Grandma and Grandpa, Garage Sale and Zoo: What a weekend!

The weekend of August 20 and 21 was a whirlwind of activity for Ms. Alma. To prepare for our upcoming move to Hawaii, we have started downsizing. This means taking lots of things to Goodwill. It also means that it's time for a garage sale!

To help us out, our friends TJ and Staci came up from Columbia. And what a help they were. As soon as they arrived, Staci was in the garage helping to price all of the items we had spent the former week dragging out of dusty closets and lugging down to the basement.

Saturday morning came all too quickly, with the whole house getting up at 5:30 to get ready for the big garage sale day. Matt, Staci and TJ spent the better part of the morning wheeling and dealing with the garage sale-goers and Alma spent lots of quality time with momma. Around noon, Alma's Grandma and Grandpa Schmidt arrived. Alma got to spend the afternoon with the whole family, and Grandma and Grandpa made sure not to spoil her "too" much. What an exhausting day it turned out to be. But it was all made well when we went out to Gates BBQ for a delicious dinner of fabulous Kansas City style ribs, sausage and turkey.

Alma and Grandma show off for the camera.

The next day, we were so exhausted that we decided to take a break. After bidding farewell to Staci and TJ, we packed up the family and took a trip to the Kansas City zoo! Alma seemed nonplussed by the animals, but was fascinated by the shimmering water in the otter pool. But what she really seemed to enjoy were the fans that blew mist on passers by. She was startled when we went into the first one, but quickly overcame her initial fear and seemed to really enjoy the cool water and air (it was quite hot). All in all, it was a tiresome, but productive and fun weekend.

Papa and Alma cooling off in the mist from a fan

Leavenworth County Fair

The family made a trip up to Leavenworth, Kansas to visit the county fair this Saturday. It was a hot day with temperatures reaching the upper nineties, but it wasn't unbearable because many of the attractions were inside of pavilions. We got to walk around and look at all of the prize-winning livestock, and Alma was fascinated. She seemed to like the sheep and the goats the most. She wasn't a big fan of the ducks, turkeys and chickens though.

This guy was very interested in Alma.

August already

Looks like our summer is almost over (and hopefully all of this nasty heat!). We have been mostly hanging around the house trying to stay cool. Alma started a new daycare and is acclimating well. Over the last week she has really started using her hands and is now holding toys and grabbing for things. She is also experimenting with her voice and makes all kinds of adorable (and some hilarious) sounds. Crawling is around the corner as she has learned to scooch around using her forearms.

Can't keep this kid off her tummy. 

Oh and another thing, we are already at the point where everything goes in her mouth!

She loves to play and is sooo curious.

Alma isn't a thumb sucker, but rather an index finger sucker.

She is such a sweet girl and we are loving every minute!

4 Months Old!

Wow how time goes by so quickly these days. We are home sick today so I thought I would take some time to update you all on how the little one is doing. The picture below reflects how we are feeling today. We are not sure if she has a virus or if she is just dealing with symptoms of teething. She is definitely doing her share of drooling and is constantly gnawing on her hand. 

But on a normal day you won't see Alma sitting still for long. She has really perfected the art of rolling over and is even showing some scooting skills. Crawling is right around the corner for this little girl. We are excited but also not quite ready for her to be independently mobile.

She loves her new toys that Daddy has bought her. The ocean mat is a favored past time but the new thing is the bouncy chair that Daddy bought her on Monday. She isn't quite big enough for it but with some extra stuffing she can sit up like a big girl and has a blast checking out all the colors.

Bath time is also still one of our favorite times of the day. And who can resist a baby wrapped up in a towel, smelling like baby lotion.

She is also talking up a storm. I'm trying to get a video uploaded so you can hear her precious voice. Stay tuned.....

Alma Visits Nanna & Grandpa

Since Matt was off to Hong Kong for a week, Alma and I decided that it would be a perfect opportunity to go spend some time with Nanna and Grandpa in Atlanta. This meant that Alma got to take her first plane ride at 3 months! And the little one was a rock star! She handled the whole trip quite well and flying with an infant was really not as scary as I thought it was going to be.

Alma and I on the flight. Luckily she did a lot of this during our trip. The Baby Bjorn was a life saver!

Most of our trip was spent playing with Nanna, Grandpa and Hunter. It was so much fun to see Mom and Dad with Alma. We truly enjoyed our time together.

We even got to spend some time with Annabella, who was really not sure if she liked Alma or just jealous of Mom and Dad's diverted attention.

Alma got to meet lots of her extended family when we drove to Birmingham for July 4th including her Great-Grandmother, Nannie Thomas. She had a blast being the center of attention.

Perhaps the most fun of all was Alma's first time in the pool. She was mesmerized by all the blue shimmery stuff and seemed to really like the feel of the water. Really wish Papa could have been there to see this : (

We had a great trip and look forward to visiting again in November. Thanks Mom and Dad for a great visit - we love you!

Alma visits the Maker Faire

This weekend we got a chance to go to the Kansas City Maker Faire. The Maker Faire is essentially a celebration of Do It Yourself, showcasing things that people made themselves. The exhibits ranged from home built robots (which were quite sophisticated), to 3D printers like the RepRap and the Maker Bot, to food, clothes and even homemade music instruments. It was inspiring to see all of the cool things that people are able to make themselves. Being a fairly DIY family ourselves, we certainly identified with the vibe and the culture.

There was an exhibit, Star Base Projects, where they were making animated photographs. Basically, the subject stood still on a rotating platform and was spun in a circle. A camera that was affixed to the platform took pictures of the subject while the platform rotated. I couldn't resist, so I had a picture made with me and Alma. It turned out awesome.

Three Months Old

Alma is 3 months old!!! Our little girl is growing like crazy. It is amazing how long she is now (but still a skinny little thing). We are hoping for some baby chub any day now ; )

I wasn't sure how I would feel about girly things when we first had Alma but now it is hard not to want to dress her up since she looks so cute in almost anything. I couldn't help myself and finally broke down and bought her some bows for that non-existent hair of hers so I have to share these.

 Pretty adorable huh?

Other things.......one milestone that Matt and I are pretty happy about is that Alma is getting older and easier to take with us when we go out and about. This past week she accompanied us to eat sushi for the first time. All the Japanese ladies fawned over her and all wanted to know when she would be old enough to eat sushi.....gonna be a while ; )