Crashing hard drives, Crawling, talking, yardwork and more!

We've been pretty busy since I last posted. It seems like spring came and went and now we are halfway through the summer.

One of the saddest episodes of this spring was the fact that my computer hard drive crashed without warning. I lost photos and stories I had written about Jaymee as well as work stuff that had been a long time coming. I need to rewrite her birth story again and I hope I remember everything now. Most of the photos we had on Facebook but some we will never recover. Damn!

The yard is finally starting to take shape. All the perennials my neighbor Amber helped me plant last year when I was pregnant have come up and it looks really nice. I bought some new mulch to put down and the front yard is looking good. Now we just need the grass to turn a little more green.

As for the backyard, we bought about 5 different types of shrubs and planted them alongside our fence. So far they look to be doing well. I planted a few next to the house where our water comes out too. We mowed all the weeds and will start phase II of our work. We need to make the river bed Jason carved out of the dirt smooth and weed free. Then we'll start to put the weed fabric down and start arranging rocks and then it's on to the water feature. I have a goal that at least by the end of October we can enjoy our backyard with the new deck and water feature. We need to decide what type of small rock or medium rock we want to put around the shrubs and to get mulch for the other spots. I promise to post some photos when I can get them onto the computer.

We spent Memorial Day weekend home. We were supposed to go camping with friends and I had even gotten our new tent but alas it did not happen. The weather was very rainy and we didn't want to take Jaymee to the middle of nowhere and not be able to go home if we needed too quickly. I guess it is a good thing we did. All three of us got the stomach flu so we stayed away. Unfortunately it spread to Jason's parents and grandmother. Sorry guys!

In June I went to Camp Hobe'. This was my 8th year. I cannot believe it has been that long. We had so much fun. The FBI came up to do some sessions with the teens on evidence recovery of fingerprints and footprints at a crime scene. Our theme was CSI. We had an inflatables obstacle course, great food, a live band, live comedy group, scuba and much more. This year the teens could earn buttons as they went to the various activities. By the end of the week they were a hot commodity. Everyone wanted one. As I look towards next year and think of how much I missed my daughter I am not sure how much longer I can keep doing it. Next year will most likely be my last.

Jaymee is now 11 months old. It has gone by so quickly. She has been crawling all over the place for a month now. She has gotten really fast at climbing the 4 stairs into our living room from the kitchen. She is also pulling herself up onto anything she can. She wants to put everything into her mouth. She loves dogs. She loves to dance when the music comes on. Her favorite shows to watch are Miss Spider, Imagination Movers, Little Einsteins, Between the Lions and Jane & the Dragon.

Jaymee loves to clap to just about anything. She says "wow" all the time. She can say "mom", "dad", "kitty" and "baby". She is almost saying "doggy". I am so impressed with how quickly she will imitate what you do. She loves to pull out her books and just tell a story. She holds her baby like her mommy holds her. She has a favorite doggy and kitty that she sleeps with and hugs so tight you think their stuffing will come out.

Sleeping on her own is coming along much better now. The crying is only lasting a minute now so hopefully by the end of the week she will be just fine.

Jaymee can be mischievous too. She knows she shouldn't grab the computer cords but she does. I cannot wait until I don't have to give her formula anymore. I guess our next milestones will be her first birthday, walking and potty training. Wish us luck.