Wockenfuss

On Valentine's Day, Craig told me he wanted to buy me a box of Wockenfuss chocolates. He said he would have bought them secretly and surprised me on that day, but he didn't want to get the wrong kind so he told me I could choose the assortment I wanted. I chose all the creams, except coconut...so that means I got raspberry, lemon, orange, buttercream, chocolate, peanut butter and mint. Some are covered in milk chocolate and some in dark chocolate. Perfect!





It was actually better this way because I had the fun of choosing the chocolates and then anticipating their arrival in the mail. There is a lot of joy and excitment for me in the anticipation of events, special days and things arriving in the mail. It was also a loving act for Craig to even buy me chocolates because he doesn't like me to eat a lot of sweets since they are bad for me. Still, he knew how much it would mean to me and since I only eat 2 at the most per day, it's not too bad.

The Wockenfuss Candy Co is in Baltimore, Maryland which is where my mom grew up. We used to visit there every other summer. Every year at Christmas, someone in our family out there (usually Pop-Pop, my mom's dad) sends my parents a box of Wockenfuss candies for us to enjoy as a family. We LOVE the tradition and LOVE the candies. I was excited to have my very own box to enjoy. Of course, Craig can have some too, but he rarely wants one because they are so sweet.

Videos of Alisa - December

Alisa talks to the babies pictured on the box that her toys came in and makes heeee noises every once in awhile (first day to do that noise) (12-04-07):



Alisa shakes ring toys while sitting in Bumbo chair (12-04-07):



Alisa plays with the plastic Pillsbury Doughboy that Mommy got years ago with a cookbook order (12-04-07):



Alisa talks to the Pillsbury Doughboy (12-04-07):



Alisa sings and plays with Tigger in Bumbo chair (12-04-07):



Alisa says da-da and plays with rattle and feet on changing table (12-05-07):



Daddy takes Alisa's 1st Christmas present from Nana out of the packaging (12-09-07):



Daddy drops the shaker balls in the "Tiny Love Musical Stack & Play" toy that Nana sent to Alisa (12-09-07):



Daddy pats hand over Alisa's mouth while she makes noise resulting in the hubububba sound (12-09-07):



Daddy and Alisa laugh on hotel bed on the way to Tulsa for Christmas (12-15-07):



Daddy makes Alisa laugh then smooshes her cheeks at Grandmom & Grandad's house (12-17-07):

Videos of Alisa - November

Sorry these are so late. It takes more than an hour for each 1 minute video to upload the YouTube (and then just a few seconds to upload to my website after that) and I didn't get around to it until weeks after getting home from our Christmas visit to Tulsa.

Alisa crawling towards Minga (11-14-07):



Alisa crawls around while playing with Tigger (11-14-07):



Alisa plays with Tigger and gets up on her hands and feet (11-14-07):



Alisa sings while sitting in the Bumbo chair (11-14-07):



Alisa talks loudly to Minga (11-17-07):



Alisa laughs and shares Tigger with Minga (11-17-07):



Alisa pull a book off Daddy's little bookshelf and flips the pages with her thumb (11-23-07):



Alisa standing up using the Bumbo chair (11-24-07):



Alisa looks at the babies pictured on the box her Walk 'n Ride toy came in (11-29-07):

Incredible Sense of Smell

We all know that dogs have an incredible sense of smell, right? I am able to see it first hand when throwing objects for Minga to fetch. Even if I touch a small stick for 2 seconds with just 2 fingers, Minga will hunt it down in the woods and bring it back. She won't stop hunting until she finds the exact one I just threw. It's amazing and fun to watch. Sometimes it takes her awhile to find it, which is good because then she gets more exercise running around. We usually open the front gate and then throw things off the back of the main balcony so she can get the most exercise while fetching. She stands with us on the balcony and sometimes watches where the object lands and then runs so fast along the balcony, through the gate and then turns and tears down the grassy hill to the back yard to find the object. If she's been searching for awhile with no luck she will stop and look up at us. We encourage her that the object is still out there by saying, "Go get it...where's the stick?" and then she continues hunting. Most of the time she dashes through the creek at least once to cool off.

It's apparent that she doesn't search based on sight because when we throw the red frisbee for her she will sometimes run right past it (where it's obvious to the eyes, but she won't notice it). She will eventually come back by it and pick it up.

Bigger and Better Fish Tank

We now have a 6-foot-long, 125-gallon fish tank! We put it down in the new room, which is mostly used as a study and game room.

(You can click on any of the pictures for a closer view).

Here it is on the first day or so in late November (the water is murky because the sand hadn't settled completely yet):


Here it is now with some new additions (more rocks and shells):


These are the cichlids that used to be in our 20-gallon tank:





Craig got this 75 lb quartz rock from his friend Kevin, who got it out of a river in Vermont:


Craig got these slate rocks (about 20 lbs each) from a creek by his friend Jeremy's house in Arkansas:


Here is a video Craig got of the fish:

Mom's Day Out

We moms from the monthly playgroup that I take Alisa to had our first Mom's Day Out today. We met at a nail salon for a pedicure and only 4 of us actually showed up. It was my 1st pedicure and it was nice. I chose the paraffin wax as an extra to the basic pedicure. After trimming my toenails and buffing all the rough spots on my feet (which kinda tickled), the lady massaged my feet and legs (up to the knee) with oils. That felt sooooo good. Then she dipped my feet in the hot wax several times, wrapped them in plastic bags and let them dry while I had hot towels wrapped around my legs. She came back awhile later and peeled off the soft wax. She completed the pedicure by painting my toenails a pinkish red color I had picked out. I haven't had my toenails painted since college or shortly after so it's weird seeing them like this again.

We ate lunch at a restaurant called Chez Pierre. The weather was gorgeous so we ate on the deck by the fountain. It was peaceful and we were the only ones out there for a long time. We talked about our babies (of course), husbands/boyfriends and jobs. The best part was when we told each other our quirks/obsessive compulsive tendencies. We laughed so much.

Afterwards, one girl had to take lunch to her husband at work but the rest of us picked up our babies from our homes and went to a playground. It was Alisa's first time at a playground. She wasn't fond of the swings but the other moms said their babies weren't fond the first time they were in a swing, but now they love them. Alisa loved sitting on and trying to climb up the slide. She played with the mulch that covered the ground but didn't put any of it in her mouth, which was surprising and great. She enjoyed watching the big kids run around and play. She kept screeching at them while smiling and one time got everyone's attention.

I stopped by Wal-Mart on the way home. Alisa had fallen asleep in the car so I put the baby seat on the shopping cart so she would stay asleep. After I had filled the cart, I did the self checkout and then realized that I had left my wallet in diaper bag in car. I pushed the Help button and when the lady came over I told her what happened. There were people in line behind me so she suspended the transaction to free up that station and said I could pay at her station when I came back with my wallet. I left the cart full of groceries there and carried Alisa in her seat all the way out to my car. I was mad at myself and did not enjoy the walk. Alisa is getting heavy and it's harder to carry her in her seat now (hurts my upper back and shoulders just thinking about it). I could have grabbed another cart and pushed her out in that but I didn't think of it in time. I walked quickly because she was heavy and my ice cream was melting so then my legs were tired. Oh well, I survived. That experience should help me to remember to check my purse for my wallet before going inside next time.

I took Alisa and the groceries home and then went out by myself for a snack and to run a few other errands. I got my favorite cold drink at Panera Bread and by the time I walked out of there it was packed with an early dinner crowd. I just took it to my car and drank some while reading a book, rather than taking up a table for just me. While I was sitting there, a girl got in the car next to me and commented to her friend that my car looked like it had been riddled with bullets. She didn't see me sitting there. My car still has hail damage all over it from the 2004 storm in Tulsa so that's what she was talking about. I hardly even notice it these days.

New Highway Fence

Many months ago, Craig contacted the city and told them the drainage ditch by our property had issues (haybales and rocks had washed away and the creek was filling with too much sand) and also that the fence separating our property from the highway was falling over in places. They asked if we could wait until after hurricane season and we said yes. Well, they put in a new fence this past week and Craig even convinced them to haul off a huge pile of tree limbs from our property that some other guys left by the fence when we had our trees trimmed (saved us like $400-$600). Go Craig!



This is the view of the highway from our balcony. During the summer you can't even see the highway or the drainage ditch or culvert because of the trees and tall grasses.



Putting the rocks in place:

Alisa is 10 Months Old Today

Alisa gained 1 lb this month--she went from 19 lbs 7 oz to 20 lbs 7 oz. Her hair is noticeably longer with a bit of a curl at the bottom and her 2 bottom middle teeth are still the only ones showing. It is so hard to cut her fingernails these days because she is wiggling and constantly trying to grab the nail clippers. The best time to cut them is when she's sleeping but she rarely falls asleep in our arms nowadays. Her nails end up being pretty long by the time I get around to cutting them and she sometimes scratches her face at night.





She has liked all the foods we've given her except cottage cheese (and it was even mixed with pureed fruit). She loves Cheerios and bananas, probably mostly because she gets to pick them up with her fingers. She has been easier to feed this month. She's focused when drinking her bottle (doesn't usually take breaks) and hasn't been getting too messy when eating spoon foods. We don't have to burp her anymore...she will burp on her own within minutes of finishing her bottle.





She sleeps 11 hours each night and started taking longer naps (1 to 1 1/2 hours). She doesn't usually get fussy before a nap anymore, but she will still suck her thumb off and on, slow down in her movements or become a little frustrated with toys. If she doesn't show signs of tiredness, we just put her in her crib about 2 hours after she started eating her last meal and she will lay down and fall asleep soon after (no crying!). She usually happily plays in her crib for 30 minutes to an hour or more upon awakening. However, she is usually fussy after her short evening nap--if she has one (depends on when her day started)--and wants to be held for awhile after (doesn't happily play in her crib upon awakening).



She is fearless when it comes to crawling on the edge of the bed or couch--she would dive off if we would let her (we have to hold her tight to keep her from landing on her head once she determines to take the plunge).



She can take a few steps while pushing her Walk 'N Ride toy around or while holding onto your hands or the table or ottoman (she's just not motivated to take more than a few steps yet). She loves crawling on hard floors. She enjoys taking baths and is constantly crawling and standing up in the tub.













She laughs and smiles a lot and also makes lots of puzzled faces in response to sounds and other new things. She loves hugging and kissing her stuffed animals (she does this in the morning and after every nap). She likes to clap her hands, my hands and even her stuffed animals' hands. She also loves pulling off her socks and playing with them.







We got her a learning table and she loves it. It lights up and plays various songs, sounds and words when different parts are pushed, spun, opened, etc.







She loves looking at books and magazines (especially those with pictures of babies in them). The 1st time I gave her a magazine to look at on her own, she kept putting it up to her face (1-24-08)...all the other times she'd turn the pages and eventually rip one out and carry it around:



Reading the Dr Seuss book "Mr Brown Can Moo, Can You?"...she loves the sounds I make when reading this book and joins in on the line "He can sound like a clock...he can tick, he can tock" by clucking her tongue (2-05-08):







She started pointing at things this month, which is handy for letting us know what she wants to take a closer look at. The 1st time she pointed at something (a large lizard sculpture on the wall) was when she was sitting in her friend Benjamin's highchair after eating lunch there (1-16-08):



Checking out her new giraffe shoes, which are super comfy and soft (good for babies who are starting to stand and/or walk):

















She cried after drinking her bottle because she was still hungry and didn't want to wait until I finished preparing her spoon food. After she stopped crying, she had one tear under each eye, as if they were intentionally placed there (1-15-08):







She always ends up playing under my desk when I'm working or playing on the computer:



She thinks it's so fun to sit in our office chairs and spin...here she is in my new chair (1-16-08):







New pajamas from Aunt Janet (so she'd be close to matching the pajamas of her older girl cousins on Christmas morning):





Alisa loves this new ball we got for her (1-20-08):















She always has something in her hand or mouth, even when crawling (1-24-08):



Standing for one of the 1st times without holding onto anything for support (1-23-08):



Alisa absolutely loves these little ducks (we were given 4 of them so there is one in each main room):



She thinks it's hilarious when I put or let her put toys in my mouth (1-27-08):







This is the face she made after I said "No" to touching the nightlight (2-06-08):

Savannah, Georgia

We took a weekend trip to Savannah, Georgia to meet up with my sister Karen and her friend Nathan. It was a 4 1/2 hour drive. We arrived Saturday afternoon and checked into the hotel. We had gotten a deal online through a 3rd party that gave us $40 off the room, but it was for a smoking room only. We asked the receptionist if we could change to a non-smoking room but she said they were completely booked. I believed it, because a little while later there were 13 taxis lined up outside waiting for their fares. We saw some kids dressed up so it was either a wedding party or some other formal event.

I unpacked all the baby stuff (Pack 'N Play, toys, food and bottles) and settled into the room. Minutes later, I realized Alisa's bare knees and the tops of her shoes were black from crawling on the floor (I hadn't put her pants back on yet after changing her diaper). I was horrified! The dirt wiped off easily with a wet washcloth but I didn't want her to crawl around on that dirty floor once she was in her pajamas because they wouldn't wipe so clean. A little while later, the toilet wouldn't flush anymore so Craig called the front desk. The receptionist said it had broken earlier and they had done a quick fix until they could buy a new chain. She said a room did open up and since the quick fix no longer worked, we got to move to a non-smoking room that was larger and had a separate sitting area with a pullout couch bed and another TV. Wahoo--free upgrade! We packed everything up and then unpacked again in the new room, putting Alisa's bed in the separate area so we wouldn't disturb her. Alisa's knees did not become black from the carpet so I realized it was just soot from the smoking room--disgusting!

Alisa loved feeling the smooth hotel bedspread:



We ate dinner at a great Mexican place called Cilantro's that was near our hotel. Then we drove around downtown so Alisa could take a nap in the car and we could scout out the town. It was dark by then so we got to see what the town was like all lit up. We drove down River Street by all the shops and restaurants and then up and down some other streets, passing many of the 22 town squares. We didn't see Karen that night because her flight arrived after 9 PM and Nathan picked her up.

Bridge over Savannah River:







River Street:





River Street Market:



One of the 22 squares (most had fountains or statues in the center):





There are lots of cool houses like this in town:



Sunday morning we ate free breakfast at the hotel and it was delicious. I had a sausage biscuit and french toast (nice for a continental breakfast!). We met Karen at Nathan's RV, which was parked with the other circus vehicles at the Civic Center. From there we walked around town looking at the old houses and pretty squares. Nathan briefly joined us for lunch at The Mellow Mushroom (pizza place) and then we walked back to the Civic Center to see the circus. There was a mixup with our tickets at the Will Call booth so we called Karen's cell (she was then backstage with Nathan) and Nathan had to call some people to figure out what happened to the tickets he had set aside for us. By the time they found them, we had missed the preshow (where you can see some of the animals and entertainers up close) and Nathan was late to his position.

Alisa enjoyed watching the performers in their sparkly costumes at the circus. Craig had her in the baby carrier at first and she happily bounced up and down. She drank a bottle while watching the little daschunds and the elephant do tricks. She fell asleep during the last 20 minutes but woke up as we were walking out.

We spent the rest of the afternoon walking and shopping on River Street. We ate an early dinner at Kevin Barry's Pub (Irish) where the Shepherd's Pie and Irish Beef Stew were excellent. Craig headed back to the hotel room to watch the Superbowl on the 42" plasma TV and the rest of us walked to a coffee house for dessert. Alisa took another nap in the stroller and woke up about 20 minutes before we left the coffee house. I had a very rich and super delicious piece of chocolate toffee mousse. I'm sure it had a ton of calories in it, but it was so good that I didn't care very much. It's okay to splurge every once in awhile. We made it back to the hotel room in time to watch the last quarter of the very exciting game.

Monday morning we ate breakfast at the hotel again, walked around town and then ate lunch at The Pirates House. Most of the 15 rooms were closed off due to renovations so what we saw was not very impressive. The food was good, but the buffet was overpriced. One of the staff was dressed up like a pirate and closely resembled (in dress and speech) Johnny Depp's character (Captain Jack Sparrow) in the Pirates of the Caribbean movies. He entered the room singing to Alisa because the lyrics of the song that was playing had something to do with a sweet child or girl (I can't remember the song right now). Alisa looked worried when she saw him and started to get upset so he left before she could escalate. We walked up and down River Street again and then Craig, Alisa and I headed home. Karen and Nathan drove to Tybee Island (about 25 minutes from downtown) for some camping. They were going to stay the rest of the week to explore the city more and do things, like a trolley tour.

Alisa loved riding on the cobblestone streets...she made noises so her voice would vibrate as she bounced along in the stroller. She also enjoyed the streets that had oyster shells in them because they were rough too.



Shell sidewalk by cobblestone street:





This boat sprayed 2 streams of water for quite awhile...not sure why they were doing it, but it was nice to watch and they made a rainbow:



Aunt Karen and Alisa:







Cool staircase to get down to the river on the east end:

Circus

I saw the Ringling Brothers Boom A Ring (Gold Tour) circus in Tallahassee on January 8th and the circus in Savannah on February 3rd. I hadn't been to the circus since I was a little girl. The reason I went twice in the span on one month is because my sister Karen knows the circus trumpet player and she was visiting him both cities and he got us free tickets to the shows and backstage passes to the one in Tallahassee.

It was a one ring circus...I will mention some of the highlights for me.....

I was amazed at watching the woman that did the rope stuff. She climbed a rope and did all sorts of poses from it, like holding on with just her legs and what not. Several times she wrapped the rope around herself in a specific way and then let go and her body spun over and over (either side over side or head over heels) and down the rope, stopping just before hitting the floor. Man, you have to get that just right or you will go splat! She also did maneuvers from a rope swing and she was swinging very high and fast.

It was also cool to see another strong woman do tricks on the rings. She would swing a lot and let go and be hanging upside by just her legs. Before her ring act, she did tricks with 6 big cats. She was the only one in the caged ring with those cats and she handled them beautifully. She went straight from the cat act to the ring act, just removing her fancy long coat and shoes. Usually people get a break in between acts, so I was impressed by her.

The 6 little dachsunds that did tricks were cute and funny. The music went really well with their running, hopping and twirling. I liked watching the elephants too. One woman came out riding the male elephant and had him do all sorts of things like standing on the stool, spinning and waving with his trunk. She stood and sat on him in all sorts of positions and it was so neat to see. She also went from the male to the female elephant and at one point had one foot on each one's head (which is risky). Nathan told us that the elephants need traveling companions and they use a zebra as one because they get along so well. At the show in Tallahassee, the zebra companion came out on stage with the elephant--so cute!

The wheel act was exciting and dangerous. There were 2 large wheels (like hamster wheels) connected with a long straight part so they could spin up and over each other (looked like an amusement park ride). There was 1 guy in each wheel. They'd run and jump inside each one as it went around and around and up and down. Then, the little guy got on the outside of his wheel and ran around it like that. He did lots of scary jumps as the wheel went from the highest point and started to go down. He got pretty crazy and there was no safety wires or crash pad for him. He even did some of it blindfolded!

There is a guy named Justin Case that is Australian (I met him backstage) but played a French character in the show. He came out quite a lot in between acts, wearing a coat and hat and carrying a small case. He rode a bicycle that kept falling apart (handle bars, seats, each wheel, etc. came off) and each time he'd put it back together all wrong and ride it like that. It was clever and funny. Just when you thought he couldn't think of any other silly way to put the bike together, he'd do another way and actually ride that thing! And sometimes he rode it while standing on his head! He said that he was the first one to ever do one of the tricks he did, which was riding it while sitting on the front of the bike where the handle bars meet the front wheel with the bike totally vertical. At one point, he pulled a tiny bicycle out of the case he had been carrying around and he rode it around the elevated walkway of the ring. This bike was so small (just bigger than his foot) it was incredible that he could even ride it (he put his feet on the pedals like normal). And later, he opened the case again and pulled out an even tinier bicycle. The entire thing was SMALLER than his foot and he successfully rode it through a flaming hoop. The crowd went wild! It was sooooo funny and amazing!

Hooray for the circus!