Niagara Falls and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Weather

We took a trip to Niagara Falls while Melody and her family were here. The weather was truly atrocious; wind, rain, cold, you name it. We managed to have a pretty good time despite the bad weather.


We parked on the strip and used an arcade as shelter while we bundled up. Adam may be getting a bit big for the Moby Wrap.


The good thing about having him in the wrap is that I could multi task. Scott found this very amusing. The bad thing about having him in the wrap is that his tree trunk-like ankles were exposed to the elements.


Here we are in front of The Falls. I am beginning to understand why everyone was staring as I walked around with Adam in the wrap. I look like a scene from the movie Alien.


This is my sister Emily and her husband Jim. Isn't her sweater pretty? This was before I dumped about a quart of hot chocolate on it. She called today to let me know she finally got the stain out. Sorry Emily.

Here is Melody and her husband Paul. They did the "Journey Behind the Falls" and as a reward for such a daring feat were given these fancy rain ponchos.


But seriously, aren't they so stinkin' cute?

The Boys

As mentioned before, my sister visited with her family. It was a lot of fun to watch Adam and Noah interact. Noah is such a calm, sweet, observant baby whereas Adam is , hmmm... gregarious? Unrestrained? Burly? Pick your adjective.

This was their first meeting bright and early Sunday morning. Noah seems concerned. Rightly so, Adam needed to be redirected several times. He still doesn't recognize people as people and will often use them as chew toys, stepping stones, or use their faces as play-doh.


Adam was very interested in the new person in his highchair. He actually insisted on eating before Noah was done. He seems to have that "I must have whatever he has" complex.

We drove to Niagara Falls last Tuesday. The weather was terrible but we had a great time. The boys got to ride together when the ladies took a side trip to the outlet mall. They were a little perturbed that they couldn't see each other due to the angle of their car seats.

At the end of the day we played a few games at an arcade on the strip in Niagara Falls. It was like Heaven for Adam and Noah. The blinking lights and sounds were practically euphoric.

A Beautiful Day

As mentioned before, my sister was visiting last weekend from Utah. We decided to drive to Letchworth, a national park, to take in the fall colors. We couldn't have asked for a better day. It was close to 80 degrees and sunny.

Isn't it lovely?!

We took what we thought was going to be a short hike. It ended up being very long but very beautiful. Adam had mixed feelings about the backpack. He looks happy here, but fussed quite a bit.
The fall colors were phenomenal. I'm thinking of making this our Christmas picture. What do you think? Does the chain-link fence (and my crazy hair) take away from the beauty of the landscape?

This is me with my sisters, Melody and Emily. Everyone always tells me how lucky I am to be tall. This picture should help explain why I don't always feel lucky. I look like a giant next to Melody!! Can you tell that I have my Dad's bone structure and she has her Mom's?

This is Melody and her husband, Paul. If you've ever read Pride and Prejudice, they are Jane and Mr. Bingley, just sweet and kind in every way. More on Melody's visit tomorrow (with pictures of her cute baby, Noah!).

Baby Steps

I have a ton of things to post but decided to do just one post per day so as not to overwhelm anybody reading this. Last Saturday we went up to Buffalo to babysit our nephew, Spencer. In their living room they have three steps that lead to their kitchen. By the middle of the day Adam figured out how to climb them. He had never climbed stairs before, so this was quite a feat.

This week my sister, Melody, and her family were in town from Utah (more about this later). While we were at my sister Emily's house, Adam decided to try her stairs. The first time, I just let him do a few and then pulled him off. The second time I decided to see how far he could go.

So with Melody at the top, urging him along, and me behind him, making sure he didn't crack his head, Adam climbed all 14 steps. What a maniac. He's only seven months old and nothing is safe, including him.

Happy Birthday Emily!

Today is my sister's birthday. To celebrate I've decided to embarrass her by posting some of my favorite pictures from her childhood.



Wow, check out that hair. Happy birthday Emily! I love you!

Viva Bumbo!

This morning my friend, Deborah, sent me an e-mail about the Bumbo recall. I just wanted to vent and this seemed like a good forum. The Bumbo is a terrific invention. We used ours all the time, even on elevated surfaces (see photo). The difference for us was, we never left him alone. If he did fall out of his Bumbo and off of the table, it would be OUR FAULT because there is a big warning label on the back:

WARNING - Prevent Falls;
Never use on any elevated surface.
Never use on a raised surface.
Never use as a car seat or bath seat.
Designed for floor level use only.
Never leave your baby unattended
as the seat is not designed to be
totally restrictive and may not
prevent release of your baby in the
event of vigorous movement.

This thing is not a babysitter, it's not a carseat, it doesn't have a 5-point harness. It is a wonderful tool that, when used appropriately, makes a parent's life easier. So, I guess my point is, parents/caregivers who are irresponsible shouldn't be allowed to ruin it for the rest of us. Long live the Bumbo!

Am Sewing Genius

Okay, maybe not a genius, but I'm pretty proud of myself. Adam outgrew his infant carrier and his Bjorn, so I needed to figure out how to take him grocery shopping without trying to push a shopping cart and a stroller. We sat him in the seat of the shopping cart and he did well. The only problem was that he found the cart itself to be delicious and sucked on it with zest, much to his parent's mutual disgust. I had seen shopping cart covers in stores but they were a little pricey. I'm a stay-at-home-mom now, and I'm feeling very domestic these days, so I decided I could make it myself. Big mistake; especially since I had never before made anything from a pattern. Luckily, I have a talented and understanding mother-in-law who agreed to come over and talk me through the rough parts. This is the result:




Now, you can't tell from the photo but, this thing has pockets and elastic and all sorts of things I had to find in the "notions" section of Joann's. So, it may not be much to you true "sewing geniuses" out there but, Adam thinks it's fabulous. He even commented on how much better it tastes than the cart. Yup, that's right, he talks. We are a family of geniuses.

Conference Party

We don't have cable, and I feel a little bit of PTSD from my childhood at the thought of spending four hours watching General Conference at the church. Luckily, Dorothy has cable and so we decided to go to her house and watch there. Since we are incapable of doing anything without a large social group, we invited some friends too. The cast of characters included Ryan, Amy and Jack Shelton; Dave, Anna and Eli Tuttle; Ross, Katrina and Wyatt Robinson; Seleta and Brett Talbot; and Scott, Adam and myself. Apart from a few inappropriate jokes and ill-timed laughing fits we were able to behave as adults and absorb a lot from the talks.



Adam and Eli were both compelled to daydream and suck their fingers as a way to kill time. Must be a baby thing.




In between sessions we went outside. Wyatt and Jack had a swell time taking in all that nature had to offer.







The men decided to play a couple of rounds of bocce ball. Scott showed his excellent skills at being a gracious host by winning both rounds.












It was a great way to spend Conference Sunday. We were able to be uplifted by the talks and have a raucous good time while we were at it. It doesn't get much better.

Newest Trick (Warning Explicit Photos)

At the ripe old age of 6 months, Adam has decided to try his hand (or feet?) at walking. He has begun to pull himself up everywhere, including the bathtub. What I want to know is, "what happened to my baby?" I had a tiny, fragile little newborn six months ago and now I have a toddler who doesn't want to be held because it restricts his movement. It seems a little unfair.


And if you think this looks dangerous, you're right. You try stopping him. He's a force to be reckoned with. And, by the way, look at that tush! I am probably committing a sin that Adam won't forgive me for, once he is old enough to be embarrassed. Sorry Adam, I can't help myself.



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Happy Birthday!

My friend Amy and I have birthdays that are close (hers is on September 29th and mine is on October 2nd). So our friends threw a little soirée in honor of our slow creep toward middle age (Amy's winning by the way, she's got me by two years). It was wonderful, we had homemade soup made by our friend Joanna, croissants, and a yummy cake made by our friend Anna.

So the cast of characters from left to right is Joanna, Suzy, Katrina (holding Alex), Me (holding Adam), Anna (holding Eli), Amy and Wyatt (Deborah took the picture).

It's so nice to have such wonderful friends. Thanks for a great day!

Rochester Walk for Autism Research

As many of you know, I have a special place in my heart for Autism and Autism research. I spent my last year before having Adam working in an Autism program, mostly with newly diagnosed toddlers. I truly enjoyed my job. Well, last weekend there was a walk for Autism research here in Rochester and it was chaired by the mother of one of the kids with whom I used to work.

My good friends, Amy and Katrina, joined up and we raised about $175. We well surpassed our original goal of $100, so thank you to all of you who contributed. We were especially happy to find out that we would get free t-shirts for raising over $100, woo-hoo!

So, apart from the actual walk there were tons of activities for the little ones and we had a grand time. Amy and Katrina both have little boys about a year older than Adam. We made our way to the "Music Therapy" area and proceeded to take it over.

This is Jack, Amy's son, who is 18 months old. We love Jack. He just loves to dive into everything headfirst. That's Wyatt in the background, he prefers to check things out before jumping in.
Adam was exhausted, as the walk occurred right in the middle of his nap time. That didn't stop him from having a fabulous time terrorizing Jack by trying to take whatever Jack happened to be holding. That is Wyatt behind him. We love Wyatt. He is so serene and calm; basically the antithesis of Adam and Jack. And yes, that is the shadow of my crazy hair on Adam's face, don't judge me. I'm getting a haircut in a few days.

And here we are, in order of height apparently, at the end of the walk. We were a little conspicuous with our three strollers, weaving our way through the crowds of people.


We had a wonderful day and Amy thought it was a great way to spend her birthday (Happy 30th!).