I Like to Ride My Bicycle, I Like to Ride My Bike

Molly is a bike rider.  We bought her an iBert bicycle seat.   She wasn't quite sure what to think of it all at first.  She had a complete screaming fit while we got the helmet on her and got her into the seat, but the second I took off pedaling she stopped screaming and loved every second of the ride.

I had not ridden my bike since the first couple of weeks that I was pregnant with her.  I LOVE my "super cool pink cruiser bike" as I named it when I purchased it with my first paycheck the first autumn I coached soccer in Gilbert.  I can't count the times I rode it to the pool in the early hot mornings in Arizona.  I filled my basket (which has now been replaced with a baby) with a book, towel, phone, keys, and water.  I wanted to get there before the kids invaded, and I read many books beside the subdivision's pool.  In case you have ever wondered how hot Phoenix can get in the summer...it literally melted the binding glue in a book that my brother let me borrow.  The pages just fell out.  True story.

Anyway, we are blessed to live a hop, skip, and a jump from Hefner Lake which has awesome biking trails, and since Aaron is really into road biking, a bike seat for Molly was in order.

It must be relaxing.  It melted our hearts.

She Loves to Write

Give her a pen and she's happy.  Add paper and she's happier.  

Without paper, she'll improvise.

7/15/11
Aaron gave her a pen to keep her happy in her car seat one night, and when he carried her in looking like this, I was leaving a phone message and with the sight of her, I completely forgot my phone number and had to ask Aaron what it was mid-message.  Embarrassing.  You can't see it, but she even had ink on her forehead.  Aaron was worried the ink would hurt her or not come off, but with one baby wipe most of it came off and a bath later, she was as good as new.  She has decorated one of our dining chairs, too.  And, she can only have crayons when we watch her like a hawk, otherwise she gnaws on them.  She won't eat much real food, but a colorful crayon must look appetizing.  She cracks us up constantly!

Tidbits

1) Expedition Impossible:  An adventure race TV show on ABC, similar to The Amazing Race, but a little more rugged.  The teams are racing through Morocco while swimming, hiking, jumping out of planes, rafting, kayaking, sleeping in tents, riding on camels, etc...  Aaron and I love it, and we look forward to it every Thursday night.  We are amazed by the team, No Limits. Each team has 3 members, and No Limits has one blind man (Erik), Jeff, the friend who leads Erik, and a man who broke his foot while on the expedition (Ike).  They just won't stop.  Seriously, Erik is totally inspirational, and we both say we want a friend like as well as need to be a friend like, Jeff.  Then, Ike just gives everything he has to his team because he doesn't want to let them down even though he is running with a broken foot. We found ourselves out of our seats Thursday night at the end of the episode.   There is only the finale left (if you read this post Saturday - I think they re-air the show on Saturday evenings), but you should watch it.  Be amazed.  It is true grit and determination if I've ever seen it.

2) Speaking of True Grit, we watched the movie last weekend, and I enjoyed the humor. We also watched The Lincoln Lawyer.  Redbox is our new friend.

3) If you are a fan of the Fairview Yellowjackets or the OSU Cowboys and you have a young daughter, Gymboree has the most adorable orange/white leggings and black/orange flouncy skirts.  Adorable!  It is with their Halloween line, but I think it would match any Fairview or OSU t-shirt, and your daughter will look super cute on game days!  I'm available as a personal shopper any time.

4) Sunflower Market opens on August 31!!!  Finally, a healthy grocery store other than Akins.  I've never even heard of a place taking so long to be built as Whole Foods.  Come ON!

5) I need a nap.

Puzzles and Cousins

Little Missy loves puzzles.  She truly loves putting them together and pulls me down the hall to her room to help her constantly.  It is adorable.

8/15/11

You can see her smoothie mustache in this picture.  I love it.

My cousin, Rhonda, and her two kiddos (Sarah and Freeman) are responsible for the fun pictured above.  They come over and bring her BAGS of goodies to play with!

Sarah came over to babysit Molly while I cleaned and got some things done around the house.  (This is Molly 99% of the time ~ sweet, loving, and happy...until she's had enough shopping and won't sit in the cart, or I take away her writing pen.  Her love of writing is another post altogether.)

Freeman came later, too.  Cousins are the best! 7/26/11

Attraction

Molly LOVES to play outside.  I love to play outside with her.  Aaron loves to play outside with her.  Fletcher, well, he puts up with her squealing and pulling and pounding and her trying to feed him rocks and leaves and dirt.  The sad deal is that she takes after her mommy and attracts every single mosquito in a 100 mile radius.  I'm not kidding.  We had to take a week long "break" from going outside to play.  Last night, we ventured out, for 20 seconds, and I didn't even see it as I was taking the picture.  That stupid mosquito!!!!  I wanted to cry.

8/1/11
I do put bug spray on her.  I have this Avon bug spray, and for the most part it does okay.  I spray it on my hands and rub it on her.  I don't put it on her face, though, and it washes off in the little pool.  This is in the backyard.  The front yard, away from trees and plants is better for her, but then there are cars to watch for in case she makes a run for it.  The good thing is that I immediately put cream on her bite, and it went down really quickly.

Today, I wish we could...

1) Hike to Hanging Lake (in Colorado)

2) Eat at our most favorite restaurant in the world: Pita Jungle (in Arizona)

I guess I need a private jet.

Last Wednesday

July 13, 2011...
Aaron and I got our very first niece!  Bella was born 10 minutes after Becca got to the hospital.  She is precious, and we can't wait to meet her and hold her and cuddle and smooch those cheeks.

We also had a super special supper date.  Molly got to meet her Great-Great-Auntie Van and Great-Great-Uncle Bill!  Aaron's great-aunt, Auntie Van and her husband, Uncle Bill, made the trip from Nebraska to Oklahoma City with their son, Doug, and his wife, Barb, to celebrate the Air Force retirement of their son, Shon.  It was a gift and a treat to meet up with them in the middle of July in the middle of the week.  Auntie Van is Aaron's grandma's (Mom Mom) sister.  The sadness can be overwhelming that Molly will never meet Mom Mom or Boppa (Aaron's grandpa), but she met the closest and next best when she met Auntie Van and Uncle Bill - and I told them so.

Talk about classy and stylish...
Mom Mom and her two sisters, Van and Evie, were born with style, grace, kindness, and beauty.
Auntie Van is in her nineties.  Unbelievable!

Uncle  Bill is funny and gentle, and I can just hear him talking when I look at this photo.