Lou Zoo

Curtis's Mom and Aunt Krista came last weekend and despite rain in the forecast we decided to go to the Louisville Zoo for the day. I hadn't been to the zoo yet with Abram...or on my own for that matter, I've usually been with a group of campers! Well, the weather turned out to be perfect! Not too hot and not a drop of rain. We went immediately to the new Glacier Run exhibit so that we could see the "baby" Polar Bear...he's the same age as Abram, born in January of 2011. Here's some pics (some of which were taken by Aunt Krista) and videos from our fun day at the zoo.

A sea lion in the Glacier Run exhibit.

Qannik, the "baby" polar bear. Very fun to watch because he was very active jumping in and out of the water, playing with a ball.

Abram and Curtis were excited to go in to feed the Lorikeets!

Curtis held Abram while I held/fed the birds. I love doing this...if Birds weren't so dirty and I didn't have cats, I think I'd have a parrot or something...I'll just stick with feeding the wild birds...and the Lorikeets:)

I passed him off to Curtis for a minute so he could feed the birds too.

After Qannik went inside they had the Mama Grizzly and her two cubs out on display. They were also pretty active and came close to the glass. Abram wasn't sure about this at first, but once he figured out they couldn't get him, he was ok with it.

Leaving Glacier Run and off to see the Gorillas!

Abram was a bit scared of the actual Gorillas, but I got him close to these amazing statues.

 Meercats were Abram's favorite last summer at the Nashville Zoo. These were just chillin' on top of their fake dirt pile...Nashville's exhibit is WAY better.

Louisville's petting zoo is also lacking a bit...but there were a few goats to pet. Again, Nashville's was way better:)

Watch for Abram's startled response to the goat flipping her tail...and then his attempts to get her to do it again! haha

Our visit went WELL into nap time and he was asleep as soon as we hit the interstate...and then continued the nap after we got home. Tired boy after such an exciting day! 

16 Months

  "Look at my big foot!"

 Finally, a smile...coerced out of him by Daddy's tickles!

Briefly hugging "Bear-y" before tossing him overboard.

Not much has change since last months "status update". Abram pushes for a little more independence every day and I love watching him investigate new things, ie. trying to open a ziploc bag. It's cool to watch this little person discover the world around him.

He does have a new favorite book: "Goodnight Moon". Its such a strange little book but I think he was originally drawn to it because of the "red balloon". We read it almost every night and I pretty much have it memorized.

Mealtimes are either great or terrible as in he'll eat it all or  he'll eat the "carb" and then try to put everything else in his hair. It can be very trying of my patience and I visualize those mom's I've seen screaming at their kids in stores. I pray for patience. I still have to squish up most fruits and vegetables to get him to eat them, but bread, pasta, cheese and meats get demolished quickly...as do scrambled eggs...LOVES those. He also likes to drink from straws at restaurants, especially if it's my sweet tea!

I signed him up for swim lessons at the YMCA which start on June 4th. Hopefully he will not be too shy and enjoy the pool time. He surprised me by clinging to me and barely going into the water when I took him to a water park in Louisviille. He LOVES water, but he just seemed overwhelmed by the environment. It might take a few lessons before he gets used to it. Then he'll be ready for the pool party in July! woohoo!

Eatin' on the Deck

Now that I'm home with Abram, we actually get to eat meals together as a family in the evenings (when there isn't a baseball game). So, since the weather has been nice, we've been eating out on the deck as much as possible! We had started to wonder if we'd wasted our money buying deck furniture a few years ago...so we're trying to make up for lost time! haha 

 

Abram likes to eat outside too...front row seat to the bird feeders and he watches the neighbor boys play in the driveway. After dinner the other night, we ate some leftover Lemon Lush that Curtis had made for a co-workers birthday. We gave Abram a piece but didn't know if he'd like it since it's pretty "lemony".

 

 

He did.

Mother's Day

For several days leading up to Mother's Day, I did some temp work for The Flower Shoppe in New Albany. It's owned by some relatives of a friend of mine and she hooked me up! It was fun to help out and I caught on pretty quickly. Hopefully I can do some more work there for V-day next year! It was great making the extra cash! Here are a few of my arrangements. Again, some pics on my cell phone too but I'll try to get those later!

 Many of these arrangements have lilies in them and the haven't opened.

 They will obviously look prettier once that happens.

 One of my favorites:)

For Mother's Day, Curtis made some delicious "Pasta Bolognese" for supper, everything from scratch! I got a rain gauge and a new camelbak waterbottle. I received several pretty cards and Aunt Krista sent me a mug from her website of choice: personalization.com! Thanks family!

Mushrooms in April

This picture must not have "fit" with my blog entries from last month, so I've dedicated one to just this picture. I think we might have some phone pics that would go with the theme but downloading those takes too much effort...maybe Curtis will want to:) 

This was Abrams first morel mushroom! I think he liked it...but what doesn't taste good battered and fried? We went hunting several times this spring. Abram came with us several times and rode in his hiking backpack carrier. He has now developed an obsession with walking sticks (see Easter Egg hunt video). The mushrooms came up really early due to the warm weather. We found some on our own, and some a friend of ours found and gave us. It's definitely something we look forward to every spring!

Planting Season

Abram and I weeded the garden this week in preparation to plant this weekend. Well, technically I weeded while Abram played in the dirt. Curtis tilled (by shovel and rake) the garden and went and bought the plants while Abram napped and I pruned trees. When Abram woke up we all went out to plant the garden.

 Abram helped dig...and fell in a hole a time or two. Curtis did the serious digging while I monitored Abram's use of the trowel. *note to self: look for PLASTIC gardening tools.

Abram did pretty well digging but attacked the plants a few times and got increasingly frustrated as his digging space was decreased with each planted row.

Then it came time to water the seeds and baby plants and happiness returned to the garden...

and MUD was discovered!

 

Along with my gladiolus that are coming up nicely this year again, we have planted tomatoes, peppers, zucchini, green beans and onions. We have two strawberry plants that popped up and surprised us from last years planting and we still plan to put in some sweet potatoes (they did so well last year) and peas (which I've begun to eat after 30 years of avoiding). We're going to train those to climb so they won't take up as much square footage. Curtis is also trying a potato bucket on the porch. Hopefully we'll have a great harvest and have lots of canned goods for the winter!

Flowers and Birds...free happiness:)

As many of you know, I love flowers. I really love free flowers. Not all of my flowers were free, but each year they come back blooming beautifully, the better the investment!

 When I came back from visiting my sister, my Knockout Rose bush had exploded! This flower was not free, but so hardy and such a long bloom season that I'll be sure to buy more eventually.

My irises were free and they only become more plentiful They are as beautiful and fragrant as ever this year. My lilly of the valley also came back bigger and better...also free.

 I need to thin them out this fall and mix up some of the varieties so that I don't have clumps of one shade of purple that blooms and dies before another shade blooms. A daunting task, but one I've put off long enough!

 I tried to dig up a few that were "off" colors, mainly yellows, but I left any that had any purple, like these lovelies. I waited too long to do this, so I'm sure I missed a few yellows...I'll get them next year!

 I snapped this shot of my azaleas before I left...they bloomed a LOT more abundantly after I took this picture, but it was the only one I got. Once I got back, the blooms were dying off. I hope I can keep these alive this time! Oh, and my hydrangea has plenty of buds starting despite being frostbit...can't wait to see how it will look! Neither were free, and not nearly as hardy, but beautiful and on sale!

This was my mystery bird. I had never seen one like this before. I guessed that it was a female because of the "drab" color and she thought she looked like a huge sparrow.  I also noticed that her beak was larger too...more like a cardinal than a sparrow.  She was not timid and I could approach pretty close and then zoom to take a really good picture of her. After pouring over several bird books I decided she was a female rose breasted grosbeak.  I asked my dad and he confirmed that he'd seen that type of  bird and had the same result.  Here's a professional photo of the same species....I'm hoping to see a male at some point too! So pretty!

15 Months

15 month photo with "Bear-y"...our shortest and grumpiest shoot thus far. Not totally Abram's fault really...I only allotted about 10 minutes to accomplish it before we had to go eat something really quick and then head to church. This was literally the only clear shot of a pleasant face before he decided the shoot was over. I'll plan a little better next time.

We began going to Growing Kids Pediatrics (Dr. Christina Lane) at his 15 month checkup. His iron levels were good so no more Poly visol Drops! Yay! He weighed 23 lbs and was 32 inches (rounded)...so still skinny and tall. Dr. Lane said it was nothing to be concerned about...that America does not have a problem with too many skinny kids. ha!

This month he has/will:

• Eat most of the things that we eat...fruits are still quite limited
• Feed himself with fingers and makes valiant efforts with spoons and forks (cereal with success)
• Tends to use his left hand more with utensils
• Use his potty (or the toilet) at least once a day...pee or poo
• RUN around the house playing
• Beg to go outside ALL the time
• Not able to leave the cats alone, especially poor Gypsy who seems to be missing a survival instinct.
• Nap for several hours, up to 3 or so, after lunch time
• Yells and fusses on car rides, even when it's dark and way past his bedtime (ugh)
• Has spells which can last 1-4 days where he's fussy, needy and drags at his mouth (and me) like he's really hurting. Can't wait til teeth are all in and don't have to deal with it.
• Loves when we sing Itsy Bitsy Spider and will do the spider motion and clap when we're done.
• Watches the birds on the feeders intently and points out when he sees birds in the sky, in the grass, in trees, etc.

He does so much more every day and is getting bigger and bigger so fast! I'm sure there are other "new" things I could list, but new becomes routine so quickly that I just go with the flow!