thespicelands.com

Aerogarden Timelapse

Erin got an Aerogarden for me for father’s day as a *big* surprise. It is an “indoor kitchen appliance.” More specifically, it is a microcontroller based hydroponic garden that is about a cubic foot. It sits on one’s counter and grows things. We have herbs and peppers in ours. For the first month, we set our DSLR camera up, pointed at the Aerogarden, and set it to take a picture once every 30 seconds. The video below was made from those pictures. Also, below you will find a link to an HD video that you can download.

Get the Flash Player to see this video. If you are seeing this from facebook or some other site, click on the link to watch the video on our site.

Here is the 720p HD version at 60 frames per second:
http://spiceland.org/media/timelapse720.avi

^^^ click the link above to download the HD version.

Heidi and Tru “swam” for the first time today. I bought a blow-up swimming pool at Target, but I didn’t realize how small it was! We may have been better off swimming in a flower pot! I let the water warm up in the sun, and then they had fun in it. Tru did a wonderful job of helping Heidi in and out of the pool. There are pictures available on page 2 and page 3.

There is also video of the birthday party and the swimming that Mike will put online as soon as enough people bug him about it!

Today is Heidi’s birthday! She is one year old. I can’t believe it’s been a year since she was born. She’s 23 pounds now. She’s standing. She can say “Mama,” “Daddy,” “baba” (bottle), “chee” (Cheerios), and “bye-bye.” She can sign “more” and “up.” We’re working on “drink,” “down,” “good,” and “food.” She loves to shake her head at us when we say “No!”

We had Heidi’s birthday “party” on Saturday. Mallory, Ryan, Mark, Georgia Elizabeth, and Anna came over, and we had lots of fun and cupcakes! Heidi enjoyed her cake, after I resorted to feeding her with a spoon! She did not like being dirty. Pictures are available here.

First things first!  New pictures of Heidi on page 2 of the Tru and Heidi 2009 album.

Poor Tru is sick. We spent all night Sunday night and Monday morning consoling her each time she threw up and cleaning her off. She took three baths and I changed the sheets 6 times that night.  Monday morning, we got some Zofran (anti-nausea) into her and she did fine all day. She had to stick to a strict  BRAT diet–bananas, rice, applesauce, and toast, in addition to Gatorade and juice.  She was fine all night last nigt, but first thing this morning she chugged a cup of juice and promptly threw up again. Zofran and the BRAT diet again today!

Mike was sick yesterday, too, and stayed home from work.  Heidi has a stuffed-up nose, and I had to take Seiko to the vet yesterday for an eye infection. Everybody in the family was sick except me!

Heidi has done quite a few new things lately. She started crawling backward at 8 months old, and within the past week, she’s learned to crawl forward.  She can say Mama, Dada, and Nana, but I’m sure she doesn’t understand what she’s saying.  She’s started eating more solid food, as evidenced by the pictures linked to above.  She loves mashed potatoes and carrots, as well as bready things like pancakes.  She’s got two teeth and may be working on one more.  She can pull herself up with a little support, and she can stand and cruise a little, too.  She’ll be 10 months old on Friday!

Tru got her EKG today. It went well, but we don’t have any results yet.  Here are pictures of her at the doctor’s office yesterday and getting her EKG today.

Several developments today! Tru recently got very frustrated on several different occasions when Mike or I tried to teach her how to ride her tricycle or drive her Barbie Jeep. Today, she figured out both of them! We rode all the way around the block with Tru riding her RadioFlyer tricycle, and when we got back, she drove her Barbie Jeep around in the yard for about 30 minutes. Toward the end, I popped Heidi into it, taking care to buckle her in very securely with the seat belt. Heidi had a blast, and Tru loved driving her around. We’ve got pictures (the “Kerri Visit 2009″ album) and videos!

Get the Flash Player to see this video. If you are seeing this from facebook or some other site, click on the link to watch the video on our site.

New pictures up of Heidi in her adorable yellow outfit and Tru and Daddy on a walk on the mountain. Heidi was in my mei tai, and I was behind the camera. Here they are!

I’ve put a couple of new pictures up in the new Tru and Heidi 2009 folder.

The first half of the Christmas pictures are up! The rest will be put up on 12/31 after Christmas with my family in Atlanta.

Christmas portraits are up!