15 Months Old is the Best Age EVER!

  

  

Augi was so excited to be 15 months old this morning that she decided to do a little jig in the kitchen. She loves to dance!

All the Little Creatures

 
 
 
  

Halloween Treats are Sooooo Yummy!

  

Trick or Treat

Augi had such a hard time deciding what to be for Halloween.
She tried to be Beavis, as CornHolio:


And Cindie-Loo-Who


And a Lion


She finally settled with Bat Girl

Vacuums are Cool

Karate Augi

Augi is practicing her karate moves with her new scarecrow backing her up. Ours is the pathetic skinny one on the right. Patricia and Chiana made the other. It is an attempt at craftiness--a big step for me.

Nothing Much Happening Around Here

I am posting here only to avoid harassment from our beloved step cousin Jenn.
Nothing exciting is happening around here. We went to a Pampered Chef party at Tammy's. Augi was in love with the doll and bear rooms. She would have stayed there all night if I had let her.
Augi pointed at her dad's coffee this morning and said, "Hot." I think she was referring to the temperature and not using Paris Hilton's favorite phrase.
I am still studying, hoping to take my test in two weeks. Ick.
Chris is working hard on his new program. Hopefully he'll finish it soon and start getting it tested. OK, that's all for now. Maybe we'll have something better to report later.

Feeding the Birdies with Dada (aka "Mummut"

Fun with Friends

Connie, Sully, and Addie visited today. Augi really hated Addie to sit on my lap, but otherwise she had a blast. Sully refused to be in any pictures and he is too big to hold down, but here are a few pictures of the girls. Addie is three weeks older than Augi (She was supposed to be 8 weeks older, but Augi wanted to be closer in age so she came earlier). We were happy to have them visit. Addie and Sully are great kids. I had some hives today from a tetanus booster last week. Ouch. I knew I hated shots. I didn't even realize we need boosters as adults. I am supposed to be studying, as usual, but it took 1 1/2 hours to rock Augi to sleep tonight. I am wiped out. I know, I should do the cry it out method, but I can't bear to let her cry herself to sleep. Maybe next month. Probably not.

We're Back!

It has been a while! We have had an exciting few weeks. We went to Las Vegas to hang out while Chris had a meeting. We saw the "Bodies" exhibit. If you have the chance to check it out--it is amazing. Augi waved and said hi to each and every body. I know, it's a little creepy--but it is educational! She'll probably grow up to be a mortician or something now.
Then, there was the allergic reaction. Augi took some amoxicillin to clear up a supposed virus turned bacterial infection (She had been coughing for weeks). She finished up the meds on Monday and on Tuesday we noticed a few little hives on her neck. They quickly spread and she was incredibly uncomfortable. So, I took her to the doctor. He said to give her some Zyrtec because the benadryl wasn't working. We couldn't sleep because we had to watch her breathe. It was terrifying. By Thursday, she was lethargic and refusing to stand/walk. She swelled up so big that by Friday the hives had turned into bruises. She was black and blue from head to toe. Although we hated giving it to her, a steroid cleared up the hives overnight. She stayed up til midnight and she was bouncing off the walls, but she was better. She has some discoloration left from the hives, but otherwise she is back to her normal self. Here is a crummy picture of the itchy hives:


Augi found the tissue box in the hotel

Dolphins!

Squig and Mama

Squig and Papa

Look-a-Likes

I had to add this picture. Everyone always says Augi looks just like Chris. I found this picture of me when I was one year. I think we look a little alike! So there!

Deception or Love? Maybe both...

OK, maybe I am being a little paranoid, but I have heard horror stories about leaving precious lovies behind and crying for days. Last night Augi woke up about 15 times saying, "Where is it?" each time she lost hold of dolly. So, today, I went to IHOP and purchased another Dolly--just in case Dolly #1 gets lost.
To the untrained eye, they might look the same (Imposter Dolly is quite a bit cleaner).

But, if you pay attention to details, you will see that Original Dolly's wings face up and Imposter Dolly's wings face down. Let's just hope she doesn't notice. Maybe she'll never need Imposter Dolly. We can only hope for the best.

End of Summer Fun

We have been so busy, as usual. I can't believe summer is almost over. We went to the State Fair today. Tammy and Bruce won several awards for their photography, and we got to tell everyone we know them.
Augi is walking everywhere. She has fallen in love with a little doll called "Dolly." She cried and cried tonight because I wouldn't let Dolly go into the bath with her.
Here are a few pictures from the last few weeks:
THESE WERE TAKEN AT THE DINOSAUR PARK WITH COUSIN DAYTON. THE SECOND ONE WAS REALLY HARD TO GET BECAUSE AUGI WAS TOO BUSY LAUGHING AT DAYTON AFTER HE FELL OFF A ROCK.



WHY DO WE GO TO THE STATE FAIR? JUST TO SEE THE PHOTOGRAPHY AND PIGS AND COWS AND GOATS. WE DON'T LIKE SHEEP.


AUGI AND DOLLY SITTING ON THEIR ROCK...

Monkey Business

Squig and Munch Jumpin' on the Bed. Thank goodness no one fell off and bumped their heads. She has so much fun playing with her cousin.

Sorry, No Picture for This One

I just need to update some of you. I think it is official--Augi walks. She is so proud of herself. Crawling is still her fastest mode of transportation, but she can walk just fine. I finally got her on video yesterday. She will be mortified when she is 16 and we show it to her dates--she is completely naked except for a pink cowgirl hat. But, she is walking and smiling. She claps for herself after every few steps. I guess that will stop soon enough. It would be a little weird if we all walked around clapping for ourselves after every step.

A few pictures from our trip

Krumau Pad
All the Kids

Home At Last

Well, we made it home. Augi deserves an award for the best traveling toddler ever. She was so cheerful and friendly with everyone. For those of you who don't know the story, here it is: We left Vienna one our late, but this didn't matter because the flight in Paris was delayed by two hours. I hate that Paris airport. We sat on a bus for ONE HOUR waiting to board the airplane. So, we missed our flight from Atlanta to Salt Lake by about 10 minutes. This was actually ok, though, because we stayed in a hotel for the night and we were better rested for our flight the next morning. I learned from the first flight experience and I only brought one little backpack as a carry on. I even packed the stroller. It made a huge difference. We arrived in Salt Lake around 1030 Monday morning. Augi was confused when she saw her Papa. This lasted about 3 minutes. Now, she cries whenever he leaves the room. She really missed her Papa. I started work again yesterday. I miss my friend Becky, but otherwise work is fine. It was hard to be a way from Augi after spending so much time together. It makes me want to be a stay at home mommy. But, Chris says that I am a much happier person, and therefore the whole family is happier, when I work. Fine. Augi is not walking yet, but she took 8 steps in Krumau. She is getting reacquainted with all of her toys and her puppy. I am sorting through pictures now. I will post a few good ones as soon as I choose some.

Really, the last one...

I had to add one more post. I usually bring a journal with me, but I didn't this time, so this blog has become my journal. Today Augi and I visited an 89 year old woman named Luise. She was a school mate of Agi Plenk! Her daughter, Gaby, picked us up and took us to Luise's home in Schewat. We visited for about 90 minutes. She was hard of hearing, but her English was pretty good. She sent an email to Agi while we were there. Can you believe that? 90 and they are emailing each other! I think Augi's name was inspired by a great person. She told me about the very progressive school she and Agi attended together, called Schwarzwaldschule. It was an all girls school. The headmaster had connections with famous artistists, and some (such as Gustav Klimt) personally trained the girls at the school! This headmaster also believed that young ladies should stay physically fit, so they did daily exercises on the roof of the building. The headmaster was Jewish, so the school was closed during Hitler's time and never reopened. They told me that Agi left the country during the Hitler era because of political reasons. Agi and Henry sent packages to Luise's family after the war because food was scarce. It was wonderful to meet Gaby and Luise. Gaby teaches French at the university.
Okay, this really is the last post.

Last Posting...for a while anyway

Hey Everyone! Okay, we will go to Krumau tomorrow. That means no internet access, i.e., no blog updates for a few weeks. Sorry! I will get to see Jakob and Lukas there, so I am excited about that. Today was a lazy day. We took Alena to Tennis, walked the dog, napped, and that's about it. After Leo got home, we four girls went to IKEA. Leo was very tired, so it was kind of her to drive all the way out there just so I could spend money. I actually only bought a little push toy wagon thingy. They didn't have as many toys as I had hoped. Augi will love the push toy, though. We will wait to open it until after I get home. I don't have any exciting stories for the day. I will be full of them after we get back. Have a happy few weeks and we will post if we can...Auf Wiedersehen!