Sadie's Black Eye

While on their way to school (to pick up her babysitter's daughter), Sadie fell on some cement steps and cut her eyebrow. After much deliberation, I decided not to go to the hospital (I wasn't convinced they would do anything...) We already had plans to go have dinner with Daddy & go shopping, so we continued with this plan. We took Sadie to Applebee's and let her have an ice cream sundae--doesn't ice cream make everything better? These pictures are 24 hours later and her eye already looked much better.

7 Months Pregnant!

Our First Hotel Stay

Last weekend we took a trip to Cedar Rapids to visit Aunt Lindsey... This was the first time the three of us stayed in a hotel room together! We were a little nervous about how well Sadie would do sleeping in the same room with us, but she had no problems at all! We had a fun time...

We told Sadie after we got back from dinner that we could go swimming. As soon as we got in the door, she was pulling out her swim diaper & swimsuit. As soon as I got her suit on she grabbed her swimming toys and ran to the door!



Waiting for popcorn!

Relaxing with Daddy.

Little Reminders

Marc and I both keep an abundance of shoes in our back entryway. Usually whenever we get home from somewhere we kick off our shoes here before we go inside. Sadie has recently joined us in this little routine (completely on her own!) She sits down, pulls her shoes off, and stacks them neatly with ours. She likes to set her shoes on top of her daddy's shoes...

I feel like I'm constantly overwhelmed with picking up our house (not cleaning--just keeping things put away!) There's always toys to pick up, dog water to clean up off the floor (Sadie loves to experiment), cracker crumbs, juice cups, a highchair to wipe off, little clothes that need refolded and put back into the dresser (I've been thinking we need to put childproof latches on her dresser during this phase!), and the list could go on and on. Some days it just seems too overwhelming... on these days I try to remind myself that this phase of our lives is just temporary and all too soon it will be past... I try to look at these messes as little reminders that I have such an awesome little girl (who LOVES to explore!) One of my favorite little reminders is smudgy fingerprints--although seeing this reminder usually means I need to dust or clean glass, I'm hesitant to wipe them away. I always tell Marc that one day I'll long to see these little fingerprints.

God uses many different everyday situations to remind us of his love... I try my best to look at life's many messes as little reminders of how blessed I am! (Besides, I have a feeling that toddler messes will be much easier to smile at than teen-age messes!)

Rain, Rain, Go Away

After 3 days of rain, we were ready for a break! Today was better (it only rained for a couple hours...) Sadie has been getting a lot of use out of her new rain coat (from Aunt Cori). I took these pictures on Friday when we got home from school. It was raining very lightly. We got a very small amount of water in our basement (we were much luckier than many of our friends!) It started coming in Sunday morning... by today it was pretty much dry.

Potty Time!

Lately Sadie has been exhibiting a lot of interest in the toilet! We got her a potty book a few weeks ago. She keeps it in the bathroom (with our magazines) and we read it at bath time or when we're getting ready. She loves to push the button on it that makes a flushing sound. We are not officially starting potty training (or attempting underwear), but we decided to go ahead and get her a potty seat and step stool (she also loves to wash her hands and brush her teeth.) Yesterday morning we went to Wal-Mart and I helped her pick a potty seat. She proudly held onto her potty seat during the duration of our shopping trip! This morning before church, I let her try it out:
We opted for the baseball seat as opposed to the pink princess one!

I tried to explain to Sadie that she didn't need to take her shirt off to sit on the potty, but she was VERY insistent!

"I'm a Big Girl!"... I was amazed to watch her rip off a square of toilet paper and wipe herself (although she did not go potty!) She then got down removed her potty seat and waved bye-bye to her toilet paper as she requested help to flush the potty.

Brushing her teeth with her new step stool.

Labor Day Weekend

It seems like things have been non-stop since I started school 2 1/2 weeks ago! I haven't had as much time to blog... We did get to enjoy this weekend at home (a lot of which was spent on cleaning, laundry, & groceries!) It's hard adjusting back into working full time... especially after spending my whole summer home with Sadie. I'm really missing her A LOT!

Sadie has adjusted back into the routine of going to her sitter's very well. Every morning I ask her if she's ready to go to Ms. Jennifer's and she says "Yeah!" When we pull into the driveway she starts saying "Toe-ter" (Jennifer has a dog named Toaster). Sadie's also been working on her 1-year molars and has been slightly crabby (understatement) as a result. I'm looking forward to getting past that!

My Kindergarten class is great! I've got some cuties (as always!) I only have 18 currently which is pretty low. I guess I'll enjoy it while it lasts! I do love being at school with them. I love seeing their faces and receiving their hugs every day... it's just hard to find the balance between working and being a mom!

Here are some pictures from Labor Day weekend. We spent the weekend in Cedar Rapids with Andy & Lindsey. On Sunday we attended the annual DePauw family picnic. It was great to see Marc's grandparents!

Sadie enjoying some of her dad's sweet tea on the way!

Getting ready to go to Amana Colonies for dinner. (It's an Amish Community with several restaurants that serve family style meals.)

Marc's cousins brought their dog Lincoln to the picnic and Sadie was fascinated with him!


Sadie with Grandma & Grandpa Gorsch

Sadie with Great-Grandma Gorsch

Sadie with Uncle Andy & Aunt Lindsey