School's out!

Last Friday was my last day of teaching! I've decided to stay home with Rosalee so this will be my last day for a few years. I'm a little nervous about staying home, but I know it is what is best. Here are some fun pictures from our end of the year field trip to the Indy 500 Community Days Celebration and other just fun/cute pictures of my students.

Surprise visit

I was told earlier today that my aunt and uncle, who live near Seattle, were in Indiana. Then a few hours later I got a phone call telling me that they were on their way to Lafayette to come and visit Rosalee and me! It was great getting to see them today even if it wasn't for very long. I saw how much fun they had with Rosalee and it made me miss having family near by. I really wish that we lived closer to our family so grandparents could be with Rosalee and so she could know (and eventually play with) her cousins. So hopefully we'll get to move back west when Jesse graduates next May. Keep your fingers crossed!!!

Sick baby + sippy cup = smiles

Rosalee has been sick for the last past few days and she isn't getting any better. She has a fever every morning that is only solved by Tylenol and stripping her down to her diaper. She has a running nose and a nasty sounding cough that I'm hoping will go away soon. At first I thought she might be getting a tooth, but I think the cough suggests a cold. It just hurts me so much to see my little girl so unhappy. BUT I have found something to make her happy this weekend. Every time I take a drink from a cup she'll watch the cup as it goes to my mouth and then reach out for it. A few times I've let her drink some juice from my cup but she isn't strong enough to hold it by herself. She also makes quite a mess with a cup so I caved and bought a sippy cup. I gave her some watered down apple juice and she had a WONDERFUL time playing with the cup. When she'd actually get some of the juice in her mouth she'd get so excited! Rosalee would squeal, smile, and shake the cup with so much vigor. Most of the juice ended up on her bib, because of the squealing, but it made me happy to see her so happy.


PS- The orange on her cheeks is from the carrots that she enjoyed helping me feed herself.

Marie's Michigan weekend

For Mothers' Day weekend Rosalee and I drove up to Michigan to visit Jesse. We stayed with Jesse in a hotel in Iron River and spent time with him at the camp he's staying at. It was a MUCH needed vacation and it made me very happy to spend time with Jesse.

Feeding Rosalee her dinner in the hotel

Seriously, who decorates with dead animals!?

Rosalee's 1st taste of ice cream. Well the orange part of a creamsicle at least!

The lake was insanely clear. I was really impressed by how beautiful it was. We went for several walks and I got to see all of the wonderful scenery.

Jesse and Rosalee by the lake. I think Rosalee either looks like a Teletubby or an elf in that outfit. It may look silly but it sure kept her warm!

Some family photos from Mothers' Day

I make this look good!!! I figured when in Rome...

What is a girl to do on Mothers' Day in the middle of the woods with a bunch of rednecks? That's right! Go hunting for crawfish (crawdads for you northerners) in a freezing cold lake! The crawfish are more prevelent in later May/early June but we still were able to find a few. It wasn't enough to make dinner so Jesse decided to use them as bait for fishing.

Mothers' Day in Michigan

I made up my mind today (after dealing with all together TOO MANY bodily fluids!) that I'm going to visit Jesse this weekend in Michigan. I'm using the excuse that this is my 1st official Mothers' Day but really I just miss my husband. I'll leave late Friday night/early Saturday morning so I can get there when Jesse is done with his morning exams. I'm taking Monday, and maybe Tuesday, off from work so I can spend as much time with Jesse as possible. It'll be nice to see him even if it'll only be for a few days.

Jesse's practicum

I've assumed that everyone knows what Jesse is up to these days, but from various responses I can tell that it is still a mystery of what he's doing in May. Jesse has a 5 week practicum during the month of May (a little bit of June) for Purdue in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. During this "Maymester" he will be gaining hands on experience of what he's learned over the last 2 years at school. He'll collect samples, play with dart guns, chase wild beasts, etc. and get college credit for it. He left yesterday, the 2nd of May, and will come home on the 7th of June. For his practicum he was required to buy some interesting items... hard hat, waders, camping cookware, fishing tackle... okay so the last one he said he needed but it wasn't actually on the list! Before Jesse left I made him try on some of his most redneckiest (that's a word!) items because I knew no one would believe me that he really wears that stuff.


It'll be weird not having him around but I will get to talk to him daily and I might get to see him if I decide to take an extended weekend. Being a single working mom for the next little bit will STINK but it'll just make me even more grateful when Jesse comes home.

Little jumping bean

Rosalee could spend hours in her bouncer. She just laughs and jumps the whole time. It makes us so happy to see her full of joy. We are VERY thankful to my coworkers for getting this for us to use, we know it'll be something we will use often.

This is what happens when I try to get Rosalee to talk on camera and she ends up grabbing it...

Happy May Day!

We cannot believe it is May already. Here are some funny pictures I took of Rosalee earlier today. She is getting VERY animated so I just can't help taking a million pictures of her.

With amazing timing I was able to catch her face like this. She looks like she's up to no good for sure!

She kept grabbing Trouble's tongue and then laughing hysterically. You would think Trouble would get annoyed but she just sat there and let Rosalee do this over and over.


She LOVES looking at books! Rosalee really enjoys pulling the pages, chewing on the ends, and looking at all the bright colors.