We Have A One Year Old

Hello again everyone! It has been awhile and it has been a whirlwind since July 4th. We were expecting our weekends to kind of slow down, but that has not been the case.

Libby continues to grow and change every day. We now hear her say "ma ma" and "da da" and she babbles a lot. She loves music and "bops" to music, any music. Every time the Empire Carpet commercial comes on, she stops what she is doing and just watches the TV. When I pick her up from daycare after work, I have the 80's Hair Band station on my XM Radio and she will bop in her car seat on the way home. She is so close to walking and has tried to take a few steps unassisted, but ends up on her bottom. Good thing those diapers serve as some padding. She had her one year checkup today and came in at 22 1/2 pounds and just under 30" tall.



Over the past six weeks, Libby has gotten her first taste of a parade (and lollipop), firemen water fights and of the beach. She really seemed to enjoy both of them (slept through the water fights) and we hope to get to the beach again this weekend if it warms up enough. Weekends this summer have either been rainy or unseasonably cool, but this Labor Day weekend is suppose to get up into the 80s, so we will see.

Denise and I left Libby with a baby sitter from outside the family for the first time when we were visiting my sister Stacy, her husband Dave and their twins Abby and Maddy. Stacy and Dave had a neighbor girl and her friend watch Libby , Abby and Maddy one Friday night so we could head out on a St. Croix River Cruise. Denise and I were a little worried, but Libby was none the worse for wear and we are very glad we did it.

Finally, with Libby turning one, we had to have a birthday party for her. We got some decorations on the new deck and in the house, a DQ Ice Cream cake and had a small group of friends and family over. It was a fun time, but it is still hard to believe it has been a year ago that Elizabeth Rose joined our lives. We wouldn't trade it for anything, and yes, I mean that even at 4:00 in the morning when she refuses to go back to sleep.......




Now that summer is over, it doesn't look like our fall is going to slow down. Denise has gotten much more involved with Verizon operations. Her days have gotten much busier and she has been involved with upgrades at night. She will be going to Denver for a couple of days of upgrades and then will be in Minneapolis the next week for a couple of days to complete the upgrades. She is assigned to a network that has "hubs" in Minneapolis and Denver, so when hardware upgrades happen, she will more than likely have to travel.

My job continues to be busy. With the economy the way it is, we see our enrollment increasing for Medicaid and Medicare benefits. But the positive is that PrimeWest has been in the forefront of the "Public Health care Option" debate as an example of how things could be handled.

Denise and I also have a little fun planned as we will be taking a cruise this fall to the Eastern Caribbean. It will be a week away from Libby, but we are confident that she will have a load of fun with Grandpa and Grandma Danielson.

Also with fall comes the start of the college hockey season, and yes, we did renew our season tickets to Bemdiji State hockey. Next year, they will be members of the WCHA and they will have a brand new arena to play in, so the excitement is building (okay, for me at least it is).

Well, that is about all from here. I am going to leave you with some pictures from Libby's photoshoot celebrating her one year birthday (and a picture of her on Grandpa Danielson's bike). Have a great Labor Day Weekend!

Troy, Denise and Libby