Ma Ma Ma Mama

She said it!
MAMA!
If you don't think she's referring to me, don't think it sounds like mama, or have any other negative comments then leave this site now!
This mama's proud!!



May I never forget...
I was fixing your supper...you were waiting in your high chair and, as is your nature, you were doing your "whiny cry." Not a full fledged tantrum, but you were hungry and I was hurrying. Like I usually do, I'd pulled your chair to the kitchen doorway so you could watch me warm your food. On the menu: mango banana, sweet potatoes, and pasta primavera (with a bottle, of course). You were babbling, fussing, and waiting as patiently as you could. And then I heard it--clear as day--"Mama." I was so caught up in what I was doing that for a few seconds it rolled right through me, and then I realized what I'd heard. I stuck my head in the doorway and asked you, "What did you say?" You grinned--still hungry and impatient. Then you fussed again and bubbled it out once more--"ma ma ma mama."
At first, you would only say it when you were fussing. I fed you supper and you didn't say it any more, until I went to wash your face. You got angry with me for wiping you down and then it came again..."ma ma ma mama."
You little turkey.
All night long tonight you've practiced your new word and made mommy's heart (and head) swell with pride. I caught this tape of you "talking" to daddy right before bedtime. I've been called many things in my 23 years--Jenni, Miss Jenn, daughter, GiGi...but, sweet girl, none compare to tonight when you truly made me yours.
I love you, my Natalee Cynthia...
Always & forever,
Mama

Thousand Words Thursday

Who doesn't love a naked baby and beautiful lilies straight from Grandpa's garden?

6-21-09

I took this on Father's Day on a whim after Natalee ate supper (and was subsequently stripped down!) and love how the ornery face and gorgeous flowers turned out!

For more Thousand Word Thursday entries head over to: Cheaper Than Therapy.

Swim, Swim

Is it hot out or what? At my baby shower, an aunt, uncle & cousins of mine gave me two baby swimming pools--a very cool idea. Today, I got out one of them and blew it up for Natalee. I put it on the porch and filled it with water. I let the water set for awhile but since it wasn't in the direct sun it didn't heat up much. I thought she'd be mad but of course not...she's a fish. Her little arms shook when I first put her feet in but within a couple of seconds she plopped herself down.

(ignore the old sheet in the background...I used it to cover the pool to keep out the bugs & dirt!)

She loved it and sat for quite awhile. I like that the pool is just the right size for our porch so that she doesn't have to fry out in the direct sun but she can stay warm while she's playing! Swim, swim, swim...

Hey!

Can any of you tell me how to change/add my signature, the name of my comments section, etc?

Happy Father's Day

For some reasons this father's day has me more sentimental than ever (and if you know me that's pretty darn sentimental). Perhaps it's because Mike and I have done a lot of growing this year--purchased a house, a car, had a baby, started new jobs...

In any case, this year I'm more appreciative of my dad than ever. As a kid, I felt like I had a harder time 'bonding' with my dad because I was an indoor girl--a little bit of a sissy, didn't like to get dirty, didn't like to do things 'wrong', didn't like to be hot, etc., etc. However, as I've grown older, I've truly realized the worth of my father. He never let us down--always provided for us, always worked hard, and always taught us to put family above all else. He taught us to speak our mind--both a curse and an asset at times, and showed us how to have a sense of humor in the crappiest of situations. Every year my folks always planned and took us somewhere for vacation, and now that I'm a "grown-up" I see how expensive and hard that is sometimes.

As we've aged, I've realized that I don't need dad any less than I did as a kid, I just need him in a different way. I need him to beat my dishwasher into submission, to move me every year for 4 years straight, to vent my basement so my pipes don't freeze, to drive in the freezing rain to meet a new grandbaby, to inspect new cars (and houses) because I'd never dream of buying one without his approval, to fix cars, and fix cars, and fix cars...

And I need him because he's my dad, and he's Papa to a finicky silly little girl who will someday realize how much he loves her.

So, Dad, here's to you...for all the little and big things you do...

I love you!

Sleepy Sweetie

Is it any wonder that I'm not loving getting up in the morning and leaving this sweetie pie to go to work?

She's started rolling all over the place...recently we find her in completely different spots than we put her down in. We always put her on her back...this morning she was all tucked up on her tummy (with her feet sticking out of the blankets, just like mommy's).

Oh, I'm so thankful that she gets to stay home with daddy this week and got to be spoiled by Lorn Lorn last week. What a lucky baby! However, I'm equally thankful that I've only got 2 days left and get to spend the rest of my summer loving and hugging and kissing and squeezing every hour of every day! (oh, and planning a bridal shower, planning NYR, working on VBS, attending family events, etc, etc...). I love summer!!

Well...

...I've made it through 5 days of summer school, which means I'm half done! The little dears are growing on me. I had to remind myself to get out the softer side with some and the firmer side with a couple of repeaters. For the most part they are a loving but lively, rowdy, rough-around-the-edges bunch who I think will be a lot of fun. I hope my "party" room is kindergarten again this year, because I find myself falling for these little sweeties! That is easy to say since it's nap time here and I told them if they lay still/sleep they will earn a candy! They do look pretty angelic when they sleep.

I've also made it through 4 baby swim classes. Natalee is enjoying them and we might do another session this summer. I only wish they were closer...it stinks driving 30 minutes for a 30 minute class. We have 2 left and I have to have a partner in the water so Natalee will get to swim with both mommy and daddy! I'm sure she'll love that.

On the home front, we're surviving. Natalee got to be spoiled by Aunt Lorn Lorn all week while Mike came to work for a few days. Next week she's staying home with daddy while mommy works. I made some more baby food last night. I boiled some chicken thighs for the little miss and mixed them with veggies (might I say bleck?). Kinda yucky to do but she's worth it. She'll have her first taste tonight so we'll see. She's kind of decided she could do without veggies altogether but I'm pretty persistent. If you follow it with a bite of fruit she'll usually swallow but she likes to hold it in her mouth or make herself gag them back up. She did succeed at getting all of her peas back up one night...yummy!

Have I mentioned how much I love that we don't have to run our air or heat right now? I know some people would like some hotter weather but my electric bill is going to be awesome!

I'm off to some yard sales tonight...hoping to find treasure (or at the very least clothes for the growing weed).

Have a super fantastic weekend!

I'm Wondering...

...if it's conducive to the other 11 children's nap time when 1 child is throwing a fit on her rest mat. Sigh...she's quieted down, but once again she's dubbed me as "stupid." Darn...

7 days and counting...

UPDATE * 1 hour later...apparently a good fit makes both the audience and the fit thrower tired because all 12 fell asleep today!!

It's Awesome to Be SIX MONTHS!

Today our punkin is 6 months old. Funny to think that 6 months ago the weather was nasty and I was laying in a hospital bed...by this hour recovering and loving my new wonderful daughter.

So, Little Miss, all the things that you can do after half a year...

• you've just learned to play peek-a-boo--you can pull the blanket up and down over your head and you act surprised everytime you do it!
• you can shake your head no-no, even though you don't know what it means.
• you can roll both ways.
• you can pick toys up, move them from hand to hand, and (most importantly) chew on them!
• you've moved up to 6 ounce bottles for most of your feedings & 5 ounce ones with your meals.
  
• you eat "food" for breakfast and suppertime.
• you can hold your own bottle.
• you love the bath and don't even cry when I rinse your hair by dumping water on it.
• you've started grunting, squealing, and all around making fun noises.
• you turn your head when we say your name.
• you follow us with your eyes & you know who mama and daddy are.
• you give open mouthed kisses (and sneak in a lick once in awhile).
• you love swimming lessons & even let us dunk you all the way under once in awhile.
• you are still toothless!
• mommy noticed for the first time the other day that you have a couple of hairs that are long enough to be blown by a strong breeze!
• you love to be outside--in the stroller, in the backpack, on a blanket...whatever.
• you've decided that you are big enough to put yourself to sleep for all your naps and bedtime...only once in awhile do you let mommy or daddy snuggle you.
• when you are truly ready to wake up you wake up happy--if you wake up crying that means you are still tired.
• your favorite song is when mommy sings, "Have I told you lately that I love you? And you're everything I dreamed you'd be (and so much more)?" You always calm down and giggle when I sing that to you.
  
• you like to grab faces with your hands.
• you've decided that you like to suck your thumb while you drink your bottle.
  
• you can sit up all by yourself.
• you give the best big goofy grins and have the sweetest laugh.

And oh...so many other things that I could tell about you! Most of all, I want you to know how much we love you and how much joy you've brought to our lives. We've said several times in the last months that we don't know what we did for entertainment before we had you! You are a sunny little sweetie and we love with with all that we have! You're everything we dreamed you'd be (and more!).


Peek-a-boo, Natalee!

Okay folks...start choosing your pictures because this mama's ready to order! Maybe by Wednesday or so? That gives you a little time to narrow down the choices!

Natalee is SIX MONTHS!

Half a year...mercy sakes, how did that happen? I love this little girl so much...someone said that it was at this point that we would think about having another one but I can't imagine loving another as much as we love this girl.

Check back in another six months! :)

Family, friends, you know the routine...tell me what you love, what you like, and what you're not so fond of. I apologize for there being so many to try and pick from, but durn (yes, durn), she's cute! If you saw one on Facebook that you thought you liked better than these just say so...I can order those, too. As always, let me know your favorites & what sizes you want so we can get them ordered! Enjoy...

(numbers correspond to the picture above them)

#30 (daddy's chair/very ornery)

#29 (daddy's chair/ornery)

#28 (daddy's chair/looking up)

#28a (vertical crop of #28)

#27 (b&w with pink duck)

#26 (tutu/in chair)

#25 (tutu/looking up)

#24 (tutu/b&w with color)

#23 (tutu)

#22 (with name)

#21 (standing tall)

#20 (old fashioned lady)

#19 (hat/beads/color)

#18 (red beads)

#17 (slip/beads-full body)

#16 (sepia close up)

#15 (hat box/flowers)

#14 (grass)

#13 (flowers/b&w with color)

#12 (flowers/horizontal)

#11 (Americana/close up)

#10 (Americana/towel)

#9 (Americana/looking up)

#8 (Americana/full chair)

#7 (Americana smile)

#6 (flag)

#5 (tub/bubbles)

#4 (tub/relaxin')

#3 (classic tub)

#2 (tub/towel)

#1 (tub/washboard)

Baby Swim--Thousand Word Thursday

A review of Baby Swim, as narrated by Natalee (with Mommy's help)...

Tonight we had our first baby swim class. Mommy decided she would go with me the first time so Daddy was in charge of pictures. When we first got there they let us get warmed up by playing with our mommies (well, one little boy had his daddy).

Then we sat on the side and sang "This is the way we wash our..." and mommy splashed me with pool water. Next we learned a signal for when the parents say it's okay for us to get in the water. Mommy decided to use a 1-2-3 count. We practiced a couple of times. As you can see, I'm the tiniest tot in the class but I kept with those big guys!!
After the song the parents learned different ways to hold us in the water. Then we got to play with balls! I was supposed to throw that ball as far as I could in the water so mommy could help me swim on my tummy after it...I decided to make sure it passed the taste test first. Mommy threw it in for me and we got busy.
I did a good job keeping my eyes on the green ball and putting my arms out in front of me like a real swimmer! After the game with the ball we did some other activities that I wasn't quite big enough for. I did have fun watching Mommy & the other kids do them, though. Mommy showed me how to blow bubbles and I watched some of the big guys put their whole face in the water! Someday I'll be able to do that.

Next, Mommy propped me up against her and we worked on perfecting my back float. I took it very seriously and found it quite relaxing. Mommy had to work hard showing me how to kick my legs real big!

The last part was my favorite! We played Ring-a-Round-the-Rosie! We'd done it earlier in class but this last time I really got a tickle from it. I splashed and giggled and got ALL wet!
Mommy even gave me a pretty good dunking at the last "ashes, ashes we all fall down" and I loved it!

All in all I had a great time at swim class. I was a little sleepy because it was almost nap time but I trooped right through and stuck with it. 30 minutes is a long time for a 6 month old lady to stay in a semi-structured class in the water and Mommy & Daddy are very proud of how I did! I have 5 more classes to go and I can't wait!!
(p.s. Thank you, Levi, for the swim diapers! And thank you, Sara June, for my snuggly duck towel that wrapped me all up after I got out of the water!)

breaks my heart

News like this breaks my heart...it's happening more and more in our country. Our nation definitely needs our prayers right now...

Deere announces Ottumwa layoffs