The Ricke Adventures

Daniel's Last Solo Day :)

2012-02-12T15:08:00.002-07:00

So technically Daniel has his older brother Slick....:) but as of tomorrow, he will have to officially split Mommy, Daddy, and EVERYTHING for that matter with a human sibling! Today we went to the park to play as the three of us and then we went to church. Right now Daddy and Daniel are spending some alone time playing with some trucks, and tonight Daniel and I will get some extra cuddles in. Here are some pics and video we want to share before we bombard our blog with new baby stuff :)

First, Daniel and I have been bumping bellies this whole pregnancy. We call it "summo" and it usually cracks us both up. Here is a quick video of us doing it:

And a photo:

Here is Daniel and Daddy playing on the playground equipment:

And now with toys after church:

We love Daniel so much and we can't wait for this NEW RICKE ADVENTURE to begin!! :)

Counting down to delivery day

2012-02-01T16:56:00.000-07:00

In the past week David went to El Paso to finish packing up our house. We are so blessed that Gramma Jane went with him and helped pack AND clean our whole house! We owe her so much and COULD NOT HAVE DONE IT WITHOUT HER! Our neighbors also helped pack and we are grateful for them too. :) We hope to get a renter or offer on our house soon so we can move forward.

A few days before Daddy left, he brought home a white hard hat for Daniel to enjoy. It was pretty cute that Daniel also wanted to wear Daddy's boots:

And it get's cuter still! Daniel still loves trains but he also still loves semi-trucks which is neat since his great grandpa Joe (where Daniel got his middle name) was a trucker for most of his life. Daniel's favorite program on Netflix is a video on semi trucks that he watches a lot. We think his favorite part is the theme song which plays at the beginning and twice at the end. It is so funny to see him "dance" and "sing" (and we use those terms lightly) that we had to record it. It is a bit long 1 min, 30 secondsish but Daniel just gets so into it:)

And last but not least, we took Daniel to my doctor's appointment yesterday to hear the baby's heart beat. He or she has a heart rate of 160 beats per minute and Daniel thought it was pretty cool. Sometimes he seems really excited for the baby to come and other times when we talk about it, it seems to make him sad. We will see when the time comes which is not too far from now! We are counting down to delivery day and here is a bump pic comparing 17 weeks to 37 weeks (where we are now):

First post of 2012...catch up time!

2012-01-13T18:34:00.000-07:00

Sorry it has been so long since we've had a post...things are busy as usual. We went to El Paso at the end of December and we worked on getting more stuff out of the house. It is just so difficult getting things done with a toddler and a bun in the oven! We were there for a week and Daniel got sick over the weekend so that sort of slowed down a lot of packing progress. Here is Daniel before he got sick playing in Daddy's shoes...lol:

Eventually Daniel got over being sick and we were able to go out and meet with some of our El Paso friends. We did another trip to the zoo, and no, it never gets old; especially since Daniel got to go with his bestie, Allen and me with Denise. David was a good sport and came too and took a lot of pictures. Here are some of our favorites:

And here we are leaving Texas and me hugging my friend Dolores who I loving call "Sunshine":

I won't be able to travel to Texas anymore until after the baby is born. Speaking of baby, we have the C-section day all scheduled for Feb. 15th so let's see if this bun holds on. :) Also, we have a girl's name set but still no luck on a boy's name and that is worrisome since I think we are having a boy! lol I'll post another official bump post soon. :)

Christmas 2011

2011-12-26T21:09:00.000-07:00

This year Daniel REALLY enjoyed Christmas. We prepped him about the birth of Jesus and kept santa talk light. However, commercialism still won out...mostly he was excited about presents. We will cut him some slack though, he is only 2 after all! :) Since Daddy had to work on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, we celebrated early and on time. We spent the 21st, 22nd, and 23rd in Wickenburg. Here is a picture Daniel took at Gramma Jane's house on the 21st because he just loved her tree:

We had to keep reminding him that not all of the presents were for him as he kept trying to open Preston's and Kayla's....hee hee. Then on the 22nd we went to Pops' and Gramma Deb's house in the afternoon to exchange presents with Becky, Chip, and Charli. Daniel got a Gigatent with tunnels and he loved playing with Chip in it. We forgot our camera so we don't have any pictures from there.

Next, it was on to Gigi's and Poppa Steve's for the night where we celebrated with Auntie Val, Untle Joe, Cousin Preston, Cousin Kayla, Auntie Stepi, Untle Ethan, Doug, Shannon, Gretchen and Chris. Once again we forgot the camera so no pictures from there either. Daniel had so much fun playing with everyone and everyone was great about playing with our ornery 2 year old. Daniel also tried to open other people's presents there as well....d'oh!

On the 23rd we packed up and headed back to Globe. On the 24th, Untle Gene and Dana came to town. We waited until the evening of the 24th for Daniel to open his Globe presents. Here he is opening his present of clothes from Untle Gene and Dana:

And here he is much happier with his new remote control semi-truck from Untle Gene and Dana. I don't know if you can tell from the pic, but he was SQUEALING with delight!

The night of the 25th (once Daddy was home) Daniel got to open his big present from Gramma Jane...a remote control train!!! He LOVED IT!!! Here is a video of him enjoying it:

We are so grateful for our family. Thank-you everyone for a wonderful Christmas!

Road Warriors

2011-12-16T19:46:00.000-07:00

Can we be certified as road warriors yet? LOL A couple of weeks ago we went to El Paso for a week. We still had no camera charger, so no pictures. :( It took us about 9 hours to get from El Paso back to Globe because of a big storm that hit right before we had to get on the road. We were only in Globe for a few days before David had a 5 day off stretch. So, we packed up again and headed to Wickenburg. We feel really blessed that Daniel does not mind being in the car and going for long drives! We stayed with Gigi and Poppa Steve and they had a surprise for Daniel when we got there. They had a really cool cardboard house for Daniel to color and play inside. He pretty much loved it! Here is a picture with Daniel and cousin Kayla enjoying his new digs taken w/Gigi's camera:

Another highlight was Daddy "spotting" Daniel as he rode his tricycle down Gigi's dirt hill. I was freaked out but did the video recording with Gigi's camera anyway:

And then there was Gigi's neighbors' horses:

And then there was all kinds of visiting with Gramma Jane and eating all of her yummy food! (sorry no pics from there)

After two days in Wickenburg we headed to Laughlin, NV to visit w/Gramma Elaine and Grandpa Tom. Daniel is 2 1/2 years old and he had never met them so we were really excited for them to meet and for us to visit! We checked into the Golden Nugget (the room rate was super cheap since it was a Monday) and we got to see the Colorado River. Then we went to check out Gramma Elaine and Grandpa Tom's place and have dinner. Daniel really enjoyed his great grandparents and we think they really enjoyed him. Here are some pictures even though Daniel was being squirrely about it the whole time:

The next morning we went for a visit again with Gramma Elaine and Grandpa Tom and then headed straight back for Wickenburg and to Gramma Jane's house for more food...LOL. We then went to Ma Deb and Pops' house for late afternoon/dinner time. So basically what we are saying is we have been on the go for pretty much the whole month of December and it doesn't look like we are slowing down anytime soon. The up side is we are on the road so that we can enjoy family and it makes all the mileage worth it...*squish*. Yup, I am a sap. :)

Baby Bump 29 weeks

2011-12-11T22:09:00.000-07:00

Well, I haven't lost the camera, but I have lost the charger for the camera battery. That makes us really sad because we love taking pictures and updating our blog...:( And I feel really bad b/c I have three pictures of Daniel in utero taken just for documentation, and only 1 prior to this post of this baby. It really isn't second baby syndrome (you know, less pictures of kids as you have more and more); it is just we can't take pictures w/o a working camera. Luckily we are in Wickenburg and Gigi has a fine working camera! So here at 29 weeks is how our bun in the oven is cooking:

What do you think we are having, a boy or girl? It is sort of fun no knowing but also sort of killing us not knowing! :) Hopefully we will get another picture soon and I'll be back in the Cardinals shirt. :)

Wickenburg Trip

2011-11-13T21:43:00.004-07:00

Well once again late to post the latest and greatest. We took a trip to Wickenburg over a week ago and had a blast! We visited with family, took a small trip to Anthem park with Gigi and just relaxed. We got to see a gymkhana (horse riding) and Daniel is now in love with horses. Daniel helped Pops (Grandpa Steve) get rid of a brush pile that alerted the Wickenburg Fire Department. Once again we could have done better with the photo/video part but forgot the charger for the camera and as you probably guessed it, it died.
Here is a little vid I threw together before the juice ran out lol:

Thanks to Grandma Jane for all the hospitality; we are still rationing those awesome chocolate chip cookies!
-Daniel's Dad

Halloween Part 4!

2011-11-09T14:20:00.002-07:00

Okay, last post about Halloween, we promise. :) So on Halloween day David had to work so Daniel and I went trunk-or-treating at the Lutheran church, just the two of us. It was kind of sad walking around without our spout but things got better when my cousin Jenille showed up with her two kids. Here is a pic of the three kids as it was starting to get dark:

From there Daniel and I went back home to wait for Daddy. Daddy got home from work, got dressed as the spout, and we took off for a church fall carnival at a local Baptist church. It was really neat because every activity was free and they had hotdogs, nachos, a cakewalk, booths, live music, and best of all....jumping balloons! Daniel had a blast jumping around even though there were a few kids that kept bumping in to him. Here is a picture of the three of us:

And here is the video of Daniel being a bouncy, itsy bitsy spider:

Finally on the way home I thought to record Daniel saying "Trick-or-treat" and "thank-you for the candy":

Coming up: Our week long adventure in Wickenburg!

Halloween Part 3!

2011-11-03T08:08:00.002-06:00

Here is part 3: All three of us as a family went to our playgroup party the Friday of Halloween weekend. I fully intended to take pictures...but that just did not happen. We had a lot of fun though! It was at our friend Rachel's house and Daniel has been there many times so he felt right at home. He just went room to room and even back and forth from inside the house to the backyard. Cutie boy. David on the other hand stayed inside the whole time but entertained the older boys by playing poker! They loved having a guy around and I think David felt pretty cool too :) I helped lay out all the food and bonded with all the other moms. :)

Then later that night we went to the Halloween Carnival in downtown Globe. We hung out with my cousin Jenille, her husband John, and her two kids Rachael and Ryan. It was great to go from booth to booth and let Daniel "cheat" to win different games. He was so little they let him just walk right up to whatever and win the games so he could get his favorite thing in the whole world, CANDY! Again, I meant to take pictures but it was kind of crowded down there so I didn't. In addition to the games we also went on a mini hay ride and Daniel got a big kick out of that. Here are some pictures Jenille took with her phone though:

Near the cake walk.

On the hayride.

As if all that was not enough in one day, we then went to Jenille's church for their Fall Carnival. By then Daniel did not care about the booths; he only wanted to be in the jumping balloon! We finally got him out and we all went to enjoy the free food: hotdogs, cotton candy, popcorn, etc. (all things healthy lol)! We leave you with this disturbing pic:

Eating a hotdog!

P.S. One more Halloween post to go!

Halloween Part 2!

2011-10-26T21:50:00.001-06:00

Fall has finally arrived. There was a nice breeze all day and Daniel and I really enjoyed being outside! Here he is helping fall along:

Then tonight we went trunk or treating! So fun! Daniel got pretty good at saying "Trick or treat" and "thank you for the candy". Daniel was the Itsy Bitsy Spider, Daddy was the water spout (great sport daddy!), and I was down came the rain AND out came the sun (the other side of the apron):

Next up: Playgroup party on Friday. We will probably be tweaking the costumes a bit as we go along so look for more pics and perhaps a few videos in the next few days....lol

Halloween Part 1!

2011-10-24T14:57:00.000-06:00

I've always loved Halloween; David, not so much. But this year seems to be different and even David is putting on a happy face for many of the activities we have planned and even the ones we haven't. :) For example, we went to Wal-Mart the other day and a vendor was at the front of the store giving out free candy and taking pictures. The vendor sent the pictures to the photo department and by the time we were checking out, we got these two pictures for free!

A few days later Daniel and I convinced Daddy that the pumpkin needed carving. We all worked to scrape out the guts and it only seemed fitting that we have a cat-o-lantern since Daniel is still crazy for the kitty cats.

Next up on the agenda is trunk-or-treating on Wednesday. Then a party on Friday and however many more activities we can squeeze in during the weekend until the BIG DAY on Monday! Hooray for Halloween! :)

Random pictures and not so random pictures!

2011-10-14T16:18:00.000-06:00

We have our camera back and so now we have some random pics to post!

Auntie Stephanie's house in August playing with Uncle Ethan's technology:

Gramma Jane's house in Sept:


Morning of sonogram

First October playdate that we were able to attend:

And some not so random pics of Daniel, his two year photos by a professional! Here is the preview provided by Photos by Meg. You are awesome Megan Robbins!!

First Sonogram (and maybe only?) for Baby #2

2011-09-30T17:13:00.000-06:00

Today was an exciting and blessed day. :) We got to see the baby for the first time. He or she looks so comfy being in the womb! He or she is still in a hammock position (breech) but that was just the way Daniel was too for a really long time, and it is totally normal. We were good and did not cheat so we just know that we are having one baby and won't find out gender until delivery day. We may end up having one more sonogram towards the end of pregnancy or we may not but no matter what we are enjoying the pics and video we got today. Daniel was a little weirded out about me lying on the table but once the "show" (the baby) started on the "tv" (the projected computer screen) he thought it was pretty funny. Of course, the excitement for him only lasted a few minutes but what can we say; he is only two! Anyway, we hope you enjoy these pics and clip. Love to everyone!

Sucking his or her thumb. :)

Fist pumping!


Grabbing the knee.

And now our little one in motion. :)

On the go...A LOT!

2011-09-24T11:04:00.002-06:00

We had a great time in Colorado a couple of weeks ago but we didn't have our camera with us...:( Thankfully "Ma Deb" and "Pops" (as Daniel calls them) let us borrow theirs so we were able to get a few pictures here and there. Daniel loved calling for the horses, his favorite being Boss. He also loved playing with the cat, Butch, and running outside. He got to pick veggies from the garden and ride the quad. We even spent an afternoon downtown so Daniel could check out the narrow gauge railroad/train! Auntie Sue came by for a visit one day so that was pretty cool too. There was just so much to explore! It truly was a great time hanging out with Ma Deb and Pops, Auntie Sue and also spending time in the great outdoors.

Playing at the Durango park.

His first ever rock climbing!

Hula hooping with Aunt Sue.

Waiting for the train to show up.

After the Colorado trip we came back to Globe and Daniel got to go watch some soccer games (my cousin Jenille's kids were playing). He really wanted to be on the field but the youngest age you can play is 5 so there is still a LONG time to wait.

Getting ready for the games to start.

Then we made a quick 3 day trip to El Paso because our neighbor Grandpa Meza had passed away. We were grateful that we were able to visit but sad that we were there w/o him.

Finally, yesterday we went to Tucson to watch Daniel's Aunt Valarie get her honor cords from the U of A for her great work during her freshman year. Needless to say we have been very busy and have more trips on the horizon. Next stop: Wickenburg on Wed. to stay with Grandma Jane for a few days and visit all the rest of our Wickenburg family!

All about baby bump #2!

2011-08-28T18:54:00.002-06:00

So far this pregnancy has gone really fast. We have only had two doctors appointments but everything seems to be going along pretty smoothly. Our baby is 15 weeks (2nd trimester) and in 3-4 weeks we will have our first (and possibly only) sonogram. We are not going to find out the gender, which I think we said before, so we have to reinforce that with the person that does do the sonogram. No cheating this time around! :) We are going to have the baby in Mesa instead of Globe because the hospitals are nicer there. Plus, there is an opportunity to have a vaginal birth instead of a C-section at the hospital in Mesa. We are excited to have that as an option but know that nothing is set in stone. We also basically have first names picked out for either a boy or a girl so that is pretty cool, but we still have to pick out middle names for each. No, we are not taking suggestions! LOL :) So just as we did with Daniel, here is a pic of our baby bump so far:

and we will continue to use the same outfit until this baby comes out! :)

P.S. This is not baby related. I got a haircut and it was really bad. So the next day I had to go to another hairdresser and have her fix it. It definitely looks A LOT better than it was but still not my favorite hair-do and I didn't even fix it for this pic. I look like I am trying to be Dora Explorer or that weird character guy with the blond hair from the Wallace & Ladmo show!

What Daniel's been up to!

2011-08-10T11:00:00.000-06:00

Daniel has been having a blast with all of his birthday toys and even his birthday clothes! He has also been taking pictures like crazy, playing with his Auntie Val, and helping Daddy around the house. He is getting so big, so fast! The other day he surprised all of us by identifying numbers 1-6. He can count to 8 by himself also. Plus, he has been going on play dates and walks, and visiting his Great Grandma Elida almost every day. He sleeps in his own big boy car bed and chases the dogs all around the house. He knows a handful of colors and talks in short sentences. He likes to dial and talk on the cell phone. Oh, and he loves to clean (like using the broom and swiffer). We took him to the doctor the other day for his 2 year checkup and he looks great. He is in the 55th percentile for height (35inches) and 50th percentile for weight (24 lbs, 7 oz). He also knows there is a baby in my tummy. We ask him if he wants a brother or sister and he says "sister." We follow up with, "a boy or girl" and he says in his sweet voice, "gurl". :) Here are some pictures to go with this jumble of a post. :)

On the slide near the house.

At another park the same day.

He took this picture of the moon. Pretty good, eh?

Daddy thought they should try planking....lol!

Hanging out with Reaghan during a play date.

Watching videos w/Auntie Val. His teeth were hurting....:(

Another pic by Daniel. Not so good quality this time!

Daniel's corner of the room. The walls are a "chick"color but we are trying to "boy" it up a bit!!

No pictures...of Daniel's Part 2 birthday party:(

2011-08-02T21:40:00.000-06:00

Hey all! Daniel had a wonderful Part 2 birthday party. Lots of people came to the party and our friend Desirae was "taking" pictures with our camera. Unfortunately, she did not realize the memory card was not in the camera so....we actually got ZERO pictures from his party. :( We are really, really sad about this. Luckily Auntie Stephanie took video but is not sure how to upload it. Then Gigi took actual pictures but we haven't seen those yet.....

So most likely this is the only post we will get of Part 2 birthday party! We just want to say thank-you to everyone who came to celebrate the special day and a special shout out to the people who came from out of town. :)

The memory card has been loaded into the camera so hopefully we can start capturing more fun moments. :) P.S. Our doctor's appointment for the newest little Ricke is scheduled for August 5th. :)

Daniel's TWO!!!

2011-07-19T20:28:00.005-06:00

I can't believe our little boy is TWO!! So crazy how time goes....! He is so big now, having full on conversations and picking up words (even if you don't want him to). :) He loves playing with trucks, and anything sports related too. Plus, he loves the moon, kitties, dogs, playing on the computer and taking pictures with our digital camera. He cracks me up all the time with stuff he comes up with. For example, we drove through a rain storm recently and he loved the rain. "Wow! It's raining! Rain!" and then when it stopped, "More rain, please." Another example, Daniel has figured out that most cameras flash and that people tend to ask you to say "Cheese" or say "Smile" when they want to take your picture. So now, when you say either one of those things whether you have a camera OR NOT, he will put on a great, big smile and close his eyes! HILARIOUS! His laugh is truly contagious and words can't describe how much I love our little boy. --The Momma

Daniel's little b-day get together was fun and he is loving his round one toys but I really enjoyed the time after. We went to a restaurant and Daniel told the waitress he is "Two" and then she asked if he could have ice cream and he answered loud and clear "YES PLEASE!" When we got home Daniel and I walked to the small park that is about 4-5 blocks away. He saw a bunny before me and let me know excitingly. He definitely has an eye for wildlife and animals. When we got to the park we went down the slide and now his favorite is to slide after me and bump into me and then laugh hysterically. One time going down the slide I saw a wandering dog and we went to go see it and it ran away. Daniel was upset because he loves dogs and cats but agreed if we went back to the slide the dog may come back. Sure enough it did and I was convinced once Daniel got close it would just run away again and Daniel would lose interest. Not the case, the dog trusted Daniel and rolled over in the grass and allowed him to pick all the grass out of his long hair. They then ran around in the grass for 15 minutes and was just adorable! We then laid on the side by side slides and looked at the clouds and some birds flying by. I love that he still remembers what I told him about 2 months ago when I ask him, "Daniel who made the sky?" he responds proudly "GOD!" We then started back for home and the dog followed, Daniel giggling the whole way back because he was doing his high stepping run and the dog was enjoying it. How our boy amazes us on the stuff he asks, does and understands just shows how prayers are answered and heard. I still remember that Christmas night in the Colorado ER praying if it was HIS will nothing would happen to our unborn baby!
-Daniel's Dad

And now here are a few photos from Round 1 Party:

Krabby patty, lettuce, tomatoes, and a festive Sponge Bob table. :)

The flame from his candle kind of freaked him out! LOL

"What do I do with this?"

"Daddy will help."

Sad the fun had to end. Thanks for coming though!

New Baby...In Utero!

2011-06-19T19:22:00.003-06:00

So we know it is not traditional to share good news until the beginning of the second trimester, but we are just so excited that we can not wait. We have not gone to the doctor yet, only got a positive pregnancy test from Clear Blue Easy Digital (thanks Denise)! :) We will update the blog on pregnancy progress and all that good stuff. Plus we added a widget to follow the progress of our bun. Of course, after our first doctor's visit the due date may change but we are rolling with it for now.

Finally, we have discussed that we want the gender of this baby to be a surprise but we will see when the time comes if we don't just change our minds. :)

We love this scripture and end this post on it:

NIV---
For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb.

Globe & Wick

2011-06-14T15:43:00.003-06:00

Daniel shows signs of being ready to get potty trained so we tried big boy underwear since we have been here in Globe. He looked super cute just running around in them and he seemed to really like them. However, he did not like heading to the toilet and so I cleaned up a lot of messes that day! He did not seem to make any progress training wise that day but we will try, try again. You will see him modeling his cute big boy undies in the first couple of pics in the slideshow below.

Then on David's first weekend off from the new job, we headed to Wickenburg. It was so awesome to spend time with more family! Kayla and I had a great time with pedicures and face masks and Daniel sure loved all the attention from cousin Kayla, cousin Preston, his girlfriend, Uncle Joe, Poppa Steve, Auntie Valerie, and of course, HIS Gigi. Plus, I know David enjoyed just hanging around! :) Before we left Wickenburg on Sunday we even headed to the park and rode bikes...fun times! Hope you like the slideshow below. :)

El Paso to Globe

2011-06-05T16:21:00.004-06:00

Well, things in El Paso have been a challenge financially. Both David and I have sought many job opportunities there but all the doors were closed. The Lord, however, did open the door for us to come to Globe. So, here we are now posting this blog post from my parent's house. We will stay here for however long they will have us (or we will have them....hahahahahah) and we are not sure what will happen with El Paso. We have made no concrete decisions on our house in El Paso, but one thing is for sure, WE ALREADY MISS OUR EL PASO FAMILY. We love them so much! Here are some pics from a couple of days before we left, and the day that we did leave for here.

Daniel decided we don't need a great laptop for Globe......

Vashti and Daniel hanging out. :)

Daniel and Ms. Carmen

We love Ms. Carmen!

Hugging Daniel's girl, Vashti before we left.

Did we mention we love and miss you guys?! :)

A fun-filled weekend with fun-filled people!

2011-05-23T15:54:00.010-06:00

On Friday we picked up Desirae and Leah from the airport. Then we went to Denny's where we met up with Denise and Allen and had a tasty lunch. Next we went to the zoo. I know, I know, we have been going a lot, but Daniel really loves it and so do we!!!:) Here are some pics from this zoo trip:

Outside of the Kalahari Research Station.

Watching the sea lions swim around.

Daniel throwing side eye to a lady! haahahah

Then on Saturday we went to Lydia's Sweet 16 Party. We were invited to dinner beforehand at R & G's restaurant and that buffet was yummy! Thanks to Vashti, Lydia, and her parents for having us. :) From there it was just a short walk to the Fireman's Hall where the party actually took place. It was so funny to see Daniel mesmerized by the disco lights and music. He only made it until about 9:30PM but he was so much fun to watch until then!

Walking towards the light.

Vashti trying unsuccessfully to get Daniel to dance.

Daniel's so cool he wears his Daddy's sunglasses at night!

On Sunday we went to church and got some rest but we had to gear up for today...Gloria's birthday! Here are some pics from this morning:

She may not look happy, but she is on the inside...don't let her face fool you! ;0)

Good friends and good smiles.

The AWANA Grand Prix 2011

2011-05-15T06:57:00.005-06:00

This is a really fun competition that we do every year for AWANA. This was the first year that we actually entered a car for our family though! Daniel and I (Adrea) had to stay home since Daniel is just getting over being sick. But, David got to go with our neighbor Julian and had a great time. Here are some of the pics from the competition and video:

View of the track.

On display (our car is the white one).

Our car in action (we are in Lane 1).

David and Julian after the race.

And here is what our car looked like after the race:
The little Daniel guy had lost his arm (and he had been holding a real washcloth), and the faucet had broken off too! Plus, we had lost some "bubbles" and the letter "I" was missing from "THE DANIMAL". On the up side, we won TWO trophies! We got 2nd place for design (they judged it before the cars raced so our car was still in one piece) and 3rd place for speed:

Hopefully next year we will all be able to go as a family! Here's hoping! :)

Daniel's best buddy

2011-05-06T14:40:00.009-06:00

Daniel's best buddy is named Allen (we've blogged about their play dates before). Since the weather has been so nice, Daniel and Allen have been spending extra time together! :) Here they are hanging out at a park by Allen's house:

Walking along.

Ruling the playground.

As a birthday present for me (Adrea) my parents got us a zoo membership! So of course, it only made sense that Daniel and Allen go to the zoo together. :) Here are some pictures from today's adventure:

Riding the tiger.

Riding the elephant.

"Look at the REAL tiger!"

Taking a breather.

Love the sea lion.

Up close and personal.

Live action!

Time to go.

Easter Weekend

2011-04-29T12:24:00.005-06:00

On Friday night, Good Friday, we went to church and it was an AMAZING service. It was an opportunity to sing out praise and worship to Jesus. Have we mentioned before that we love our church Cielo Vista? :)

On Easter Saturday we switched gears a bit. We went to the Armijo pool for a water Easter egg hunt. We did it last year so we were really looking forward to it this year. We invited friends to meet us for the hunt and we did have some good friends show up. It was a great time of fellowship and fun! Daniel was pretty hilarious about the actual hunt though because he kept picking up eggs and instead of putting them in his Easter bag, he kept throwing them and yelling "Ball". LOL :) Here are some pics from this year:

On Easter Sunday we got dressed up and went to church. The service was packed and it was wonderful to see so many new people and know that so many people were getting to hear the good news; a perfect way to end the Easter weekend.

It's been a crazy weekend...(part 3 of NOT so many)

2011-04-27T21:41:00.006-06:00

So we thought there would be more posts than this about our weekend trip to AZ but it turns out we only have enough stuff for a total of 3! :) So after the wedding on Saturday we stayed at Kimmie's house in Mesa and Sunday morning we packed up our stuff. We drove a few miles away and met some of our family at a restaurant that was fabulous! Don't remember the name and we forgot to take pictures....:( We met up with Gigi, Poppa Steve, Auntie Stephi, Auntie Val, Cousin Preston, and Cousin Kayla. Daniel was pretty excited to be eating breakfast with all that family! The Easter Bunny (Gigi and Poppa Steve) even brought Daniel a basketball hoop that is now set up in the backyard and it was just so nice to visit. We only wish it could have lasted longer, but Daniel was ready for a NAP by the time we left:

After the breakfast we headed to Globe, where another Easter bunny had stuff for Daniel (Grandma "Maw", and Grandpa Barry). Here are pics from Daniel and his first ever Easter basket:

It's been a crazy weekend...(part 2 of many)

2011-04-17T15:36:00.012-06:00

So after all that fun time at the fair it was time to say goodbye to Pops and Granma Deb. We got in the car and drove to Mesa to get ready for the wedding celebration. We were/are so excited for Kimmie and Chris. It was a beautiful night in Mesa with wonderful company. Daniel was excited from the moment we got there. :) Check him out shaking his little booty:

And here are some pics:

Eating a dinner roll on the back patio.

Clapping for the cute couple!

"Hey, that drink looks pretty good!"

Crashed out from partying so hard. :)

Its been a crazy weekend...(part 1 of many)

2011-04-17T08:16:00.005-06:00

This weekend we are in Arizona. We started on Friday night arriving at the Pima County Fair where my (David) Dad and Debbie are working out of. The next morning Daniel was ready to experience his first fair!

We started watching the tractors:
Then came the petting zoo:

Next, Danimal went off roading with another little boy:

After that Pops rode with Danimal on the elephant ride:

Finally, we went on the carousel TWO TIMES!!!:

It was a great way to spend a Saturday!!-Daniel's Dad

Daniel's Been a Busy Boy

2011-03-28T20:31:00.004-06:00

Well, Daniel can find trouble in the most innocent of places. :) He was eating taquitos for lunch one day and I (Adrea) let him have two, one for each hand. He was chowing down on one and I left the room to check on laundry. When I came back Daniel was laughing and sitting in a basket (he had dumped all the toys) and Slick was scratching at one Daniel's Christmas presents from Gramma Jane...yeah, Daniel dropped his taquito in it!! Crazy, busy boy!!!

Taquito in hand, in basket, mess all around.

The taquito in the toy. Yes, I got it out. :)

And we have been going to the park lately in the afternoons or evenings because the weather has been so nice. Here is some video David took:

Finally, here are a couple of picks from today's park adventure w/us and Vashti and Julian.

The three pals on the slide.

Daniel trying to get to his girl Vashti. :)

Back to AWANAs

2011-03-23T20:54:00.002-06:00

We are back in El Paso and Wednesdays are great. We get to serve at a wonderful church and Daniel gets to play for about 2o minutes with the "big kids" before going into the nursery. Here is Daniel after climbing up a ladder to get on Noah's Ark:

Man he is growing up FAST! We are so blessed to have our "little man."
-Daniel's Dad

Home Repair

2011-03-17T07:24:00.005-06:00

So this week is David's Spring Break. We usually come to Globe and spend a few days and then go to Wickenburg for a few days. This time David volunteered for us to stay in Globe so that he could work on my mom and dad's house. He is such a wonderful, generous, talented husband! He has been working so hard and we appreciate him more than words could ever describe.

While David's been working, Daniel's been watching. The pictures below are Daniel looking out the living room window with Slick (our doggie) and Abby (my mom's dog) at David using the circular saw. The sun was bright and I forgot to change the settings on the camera but they still turned out cute. :)

"Look at that."

"Daaaaaaaaaaaad!!

Some Changes

2011-03-06T11:03:00.003-07:00

The tail end of February and beginning of March have brought some changes to the Ricke household. First, David was able to quit his second job and I (Adrea) got a work from home job instead. It has been really stressful and an adjustment for David who is now in charge of Daniel for the afternoon/evenings but it really does seem to be what is best for our family. We are now able to spend the weekends free and clear altogether as a family instead of having to rush home on the weekends for David to do that second job. We are grateful for this opportunity but please keep me in prayer as this job is really hard to do and I don't seem to be making the minimum requirements.

So all of that seems pretty petty compared to the news we got a few days ago. We found out that Grandma Elaine had a heart attack and was in the hospital. Praise be to God that she is doing well now and didn't have to have open heart surgery but stints instead. Please keep her in prayer too for a swift recovery.

Finally, we are all sick in our household as of today. David started and has a full blown cold now. Daniel is starting to get a cold (fever, coughing, and goopy nose), and I am sneezing more and more in addition to feeling tired. Here are David and Daniel passed out on the couch about an hour ago (and they are still sleeping this way).

So sweet.
(P.S. Daniel has a really cute haircut but it is hard to see from this angle). :)

February Final Update

2011-02-27T15:58:00.005-07:00

Daniel has been LOTS of fun this month... Picking up from Valentine's Day, Daniel has had some time with his dad (weird writing in 3rd person...). Most recently we spent Saturday at Mount Franklin Church for an AWANA Quizzing and Daniel had a BLAST with all the sidewalk and open space:

"Dad are you ready for this playing marathon?"

"I can do this all day dad, how about you?"

Before that Daniel was digging the hide and go seek game:
Then there was Daniel's career of professional photography:

"Camera Strap"
(no, when you are this good, it is not impossible to snap the camera's own strap)

"Ball"
(not only the photographer's fav, but look at those angles and reference point)

"My Crazy Father"
(on this one there was some assistance but all photographers need an understudy(Mom), right?)

Finally here's the previously posted pictures on Facebook. Daniel the Green-thumb:

"When you water, you create mud, FUN!"

"Let's get more water for mud pies!"

What a blessed month with Daniel
-Daniel's Dad

February Snow! :)

2011-02-09T10:41:00.007-07:00

The day Pops and Grandma Deb left we had a HUGE storm roll in. We got snow and school was closed for four days because the roads were icy, we had rolling blackouts, and then we had a water shortage....GOOD TIMES. ;) So even though all that wacky stuff was going on, the good part was that Daddy got to stay home and have a stay-cation. :)

Mom & Daniel in the snow.

Dad & Daniel in the snow.

Slick & Daniel in the snow.

In other exciting news, on February 8th Daniel was in the bathroom and he indicated that he wanted to sit on the potty. We put him on and sure enough...HE WENT!!!! He hasn't done it since but it is promising to know that he is interested and not afraid to use the potty.

Finally, the cold weather really took a lot out of Daniel. We didn't realize how much until Feb. 9th. He was playing in the living room and he laid down to play. After a few minutes, he just fell asleep right there on the carpet:

January Stuff

2011-02-09T10:20:00.007-07:00

We've had a busy and fun January and still have fun stuff on the horizon for this month too. :) We have been going on a lot of play dates with our friend Denise and her son Allen. Here is a pic from the park on one of the play dates:

Checking out the metal "piano."

Then we had Pops and Granma Deb come and visit. It was so fun to spend time with them and as a extra special bonus, they built a fence in the front so Daniel can now enjoy the front yard in a safer way!!! :) Thank-you so much!

Enjoying the fenced yard.

Watching an airplane from the front yard.

Hanging out w/the Pops and the doggies.

Hanging out w/Granma Deb.

We also got to go to our church's annual chili cook-off and car show with Dad, Pops, and Grandma Deb. Daniel LOVED the huge trucks and there was even one vehicle that had chalkboard paint that he got to write on. Check out the cool pics:

"Can I climb in and drive???!?"

"This one looks good for driving too."

Leaving his mark on the tailgate. :)

So it's still January

2011-01-31T07:29:00.005-07:00

And that means we can still finish posting about Christmas! :) So after a wonderful Christmas Eve we spent Christmas morning with Pops and Grandma Deb. We ate the tastiest biscuits and gravy and Daniel opened up some more presents. For some reason Pops and Grandma Deb thought it would be great to give out candy canes. Daniel enjoyed it, but I am told that there were Daniel candy cane finger prints still being found all over the house like a month later! :) In addition to the candy canes, Pops and Grandma Deb also gave out silly string. It was supposed to be for the little kids but us big kids really got a kick out of it.

Candy cane face. :)

"Where else can I spread this mess?"

Me and Pres so happy with the silly string.

Christmas afternoon/evening we had even more festivities! We went to Poppa Steve and Gigi's house for more food, fun, and family. :) In addition to the usual suspects (Joe, Val, Preston, Kayla, Auntie Steph), Doug, Gretchen, and Shannon were there too!!! Daniel had fun playing with Gigi's outside animated tree and walking around and staring at all the family too. There was also an infamous rematch with Kayla using Daniel's toy where we performed more silly dares, but no pictures of that game this time. :(

Wanting to climb Gigi's ladder.

Video of Kayla and Daniel trying to get the animated tree to move and sing. :)

Although the holidays can be a source of great stress, we find Christmas to be such a beautiful time to remember our Lord and to spend extra time cherishing our friends and family.

Christmas Catch-Up Arizona Part 2

2011-01-15T19:05:00.003-07:00

So after Chick-fil-a, we made it to Wickenburg to celebrate Christmas Eve evening/night with Great Gramma Jane and a whole slew of other family and friends. :) We only took a few pictures but we sure had a blast. Again, Daniel enjoyed opening presents a great deal. He also just loved being around all that family. Uncle Joe had taught Daniel how to do "knuckles" (fist bump) over Thanksgiving so Daniel spent a lot of Christmas Eve wanting knuckles from whoever would do it. Here he is opening a fun toy from Kayla, Preston, Joe & Val:

Digging right in to that wrapping paper.

Hmm...I like the way it feels....

That toy was not only fun for Daniel, but for Kayla and I because we used it to play a silly game of challenges. One challenge was to....well.....just take a look at the picture.

Optional: Eat it.

It was a wonderful night full of great food, great family, and great friends. So blessed.

Christmas Catch-Up Arizona Part 1

2011-01-15T15:05:00.004-07:00

The first stop in our Arizona tour was a visit w/Grandma Hilda, Grandpa Barry, and Auntie Val-Val. Daniel got to open a bunch of Christmas presents early and he really got into ripping off all that Christmas wrapping! :) Plus, we got to eat homemade tamales which we all enjoyed (including Daniel). Thanks Grandma and Grandpa!!!!

Putting money in his soft piggy bank.

Opening up Buzz Lightyear.

Unwrapping a festive Christmas plate. :)

From there we got to visit with Great Grandma Elida and Uncle Henry, but we forgot to take pictures...:( And as it got close to lunch we got back on the road to head to Wickenburg. We made a quick stop before Wickenburg, to have a bite with Dewey and Michelle for a Christmas Eve lunch at Chick-Fil-A!!!:) No pictures from there either, *sad face*.

Christmas Catch-Up El Paso

2011-01-15T14:16:00.007-07:00

Wow! Over a month since we last posted...:( Things were pretty hectic at Christmas time but wonderful too. While were still in El Paso, Daniel visited with Mrs. Alarcon (Ms. Carmen) and exchanged presents with her. She got him Toy Story dress up clothes and a pair of Toy Story shoes for the summer. Here he is modeling his Woody hat:

Sorry it's blurry....

Here is what we gave Ms. Carmen:

A bowl of sweet stuff for her sweet tooth. :)

Before we left we also visited with the Mezas. We gave them sweets too and they got him a really cute Disney sweater.

And here is Daniel enjoying a "healthy" breakfast right before we headed for Arizona:

Don't judge us, don't judge us!!!!!

Zoo Family Date

2010-12-12T15:30:00.004-07:00

Saturday we went to the El Paso Zoo. Dad had to take two trips to the zoo b/c he forgot Daniel's shoes at home! But after that bump, the rest of the day went really smoothly. Daniel didn't really know where he was when we started but as usual, he was just happy to be out and exploring.

First we saw some zebras and ducks (he can almost read "duck!") Then we were off to see the giraffes. Sammy the sea lion came next and was one of Daniel's favorites. We then saw a tiger, and followed that up with some spider monkeys (no photos). We then had lunch and took a restroom break where Daniel was extra excited to chase a pigeon in the grass. Goofy little boy! He didn't last to see the lions, but there is always next time!

-Daniel's dad

Some December Fun

2010-12-11T14:20:00.008-07:00

Here are some photos from us putting up the Christmas tree. Yes, as you can see, Daniel was flying high on hot chocolate and his first ever candy canes.

"Stay away from my half tree."

"That's the rest of it?"

"Okay, I'm cool with that."

"Mommy are you sure this is just a candy cane?"

"Candy canes come from trees?"

And here are some pictures of Daniel being goofy with his sunglasses. We got them for a dollar at Dollar Tree a few months ago and he still just loves them!

"I wear my sunglasses at night."

"I never said I wear them the right way."

"My nose fits perfect in these."

"Tastes like neon yellow."

November Catch Up-Part 3

2010-12-02T18:45:00.008-07:00

Thanksgiving! We got to drive home to AZ for Thanksgiving break and that was such a blessing. :) We spent the first part of the week in Globe visiting family. The visit was unique because Dave got to watch Daniel all by himself for 1/2 a day while I drove to Tucson to pick up my little sister. Dave said they had a good time mostly playing on the desktop computer.

Then we packed up our stuff and drove to Wickenburg the day before Thanksgiving. On Thanksgiving we drove again to get to Lake Alamo. We were having a beautiful Thanksgiving until Daniel tripped and landed on a piece of wood with sharp edges. He got two puncture marks which bleed a lot and both Dave and I freaked out. Needless to say we babied our baby for the rest of the time. The day after Thanksgiving we drove back to Wickenburg to eat left-overs and visit with more family. In fact, on one day we even got to have early birthday breakfast with Gigi. :) On that same day we drove to Globe and the day after that back to El Paso.

So Thanksgiving "break" was more like Thanksgiving on the go, but all the driving was worth it because we were/are so thankful for family.

Strapped into the motor home, ready to be "Captain."

View of Lake Alamo from our campsite.

Daniel tired after his injury.

Cousins figuring stuff out.

Still working on it.

Ready to head back to El Paso. :)

November Catch Up-Part 2

2010-12-01T08:09:00.003-07:00

Around mid-November Daniel started taking his love for "dancing" up a notch. Seriously, we would be at the supermarket, in the car, or just anywhere in the house and as long as there was a song (ANY SONG), Daniel would get his groove on. Dancing for Daniel means waving his arms, turning in circles, tilting his head, and/or rocking side to side. Here are some videos that Daddy took of Daniel shaking his money maker on November 12th:

Poor kid, he has Mommy and Daddy's rhythm......

November Catch Up-Part 1

2010-11-29T10:45:00.005-07:00

Yup, we are behind in posting again. This post is about how Gigi and Popppa Steve came to El Paso to visit at the beginning of November! They were only here for about 24 hours but it was so great to see them b/c we had not visited with them in a long time before that. Gigi and Poppa Steve brought Daniel a cool dump truck to ride on and another piece of construction equipment which Daniel LOVED! They also brought Daniel a couple of mini pumpkins. At the table Gigi, Daniel, Poppa Steve, and David used those pumpkins to play a fun game! Just check out the video. :)

Yes, this game went on for a LONG TIME...and the more he played, the more demanding he got! :)

Dressing Up Part 3-Monkey

2010-11-14T12:09:00.004-07:00

Finally typing up the third post to showcase Daniel's third costume. Unfortunately, the morning of Halloween Daniel woke up with a fever. We didn't even think we would go to our church's trunk or treating but by the evening he was feeling a little bit better. Here is our sick Halloween monkey on his second Halloween:

"Now that's a banana!!"

"You can't cage this animal!"

Our entry for trunk or treating.

"Let me go; I need candy!"

"That's all folks!"

Dressing Up Part 2-Moses

2010-10-28T11:27:00.004-06:00

We had Biblical costume night at our church this past Wednesday. Daniel was having fun in his costume even before we got to church. :)

"Come on, let's go to church!"

"Well, let's see what this staff can do first."

"I command you to part."

"Out of exile and into the promised land" (i.e. church).

The Red C parted and The Red C to go along
with Daniel as Moses. :)

Dressing Up Part 1-Pirate

2010-10-24T07:27:00.004-06:00

Yes, Daniel will have more than 1 costume this year...hee hee! His first one is a pirate costume b/c the library near our house had a pirate themed party. The party was right after Daniel's nap so it took him a bit to wake up however; once he did, he had a great time. He enjoyed eating the chocolate cookies they provided and he really enjoyed the rat behind the pirate ship! He is so fun and we just love and enjoy him so much. :)

Daniel's $3 costume and Momma in front of the pirate ship.

"I own you rat."

"Can I offer you some chocolate cookie?"

In the hallway chowing down.

"Arrrrgh! Hands off me cookies!"

What Daniel enjoys....

2010-10-19T06:28:00.005-06:00

eating chocolate. He doesn't get it very often but when he does....watch out!!!!! He enjoys climbing which is why we loving call him "monkey." He enjoys torturing his dog and hitting (just ask David and his nose and the IPOD). He enjoys balloons and he really enjoys going outside. Most of all though, he ENJOYS making a mess; HAPPY 15 MONTHS OUR MESSY MONKEY!!!!

Not happy unless all the books are on the ground.

"Do you really have to take a picture of this?"

"Okay, I'm over it. :)"

You can't be mad at that face.

Long Time No Blog

2010-10-07T15:11:00.004-06:00

I'm not going to make any excuses about why we have not posted. Does this video from
September 21 make up for it?

Our little Daniel really likes to get down. He does part robot, part tiptoe!:)

And he likes to get in trouble. Go places where he doesn't belong and climb things that he should not climb......

Dancing and getting into trouble are just par for the course in the Ricke household.

In the past week.....

2010-09-17T07:36:00.006-06:00

Daniel has had some real fun. :) We went to a family day for the Army Reserves and Daniel loved playing on the playground equipment and in the bounce house. It was his first time in a bounce house and he just thought it was great. David had fun being in there with him too. We think Daniel's favorite part was running back and forth from mesh window to mesh window.

Trying out the slide.

Now in the bounce house.

Now at the window!

Then Daniel realized that he can have fun and work on his tan from right inside our home. Yep folks, Daniel rediscovered the doggy door, and the fact that he can get his torso through it to enjoy the great outdoors; what a goofball!!!

Can you see Slick trying to come in?:0)

Lastly, Daniel loves AWANA on Wednesdays. The theme this past Wednesday was wacky glasses and here he is modeling them:

Look at me...

rockin' in my shades!!

Labor Weekend Wedding

2010-09-07T07:35:00.001-06:00

We have wonderful neighbors here in El Paso. They have adopted us and we have adopted them. Well, yesterday our neighbor's granddaughter Venessa got married and we were invited to attend the special event. Daniel was not happy to wake up and go to the ceremony but he pulled it together. After the ceremony we came home, got Daniel a little more comfortable (minus vest and sleeves rolled up) and headed to the reception. Here are some pictures from the day/night:

August Pictures Part 2

2010-08-28T14:11:00.005-06:00

These are fresh pictures from today! After talking to Gigi, we remembered that they make leashes for kids. I got really excited when we found one of a monkey since that is what we call Daniel and so we had to get it. :) Some people might think they are cruel but Daniel doesn't seem to mind. Some people might think they are trashy, but guess what? WE DON'T CARE! We love our Daniel-monkey leash and we are going to use it often. :)

At the start of the walk...

Daniel and Slick are head to head!

Being on a leash is so exciting!

Daddy's turn to man the leash.

Who's walking who?

August Pictures Part 1

2010-08-28T13:29:00.006-06:00

We haven't been taking a lot of pictures this month so in turn we haven't been blogging. Here are some pics we do have from this month though:

August 2: Right before bed, construction time
(Daddy made this collage)

August 13: Showing off some new kicks (shoes) and his cowlick

August 14: First injury w/bleeding (blood on the shirt)....:(
Yes, we know he is a mess....:(

August 27: Enjoying a new toy (big LOVE to the Robbins family for passing it on)

Piano Please

2010-08-12T12:24:00.004-06:00

Daniel has been playing the piano a lot. He really loves it. Sometimes he plays the piano and it looks more like he is abusing it/climbing it; but after watching him day in and day out he really just loves the sound of it.

In addition to teaching himself the piano, Daniel has recently been using more sign language. His latest sign is the word "please" and we can tell that he will be using "thank-you" very soon too. He still uses a lot of babble more than voicing words but his communication in general is really coming along.

We hope you guys like this video performance of Daniel "singing" and playing.

Daniel's Swim Lessons

2010-08-02T08:20:00.006-06:00

Well Daniel has started his first set of swim lessons. They are at the YMCA near our house and he is so cute! He starts out with a little shivering chin and timid but the last 10 minutes or so he really starts having a blast:

I think he has inherited the Ricke daydream

"Look dad it splashes like the bathtub!"

"Is this swimming?"
"Dad I love you and the sunshine!"
"Get ready dad, here I go..."
"Wow! now this is swimming!"Disclaimer:
Daniel is not swimming on his own(yet), and has not accidentally drank any pool water (yet)!
-Daniel's Dad

In the past 12 months

2010-07-25T06:12:00.008-06:00

Daniel has learned to:
*Crawl, pull himself up to standing, walk very well, and run (though not very fast).
*Climb and scale many things: bed, couch, stairs, etc. and can get himself back down w/o injury (most of the time).
*Say three words: "Mama", "Dadda", and funnily enough, "giggle".
*Have babbling conversations (when in the mood) and he will often point his index finger at you for emphasis during these conversations.
*Yell in a high pitched voice when he is angry.
*Roll his "r's" as though he were in Spanish class.
*To torture Slick when Slick least expects it i.e. Slick is looking out the living room window and Daniel sneak attacks him from behind.
*Use baby sign language to say "milk" and "fan".
*Play peek-a-boo.
*Dance (which means moving his head side to side but not moving any other part of his body)!

Daniel's favorites include:
*Electronics such as cellphones, ipods, remotes, laptops, desktops, etc. And, he doesn't just love to put them in his mouth and chew on them; he really does love pushing the buttons and trying to figure out (if it is a remote) what that remote does/controls.
*Glass. He enjoys going to our big picture window in the living room and looking out of it. He also likes to knock on it and use other objects to hit it. Other than that we don't have any in the house he can actually access but when we go to visit the neighbors, he loves their glass frames, glass figurines and just regular ole glass drinking glasses.
*Eating Slick's dog food and playing in Slick's water bowl. Now, David and I work really hard to prevent this from happening but Daniel is very fast and many times, VERY SNEAKY!
*Watching his "Your Baby Can Read" program. In fact, he has learned how to turn the DVD player on himself and therefore sets his own schedule for when he is ready to watch "HIS SHOW" during the day.
*Water. He likes to drink but mostly he loves water for play. He gets excited for bath time. He will play in your glass of water if you leave it unattended. He thinks pools are awesome no matter the size.
*Visiting the neighbors. With Carmen who lives on one side of us, Daniel loves to play with her walker. He also likes to play with her caregiver, Rosie. He enjoys running after Carmen's dog Keyboo and running AWAY from Carmen herself! :0) With the Mezas, Daniel feels totally at home. He tortures their dog Bonita and likes to look out their screen door. He helps himself to their kitchen drawers, plays on Mr. Meza's wheelchair, messes w/their remotes, etc. He adores Vashti (who adores him back even though she is a teenager) and looks up to Julian who is very mature at 8 years old. He always gives a hug and kiss to both Mr. and Mrs. Meza every time we leave their house and has recently become fond of Mr. Meza's caregiver, Areceli.
*Family. At home he likes to cling to my leg to show me affection and with Daddy, Daniel's whole face lights up when Dave walks in to the room. As for the long distance family, he loves to "talk" to them via cellphone (mostly he enjoys listening via speakerphone).

In the past 12 months David and I have learned to cherish EVERY DAY with Daniel because time goes so quickly...

Daniel's 1st Birthday Party

2010-07-19T22:23:00.001-06:00

On Sat. July 17th we threw Daniel his first birthday party at a park by our house with all of our friends. Sorry family members, we figured none of you could make it so why bother?;0) I know, we are bad.

Anywho, we made it a birthday brunch so we could have the party early in the day, before the temperature got unbearable. We were right in our thinking b/c by 10AM (the start of the party) the temp was up to 80+. Even with the warmer temps though, the park was nice for the party since the playground equipment and picnic tables were covered with shade.

The party was really successful as you will see from the photos and we praise God every day for our Daniel. Hope you enjoy. :)

P.S. We'll be doing another post in the next couple of days just so we can reflect on Daniel's first year. :)

Daniel's First Haircut!!!

2010-07-15T12:16:00.004-06:00

Well I wanted Daniel-son to be all spruced up for his birthday party, so we got his hair cut at Ama Kids salon, which specializes in child haircuts. First Daniel was having fun playing with their toys and another little boy, but then he noticed what the lady was doing to his new friend:
Once he got in the chair and noticed mom & dad so delighted, he knew something was not right...

As you can see he was actually very patient and behaved... until the electric clippers came out. The barber got one ear cleaned up but the other... not so well. Here is Daniel with the finishing touches: a comb-over, baby hair gel... AND HIS FIRST PIECE OF CANDY THAT WE KNOW OF! lol

What a blessing-Daniel's Dad 7/15

Daniel the MOUNTAIN CLIMBER

2010-07-12T12:03:00.003-06:00

Well, the other day Daniel climbed(we think fell is more accurate) out of his crib during his morning nap, and now he is finding more things to scale...

"So...do I make you nervous Mom &Dad....?"

"How about now?" "Don't worry, this is just the beginning!"

-Daniel's Dad

Catching up and 4th of July

2010-07-09T12:26:00.006-06:00

We've been out of the loop a little bit but now is as good a time as any to catch up. :) Let's see, in the past week and a half Daniel has gotten over his second ear infection. He has been walking ALL over the house, keeping us parents on our toes. Daniel has also been chasing Slick around the house too....poor Slick. To help burn off energy we went to a park near our house one day (July 2) and had some fun there.

On the slide but Daniel & Slick don't look too sure....

The slide: Round 2.

Clucking his tongue b/c the swing is so much fun!

"Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!"

"Hey, does this thing have adjustable steering?"

Then on July 2 we also made the spur of the moment decision to travel to AZ for a few days. The trip there was awful with lots of crying from Daniel but it was worth it to see our family. We watched the fireworks for the 4th of July in Wickenburg and Daniel seemed to enjoy them, even though it was way past his bedtime. Unfortunately we did not take any pictures while in AZ so....if anyone has some pictures (hint, hint Auntie Valerie) please email them our way! :) Oh yeah, and we also need to give a shout out to our Globe family who we got to stay with on the way in and out of AZ. :)

Now we are just trying to get ready to celebrate Daniel's first birthday...WHAT A BLESSING. :)

Lyle Lyle Crocodile

2010-06-28T21:35:00.003-06:00

Daniel is getting into everything these days now that he can walk for longer and longer distances. He has also recently become obsessed with climbing up things and over things...good times.

In order to keep him out of too much trouble, we find activities to keep him busy. Every Thursday the library near us does story time. This past Thursday (06/24) they had a fun visitor for the kids, Lyle the Crocodile. Daniel didn't really know what to make of Lyle but here are the pictures anyway:

Father's Day Weekend & 11 months

2010-06-19T20:49:00.007-06:00

For Father's Day weekend we had a lot of surprises. I came home on Thursday to be surprised with a couple extra people in our house! (Grandpa Steve [Pops] and Grandma Deb!!!)
Below are a couple other surprises:

Daniel asked Papa if he could drive his sports car...

The answer was yes but only in the driveway!

We also had a swim party and Daniel really enjoyed it!

FINALLY DANIEL IS WALKING FOR REAL!!!

(click to download video)

What a blessed Father's Day weekend!!!

P.S. 11 month stats... Growing but not with a ruler or scale (same stats as last month).
-Daniel's Dad on his first Father's Day

Wordless Wednesday...I'm cheating.

2010-06-09T13:30:00.003-06:00

I guess you are only supposed to post one picture and not use any words at all. But, here I am using words and using more than one picture. Oh well, it's our blog and we'll do it our way. :0)

Daniel's First Steps!!

2010-06-02T14:47:00.002-06:00

As you know from the post yesterday, Daniel has been standing alone frequently. David was worried that he was going to miss out on Daniel's first steps since he is currently in VA for the Reserves; but you know what? GOD is so cool!!!!!!:0) It is no coincidence that David was on Skype (a video conference) with Daniel and I, when Daniel took his first steps. David not only got to see him walk, he even got to take the pictures of Daniel walking.

I wanted to make something so that you could see the action in the pictures so I used a movie maker program and created this:

David was only able to get 3 pictures but as you can see Daniel is totally unsupported and he took a total of 3 steps.

STANDING

2010-06-01T10:34:00.004-06:00

This past Sunday Daniel spent a lot of time standing up unsupported. I took some pictures of him because he looked adorable (even though he needed a bath). Here are the pictures:

"Yeah, I get this standing thing."

"Just wish my camera would work."

"I got it!"

Oh how the mighty cute fall.

Then yesterday he was OBSESSED with his push walker. I even had to move the dining room table so that he had more room to push it from one side of the room to the other. Sorry, no pics of that.

Today he seems more mellow about walking and more focused on getting to the computer, Slick's dog food, my cell phone, beating things with his Legos, etc. He is a busy boy!

And the ouchies start.

2010-05-24T10:55:00.005-06:00

Even though Daniel is not officially walking yet, he sure is getting around. He stands up as much as possible and then reaches from place to place and takes little baby steps. While it is very cute and exciting, it is also TERRIFYING!!!!:0) David said it best (and I think we have put up this quote before) when he said, "Daniel has my determination and Adrea's coordination ." That means he never gives up, but has NO coordination. Consequently, little bruises and dings are showing up like crazy. Sometimes we know where they come from and sometimes we don't!

I was trying to take this picture while he was just sitting in the basket but before I could, he managed to topple himself and the basket over...good times!

Extreme close-up of the face! See the ouchie on the bridge of his nose? Yeah, we have no idea how that happened. You know what is funny? When Daniel saw this picture of himself on the computer while I was posting it, he CRACKED UP. :0) What a goof.

In this picture you can see the ouchie on his lower lip. Don't know how he got that one either! Bad, bad parents.

And while Daniel is very active, he likes to start off his day right with some coffee and catching up on the latest news via the Internet. Check him out:

"Hmm....that's interesting."

Enjoying his cup of joe.

Ear Infection, 10 Months, and Baccalaureate.....

2010-05-19T21:49:00.004-06:00

in that order. We wrote that Daniel was teething about a week ago and that was not the end of the story. He was acting waaaayyyy fussier than he had ever been so we took him to his pediatrician. We found out that all of his symptoms including low grade fevers, were because of an ear infection and not just teething. Good times. It has been quite the challenge to get him to take his medicine but thankfully he has his last doses of medications tomorrow. :0)
Next, Daniel turned 10 MONTHS TODAY! Here are his official stats:

Weight: 21 lbs (about a pound heavier)
Length: 29 1/2 in. (an inch and a half more than last month)

Finally, Daniel and myself (Adrea) are currently in Globe because my little sister Valarie is graduating tomorrow. David couldn't get the time off since the graduation is on a Thursday night so Daniel and I made the long drive by ourselves. Praise to the Lord for us making it safely. We have been having a good time here but we do miss David!!!! (Love you Dave/Daddy!!!)

Here are some pictures from today:

A big cheesy smile!!!

Me torturing my little sis...(and my new hair cut).

So smiley again (after Bacc. ) with Auntie Valarie. :)

Fun Pics

2010-05-10T16:23:00.004-06:00

We set up a little photo shoot (not professional like Megan) for Daniel to try and get a nice picture of Daniel to send to the Moms, Grandmas, and Great-Grandmas in Daniel's life. :0) We went with the first photo below but we are also including some outtakes:

This is the one we sent out.

Not happy about photos.

"I'm the man."

And here is Daniel who was playing with our neighbor Julian yesterday:

Julian had him dressed up as Harry Potter.

Finally, here is Daniel today ready to go to Hawaiian night at our church:

Even though Daniel has not been feeling very well (teething) he can still take some cute shots. :0)

Teeth 5 & 6

2010-04-29T19:02:00.003-06:00

Sorry to follow the last post so closely with this one but we can never control when Daniel's teeth will come in. And while new teeth may not be newsworthy to some, we are dorks and want to document and document! ;-)We've been able to see his front two top teeth coming in (the central incisors)for a few days through the gum but both teeth finally broke through today. We tried to get pictures of them but....

"Yeah, I have more teeth."

"But I'm not showing you!"

Mommy says, "My hair is crazy b/c I had a gallbladder attack...but we're still smiling."

Finally, relaxing with some Bible reading. :)

Going to church looking like this!!!

2010-04-28T21:02:00.006-06:00

Yes, part of the reason we love our church is they let us look like this! It was crazy hair night at AWANA and even Daniel got in on the action. Spiked punk hair with pink tips. We are also sad that two of our best boys in AWANA are moving to Washington DC (we will miss you Ben and Jake) and this was their last day at Cielo Vista Church. Here are a couple more photos:

Here is a close up to see the styling perfection...

And finally Daniel and Slick spike comparison. -David

9 month stats....a bit tardy.

2010-04-24T08:23:00.004-06:00

So we said we would post more pics right away and we didn't do it. Bad, bad parents. :) Here are his 9 month stats:
Weight: 20 lbs 5 oz
Length: 28 in.
According to the scale and measuring tape....he hasn't changed in weight or height at all. We find that hard to believe because he looks so much taller everyday....but the numbers don't lie we guess.

Here are some things that Daniel does as a big 9 month old boy:

Says "Ma-ma", "Ma" and "Maaaaaaaaaaaaaaa" mostly when he is crying and/or bored.
Pulls himself up to a standing position on ANYTHING and EVERYTHING (this is only a problem when he tries with something unstable like our DVD holder and Slick....). His need to stand also has led to many injuries....:(
Crawls with the speed of lightening, especially when he is trying to go somewhere he shouldn't.
Loves Slick's dog food. We think he has gotten a taste (little stinker) but he also just likes hitting the metal dog food bowls because of the sounds they make.
Loves looking outside (people walking/driving by get to see his little head in our big living room picture window).
Still loves watching Your Baby Can Read, with the Itsy Bitsy Spider being his favorite thing from the DVDs.
Eats many different kinds of baby food although he seems to prefer the veggies over the fruits. He also likes to eat Cheerios, Baby Mum-Mums, oatmeal, and graham crackers. He is also very interested in eating whatever we eat so we do give him food from our plates as long as it is not one of the no-no's that they should not have before a year (i.e. honey, peanut butter, etc.). Also, he likes dropping his food down so that Slick can eat it or palming food so that Slick will reach up and lick his hands....EWWWWW!!!!
Oh yeah, and he loves knocking on things: windows, books, tables, walls, toys, you name it and he will knock on it!

We thank God everyday and every night for our little Daniel. :)

"I'm not going to crawl to Slick's dog bowl...."

Getting dipped by Daddy (look at that hair!) :)

Learning how to read (it takes time folks).

The red on his forehead was from a fall earlier
in the day. As for the tray, we wiped it down, don't worry.
And finally, we picked this picture because of his bottom two
chicklet teeth. :)

He likes to hold on to Orajel. Also, it is impossible to get
all the sweet potato off as you can see from his nose area!
Finally, you can see his little upper teeth w/o him screaming
and that is why we picked this one!

9 Months & Mowing!

2010-04-19T20:37:00.005-06:00

Here's Daniel and his baby lawn mower.

He's quick, isn't he? LOL

P.S. More pics and stats to come tomorrow.-Daniel's Dad

From smiling to pain.....TOOTH PAIN!

2010-04-10T18:06:00.007-06:00

So, Daniel was in a great mood earlier today as evidenced by the first three pictures below. However, also notice that he was a great big DROOLY mess!!!!:)

Enjoying the Mum Mum in his classy high chair.

Giving Momma the HIGH FIVE!!!

So happy and DROOLY!!!!

Then later in the afternoon Daniel got really cranky.....I figured another tooth had finally come through so I checked again (even though I had just checked yesterday) and sure enough another one has come!!!! It is his other upper lateral incisor, the left side. He doesn't like when I try to take pictures of his new teeth but I am a mean Mommy and somehow always get the shot!!!;-) See below.

The black arrow shows the new one. :)

I just wish that teething did not have to be so painful and horrible and awful. So far every tooth has been a nightmare.....

Daniel Found the Dryer Ball!!!

2010-04-05T20:22:00.003-06:00

This boy thinks everything is hilarious!!! -Daniel's Dad

Birthday/Easter Weekend 2010

2010-04-04T13:57:00.010-06:00

What a beautiful weekend. On Friday night we had our friend Desirae fly into El Paso with her little girl Leah. Then on Saturday we went to one of El Paso's aquatic centers for a water egg hunt. It was Daniel's first time to look for Easter eggs EVER and Leah's first time to do it in the water! Leah really enjoyed it and Daniel seemed....well....like he was trying to figure out what in the world was going on. At least he had us helping him out! :) From there we came back home because Saturday was also DAVID'S 30TH BIRTHDAY!!!! We sent him to do some errands and when he came back we surprised him with a party. We kept it low key, just like David and it was great.

Today is Easter Sunday and we went to church to worship and remember the sacrifice made for us. When we got home we gave Daniel his first ever Easter basket and now we are just relaxing and enjoying our blessings.

Free digital slideshow personalized with Smilebox

View from the window...

2010-04-01T21:34:00.004-06:00

Daniel is so fun! He has discovered that he can stand up at the living room window even with the blinds, and just like Slick. :) It is adorable watching them from inside the house...and even CUTER from outside of the house.
Here are the pictures from this morning:

Petting Slickers.

"What's over there?!"

And from this afternoon:

Both at the window.

Smile and wave!

A third tooth...who knew?!!!!!

2010-03-26T15:37:00.004-06:00

Daniel has been biting down on A LOT of things lately like Mommy, Daddy, and the coffee table to name a few. We knew he was teething but every time we checked, we couldn't feel any new teeth. Of course, we had been feeling around for the upper two front teeth (central incisors). We should have known he was going to follow Daddy and get a lateral incisor as the third tooth instead!!:) We are counting today as the official day it came out be we are pretty sure it must have busted through yesterday or the day before....BAD, BAD, MOMMY AND DADDY FOR NOT KNOWING!

Here are some pics of him from a couple of days ago:

"I'm tough and tall."

"And I love to laugh."

And today:

Licking his chops....

for the tasty coffee table.

Escape from the diaper change!

8 months and Arizona

2010-03-22T21:21:00.011-06:00

We got to go home to Arizona recently and see our family! We didn't get to see everyone but it was a nice visit nonetheless. While we were there Daniel showed off his crawling skills and by the end he was really getting around quite well!!! While in AZ he also turned 8 months old and we took the usual monthly measurements:

Weight: 20 lbs ? oz (we can't find the paper where we wrote the info and w/o that we can't really remember)
Length: 28 in. (same as last month)

He also got some more pictures taken by Megan (see her blog at http://megrobbinsphotography.blogspot.com/) and those came out really nice looking.

David and I didn't take too many pictures ourselves while we were there but here are some of the few we did take:

Crawling. :)

Holding on to the glass!

Getting fed by Kayla and hanging w/Gramma Jane!

Being held by Uncle Joe.

Crashed out on Gramma Jane's floor!!!:)

Now that we are home Daniel has officially mastered crawling. He also has an obsession with Slick's dog food, climbing the dining room chairs, and finding new things to help him stand up. GOOD TIMES!!!

Big boy....big eater!

2010-03-09T18:51:00.004-07:00

I (Adrea) made teething biscuits this morning for Daniel and he likes them (and Slick does too)! I got the recipe courtesy of Gigi. :) He is growing so fast, keeping us on our toes, and eating like a champ. Here are some fun and messy pics from dinner tonight:

"Yeah, I like food."

"Mmm...biscuit."

"So tasty....."

"and delicious!"

HE'S CRAWLING!!! (YIKES)

2010-03-08T20:11:00.003-07:00

So Daniel has been getting really close to crawling and today we actually got it on "film."

He loves his dog, and he really loves whatever Slick has. I think that has been the motivation to get around. We are so exited and also scared. He has his mom's coordination and his dad's motivation. When he gets tired he does one last reach and then leaps. If we get that on film we will most likely not post it because he usually leaps into something solid! -David

El Paso's 2010 Beautiful Baby Pageant

2010-03-07T14:25:00.002-07:00

Daniel really was the cutest baby there! He wasn't in the best mood though because of teething and being sleepy....and grouchy. That is why we think he didn't win the whole pageant. That is okay though because WE KNOW HE IS THE CUTEST! Here is a slideshow from today:

Another free slideshow by Smilebox

CHOMPERS

2010-02-24T12:51:00.005-07:00

Yup, Daniel's second tooth has ARRIVED as of yesterday! It is not out in full glory the way the first tooth is...but it is up. You can see it when you look really hard but it is not completely obvious. You can really feel it though, especially if you are NURSING! ;-)

"I'm funny! You can't see my teethers!"

"Okay, here they are."

"It's so cool that I have teeth!"

7 months...such a big boy!

2010-02-19T20:36:00.004-07:00

Daniel is 7 months today. We basically say this EVERY MONTH but, time is flying so fast! Where did all of those other months go? Sorry for the repetition, but it just blows our minds. Here are Daniel's latest unofficial stats:

Weight: 19 lbs, 6 oz (basically a pound heavier than last month)
Length: 28 in. (one inch longer)

As for latest developments:
*He is sooooooooo close to crawling!!! He has the mechanics down but just can't quite get the hang of it yet.
*He had his tooth pop up (see previous post), and the bottom tooth right next to it is going to come up any day now too!
*He loves his exersaucer (thank-you to Grandma & Grandpa Phillips) and that is great for building his leg strength.
*He won at a beauty pageant for beauty and the photo portion...now he is on to compete for the grand title on March 7th.
*He is starting to move his hands to make signs (baby sign language, thank-you to Poppa Steve & Gigi)
*He is obsessed w/Slick's tail, paper, and any other thing that is not really supposed to go in his mouth.
*He is still working on learning to "read" (thank-you to Pops and Gramma Deb)
*He is still enjoying time at the piano! (thank-you to Aunt Sue)

We still haven't found our charger so here are some pictures from a few days ago taken w/my camera phone:

Study the card...

Shake the card...

Eat the card!!

And some photos taken from today:

"Seriously?!"

Eating the apple.

Spinning the monkey.

YOU WILL NOT BELIEVE THIS!

2010-02-16T07:24:00.002-07:00

I am sitting here on the computer and Daniel is next to me on his blanket. Well, I guess I wasn't giving him enough attention (b/c I have been looking at the computer). So he taps me with his hand. I look down and he says "HI" AND EVEN DOES THE HAND MOTION!!!! HOLY COW!!!! I don't know if he will do it again but I am sure going to get him to try!:)

First tooth...first Valentine's!!!

2010-02-14T21:08:00.003-07:00

Guess what? Daniel's first tooth is HERE!!!! It came in last night but you can really feel it this morning. You can't really see it...but it is SHARP! It is on the bottom and we don't think it will be too long before the next one is here! :) And guess what else? Our friend Desirae let us borrow her camera so we were able to document the day and make a slideshow below. We hope you like it and we are sending all our LOVE ON THIS BEAUTIFUL VALENTINE'S DAY 2010.

Make a Smilebox greeting

Once again....

2010-02-14T07:40:00.000-07:00

charger is M.I.A. :( We are so sad that we haven't been able to post any pics. Our friend Desirae is visiting so we will probably borrow her camera b/c I am having w/drawals from not posting/taking pictures of our baby.

Oh yeah, and HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!!!!:)

What you really want to see...

2010-01-28T15:44:00.006-07:00

BABY DANIEL! He is growing so fast....before we know it, we won't be able to call him baby Daniel anymore!!! This week he had his 6 month check up so here are his OFFICIAL stats:
Weight: 18 lbs, 8 oz. (we were off by 5 oz), that is the 75th percentile
Height: 27 in. (we were right on the money), that is the 50th percentile
Head circumference: Forgot the measurement...but he is in the 75th percentile
David says that the reason Daniel weighs so much is because of his head! That is not nice! Of course, I do call him pumpkin head...;-)

Here are some things that Daniel is doing now that he is 6 months:

We never thought this would happen but Daniel spends time on his stomach! We think he likes it because he gets a new view on the world. Plus he has figured out that he can roll and roll so that he can get close to things that he wants.
He can sit without support for 30 seconds or more. Eventually he does tip over though and hasn't figured out how to catch himself yet.
He is eating "solids" now. He likes oatmeal and green beans but has a strong dislike for peas. (We will try the sweet peas when he moves to Stage 2). Tonight we are going to try squash and see how that goes over.
He is watching the "Your Baby Can Read" DVDs and he really enjoys it! We will have to record his reaction and put it on here when he sits down to watch...it is so cute! Hopefully we can have him "reading" by the time he is 9 mo. or a year at the latest.

Here are a few pictures from today:

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Our date!!!

2010-01-28T15:32:00.003-07:00

Not that many people are interested in this (except for probably Dave and I), but here are the pics from our first date minus Daniel:

In the car to the restaurant: It was bright out!!!:)

In the car to the restaurant: See...David has his shades on!:)

At the restaurant...*squish*

It is so wonderful to be parents but it was also really nice to still have some romance.

Six Months and already Mozart!

2010-01-19T17:00:00.002-07:00

Our baby Daniel is rapidly becoming our big boy Daniel! He is exactly 6 months today. Here are his unofficial stats:

Weight: 18 lbs, 3 oz. (about a pound heavier)
Height: 27 in. (he's grown another 1/2 in.!!!)

He has his official doctor appointment this coming Monday so we will see how close/far off we are. :) Our other exciting news is that the piano has officially moved in!!! Daniel loves it and he is already Mozart!!!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Messin w/ Sasquatch

2010-01-17T15:14:00.005-07:00

That boy loves his dog!
This was actually after he was screaming with laughter. You can never get the perfect memories onto a camera. --David

Just a post to keep track!

2010-01-06T11:01:00.002-07:00

Well, we can't put up any pictures from Christmas. Our camera needs to be charged before we can get the pictures off of there (and the charger is M.I.A.) and we didn't take many anyway...:( We know Auntie Stephi took a lot so we will have to hit her up for some.

Next, HAPPY NEW YEAR! We did not do much as a family as we were all tired from our AZ visiting. Daniel went to bed at about 8:30PM (late for him) and David and I around 9:30pm. We woke up some time after the new year began b/c Daniel needed tending to. :)

The biggest thing that has happened in the past week is that Daniel has started FULLY ROLLING OVER!!!! He can roll from back to stomach which he did first on January 4th. Then on January 5th he rolled stomach to back. He seems to prefer rolling from stomach to back b/c he does not enjoy being on his stomach too much. We hope to get some video of him doing it sometime....hopefully we will find the charger soon. We just know that pretty soon he is going to be rolling around like crazy....and then crawling...and then walking....EEK!!!!!!! TIME IS GOING SO FAST! And oh yeah, his 6 month birthday is almost here!!!! DOUBLE EEK!

Fancy Photos!

2009-12-28T12:27:00.003-07:00

Our friend Megan Robbins got a fancy-shmancy SLR camera and she volunteered to take our family photos. She was so sweet about it and even told us thank-you for being her guinea pigs. She did a really nice job so we are posting a couple here. This was right before Christmas so we will be putting up another blog post soon about actual Christmas. :)

Grouchy baby and distracted dog but David and I have it together! :)

Our little blue eyed angel!

5 BIG ONES...months that is!!!:)

2009-12-19T18:24:00.004-07:00

Yup, today Daniel turned 5 months. So crazy for us as parents! We praise GOD everyday for our little boy. :) He just started teething a few days ago and that has been not so fun. A fussier Daniel, and a droolier Daniel. Plus a Daniel that spits up a lot more (gagging himself with his fingers and fist....). But other than that he is just great, so inquisitive. Here are his latest home stats:

Weight: 17. 3 lbs (basically a pound heavier than last month)
Length: 26.5 in (about an 1 and 1/2 longer)

Here are some pictures from today (and yes I can see me [Adrea] in his little face now):

"Hmm...I don't know about this..."

"Are you really going to take 5 thousand pictures?"
"Then I just won't face the camera...."

Our Little Candy Cane!

2009-12-14T17:11:00.005-07:00

Sorry we haven't been posting every week...now that the holidays are here things have gotten really busy. :) But we did find time to take pictures of Daniel in his swing looking like a cute little candy cane!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm cute.

Still cute.

The cutest!!!

In honor of MJ....no, not really!!!;-) HEE HEE!

2009-12-03T18:41:00.008-07:00

Daniel gets his fingernails clipped on a regular basis. Well, one parent (we won't say which one) got a little too low on the left thumb. Unfortunately at this same time Daniel realized that sucking on that thumb was really great. So...the thumb got red and swollen and had to be looked at during his OFFICIAL 4 MONTH check-up (he's 16 lbs, 2 0z and 25 in. long by the way). The doctor ordered an antibiotic cream to be put on 3 times a day and ordered a sock to go over it so that he would not be ingesting the cream. Well, he kept soaking the sock anyway so we had to look for alternatives. The best we came up with came from our first "baby"...Slick's doggie booties we bought him for the snow. Check out our little gloved one in photos below. :) ENJOY!

4 month Stats....UNOFFICIAL!!!

2009-11-19T18:35:00.003-07:00

Today Daniel is officially 4 months old...so exciting! He is growing so quickly and turning into even more of our "little man." Here are his unofficial stats:

Weight: 16.4 lbs (basically about 2 more pounds than last month)
Height: 24 7/8 in. (a little less than an inch from last month)

Daniel "talks" a lot and laughs a lot too. He likes to stretch out his legs (usually aiming for Slick!). His neck is getting stronger and stronger everyday and he loves to look all round to check out whatever environment he is in. Recently he has started in on rice cereal and has really taken to it as seen below:

"Yeah, I help my Momma feed me"

Chowing down...

"That was DELICIOUS!!!"

Testing out the BIG stroller

2009-11-13T21:35:00.002-07:00

Well another first, well kinda. It's Daniel's first time in the 3 wheel stroller that Grampa Steve & Gramma Deb got us. As you can see, he is sooo excited! The stroller was as maneuverable as a sports car but the sidewalks in our area are a little bumpy but Daniel enjoyed the rough ride. I was even able to one handed steer Daniel in his stroller, mostly because it was a guys trip around the neighborhood.

Daddy and Daniel

2009-11-08T18:49:00.002-07:00

Just spending a nice Sunday night together...football and hanging out until bedtime.

Daniel and the Den!

2009-11-01T19:59:00.003-07:00

So this was Daniel's first Halloween and we figured the best way to celebrate was to dress him as his namesake, Daniel of the Bible. Our church was doing trunk or treating and the director of the children ministry asked David and I to pass out candy from our trunk. We would have done it anyway, but we though it was a great opportunity to actually make Daniel a den and do a Biblical trunk! :) Here are some of the pictures we took before the actual trunk or treating started:

Chilling in the den!

Feeling a little uncertain.

Over it...

REALLY over it!!!

It was a good night, parked next to friends and handing out candy to all those cute little ones. We are so grateful for our church family.

Kimmie's Visit!

2009-10-28T21:26:00.003-06:00

Kimmie, a GREAT FRIEND from college came to visit this week. She was so great with Daniel and a great help for David and I! :) Here are a few fun pics:

Reading to Daniel before bed.

Our finished carved pumpkins.

A burnt finger from helping David and I w/our costumes!

Our finished costumes.*

*Since Daniel is going to be Daniel from the Bible for Halloween, David is the first part of Daniel Chapter 6, and I am the second part of Daniel Chapter 6 of the Bible. That chapter tells the whole story of Daniel and the Lions' Den. We should have been standing closer together but it was really late and we were tired. In person our costume really does look like the Bible! :)