Update

It's been over a month now and we are still gradually moving in.  Apparently combining two houses is a little harder than it sounds, but we are getting there.

Rebekah is doing great with the moving.  She already knows where the cheerios are and needs no help getting them.

She has quickly reacquainted herself with crocodile 

(Then - July 2012)

(Now.  She and Crocodile picked up right where they left off.)

We have had lots of play time with Rebekah.   

Even got this nice fun puzzle play mat!

Pendelton has a fabulous library complete with a break / play room.  

Our neighborhood comes complete with a park and what is a park without a basketball hoop?  

Dad and daughter - mark this moment: the intro to the game has officially begun.

And she is learning well - however, we are still working on "traveling..."

She loves balls in all sizes

And we have officially started fridge art.

Loving time with our little girl!

16 Months

16 Months Old

Here's our little Rebekah, another month older.  It seems with each day she is getting more and more personality.  She loves to laugh, to tease, and loves to take care of each of us.  

She often will offer us (with her sticky fingers) food off her plate.  We have fed her she now wants to return the favor and feed us.  Lately she has taken this philosophy to a whole new level.  I often ask, "where's dad" expecting her to point to him.  She will now point to us and expect us to name who the person is.  

She listens and understands very well.  I once told her that the music needed to be turned off before we go downstairs.  She turned it off and has continued to turn it off every time before we go downstairs.  Last Sunday night she was playing in the kitchen cupboards.  She had the recipe box out and when I told her we should go upstairs and play.  She got excited and began to come to me.  I told her she needed to put the box away first.  She did it and started to come to me again but didn't get to far before she returned to close the cupboard door.  Made my day.

She has started climbing, dancing and spinning.  Very fun to watch.  She will even dance when I sing to her.  She loves balls and is doing great throwing and kicking them.  

Her love for books is growing.  Pendleton has a fabulous library complete with a play area.  We go there and read for some time then she goes and plays then we read some more.  Good times.

Walking into the library

There are days when she eats (as my daddy would say) like she is trying to fill her hollow leg.  Other days she just picks.  She really enjoys yogurt, but soy / almond yogurt isn't easy to find.  She is still not a fan of potatoes or non-orange veggies.  She loves her noodles and beans.  Favorite meal is spaghetti.  Favorite fruit is a tie between bananas and strawberries.

Rebekah loves grandma Walker and even has a specified place where grandma sits in the playroom.  One day I was sitting there and grandma came into the hallway.  Rebekah comes over to me and using no words told me that I was to move out of grandma's chair so she could come in and sit a while.  

I am amazed at how my love for Rebekah increases each day.  I love to interact with her.  I love to play attack of the baby / attack of the mama with her.  Lately her favorite thing is the get-a-way:  she moves to go away and I grab her back and say, "she's getting away...!  she's getting away...!"  Who would have thought she would laugh and giggle and have so much fun with those simple things.

We are so blessed to have our little girl.

First Date - Again

It's been almost 2 years since my dearest Don and I have gone out together.  The last time we did was our anniversary in 2011.  I was greatly pregnant and so sick I was barely able to function.  Not sure when we went out last before that.

I did remind Don that we went out for about an hour or so while Mom Walker was still in NY helping after Reka was born.  We went to Walmart.  I think we may have bought Rebekah's swing at that time. But Don doesn't remember.   And if one of the participants in the "going out together" doesn't remember, I'm pretty sure it doesn't count.

One of the many perks about living with "grandma" is her relationship with Rebekah.  It is wonderful to watch it grow.  Long story short, Don asked mom to watch Reka for an hour while we went on a date and she said yes.

Pre-date picture

It was nice being alone with Don again.  I told him that we were both out of practice and needed to do this more often.  And thanks to a wonderful "grandma" we may get that opportunity.  Thanks mom!

15 Months

26 pounds, 1 ounce

33 inches tall

That's 88th percentile for weight, 98th for height.

Not a whole lot to report this month.  She has the beginning of two new teeth.  Nice to get them out of the way.  Reka also learned how to clap.  It's so very cute to see, but she rarely performs on command.  She learned how to climb stairs now that we have stairs, but she is still scared to death to climb down.  It's a work in progress....
She still has a healthy appetite and eats most everything except potatoes and corn.  She is also not loving green veggies.  I will have to work on getting those in her.  She loves chicken.
The big story is the move, which she handled pretty well and is adjusting very quickly to her new surroundings.  There is a little park in our neighborhood so I was able give her a first slide experience.  She didn't know what to make of it but then I went down with her and she was sold!  She is also learning to love the swing.  More importantly, she is loving her grandma Walker.
We all love her laugh and her playfulness.  She loves to share her food and will often (with her sticky hands) offer a cheerio or muffin or something.  The other day she did this and I lean forward open mouth fully ready to accept this gift when she pulls her hand back, looks at me and smiles, and eats said muffin.  Yes, Reka has officially spent way too much time with her father.
She truly fills the house with joy.  We are blessed to have such a sweet little girl.

Philly: Featuring Courtney!

When planning the Indiana move I mentioned to Don about possibly going through Philadelphia to drive by some of the historic sights.  He suggested instead to call Courtney and make an event of it.  Yay for a sweet understanding husband who understands both my need for history and my need for friends!

Friday night we drove to Philly and stayed over.  Early Saturday morning Courtney drove into the city and met me at the hotel.  Don stayed with Rebekah so I was all free to enjoy every single moment.  

Here's the first view of Independence Hall

And just to prove that we were there...

*I pause here to mention that we had to valet park our van and my camera was left in said van.  I therefore am indebted to a more prepared Courtney who let me download all her pictures.

First stop:  THE Liberty Bell

Courtney always takes a great picture

I also saw this little antique toy train

Next stop, Independence Hall

The old court room

Good things happened in there.  

However....

This is where it all happened.   

Washington was here - Adams was here - And Jefferson - And Franklin 

And I was here too!

And Courtney was here too!

Here's our tour guide, Ranger Ray.  He may have been there as well....

He said John Adams sat here.  

As the tour group went to the next room I stood for a moment in silence (a rare thing since I had Reka) and looked upon this scene to imagined the "great company of men" (a phrase Adams coined) that worked here to bring about the country we love today.  There were tears.  It was truly a spiritual experience.

Love the staircase.  

Can you imagine the great men who walked these stairs?

We saw a very cool map

A neat harpsichord

This is what they would have used to sign the documents

There was even an outhouse...? 

A view from the back -

Yes, it was as cold as it looks.

Then Courtney and I walked over to Congress Hall.

Franklin was watching over all

Introducing Ms. Courtney Hastings, Congresswoman

After Courtney's brief term in Congress, we said goodbye to Washington

And got more pictures of the Hall

Then we were hungry and went to lunch.  I thought the food was very good (but it could have been the simple fact that I rarely get to eat at a leisurely pace any more.  Not to mention that I didn't have to cut up anything or let anyone else have bites...). 

Just me and my food

Either way it was AWESOME!  

But more awesome was the total coolness of our numbers:

as in "17--" 

It's like they saw us coming and planned ahead!

After our leisurely brunch we walked around to see what else we could see.

Apparently we were not the only ones who thought it was cold.  

This is where the First Continental Congress met

I may have teared up here too... (but that could have been because of lack of sleep).

I made the mistake of posing a question to one of the tour guides. We were there for a while.  A LONG while.  Rookie mistake.... When we broke free we went to The Second Bank of the United States which was full of famous art work.

Then we were off again, this time with Franklin in mind. 

 On our way we passed this statue 

commemorating the reading of the declaration

After a long walk and much exploring of the map, we made it to Franklin's burial sight. 

But it was closed.  

Courtney was sad.

Sad, but determined.  She was able to take this picture through the gate.

We hurried back to our parking and on the way came across this car.  I had Courtney take a picture for Don.  

And great news!  It came with a diagram of all the places you could hide whiskey!  

A great time with a great friend.  Thanks for coming Courtney!   I love doing history with you!   Best -Tour Guide - Ever!