Tralee and Her Doggy

Tralee has really shown a lot of affection for Corky lately. The first thing Tralee does in the morning or after a nap is find her doggy and lay her head down on her. It's rather sweet, but Jim and I wonder why snuggling must be done with her fuzzy friend, and not her parents. She will snuggle us on occasion, but when we tell Tralee, "Give Doggy a hug" she'll do so with ease. When we ask for a hug she's not so eager. Interesting. However dismayed Jim and I might be by the fact that our dog gets more affection from Tralee than we do, we still think it's adorable every time Tralee lays her little head on Corky's body and coos.

Tralee has also doubled her walking capabilities since yesterday. Almost every time she stands up by herself and we ask her to come to us, she takes a few cute little steps and collapses into our arms. We then give her tons of hugs, kisses, and praise. I can't believe she's starting to walk!!!! Just a few days ago she was learning to stand. CRAZY CRAZY!!!

We're Not Dead!

My mom always worries about us if she can't get a hold of us for a few days. Sometimes we don't hear our phone ringing, so she'll leave a message, and if we don't return her call within 24 hours we'll get another message that goes something like this:

"Where are you guys? You know how I worry!!! I'm picturing you dead on the side of the road, in a ditch! I'm so worried, will you give me a call please so I don't have to worry anymore!!!"

Did I mention my mother is a bit of a hypochondriac? I love her to bits though. Without her "ways" I wouldn't have anything to tease her about, because she's a pretty wonderful mother.

Anyways, I've been MIA for a few days, because we were watching Jim's Uncle's kids for the weekend. Not a bad gig, the kids were pretty well behaved. There were only a few "meltdowns" which usually occurred when we made them turn off their video games or the tv to do chores or do something else they didn't want to. Other than that it we had a lot of fun with them. They're good kids. Tralee even warmed up to them after a few days. Jim and I brought our pop-up tent which was a big hit! They youngest kids loved to roll around and play in it, and Tralee REALLY loved to be in the tent with them. She crawled around and laughed the whole time, it was really cute!

Now we're getting back in the groove of things. I went visiting teaching this morning. The roads/weather were REALLY bad, but I thought I would be okay since I was visiting teaching. I was, and I made it home in time to see Tralee take her first steps!!!!! Tralee was playing with her favorite ball, and as she tried to hand it to me she took two little steps. We wondered if this was just a fluke or if she could do it again, so we held the ball just of reach of Tralee and she took another few steps to get to it. Jim and I were so proud! She's not full on "walking" but she's getting closer!! YAY!!! What a sweet smart baby girl!

So there ya go!

Some Birthday Pictures

We'll start off with photos from last year. Then I'll post some birthday photos, including Tralee's very first picture she drew using some crayons she got for her birthday. Her favorite gift was a basketball . . . not a big surprise considering she's Jim's daughter!!!

Then and . . .
Now. . .

Tralee's First Birthday!!!

So this is Tralee's birthday cake. It took me a while to make it, and I know to a professional cake decorator it looks like a big mess, but I put so much more love in it than any fancy cake creator could have!

So my baby is not a baby anymore. Tralee is now one year old! I can't believe a year has gone by. Someone e-mailed me and said, "I know it can be hard on a mom when their baby turns one." At first I didn't think much of it, but now that I'm actually thinking of it, while I'm typing this I'm tearing up a bit. I no longer have a little baby, I have a toddler that's learning, growing, and doing new things everyday. It's amazing and exciting to watch as Tralee transforms into a little person, but as each day goes by her dependency for me diminishes just a bit more. Don't get me wrong, she's still pretty clingy to me, but I mean she can play all by herself for several minutes at a time now, she can "read" to herself from a book (it's really cute, she points at the words and babbles to herself), and she's such a good eater! I just can't believe a year has passed. I'm more and more amazed at the progress Tralee has made in one year. Before I know it, I'll be chasing her around as she walks and runs, and be able to talk with her. I can't wait, but at the same time I know this progress means my baby girl is vanishing with each tick of the clock. I love her so much, and I hope and pray that every year I have with her I'll be able to teach her all the things she needs to know to grow up into a smart, kind, and caring woman who is able to make correct choices and follow her heart.

This is a picture of Tralee napping today, and Tralee sleeping in the hospital after she was born.
More pictures to come after the birthday festivities!

I thought I would slide this video in here. The other night Jim and I were trying to teach Tralee the sign for "pain," so we were fake-bonking our heads, then doing the sign for pain. Tralee never copied us signing, but she DID copy us bonking our heads! It was so cute Jim ran and got the camera so we could document how funny our little girl is!

A Few Things

Tralee is growing up! She's is now standing by herself, and wanting to! Before we would get her to stand, and she would sit down right away, now she balances herself on furniture, me, Jim, or something else and lets go. She uses her arms to help her stay balanced and she is SO proud of herself. It's really cute! We give her lots of praise when she decides to practice standing. One thing I've learned about Tralee's personality is that she WILL NOT do something if she doesn't want to. If we try to get her to stand and she's not in the mood, she goes limp and WILL NOT straighten her legs. If she wants to stand, she's all for it, usually it has to be HER idea, not mine. She's so independent!

Tralee has been grooving to the beat a lot more lately too. Almost any song will set her off, she also claps when the song is over. If I pick her up and we dance around the room together, and I stop for some reason, Tralee will start grooving in my arms until I start dancing again. In this video she sees her reflection in the fireplace window thing, and gets so excited about it her arms begin to flap. It's adorable!


Another thing Tralee's been doing to playing peek-a-boo. Usually it was me who hid behind the blanket and popped out and shouted "peek-a-boo!" Now Tralee lifts the blanket over her head, waits for me to say, "Where's Tralee?" then she pulls the blanket away from her face and I say, "peak-a-boo!" Then Tralee starts laughing and does it again. She will also duck behind or under furniture and leap up to play peek-a-boo. It's really cute!

Tralee is also walking like Mogli from the Jungle Book, she goes into the position as pictured, and walks in this tri-pody way. I think after she masters standing, she'll be taking her first steps VERY soon.
Tralee has also discovered how fun it is to chase Corky around and bug her. Corky has put up with a lot lately. Tralee loves to poke at Corky's eyes, pull on her tail, pinch her nose, point at her head, and smack her body. When Corky climbs up in our laps and seems to get REALLY comfy, Tralee decides it's the perfect time to crawl up to her doggy and smack her across the face. I think Tralee believes she's just having fun with Corky, but the poor dog can't really relax these days. The video showcases Tralee bugging Corky. She's pulling on her paws and tail, and Corky doesn't really love it. Don't worry, it looks like Corky is nipping at Tralee's fingers, but they were playing like this for a while, it was a game. Corky is VERY gentle with Tralee, and Tralee LOVED it and laughed when her fingers were in Corky's mouth. You'll see. . .

BEST TO ALL!

American Idol

So, American Idol has started again. We're fans of the show in this household. After I had Tralee last year, and was sitting in our hospital room American Idol Auditions were on. When we watched them tonight it took me back. I remember as if it were yesterday, sitting in the hospital room in a gown the nurse gave me, with my snuggly little girl wrapped up in a blanket in her bassinet. Then Jim came into the room, picked up his daughter, and snuggled on his bed with her while we all watched American Idol. We were a happy little family.

Tonight, when the auditions were on, Tralee got into it too. After every time someone sang, Tralee would clap her hands in encouragement. It was really sweet. What Jim and I found interesting was the fact that whether the singer was horrible or amazing, Tralee would clap for them. She's such a sweet innocent little girl. She doesn't know the difference between stinky singers or good ones, if someone is singing, she thinks it's for her entertainment and she appreciates it, so she claps for them.

Jim and Tralee are now on the couch snuggling again. Tralee's cooing in her sleep and Jim's loving every minute of it!

Today I went out with Carey Thomas, Jim's cousin's wife. We ate lunch, shopped, and had fun. Tralee DID NOT like riding in the car with people she didn't know all that well. Every time we rode around with Carey and her two daughters Tralee SCREAMED and cried. She cried so hard at one point that she threw-up. I felt so bad! Then, as soon as Tralee and I drove home and it was just us in the car she was as happy as can be. She was also happy riding in the car on the way to meet Carey and her girls. It's weird that Tralee didn't like riding with them, she was also fine as we were shopping and eating. What a funny little girl!

That's all for the day.

Playing Games

First of all, last night Jim and I played cribbage again. It's so addicting. I don't know why I keep playing though, I always lose. I know I said I could kick Jim's butt any day of the week at cribbage, but the truth is, as hard as a try, and as good as my cards are, Jim's cards are ALWAYS better. I think the cribbage gods are looking over Jim's shoulder and helping him out in a big way. One time I finally thought I had a great hand with fourteen points, then Jim had sixteen! Last night we were playing again and Jim gets this hand! FOUR FIVES! And the card that came up was a ten. Are you kidding me? How am I supposed win when Jim gets that kind of hand. The sad part is, I keep coming back for more beatings. He's skunked me four times now! I've only won one set once! How sad is that? Anywho, we weren't even sure how to count Jim's hand, so we had to call our cribbage consultant in Canada -- Grammy Jacobs. She told him it was a 28 point hand. Then he had to call his Dad and brag about it some more. What a hoser! Oh well. I'll probably want to play crib again tonight. I must have some sort of mental disorder to want to play again, when it's next to impossible for me to win against Jim.

Today I decided to let Tralee play with snow. She's too young to actually play in it, so I went outside and got a bowl full of snow. It was so funny to watch her reaction. At first she would touch it and pull her hand away really fast, and then smile at me. Then I gave her a golf ball, and she started putting the golf ball into the snow. She loved this! As long as there was a barrier between her and the snow, she had a lot of fun playing with it. She kept touching the golf ball to it. Eventually she got braver and put her hands in it a few times. Then Tralee would pick up the bowl and tip it upside down. Some of the snow would fall out, and what was really entertaining was watching Tralee pick up the snow that fell, and put it back into the bowl. She's so smart! We had fun with the snow, then like it does, it melted and we threw it down the kitchen sink. Tralee wasn't all that sad about it, as she quickly found something else to amuse her.

I don't know if you do, but I believe in an afterlife and a pre-life. I believe in family members who have passed that are watching over us, and I believe that they can see us, help us, and visit us. Anyways, with that in mind I watched Tralee do something rather peculiar today. We were in my bedroom, sitting on the bed and all of a sudden Tralee sat up and pointed at the ceiling. Then she started laughing hysterically and moving her head back and forth as if she was watching something move from side to side. All the while, her eyes were upward. Then she fell back and laughed some more and pointed again towards our ceiling. Then, just like nothing had happened she turned towards me and did the sign for milk. So I fed her. That was it. She's never done that before, like laugh at nothing. Maybe you could argue that there was a reflection or memory that made her laugh. But, I don't think it was. Part of me wonders if some relative that has either passed on or one that hasn't been born yet came down to play with Tralee for a minute. Who knows? It was just an interesting moment. Maybe someday I'll have the answer.

That's all folks!

Big Beautiful House

So, the cabinet business has been REALLY lucrative lately, so Jim and I decided to purchase a nice beautiful house that overlooks down-town Boise. It should only cost us somewhere in the millions, so we think we're getting an AWESOME deal! I went to tour our future home yesterday with Jim. I was pleased to see that it had a swimming pool, built-ins and woodwork EVERYWHERE, high end EVERYTHING, a theater room, high ceilings, several decks, fountains inside and out, nice THICK beautiful granite on ALL the counter-tops, an elevator, two garages, and walk-in closets in every bedroom.
The kitchen is my favorite room. The appliances haven't been put in yet, but we'll have a chef grade stove and oven with 20 thousand BTUs. There's a faucet above the stove for filling my pots and pans up with ease. Pull out spice racks on either side and top and bottom of the oven/stove, and there's also two other sinks in the kitchen to make food prep and clean-up really easy. The fridge will also be HUGE, and I'll have an easy time cleaning up with two dishwashers. The paint work throughout the house is AMAZING! In the dining room there's a paint finish that Jim said is done with a putty. It looks really coppery and rustic. It's quiet nice. There's an entertainment area on the third floor with a bar, and it overlooks downstairs. The master bed room has a huge double shower area that Jim and Tralee modeled for me. In the picture that's only one side of the shower. There's every kind of faucet on each side. Then there's a drying off/warming light area that leads you into the walk-in closet. There's also a nice big tub in the master bath, his and hers sinks, a beautiful view of down-town, and his and hers potty areas. I feel the need to mention that every bedroom has its own bath room with a large tub and shower area as well. So our guests should be quiet comfortable. In the family room that's just off the kitchen there's a nice tall ceiling that has finished wooden beams scribed into the ceiling. Jim said it took the workers four weeks to complete this look. I think it was well worth it. There are so many high-end features in our future home (including a shower/changing area before you get to the pool), that I don't think I could name them all. You'll just have to come visit us in our new house. We'll probably be able to move in in about hmmm. . . . a few thousand years. Hope you can make it to our open house! Until then I hope you enjoyed the pictures of this amazing speck home Jim did cabinet work for. It's a beautiful house and there are upgrades through-out. I went to look at it yesterday while Jim was working on the cabinets. I don't think I would ever want a house like this. Don't get me wrong, if someone handed me the keys and said, "it's yours." I wouldn't complain. But, when I'm able to choose my dream house, it won't be one like this. There are parts of this home that I REALLY like, like the kitchen, but overall, it's just not for me. I'm sure whoever ends up buying this spec home will be very happy. It would make a GREAT entertainment house. So if there are rich people around here who like to throw parties, this is the house for them!

Here's a front-view picture of the home. And here's a photo of the view from the master bedroom.


Do you like this picture? It's a fake "Tralee and Jim are just walking up the stairs" picture. I really told them to "STOP! I'm going to take your picture!!! Just act natural!"

Service

So Jim and I finished reading a book called The Message by the late Lance Richardson. It's about his near death experience. It was very interesting, and I would recommend it as a nice quick read. In it the author learns how important service is. His Spirit Paradise companions explain that service is the action form of love. So, Jim and I both realized that we need to try to do more to serve others.

Yesterday Jim was late getting home from work. When I asked why it had taken him so long he explained that he drove by a hitch hiker and wasn't going to stop. Then it struck him that maybe he could serve this man. So, he turned around, picked him up, and took him for some food at the near-by Flying J. Then Jim gave him all the money he had left in his wallet, and bid him good day. I was impressed that Jim would do something like that. I usually scoff at the hitch hikers around here, as there are A LOT of them. I also don't think I would pick one up, because I usually have Tralee in the car, but maybe there's something else I could do, like smile instead of ignore them. A smile can go a long way. Anyways, I just wanted to say that I'm grateful I have such a thoughtful husband. He's the kind of guy that ALWAYS pulls over when he sees another car in distress. I can't tell you how many times I've watched him push a car to the side of the road, helped change a tire, or helped jump a car's battery. He's just a nice guy, and I love him lots! That's probably why I'm able to serve him by cleaning his dirty clothes, cooking his meals, and rubbing his feet when he asks. He does a lot for me and Tralee too! I think I found myself quite the catch!!!

Snowy Snowy Day

There's really not a lot of snow in Boise, and if it does snow it usually melts the same day it falls. We woke up yesterday morning with a blanket of snow on the ground, and we fully expected it to melt by the afternoon. It didn't! In fact, the snow kept falling all day long! Tralee is not quite old enough to enjoy it, she doesn't even like to touch the frosty flakes. However, Corky had so much fun frolicking in the fluff! Corky kept scratching at the door to go out and play all day long. Jim made and threw snow balls for her throughout the day. It was hilarious to watch Corky try to find the snowball her Daddy JUST threw. She doesn't understand that the balls of snow fall apart, she just keeps digging and stuffing her face down in search of the balls. What's even more hilarious is watching Corky frolic like Thumper through the snow. I tried to capture some pictures of it. She bounds like mighty dog up and over the snow that's as tall as she is. We were all laughing as we watched her enjoy the snow. I tried to capture some photos of it, but I don't think you'll ever appreciate it, unless you watch Corky pounce through the snow.


This is my favorite picture of Corky from yesterday. She looks like she's flying! MIGHTY DOG!!!
This is so you can see how deep the snow is, Corky is almost buried as she stuffs her nose in the snow to look for the snowball.
Here's a picture of Tralee from yesterday. For all you who need your "Tralee Fix" for the day and won't be satisfied with JUST pictures of Corky (Grandma Charlene).

Zerberts and Other Things

We captured a few pictures and a video of Tralee getting zerberts from her Mommy and Daddy. We were changing her into her PJ's and couldn't resist giving zerberts to her bare tummy. It was too cute!




We also finally put together Tralee's high chair. She loves it, and I can't beleive we didn't put it together sooner. It's nice to have her in there and focus on eating food. She's been a great little eater!

Here is Tralee trying out her Daddy's Medicus Driver. She's going to be a GREAT golfer!

Jim wanted me to post this crib game. He thinks it's SOOOO funny that he beat my by this much. The truth is, we were playing after midnight and I was SO tired I honestly didn't care or know what was happening. I remember at one point laughing hysterically over something that wasn't very funny at all. I was just SO tired. Jim thinks he's so awesome for beating me this bad, the truth is I could kick his BUTT at Cribbage any day of the week! That's right I said it! So there!!

Where's Mommy's Nose?