The Fair

The Best part about being a parent is being able to be a kid again. We had a family night last night along with some great friends at the fair. It was so nice to enjoy some much needed time as a family and to see Monk enjoy every sight there was to see. The picture above is at the end of the night when he was a little more daring and actually touched the animals. When we first got there he had to be held or be in the stroller. I was surprised that he was so afraid of them seeing as how he has a couple of deer friends (our greyhounds) running around him all day, every day.
He enjoyed the mud racing for a little while
The pigs

Walking with his dad

The calves

...and last but not least, the spooning pigs.

Who's Kid is that?

In the last week, this is the look on Monk's face when you ask him to smile. I am not sure where he learned this from, but it makes me laugh every time. Here he was enjoying a nice bowl of yobaby for lunch. The highchair is the place that I can get the best smiles from. Check out those teeth man! Moments like these make all the crabby toddler moments fade away.

One of Michigan's best summer treats According to his pregnant mother!

VACATION

A couple of weekends ago Monk took a trip to Grandpa and Grandma's for five days with his dad. He had so much fun as you can see from these great pictures that Grandma took. From what I hear there was never a dull moment. He loved swinging in the hammock.

Riding the four wheeler is always a favorite.
Helping Grandma water the flowers.
And taking a bath with BUBBLES in the sink. I never put bubbles in Monk's bath so this was a real treat. Thanks Grandpa and Grandma for having so much fun with me.

Coming February 11, 2008

Well I guess that this site is no longer just about our beloved Monk because there is no way that I am going to keep up two blogs. So I had my first doctor's appointment today for Tripp baby number two. Everything checked out well and they are guessing a due date of February 11. That is so much closer to Monk's birthday than I had planned, but things will happen how they were meant to happen I guess. I asked the doctor if he would be interested in hooking me up to a catheter. He laughed because of course I was joking (although wouldn't that be nice to not have to worry about going to the bathroom?). I had this fear that doing this a second time wouldn't be as exciting, but that fear was laid to rest when I realized that I was just as excited and I couldn't wait to go to the doctor and I CAN'T wait to hear it's heartbeat at my next appointment. I love you already mystery baby!

Seventeen Months - 07/08/07 - Monk

Seventeen months, where has the time gone? I can hardly believe that you are going to be a big brother. I know that you will be an amazing big brother because you adore babies. You walk up to them, bend down to their level and introduce yourself with a smile and a hi. You love to give them toys to play with and are just all around sweet as candy.

Not a day goes by without you making me laugh. You are just way to funny. The other day we were playing at a friends pool and you were swimming with daddy. Dad would lift you out of the water and place you on the deck. You ran around the pool squealing with delight and laughing hysterically. I could not think of anything better to be doing with my time than seeing you enjoying being 17 months. Your laughter is contagious because you had all the moms laughing along with you at the pool.

This month you finally gave up your morning nap. I knew that the day would come, but to be honest with you, I was hoping that I would never see the day. It has been a bit of a challenge because you don't want to sleep in the morning, but then you are tired and look like the above picture by 11 o'clock. Every day that goes by gets a little better though so I am sure that we will both be used to this routine in no time.

You are learning things faster than ever right now. Your dad and I have to be real careful about the things that we do in front of you, exhibit A shown above. Monk this last 17 months have been a whirlwind of emotion. You keep me on my toes and add so much joy to my life. This weekend you have been with your daddy at Grandpa and Grandma's house and I MISS you like crazy. Who knew that I would want to trade in a life of doing whatever I please to being on call 24 hours a day 7 days a week. You are the light of my life kid and I love you!

Love, MAMA

Happy 4th

We hope that you all had a great 4th of July because we sure did. Monk had his first experience with fireworks. I can't say that he was all that thrilled because he was an overly tired boy by the time we got around to doing some of our own fireworks at home. He was a bit scared of them and had to stand behind me when they started to go off. He was intrigued and scared all at the same time.

Mad Monday!

I finally got a picture of the two things that I just love about Monk lately. The first is Monk sitting on his haunches. I LOVE when toddlers sit like this. I am not sure why, but it always makes me smile. I was lucky to get this picture because I can NEVER get him to do it when I want him to. I was just taking pictures of him putting money in his bank when he stood up and did this.

The second thing is that Monk will not sit down in the bath tub for more than two minutes each bath session. I am not sure if this is true of all 1 year olds, but Monk is always standing up, pouring water over his body with some sort of bucket. It makes for a dangerous time, but it sure is comical.