First Day of School

It's amazing what a difference a year can make! Last year at this time I was leaving her for the first time and this year she's an old pro at daycare. Last year I was able to leave her on her playmat and know she'd be there when I returned. This year I'm lucky I managed to get her sitting long enough to take the picutre. Last year I cheered when she cooed and smiled. This year I'm loving the words she's using and can't wait for more (lately it's been 'kitty'). Now if only I could get those horrible pacifers away from her, but, at least this year she's not sucking her thumb :).

Motherhood is a blissful thing!

See another great smile hidden behind the paci!

Cousins on the first day of school.

How Meredith and I manage to cook dinner. They watch Mickey's Clubhouse eating whatever we rummage up while we cook.

Does it get any better than this? I stepped out of the car this morning and said "REALLY???" "Are you kidding me, we'll never live this one down!" Well, at least we both look good in this color :)

16 Months

Another month has come and gone..this month however, I'm on time in writing. You have mastered so much this month. You are clearly on your feet and moving in all directions. You still like to play peek-a-boo and color (on everything if I'm not careful). Your favorite words are still uh-oh, juice and shoes. I'm starting to hear you say 'did it' and 'all done' though no one would understand you except me. We've spent a lot of the past month hanging out with the Webb's. You and Lorelei love to play peek a boo in the car and the two of you giggle harder than I've ever heard you at times. I can tell you two are going to be very good friends!

You are a very happy baby unless you don't get your way, and well, then it's as if the world has ended. Tonight for instance you wanted your shoes on, mind you we had just taken a bath and were ready to go night, night. Well, mommy was ready for you to go night, night. You just laughed and giggled. I put your shoes on and you ran away from me. When I finally corralled you back to the room and removed the shoes...OH BOY..you kicked, screamed, and cried until you couldn't breathe. Daddy finally got you down, Mommy did not win.

Aunt Mere and Cousin Olivia moved down here this month and you have had a ball playing with Olivia, unless of course she tries to take something then, well, see above, lol. The two of you hugged for the first time the other day and it brought tears to my eyes.

This past week you started back to daycare. I was a hard day for you and me both. Having spent the past month together has made seperation hard on both of us. I know you do fine during the day but drop off and even pick up are hard times for us both. I think your dad and I have figured out it's better if he drops you off and I pick you up. You seem to do a little better with him in the mornings than you do with me.

These pictures are from tonight, you were so happy playing with my camera cord and eating cheerios. I can't imagine my life without you my love.

Mommy

ABC's of Me!

I found this fun little quiz on Megan's blog and thought why not!

A- My AIR CONDITIONER is set on: 77. It stays there all night but goes up to 79 during the day since I'm home right now, during the school year it goes up to 82.

B- My BEDROOM theme is: dark burgundy, black and dark woods.

C- The CAR in the driveway is: a Ford Focus, love my car for quick little Uies I do all over Dallas.

D- My DESK looks: like a mess..covered in bills since most of the time I'm on my laptop and don't need a desk.

E- The EXACT time I wake up daily is: Usually around 7:40 if I'm lucky..during the school year about 6am.

F- The FIRST thing I wash in the shower is: my hair

G- My GARAGE is filled with: right now lots of stuff for the JBF sale. Usually just odds and ends.

H- My HOUSE is: usually pretty neat..I don't like too many things out of place.

I- If you peeked INSIDE my bedroom you'd see: an unmade bed and Rex's clothes on the floor where they always are!

J- My favorite JUICE is: Orange

K- The best part of my KITCHEN is: my fridge and my NEW dining room table.

L- The LAST person who visited my home was: My whole family just left (Dad, Mom, Mere and Olivia).

M- The last piece of MAIL for me was: the electric bill

N- My NEIGHBORS think I'm: not sure..Rex talks with them more than I do.

O- If you OPENED my fridge you'd see: lots of leftovers.

P- My last house PARTY was: Memorial Day...we had an end of the year BASH!!

Q- A QUICK meal I like to fix is: Mac and Cheese

R- My favorite ROOM of the house is: Astoria's room..I find it very peaceful in there...since I made most of the decorations in her room it also has a 'just how I like it' feel.

S- The SHAMPOO brand I use is: NO FRIZZ

T- My largest TELEVISION is: 30 inch I think..Rex wants bigger, I'm good with what we have.

U- UNDER my bed you will find: winter clothes in tubs.

V- The last time I VACUUMED was: Rex vacuumed today..me? Three days ago.

W- Looking out my WINDOW I see: my flowers

X- I wish I had X-TRA: money for school clothes.

Y- My YARD is: good sized with a kid sized pool and my favorite spot, the swing!

Z- ZZZZZZZ My bedtime is: anytime from 12-1 in the summer..9:30 or 10 in during the school year.



If you do this quiz too leave me a comment so I can come read yours.

Once Again I Needed To Cook Dinner....

It had been a long day, she'd only taken an hour nap and wasn't willing to let me out of her sight. I needed to cook dinner, Rex was on his way but not close enough.

Let the water games begin!

I love how she's looking at this bowl like she's never seen one before and not sure what to do with it. It's even cuter because she's sporting my favorite cloth diaper :)

Quickly she figures it out!

And in the end I had a beach towel on the floor moping up the water but, I did get dinner cooked! I love motherhood, really I do :)

15 Months

Well my little girl, you have made it to 15 months. You currently weigh 20lbs 15oz and are 30 inches long. You have 6 teeth in completely and another 2 are breaking through each day. You have finally started walking on your own, when you choose, which is not as often as mommy would like, but I know now that you will get there. You have developed a beautiful personality; you are talkative, always smiling (unless someone tells you 'NO' and then you cry like the world is ending), and love to blow kisses and raspberries on me. You know the words 'Uh oh', 'mama', 'dada', and 'juice'. You love to take things apart, but you are also really good at putting things back together, including shape puzzles. You love for Daddy and I to play with you, yet you are also perfectly content to play by yourself. You still eat like a horse but have chosen foods you like a lot more than others. You LOVE green beans so much you can eat an entire can in one sitting. You also love Mandarin oranges, black beans, mac and cheese, hot dogs, cheese sticks, and guacamole. You love to be outside and if there is water involved well, that's even better. Your attachment level to me has increased greatly over the past month and I'm already betting starting back to daycare next month will be heart wrenching for both of us. I love spending so much time with you even if you do wear me out beyond my wildest imagination. You have become a beautiful toddler and I cannot wait to see what the future holds!

Dinner Time

It's usually about 6pm when I start dinner since Rex usually doesn't make it home until 6:15 or sometimes even 6:30. By that time Astoria has eaten three snacks, played in the playroom, pulled everything out of my purse..twice, and has even dumped my sewing basket. Needless to say about the time I start to fix dinner she's looking for some Mommy entertainment which can be hard to provide when your trying to cook. So tonight, I thought about how much she likes to play in the water and VIOLA I put her on the cabinet to play in the sink. No worries, I didn't leave that side of the cabinet for even a millisecond, notice the cut up tomatoes I was using and she was eating just as fast? She loved it and I had lots of time to cut up veggies and meat. She was not too excited when I put her down on the floor once I started really cooking.

Water fun:

This is the face I get when I say 'cheese'!

Not a great picture either but I think she looks exactly like my little sister did at that age :)

Anyway we're headed off tomorrow to the ENT for an ear check, we're using the same doctor that diagnosed her with torticollis at 6 weeks. In the past week I've picked her up from daycare 3 times with a fever. Last week (Thursday, Friday, and Saturday) she got 6 injections of Rocephin and another 2 doses of it on Wednesday because the fluid was back in her ears. The joys of motherhood.

On a good note tonight before bed she sat in Rex's lap on the floor and proceeded to stand up on her own 10-12 times..one of those times she took a step with one leg but then fell (of course she would do none of it once I got the camera out). Perhaps, just maybe we'll have a walker on our hands soon. I'm so ready!!

This Weekend

Rex and I decided to make a surprise visit to Oklahoma this weekend. We got up at our normal weekday time of 6am and loaded in the car around 7am for the 3 hour trip north. Astoria stayed awake the entire time and did pretty well in the car (with LOTS of mommy entertainment). The surprise was great, Mom's face was the best :)

That day we got to visit Granny:

Take a bath with Olivia (don't you just wonder what they are talking about?)

Sunday before we left Mom and I took the kids to a splash park in Midwest City. Astoria loved it, I can't wait to take her one here (mainly because they have cushy flooring for her poor little knees).

Where'd it go?

I'm gonna get it!

They both loved sitting and watching the bigger kids before we got ready to leave.

When her eyelashes are wet it's almost as if they are too heavy to hold up..she also smiles like her mama...her entire face crinkles up :)