9 Months

 This girl is 9 months old today and boy does she have some personality. She is my little goofball! Here she is after I found her popping her binky in her mouth. Johanna has never been much of a fan of the pacifier so it was funny to see her do this. Turns out she was just trying to rip the nipple off with her little dagger tooth. Glad it wasn't me- ouch!

 I couldn't resist putting the tiara on her while she was playing with the princess book. The tiara was mine from my work wedding shower, it even lights up!

 There is a Thomas Kinkade shop near my favorite pizza place, The Mellow Mushroom. After satisfying a craving for some feta, mushroom, steak, kalamata olives and artichoke pizza (amazing!) we walked down to the shop. Thomas Kinkade has a line of Disney paintings that I have always loved and I was thrilled to find this beautiful canvas for Johanna's room.

 We have been struggling with nap times lately. I have read that some children go through a 9 month sleep regression due to their new found skills that they would rather stay up to practice. Some days she likes to skip morning naps, and other times (like yesterday) she took a 2 1/2 hour morning nap. I used to count on this nap for my morning jogs on the treadmill or to catch up on chores. Now it is so up in the air I don't count on anything. Now that our crazy month of fun is over I am thinking she might settle back down to her normal routine.  

 This is just one of the many goofy looking faces Johanna has been making. Like I said, she has some personality! Doesn't she look like a little Chucky? This photo is also showing her latest obsession, climbing our staircase.  I am a little worried about this because we are able to put a baby gate at the top of the 11 steps but there isn't really a good spot to attach it to the bottom. And this girl can cruise up these steps! Just this morning I was pouring a cup of coffee so she took the opportunity to cruise over to the stairs, made sure to turn around to see that I was watching then waved bye-bye and started heading up the stairs!

 She has been experimenting with a lot of different foods lately. Basically, anything that we are eating she wants to try out for herself. Last night was burrito night and boy did she love her pinto beans, taco meat and cheese! Here she is trying to shove as many bites of cheese into her mouth as possible.

 In an attempt to keep her occupied while I am doing things in the kitchen, we set up a play kitchen that we found at a Toys R Us outlet. Talk about a hit- she loves it! I'm sure she has no idea what any of the stuff is, but hey it keeps her busy while I catch up on the dishes.

Happy 9 months silly girl- we love you!

the Bodenmiller grandbabies

The Bodenmiller grandbabies for my Mom and Sister!

 Max: Hmmm...this picture would look much better if I put my arm around Johanna too

 Johanna: Enough of this, get me away from these boys!

 Leo: She started it!

Gone Fishin'

 I set a pack n' play up for Johanna in a room downstairs closest to the front living room. This front room was an addition added several years after the cottage was built so this particular bedroom has a window that opens up to the front room. Johanna was taking her afternoon nap when I heard her wake up. I quietly opened up the window and was spying on her while she played with her toys with out her realizing. When she looked up and saw me staring at her she was so surprised she jumped up flailing her arms in the air and gasping. It was so funny!

The evenings were so beautiful on the lake. Every night we would walk out on to the dock, watch the sunset and listen to the water.

This is what we fell asleep to each night. So peaceful!

 My Dad was on fire, he caught three of these suckers in fifteen minutes! Too bad we weren't keeping them, we would have had dinner set for the next night.

 hahaha... oh Dad.

There were some left over fireworks from the 4th of July so we had to use them up of course. Max was so excited to hold his first sparkler!

On our last night the moon was gigantic over the water. What a perfect ending to a great week at the lake!

Fun in the Sun

A big part of my two week vacation to the Midwest was spent in Michigan at Round Lake. This was Johanna's first trip to the family cottage. I was excited to bring her to the place that I spent every Summer as a child. It was fun watching her play with all the same toys that my Sister and I played with as little girls.

 Here is my Nephew, Max. Isn't he the cutest?

And here is the newest addition to their beautiful family, Leo Michael.

My Grandma (Oma) my cousin Cassandra and my Mom.

 No matter how hard I try to keep her eyes protected this child refuses to wear her sunglasses!

 Papa taking her into the lake... she wasn't too sure of the water at first.

She warmed up to it quickly though and then couldn't get enough of the water.

 We realized quickly that slow boat rides put Johanna to sleep within the first five minutes. I decided to bring her in her car seat for the ride in hopes that she would fall asleep and it worked like a charm. She zonked out in minutes then slept for a nice long nap. Wish I could do that here every time she has a hard time going down!

This two were inseparable!

 Like I mentioned before, Johanna absolutely adores baby Leo. I would have to watch her like a hawk. The minute I took my eyes off of her she would find him wherever he was.

Quick update

One week down and one week to go of our trip to Ohio and we are loving every minute. Currently we are relaxing up at the family cottage where the internet connection isn't the greatest. I have taken tons of pictures, but it is taking entirely way too long to upload anything but these two photos. Johanna loves this swing at my parent's house. It is from when I was a little girl, I wonder if they still make them?

Johanna loves loves loves her cousins Max and Leo. I can't believe how much of a little boy Max has grown into. He is speaking in full sentences, jumping off the dock on his own and swinging on the big boy swing all by himself. How did he grow up so fast?! Leo is adorable. He is almost 6 weeks old and as snugly as can be. Hannie can't decide which of these two boys she likes the best. She follows Max around like a little puppy laughing at everything he does. She loves inspecting baby Leo, crawling to his rocker and sneaking pokes while no one is looking. Sometimes she gets jealous while I am holding him but usually doesn't mind sharing.

In Johanna news so much has happened! She is crawling like crazy, pulling herself up and even trying to push herself up onto her legs while crawling. She even crawls up some steps now, my goodness! Monday morning we noticed her first tooth was popping out on the bottom left and the other on its way.

We have been busy visiting family and friends in Michigan, Ohio and Indiana but at the same time I have been able to really unwind and relax. All vacations should be two weeks long! Hope everyone is doing well and staying cool. More to come later!