Trip to Uplift at Harding, featuring "Dane & the Squirrels" and Sydni's 11 Month Pictures

It's been a long time since my last post, and believe me, you haven't missed anything, except for sickness, sickness, sickness! Different members of our family have been sick for the last three weeks. I'm still not sure we'll ever see the light at the end of the tunnel, but I am certainly hoping so. Lane started off with the virus, and then passed it on to Sydni and then Dane and me. It started out as a stomach virus, and morphed into bronchitus. We're basically over it now, but we're still dealing with an uncontrollable cough, especially at night. I hated to take Sydni's 11 month picture on the 17th, since she looked so sick, so I finally got around to documenting the completion of her 11th month the other day on our trip up to Harding for Uplift.

I was so glad that I got to go with Lane and the youth group this year to Uplift camp up at Harding University. It was so much fun, and our group of teens were so great and really made us proud! We had 11 teens go, plus the 4 of us. The kids all got to stay in the dorms, and our family got to stay in the hotel there on campus, since Lane was helping to lead one of the discussion groups. That really came in handy with the kids, since I spent a lot of time in there during naps and stuff, and it was so close to everything that I was able to participate in the things that I wanted. Every time I visit up there, I am reminded of all of the fun times I had while I was a student there.

If you remember from my posts last summer, Dane went along with Lane last year on the trip, since I was 8 months pregnant and used that week to rest up and get all of the last details in order for sweet girl to arrive the next month. But, apparently, last year Dane developed a love/hate relationship with all of the squirrels around campus and would get so angry that they didn't let him get close and pet them. Lane told me that most of their encounters with them ended in Dane screaming at them and crying, not understanding their wild nature. So, this year, we developed a master plan to help him face the squirrels once again. We went and bought some peanuts, and Dane would approach the squirrels quietly and would tell them that he likes peanuts, too, and that he brought some for them to enjoy. Surprisingly, the plan worked great and Dane kept his cool, and the squirrels didn't really run away from him too much. Of course, he never got very close to them, just close enough to tell them of his shared love of the peanuts, and to scatter them on the ground. He even invited them to play soccer with him, if they wanted to! Here's a couple of pictures to commemorate their reconciliation.





One afternoon, during Sydni's nap, Dane and I decided to make funny faces at each other and the camera, and here are some of our favorites...



Here's a normal face, just to assure you that my eye didn't get stuck.

Completely tired out!

I got some great shots of both of the kids out on the front lawn among all of the beautiful old oak trees and Harding swings.

I cannot believe how much this great guy has grown lately. We measured him last week, and he is now 40 inches tall, and the next pair of shoes that I'm about to buy him will be 12's or 12 1/2's! He's growing to be the neatest guy ever, well, I should say, just like his daddy! Here's a list of some of my favorite things about my Dane:

1. He fills my home with endless, imaginative chatter, which I'm sure I will miss terribly someday.

2. He is a man of routine, which he gets from me, and I love that.

3. He says the sweetest prayers, and always starts them out by saying, "Thank you for Mommy and Sydni and Daddy and thank you for taking care of us."

4. At bedtime, most nights, he goes and dresses himself, and he comes out completely accessorized for bedtime, with pajamas, robe and houseshoes. Like everything he does, he goes all out and does it right and remembers every detail in life.

5. I think his computer skills are amazing - his favorite website is www.starfall.com, an alphabet and reading website, and he can navigate around without any help. His comprehension and reasoning skills are so good, and I just love watching him learn and explore.

6. He is so good with Sydni and is always very aware of her and makes sure to include her in everything he does. As a result, when she picks up one of his Hot Wheels, she moves it on the ground and makes a motor sound.

7. He is still true to his best pal, Mr. Monkey.

8. He's started saying "I love you" on his own, and that is the neatest thing to hear as a mom.

9. He gets so excited about things, and his excitement is so pure and uninhibited. I hope he'll always stay that way. Lane's that way, too, so maybe he will.

10. And, like I tell him on a daily basis, he is the best boy ever and I'm so glad that God gave him to me!

My sweet little man!

Now, for my sweet Sydni girl - She was being so sweet during our photo shoot, and I had the hardest time picking out pictures, so finally I decided to just post them all.

Like I said earlier, she was so sick this past month, so she stayed pretty low key and did a lot of resting. I still think she managed to grow like a weed, and most exciting, her hair did, too! The top is finally beginning to fill in, and the back is growing into the sweetest little curls. I can't wait for the day that I get to put them into dog ears for the first time.

Here are a few highlights of the month:

• She has 8 teeth
• She has developed an attachment to her "bunny blanket", a little security blanket that has a bunny head attached to it. She sleeps with it tucked up under her.
• She can stand by herself, but still crawls like a champ.
• She weighs 19 1/2 pounds (50th percentile)
• She jabbers a lot, but mainly just says, "Ba, ba, ba" for everything. She can also say Mama, DaDa, Hi, and Bye Bye.