Seventeen Months.

Here she is in all her seventeen-month glory. Shhhh...I took one of these pictures the day before. Good thing, too, cause of the darned wind ruining the actual seventeen month shots. Oh yeah, and that tumble she took off of first base, face first into a mouthful of dirt while discovering the adjacent baseball diamond. That pretty much ended picture day. (She might need a few lessons in running the bases, Uncle John.)

That said, she's pretty amazing at seventeen months. Some favorite words: puh-low (pillow), huhg (hug, with lots of emphasis on the 'uh' part), and still baaay-beeeeee (baby). But those are only three of almost 200.

New signs: elephant, work (as in 'Daddy work'), and 'cycle' (as in the motorcycle ride-on at the park). But those are only three of almost 100.

I am one proud mama. I am sooooooooooooo that parent saying, look what my kid can do. SO her.

And in other happy news, congrats to Rick & Cathy, new parents of baby Johnny, born yesterday and weighing 6 lbs 13 oz, 18 1/2 inches, teeny thing! But finally another boy in the mix for all the girls to fight over!

Maple Monday: Week Three.

As you can see, our tree is still green. We don't care, though, because it's nearly 70 today and the sun is shining! It is so beautiful!

TGIF.

It's been a rough week with naps and colds so I am HUGELY thankful that it's Friday, which in our house means PIZZA FRIDAY. And believe me, even Alla starts asking about it by Thursday and gets real excited when that hot box shows up at our door.

Just a quick snap of her little runny nose earlier in the week. It's still running.

Maple Monday.

I know you all have been checking all day to see if the highly anticipated tree shot has been posted. I know you cannot contain your enthusiasm for this little project of mine. Because you know that just behind the last fallen leaf will be the first frost, and then the first snow. And you cannot wait to see if I will survive!

Sorry to disappoint, though. Our tree is taking its sweet time. And we are just fine with that.

See, I told you I found a great site.

Isn't sketch-it the best? This was drawn for only a buck. I'm hunting down the artist to get my very own original in my very own hands.

A few faves.

Just thought I'd share a few photographs making me very happy these past two days. Thanks for the watermark, Erin! I will use it sparingly...when I'm really happy! Hope you're all having a great week!

Maple Mondays.

For the next several weeks I will bring you Maple Mondays, where we will examine the leaves on the giant maple tree in our front yard for signs of fall. Today it is green. Not even a yellow leaf to speak of. But it was not a stitch above 55 yesterday, so I imagine the good ol' maple is sure that fall is here and will be getting some golden soon. Check back here next Monday for an update! I'm sure I've left you all just dying for the next installment.

And, us. Our little family.

We went with the Fulkerson's to a little (and I do mean little) Greek festival in uptown Minneapolis. But, hey, great friends. Great food. Great times. And we are for sure heading back to uptown real soon to explore the shops and eateries. Seems like a family shoot of the Fulkerson's is in order cause only Tara and Ashby's picture came out with both person's eyes open!

Every picture has a price.

I was able to get this.

And this.

And this.
But for this price:

Because I was gone SO long.

Well I didn't mean to upset anyone. For heaven's sake, the grandparents were in town! That means I wasn't spending my evening blogging, I was out with my husband, seeing two movies, mind you. Talladega Nights (funny) and Little Miss Sunshine (funny and touching). But since more regular blogging was requested, here are a few more from the weekend. Because honestly I got nothin new today, friends. We went to Turtle Lake for a Mom's Club outing, went to the library and hit the jackpot with a stack of Signing Times waiting for us, and barbequed for dinner. The weather is near perfect. It's warm, it cools off at night. It's been many days since we turned on the air and that's saving us lots of money. Life is good.

Alla waiting to ride the train at Mall of America. Signing 'train.'

Ten on Tuesday.

Ten photos on Tuesday. A is for Alla at Teddy Bear Park in Stillwater. Teddy Bear Park is the best park I've ever seen! My daughter played hard this weekend. At parks, with Nana & Pappi, in the rain, at the zoo, on the carousel. We explored and discovered and had a full weekend.

And now it is September of all things, which gets me thinking about the unofficial end to summer, shorter days, the upcoming time change, Mommy & Me classes starting on Monday, Christmas in three months. The slightest touch of fall is in the air. You have to really look since it was 80 today, but it's there. It's there in the mornings when it's crisp. Hope you are all having a lovely start to your Septembers.