Another CATCH-UP Post

Last Thursday was my "official" last day with Sky and Daws... we've had them at least once a week sometimes more throughout the summer and I can't begin to tell you how GRATEFUL and blessed I was by that time. You all know how much I think "everyone needs a Sky" but I just love spending time with my family and they only added to the FANTASTIC summer I had....The lady from the lake :) said that we could come and enjoy her water so we took full advantage... J.T. and Dani came...

Daws caught a "big one"....more on that later...

awwww... there's my girl pretending that she is innocently playing with Dani's toys...

splashing and having all kinds of fun...

what you don't see is the FISTFULS of dirt and rocks she continued to put in her mouth time and time again...hurling herself backwards in a moment of defiance at Auntie J.T. telling her "no" and throwing herself completely under the water...

scaring the be-jee-bees out of the "big one" in this pic... but onto sillier things... please note C.J.'s dirty ol'man mustache. Who was feeding that kid Oreos before lunch anyway??

Thank goodness for the corral with her BFF that took her mind off the temper tantrum

Meanwhile....how much fun was SHE having? She does love her pool but she requests days at the lake with Joyce... :) awwww..... as an added bonus she got time with JJ on his jet ski AND his his new boat...

and back to the "big one"... straight off the back of my couch...

Yah... so happy that Mama got her out of the pack 'n play where she was SUPPOSED to be taking a nap....

Friday night we spent celebrating Chloe-Belle's b-day pah-ty... too bad there are no pics of the birthday girl... only the little girl... whoopsie... :)

On Saturday we headed NORTH and you know how much I LOVE north... especially when it is to visit my cousin Tod and his 'rents who are up visiting from the south... a little different traveling this year making a couple of stops in the two hours for the little one...

but the time to get there was def. worth it with a view like this one...

and the ocean in the background isn't bad either *wink, wink* This is the view from the porch where the CountryRents are staying with Tod's parents...(CountryDad's cousin and her hubby)

While dinner was cooking....Grrrraammmppppaaa was up to his own "cooking" trying to get Minnie to say his name before TiTi's....she looks pretty intent doesn't she? She got the "Pa" down but doesn't quite get the grrrraaannnnnddddd first....

It's good to be the only girl... the littlest...AND the only grandbaby there :) hee hee hee... just teasin' CJ and Ho-Hahn :) The next afternoon we had lunch and this one tried to keep working on the "Grampa"... he'd take it if she'd call him that... he's got a couple of granddaughter's himself and he's kinda partial to them :)

She was too busy flashing those newly decended pearly whites....eating everything people would hand to her, sweet potato french fries, dinner rolls and in this picture... GINGERBREAD!!!

Happy happy people...

After lunch I took my crunchy-hippy-wanna-be self and had my picture taken in front of my FAVORITE store in this town with my baby in my sling... 1/2 sleeping...

Seriously. I can't even comment on this picture. I can only say... wait for the video.

Happy 1st Day of Pre-Season

Minnie is hoping you don't YIFF...
We miss you already GA and hope you have a GREAT bball season!!

Happy NINE Months Minnie!!!

Sweet Sweet Girl,

The past month has been your busiest one yet. Your Daddy and I tried to think of all the things you have learned and achieved as of late and I hope we did not miss anything.

• You have mastered your walker
• You've graduated to a "big girl" carseat ~ no more baby bucket for you
• You are an expert at crawling and are a big fan of trying to chase us down
• You LOVE the trash can and it is a battle to keep you away from it (nasty)
• We are fairly certain that you have learned how to say "Da-Da" and use it appropriately :) My favorite is trying to get you to say "Ma-Ma" and have you respond with "Da-Da" and then look at him instead of me :) hee hee hee
• You were dedicated to the Lord at church this past month
• We (Daddy) had to lower your crib to the bottom setting because you kept pulling yourself up and chewing on the side rail (yick!)
• You are chewing because you have popped through 4 more teeth bringing you up to a total of SIX!!! Four on the top and 2 on the bottom...this has not gone well for your hiney Yikes!
• You are wearing mostly 9-12 month shirts and some 18 month sweatshirts
• You can fit into 3-6 month leggings in the waist no problem but they look like crop pants
• 12 month pants for length but they are WAY too big around the waist
• You have learned how to clap and you are THRILLED when we say YAAAAHHHHH for you

• You are getting really good at finger foods in your high chair and you love to be able to feed yourself Miss Independent
• I'm definately seeing that you know who I am and when you want to come to me there's no stopping whomever is holding you
  

A typical day for you starts around 6AM, for a few weeks there you were getting closer to 7 but now you are back towards the 5:50 time slot... Mama is NOT a fan...you get up and play, have a few Cheerios and around 7 you are ready for breakfast. You eat just about any fruit except bananas. I keep trying them with you but you pretend to gag everytime. You have a bottle and then you are down and going... sometimes you jump in your excesaucer, sometimes you race around in your walker or just crawl around playing with your toys and trying to get into things you shouldn't. Sometime between 7:45-8:30 you let us know you are ready for a nap and in the past month that nap was lasting about 2.5 hours... now we are back to 30-60 minutes. Again. Mama, not such a big fan. You are ready for another nap between 11:30-1 after a lunch of a couple of veggies and another bottle. Sometimes you take another catnap later in the afternoon if we are out and about sometimes you like to stay awake for the entire afternoon. By 4PM it isn't going well for anyone :) A late afternoon snooze is good for you. You have dinner around 5-5:30 and that is more cereal, a couple more veggies/meats and another bottle that you like to linger with for about an hour. You are in bed for the night between 6:30-7 and we do it all again the next day :)

STATS: 18 LBS 47% ~ 29 1/4" 94% ~ Head Cir. 44cm 50%

Minnie, this month's birthday report brings the summer to a close for us. Daddy started back to work three days ago and you can't figure out why Mama is sad. We had the BEST summer ever hanging out as a family together, bonding, playing, swimming, gardening, shopping, camping, spending time with friends

and family and I honestly cannot think of another summer in MY entire life that was better than this one. You are so happy, smiley and fun to be around. The more I spend time with you the more I am "addicted" to you :) While I get myself together and shift back into a routine with you this fall I'm excited about our playdates with our friends, Bible Study, trips to the library and spending time at the park while the weather holds out. It makes my heart happy that these are all things that I love to do and you do too.

We love you SO much Minnie and we are SO proud of all your accomplishments this month. You were definately keeping Mommy and Daddy on our toes with all your tricks. Good Girl.

It's SIMPLE really

"I believe....He is the Christ....Son of the LIVING GOD....

I believe....He is the Christ....Son of the LIVING GOD...."

Andrew Peterson

Wednesday... I mean THURSDAY in the WORD

Last week was camping, yesterday was my own LOVE so back at it today... Thursday this week...and it's a doozie of a week with much to chew on...

Do you bring up shortcomings/faults to others?? Inappropriately contradict him? Unfavorably compare him with other men?

The verses Pastor used with this point are Proverbs 31:23 "Her husband is respected at the city gate, where he takes his seat among the elders of the land." and Proverbs 31:12 "She brings him good, not harm, all the days of her life."

TYPICALLY and I say TYPICALLY this is not a hard one for me. I think Husband is the BEST guy around. Really. His fantastic reputation does precede him and early on in our marriage that was somewhat of a stumbling block for me. I had him up on a REALLY REALLY high pedestal and that was a little unfair.

He IS a great guy, everyone DOES love him, he has a GREAT name in our community, in his profession and with his friends. It doesn't make him perfect but he has set a really high standard. :) He is unwavering in his morals and values and knows exactly what is right and wrong. It is up to me to do everything in my power not to taint that. To speak only GOOD of him, about him, whether in front of him or behind his back. That is not TYPICALLY hard for me. Do I fall sometimes and complain perhaps once in a while to a friend. Of course. Not right though ladies... not right.

Verse 12 is pretty specific "she brings him good, not harm" um... yeah. All.The.Time. :)

What sort of things do you have to tell your Husband, fiance or the man you are praying for in your future today? CountryMum says it is OUR job to build our Husband's up. They are NOT going to get it in the workplace they are not going to get it from their buds.

If you are not complimenting your Husband... who is? And if someone else IS... uh oh. It's your job dear ones, to respect this man, build him up, compliment him and love on him. Don't let it fall into someone else's hands. Think about his strengths, tell him and then tell your girlfriends.

NINE years...

And today I am remembering how happy you made me by asking me to be your wife and to be by your side forever and ever....the past year has been more amazing than I could have ever DREAMED it would be 9 years ago...You are the one my heart needs to survive and I am so thankful for how God orchestrated our lives to end up together. No one else would suit me as perfectly and let's be honest, no one else could put UP with me :) Thank you for being my provider and protector. My heart hurts when I think about how grateful I am to be able to stay home with Minnie because of you. Staying home, raising our baby is the secret dream that I had tucked away in the dark places of my heart never dreaming it would come true. You make my dreams come true.

I look forward to the smooth roads ahead holding hands and living life and I pray for the days that will be challenging and know that we can make it through the Lord and only together as a team.

I love you baby and I hope you know how much. Happy Anniversary.

Hanging out with the Y family...

One of the "little" Y's is only home for a few short more days before heading back to "college" and I use the term loosely after listening to him recount his school and it brought me RIGHT back to JR. HIGH :) But I digress.... I *thought* we were just getting the kiddies so I asked them to all wear black/dark clothes and didn't tell them we had plans to play Manhunt after dinner... speaking of dinner... is this not the sweetest pic with the girl with the SHINEY-EST HAIR EVER?? she's soooo pretty

but to our surprise and DELIGHT the Papa of the bunch came bringing the oldest of the bunch so we "adults" just "sat around and talked" much to the 11 year old's chagrin. Poor girl. We'll have to play another time...

because clearly Husband was all ready. :)

P.S. if you know the FRIENDS episode with Monica and Chandler getting their engagement photos done, PLEASE PLEASE point A.Y. in that direction. HEE HEE HEE :)

2 1/2 year old GENIUS

His Mama taught him WELL :)

The Post of All POSTS...

Oh my goodness...for any that actually are STILL with me and checking this thing... and then actually MAKE it through this blog... you are dedicated. And I appreciate you. :) We FINALLY got these two girls together at L&L's for a Friday night dinner and Minnie couldn't have been MORE thrilled :) she loves the big kids and of course GA is one of her very favs so mixed with KSchneids it was a good night for her :)

the next AM Husband had borrowed BIL L's lawn mower so we threw Minnie on to see what she thought of the little lawn tractor... not such a fan...

at first...

but she came 'round... :) I am pretty sure she is just not a fan of things that are LOUDER than her :)

that afternoon she and I spent some time playing outside...

on the deck...

and in the grass... I LOVE this weather and I LOVE hanging with me girl...

who has as I mentioned... started to CRAWL... EVERYWHERE...

The following Sunday was her baby dedication at church... she really wasn't feeling quite herself that day which was unfortunate since she was wearing SUCH a pretty dress thanks to her MiMi... but she was running a temperature and pretty much anything she ate was coming right back out... poor thing... this picture was taken POST Pastor holding her... :)

She took a little rest and was feeling a bit better later in the afternoon...

and of course any time spent with these two...helps :)

still not psyched about food though...

can you tell he is 1) still getting that balance thing down and 2) has an older brother? :) poor kid...

good thing there was Dad to the rescue :)

speaking of older brother... those eyes I TELL yah.... are going to get him in and OUT of trouble some day soon....

What center-of-attention? I don't know what you are talking about? They might all love her a LITTLE bit :)

Monday night was spent in the ER with THIS guy... can you tell he's psyched that I showed up AND brought my camera? Hey listen... if I'm coming to the ER, I'm BRINGING my camera... NO ONE is sacraed. :)

Note the dimple. He's starting to come around...

There we go... THAT'S better... he was having chest/shoulder pain and his leg had swollen up to at least twice it's normal size... THANK YOU JESUS they could not find anything SERIOUS wrong but I'm SO proud of CountryDad for going down to get it checked out... you can NEVER be too careful...

so because all was swell with CD at the ER Husband and I took off on Tuesday for our last camping trip of the summer... WITHOUT my peeps... whew. I made it. It was sketchy there for a bit but with these two... who can complain? :) not I.

ESPECIALLY with a face like that! :)

We met up with Husband's best friend and their family so Minnie got some "big kid" time which she loved ALMOST as much as the pool :)

The site...

with the tent holding the air mattress that HELD NO AIR... that was a fun first night of camping... literally woke up with acorns in my back sometime around 2AM... thankfully Husband's BFF was going home the next day so he grabbed L&L's mattress for us to sleep on the 2nd night. I'm not the BEST camper girl out there so without an actual MATTRESS you can imagine how well that went over :)

The little one on the other hand really had NO trouble sleeping... snuggling with Dad post nap...

hanging with Mama since Dad had to get our food going :)

the girl LOVES campin'....

and that def. makes her Dad and I happy :) course when we get home and she can't figure out why she keeps crawling and reaching for the screen to get outside and we won't let her out because we are doing laundry or inside things... it doesn't work out so well... I'm pretty sure she was born to be outside and that will def. come in handy for those days when she tells me "I'm bored..." :) right? :)

Whew... it's been busy and I have still MORE pics to put up here but thought I'd just do one MEGA-post to catch everyone up... we are cramming just about all we can into the last days of summer and enjoying every single SECOND... it will be Minnie's 1st birthday before we know it won't it?? :( :(