Thanksgiving '08

The weekend is not officially over, but it is in my book. Matt left this morning for his three week stint in Miami. We decided that neither he, nor I, could EVER survive him being in the military. I don't know how my cousin Jayne does it with THREE kids and a dog with a husband in the military who was gone for MONTHS at a time. Jayne, if you are reading this, tips?

Molly survived her first thanksgiving. She met the rest of the Begel clan who came in from California and her uncle Alex and her "cousin" Ryan who came in with Amy from the East Coast. Despite her getting what seems to be some more teeth (as she pulled the same puking shananagins as last time) she was really good all weekend. She tolerated us taking her place to place trying to capture the best picture for the pending Christmas card. We were successful...you'll see in a couple weeks!

Matt and I enjoyed a night in with our good friends Dan, Bridget, their little girl Lauren who is not so little anymore, Jenn, John, Emily, Brian and then a quick visit with little Lilla (Jenn and John's daughter). We abruptly left Starbucks fearing Molly was going to get sick again. So far, nothing, just lethargy, LOTS of sleeping and little eating. Oh well....what fun would it be for Mommy if Molly didn't get sick while Daddy is away!!!

We really can't wait for Christmas as that means Matt will be home and these three weeks will have flown by. Enjoy some pics of Molly from the weekend.

Molly Scoots

Look out...she's got wheels!!

Love my new toy mom!!


I know, I am SO cool and SO cute.


What?! I can also use this thing to walk? Oh, I'm outta here!!

Not only does she have wheels, but she has teeth. Which would explain her behavior the last couple of days. Molly has learned to officially crawl, pull herelf up to a standing position and the other day, I noticed her two bottom teeth sitting right there, just waiting to cut through. So, in an attempt to appease her desire to take off and walk (apparently she thinks she has mastered crawling after 5 days) I bought her this little toy. Needless to say, she LOVES it. She even tolerates me helping her as long as thinks she can "walk" around. Yet again, I have video, but am doing something wrong and can't post it. Matt comes home tonight...all will be better:)

Still lots happening here....

Never a dull moment around here...Molly threw up for the first time yesterday. OK...maybe that is not blog material, but if this is meant to capture all the major moments in her life, well, this was MAJOR. Don't worry, I did not capture it, I was too worried about her, the floors she puked on (not ours) and what to do next. Needless to say, she has not gotten sick since but has not been herself. I read that teething can cause vomiting so I am just going to go with that.

On a less gross note, Molly now does "so big" and I captured it on camera during dinner tonight. She also was sneaking around trying to find her x-mas presents that came in this big box, and I caught her!! Silly girl...she needs to learn to be more inconspicuous than that!!! Definetly taking after her mommy in more ways than one (I have been known to snoop for the occasional present and Dee-Dee reminded me that I, too, had been known to get sick randomly when I was little). Can't wait for Daddy to come home!!!!4 days and trying NOT to count.

Lots Happening Here at the Smoko House

So many new things....

1. Molly has crawled, however is not officially crawling.
2. Tonight, I put Molly to bed and a few minutes later heard her yelling. Not crying, but yelling. I went in. She was STANDING in her crib, had thrown her pacifier and had a HUGE smile on her face. While I did think this was oh so cute, I could not encourage this behavior so I just laid her down and tucked her back into bed. The whole time, I was nearly bursting that my little baby was standing in her crib looking like she was about 3.
3. Molly and I are fairing quite well while Dad is at training, loving the new airline he is working for. Our morning routine involves me getting up and getting ready and then getting Molly up. She gets propped on the bed with a bottle (see picture) and feeds herself breakfast while I make mine and then join her on the bed. Together, we watch the news and prepare for our day...I think about how I am going to handle teenagers with attitudes and she thinks about pulling Gordon's ears, rough housing with Papa, jumping and spitting.

Forgot to Post

A few weeks ago, before Halloween, the Bodendein family and the Smoko family went to the Family Farm up in Cedarburg for some fall fun. We had a great time, as evidenced by Charlie's face walking on to the tractor for a hay ride to the pumpkin patch. Molly loved eating hay and Matt loved the old tractor in the barn.

Indoor Water Park Fun!!!!

As a little family vacation before Matt leaves for training, we went down to Illinois to Keylime Cove, indoor water park. We had a great time. Molly was a little overwhelmed I think, but she got into it eventually. The lazy river was her favorite while Matt and I liked the big water slides the best. They were actually pretty cool! Here Molly is showing her trepedation as we head down the lazy river....her paci was not in her mouth the whole time, just during times of overwhemling trepedation...like when Matt dunked her udner a waterfall than sent her into hysterics!!!