Giggles in the tub

Happy Birthday, Addi

Last weekend we went to Chuck E. Cheese to celebrate Addi turning 5 but above are some pre-party pictures at Amy and Mike's. We had a little private party the week before because Jo was in town from Houston. jo made a strawberry cake and had had a Hello Kitty theme. Lasagna was served and a great time was had by the guest of honor....Addison. She's such a pretty little girl! Now that Amy and her entire family are learning how to move on with life post cancer, it's still a bit of an uphill struggle. I cannot imagine what it must be like for a little girl to go through life wondering "is mommy going to the hospital this week?" every single week of her 3rd and 4th year of life. Hopefully, this new year will bring lots of happy moments and fewer trying times. Amy continues to gain strength and confidence. The stem cell transplant still looks like a huge success! Please pray for continued strength and healing.

Now, let's talk party....

Here's Amelia with Becki.....

Addi, me and Amelia all in our animal prints.

My baby girl taking it all in. I wish I snapped a shot of her getting out of her car seat. It was a little sensory overload paranoia. She was fine 2 seconds later.

Old friend

Recently I've reconnected with a high school friend, Jennifer! She and I had a couple of classes together and I honestly can't remember for sure which ones but I do know that Spanish was one of them. I remember that we spent most of our time in class with me hunched over leaning toward her and she was turned totally around so that we could talk, talk, talk!

The picture above is from our senior year yearbook with me on the left and Jennifer on the right. Mendy is in the middle. We're in yearbook class working on layouts.

We went to lunch recently to catch up and one lunch date simply was not enough time to catch up on 18 years! We hope to get together again soon. I have some precious pics of her and her family up at work that I'll add to this post later this week. She has a little girl that's a couple of months older than Amelia and I can't wait for the two of them to meet. She also has a very handsome 15 year old.

Jenn brought Amelia some sweet gifts. Some Hallmark ornaments (because she knows I love them from reading my blog), two really cute outfits, a precious elephant picture frame, and a Leapfrog puppy dog. Her name is Violet and she's purple. Perfect! Violet talks to Amelia and sings songs with her and calls her by name. It's so cool! You can program your child's name into the toy. Wow!


Amelia loves her new friend. Here are a couple of pictures of them playing...
Thank, Jennifer! She really loves this toy! You are so sweet and thoughtful. Can't wait to see you again.

5 Months Old

Today Amelia is the big 5! Months, that is! Time is going by so fast and we're having a lot of fun with her. She's growing so fast and changing every day. Here's what she's been up to:

*Sleeping like a champ in her crib. She does this funny scoot to where she'll end up being wedged up against the side. I guess that's why the "Breathable Bumper" is such a big thing now. I'd love to put her cute elephant bumper in her crib but I'm afraid she'd stuff her face in it.
*Still eating about six times a day.
*Goes to bed around 8 or 9. Sometimes it's without a tear or scream but sometimes not. Tonight was one of the "sometimes not" nights.
*Will NOT switch over to another paci. She likes the green soothie for newborns and wants nothing to do with substitutes.
*Likes to hold her feet. One in each hand and she'll get her foot up to her mouth and suck on her little toes. It's so cute!
*She purses her little lips and puckers them while humming. Mostly when she's trying to soothe herself.
*Rolling over. Still only back to front but now she gets that other arm out of the way when she rolls onto her tummy. I bet her biceps are going to be huge (ha ha) from all the push up stances she holds
*Likes to scratch different textures
*Still spits up. A lot. All the time.
*She's been drooling like a drool monster. I'm convinced she'll have a tooth soon.
*Doesn't like to sit. She always wants to stand.
*Sits up pretty well when assisted.
*Jumps like a monkey in her excersaucer
*She weighed 15 pounds and 1 ounce at her 4 month check up and was 25 inches long.
*She's very smiley and very happy (despite her face in this first picture).

Amelia, we love you more and more each day!

Dad turns 70

This past weekend we went to see Dad for his 70th birthday. I can't believe he's 70. That sounds so old but not as old as it used to 5 or 10 years ago. It's funny that as your parents start approaching "that age" what you consider to be "old" is pushed back and pushed back. I guess it's because I don't want them to get old!

No use fighting it. It happens to all of us.

At least he's still in pretty good shape. Both my folks are and for that, I'm grateful!
This last picture is just of Amelia....because she's just precious!

Pray for Gay

Please say a pray for Gay Thirdson Mathurin of Haiti. He's our Sunday school compassion child from Compassion International. He's 4 years old and he lives in a town about 30-40 miles SW of Port Au Prince. As of today, his child care center is not on the list of affected centers. I'm praying for all the people of Haiti. I feel so helpless and I would love to do something to help these poor people during this devastation. I cannot imagine what life is like for them right now. I'm pretty sure it feels like hell. I'm praying also for all the rescue workers and for their efforts.

4 Months Old

Amelia is 4 months old now and she's changing so much. This post is a little late but I couldn't find my wooden numbers so I couldn't paint it and take her picture. I'm slowly putting away Christmas decorations so I finally came across it. Technically, she turned 4 months on December 24th.

Here's what she's doing now...
* Still sleeping through the night but will need a pacifier around 4 or 5am
* She slept in her own room finally, on January 1st. She's been in her bassinet next to my bed side all this time. It was time to move her and thankfully, it went very smoothly.
*Trying to wean her off of the swaddle. She's almost breaking out of it. That, combined with her rolling means she needs to be free and clear of all stuff in her crib. Tonight she's in her crib with warm jammies. Nothing else. Fingers are crossed!
*She's rolling, rolling, rolling. From back to front mostly turning to the right. We're trying to encourage her to go left with toys and face to face time with mom and dad.
*She's laughing and it's so adorable
*She's eating about 6-7 ounces each feeding and she eats 5 or 6 times a day
*She goes to bed at 8 or 8:30 unless we're out partying! Ha Ha! Just kidding.
*Smiling a lot. She smiles when she sees familiar faces and hears familiar voices. Heck, she even smiles for strangers.
*She follows us with her gaze all around the room
*She loves her Christmas presents. Particularly her sock monkey and soft stacking blocks. Oh, and the clothes, of course!
*She's still singing and talking a lot! Her teachers say that during class nap time Amelia is trying to lead choir practice. That's my girl!



Today, January 4th, she had her 4 month well baby check up and she got her immunizations. 3 shots, poor baby.
She weighs 15 lbs and 1 oz and she's 25 inches long. My baby girl is getting so big and when you hold her you can feel it! We love her so much and we're soaking up every second with her. We're so thankful for the love and joy she's brought to our lives. Take it slow, sweet girl!