13 Months and 31 Years

Happy Birthday Dad! I sit on your head!

I didn't really plan on keeping up with monthly updates now that she is one, but thought I would mention this one since it was also Wade's birthday. In Wade news, it's probably safe to say at this point that he will be starting school at Iowa State this fall. We still don't have orders (surprise, surprise) but we are counting on the fact that it will continue to go through. It better because our house is for sale and it will soon be a rental, hopefully today or tomorrow if I can get on it and get off this blog! Also, Wade will be done with command on July 16 after 18 months. Whew!!

In Whitney news, she has started to learn some new coordination feats. A few weeks ago she started twirling around in circles and earlier this week she has figured out that she can walk backwards. It looks like she is moon walking! She'll shuffle backwards until she runs into something. If she is careful she can walk down a few steps by herself holding on to the wall, but most of the time she forgets and trys to run down them. She tries to put her own shoes on and last night she found Wade's socks and tried to put them on his feet. She has figured out that things belong in certain places or certain ways. She likes to scribble and knows that a pen and paper go together. Thankfully she doesn't write on walls, yet! Still no more teeth, don't know what is taking so long!!! I suppose that is it, I could on and on about her little discoveries but just wanted to mention her twirling and moon walking! And that Whitney is 29 inches, NOT 30.25 inches like the dr's measured. She fits just below our kitchen table, so I had an aha moment and measured our table, which is 29 inches.

Dunk Tank

I am super behind in getting stuff up on the blog. With the Iowa trip and a four day weekend we have been so busy and doing lots of fun stuff. I still have a few more things to post after this, so keep up with me! On to this post....... last week was Dauntless Days. Basically a Brigade Organizational Day. There are four battalions in this brigade, so it was a pretty big family day with lots going on. Our FRG hosted a dunk tank to raise some money, and of course Wade had to get in. a sitting duck
wasn't sure if I had any ball throwing skills, but decided to make a fool of myself anyway, and I hit the target on the second throw! And I did it hanging onto Whitney!

Whitney had to hit the target too! you can see Wade going in!

Springfield Zoo

Sunday we made an inpromptu trip to the Springfield Zoo. We packed a picnic lunch and had lunch outside the zoo under a pavillion and Whitney played on the little playground there for a while. It was hot and muggy, it was supposed to storm but thankfully didn't. If we were thinking, we would not have gone on such a hot day, because the animals laid around like they were half dead. But, Whitney enjoyed the zoo and did so good the entire time. We were there about two hours and she either wanted to walk or be held. So much for having a stroller! We were really happy that she enjoyed it and we had a great family day. Whitney was so tired that she fell asleep immediately upon leaving so we skipped Bass Pro, next time Daddy!

watching the ducks

this kid loves water!

the giraffes were AWESOME! they had a feeding deck so you could get up close. it was $2 for four wafers to feed them, worth it for the awesome photo op.

this is the second oldest giraffe in captivity in the US. you could tell, he was kind of grey, super tall, and super calm. Like, been there done that.

Oh No!!

Wade cut his own hair the other night, which he frequently does because it needs cut so often, and he came out into the living room for me to see if I needed to touch up any spots. He asked, "how does it look?" Whitney looked up at him and said, "ohhh, noooo!" It was SO funny! She says oh no whenever anything falls or is different to her. It couldn't have been any more perfect.

At the River

Saturday afternoon we took Whitney to the river at the Waynesville Park. She loves the park, the swings, and now the river too. She doesn't even flinch that the water is FREEZING! Her legs started to get so cold they didn't work so well and we had to move it up to the shore. She loves water and I have a feeling we are going to be spending A LOT of time in the pool, river and at the splash pad this summer. We got so many cute photos, but her are a few, okay, more than a few! It looks like we had the river to ourself, but in reality it was packed with kids and adults cooling off. The art of cropping!

Whitney!!!

As I mentioned, Whitney stayed with Wade's sister while we were at the wedding. Since we were both in it, it was impossible to have her with us. We left friday afternoon and didn't see her until sunday morning. I wasn't sure I wanted reports on how she was doing, I was afraid that if she didn't do well and couldn't sleep then I would be a nervous wreck, but it turned out that she did so great and it was a relief to hear how well she was doing. I was able to enjoy the weekend without thinking about her too much. It sounded like she did better for Jessica than she does for me!! I didn't get any pictures of Whitney with the Vandewater cousins, so please check out Jessica's blog. This should conclude our Iowa trip, now it's time to catch up on our Memorial Day activities.

http://thevandewatervoyage.blogspot.com/2010/05/whitney.html

Wilson Wedding

Last weekend, May 22, was our good friends Michelle and Tony's wedding. I was a bridesmaid and Wade was a groomsman. Wade and Tony are hometown friends and also lived together in college. Michelle and I met in college and became roommates for three years, plus a few years after college as well living in Des Moines together. I could go on and on about the history of our friendships, but I will keep it short. Michelle and Wilson (that's Tony's last name but we all call him Wilson) met in college through Wade and I, but just as friends. They didn't even look twice at each other or even fathom a relationship at the time. As fate would have it, Wilson got a job in Des Moines and started hanging out with me and Michelle more. Their friendship grew into something more and they secretly dated before revealing to the rest of us that is was the real thing, because who would have ever thought that they would end up together! Well, it couldn't be more perfect to have two friends marry each other. It was a beautiful, well thought out wedding with no detail forgotten. We were happy to be a part of it! before leaving for the weekend. We left Whitney for the first time ever with Wade's sister. She did amazing and had a busy weekend with her two cousins. Thankfully it was nice that weekend and they were able to spend a lot of time outdoors, which helped Whitney sleep good for naps and bedtime. Thanks Jess!!

the groomsmen and long time Alden friends, Nolan, Adam, Nick, Dave and Wade

college friends and roommates, Michelle, Bonnie, Amanda, Michelle and me

They were having their "special moment" seeing each other for the first time. love this picture, they were married at Living History Farms in West Des Moines, or is it technically Clive

Jennifer, Kaci, Michelle, Me, Amanda, Tiffany

Michelle getting a drink out of her martini luge, her prize event of the evening

old college friends- Amanda, Jen, Michelle, Me, Michelle, Bonnie