Fun in Indy..

Okay so things have gotten lots better...although I did lock myself out of my hotel room with TJ and Andi in it....luckily a housekeeper was just a few doors down and let me in!

Last night we got dressed up and went out on the town....as "out on the town" as we could get with Andi & I walking and TJ in the stroller. It was a nice night and we found the Old Spaghetti Factory just a block or so down from our hotel room. Then Travis got done with his meeting early and was able to hang out with us from 9 on.

This morning we have already gone swimming- for almost 30 minutes even! We headed to the mall to get lunch and found a place that sells diet pepsi- YEAH! We also found a Nestle Tollhouse store which sells all kinds of cookies. I have never heard of or seen one but I can guarantee that we will be back!!! Also, for lunch Andi and I shared a drink...of course a diet pepsi. She took one big drink and said "I like soda mom!"

So yes, things are getting lots better here and we are starting to find our way around a little better and get the hang of Indy. Also, on our way back from the mall we took the long way back outside and only saw 1 homeless person!

Thanks for thinking of us and all of the nice comments and emails! Hopefully we will get some pictures up soon...now off to try a group nap!

Good Luck Jessi / Single & the City

For those of you who have seen the movie "Good Luck Chuck" I completely felt like Jessica Alba this past week- everything that could go wrong- has!

-From Thursday night till Friday morning we got over 12 inches of rain in Macon which needless to made our driveway look like the Grand Canyon and leaked into our basement. Finally at 11:0 we thought we had our basement problem fixed.

-11:31 it started pouring and we received the better half of the 12 inches. Can you believe that no one got any sleep that night? The next morning we found out that it held- no leaking! That meant that after so more cleanup during the day we could head to the lake or the night.

- The lake was good, we arrived at 5 and left the next day at 12:30 to make our trip North to the Yoder's for Aliza's 2nd birthday party. We of course made it all the way to Hager's Grove and then saw the water and had to back track back through Shelbina to arrive at Leonard only 45 minutes late. (We had a great time and it was well worth the extra time!)

- After a late night, we decided we had to get up Sunday morning before church to fix our driveway since we were leaving early the next morning for the week. A little over an hour later we were satisfied with all of our shoveling and raking and worn out!

-The rest of Sunday was spent trying to put everything back in its place, several loads of laundry, mowing the yard, and a quick run to Wal-Mart at 8pm- What a trip that was, we were stuck in the store for 1 1/2 while there was a tornado warning. Lucky us the lights went out only once and then a little while later the generator kicked on.

-We arrived home a little before 10 and resumed our laundry/trying to pack duties when our power went off. Andi was on the stairs with the rest of us in the living room. She didn't understand why we wouldn't turn the lights back on- but she did like the candles!

-The lights did come back on after 30 minutes and then we got the kiddos to bed and we finally did at 1:30. Oh with the tornado warning came another 4 1/2 inches of rain and of course a once again destroyed driveway!

This week is Travis' National Meeting in Indy- so we decided to tag along. Monday morning we were on the road at 8 am and had to detour off of 36 on our way to Indy. The first hour was the worst (I guess it always is). Everyone was on edge and we stopped twice for potty breaks! Lucky for us after that was good and we only stopped 2 more times- 1 for lunch and 1 right before we got into the city- not too bad!!

So far we are definitely on our own. Monday night Travis had a short meeting at 5 and didn't get back till 10:30. We didn't know it was going to be so long so we just hung out in the room- definitely were stir crazy by the end of the night!

Yesterday we got up and some more exciting happenings...
-my contact was ripped and I had no extras!) So glasses for me 24/7 here in Indy yippee!

-we finally found someone to help us use the handicap lift to get our stroller up to the sky walk so we could get to the mall- which we covered in less than an hour

-we decided to walk home outside and saw 5 homeless people in less than a block

-we visited a tiny crowded pool that took 20 minutes to get there but we only spent 2 minutes in

-Travis got back after we were in bed ...probably after 11

-the people that have looked at our house 3 different times in 1 week and who have been promising to give us an offer on Monday...we finally heard from them late yesterday afternoon and they are just not ready to commit!

Really its not horrible over here just a big adjustment. Today is already going better for us. I guess we just needed to learn how to be bums because things are going lots smoother already!

**Sorry for the rambling and lack of pictures. I forgot my cable to transfer my pictures! So when we get home you will get a picture overload- until then!!**

Crawling and more fun!

For a couple of weeks now TJ has been perfecting his definition of crawling. We of course were ecstatic when we saw him really "move" for the first time (he would move one leg, rock and then hop forward and then leap/fall on his belly and stretch out as far as he could to get Andi's toy)

This is our first time with a crawler, Andi rolled back and forth places and then started walking at 9 months, so this is all new to us! Yesterday however he finally figured it out and has decided that nothing can hold him back. He still is not super speedy but we are definitely going to have to watch him and keep the gate up!

TJ on the move!

He loves anything that is Andi's!

especially her kitchen set!

Andi still does not react fast enough to get all of her toys moved before TJ gets right in the middle of them!

up to no good...

hmmm...interesting places to crawl/hide

This past week papa Jim and grandma Kate have been up to see us a couple of times. Andi (and TJ) LOVE the attention and all of the play time that they get with both of them!

papa Jim is quite the master of play dough!

Andi was in heaven with all of the animals that papa Jim could make....cats, dogs, turtles, rabbits...usually she just gets snakes and balls when we play with her!

I think Andi wore grandma Kate out!

Actually Andi was putting grandma Kate down for a nap...ma-ma was supposed to be sleeping on her belly with her eyes closed!

Andi's new favorite game is Yahtzee...she loves making sure that everyone knows her "rules" and follows all of her instructions- especially on where and how to sit while you are playing the game!

Birthday Party and Fireflies!

This past Saturday we headed to Centralia (home of the famous Sticky Pig!!) to celebrate my Grandpa Tainter's 87th birthday! It was a full house and fun for everyone to get together for the special occasion. We of course had tons to eat and there was plenty of entertainment!

The Tainter Family

Quentin, Grandpa, Grandma, Pat & Mom

Grandpa likes playing with Andi and followed her outside and all the way to the end of the driveway just so she could get the basketball!

Aunt Teresa has several cats, fish and a parakeet...Andi wasn't too sure about the real cats but she did find some to play with the rest of the day!

After we ate we realized that Andi was missing and found her upstairs with the "big kids" playing rock band! They were nice enough to show her how to play and said that she was actually pretty good! HA- that's all we need!

After the birthday party we needed to run to Columbia to get some things for Travis and the upcoming week. We got home that night around 8 and it had cooled off enough that we played outside until it was dark. It was a perfect night to unwind and to catch some fireflies!

Travis letting Andi "hold" the lightning bug on her hand

Andi loved holding the firefly so then they decided to catch some more to put in a jar...TJ really liked that!

Fun with the Ecklers

I am a little slow getting some of my post up- but I didn't want anyone to miss out on the cute pictures!!

Happy Birthday to Quin who turned 1 on July 9th!

We had lots of fun helping him celebrate!!

Finally after the big kids cleared out he got to enjoy some cake.

Katie and all of the kids watching Quin open his presents

going after the "good" stuff

Papa Tom giving Andi a wagon ride

Andi insisting on being strapped in- safety first!

Andi having fun!

Corby, Andi & Chloe taking time out to pose for a picture!

Lincoln County Fair

I know many of you have been anxiously awaiting these pictures...so I am staying up to make sure that the next time you check the blog...you will find them!

Last Saturday morning the Belt household was up and on the road at 5 am to make it to our 1st big fair of the "season" We picked ma-ma Mari up in Shelbina and met Dad, Kyle and Stephanie at Troy for the show. It was 77 degrees when we left so we knew we were in for a warm day. Andi had not shown any signs of wanting to be super close to the sheep so we dressed for the weather not the show! We had a lot of fun meeting up with old/new friends and got to experience some surprises along the way! There are quite a few pictures but I narrowed them down pretty drastically! Sit back and enjoy...we are anxiously awaiting our next showing debut in August!

Andi - 1st row seating to the extreme...she wasn't planning on missing a thing!

Not hard to imagine but TJ liked the fair too!

(Who wouldn't with all the cute girls wanting to hold and feed you?!)

Andi (who has never met a stranger) was quick to get to know Tinleigh...lucky for us she is quite the little "lover" too and I am guessing we will have even more fun to look forward to next time!

Going in for the kill...Andi had to spread her "love" around. We are still working on the concept of "tough love" and trying to make it a little nicer...for TJ's sake!

TJ's new friend Mindy!

Sharing toys on the blanket with Tinleigh and Jessica

Surprisingly all 3 kids were content playing on the blanket as long as they each had their own cool toy...note the empty water bottle...it was a favorite of the day.

As you can tell we got to meet and hang out with a lot of friends that we don't get to see very ofter but then there were the oldies but the goodies!! Andi was super excited to see that Bubba was there!

Andi- do you think she likes him?

I was happy that she decided to "like" sheep today...so we told her to rub Bubba's belly...trying to teach her how to show..

still practicing but now bending down...conquering some more sheep showing skills from Alyssa.

Andi always watching...saw Bubba get shown and then wanted to go into the ring when they showed John, who is Andi's new favorite sheep. I was very surprised that she was wanting to go into the ring but I definitely wasn't going to discourage her!!

She all of a sudden became a focused showman, leaning over to rub John's belly during the championship drive. Needless to say we were all taken a little off guard...lucky for me Stephanie was on the ball and grabbed my camera to snap a few pics!

After they came out of the ring Kyle handed Andi the reserve champion ribbon and she promptly handed it to me and turned around and said "pocket!" That little stinker is always watching because she knew exactly what you were supposed to do with the ribbon that you won...put it in your back pocket!!

Andi and the Ward girls taking a break from showing to sit and watch for awhile.

Cassidy & Andi playing in the "dirt"

Ma-ma Mari & Andi watching the show and enjoying a sucker

Isn't there always a cookie break somewhere in my post? Can you tell how hot it was that day?

TJ was a trooper the whole day and managed to sneak in a little nap too!

Washing Sheep

Saturday we headed up to mom and dad's to help Kyle get his sheep ready for the Lincoln County fair which is next weekend. Andi loved being around the sheep last year but wasn't really big enough to do a lot, so this year we are letting her help with all of the "fun" stuff!

heading to wash sheep (can you tell we snacked on some cookies?)

in our washing gear ready to help but a little unsure...

Andi helping mommy

Andi washing by herself

(typical Gina....delegating her sheep washing duties! j/k!!)

Kyle trying to get Lucky to listen to him...Stephanie and Andi wondering

who is going to "win" this round..

papa Harold helping TJ get started early

TJ working on his wrestling moves...

Andi working on her wrestling moves...

We had some down time so we decided to take some silly "senior pictures" of Andi...

Gina was helping her pose.

Alicia and Andi posing- they are working really hard at it if you can't tell...I think that they could have posed the rest of the day if I would have let them!

It wasn't really hot that day but Andi still needed to play in the water buckets

Gina decided that we needed a "new lamb" She looks scared but really she liked having the halter on her and kept putting it back on or asking Gina to put it back on...

worried that the halter is going to fall off...

Can you tell that all that work & play wore TJ out?