I know - I'm really behind

I have been super busy - I have barely even looked at this blog :(  Sorry.  Here's a link to some recent pictures that include Amelia's 3rd birthday! 



http://picasaweb.google.com/Lindsey.Strittmatter/NewPictures?authkey=Gv1sRgCJa35bn7tITrGQ#

I'll do a better job next time!

School!

Amelia starts school on Tuesday!!!!  We have been on the waiting list since we moved, and they finally called.  Actually, I wasn't expecting them to call until January (if at all), but someone moved and we got in.

She is in a Tuesday/Thursday program that goes from 9:10-2:30 and she is very excited.  We met her teachers last week and Amelia even joined in on snack time like she'd been going there the whole time :)

Looking forward to her first day - I'm just hoping she doesn't throw a fit when I actually leave this time!  If she does - at least I know it won't last forever.

But It's Not Halloween...

Alright - so far Oklahoma has been great.  But, this Halloween, it failed us. 

Saturday morning we left the house for an all day trip.  We didn't have a care in the world.  We got back home at 8:00 (already an hour past bedtime) and what did we see...Trick-or-Treaters EVERYWHERE!  What on earth?  It's the 30th...Halloween is tomorrow.  Apparently Oklahoma has the ability to change a holiday and NOT inform people about it. 

So Andy took August upstairs and put him to bed while I got Amelia dressed up in her Pinky Dinky Doo costume (at least it was simple), and Amelia and I headed out to hit a few houses!  Poor thing was exhausted, but she was having a great time.  We made it to about 5 houses - that was enough for her.  Thank goodness she's still little and believes everything we tell her :) 

But we still had fun on the REAL Halloween!  We carved pumpkins and still got dressed up so that August could join in on the fun! 

 This is us running out the door Saturday night!

 Batman!!!!!

 The dynamic duo!

 Pumpkins :)

 I'm actually in a picture...August wants to get Ruby.

 Happy Halloween!

 Hanging outside while we're carving the pumpkins :)  See my teeth!!!!!?????

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The Zoo: Part 3 (we love the OKC zoo)

Yes - we are a bit obsessed with the zoo at the moment.  But it is a GREAT zoo.  Not crowded, close by, you can actually SEE the animals, and it wears the kids out!  Gina and Gavin came to visit this weekend and we took the kids on Saturday  morning - we had a blast.

Peacocks are just walking around.  I only got a pic of this one - but Amelia had NO fear around them.  She almost caught one! haha

Amelia and Gavin walking together.  Amelia was actually pulling him along - getting him to walk where she wanted to go.  She's kind of bossy!

Neither one of them would look at the camera...but they loved the zebra and the giraffes (they are pretty cool)!

Earlier in the week we went to the park with our other friends :)  Amelia LOVED being able to go up on the big slide all by herself.  She is a little daredevil and I don't like it one bit.  We're learning to be more careful on the tall ladders - and she's a good listener!

Swinging with Haley

August and Hunter - they will be trouble in just a few months I'm sure!!!

Climbing the big ladder (she tried that circle one a few times - I decided it was a bad idea!)

Woo hoo!  Look - hands in the air!!!

She LOVED it!

We also spent some time with Amelia's friend Makenna.  They were nice enough to cook some dinner for us!  We had fun and Amelia survived her first BEE STING.  You know it hurts, but she was a trooper!  The next morning she didn't even mention it.  Yay!

...and here are the pictures

 The picture loader finally decided to work!  Here are the bounce house pictures!!!

What should I do first??  Mickey came along for the day :)

Bouncing with Haley!  They did this pretty much the whole time!

Loving the slide!

She tried climbing this - but decided inside was better!

She hid back behind this for quite some time :)  I think she knew it was almost time to go!

Fun-Filled Week

(Note:  I still can't upload pictures for some strange reason - so I'm posting this anyway - or it won't be relevant - and I'll post pictures when I can.  Sorry.)

We did SO much this past week!  We had a ton of activities and Aunt Kelsey came to visit.  It's just a shame that the fun came to such an abrupt stop.

MONDAY - August, who is 8 months old and now sporting 2 teeth, needed new pajamas (in size 18 months!!!!!) so we went to the mall here in Edmond for the first time.  It is a nice mall and they had a little children's play area, so after our shopping we stopped there for a bit.  Amelia had a blast and August was just itching to get down and play with the big kids.  After playing, we checked out the food court and sat for lunch in a table that was also an old convertible Cadillac (in honor of Route 66).  Then it was home for naps and then out the door again to grocery shop - not the most exciting thing but it made for a very full day.

TUESDAY - Rosemary Wells, the author of the Max and Ruby series, was doing a book signing and reading her new book at a local bookstore.  Our new friend Lauren and her kids Makenna and Connor invited us and we were so glad to do such a neat activity!  It's just too bad that the author wasn't very friendly and didn't actually read the book accurately - but Amelia was more interested in the other books in the store anyway.  After that, Lauren and her little ones came to our house and we played outside and had some lunch.  It was really fun!

WEDNESDAY - This time we went over to play at Lauren's house.  Amelia was having so much fun with Makenna.  They are so cute together - they hold hands and go from activity to activity.  August did not want to take a nap that morning, so I just went with it and he stayed awake until I put him in the car around 11:30 - he was out by the time we were at the end of their driveway.  Lucky for me he woke up when we got home and then still went down for his regular afternoon nap - woo hoo!

THURSDAY - We met up with two other new friends at a local coffee shop that has a cute little area set up for kids!  It's great!  We went with Jodi and her son Hunter (Haley was at school that day).  Jodi is great and her kids are the same age as mine!  We also met with Kelly and her kids Ashlyn and Blake.  They are just a bit younger than Amelia and August - but they still have a great time playing together and we just love Kelly too!!   Jodi, Kelly and I got some great adult time while the girls played next to us! 

FRIDAY - We met up with Jodi and both kids and Kelly and her kids at an indoor bounce house place!  It was SO much fun.  Amelia was able to run and jump and bounce all in a nice, non-crowded, closed-off room.  They even had a huge blow-up Mystery Machine - greatness!  Later, we spent the afternoon doing laundry and cleaning because Aunt Kelsey was coming!  The high school girl from across the street came to babysit (while both kids were already asleep) while I went to the airport to pick her up.

SATURDAY - We got up and played with Aunt Kelsey!!!  After August's nap, we went to Super Target for a couple of things namely a new ball for Amelia because Ruby had popped hers earlier this week :(  Then we stopped at a place called Old Chicago for lunch.  We had pizza, and Amelia ordered nuggets, but decided that she loved the pizza more (this is important in a minute).  That afternoon we took Amelia to get some ice cream (frozen yogurt) and then visited the Old Round Barn (a site on Route 66) for a quick second.  Then it was back home for leftover pizza from lunch for all of us.  When the kids were asleep, Kelsey and I watched The Blind Side (which I had never seen).  Then...and here's the fun part...after I fed August his 10 o'clock bottle, I went to check on Amelia.  She was COVERED in pizza!  I knew it smelled weird up there, but I never imagined that the poor things had gotten sick.  We didn't hear her make a peep!  She must have just felt so bad that she vomited (several times) and just laid her head back down.  She went into the bathtub right away and then slept with me the rest of the night.  Thank goodness Kelsey was there (Andy was out of town) because she was able to help me clean up the mess...she says she'll never eat pizza again.  Turns out she probably picked something up at the Bounce place because poor Jodi and both of her kids got sick too :(  August, Kelsey and I are OK so far - knock on wood!!!

SUNDAY - Amelia was still feeling yucky and running a slight fever.  So instead of going to the zoo as planned, we stayed in and took it easy.  Of course this is not how I had wanted Kelsey to have to spend her time here in OK, but we had fun, quality time with the babies and that is always worth it.

MONDAY (today) - Amelia is feeling MUCH better.  After nap time, we went for a walk, did some yard work and then played in the back yard until dinner time!  It was a nice day and we are loving this weather while it's here :)

(OK - so maybe THIS post should have been titled "The Longest Post Ever" not the last one - haha)

On Hold

I have a long post about our really fun week, but Blogger won't let me upload pictures.  I'll try again later tonight...bummer!

The Zoo: Part 2

First, I'm excited to report that August got his first tooth this week!!!  I will take pictures when you can actually see it :)

Andy was home this past weekend and Amelia wanted to take him to the zoo - so off we went!  We saw mostly the same 1/2 of the zoo from last week, but we did find a few animals that weren't out last time!  She was most excited about the zebras and the giraffes!  We're probably going to go again when Aunt Kelsey is in town this weekend - I'm hoping to hit the other side this time.  It is a great zoo and we want to take advantage of it while the weather is nice :) 

Giraffes!!!

August - chillin' out again :)

She made another map - but she let Daddy hold it most of the time this time.

Hopping like a kangaroo!!!!

Having a serious discussion about the bears.

Riding a rhino - I mean - doesn't everybody do this???

The longest Post Ever

I haven't posted anything in a while, and we've been pretty busy...so here are pictures and the stories to go with them.

While Andy is out of town, I am lucky to have visitors to help and keep me company.  My parents were the first - and we did a TON in a small amount of time. 

First - we built a "Story Box" for Amelia.  It is from one of her favorite TV shows called Pinky Dinky Doo - and she loves it!

Then we visited the Edmond Historical Museum.  They have a children's area with dress up, a tee pee, a little town store, and a fun little garden (that picture is on my mom's camera).  This one is of our smiley guy watching Amelia pick vegetables in the garden :)

We went to eat at Pop's (it's a cute restaurant on Route 66) and we were trying to teach Amelia to point with her pointer finger, but, alas, she still just flips everyone off! HA!

We have these great ponds just a few houses down, and we all went fishing the last night they were here.  Doc figured out that the fish love cheese and they were just reeling them in!  Here is Amelia's first catch - a huge Bass!

And of course, before they were allowed to leave, Amelia had to build a tent with Honey.  Those are the "windows" for the tent and Amelia's silly little face!

Notice that she's wearing dresses now :)  Soooo cute!!  Thanks, Honey.

Always smiling for the camera!  He's going after a Cheerio under the couch - ha!

We've also been making some fun new friends.  One of our library friends invited us to the zoo today!  When I told Amelia we were going - she went right to the crayon box and started drawing.  She made a MAP of the zoo so that we would know where to go.  She carried it the ENTIRE time - it was priceless!

She would have stayed in the otter exhibit all day if I let her.  (Notice the map in her hands).

Tried to get a mother/daughter picture, but Amelia wasn't having any of it!  Good thing our little friend Makenna was all smiles :)

Studying the map to see where we should go after the gorillas!

Hi Buddy!  He was so good all morning :)  Such a trooper.  He liked the gorillas the best.

She made sure to pet every single goat in the petting zoo!  All while holding onto her map!  It was totally crumbled by the end of the day - but it sure was a big help :)

We will definitely go back to the zoo soon - it's only 10 minutes away! 

Next up - Daddy comes home for the weekend - then Aunt Kelsey comes the next :)

Time for School

I have a new job as a substitute for a local pre school!  It's exciting because it still gives me time at home with the kids and then when I am working - the babies get to come with me!!!!  Yahoo!!  Now - if only they would pay me for full time I work I could do it forever :)

Because Amelia will be coming with me to work - she needed her pre school gear!  So we went to get her a backpack.  She picked it out all on her own (and it just happens to match some of her pajamas).  I was also loving the "after school season sales!!!"

Pocketbaby Up and Running Again

I finally got Pocketbaby up and running again.  I'm going to give these Oklahoma people a chance to get in on the action!  You can see the new format at http://shoppocketbaby.blogspot.com or you can still link to it from www.pocketbaby.com


Tell all of your friends to shop! 

And, Sarah, you'll still see your precious little girl as our star!!!

Crazy Kid

I like walking into a room and cracking up!  That's what happened today around 5:00.  I was feeding August in the kitchen and Amelia was running back and forth - then it got quiet in the living room.  I walked around the corner to this - she is nuts!!!!!  haha!!!

Last Day at Miss Nikki's House

These pictures won't be new to anyone that is on Facebook - so this is mostly for my mom and dad (since they aren't cool like that yet).  Here are pictures of the little party and ALL the FUN that Amelia had with Miss Nikki, Brianna and Brylee on her last day with them.  We love them and miss them so much!!!!!!!