American Gothic House

Before we left go old Iowa, we had to hit up the American Gothic House for our last whoo-raw with the Graff's.  Don't know what that is, yeah me either until I looked up the painting online and recognized it immediately.  Of course the house is in a teeny tiny town a couple hours from Des Moines.  It was definitely worth the drive.

 A replica of the real deal.  The artist's sister and his dentist.

Henley loved this.

One of the best parts about this place is they had costumes for you to dress up.  Even a little guy for the babe which Rich was totally grossed out by.  Exact words, "Are you sure you want to put her in this?  Do you know how many people have touched it?"  The thought didn't even cross my mind. Rich had the look down, however I think I was glaring/snarling too much.  PS...not a flattering dress.  I look pregnant which is not a good look for a post pregnant woman. 

 

 

The whole crew

 Taking a break with a bottle and some shades.

We ate lunch at this awesome hole in the wall, called the Canteen.  The place was like a 5X5 room underneath a parking garage.  One of the most random restaurants I have ever been to.  They did serve a pretty delicious hamburger --- sloppy joe without the sloppy.

And of course we had to hit up an ice cream place before heading home.  We were both so sick on the drive home and I maybe had to undo the button on my pants.  That's when you know it has been a good day.

Big Changes

The time has come for our fourth year of podiatry school.  We have heard about the horror from our predecessors and we put it out of our minds for as long as possible.  To fill you in a bit, Rich will be traveling around the US interviewing at different hospitals for 6 whole months without us!  Each month he will be in a different place.  Above are all of the places he is going, and the two little ladies way across the country in Utah are Henley and myself. So currently, we are here living with my parents while the hubby is in Michigan working his fanny off trying to impress those in charge.

Moving rules in our house: No shoes, no shirt, no problem. (Most anyone in our apt complex would have fit the bill).  The poor thing endured two full weeks of me packing like a champ.  Couldn't have asked for a better baby.

My parents were awesome and drove out to Iowa to help us move most of our stuff to a storage unit and to drive back to the west with us.  Biggest blessing!  They were so helpful and I can't imagine doing that drive with just Henley and myself.  Side note: During this move I have realized that our "stuff"...yea, mostly junk.  Not sure why we care to store it.  Can't wait for the day when we can buy furniture that matches.

 The Graff's were awesome and helped us out all day.  Best friends evah!

 The U-Haul place was super super sketchy.  The reviews online said to take a friend with you.  Um, yes.

 Last day in our apartment.  Such a bitter sweet time.  A lot in our lives happened and changed in that apartment.  It was our first long term place we lived as a married couple, first time I moved away from Utah for an extended period of time (best thing), it was the place we brought Henley home to...we made a lot of great friends and memories in Iowa.  We will miss that place dearly.

On a more up-and-up note, Henley is 8.5 mths old!!  Time is flying right before our eyes.  Quick rundown on her - army crawling and getting up on hands and knees to rock back and forth, no teeth, loves eating everything we are eating, very noisy eater, loves being around other people, music is her favorite thing, her favorite toy is cords and straps on bags, hates getting her nose wiped, cute as a button.

I promise I wasn't stepping on her here.  She loves it when I put my foot on her tummy while I shake it so she can hold on.

Good Weather

It was time.  Time to take the parent goggles off and realize my child was sporting the "I can't embrace balding" hair-do.  The curl had left the ten long hairs and had turned into a straight, stringy mess.    

 Curly

 Comb-over material

I had no idea what I was doing and luckily the results were good.  She was intrigued and well behaved the whole time despite the crazy lady behind her.  Good grief I'm photogenic.

 The after.  Lots of smiles.

My friend, Joni Canovah, talked me into running a 5K with her.  Thank heavens she did because without that motivation I would have never exercised.  The race was a blast.  12,000 runners signed up for the Glow Run.  It was held downtown on a Saturday night.  There were a ton of people, lots of them being intoxicated which made for an interesting race.  They held a huge party afterward that Joni and I skipped.  I'm sure everyone was disappointed they didn't get to see our groovy moves.

And the highlight of a couple weeks ago was the amazing weather.  Good weather brings sooo much free entertainment and we definitely took advantage of it.  We went down a ton of slides, played on the swings, went on some long walks, short jogs and played frisbee numerous times.  I can't get enough of spring weather.

First time on the swings was a success.  Her nervous/shy habit is to put her hand in her mouth.  She did let the hand go for a couple of pushes though, but just a couple.  

Doesn't this face just say, "What are you lookin' at?"  

Faux Birthday

Having your birthday on Christmas would be the pits.  Richard’s Birthday comes in second place for the crumbiest day to have your birthday, New Year’s Day.  Everyone is off work, which you think would be awesome.  Not awesome.  It is too close to Christmas so you don’t need anything else as far as gifts go and basically everyone forgets it is your birthday because they are trying to recover from the night before.  I feel bad every year when Rich’s B-Day comes and goes like a regular old day.  Trust me, I have tried to make it special and it never pans out.  This year I decided it would be a fun tradition to celebrate big when his half birthday rolls around (July 1).  Unfortunately we aren’t going to be together at that time therefore I chose a random day that worked best for him and I to celebrate.  March 29.  That day happened to be the last school exam he will ever take!!  Two birds with one stone.  I got him some fun little cheap things he needed and re-wrapped his Ipad that he got on his actual b-day.  He has been talking about trying Shepherd’s Pie for a very long time.  I have been avoiding it because this dish seems like a bunch of crap thrown into a casserole dish.  I was pretty spot on with the description and he loved it.  I also attempted to make these little cakes (http://ohhappyday.com/2012/02/mini-cakes-diy/).  It was a total fail.  Two of them overflowed in the oven, causing A LOT of smoke and our fire alarm to go off.  One made it through the baking stage and came out resembling a slouchy hard piece of fudge. He tried to make me feel better by taking a bite.  That made me even more mortified, afraid he was going to crack a tooth or something.  We ended up going out for dessert.  Thank you McDonald's chocolate dipped cones.  I think I will continue with this tradition and hope it makes his Birthday a little more special than it has been in the past.  Happy Faux Birthday to my hubby!

Where's Henley?  Wrapping paper is the ultimate baby gift.

He loves it when I take a picture of just him :)

6 Months & Easter Time

Six months have come and gone and I cannot believe how fast time flies.  Every stage Henley goes through, I find myself saying that I don't want this stage to end.  The greatest part about it is every stage gets better and better.  Currently Henley is in to:

1.  Sitting up by herself

2.  Holding her own spoon while being fed with another spoon

3.  Saying ba-ba-ba-ba and ma-ma-ma-ma (too bad she doesn't link the ma-ma to me)

4.  Loves fighting naps

5. Hates getting dressed.  She would live in a diaper if I let her. 

6.  Sticking her tongue out is her new favorite pastime, along with playing with her binky

7.  Side sleeper at heart.  We finally grew out of swaddling (rough, rough transition) and she will only sleep on her side.

8.  Loves her jumper bumper.  In fact she enjoys anything that allows her to move on her own.

9.  Mesmerized by watching other kids play.  We thrive at play groups.

Her first Easter was pretty uneventful.  We went to church which would have been enough, but our neighbors were having an easter egg hunt and we decided to join.  It was deceivingly cold and windy.  Once snot started running into Henley's mouth, we called it quits.  She had picked up one egg which tells you how long we were there.  

 Freezing our buns off.

 Thanks Grandma Hanks for the adorable Easter dress.  

 This picture cracks me up.  She was very busy talking.

Escapades With Dad

Might I preface this post with a disclaimer.  I promise we get dressed every day and I do put headbands on the babe.  However, whenever Richard is home it is typically on the weekends or late in the evening and she has had enough of regular clothes and something on her head.  Moving on.

These two are little buddies.  I swear every time I turn around the hubby and Henley are attempting a new trick, a dance move, somewhere new in the apartment to sit, etc.  She goes along with it like a champ and is as content as can be.  Below are a few examples.  (All events were highly supervised).   

Twinners.  They look so much alike.  He ruled the gene pool with this child.  PS...loving 3rd year of podiatry school.  I have seen him more this year than the other two years combined.  

 Let's just see if she fits in the diaper bag.  In case of an emergency.

 Giving kisses

 She is ready to bring her A game.  I can just see her saying "Bring it on."  Skills to pay the bills.

 Rolling around in the office chair

 Got out of the shower one night and Rich was putting her on top of the fridge.  Just because.  

 Their most favorite trick of all.  Quite masterful.

And sometimes she likes me too.