Horton Club Family Blog: 2008

Thursday, December 4, 2008

Pre-Christmas Exhaustion

So, it was been a while since the last post. A couple holidays, a presidential election, and a first snowfall. Life happens fast!

We had a great Thanksgiving holiday here in Maine. 27 family members gathered for Thanksgiving dinner which included 2 turkeys, two types of potatoes, 2 types of stuffing, beans, cranberries, and all the other good stuff!

Dale is finishing up his semester at school and looking forward to a month long break over the holidays. Liz has applied to a nurse practitioner program at the University of Southern Maine and is hoping to quit her job and take some classes starting in January. Rowan partied down with Sarah and Emily Tully over Thanksgiving and has a new love of fashion designing. Margaret has been battling some fevers and an ear infection- but now has 4 teeth, can clap her hands, and says "da-da". She is SO close to walking!

Click here to see Pictures!

Hope all are well!

Liz, Dale, Rowan, and Margaret

Thursday, October 23, 2008

Hi all,

I can't believe it is already the end of October! Already, the trees are dumping their leaves and we have frost on the grass and windshields in the morning. Dale is still plugging away at school, Rowan has become a big fan of Hannah Montana, and Margaret is now 9 months old. She is surfing furniture, babbling, and waving! She is more fun every day! We are looking forward to the holidays- starting with Halloween, when Rowan will be dressed as a Geisha and Margaret will be a Skeleton. Pictures to follow!

Hope everyone is having a nice fall!

Margaret Attack video

Video of Margaret taken Oct. 20, 2008.

Sunday, September 21, 2008

Hi all!

Fall has started in Maine. The trees are changing, the weather is getting colder, and school has started again. Dale is back at school full time and keeping care of Margaret during the day when she is not in daycare. Liz is working four days a week (home with Margaret on Thursdays) and Rowan has started 4th grade.

At 8 months, Margaret now has 2 teeth, crawls like a speed demon towards wires and plugs, and pulls hair out of the cats' tails. Her favorite past-time is pulling up on the furniture, falling down, and pulling up again. In her spare time she likes swinging, twisting her tongue, and fighting her parents during diaper changes. Her favorite song is "Build me up Buttercup". She also likes to babble- trying out "g", "k", and "b" sounds whenever she can. Needless to say, she keeps up busy and moving! You can see more pictures at http://gallery.me.com/hortonliz#gallery

Hope all is well!

Tuesday, July 15, 2008

Summertime in Maine

Summer is flying by here in Maine!

We have just returned from Unadilla, NY (near the Catskills) and a wonderful visit with Bob and Nellie Gipson. It was a relaxing week full of good food, great company, and NAPS! Dale's family is originally from that area- Delaware County- and Bob gave us a wonderful tour of the area- complete with a visit to the town of Horton! We skipped stones in the Beaver Kill, visited cemeteries and historical associations, and went to the Farmer's Museum where we learned about 19th century farming in rural New York.

Margaret is nearly 6 months old and is making great use of her hands. If she can reach it, it goes in her mouth! We have just starting giving her tastes of mashed banana- which is usually followed by a look of confusion and great amounts of tongue and lip smacking. Dale has finished summer school- and is now able to relax for a few weeks before heading into the fall semester. Rowan has had another Tae Kwon Do tournament in which she defeated her opponent and Liz stays busy at work as usual.

There has also been a new addition to the family! Kris Medinger and Ann Maloney welcomed Claire Whittington Maloney into the world on May 27th! We are so excited to have another baby around and are looking forward to when the two girls can play together!

Pictures and movies of the trip, Claire, and life in general are posted at: http://gallery.me.com/hortonliz#gallery

Happy Summer!

Thursday, May 22, 2008

16 and 1/2 weeks

Rowan, shown here in her fighting stance, received a Silver Medal in belt class at the Tae Kwon Do tournament a couple weeks ago and is now looking forward to a summer tournament.
She recently wrote a report for her class- just for her own interest- on porcupines, complete with a bibliography and list of suggested readings. The report was presented to the class and earned her a handshake from the principal.

Margaret is now sleeping in the crib at night- at least she starts out there. Some nights she makes it all the way through, others, she comes in to bed with us in the wee hours of the morning. We have had one night of "sleeping through the night" and are anxiously awaiting and encore performance. She is also teething now- which has made her especially cranky and wakeful. She has also taken to biting during nursing, which is very frustrating!
She has figured out how to use her hands now and can bring toys to her mouth to chew on- there seems to be something new everyday!

New pics and video are posted at:
http://gallery.mac.com/hortonliz/100164

We are all looking forward to a nice three day weekend coming up and are hoping to make a visit to Peak's Island, off the coast of Portland for a day outing if the weather is nice!

Happy Memorial Day!

Sunday, May 4, 2008

Roll Over Baby!

So, one of the big milestones has now come to pass. Margaret rolled over for the first time last week-probably by accident. But it did happen! She has yet to hold a repeat performance, though we keep trying. She has also recently found her tongue and is intrigued by the wonderful sound of raspberries. We, her parents, are astonished at the amount of drool that these raspberries create. Honestly, she can soak the front of her onesie faster than she can fill her diaper! Check out new pictures and videos at:
http://gallery.mac.com/hortonliz

Rowan will be competing in a Tae Kwon Do tournament next weekend and has been taking extra sparring lessons to prepare. We have also chained her to a chair in front of the TV watching The Karate Kid (think Clockwork Orange).

Life continues to move at breakneck speed. Dale has final exams this week and then jumps into summer session next Monday. Liz moves from 30 to 36 a week on Monday as well. Where does all the time go????

Thursday, April 17, 2008

First Entry

Hi All,

This is the first posting to the new Horton Club family blog. Hopefully, we can update this site frequently to keep you up to date on the wild and crazy adventures of our family- which now include large quantities of drool and cat hair.

In recent news- Spring is coming to Maine!
Liz has returned to work after maternity leave and is finding it hard to be a sleepless working mother. Weekends are something to look forward to in a way they never were before. Dale is finishing up the Spring 08 semester with success- having just received a 99 on a macroeconomics exam. He is planning on taking 2 more classes this summer on the way to his Social Work degree. Rowan is a new green belt in Tae Kwon Do and is one of the best readers in her 3rd grade class. She has started her own video blog- which can be seen at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Id23AzXHRU
Margaret is closing in on 12 weeks old quickly. She is now experimenting with the volume of her voice- sometimes startling herself with screeches. She has also started laughing-which is an amazing sound to hear. A baby's laughter seems to be an evolutionarily adaptive form of self-preservation. Just when you are ready to give up- your baby laughs and you forgive them for the drool they dropped in your mouth while you were holding them in the air. Until next time....