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Sunday, March 27, 2011

How did I miss it?

I ran into someone today who wanted to relive some of mom's "moments" and in talking with them, I caught myself thinking that it has been 4 years ago last week that mom's first surgery took place and we spent a week in the hospital. How did the time slip by me and how did I ever forget about that memory making moment?!
I'll tell you how:
I had several meetings on Monday, hurt my ankle and was all laid up on Tuesday, spent about 12 hours at the church on Wednesday, then hosted a girls night out on Thursday, celebrated J's birthday with a surprise event date night with some of our besties to Duckworth's Taphouse and the Andrew Peterson concert on Friday, then a 2-hour trip in Target to get some essentials, and another evening out celebrating with the in-laws, plus a long morning and afternoon at the church.
Who had time to think about the day before, much less 4 years ago, with all of that going on?!

Although I have ABSOLUTELY NO FREE time to do something other than work or care for my family (not even exercise much these days...), I guess I'm not complaining that some of those memories have moved themselves to the back burner. I used to always wonder how long I would dwell on them - every momentus day, every event that happened, every setback that gave us disappointment.  I just knew that I would remember them so vividly from year to year.  Maybe, just maybe, my busyness is the Lord guiding me in ways to move on.  I'm not really always thrilled about my lack of time to do much of anything, but in this instance, for once, I was a little relieved that I had almost forgotten the beginning of the end.

Sunday, March 20, 2011

a day in the park

We've been blessed with some beautiful weather here lately, and I'm a sucker for the sun and warm air. So when my friend, Pam, called me on Friday, we decided to take our girls (her daughter, Taylor, is about 2 months younger than Miriam and they spend Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday afternoons together) to the most beautiful park in town. We were excited because they girls had been almost 2 weeks without quality time (because we've all been sick!).



Miriam with Taylor's ball, and Taylor with Miriam's block - good thing these girls love to share!
  We took out blankets and toys and found a shady spot (after realizing that the park had very few sidewalks/ramps without steps!) and sat down. We even had the local newspaper take our picture and we landed an almost full page photo on the front page of the local section of the Saturday's Herald.  Here are a few  more shots from our outdoor play date:
 

Taylor got her ball back :)
 
Miriam after enjoying a MumMum for snack
 
and to make the picture perfect, the drool and jellies


Tuesday, March 15, 2011

the best book ever

The Jesus Storybook Bible: Every Story Whispers His NameAbout 1.5 years ago, I wrote this post about the Jesus Storybook Bible - a MUST HAVE for any family with a child 0-5th grade. It's such a cool book in my opinion, that we've started gifting it at the church when the babies are baptized.
Today, I caught word of yet another contest to enter (I know, after losing the last 4, why would I want to be disappointed YET again?!)....
I heard that someone of the Short Stop blog was giving away 10 of the newer large trim Jesus Storybook Bibles- I'm crossing my fingers for this one - at least there are 10 available - I hope I get one for snuggle time for Miriam and me :)

Monday, March 14, 2011

and a couple of tricks up the sleeve...

I meant to share two other "tricks" about sweet Miriam - she has showed us with her brillance (of which I NEVER doubted)!  We do lots of things with our hands and arms, initially it was because of her weakness in her left arm/shoulder.  She can "pat pat pat" back with us now and she gets so giddy when we do it with her!
She also has these stackable rings that she got as a Christmas present from her dear Ann-weese :) She LOVES playing (and eating) each ring, one by one, taking them off. And, what we used to think was just careless banging and clanging of the rings together and against the yellow stick, she really WAS trying to put them back on the stick. She can get at least the blue and green one on, and sometimes the yellow...and we're working on the rest.

She may not roll over like most 5-6 months are, and she may not have any teeth like most babies before 7 months, but she sure is smart. Of course she is :)

Friday, March 11, 2011

Embarking on 8 months

Our sweet glow worm,
It seems like just yesterday we were wrapping you up with the bili blanket and letting you sleep the day away. Eight months later, you're really not into much sleeping - you'd rather explore! What a month it has been!  Your daddy and I have enjoyed each and every day more and more and love to see your intriging looks.  Some highlights from the past month:
1- We have enjoyed the Kindermusik class with all of your friends and the greatest teacher, Mrs. Connie!
2 - We celebrated our first Valentines Day with you - and since you can't eat any candy, we just kissed you all day long.
3 - We rejoiced in your life as we sadly remembered the death of your "heaven nana" on February 19.
4 - You are now able to sit up completely on your own, and we can leave you there for up to an hour to play. Your favorite toys right now are the stackable rings, Violet, and the new (old) sing and spin zoo mommy got for you at the consignment sale.
5 - We officially started solids after you turned 7 months, but you really have just gotten the hang of it. You've enjoyed the apples, bananas, carrots, rice, and oatmeal, along with your recent indulgement, Baby mum mums.  By far, your favorite food is pears. We can't wait to try butternut squash, green beans, peas, and avacado.  Mommy really likes making your food right now too!
6 - On February 23rd, you managed to get out of your swaddle and lose your paci before 8:15 p.m....and you slept until the morning! So, Since February 24th, you have been COMPLETELY swaddle free! Your mommy and daddy were starting to think that you were going to have to take your swaddle blanket to kindergarten!
7 - You are learning more and more sign language, and although you don't sign back with mommy, you acknowledge what she is saying. You also LOVE IT when mommy speaks and sings in Spanish. It must have been that trip to Mexico when you were in mommy's belly that made you love spanish!

Stats for 8 months:
17 lbs 10 oz, almost 27 inches

We are on pins and needles to see what new things you'll be doing this month!

another contest...

I've entered a few contests the past few weeks and lost. It certainly can be depressing, and I never thought I would be so competitive. But social networking has a way of bringing out the best! i just entered to win a camera creature the my nice Nikon D3000 can don while taking photos of Miriam. At least I have better odds this time with 3 winners. Here's to a victory!

Friday, March 4, 2011

The art of craftiness...and a shoutout to some!

I'm fairly right brained. From a young age, music was my way of expression, from dance, to piano, then to violin. I always wanted to be artistic in other ways though. I wanted to be able to draw, I wanted to be able to make "cute" posters for the upcoming school/church events, I wanted to be a graphic designer.  There's something about it - I can almost visualize all of the arsty things, but I just can't follow through with them. I must admit there's a bit of jealousy for folks that can do this. Like, my friend Ellie and her bowties that she makes (and now has her own BOOMING business!), or my friend Sara who gets to do too many fun things with her sewing machine. Sometimes I just wish I had an artsty project that turned out fantastic.
But, alas, I'm just musically inclined....until today!
I've discovered my new sense of "creativity": making homemade baby food. I know, I know, doesn't sound too creative, but it sort of felt like it was.  Another friend of mine, Alice, gifted me this book a few weeks back before we decided to start Miriam on solids (which is a long story, but although she's almost 8 months, we have only be doing solids for a solid week and a half now). I knew that this would be one of the only opportunities that I could actually make her baby food.  The next time there's a new baby, I'm sure I'll be busy! So I wanted to take advantage, and at least for a bit, claim the right as the preparer of her food.
This morning, my creative juices were flowing and I got in the kitchen to prepare butternut squash, carrots, apples, and pears.  Within 2 hours, I had a vision and saw through it. Now I've got at least a dozen or more servings of each fruit and veggie.

And the best part: the carrots and apples were free (thanks to Earthfare's Welcome Home and weekly coupon specials). The squash was only $2.34 and the 2 pears were about $1.70. So - 48+ servings of homemade organic baby food in 2 hours for just about $4. Who wouldn't want to be creative like that?