Blast from the Past

Summer of 08 in the Cleveland, Ohio Airport. She looks so little!

Silly Danika

Going...



Going...
Gone.

Bouncy, bouncy!

Danika found out that she loves it when Auntie bounces her on the exercise ball. She didn't want to stop, but Auntie got tired!

I love her face near the end! And how her hair flies, lol.

How Danika get's Our Attention

When any member of the family is watching TV, eventually Danika comes to the conclusion that she should be receiving the attention instead of the TV. Logical conclusion, no doubt. So, she has the special way of getting it. She will stand in front of the TV, put her arms behind her back and say "gee? gee?" (No idea what she is saying exactly, but it is specific sound she only makes for this game) And this is what it turns into...

A Beautiful Day at the Beach

So on Saturday, Mary Rotman, Ember (Rotman), Jamie, Danika and I went the beach for the morning/afternoon. We actually started out at the Farmer's Market at the Vets Building. We had a nice time looking around at the great food and produce there, and we bought some AMAZING white nectarines! Wow, they were good. Danika kept on calling them apples, but to her credit they looked similar to apples (not to mention that any type of fruit is either an apple or bananna to her).

After the Market, we went and got Ember and packed up everything into my car and headed out. Thank goodness Danika fell asleep on the way there. Her head slumped over to the side, into that unnatural and uncomfortable position right when we hit Sebastopol. We ended up at Schoolhouse Beach. The weather was heavenly, no clouds or anything! The one problem was that this particular beach has pebbles instead of sand. Usually I love those pebbles, they are quite pretty, but they were insanely hot! I am kind of a wimp, so maybe some of you could have handled it, but I had a hard time!

Danika immediately wanted to go to the water! I was rather surprised at how brave she was during the whole time. Especially after what happened with one of the first waves. see in this picture, we went up to the water, and waited for a wave to come get our feet wet. Danika is giggling and so excited, and as I see a wave come up, I begin to realize how big it is.When I realized this, there was only a moment before the wave was going to hit us, so I scooped her up and tried to get out of the way. I am so glad that I got her up in time, because it was so strong, that it could have taken her with it! It was such a terrible thought, I had to purposefully push that out of my mind. In the picture, I have my red flip-flops on. When that wave hit, it dragged off one of

my shoes, and since I had Danika, I couldn't run and get it. So Mary, being wonderful, runs to get it. However, she has Ember on his leash, and Ember is terrified of this water! So she was literally dragging Ember into the water to save my shoe. Then, Danika drops her pacifier, and luckily I grabbed that in time So as you time. So in the end, we all were fine, just a bit of excitement to start the afternoon. The rest of the time that we were by the water, I had my hands around her stomach with my fingers laced just in case I needed to scoop her up fast again, which I did!

Well, we had a wonderful time! I will have all the pictures up from the trip on my Shutterfly photo site! Feel free to check them out!

Many Updates!

Its been a while since I have updated this blog, and there is probably a lot that I have missed in putting on here. Lets see what we have.

Danika is getting into her music more. She loves the piano. She asks for it all the time. Luckily, her high chair is the perfect height so she can sit in it and play the piano. And that is nice for me, so I can keep making lunch or whatever and let her compose her music.

Danika also has fallen in love with Grandma's baby doll. This is Grandma's baby doll from when she was a little girl. Unfortunately, Dani isn't as gentle with this baby as she probably should be. Thank goodness it isn't a real baby! You will see what I mean.

Papa and Auntie are done with school for the year! Yea! They made it! Papa had his band awards night, which Danika loved. Although I think she really just enjoyed being the center of attention and the Snoopy that Papa let her play with.

She went around and talked to many people, tried to mooch off some cookies or chocolate, and of course fell down a few times too.

But she got to see her friends, Kimmy Gordon, Jake and Dylan Hofer, Mason Williams, Aaron Fruchey, Cameron MacInnis and more!

Now that the rain has stopped, Danika loves her raincoat. On one of the warmer days here in Santa Rosa, she wanted to wear it! To make up for wearing a warm coat, I let her go around the house without her pants on. She is such a turkey!

We said goodbye to the Hofers this weekend. It is so sad to see them move, but I know that God has great plans in store for their family. And I'll just have to save money so that we can go visit sometime!

Danika has started to mimic words more. All the sudden she is saying circle, mouth, teeth, eyes, ears, pink, green, yellow, purples and it goes on and on! I can't believe how much she is talking! Jamie got a video of her singing and trying to say her (Jamie's) name. They are too cute. Once I get them from her I'll put them up here for sure!

As for me, things are going fabulously! I just got an internship with a Sonoma County Public Defender in Juvenile Court! I am so excited! This will be really good for me, and for my resume! She is my teacher, so I feel very comfortable with her and she knows my work. I found that out last night, and I got another surprise last night too! During class last night, the president of Empire College came into my class and presented to me the Student of the Month Award! This is out of both the day and night school, so some 500 students. I must be doing something right! Haha! I turned so red when he presented it to me. There are two big perks to getting this award, one is that I can get as many personal references from the president of the school as I need/want. That will be very helpful! And mostly, haha, I get the parking spot right next to the door at school! Yea! It may seem silly, but sometimes I get out of school really late and it is really dark. So it is nice to not have to walk as far to my car. Plus the spot is right under a light.

Whew! Well, I think that has you all caught up! Life is getting busier, and so is Danika, but we are very happy. :)

My Mothers Day Present

Shutterfly Share Website

Dear friends and family:

I know that some people are bummed that I don't have facebook where I put up a bunch of pictures. And since it takes me so long to try and arrange pictures on this blog, I have been setting up a Shutterfly share site! The site is Watch Her Go. I have started putting up pictures starting from her birth, so it might take a bit longer to get to more recent pictures. But now you can see the huge changes in Danika's face by looking at her pictures from way back when. Oy, it seems like just yesterday...*sigh*

The Dairy Farm

 

 

The staredown...Papa and Danika v. Juan, Miguel, "Name I can't remember", Danika and Carlos

Jack and Emma giving love to Danika.

Danika really wanted to kiss Emma.

Easter in Wisconsin

Yes that is snow in that picture. Hard to believe that there was snow when we are having 80 degree weather here! I probably should specify that it did not snow while we were there. That was left over snow that is in the shade so it hasn't melted it. It was mostly slush, not nearly as fun.

We had a great time visiting great-grandparents (my grandparents) in Coleman, Wisconsin over Easter vacation. We started out bright and early at 4am and made a round-about trip to Boise, Idaho to Chicago, Illinois and lastly to Greenbay, Wisconsin. Danika started out great. She is such a morning person, she could have cared less that we woke her up at 3:45 to drive to the airport. However, tiredness caught up to her during our second flight to Chicago. Soon after that plane took off out of Boise, Danika had it. She got so mad at mom and I crying very hard and trying to get away from us. Once the seat belt sign was turned off, mom and Danika made their way up the aisle to Auntie, Dani crying all the way. It didn't take her that long to fall asleep with her, and I was very happy to go to sleep for the whole flight.

We had fun with great grandma and grandpa. Danika entertained them endlessly chattering away and walking all around the place. I was a little surprised with how well she did at their house without ALL her toys and her favorite Baby Einstein DVD. Not to mention all the breakable items that we in such tempting reach, but she never really ceases to amaze me.  The first night sleeping there was a little rough, since she wasn't used to the three hour time change. She went to bed at a nice time, but ended up waking up and wanting to play a few hours later. Jamie and I ended up staying up with her reading books. 

One of my favorite things about going to Wisconsin is going to the dairy farm.  My mom's cousin runs the farm and last summer when we went she introduced Danika and the family to a new calf that they named Danika in her honor. And she assured us that this cow would not get to our plate someday, haha! You can see this Danika on the left, isn't she cute? I have so many pictures of our visit to the farm, I think I'll make a separate post for more pictures.

Although I love the dairy farm, the best thing that happened was watching Danika with my grandparents. I am so glad that she has gotten to see them twice now, and she has bonded with them. With my grandpa having had just been in the hospital a month or so ago, it was a great encouragement to get to see him and for Danika to have brought him (and grandma) so much joy. He really got a big treat when Danika slept on his lap while the rest of us girls were out.  

      

 

While Danika was sleeping on great grandpa, great grandma, grandma, auntie Jamie and I went to play Bingo at a rest home. We had to pay 5 cents per game and if you won, you got the pot. It was actually very fun! And it was good time to spend with my grandma. Plus we brought back a more than $5. :)

One of Danika's Favorite Pastimes

Yes, she loves to look at pictures of herself. Heehee. 

Sand

So for this summer, my parents bought Danika a new sandbox set! It looks like a butterfly and has one wing for sand, the other wing for water and an umbrella attached for shade. It is really cook and Danika loves it! We decided that Danika needed something like this because of how she was digging in the flower pots. 

The first time she used it, she ended up putting sand on her head and I ended up having to scrub it out. Good thing she loves bath time! So from then on, I have tried to make sure that she has her hat on. That helped a lot! Anyways, it is so much fun, and she loves it! 

    

Yea for summer!!! Sun and sand!

Danika' New Fun

      Because of this wonderful weather that we are having, I have had the opportunity to take Danika outside more. Which she loves! And since she is walking very well now, I let her explore, to a certain extent. One day she found a flowerpot filled with dirt, but no flowers. And she went to town digging in that pot, and eventually tasting it. It looked like she had eaten a bunch of oreos. 

      But the most fun she has had was when she found the two buckets that had filled with rainwater. I hope no one will think me a terrible mother for letting her play with these buckets. I was with her the entire time, she never was out of my site while playing with the buckets. 

     Now that the disclaimer is done with, I hope you enjoy Danika's little fun with the buckets. :) I especially like the face she makes when she splashes herself in the eye.

Dani Lately

Isn't that exciting?! Ya, it is a bit...garbled, but common! I'm excited. Danika is talking so much more now. What a "chatty Kathy"! She also started saying "hot dog" from watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse every morning, which is super cute. I'll try to get a video of that one to put up too. 

Dani has had a hard week so far. She is sick with an ear infection, a cold and cough and getting at least four molars in. Poor thing. But we got medication for the infection and Tylenol for the teeth. And really she hasn't been that bad since yesterday. Yesterday morning, before we went to the doctors, she was awful. She wouldn't let me put her down, and she screamed the worst even when the doctor was trying to listen to her breathing. I felt terrible for her. Funny thing though, once we got home she was all smiles and happiness! My mom came home and was like "sure Julie, she sounds terrible to me too". But I tell you she was! She just decided she was done being a twerp when Grandma was going to be home I guess. :)

Well, she is in the pantry right now, so I should probably stop her from getting into the cake flour that is sitting on the flour. That would be fun! 

A Me Update (that is long overdue)

   So usually I am just updating this blog about Danika, but I thought I'd give an update about myself this time. Some pretty big things have been happening. 

   As most of you know, I have been at Empire College in the evenings for a certificate in Legal Office Administration. And I was supposed to be finished on March 6th. However, a week or so before then my teacher talked to me about possibly continuing to the Associates degree program for Paralegals. I had stayed away from even the thought of that program because the amounts of responsibility kind of scared me and I didn't think that I was up to par for it. But this teacher is thoroughly convinced that I would be perfect for it. And apparently so is the Head of the Legal Department, and even the former Head! I was surprised. 

   At this time I had been looking online for jobs and opportunities and found nothing. At least nothing that I was qualified for. And then I was looking for childcare since Danika would obviously need childcare while Mom and I were working. And the prices for those places that take in children under 2 years was insane! We are talking like $200 a week! And there is no possible way that I could pay for that anytime soon. And I mentioned it to my teacher when she talked to me and she said that having the degree would be a huge help and that she would personally help me out with finding something. 

   So I talked to my parents about it to get their input and prayed about it, and I just started my first mod in the program! I will be finished in October of this year actually! This summer I will be interning at a law firm and I am so excited and terrified at the same time. But when I talked to the lady who is in charge of setting up those internships (well, at least getting me an interview for one) she said that she wants to get me to a large law firm, such as DeMeo DeMeo & West! This is huge! Sometimes these internships turn into jobs and of course I would prefer that, especially if I got an internship at DeMeo, but even if I didn't, having that on my resume would help so much! Their confidence in me (my teachers and the faculty) is really encouraging me. I really feel like God wanted this and that it is the direction He intended for me.

   I was a little concerned about how much more it would cost to finish this degree, but God provided all of it! Apparently I had a $2000 credit at Empire from my last program and there was a big chunk of money that I didn't use from last years Cal Grant and I will be getting it again this year! So evidently, Empire will  be giving me almost $500 for finishing! God is so amazing! 

   At church we have been learning more about tithing and being generous. At first it was hard for me because I have no income and so I haven't really be able to give consistently like I want to. But God has used it to teach, or more like remind, of how He provides. And He is showing it quite a lot lately. 

   I have been more happy as of late than I have been in a while. I mean all around. Of course I am always so happy when I am with Dani, she is the joy of my life, but God is bringing so much more joy in the other areas of my life. Maybe it is because I am really going down the right path, I am not sure, but I do know that I like this, I am happy and I don't want things to change for a while. :)  

Silly Big Girl

Danika is getting so big and she surprises me everyday. She is now walking constantly, unless she wants to get somewhere really fast. In that case she crawls. But her walking is getting faster, though still a bit...reckless.

She was so excited when she got into Auntie Jamie's shoes, with a little help of course. She tried to move around, but didn't have much success in that since the shoes are pretty heavy for her.

Danika's new words are "ki-ki" for kitty, "puppy", "papa" and of course she still uses mama and "ba-ba" which means just about everything else! It can get pretty confusing. It used to be that "ba-ba" was just her bottle, but now it is everything. It is basically the first thing she says in the morning, or after getting up from a nap, or in coming up to someone. Luckily, from the wonderful Baby Einstein "My First Sign Language" DVD, she learned milk in sign language! So now we ask her if she wants milk and she does a movement that looks like she is trying to snap. It works well! And she is talking more and sounds like she is actually trying to say stuff, so pretty soon you can call our house and she might talk you ear off!

Another great accomplishment for Danika is that she finally has figured out to hold her own bottle! Thanks to Katelyn Jacobs for giving us a Dr. Browns (?) bottle, she is holding it and drinking all by herself! My arm has the long needed rest, thank goodness! What makes things funny though is that now she is practically inseparable from it! She wants it all the time and has it in her mouth even when it is empty. Sometimes I wonder if she is drinking from it or just holding it in her mouth at times. Who knows. She is such a goof. Gets it from her Papa.

Today we had fun with Papa by asking him for a special gift for her birthday. I sat her on his lap and asked her what she wanted Papa to get her. Then I whispered in her ear and she whispered aloud "Puppy". It was cute, unfortunately Papa didn't quite catch what she said since she was whispering. The rehearsal went better than the actual performance. :D

Valentines Day Photo Shoot

Since it was so dreary outside and we were so confined from the cold and everything, our photo shoot was less extensive as the year before with the kisses all over the face, but we got some cute photos anyways!

Big Girl Necklace

     I was going through an old box of mine and found this Minnie Mouse necklace that I used to wear when I was little. 

     Nothing too fancy, and Minnie is a little worse for wear and her nose is a little rubbed off, but while I was holding it and looking at it, Danika came up and wanted to see it.

     I held it out to her and she smiled while holding it, thankfully not pulling it or breaking it. I decided to take a chance with it and try to have her wear it. Keep in min

d that this necklace has the type of connectors that screw in, so she could do so damage to this necklace if she wanted to. 

     She was not entirely sure about it when I put it around her neck at first, but thanks to my "Quick Thinking Mommy Skills" I distracted her with a book before she could try to tug it off, and it was a success! She wore the necklace for the whole day and never tried to take it off! I was so proud and thought she looked even older with it on. Funny how one piece of accessory can add so much, lol! 

"Wanna Go Splash-splash?"

The other day, Danika was getting fussy and tired, but it was too early for her to go to bed. So, to keep her awake, we tend to give her a bath. So I look at her and say, "Do you want to take a bath?" Danika looks at me, with no real expression, then Grandma asks her," Wanna go 'splash-splash'?" She looks at us both and turns and walks away.

We are not sure where she is going, but she heads to the hallway, walks to the bathroom door and bangs on it. I open the door for her and she walks right up to the bathtub and did her little happy dance!

Evidently she really wanted to go "Splash-splash"! Haha!

Loving Michelle Obama's Dress

At the Inauguration Ball, Michelle Obama got some criticism for her dress. She has one fan in particular that approved and showed it.

My little fashionista...

Trip to Redding

Danika and I went to Redding to visit my friend Jaimie Alena. The first time we took the trip to Redding, Danika was six months old, and cried almost the whole way there. And back then, her carseat had to be facing backwards so there wasn't much I could do to entertain her while driving.

Needless-to-say, I was very excited that Danika would be facing forward so that I can hand her books and talk with her more. We left in the morning and it was so foggy and wet, but Danika settled in with her books and eventually fell asleep with her head in a terrible looking position. The drive there was a little difficult. Instead of a four hour drive, it took us more like six! Danika's naps were very short and few, so she got antsy very quickly and would toss the books aside that I had given her. So we stopped more times than I wanted. But we finally made it to Jaimie's apartment and proceeded to move in. :)

At Jaimie's apartment, there are stairs, and Danika LOVES stairs since we don't have any at our house. So naturally, she wanted to go up and down those stairs at least ten times when we got there. During the whole weekend we were there, it was her favorite thing to do.

We had such a great time visiting (and excercizing with the stairs) and luckily it took us only 3 1/2 hours to get back home and we didn't have to stop once! Thank God! Such great times and wonderful memories, I can't wait to be able to go back and visit again.