First Haircut!

The time had come...Maren looked like a sheepdog...Tuesday, September 11...ominous

Michelle who has cut my hair for six and a half years, gave her the trim...

Maren did great, as long as she had a snack in hand.

The final product -

Shout Out to Craig's List

I will admit that I'm not the most tech savvy person. We've been trying to clean out a bit of excess in our basement and I took a few things to an Ebay Store, which turned out to be an exercise in frustration. By the time Ebay takes its cut and the store takes its cut...I'll be surprised if we make any money. Plus, much of what I took was rejected as "won't sell on Ebay." My theory is - people buy random stuff, you just have to put it in front of them.

I was nervous but in the end very pleased with using Craig's List in Grand Rapids. No fees, the buyer picked up and paid cash.

http://grandrapids.craigslist.org/

We may never have a garage sale again!

Totally Tubular

Hurrah! Maren's ear surgery went well according to the doctor yesterday morning. It was amazingly speedy (maybe ten minutes from when I left the room after helping hold her while anesthetic was administered to when the ENT gave us the report). She was a bit groggy yesterday, took a long nap and went to bed at 6:45. But other than an aversion to getting ear drops, she is doing well.

First Sentence

Maren has been babbling for months and saying many two-word phrases, such as "My Daddy", "Up, please!" and "Mommy's seat," etc. The daycare workers have told us that she's said things like "I can't get it" when reaching for a toy, although we haven't heard her say sentences like that.

On Labor Day, we got take-out from Applebee's for dinner and she had chicken strips and fries. She's had one french fry in her life, unless they serve them at daycare (I don't think so, although occasionally they serve tator tots). Of course, she wanted the fries more than the chicken, so we bargained on bites of chicken for bites of fries. Suddenly she said "Mommy brought fries!" We had her repeat it again and again, and no doubt, she was saying "Mommy brought fries!" So, we will chalk this up as an acheivement, in spite of the reflection on my ability to serve nutritional food.

Maren's Music

The Laurie Berkner Band! I'm not sure how we would get through a day without Laurie.

http://www.twotomatoes.com/site/

A couple of favorite songs -

"Pig on Her Head"
"We are the Dinosaurs"

I am attempting to get a YouTube account to post the videos, but I might need a PhD in "webology" to do it.

Maren's Vacation

Maren's daycare is closed this week, so she is spending a few days with Grandma and Grandpa Jensen. Mommy and Daddy miss her very much, but it doesn't look like she misses us at all!

The Streaker

She loves baths...and also likes streaking away once she is out of the tub. Who has time to stop and put on a diaper and pajamas??

Woof Woof

Here is Maren with a fake "woof woof", as she calls dogs. She has a woof woof obsession, always wanting to go look for "woofs" outside, or read books with pictures of woofs in them. She can say dog, but prefers woof woof. One of the college interns at her daycare recently wrote her a note saying "I will always think of dogs as woof woofs."

This picture was taken in South Haven at the National Blueberry Festival a couple of weekends ago. Maren did well sitting through the parade, but liked eating the blueberries most of all. We ate a five pound box of blueberries in less than a week. Yummy!

Naked Co-Ed Hot Tub Party

Made you look!

We had a great time on Friday night with Tina and Jeremy Lubben and their boys Braden and Evan. Had a delicious cook-out (Tina cooked, Jana did not) and took a pontoon boat ride on the Thornapple River. Stopped to get ice cream and after we returned, the boys were going to hop in the hot tub for a few minutes.

Well...in a rash decision, we decided to cross our fingers and strip Maren from her ice cream covered clothes and diaper. Yes...we had swim diapers and bathing suit in the house, but thought we'd just let her have a quick dunk and pray that she didn't "potty" in the hot tub. She didn't and had a wonderful time splashing around with Braden (5 1/2).

More pics to come of the boat ride!

Lunch!

Maren is home with John (who has the day off) today. Poor Punkin woke up with two crusty eyes, and any form of "pink eye" is banned at daycare. She is happily eating blueberries and toast with peanut butter. Who wouldn't want to hang out with Daddy, dance and eat your favorite foods?

We had a visit with the ENT yesterday and were advised that she should get tubes in her ears. She's had five ear infections from January - July and she currently has fluid in her ears, so we started new antibiotics yesterday. She will get tubes on September 10. Let's hope she is healthy between now and then!