Photo drought

Due to some busy days in addition to technical blog difficulties we have been experiencing a picture drought. We hope this assortment will quench the thirst of those of you who regularily slurp from our picture pond.

Peek-a-boo!

Hi.

Winter biking.

This picture needs little explanation.

Two beavers I found wandering around the Nature Museum one cold Sunday.

Does anyone recognize this bear?

The Great Scatterer

As a scientist I have long pondered that irreversible force in our universe which cannot be undone. Entropy they call it, disorder. As of late, this great Force has found a new ally in the battle for chaos... our daughter.

Clearly this bin full of block is in an unacceptable state of order.

The offenders (blocks)... being taught a lesson they ought not soon forget.

The Great Emptier surveys her handy work.

This game will continue for as long as there in order in the house, blocks in the bin, or until 7:00 when its her bedtime. :-)

And one more just for the cuteness factor. Abbie exploring the "free for all" bin on a neighbors doorstep.

Happy Halloween - a bit late

Our little maestro playing a tune


Leaf jumping


Why am I wearing orange and playing with this pumpkin again?


Daddy and Froggy Trick-or-Treating - who do you think was having more fun?!! 

The Birthday girl!

Well I guess the first birthday has officially come and gone although I think we stretched it out nicely... He're a few shots of the festivities up in MN. Thanks so much to everyone who helped and made the trip to see the birthday girl!

Ohh... I see how this works! (Not shown: trying to eat the paper, of course)

Looks she's already one and we don't even have grey hair yet!


Oooh... mommy... what an awesome cake! (Editors note: and it tastes good too)

Happy Birthday Abigail!

On October 30th Abbie turned ONE! We are now the proud parents of a one year-old. It's hard to believe that our baby has grown so much - what a year it has been. We love you with all our hearts Abbie! Thank you for the joy you bring us each and every day...and remember, no matter how big you get, you'll always be our baby girl... 

it's getting colder...

We got a really good deal on a used treadmill and it appears that our daughter likes it too. I informed her she's a little too young for the sport of running but that she is welcome to partake in the sport of napping so Mama can enjoy the treadmill as the weather turns colder!


In an attempt to keep our baby warm, we have resorted to bundling - I'm sure we all remember being bundled up with layer after layer as a child. :-) One of the first things Abbie did when she got outside was to fall over and then struggle to get up because she was so well-padded! Classic...
Just wait until it's cold enough for snow pants :-) 

New Box, oh, and New Car Seat

So I'm almost big enough to ride in a toddler car seat now and so Mommy and Daddy got me a new car seat...the box was my favorite part I have to say. Hopefully Mommy and Daddy will let the box live in the living room for many weeks to come! 

Toy Bins

Toy bins are good for holding toys or babies it seems. What could be more fun than emptying the toys and climbing in yourself? Mommy had to unstack the toy bins because I preferred to climb into the top toy bin and play there...we decided that was a bit too high for babies :-) 

Mama on the move

Some may ask where Abbie gets all her energy, pizzaz for life, and that big ol' smile on her face... look no further. Last Sunday morning we all got up before the sun for a big adventure down to the Museum of Science and Industry? The Museum at 7am you ask? Well of course so that our bushy tailed mommy could run 13.1 miles with 14,000 other runnin' fools! It was a beautiful Chi-town morning and a worthy adventure! Nice work Katie!

Daddy and Baby getting a slow start to the morning... and yes, I am drinking coffee out of a sippee cup.


Abbie sizes up the competition while Katie laces up.

Ready to go!

A scenic overlook as we hustle to watch Mommy pass by again.

Katie coming down the home stretch! Great job!

New rocking chair

So Grandma and Grandpa brought this little rocking chair that used to be Daddy's for Abbie. I THOUGHT one was supposed to sit nicely with hands folded in lap gently rocking. This is how our baby girl decided the chair was to be used - she climbed up herself and started shaking it. Note the picture is blurry because she is shaking the chair so hard! How have we managed to avoid getting stitches so far?? We're trying to keep this baby safe from herself! Spunky little twerp - that's why we love her! 

In Training

I want to write a tribute to the best little running buddy around. Since the end of Februrary, when Abbie was old enough to ride in the baby jogger, Mama and Abbie have logged over 250 miles in this baby buggy. Abbie's favorite way to ride is leaning forward with her hair in the wind and if Mama doesn't go fast enough to create a wind, Abbie lets her know! Abbie is currently training me for the Chicago Half Marathon on October 1st. Unfortunately, wheels aren't allowed on the course, so she will be cheering from the sidelines, waiting patiently with the ever-present stash of stale Cheerios and a drool-covered water bottle for Mama to finish the race... There have been rainy days (Abbie gets the rain tent, Mama gets wet), sunny days, cold days, tired days, hot days, sore days and days when we have to get out and play way too many times for Mama to get many miles in...but whatever the weather or the training buddy brings, we have created many happy memories already. Thanks little running buddy!

Teeth and other laughs...

Silly Dada...he can always make me laugh at the end of the day!



Mama made me get all dressed up for my 9month pictures (taken a month late!)


Little Busybody!! Mama caught me actually perched on the radiator KNOB so that I could see out the window! I'm become a little climber...

I gotta have the whole peach - it tastes so much better - wouldn't you all agree? Sliced/mashed/squished peach is for babies...I want the whole thing! Plus I HAVE TEETH NOW!! Three of them - two on bottom and one on the top...no more toothless grin. Now there's flashes of white and my love nibbles have started eliciting yelps from the lucky people who receive them...:-) 

We forgot to tell you!!

OUR BABY IS WALKING!! For a good two weeks now Abbie has been walking (she started just shy of 9 and a half months) and yesterday she gave up just walking and has begun running! Now that she has learned to walk/run, there has been hardly any crawling :-( It reminds me of that line in Forrest Gump "...and from then on, anywhere I had to go I- WAS - RUNNIN'!"
You have all watched her grow on this blog and we thought that you would feel a sense of pride in her accomplishment...I wish you all could see just how proud she is of herself!! Here are some pictures to help show the little mover and shaker! She is so funny to watch - she literally bounces back up when she falls - Mama and Dada's guts sink everytime there's a thump, but thankfully, our baby seems more resilient than we are! Bless her heart...


 

Escapee

So, I escaped after my bath and was running around...and very quickly before anyone discovered me I had re-entered the bathroom and decided to do a little busy work...needless to say, the toilet paper hasn't lived there since! It now hides up high. Especially since I decided to taste a nice chunk of it too...:-)

Bragging rights

As we are always so modest when posting our beautiful daughter (snicker snicker) I thought I would take this chance to outright brag about the people around me. Take my mother for instance, who over the last couple years has turned into a loom luminary. Her most classy creation is shown here. While she denies the inclination to ever sell these I'm calling her bluff and offering you (my wealthy friends) a similarly sensational flooring covering for the fair price of $1000. Well worth the 100+ woman hours that go into the art.


And what about my handsome nephew! You can tell there's some Martinson blood in that boy's genes! And what caring parents to prepare him for the dangers of flooding with those stylish aqua-socks. I miss aqua-socks.


Next up are the Fletcher brothers. Two fine gentlemen who graciously took time out of their busy summer to entertain our dear daughter. A couple of real lady killers if you ask me... available female friends please note the lack of rings on the ring fingers.


The list goes on but I'll save it for the next post.


Oops... how did that get in here?

-Alex