First Steps and Feeling Better

Paige took her first steps today. The first time she did it, she kind of took two steps to the side. Later on, she took two steps forward while standing in the kitchen. We are so excited!!



Paige's fever is gone and she slept better last night...she still can't eat a lot, though. She will only eat 2-3 bites of food and then quit. She is very cautious too! She feels her food with her index finger to feel how soft it is before she will put it into her mouth...pretty smart little girl!

Elmo Walker

Paige has an Elmo lawnmower that she just loves to walk with! She is so proud of herself whenever she does it...she looks at us to see if we are watching her, and then she gets a really big smile on her face...she is such a fun little girl! What did we do with our time before we had her?!

Sick Again

So, Paige has a virus now. The poor thing woke up with a fever of 103.3 yesterday. She was burning up!! I thought something was wrong the night before because she had a slight fever of 101.7 before going to bed. So, we went to the doctor again and she has the Coxsackie A virus which causes Herpangina (a very red sore throat with yellow sores). It is very painful for her!!

Last night was very difficult...she would go to sleep for 30 minute increments and then wake up crying. She did this all night! The only way I could get her back to sleep was to nurse her...it seemed soothing to her throat, so I was all for it!

It was a good thing that she was marathon nursing last night and today because she won't eat a thing!! She tried a couple of times, but she just started crying after the first bite. She won't even swallow her saliva. She has started holding her lip out to try to contain her saliva because she is that afraid of hurting her throat!! Neil and I feel so bad for her...hopefully she will get better soon!

With her rough night last night, Paige woke up with some real bed head. I tried to take a picture because she looked so funny with tousled curls on the top of her head...Paige kept trying to get the camera from me!

The Right Tooth is Here!!

Paige's right tooth (top front) cut through last night...just a little. I will have to get a picture of her with her four teeth to post soon...get excited!!

Snails and Slugs

Today Kathy and I took Paige to Runge Nature Center in Jefferson City. I signed Paige up for a program called Babes in the Woods which provides activities for children ages 0-2 years old. Today the topic was snails and slugs, so Paige got to learn about snails and slugs. It was a fun time!

Here Paige is learning that snails and slugs have eyes on the top of their tentacles and that when snails sleep they go inside their shell.

Here we are practicing looking around like a snail or slug does.

Paige got to crawl through a tunnel to practice moving like a snail and slug move.At first, Paige was a little hesitant to go through, but when she saw me and her Grandma at the other end, she started crawling. The second time that she went through, she really picked up her speed!

Paige got to go out to the pond and try to catch some snails in her net. She got one snail and a tadpole! Paige liked this a lot and wanted to fling water on me with the net, so we had to move on from that activity! LOL!Next, we went out to the garden to find some snail and slugs, since they like to eat plants. The teacher made it easy and gave us a snail to hold (I was secretly happy that she didn't give us a slug like she did some other kids...yuck!) Paige liked looking at the snail and feeling the shell.

In this picture Paige has the snail in her hand. I bet you can guess what she tried to do with it...that's right, she tried to put it in her mouth (more than once). Needless to say, the snail hid in his shell!

I tried to hold the snail so that Paige could see him come out of his shell. He did come out for a second and Paige must've liked him because she immediately wanted to pick him up again. Look at the concentration on her face! After class, we went back inside the nature center to look around. Paige got to see a really big frog and a real snake. She liked watching the snake slither in his tank.

Visit to Indiana

We went to visit Indiana over Memorial weekend. It was really busy because we only stayed two days. We didn't even have enough time to visit everyone in the family, but we hope to go back after the middle of July. It is just hard to travel with Paige. I am hoping that it will get easier after she is one...we'll see!

For example, we always drive at night to make it less stressful for Paige. She really hates long trips in the car and cries a lot. So, for this trip we left at 8:00 pm and arrived at 12:45 am in Terre Haute. (The drive was much better than the 6 1/2 hour drive that we are used to doing from Kansas City, though.) Paige almost made it the whole way, but she woke up the last hour and cried until I let her play with my phone. I thought that was pretty good, but I paid for it when we got to our destination. She wouldn't go back to sleep for two hours...but why would she when mom let her play?!! Live and learn!

On our way home Paige woke up with one hour to go again and I just tried to soothe her and stick it out. There was no way that I was giving her something to play with. We made it back and she went right to sleep in her bed...whew!

Here are some pics from our trip:

On Saturday we went to Fazolis to eat lunch, so Paige got to eat Fettuccine Alfredo for the first time. She really liked it...the taste and the feel of it!

One of the reasons we came home this weekend is because my cousin, Bernice is expecting a baby and her shower was on Sunday...Paige got pretty tired by the end of the shower. She enjoyed seeing all the people and playing with the other kids...babies are always such a hit with young kids! Here we are with my Aunt Rhonda and her youngest daughter, Sarae. Paige is sleeping in my arms...so sweet...she never does that anymore, although she probably would if I would let her!We took a family pic before everyone left. From the left is my Aunt Liz, Aunt Karen, Bernice, Rhonda and Sarae, Me, and my Grandma. (Paige was taking her nap.)Here I am with the expectant mommy, Bernice. Bernice is due on Paige's birthday...crazy, right?! So, she is the exact amount of pregnant that I was last year...watch out for those swollen ankles in July (uggh)!!Paige had to get in on the picture too!!Here we are with Paige's Great Grandma. Her first name is Bernice, so this is who Paige and I are both named after.After the baby shower, we went to visit Paige's grandparents and great grandparents. Great Grandpa Bill showed Paige his hot tub. Paige really loved the warm, "bubbly" water and putting her feet in.She really examined what was going on with the water. You may have noticed that she no longer has her bow in this picture...yep, during her excitement it fell in the water!

Beefaroni...MESSY!

Paige ate Beefaroni for lunch today...it was her first time. She has eaten ravioli a couple of times but never Beefaroni. Since she is getting so independent, I figured I would let her have some fun and pick up the pasta on her own...I must have been crazy! The cleanup was way more than I expected. She had to have a mini-bath afterwards to wash her face, hands and her feet, too! That was okay though because she had a great time!!

Finally....Another Tooth

Paige's front tooth (top left) cut through last night. We are so excited for her, but man did she have some growing pains with this one. She has been working on both of her top teeth for about a month now, with a few sleepless nights every once in a while. Last night, all three of us were awake from 12:30-3:30ish. Needless to say, we are glad to have that one in...now for the second one! It is almost through too, but hopefully her mouth will take the night off so we can all get some sleep. LOL!

Loving Those Toes!

Paige really loves her toes. She plays with them all the time, especially when she is in her highchair. She liked to kick back and put them up on her tray a lot, but today she just held on to them...it was cute and funny! She was enjoying herself.

Paige Makes Her Mark in Linn!

I haven't blogged at all about the house we are renting in Linn, but it is a new construction. So, some things were not all the way finished when we moved in and some still aren't. For example we haven't had a sidewalk or step up to our front door until today. It finally stopped raining long enough for the men to come and pour the concrete, and you can imagine how happy that made me!

We had a front row seat from our windows of the action, and Paige just loved watching. I actually opened up the window so that she could hear everything, too. She was enthralled the entire time. I took a pic when they were pouring the concrete off the truck...it was even interesting to me. It is a lot chunkier than I would have imagined it to be, since it always looks so smooth by the time the workers get finished with it.

When they were done with the step, we went outside and had Paige put her hand print in it. The workers talked me into doing it. I was afraid that my landlord would be upset, but they kept telling me that I should do it and to blame it on them. So, we did it...I hope my landlord doesn't care too much. However, there is nothing I can do about it now! Plus, it does look neat...and we can come back to see it for years to come. I think Paige will like that!

Here is Paige making her mark...or hand print that is!
It was kind of hard to get her to relax her hand. We actually had to do it twice because she just grabbed at the concrete the first time. She also did not like the feel of it on her hands afterward!

First Ear Infection

Paige has been very fortunate and blessed to be a pretty healthy baby, but she just got her first ear infection. I am not complaining because I know that 10 months with no illnesses is awesome, but I do feel bad for Paige...as I know all mothers feel sympathetic for their sick children.


I knew something was awry yesterday when she woke up with a 101.3 temperature. I know that is not extremely high, but since Paige never has a temp, I was a bit concerned. I gave her some Tylenol and then panicked because I hadn't chosen a new pediatrician for Paige...it just figures...when we lived in KC she was never sick and now we are in Linn with no pediatrician and she does get sick...just fabulous! Isn't life funny!


Well anyway, with the recommendation from a friend I chose a doctor for Paige. I made an appointment with Dr. Folz for this morning. We actually really liked her a lot...she is very personable. Sadly, Paige wasn't her chipper self (understandably), so Dr. Folz did not get to see her sunny personality. I assured her that next time Paige would be smiley for her.


Here is Paige with her Grandma at the Dr.'s office. She looks happy here but that is because she is eating a mum-mum and no one is trying to look in her ear! LOL!

10 Months Old and Visiting the Capitol

Paige and I took a trip to Jeff City today (Grandma Loethen came along too), which is only 25 minutes from us now! We went to visit the teachers that I used to work with because today was their annual Jeff City field trip with the fourth graders from English Landing.

While we were there, Paige and I got a picture with Susan in the museum...I was so happy with how good it turned out...we all have great smiles, and look at how big Paige is getting...she is 10 months old today!! (By the way, she still loves her Baby Bjorn)!!

Mother's Day

I had a fabulous first Mother's Day with my little angel Paige. However, every day with Paige is fabulous because she is just amazing...I am in awe every day that God blessed me with such a wonderful little girl. I knew motherhood would be wonderful, but it has well surpassed my expectations...I have loved every moment (even when it has been challenging) :o) I love being a mom and I love my little girl!!

Isn't that little face just adorable?!

Back to Blogging!!!

It has been so long since I have posted, and I apologize to anyone who is a regular reader that has been checking the blog with no updates for a whole month. Things have been very busy for us and I honestly haven't even gotten to the computer but only a couple of times. However, I think I am back in business, as things around her are calming down a bit! (I have a lot to catch everyone up on, so I will be posting back to April 4th to let you know what Paige has been up to...so be sure to read back to then! However, it will probably take me a couple of days to get everything caught up.)

So, for those of you who don't know, Neil, Paige, and I decided to leave Kansas City. We didn't leave because we didn't like it...we loved it actually, but Paige's grandparents are not there. That's right, we made a huge sacrifice for our daughter...surely not the last! We believe that it is important for Paige to have a close relationship with some of her grandparents, so we are giving small town life a try!

We are living in Linn, Missouri which has a population of about 1,400. It is going okay, so far! We are just trying to get our house all unpacked and organized. We have all the major stuff done...now we have to do the decorating (which kind of takes a while...with a 10 month old who is constantly trying to climb up your legs and get into everything!!) We'll keep you posted with how we are acclimating to small town life...it should be interesting!

Playing with New Friends in Linn

Today Paige and I went to visit some new friends that we have in Linn. Shelly and Tom have two children, Jack and Karoline. They are a bit older than Paige but she loves all kids (no matter what age), and they really liked her too...who doesn't love a baby?


The kids played inside for awhile but then we ventured out to see the horses. Paige got really excited as we approached them...she seems to really love animals. At first she was afraid to touch them but after I did it a couple of times, she reached right out to pet him (with her index finger...so, she could've been a little more gentle!) It was cute, though!
Paige also rode in the Power Wheel Jeep with Jack and Karoline. It had a seat belt and they both went slow with their petite passenger...Paige actually really loved it...as you can tell from this first pic!