Ivy Update & Happy Holidays

Ivy paid a visit to Santa last week. She didn't cry and was very intrigued by his beard and glasses. Got some super cute pics!

Last weekend Ivy said her first real word. We got to Keizer on Friday afternoon and she looked at Bud E the dog, pointed and said Dog. The rest of the weekend each time the dogs entered the room Ivy would point and say dog. It was SO cute!

Ivy is still enjoying her swim lessons. She loves to 'swim' and dive under the water. She is intrigued by the other babies in her class and she can spot a ball on the other side of the pool. It's hilarious.

She is growing like a weed and has 6 teeth. Her toothy grin is so cute.

She is crawling all over the place and I wouldn't be surprised to see her walk on her own very soon.

She loves to stand by the front window and watch the world. In fact, she now crawls under the Xmas tree to get to 'her window'.

We are still in awe of her everyday and can't believe her brother arrives in 10 short weeks.

Happy Holidays!

Lindz, Ben and Ivy

Halloween and other firsts

Tonight was Ivy's Halloween dress rehearsal. We dressed her up and took her to the pool where she paraded with all of the other little kids in costume. It was quite fun and she seemed to like it. Can't wait til tomorrow night. :-)

There are a few other pics in this album as well. Her first 'ride' with her Papa on his Harley and her first Rocking Horse ride.

She LOVES the rocking horse. When we stopped rocking her she'd rock back and forth trying to get it to go.

Enjoy the pics below. If the link breaks check out the Shutterfly album.

Lindz

Pictures from Lindsey

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Baby Boy Swinehart

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Catch Up

Hi all.

It has been a LONG time.

A lot has happened since I last wrote. We made it through the summer and have moved into fall. Ivy is doing GREAT. She is getting big and moving a ton. She has mastered the art of sitting up on her own, pulling herself up to a standing position and is trying to master the art of walking.

We found out recently that Ivy will be welcoming a little brother on or before Feb. 27th. We have some cool ultrasound pictures that I'll post soon.

My contract at Nike finished up at the end of August so I've been enjoying my time at home with Ivy and Ben while I look for the next job. I'm hoping to have something by Nov. 1.

Enjoy all of the pictures in the following post. They should get you caught up on whats happening with us.

TONS of Ivy Pics

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Pictures

Hello.

Things are crazy and hectic and wonderful all at the same time.

I swiped these pics from Amanda. Thanks. :-)

Thought you would all enjoy more recent pics of the Bean. Most of these were taken at Keegan and Morgan's wedding shower in McMinnville a few week ago. The one of her grabbing the beer, a common theme of hers, was taken at McMenamins.

And We're Back...

Good lord. I can't believe it's been a month and a half since I last blogged. I have TONS of pictures, but I'm at work so I can't load them now.

We are all doing GREAT!
Ivy is growing like a weed. She is so amazing and we just can't get enough of being around her.

Her 4 month appt was a month ago. The Dr. proclaimed her PERFECT, which we already knew, but now we have medical proof. She was 15lbs and 25 inches long. She's in the 95th percentile for height and 75th percentile for weight. The Dr said she's the average size of a 6 month old. We already new that she is HUGE, cuz she's wearing 9 month pjs. Her feet won't fit into 6 month pjs anymore. Ivy is sitting up on her own for seconds at a time. She found out that her feet will fit into her mought, so anytime she's on her back her feet are in the mouth. It's quite cute. When she's sitting up she bends in half so she can grab her feet.
She love to 'talk' as well. She will sit there and just talk and talk. It's so cute you can't help but smile. Ben and I have also noticed that in the car, if the music is on, she talks with the song. When the song changes, she stops and then starts again when the next song starts. I love it.

We started her on food after her 4mo appt. She LOVES it. The first time I fed her she grabbed the spoon and shoved it into her mouth as if to tell me I wasn't moving fast enough. She gets SO excited at meal times, she starts waving her arms and talking. Her favorite so far are the prunes. It's hilarious. We gave her sweet potatoes this week and she didn't seem to like them, but put a little prunes on the tip of the spoon and she will eat them right up.

Last weekend we took Ivy on her first beach trip. It was fun, but I don't think she really got the ocean. Maybe we'll go back when she's a little older. She did seem to have a good time but I think that is mainly due to the fact that she LOVES being outside.

Ben and I are doing well. We decided that we want to really focus on getting out of debt and living debt free so we have rented out our house and moved in with my parents. We cannot thank our families enough for being so supportive of our plans and goals. It means a lot to us.

This weekend I am leaving Ivy for the first time and an SUPER nervous about it on all levels. However, she will be in good hands. Ivy is going to spend the weekend with her grandma and grandpa Swinehart while I go to Vegas for Morgan's bachelorette party and Ben is in Albany for a swim meet.
Well, I think that catches you all up with our lives since the last post. The photos posted are just from the 4th of July trip to the beach.

Gorgeous Weather = BBQs

We had a wonderful BBQ with my parents and friends on Memorial Day.

This past weekend Brock was in town so we had another BBQ. Here are all the photos.

Ivy loved sucking the salt off of our tortilla chips.

Enjoy!

First Camping Trip

This past Memorial Day weekend Ivy went on her first camping trip with her grandpa Miller.

Ivy and I met my dad up at Detroit Lake on Friday afternoon.

Saturday afternoon Ben and Ivy's Uncle Julian and Auntie Amanda arrived.

Sunday my Aunt Judy and Uncle John came up for the day. It was a lot of fun spending time with family. Uncle John taught Julian how to fish and Julian caught his first fish. It was bigger than the 7 fish my dad caught! :-)

Ivy and I slept in the trailer in a regular bed as I was a little nervous about her being in a tent at 3.5 months. She did great in the trailer though.

She slept up against a wall on her side and I slept on the outter edge of the bed. Between her sounds and my dad's snoring I may have netted about 3 hours of sleep each night. :-)

Ben and Charlie-Bill slept in a tent. Charlie was GREAT on this trip. Ben and I were extremely impressed with how well he did sleeping in the tent, being tethered to a tree, and swimming!!!

He also stood guard over Ivy's outside bed when she napped. It was quite cute.

We all had a great time and are looking forward to the next trip.

There are LOTS of pics. Hope you enjoy them.