9 Month Beauty {Natalee}

This 9 month Beauty is mine! Isn't she lovely? (I'm biased). In reflection of these sets of pictures I realized a few things: I LOVE taking outdoor photos--the light is so sweet and true and it makes everything look crisp and clean! I also realized that I need to get better lighting indoors. At this time we're working with 2 continuous umbrella lights and no strobes or other overhead lighting and it's showing in my photos (and driving me nuts!). The ones with the black stool seem too bright to me and I love the facial expression and hand on #21 but am aggravated at the shadow on the left cheek. Before we invest in too much more equipment we are looking at making a home studio set-up. Right now we operate with a temporary set-up because that's just what we have at this time as we're just getting started and I'm not willing to put too much more stationary equipment in the house. In time, in time, we'll hopefully be expanding! No matter the minor glitches I still very much love this little gal's 9 month pictures!

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Natalee is 9 Months

Not as many props as with the 6th month pictures...the only prop I needed for our 9 month milestone was 1 beautiful baby, a darling hat & the mirror from my bathroom wall! Enjoy...family & friends, as always, comment or email with the ones you would like. I'll be ordering in one week!

Happy 9 months, Bean! You are our greatest joy & it's our sweetest pleasure to watch you grow bigger & bigger! This month you've learned to crawl! You have 4 teeth and don't eat baby food any more. You mimic all kinds of sounds and are developing a sweet personality with a streak of Tallman stubborness (you can thank Papa Curtis for that!). We love you more and more each day! Love, Mommy & Daddy

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Me Jane

Natalee is becoming quite the mimic. This is a very fun age to have the video camera handy!

So Big!

Something to make you smile...

Good job, Daddy for teaching the Bean a new trick!

for Lorn Lorn (& crawling videos)

A little birdie told me that Lauren would like me to be better about updating pictures of my Natalee on Facebook...however, since I can't do that at work, even on my planning time (because the tech guy won't let us on Facebook), I'll have to add a couple here and she'll have to make do. And she's right...I do take pictures of the Bean everyday--usually at least one before we leave the house. And so, since all I have is my little camera she'll just have to suffice with these...

first day at Miss Laura Jean's...our new baby sitter

a week ago

this morning
(recognize the jacket, Nannie?)

Last night the Bean took her first crawling "steps" (what do you call them when it's crawling?). I was trying to tape her clicking her tongue, which was her newest trick, when all of the sudden she pushed off and went 1-2 "steps". I was dumbfounded & didn't even realize it until it was all said and done.

In this video I'm the one clicking my tongue...trying to get her to do it which I don't think she ever did. She crawled a wee bit at the end of the video.

In this video she is the one clicking her tongue & then at the end she sees her binky on the floor and army crawls to it. Strong girl! Watch her feet at about 1 min 29 seconds...she gets really aggrevated because she can't reach it and starts kicking...ah, if only she were a fish!

The B.I.B.L.E.

Do you have a Bible that you love? Bibles can be pretty expensive...not expensive when you consider they hold the key to all life's secrets but pricey when you think about groceries, formula & diapers. I'd had my eye on a Message/NIV parallel Bible for a looong time. I wanted it but couldn't justify buying it--I already had a Bible that was all marked up with all of my notes in it...what would I do with a new one?...how would I transfer my notes?...what would I do with my old one?--that kind of stuff. Not to mention the other things that I knew I could buy with that $60-$70.
Mike caught wind of my "want" (okay, I'm sure I'm as subtle as a freight train) and when we were in Colorado he took me to a Family Christian Store. I began browsing the Bibles and fell in love with a pink leather bound parallel just like I wanted. Silly, huh? The internal message is the same no matter what the outside looks like but golly did I want that Bible. And so, my husband conceded, quickly realizing my want (and caring) and justifying that The Message version is good to have around to help explain scripture to others. And when I went to check out?...the original price of over $60 was on sale--a sign we didn't see--and the Bible was $15 off! God's blessing on my new purchase!
And I LOVE it! It's completely rejuvenated my scripture reading...not only do I love that it's leather bound (and pink) but I love the parallel.
I understand so much more and am able to interpret meaning behind scripture. I began taking notes right in the Bible as soon as I got it (which was hard for me to do with my old one--that old "don't write in books mantra") and it already feels like I've had it forever.

I have a feeling that this Bible and I will become good friends over the years. A friend who always tells me like it is, leads me in the right direction and picks me up when I've fallen. A friend who reminds me that I'm loved by the One and Only and belong to a Kingdom greater than I'll ever imagine here. Yup...we'll be the bestest of buds.

So now, I'm curious--do you have a Bible that you LOVE and if so what version is it? If not, might I recommend the NIV/Message Parallel? Or if you have one & you're not sure you love it, might I recommend that you make it "yours"? Write it in, love on it, take it with you, read it, highlight things that apply to you personally...own it! It's a guide to be used, not a shrine to be sat on a shelf. It should, of course, be treated with respect but it's not simply the bound pages that we should treat with such reverance...it's the Man who wrote them. He gave it to you to use as a guide and I believe he smiles when your Book is well worn with use and love.

So friends, here's praying you've found the Bible for you and that, if you haven't, you'll look for it, but more importantly you'll use it & be blessed because of it!

Tinfoil Trauma

Soooo, Natalee and I decided to make breakfast this morning. I sat her on the counter after getting out all the stuff we needed to make monkey bread and busied myself putting the sugar & butter on the stove, all the while keeping one hand on her--keeping her safe, being mom of the year. I heard a crinkle, crinkle and realized she was playing with the tinfoil that was covering a dessert I'd made earlier in the week. I scolded her and took it away and turned back to stir the saucepan on the stove. Out of no where I heard her start coughing and sputtering and quickly turned back to her. I couldn't see anything she'd been into and couldn't figure out what she had eaten. As I was trying to figure out what she had I glanced at the pan I'd moved away from her and realized that there was a hole in the middle of the tinfoil. Poo!
I picked her up, ran into her bedroom (where there is a baby monitor that feeds upstairs) and yelled for Mike, who was in bed. He barrelled down the stairs and as I explained what she'd done he pulled her from me and did the absolute right thing. The thing I should have thought of but couldn't process. As he was pounding on her back and pointing her head down she stopped coughing and started struggling and turning blue. Mike told me to call his dad, who was on ambulance duty, so I did and somehow got across what I needed after Sara answered. By this time Mike was sitting on the couch beating on Natalee's back. Finally she started trying to vomit and began crying...blessed, blessed crying (me too, just in case you were wondering). The medics came in and checked her out, listened to her lungs & watched her eat breakfast and we called Nurse Paula & Dr. Rick to get their opinion on what we should do. She's doing fine, of course, because babies are resilient like that...however this mama needs put back on her heart pills & needs a bottle of lady l'oreal after all that...and all before 9 o'clock a.m.
So thank you Phil & Jodi for rushing over and an even bigger thanks to Super Daddy who reacted with calm and finesse in an emergency. I've wondered all day if I would have been by myself if I would have been able to remember what to do. I'm CPR trained, as are all school employees, and my head knew what to do but my heart wouldn't let me think. It's times like this when I truly realize that God never gives us more than we can handle...He knew I couldn't handle it but He also knew Mike could.
Needless to say, we're waiting for a shiny diaper in the Beeler household this week because, like most things in life, this too shall pass...

oh, sorry...I just couldn't resist!

New Beginnings...

School is back in full swing, Natalee's going to a WONDERFUL new daycare provider (more about that later)....changes are happening around us a mile a minute! But tonight, probably one of the most memorable and important changes is taking place. Tonight we kissed my baby sister and told her good luck and sent her away to college. Well, not quite like that...we ate supper, had a loud boisterous evening of family fun, then hugged and kissed, and she moves in tomorrow.
Colby cried, Emma got watery eyes, Natalee look confused (and tired), and me?...I was brave. Very brave. I didn't cry...in front of anyone. Silly, I know. She's only 1 1/2 hours away. It's just different. A good different for her...new experiences, new friends, a new town...but different all the same. So, Aunt Lorn Lorn...we're very proud of you--tonight and always and we know you'll do great! Study hard, stay away from boys, and (in the words of dad) don't do anything stupid! Love you, sis!

(side note: Please ignore how very tired Andrea and I look. We had our first day of school with students today and we are...well, that tired!)

Sketti Dinner

Okay, I promise...I'll do the rest of the vacation pictures soon. But for now....

We've been feeding Natalee more and more table food and last night I made spaghetti. We tried to give it to her at NYR and she told her Aunt Lorn Lorn, "no, no, no" and wouldn't eat it. So last night I made her a plate and put homemade baby foods on it but also included spaghetti. She LOVED it and is very good at slurping the noodles. I didn't get a good video of her sucking a noodle up but still captured her enjoying her sketti! Ahhh, how did she get so big so fast?

The "mommy's a good cooker" line comes from when Colby was little. He used to tell my mom, "grandma, you a GOOD cooker!" Her smiles and grins could make you feel like Chef Boyardee, when in reality sketti's not too hard! God bless her!

My Little Indian Baby

Okay, so it's not politically correct, but here's my baby girl doing the Indian call that Grandma Cindy taught her. She's a big 8 months old, now! Sooo big!