Merry Christmas Santa

Well Cassidy didn't like Santa one bit! Even when we enlisted big brother, Zac to help. She still wasn't happy sitting next to that guy!

The Mondschein Family gets ELFED!!!

Check out our fun link!

Mondschein Elves

9 Months

Here are some pictures: Cassidy enjoying some baked beans!! Cassidy, Zac & Pablo from the Backyardigans at Dan's Camera City, and our Silly Girl posing on my old rocking chair.

We are enjoying each stage as Cassidy grows. She's walking well now. She is still a bit wobbling and falls on her bum quite a bit, but it doesn't stop her.

We will be spending Thanksgiving with Grandma and Grandpa and then stop over and visit Grammy later in the day. The weekend will be busy with Zac's hockey tournament in Aston, GO COMETS!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!!

Cassidy's walking

OMG, I can't believe it, she's walking and she's only 8 1/2 months old. She's been taking steps now for a couple weeks, but the last week she's really been putting those steps together.

The video above is only a few seconds (it's with my digital camera, not my video camera because I can't find the correct cable for the camcorder). It's a bit dark and grainy, but you can see her walking to me, then crashing into me, LOL.

She lets go and walks across the room. Of course she still falls, but usually on her bum, so it's not too bad. She stands for a long while too and can correct her balance. I'm in amazement, she has no fear, which is not necessarily a good thing.

I know I'm a bit behind on the blogging, I've been spending my spare time on doing a Xmas stocking. I will be getting up Halloween pics soon and some hockey pics.

Halloween

Here are some pictures of our little pumpkin. Can you believe she's 8 months old already. Trick or Treat was a washout, but we took some pictures before. Also included a couple pics from Strawberry Acres with the two of them, so sweet!

PUMPKIN PATCH

OK, we're ready to go pick out a couple PUMPKINS!!!!!!

















There were so many pumpkins, it was very hard to pick a couple. Mommy always likes to pick out one round squatty pumpkin and one tall narrow pumpkin.
















Here are the pumpkins we picked. I think Zac did a good job picking out our pumpkins.

Standing . . . for a few seconds

Well she keeps getting braver and braver, she shows no fear of letting go and doesn't mind landing pretty hard on her tush. Luckily, she's only had one nose dive, poor baby.

She likes her Pablo (from the Backyardigans) and if she reaches for it, she'll let go and hold it with both hands before she realizes she's not holding on and then BOOM she drops on her bum.

She also loves her giraffe, she doesn't push the balls through yet, but she loves to pull up on him and bang his head to make music.

Look out Cricket

Cassidy decide to check out Cricket's crate.

Autumn is here!

Here is Miss Cassidy showing off part of our Fall display in the front yard. How about those snake gourds Zac grew. I love this time of year, it's cooler but still gorgeous enough to be outside.
Here's Cassidy and my crazy pumpkin lantern I got on clearance last year for $5.


She's crawling all over the place now and she's starting to cruise, she has no fear and will let go and land smack on her butt! Oh well, she doesn't seem to mind.

Catching Up

Well we are all healthy and happy again. Here are some pics I've taken in the last couple weeks.

Here is Cassidy showing off her cute "cherry" hat another hockey mom made for her. Thank you, Robin, Cassidy will definitely be wearing it at the rinks.

Here is Cassidy asleep in her crib. She is starting to fall asleep on her on for naps. I give her her teddy bear blankie, her Winnie the Pooh and Tigger and she plays for a few minutes before she falls asleep. I don't know how this position is comfortable, but we have found her asleep like this several times.
Here is my girl in her Raiders jersey!!!! Go RAIDERS!!! I had to put the Raiders Jersey on her (it's a hand-me-down from Zac) since my Raiders played Daddy's Dolphins and the Raiders kicked butt!!! WOOHOOO. I don't care if they win another game all year, hehehehe.

YUCK

It's been a while since I updated, Chuck and I have both been sick, I am getting over a sinus infection and Chuck is recovering from a bronchial infection. Neither one of us have been to the dr for a "cold" in over 10 years, so I guess we were due. Luckily, both kids did much better than we did.

Cassidy had her 6 month well appt (yes, a month late). She's growing like a weed, 2 inches longer than last month -- 27 1/4 inches. She gained 2 lbs -- 18 lbs, 5 oz.

She also started to pull herself up to standing and takes a step or two while holding on but she's definitely not cruising around yet. Also she has figured out how to sit up from her belly, which is awesome, we don't have to keep sitting her up to play anymore.

She's a good traveler and such a happy girl, since we usually are traveling to at least one hockey game a weekend, it's great that she has such a laid-back temperament.

First time in the big bathtub! Cassidy has been getting baths in the kitchen sink for all this time. Yesterday I went out and bought a seat for the bathtub. I must say at first she wasn't sure about this. But as soon as she saw me with the camera she turned into the true camera ham she is and started grinning. Then big bro joined her. She loves the water, but I will say that we will probably stick with the kitchen sink most nights. Filling the tub nightly takes to much water.

How time flies!

First I have to say I "borrowed" this idea from another February baby and Mom (thanks Thatcher & Angela). Here is a picture of our "big" little girl. The first picture she is about 2 weeks old and the second picture is 6 months 2 weeks. Ohhhhhhh how time flies. They grow so fast.

Back to School

Well Zac's gourd plant has been very productive, here is a picture of one of the snake gourds and this one isn't even one of the biggest ones. I have no idea what we are going to do with these monstrosities.

Zac was happy to start back up to school, he is happy with his team, a few of his buddies are in some of his classes. He says just one teacher (social studies) seems like she'll be really tough.

Other than that, things are moving along smoothly. Cassidy has FINALLY rolled from her back to her belly. She now likes to sleep on her sides and we even found her on her belly once. She rocks when she's on all fours and she scoots a bit, but no crawling.

Knoeble's Grove

We went to Knoeble's Grove on Thursday, Zac took his best buddy along. They had a blast, as you can see, they also got soaked. they went on the "Skloosh" ride several times. And then would stand on the bridge to get completely drenched by the next boat down the hill.

This was the first time we ever went to this park, it's about 2 hrs from home. The nice thing is that there is no admittance fee to get into the park. You can buy all-day passes for the kids and then if we wanted to go on a ride or two we could just buy individual tickets. The boys had a blast and rode all the thrill rides. Dad went on a few, too.


Cassidy enjoyed the day, she slept through a good part of it, but she did get to go on a couple of carousels. The first one she liked (pic Mom & Cassidy), we had her on a stationary horse. But the second carousel the horse went up and down, she wasn't 100% sure of that. She didn't cry, but we couldn't get one of her precious smiles out of her either (pic Dad & Cassidy.

CHEESE!

Here's a picture of my bottom teeth. Mommy had a hard time getting a good picture of my pearly whites, I would smile, but she'd either get a picture of my lip or my tongue.

Here's a little idea of what I can and can't do at 6 months.

I can sit by myself for quite a bit, I enjoy playing in my crib or on a blanket with toys.
I roll from belly to back, because I do NOT like to be on my belly.
I feed myself some finger foods -- Gerber Cartwheels and Teething Biscuits.
I babble quite a bit, say ada-da-da and do-do, the B and the P sounds too.
I am sleeping through the night (had a rough patch w/the teeth, but that's over)
I am eating solids a couple times a day.
I can pull myself up to standing, and like to "walk" when someone holds my hands.


I haven't rolled from my back to my belly. (why should I, I don't like being on my belly)
I don't say the M sound yet .... Mommy's waiting!
I don't crawl, but I do rock when I'm up on my hands and news.

So this is a bit of what's happening with me.

Grandma's B-day

Happy birthday Grandma! We went to our local zoo (honestly, "zoo" is being generous, it used to be called a game preserve, but the powers that be decided to change the name, there are about 20 different types of animals, far from a zoo in my opinion).


It was Cassidy's first trip there and she enjoyed it just fine. Well at least half of it, she slept through the other half.


The Lorikeet Landing is a new addition to the zoo this year and was certainly a hit with the kids. It was so uch fun to see the kids' faces when the birds landed on them. This was a first for my niece and nephew (Zac fed the Lorikeets at the San Diego zoo years ago).







My Dad (Grandpa) and Me in the back.
My Mom (Grandma), Zac, and Cassidy middle.
Dylan and Shelby on the ground.


Grandma had a great birthday and was so happy to spend it with her grandkids.




We also got a great look at one of the wolves, they usually just lounge under the trees up on the hill. But one of them was thirsty and came down to the water and had himself a drink.

6 Months Old!

I can't believe Cassidy is six months old. Wow that went quick.

She's been having a few restless nights, and the worst was the mornings of her 6 month b-day. She would fall asleep but as soon as we put her down in her crib she'd be up screaming. Took us almost two hours to get her settled, finally crawling back into bed after 3 a.m.


When she got up for the day around 7 a.m. and I was giving her her bottle I felt her gums, like I have been doing the last couple weeks and what did I find; not one but TWO PEARLY WHITES, no wonder she was so cranky.

Amateur Photo Hour !

Monday afternoon, I decided to get creative. I got a sheet from Zac's bed and draped it over my sofa and then got my grandfather's old washtub with some other bath accessories and just added one happy baby.


She is a ham. Zac helped me by standing next to me with toys to get her to look and smile.





Digital cameras ROCK. I also love Shutterfly, they have a photo studio (editor) that allows you to make collages. I will still do some studio pictures because there is no way too match all the props they have, but I can save some
The picture of the two of them I love, I saw a shot like this in one of the rooms of the OBs office when I went a few times and I loved it.

I don't have enough wall and table-top space to put all these pictures!

Cassidy's "House"

Here is Cassidy's "House". She has just started enjoying playing in it. She loves the mailbox because I'm always putting different toys in it and she reaches up and pulls then out (and then has to chew on them, OF COURSE). Also if you can see in the pictures there are some veggies in her garden behind her, she likes to pick those. She spins the birds a bit, but not too much. Last night, we ate dinner while she stayed in her room and played in her house all by herself.


I found this little house at a church yard sale for $10. I was absolutely thrilled. I saw a couple on Craigslist and they were posted for $30 or more and were missing pieces. This one has all the pieces (veggies and letter) and other than one little crayon mark is perfect.

If you look in the corner, you can see Cassidy has a visitor. Comet gets excited about the house because the doorbell and the little blue bird sticking out of the birdhouse above the veggies squeak like his balls. He's always ready for a game of fetch and is disappointed by all the squeaky toys Cassidy has.

Standing

Here's our little peanut who always wants to be standing (notice the big grin, she's such a ham for the camera). She tries to pull up on anything she can reach. Here she is holding on to her crib.

We are trying to encourage crawling, but it's a struggle because she doesn't like to be on her belly, if we get her on all fours, she'll stay there for about 30 seconds before she pushes herself over onto her back.


Of course, she hasn't figured out how to get down yet. But that's what Mommy and Daddy are for!

Life is Rough!

Wow is it hot! Luckily, Cassidy's godmother invited us over for a dip in the pool. Zac had spent the night, last night and enjoyed lots of pool time. I love this little float, it keeps her nice and shaded. She kicks her feet and enjoyed herself for quite a while, but all that swimming around works up a thirst. And about an hour later she drank a bottle and crashed for a while.

Visitors ?

We have four stray kittens taking up residence under our trees that border our property. The neighbor behind us removed all his trees (they were huge and he had a big crane come and lift them out after they were cut). Well apparently that's where the kittens were living, and I guess they decided our tree line was move-in ready. The spooky thing is this is where we buried Marty. As cute as they are, I wish they'd move on, they tease the dogs because they know the dogs are behind a fence and they are near where I have my bird feeders. Oh well, hopefully they will move on. Of course, Zac wants to adopt all four! UGH!

Ready for the Ice

Get me some skates!!!!!

Marty

Marty was our second cat. He was a brat since we brought him home. I couldn't resist this scrawny looking cat at the pet store and decided to rescue him. Little did we know this scrawny cat would become our chubba-wubba cat weighing over 20 pounds.

Marty was not a people cat, he preferred the company of our other cat and even our dogs at the time (Malcolm and Annie, our dachshunds). But he tolerated Zachary better than we could have imagined. He let Zac sit on him and he would nap with him occasionally.

Over the years he would stay in the basement and rarely come up and visit, and when we got our second corgi, Cricket; well, apparently, that was the LAST STRAW. Both cats rarely came up and spent any time with the us humans anymore.

Well in the last week or so we noticed Marty was not doing well. He hasn't been a spunky cat for a long time now, but when he stopped eating, we knew it wouldn't be long. This chubba cat lived to eat. So he spent his last week or so visiting with us, RARE and even went outside when we were taking pics of the gourd plant.

Last night, I heard a strange growl while giving Cassidy her bedtime bottle. When Chuck and Zac came home from hockey I asked Chuck to check on Marty and he was gone, laying peacefully by the water dish.

He went so quietly and peacefully, he let go himself. So unlike our dogs who we have had to help cross the rainbow bridge. Tonite, we will bury another friend in our yard. We will miss his daily "raaaaaas".

Travis, seems to miss him already, heading upstairs to peek at us, still leery of the dogs, but hopefully they will learn to get along. Travis is much more a people cat.

Goodbye Marty, may you find Annie and Malcolm to play with as you cross the Rainbow Bridge.