Jana's First Hair cut

Jana got her first hair cut. While her hair is still growing in, it was definitely time to get it cleaned up. She's a flower girl in Auntie Meg's wedding in a few weeks, so Mama and Dada thought it was time to just get it cleaned up.

Jim the barber was proudly bestowed the honor of the first hair cut. He is the only one to ever cut Dada's hair (except for that shaved head incident in high school) and Jim is so proud to be cutting the 4th generation of hair in this family.

About to get started. I'm not sure who looks more apprehensive. (If only there was a shot of Mama's face at this moment, she'd win that contest.)

The first snip.

Jana was so good through the entire hair cut. I'm sure the crowd of Mama, Dada, Grandma, Grandpa, Kara, and Jim and Janese kept her thoroughly entertained.

Such a big girl.

She knew she had been such a good girl and was so proud of herself when she was done.

Pretty girl.

In the end, not much was trimmed off, but it is definitely cleaned up. No more uneven baby hair.

Before...

After...

Jana, the little helper

We sold a little of our extraneous stuff at a friend's neighborhood garage sale not too long ago. Of course we had to check out what others were selling and found some spectacular deals, but none as spectacular as a 12" bicycle with training wheels for Jana. It was $1.00. It's very much a Dada conspiracy to get his girls riding bikes as quickly as possible so a bike Jana could actually ride was just too much for father and daughter.

Jana loves bike rides. Last summer, our Thursday was family ride day. Mama, Dada, and Jana would load up for the community 12-mile family ride with Jana in the trailer behind Dad. Every time Dada would go for a training ride Jana would ask for her helmet and to go along. On Daddy-Jana shopping trips, we would stop by the bike section to check out all the Jana-sized wheels. She would try them out and scream bloody murder when it was time to go, but out of that we discovered Jana wants a purple bike. Dada promised we would build a purple bike together and that seemed to calm things down enough to slink out of the store.

The bike was stored outside so the chain was rusted and the paint was faded beyond recognition. The plastic parts were so deteriorated, they cracked with the slightest touch. We think it used to be hot pink with purple accents. But Jana loved it. She got right on and demanded to be helped around the yard at the garage sale. It is her bike. Like Daddy's and Mommy's. She was so proud and asked every day for her helmet and to go for a bike ride.

Every day, Jana and Daddy would discuss going to pick out paint to fix her bike. She got to pick out the color at the local auto parts store so we got a three stage paint that sparkles. We had to get new grips and a chain guard so we went to Daddy's favorite local bike shop (always go to the LBS, not the department store - you'll thank us later). Daddy snuck into the other bike shop a block away to get some special finishing touches. Once all the parts were accounted for it took a few days before Daddy could carve out some time with Jana awake to work, since she had been asking to help for a few days.

Today was the day. Kara took an especially long nap after swim class and Daddy did most of the prep work before Jana woke up from her nap. When Jana awoke, the bike was dismantled down to the bearings and bushings and Dada was scraping what was left of the decals from the frame. Jana immediately jumped in and picked up a ratchet to help.

Dadda cut sandpaper for little hands and Jana helped sand off the rust on the fork. Jana shook paint cans and wanted to spray. Finding she didn't have the finger strength she agreed to press Daddy's finger to spray the bike parts. She gathered brushes to clean up the greasy axles and bearings. With an endless litany of "No, Daddy! Jana do it!" We cleaned and rinsed the parts. We greased the bearings and rebuilt the wheels. She fetched tools for Daddy - some correct, some not. She grabbed the parts (and sockets she brought out) as they rolled down the driveway. She brought out her shopping cart to hold the brushes in case we needed them again. She pushed little sister over to look at the freshly painted parts (and only took a little coaxing to bring her back) and held them up for Sissy to see.

By the time Jana had to go to bed, the bike was almost reassembled with an odd set of parts - dinosaur grips, a 16" bike chain guard and a section of used chain from one of Daddy's bike. The only thing left to do was some fine tuning of the rear wheel, putting on the pedals and installing the training wheels (and, of course, Daddy's special finishing touches). The bike is now sparkly purple, just like she wanted, and looks much better than when bought. Jana helped every step of the way so it really is HER bike.

Despite wearing her pretty princess shirt, Jana was filthy by the end of the process.

Daddy caught putting on the final touches. What little girl doesn't NEED a bike with pink and silver sparkly streamers.

The finished product. All that is left is getting Jana's final approval.

Just like Christmas morning, Jana was ecstatic to come down stairs and find her surprise.

First thing to do: get on.

How about a little tour of the kitchen.

Oops, ran out of room.

Taking her first bike ride on the newly decorated bike.

We now take at least one trip out everyday for a bike ride. Kara in the push car, Maiya (the dog) towing us along, and Jana speeding ahead yelling "Go Jana Go!"

Kara Mae is 14 Months Old!!!

Kara is such a big girl these days!

She's such a crack up - beginning to express that little personality. She has the sweetest smile and still loves to get and give lots of cuddles. As one mom in our Parent-Tot class today said, that smile is so sweet it made her want to have another baby - another shot at having a girl (she has three boys).

Kara has such a good time in the pool for Parent-Tot lessons. She loves to snuggle right in, but also enjoys falling in from the side of the pool (it's not really jumping) and putting her face in the water.

She's a crawling machine and is constantly getting herself into trouble, like being underfoot or pulling herself up on things that aren't so stable... like Jana. :-) We are convinced that she can walk, but is choosing not to. She acts as though she can't stand alone, but we'll catch her standing and not holding on to anything.

We've moved her to the table for eating, so all four of us sit down together for dinner now. That's entertaining, to say the least.

Unfortunately she still thinks plates are toys, not to be eaten off of. She often feeds the dog or dumps the food on the floor, only to play with the plate.



She's thoroughly entertained by Jana, but they are starting to scrap more over toys. Ironically, whenever Kara has a toy, that is the toy that Jana suddenly NEEDS to have. It's quite hilarious to watch. If Jana takes it, Kara screams and cries. If Jana ask for it, Kara hands it over with a huge smile. If left alone, Kara ends up throwing it and going for a different toy after about 5 seconds.
(The above picture cracks me up because she is trying to look around the fridge to watch Jana.

Kara puts everything in her mouth... and we mean EVERYTHING!!! We constantly have to watch what is in reach, not something we had to do with Jana. Whether it's a Mega block, a figurine of some sort, a binkie (which is preferred), or even her shoe, if it's in reach, she's got it in her mouth.

She's still not a huge talker, but she definitely yells when we're not understanding what she wants us to be doing. We do still have "good job" and a version of "all done," but she's starting to repeat what we say.


Here's our silly girl enjoying the sand box. Note to self: the sandbox is great, until she tries to put the sandy toys into her mouth. Ewwwwww!

Sleep over at Grandma & Grandpa's

Mama and Dada had a wedding to go to, so Grandma and Grandpa volunteered to take the girls over night.

The girls had a wonderful time.

Jana decided that Kara needed to go on a ride on the tractor with her, so off they went.

And in the mean time Grandma and Grandpa got one of my favorite pictures of all time.



The next major adventure Grandma and Grandpa took on, was bath time. Jana loves to swim in the bath tub, making it difficult for poor Kara to find some room. Meanwhile, Kara's desire to stand continues into the tub, so it's a battle to get her to stay seated in the tub. Needless to say, Kara's baths usually last only a few minutes, then Jana gets her "swimming time" in the tub.

Deer Lake 2008

We spent a long weekend at the lake this year. It was a packed house with Great Grandpa Ray, Grandma and Grandpa, Uncle David and Jenny, Uncle Patrick, Auntie Sarah, Ari, Auntie Meg, Great Uncle Brian, and Great Aunt Boo.

Due to the price of gas, we decided that we'd sacrifice some comfort for a little savings: we carpooled. Grandma and Grandpa graciously let us pile into their Hilander for the 8 hour drive. The girls were packed into the third row and we were packed into the middle seat with all kinds of bags around us. The girls were champs despite Jana not napping and Kara only getting about 45 minutes of sleep. All I can say is thank goodness for DVD players.

The girls loved spending this time with everyone and thoroughly entertained everyone for the entire weekend.

Jana has a wonderful attachment to her Aunts and Uncles and they are so wonderful in helping out with her - Dada and I both felt like we got a bit of a break with so many willing hands around to help keep the girls happy.

Here's Jana spending some quality time with Auntie Meg.

We blew up the baby pool and put it on the beach, but Jana had other ideas for its use: a boat.


She insisted on Uncle David and I taking her out into her lake in it. The funniest part of this, as we were pushing her back and forth, was that she asked for us to push her in a triangle, instead of back and forth.


It was very nice that there are "Cabin Rules", so Jana was very agreeable to wearing the lifejacket on the beach. Here she decided it was time to go in the water, but wanted to wear the ring... too. Goofy girl!


For years we've heard the stories of the infamous turtles in the lake, but have never seen them. Uncle Dave managed to reach down from the dock and catch one. Jana quickly named him Mack (the plain little turtle named Mack at the bottom of the nine turtle stack in Yurtle the Turtle - one of Jana's current favorite stories).

Jana was so excited to tickle Mack's tummy. :-) Mack's imprisonment only lasted a few minutes and Jana was very insistent that he was able to go home to his mommy.

Here she is watching to make sure that Mack made it home to his mommy.

Jana and Dada then went for a little ride on the jet ski. She had a wonderful time, but when she came in, she declared "I cried." She got a little freaked out when he had to go fast enough to get it to plane in the water.


Jana loved going out in the boat.


Here we are heading out for our sunset boat trip


Jana mesmerized by the sights.


Kara enjoying some cuddle time with Grandma on the boat.
Once Kara got used to the life jacket, the boat was quite soothing for her. Here's our mellow girl!


Mama stealing snuggles from Jana on one of our trips out to go swimming .

The three girls, all snuggled in, on the trip back to the cabin on our sunset cruise. Jana (wrapped in the towel in the very back) was excited to cuddle with Uncle Dave; Kara enjoyed hanging out with Grandma, and Ari was having some quality time with her Daddy.
Auntie Meg and Jana

Mama and Kara

Ari - all save and secure!

Jana also enjoyed swimming - mostly. Considering we have been doing Parent-Tot in water that was around 90 degrees, we were impressed that she went swimming in the lake - especially impressed that she jumped in the water from the boat, repeatedly.


Jumping to Daddy.
Swimming with Daddy
Taking a break from swimming and hanging out with Corrina.
"Safe toes!' (She decided to share with everyone that they needed to have their toes on the edge before they could jump.)

The water was a tad cold. Can you tell?

She relaxed a bit, but had more fun jumping in, than staying in.
Right now, Jana enjoys anything that has to do with water. Carrying buckets of water from the lake to the bucket on the beach was great fun... for quite a while too.


She loves pools, too! So much so that she wasn't willing to wait for Auntie Sarah to get the pool down to the beach before climbing in.

Kara was quite a character on this trip. After not saying anything other than "Dada", the occasional "Mama", and a very rare "uh oh", she decided to share the things that she's probably been saying in her head for months. We got "good job", "get down", and "more banana." Look at this face and tell me that this kid wasn't scheming and waiting to share what's on her mind.

We pulled the car seats out of the car, after needing the space for a trip into town. Both girls found great amusement in climbing in and out of them while they sat on the floor. Jana even strapped herself in.

And finally, here are just some more fun pictures.

Aunt Boo, spending some quality time with Kara

Aunt Book taking advantage of some cuddle time with Ari.

Jana being a goof and wearing Daddy's hat.

Grandma and Ari

Tell me that's not one tired toddler! She was sacked out like that since I put her down for her nap 3 hours earlier. We opened the door and she proceeded to sleep through all the noise for another 45 minutes

Kara Mae entertaining us all.

The granddaughters, all sitting so cute purples.

Ari - and her many expressive faces.

And finally two pictures of our sweet Kara Mae.