get into little fights with her reflection. Yesterday she tried to give her reflection a kiss and bonked her head, and couldn't figure out why that baby tried to hurt her.

Me and my best bud, Ali.

These two pictures were taken minutes before Jason left for Slovakia

WE MISS DADDY!!!!

Pneumonia, Bronchitis, Rolling Over, Holding Toys... We've been busy.

So sorry it's been so long since I've updated. We've had a long month. Shortly after my last post I got pretty sick, turned out to be Pneumonia. Jason had to take a full week off of work to be a full-time dad because the doctor said I could only hold the baby for a few minutes a day, and only if I scrubbed real good and wore a mask. It was so sad. Then not long after I started feeling better the baby started to get sick... we were SO worried. But as it turns out the doctor thinks it was just a coincidence. He thinks she has bronchitis. She has such a sad little cough, but she's been sleeping relatively well, and hasn't had a fever so we're just keeping an eye on it. She just turned 4 months and had her 4-month check-up. She's almost 15 lbs. She's 25 inches long. She's about the 80th percentile for size... she's a big girl! She JUST rolled over for the first time a few hours ago. As pure luck had it, I had the camera on and facing the baby when she did it, so I got a picture of her ACTUAL first roll! What are the chances? Also, a couple weeks ago she grabbed on to a toy and put it right in her mouth. So now that she can hold on to a toy she thinks she needs one all the time. That's a lot of work for us. Haha. I have some more stuff I wanna post, so check back soon. We love you all!

The FIRST roll ever!!! Yay, Mira!

She usually wakes up with a big smile on her face

(that is, after a good stretch of course).

"I think that's my mom... but I can't be sure"

This is the first time she held on to a toy.

While I was sick Miriam and her daddy got to spend a lot of good
quality time together. She has turned into quite a little daddy's girl.