BABY TIME!!!!

It is with great joy that I get to share the news of Rachel's baby announcement with all of you!  She had a little girl early this morning.  Piper Leigh Pierce arrived at 1:22 a.m. weighing 8 pounds, 14 ounces.  She's 20.5 inches long.

Mother, Father, Sister (Lydia), and Baby are all wonderful.

Rachel plans to take her full maternity leave but will be back for election time in November for a few days.  I'm sure she would welcome any well wishes you may have.  Her email is rpierce@myabc5.com.

Thanks for reading and watching!

Amanda

My first Crossfit Competition

Last Saturday I teamed up with three other people for a Crossfit Competition.  There were several teams of four competiting from Crossfit Primal (in Waukee) against several from Crossfit Ankeny.  It was an incredibly fun, exhausting day.  Crossfit Ankeny won the bragging rights with the best score overall.  I honestly don't know how my individual team finished.  All I know is that we *did finish and that is an accomplishement in itself.  My family came to cheer me on including my mom and dad which was great.  It was nice for me to show them what I've been working so hard at for two months.  Here are a few pictures from the competition.  We were team "Rainbow Bright."

Thanks for reading!
-Amanda

Nothing Compares to the Iowa State Fair

She's "mooing" in this picture.

 Our little family ventured out to the Iowa State Fair this morning.  It was surprisingly chilly but I will take a little chilly over nineties any day! We parked and went straight to the Animal Learning Center.  We knew seeing the baby animals would be a big hit with our daughter Lydia and it was.  Then we watched a Bengals Tiger Show right outside the Center.  That was really cool and it wasn't part of our plan we just happened to be at the right place at the right time. 
Lydia kept talking about seeing the butterflies so we went to the butterfly tent.  She screamed and cried because the flying little creatures scared her.  But we sat her down with Daddy and brought them to her, she liked that.
We continued on eating our way through the fair and checked out some of the livestock barns.  Lucky us there were a couple of calves to pet and feed!
Even though we only saw maybe ten percent of  what The Iowa State Fair has to offer it once again did not disappoint, its one of my favorite things to do all year!

Rachel Pierce
rpierce@myabc5.com

Lots of tears when we had to move on.

Lydia with her friend Mila.

New Nursery

Husband built this amazing tree shelf! He's so talented!

I did the tree painting and the chevron one, my mom did the super cute Owl painting.  I'm totally obsessed with owls!

You can't really see the mobile buts its birds on branches and its made of wood. The picture on the wall is just a piece of fabric I liked and I stretched it over a canvas.  I actually did it a few years ago.

Lydia likes to hang out in the new nursery and play with all of her old toys. 

The nursery is finally finished!  Its very different from the girly nursery we did for Lydia.  This one is all about bright colors.  My husband built the amazing tree shelf.  We got the chair at Homemakers, the rug from Anthropology and the crib rail cover from Etsy.  Everything else is pretty much stuff we already had around the house.  Plus the closet packed full of clothes is mostly Lydia's hand-me-downs (she'll never know the difference).  I guess all that's left is to have this little girl!

Rachel Pierce
rpierce@myabc5.com

Sargent Park

 My daughter and I braved the warm morning to meet friends to play at a newly opened park in East Des Moines.  Its called Sargent Park and its a natural playscape.  Lydia loved the tunnels, slide, hollowed out tree, climbing steps, rope bridge, water feature and sand box.  There's also a nice, smooth trail that runs behind it and my friends told me its great to bike or jog on.  We've been to the natural playscape at Jasper Park and this one is great too! I believe Sargent Park just opened about two weeks ago or less.  My only complaint and most summers this probably wouldn't be an issue, but there's really no shade except the sheltered picnic area. 

Rachel Pierce
rpierce@myabc5.com

Laura, Mila and Lydia checking out the huge tree.

Ashby Park

Even though its been ridiculously hot and I'm set to have baby number two any day now, my two year old daughter and I still enjoy the great outdoors.  We make a point most mornings to go somewhere.  Sometimes its the pool, a friends house, the zoo, the library or a park.  We met some friends out at Ashby Park in Des Moines this week.  I've never been there and what a gem!  It has two playgrounds and a splash pad.  We had so much fun.  Sure, the few hours we were there the temperatures when from seventy to ninety five but it was worth it.  We will totally be going back.  Aren't we lucky to have so many cool parks in the metro?!? 

Rachel Pierce
rpierce@myabc5.com