Another summer week has flown by! Mieka is a little chatterbox these days :) She's saying new words almost every day and I really think it was the sign language that kick started her language explosion. We've pretty much lost track of all the words she can say and sign! One of her recent words is "show" which is what I call her dvd I put in when I make dinner or need her occupied for a few minutes. She also knows that the remote operates the "show" and she has a fake remote to play with. So now she comes up to us and with a very serious look on her face says "show" and points the remote at us :) She will try and try to get the remote to work, pressing very hard on the buttons, it's sort of cute, but I'm a little worried I've created a couch potato at the tender age of 13 mo.



We also got a new "skirtie" in the mail the other day. It's a wool diaper cover crocheted into a skirt/shorts and I think it's adorable :)

Still more jelly!

So I just made my 3rd batch of jam/jelly last night :) I think it's safe to say we won't run of of jelly for Ned's peanut butter and jelly sandwiches this year! This batch was a recipe I created myself using mulberries and gooseberries and it turned out really yummy! I think Ned and I agree this is the best batch so far.........

We also have been growing sweetcorn and tomatoes in our garden. We plan on trying to make and can salsa this year; we'll see if it works or not. The corn didn't get very tall for some reason. But it's producing ears........ we also have potatoes that should be ready to be dug up in a few weeks.


and here's some purple sage I planted around our birdbath-I just thought it looked pretty and it smells so nice too :)

Boy, time slips away from me quickly! This week we went to one of the local county fairs with Mieka. We saw bunnies, poultry, pigs, goats and sheep. I think Mieka was most impressed with the pigs because it was near their feeding time and they were very noisy! They also had some rides there, although most of the rides had definitely seen better days, Mieka didn't seem to mind :) When she was on the carousel with daddy, she didn't want him to have both hands on her-she thinks she can ride it by herself already, lol.

Mmmmmm, watermelon!

Sorry this is sideways, I forgot to record it the other way and haven't found any way to turn it the right way yet :(

Yesterday we went to the park with our neighbors Landen and his mommy Amanda. Of course, the big attraction was the sand :) Landen couldn't get enough of it and Mieka had to try it to see what all the fuss was about.


and Mieka's "car" baby had to go with EVERYWHERE! She wouldn't leave her baby, even to crawl up the slide. She loves her baby dolls :)


and can you find the toddler in this picture?! Mieka loves to climb behind the cat tree and try and eat pebbles from the plants (note the chairs around the plants to try and prevent this).

Our crazy little sleeper

So have you ever seen such a wild bedhead in your life?! Mieka wakes up with hair like this every day :)



and I thought this was cute..... look how she's sleeping with her cute little bum up in the air!

Gooseberry jelly and strawberry jam

I got a chance to make gooseberry jelly and strawberry jam today, while Ned took Mieka on errands. My mom and I worked hard to snip off all the stems and tails from the gooseberries- A LOT of work! The end results are good though..... a tangy jelly with a pretty golden color.




My parents returned to MN today too. We're sad to see them go! We had a good visit though and will see them again soon, hopefully.

Visitors from MN

Today my parents are coming down from MN until the weekend; should be fun! Ned and I are looking forward to FREE babysitters so we can go out!

Our Little Walker

Well, Mieka has been walking now for about the past week and I finally got a clip of it to share.



She's been taking steps since 11.5 mo. but has just recently started taking more than a few steps and is now full-out walking!

We had to say goodbye to a fishy family member yesterday, Tweedle Dee, was laid to rest in the garden after many months of swim bladder troubles :( Tweedle Dee came with me from MN when I moved to Iowa, along with his companion Tweedle Dum, so that would make him about 6 years old. RIP little fishy, gone but not forgotten!

First post to the Bowden Blog!

I've finally gotten around to starting a blog about our little family! June is already over and Mieka is already 1; how time flies! In June we spent the first week at the WI Dells with my parents, brothers and sister-in-law. Fun, fun, fun! Mieka did pretty well, despite having her nap and feeding schedules all mixed up, but I have to say we paid for it when we came home to Iowa-not a happy camper! We also celebrated Mieka's first birthday in June, twice, and my birthday once (which was plenty, lol). Mieka got some new baby dolls, a baby carriage, clothes, bows for her sprouting hair, books, COLOR Crayons (yikes!), and lots of other thoughtful gifts.