Chug-a-Chug-a-Chug-a-Chug-a-CHOO! CHOO!!

Before Christmas some of the ladies in my family went to the Eiteljorg Museum to see Jingle Rails. My cousin, Julia, her son Liam, my mom, my grandma, Lola and myself all made the trek downtown to see the miniature train sets. There was a miniature version of Indianapolis and other places across the United States. Trains were weaving in and out of displays. The kids are a little too young to really appreciate it but it was a fun place for us adults and the kids could at least look at the lights. It was great to spend time with the family.

The entire group of us all together at the entrance to the exhibit.

Mom carrying Lola around to look at all the trains and displays.

Four generations of ladies.

Lola trying to walk around the exhibit all by herself. Who knew that not a week later she would start walking all by herself.

Right now Liam is half Lola's age so he still gets to be papoosed to his mama. Lucky little guy. I wish I had someone to carry me around like that. :)

Lola and her Grandma Bean.

Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!

Lola was born when there was a TON of snow on the ground. Sadly, at that time she couldn't appreciate the beauty of it. It's wonderful to look at, but personally I hate the cold. It's been a long time since I played in the snow. As a parent you get to relive your childhood with your kids and playing in the snow is one of those things you get to do again. We bundled Lola up in her new snow pants and new jacket and off we went into our front yard. She was absolutely mesmerized by all of it, but was kind of upset because she couldn't really move her limbs. She kinda looked like the kid from "A Christmas Story".

We could not get her eyes off the snow!

The only movement we could get her to do was a vertical one. She would plop herself down on the ground and couldn't go anywhere else.

This would have been a great picture if Lola wouldn't have been looking at the snow, but I think it's still pretty good.

Lola loved eating the snow. No worries...I didn't give her any yellow snow!

Another vertical movement to the ground.

She didn't really like the idea of making a snow angel. Maybe next year :)

We'll have to photoshop Drew into this picture. I think he would fit perfectly to our left in front of my mom's car.

More snow for the little monkey.

Getting Lola undressed was a lot easier than getting it all on her. She had really silly hair from her hat.

No Walking Yet - Just Standing

Lola is trying her hardest to get mobile. You gotta crawl before you can walk and walk before you can run. In a baby's world, you have to lay on your stomach and roll over before you can crawl; you gotta crawl before you can walk; you gotta stand on your own before you can walk. Lola is practicing standing on her own. She pulls herself up on everything she can. This usually scares us to death because she isn't quite stable on her feet yet, but she sure tries. Here is some proof that our little monkey isn't to far from being mobile.

First real time standing alone. I look silly behind her but at least I'm showing everyone that I'm not holding on to her.

Now it was Drew's turn to get her up.

Then she just started to show off.

She got a little over confident and started trying to take steps on her own.

She got one step in before she tumbled into her daddy's open arms.

What is your morning ritual? Playing hide and seek around the couch!!!

Every morning Lola and I wake up, eat breakfast and then hang out in our pj's for a little bit. We usually play with toys and watch "The Jungle Book" (which is Lola's favorite Disney movie), but a lot of our time is spent walking around and playing hide-and-go-seek. Lola hides behind the couch and I try to "find" her.

Before the fun begins. She's got that mischievous look on her face like she's got a plan. The plan: hide from mommy and have her chase me.

She doesn't hide very well. She always sticks her head out from behind the couch.

"Oh no!!"

"You found me!!!!"

We Are Thankful for FAMILY!!

This Thanksgiving, our family traveled North to Blufton, Indiana to spend the holiday with the Kipfer and Isch families. On Thanksgiving day, we spent it with Drew's father's side and we spent Friday with Drew's mom's side. It was a great holiday! We enjoyed spending time with family and friends and we are so grateful that we were able to do that. There are so many things that we are thankful for this holiday season.

Lola and Rafe...best friends already.

Family picture

Daddy reading Lola a book

Great-Grandma Kipfer and Lola

Uncle Ben!! Lola LLLLOOOOOVVVVEEESSS her Uncle Ben!!

"Mommy look!! I can feed myself!!!"

Drew had Lola one night and he decided to perform a little experiment. He fed Lola a little bit of her bottle, enough that she wouldn't be mad about what he was about to do. He put the bottle in her mouth and let it hang from her lips. She just put her hands up to the bottle and started feeding herself. From that point on she's been doing it by herself at every feeding. This definitely gives Mommy some extra time to get her other food ready while she feeds herself. It is very helpful, but it kinda makes me sad that she's getting to be so independent!!

Crib time = Picture time

Lola spent the day with Daddy and they decided to have a photo shoot while I was in school. She's just too cute to not take pictures of. I think we both get a little shutter happy.

Like Mother, Like Grandfather...

I know that's a very weird title for a blog post, but go with me for a little bit here...

So growing up I've always been told that I looked like my dad's side of the family, the Jones'. This is definitely the case now, however when I was a baby I looked exactly like my grandpa on my mom's side, Grandpa Richmond.

Ponder this picture for awhile. Just look at it and remember it.

The above picture is a picture of my Grandpa Richmond when he was a baby. He's a pretty cute looking kid if you ask me. When I saw this picture it reminded me of a picture of me when I was a baby. So we compared the two. They were almost identical. It was crazy the similarities between the two. The following picture isn't the one that made me realize the uncanny resemblance, but it's the best one that I could find. All of my baby pictures are in storage. Once they are unearthed I'll have a post with it in there.

Me when I was about a year old.

Now for the really crazy part...Lola has been going through her phases of looking like Drew and looking like me. Currently she's in a Mommy-phase, which I always love. I took this picture the other day while she was walking around in her walker. I looked at it and it just looked so much like my Grandpa and I that I almost started to cry. My Grandpa Richmond is awesome and I love that I look like him, because I hardly take after my mom's side of the family as far as looks go (attitude is a whole other story that would need an entire blog dedicated to it so I'll leave that one alone for now). It also made my mom cry to see that we all looked like her dad.

Cutie pie that looks like her mama and her great-grandpa!!

Monkey or ER Patient?? Lola chose ER patient

Lola and I woke up on Halloween in our normal fashion. We got up and she watched some cartoons while I got her breakfast ready. She ate all of her breakfast in her typical chunky monkey style. Then Daddy came over so I could go to the MedCheck to get my throat checked out. When I got home we decided it was costume time. So we dressed little Miss Lola in her monkey costume (see previous post). She wasn't a big fan since she couldn't move around as much. If I had known what her second choice was going to be I would have done everything in my power to not have that happen. I woke up from my nap to the sounds of Lola projectile vomiting all over her crib. Being a first time mom and a worrier by nature, I scooped her up and started for the hospital. My mom was asleep after having worked a stretch of night shifts in a row. I called Janean and asked if she could meet me there and help me with Lola and also keep me company. In retrospect Lola and I probably could've done without the hospital since after 5 hours all they diagnosed her with was "vomiting in children over 4 months of age". But I'd rather be safe than sorry with our Captain Chunkers.

The monitor they put on her foot for her heart rate. It lit up like a Christmas-tree light and she loved to look at it.

Her little butt hanging out the back of her hospital gown.

Playing with the toys the nurses brought for her.

Reading a pamphlet about covering your cough...in Spanish. Our little genius baby. Haha.

After we got our "diagnosis" from the doctor, Lola was so tired that we asked if we could be discharged so we could go home. I'm happy to report that after a few days of very diarrhea and no more vomiting, Lola is now running at about 95% of her normal self. She's eating normally and drinking normally, but she's been a little more clingy that usual. Don't let me fool you, I don't really mind the cuddling, clingy part.

Lola's First Halloween

Up until recently Lola has been our "Chunky Monkey". She just recently decided to become our green bean instead by jumping up in height and losing some of her rolls. Before this sudden growth spirt, we decided to dress her up as a monkey for Halloween. She didn't really like the costume because it was kind of like a fat suit that didn't let her move around very much. And it didn't help that she wasn't feeling very well either. Soon after these pictures were taken Lola decided to be an ER patient instead of our cute little monkey.

One of the few smiles we got out of her on Halloween.

Screaming like a monkey!!

Look at those cheeks...they're still chubby!!

Our monkey with her banana.

Because I didn't have space to add all of the pictures we got of her on Halloween in this post, here's the link to my Facebook album with all of her Halloween pictures in it. Enjoy!!

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2979636&id=6843479&l=e672cbee44

Gotta post more cute pictures!!

I get a little trigger happy on my camera. I LOVE the fact that Drew keeps me in good cameras. If he didn't I would probably lose my marbles (and not have nearly as many good pictures of Lola as I do).

Lola in her bouncer (she looks like she's almost 2 in this picture :( sad)

She loves Beauty and the Beast already!

Our long sleepy bean!!

Lola in her rain coat my mom got her.

Playing nap time with mommy.