Viva Fiesta

Fiesta has once again come and gone. It was fun while it lasted. Nathan and I worked NIOSA on Tuesday of last week. We worked the Yak-i-tori chicken booth with the McDonald's and the Boyle's. We had a great time except for my allergies. We worked the early shift and finished at 7:45 and walked around a bit and ate and then came home. Leslie watched Amelia for us and she said Amelia was "perfect". She ate when I said she would and she went to bed without any problems. Leslie is a baby whisperer and has that special touch.

Last Thursday the Concordia Child Care Center put on their annual Fiesta Parade. I always go and watch it but this year was special. My sweet daughter was in it! Her class chose to dress up 60's style and their cribs were decorated like little V W Bugs. She wore a white peasant blouse and jeans with her little bare feet. I put a big flower in her hair, too.

You can see our little sweetie standing in her crib. She looks like she thinks this whole shindig is for her. Cute!

The picture below is of Amelia's 4 teachers. These ladies are a blessing to us and we are so thankful for them. Ms. Aneliese, Ms. Nicole, Ms. Joanne and Ms. Teresa....thank you so much for all you do and for loving our little girl.

Easter 2010

We had a great day celebrating Easter this year. It started EARLY for me like it always does. I got up to work around 4am to help with Sunrise service preparations. We had to set up the altar, chairs, music gear, power, etc. It was misting a little but we kept our fingers crossed hoping it would stop but it didn't. We ended up putting everything back and the Sunrise service was inside. Bummer! There's something so special about Easter Sunrise service when it's outside. The service starts in the dark and I cannot describe the feeling. I like to imagine what it was like on that first Holy week and first Easter morning when Jesus rose from the grave. When Mary and Mary went to the tomb and found it empty, realizing that Jesus did beat death and the devil. What a privilege to worship and serve. I wasn't "put out" or "inconvenienced" by having to wake before the crack of dawn. It's the least I can do and I'm honored to serve. When the service was getting ready to start I headed for home to see my two sweeties wake up for the day. We got ready and went to church at 11. We sat with the Hamann's and the girls did a great job. I had to take Amelia out a couple of times because she thought she should help preach. I guess that's what she thought....she was wanting to talk a lot!

What a handsome daddy....
We went to see Granny and wish her a Happy Easter and after that we went to Mom's. She had a great meal planned for us and beautiful Easter baskets for the girls. It reminded me of Easter mornings at home when I was little. Mom always made Easter baskets for us even when we were well into our twenties. Amelia's basket had a huge duck that was bright, bright yellow. She loved it almost as much as she loved the fake Easter grass and cellophane that covered
the basket.

HAPPY EASTER!

8 Months Old

How can this be? Amelia is 8 months old TODAY! Thank goodness for this milestone. It's helping me make this post. I've been so distracted with life that I've been neglecting my blog. First, let me tell you about Amelia.

This has been a big month filled with exciting changes. She's been toying with the idea of crawling for about 3 weeks now but rocking back and forth on all fours has been all she's attempted until this last Wednesday. On her Uncle Tommy's birthday, she crawled. I mean a REAL crawl. Right, left, right left, hands, knees...the whole enchilada! I was playing with her on the floor watching Matt and Meredith report the morning news when I looked down at her. She was focused on her paci that was on the other side of the room and then all of a sudden, my little baby crawled. As if that wasn't enough, the next day on my birthday, she pulled up in her crib at school and also in the play area. She's getting to be such a big girl! Here's my list of accomplishments for Miss Amelia....

*CRAWLING- 04-21-2010
*Pulling up-04-22-2010
*Eating more new foods like honey dew, yogurt, pineapple and puffs. It's so cute to see her little chubby hands pick up a puffed snack and put it in her own little mouth.
*Saying ma-ma-ma-ma and ba-ba-ba-ba
*She gets really excited when she sees her grandparents and aunts and uncles and cousins
*The momma cling is starting to set in. When I walk into her room at school to feed her I find her happy and entertained but as soon as she makes eye contact with me she starts to cry. Sometimes its just the opposite. She'll see me and her little legs start kicking.

Amelia, Mommy and Daddy love you so much and we are so blessed to be your parents. You are so special and we love watching discover new things and grow. We pray for you everyday- for you to be strong, sweet, confident and happy in all you do. Keep doing what you're doing! We love you!

Laugh or Cry

A new way to eat

Here's Amelia eating a banana. I love this thing by Munchkin. It's a fresh food mesh bag. You can put real foods in the bag and little ones can eat away without the risk of choking.

Bluebonnets are here!

We've had such great rain this year, I knew the bluebonnets would be gorgeous! We went over to Kelly and Clints on Monday to take pictures of the girls in the field just down the road from their house and from Clint's "Packrat Storage" lots. They turned out pretty cute!

I love this next one. Poor babies! The sun was just too bright!
Nathan was at McAllister park riding bikes with Brian the other day and said they came across a gorgeous field of bluebonnets. We're going to take Amelia this weekend for yet another photo shoot.

Happy Birthday!

Saturday was my sister's birthday AND my Mamo's, too. We had a wonderful time celebrating with a lot of food. We went to Saltgrass for lunch for Mamo's celebration and then to Red Lobster for Kelly's. Glad I wore stretchy pants!

I'm so glad that we did two different "parties". We normally celebrate them together. To honor my sweet big sister I'll share a couple of fond memories of her.....

THEN: One time, when we were little, we were playing out in the backyard on a hot summer day. We had a really cool swing set that had a giant metal slide. Well, I'm not sure if her bright idea came to her because of the heat or because of her desire to be daring. She thought it would be a great idea to cool the slide down with water from the hose while at the same time make out slide down a little faster. Being the smart big sister she was, she asked me to try it out first. I went down. Fast. Like a bullet from a gun. I think I even flipped backwards on my descent. She opted to forego her turn.

NOW: I haven't told her that I noticed this but it's little things like the way she holds Amelia. Monday we went over to her house to take Bluebonnet pictures with Lacey and Ashley and Kelly held Amelia as we walked out to the field. She held her like she was the most precious package. Amelia was so safe and happy in her arms. It was beautiful to me.

She's so beautiful inside and out and she loves with all she has. She's a great mommy, sister and friend.

Mamo turned 88 and she's doing great. She still gets her hair done every Saturday and she loves spending time with family. So many of my wonderful childhood memories took place at her house which is in the same neighborhood as my mom's house. It was a great . We would spend hours sitting around her dining room table playing Uno, Yahtzee, Tripoly and Phase 10. I also took piano lessons at her neighbor's house so I'd sit at the piano and entertain my family by playing Moonlight Sonata and Fur Elise over and over again. I am one of 10 grandchildren and Amelia is the youngest of 13 great-grandchildren. She's a wonderful grandmother and I'm so glad we decided to name Amelia Ruth after her. Irene Ruth.

Happy Birthday, Kelly and Mamo!

I love you!