Hi Heidi... Hi Heidi

I was gone most of Saturday and Sunday to watch dear friends run the Dallas White Rock Half Marathon. When I returned home Heidi was, needless to say, excited to see me, but she had also found a newfound best friend in her daddy and was quite snuggly with him.

Here's what we caught her doing after I got home on Sunday. She was really entertaining herself... maybe I should go away more often! And thank you to my sweet hubby for letting me spend the weekend away while he played Mr. Mom. I love you!

Gettin' Caught Up...

So, I meant to post some pictures from Thanksgiving, which I may still do, but I thought I stick a few of these up while I have them handy. Basically, whenever Heidi has a really cute outfit on, and especially if it goes with a seasonal theme, it spurs on a photo shoot in our front yard. We do them for the following reasons:

1. She looks cute. (always)
2. She loves being outside.

3. It's fun to watch her play in the dirt.
4. It kills about 20 minutes.

5. It gives us material to put up on the blog.

So there you have it. Enjoy! We are looking forward to this Christmas - maybe Heidi will remember this one, or at least figure out how to tear into some wrapping paper. Last year she didn't do much. :-)

The Mighty Hunter Returns

So, I'm officially a hunter. I had the chance to travel to Redfield, SD with my father-in-law and brother-in-law to hunt pheasant at Darcie's uncle's place. It was a great time and I couldn't imagine a better way to be baptized into the hunting culture than in this way with these men. As promised, here are pictures of my adventure:

Doin the Walk

It's official!! No more holding on - this girl is a walking machine.


We thought it would be a fun chance to learn how to use iMovie too. :)

Fall 2009... we love it!

Well, if you couldn't tell already, it's been a busy season for us. Matt started his 5th year with new Forge students at the beginning of September. Hard to believe this is the fifth class to come through! They are a great group, and we're looking forward to the year. Matt was also able to hire an Associate Director, which is great because we have 24 students this year... more than we've ever had, and twice as many as we had the first year!Outside of work, we've been busy working on home projects (lawn, organizing, etc.) and keeping up with Heidi. She probably has about 20 words down now - duck, walk, book, hot, water, milk, shoe and many others - and she is getting brave enough to let go of furniture (or us) to take a few steps on her own. She does not like falling down, however. We'll have to train some tom-boyishness into her yet!Here are some pictures from our trip to Pappy's Pumpkin Patch in Tyler. We went with 2 other moms and their kiddos - you may remember the "giraffe" from last year's photos. They're getting all grown up! This time we had a bumblebee, a doctor-in-training, and a 50's poodle skirt girl. They had a great time, and the moms had... a great time... chasing them around and keeping them happy for pictures. If you have a chance to go, it was a really neat place. Totally free (taking pictures, hay rides, rides in the kiddie train, playing in the water, running around, even parking, all free!) I think they're open Friday and Saturday all through October, so, one more weekend!

Enjoy the pics. We'll try to be more consistent on blog updates. Hi Nana & Pops, DeeDee & Grandpa, Aunt Jodie, Dodge Aunts and Uncles, and Great Gramps!

That's One Small Step for Heidi . . .

It was a big day this afternoon when we decided to play with Heidi on the floor. On just a whim, Matt decided to see if Heidi would walk - sure enough, she did! At first she only took a few steps without help, but after just a few more minutes - as you can see - she started to get the hang of it! She's only good for about 5-6 steps right now, but it sure is cute and she is so proud of herself when she gets to one of us. Hard to believe our little baby is growing up so fast!

More Heidi Birthday Pics

We had one of our former Forge students come and visit us during Heidi's birthday party last weekend and she took some wonderful pictures! Julie & Her husband Evan keep a blog here where you can see some really adorable pictures of Heidi like this one! Not a bad blog to follow either, I might add! :)