Here she is! She's absolutely beautiful!

Janel Had Her Baby!

Welcome to Earth little Chloe Isabella Graham! She was over 3 weeks early, but very healthy @ 6 lbs. 15oz. and 20" long. Janel and Chloe (and Warren) are doing great. Congrats Graham family! Love the name!

My City... if I were a city gal

I took the city test. Rome sounds very nice! Someday...

You Belong in Rome

You're a big city soul with a small town heart Which is why you're attracted to the romance of Rome Strolling down picture perfect streets, cappuccino in hand And gorgeous Italian people - could life get any better?

What City Do You Belong In?

I love watching these old videos on "youtube". This is Fats Waller singing "Ain't Misbehavin" in 1947. Don't you wish people would still perform like this? It would be hilarious! (Watch his eyebrows!)

Happy Birthday Dad!

Star in Your Own JibJab! It's Free!October 18th is my Dad's birthday! He is so great!

Be Careful When You Choke!

(O.K., this guy looks like he's enjoying giving the heimlich maneuver a little too much!)
We were sitting at the dinner table tonight and Violet was eating some baked apples. She loves to shove as much food as she can possibly squeeze into her mouth before she even thinks about chewing. Of course, Violet started to gag on her food. She's fine, in fact, I think she's actually getting used to dislodging food from her throat. One of these days she'll find that it's much easier to just take smaller bites and chew.
Lydia, who was feeling pretty smart because she knows how to eat properly thought she should give me some advice. I think it came out a little different from what she meant. She said very matter-of-factly
"Mommy, you should be careful when you choke, you could swallow your food."
Ha! Ryan and I couldn't stop laughing! I don't even think she knew why we were laughing. Lydia says cute things like this all the time. I just love her!

My Blog Has Changed

I've been contemplating lately whether or not to start a new blog that was more "me" and not just about family things. Then I wondered if having a blog that was just for my musings would be a little too "all about me". Then I realized that the wonderfully sweet people who read my family blog are probably the same people who would read my other one, so I've decided to just morph the two and go with it. It will take a little more work on my part, but I'm excited! I've even designed my own header- cool hu?

Hold On

Hold on to the fallen leaves

for they can never be
put back on the trees.

Gracefully fall to the ground
causing silence to contain
the sound of sweet surrender.
~Me

This is a picture out our bedroom window this morning. I made it home just in time to see fall "Leaving". Winter is already on it's way! It snowed yesterday. Lydia had to go out and play in it, and of course eat some! I think it's supposed to warm up next week, but for now we are enjoying the beauty of the fall colors topped with crisp white snow.

We're finally home!

Not that our visit to Dubuque wasn't fun, but we were gone for 12 days, of which we were sick for 2! It was very sad to leave, but Lydia was so excited to see Ryan when he met us at the airport, that she gave him a koala bear hug so tight and for so long, he even got our luggage off of the luggage conveyor belt with her attached to him! Although it was great to be there, we missed Ryan WAY TOO MUCH!

We went to see my Dad after his surgery and to help my mom out since she had to go back to work and my Dad couldn't be left alone. I am so happy to say that after many bumps in the road, my dad seems to be doing a lot better. He still has a long recovery ahead of him, but I think he's going to eventually feel better than he has in a long time!

Anyway, we did get to ride in a limo,
go for a horseback ride on my mom's horse Scout, and see my sister and her family, along with spending a lot of quality time with Mom and Dad.
(I don't have any pictures of Janel and her kids because my camera wasn't working!) We already miss everybody so much!

This is a picture of Violet with her "Papa Pocket". The kids give him a magic kiss on his cheek and then reach in his pocket for a surprise which is usually a fruit snack or a goldfish cracker. Violet is learning how to do it, but now whenever she sees Dad, she wants to just reach in his pocket. This morning when Ryan was holding her she kept hitting her chest and looking at him, and he said "Holly, do you know what this means?" And then she rubbed her hand on his chest and looked at him like "Where's your pocket?" .
Violet is doing a lot better at walking. She still prefers to crawl, but she's standing up and attempting to walk a lot more.

Oh, and while I was in Dubuque my sister-in-law Dayna gave birth to my new sweet little niece Emme Ryan Young! Dayna is a creative, fun, and sweet person, not to mention an awesome mom! Congrats Matt, Dayna and Jojo! She's a little doll!