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

Fourth Of July, 2009

How about this........ Two posts in a little over a week!

Denise and I figured we should get some of Libby's first ever Fourth of July pictures up!

For the Fourth, we were invited out to our friends Roger and Peggy's seasonal campsite on Pelican Lake between Ashby and Evansville. It is about 15 minutes from Garfield and is very wooded and back off any main roads, so it feels like you are away from everything!

The resort where Roger and Peggy's campsite is, has an annual 4th of July boat parade. Peggy and Denise brought along boxes of decorations. They decided to decorate the pontoon in red, white and blue, and Libby found this headpiece!

This is the second time we have been out to Roger and Peggy's site. The first time we were there, Libby didn't really know what to think of Roger. This time, we were out there a little late and it was time for Libby to go nite-nite. Unfortunately, she would not take her eyes off of Roger. Once we left the camper though, Denise was able to get her to sleep in minutes. Well, in the picture below, you can see she was having lots of fun with Roger. Hey Roger...whadda ya drinking??

Around 2:30, we headed towards the boat for the parade at 3:00. Of course, everyone knows with a little one you cannot pack light, so we needed the half hour to get everything loaded on the boat. Luckily, we took Libby's wagon with us, so we were able to haul a lot of the stuff in the wagon or on Roger and Peggy's golf cart. And yes, it all fit on the boat with lots of room to spare.

This was Libby's first ever boat ride. As you can see by the pictures below, she did not like the life vest at all (she does like hats though, so that is a plus). We had a zipper up one that fit her better, but was way more confining than this one. But, she hated that one with a passion. We were hoping to get Libby into the lake that weekend, but the swimming area at the campground had "the itch", so we didn't want Libby anywhere near that. During the parade though, we did see a nice "public" area that had a bunch of pontoons and boats pulled up on shore and lots of people swimming (and partying) so we may have to check that out next time.

Here is the boat we voted for first place. I would say we were second as a lot of the boats (27 in all) had no decorations what-so-ever. Ironically, these people have the seasonal site right next to Roger and Peggy. And yes, that is an giant inflatable Uncle Sam on the front of their pontoon. Guess where the valve was to inflate him? Yep.............. and one of the sisters took care of it without an airpump. Hmmm?!?!?!

Goofy hats and plenty of beverages were in order for the day. Obviously, I was following orders quite well!

Libby was a real trooper all day and really enjoys anything outside, including her first ever boat ride. But even for her, a few hours on the boat and in the sun was tiring. She did get a hold of Roger's "do-rag" for the next look! Is it patriotic to dress like and arab on the 4th of July???

The next day (Sunday) was a beautiful day to spend out in the yard. Again, Libby likes anything outside and loves the wind in her face. She absolutely loves her swing!

I decided to lay down in the shade and grass and rest up. Libby had other ideas though.....

Libby always seems to be on the wrong side of the door..........

Well, that is about all from here! Until next time!

Troy, Denise and Elizabeth

Third of July Update

Hello everyone! It has been awhile since we allowed Libby to update the blog, but you are going to have to deal with me in this one since Libby is taking a nap right now. It has been a month, so it is time to rack my brain and try to remember what has been going on since then.

We did get the new landing, errr, deck on the front of the house completed. It turned out really great and once the railing was added, it just tied into the house nicely and looks like it has been there all along. It ended up being around 9 feet by 9 feet, so we were able to put two chairs out on it for sitting in the evening. The house creates some shade on it in the evening, which is something we don't get on our main deck out back.

Libby got to meet the Kertz side of the family last weekend as one of Denise's cousins got married in Edinberg, ND. Libby did real well on the three and a half hour car ride, only requiring two stops. The minivan worked out very well as Denise was able to crawl into the back with Libby and feed her while I kept on driving. All of Denise's aunts and uncles got to meet Libby and she did very well with all the passing around. A side note, just to show how small of a world it can be sometimes. A former student of mine was a bridesmaid in this wedding.

Libby has gotten her third tooth, this one on top. She has one more coming in for sure, maybe another two, which would give her four on top and two on the bottom. Of course, she is running the "teething fever" right now and has been a little fussy.

Libby is getting very close to walking right now. She is pulling herself up with anything she can get her hands on and has done a little furniture walking. She is even getting very brave and holding onto things with one hand and showing off. But she hasn't mastered balancing with no hands yet.

Otherwise, there has not been a whole lot else going on here. Denise and I are looking forward to this three day weekend. We made a vow to each other that we were just going to veg out since every weekend leading up to it has been dealing with yard work, house improvements or traveling. Ahhhhh, it feels good just relaxing!

Of course, what blog entry would be complete without updated pictures. So here they are. We hope everyone has a great and safe Fourth of July!

Troy, Denise and Elizabeth

Having Fun