Warm, winter clothes! Brrr it's cold.

Mommy is talking to someone on speaker phone and I want it!!!

Oops Mom, got it!

I got this new hoodie with ears! I would love to put them in my mouth... help please.

And this hat... it came out of a goodie bag from Mrs. Rachel. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Standing...

*Edited 10.30.08
What I wanted to write when I posted this (but was short on time) was that lately she has a fascination with her hands. It is so cute. She gets so distracted by playing with them that she forgets she has let go and is actually standing on her own. She has also started raising them high above her head while she babbles away. I caught it (from behind) on camera. I couldn't get around her quick enough before she fell. :(

and crashing...

Lots of pics of our last week in transition

"Did I do that?"
Enjoying my first teething biscuit
I took about 300 pictures and this is the only one she smiled in... a really nice lady came up and started talking to her. :)
She was happiest standing up eating and waving the hay around. It was so cute. She has started the ma ma and na na sounds and she would babble to the hay and wave it in the air and then try and eat it. I would take it away and she would bend down and pick up another and start the process all over.



She has started tucking her bottom lip when she talks. I finally caught it on camera.



My precious little lady.
Bathtime fun!!!! Her favorite time of day! Anticipation... she leans on the side of the tub and talks to the water while it is running. She gets on her tippy toes and looks over the side. She just says, "ba ba ba na na na..." It is so cute!!!

These are her new favorite toys.
more bath fun. Look at her eyes in that pics... I love it!
Could not believe I caught the droplets mid-air.
This is what our new place looks like. LOL Will send better pics next week. I promise!!!!


Just Daddy and me!!!

We are all safe and sound

Well, we have internet again. After over a week of "offlining it" I am back online!! Yeah!!!

I have taken many pics of our transition this past week and will share them very soon, but for now just have a moment to let you know we are all doing phenomenal and are thankful for your prayers during our transition. May God bless you!!!

BTW, I took Little Bit to the Pumpkin Patch today and can't wait to post those pictures. She is now standing on her own (briefly- about a minute max) and is able to get from one object to another by reaching something and once she has some stability she can take a couple steps towards it. She had her first "puffs" (cereal type snack) and teething biscuits this week. VERY MESSY!!!! No one told me I needed to strip down myself when I fed her these. I thought only she needed to be in her diaper. LOL Will have to post pictures of my clothes after Tornado Little Bit got me with the teething biscuit! Love you all!

I'm 7 mos. old!!! How big am I?

Videos from the week...

Erin with her new bundle of joy, Tyson.

Me and my little Sunshine

This is how I roll...

Happy Sunday to all!

Well, we did alot of packing this weekend. I packed all of yesterday and my hubby packed all day today. He didn't leave tonight until about 7 p.m. to head back to work.

The sad news is that our little one is terrified right now. She is extra fussy and just "out of sorts." Even her favorite toys are making her cry. It seems to be a noise issue. It started with the packing tape dispenser. Everytime I would use it she would just freeze up and then cry really big tears and put her arms up in the air for me to come and rescue her. So, I quit trying to pack with her around. Well, today when Daddy was packing, she would freeze up wherever she was when she heard it. It could be through two closed doors or with the bath water running and she would get scared. Then I took her downstairs for some before-bed play-time and two of her noise making toys made her cry. She plays with these two toys every day. :( I am sure the fact that our house is filled with boxes and Daddy leaves every week doesn't help. Soon enough we will be back together as a family. Praise God for that!!!

Pics from the week

Think it's time for a gate?

Baby Jail

Mom, can't I have two? (at one point she had both in her mouth... not quick enough with the camera)

Very sad article.... please read and pray for this (these) children.

source: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081007/ap_on_re_as/as_nepal_living_goddess

You can click on the link above to see full article and her picture. How sad!

Nepal appoints 3-year-old as new living goddess

By YUVRAJ ACHARYA, Associated Press Writer Tue Oct 7, 9:59 AM ET

KATMANDU, Nepal - Hindu and Buddhist priests chanted sacred hymns and cascaded flowers and grains of rice over a 3-year-old girl who was appointed a living goddess in Nepal on Tuesday.

Wrapped in red silk and adorned with red flowers in her hair, Matani Shakya received approval from the priests and President Ram Baran Yadav in a centuries-old tradition with deep ties to Nepal's monarchy, which was abolished in May.

The new "kumari" or living goddess, was carried from her parents' home to an ancient palatial temple in the heart of the Nepali capital, Katmandu, where she will live until she reaches puberty and loses her divine status.

She will be worshipped by Hindus and Buddhists as an incarnation of the powerful Hindu deity Taleju.

A panel of judges conducted a series of ancient ceremonies to select the goddess from several 2- to 4-year-old girls who are all members of the impoverished Shakya goldsmith caste.

The judges read the candidates' horoscopes and check each one for physical imperfections. The living goddess must have perfect hair, eyes, teeth and skin with no scars, and should not be afraid of the dark.

As a final test, the living goddess must spend a night alone in a room among the heads of ritually slaughtered goats and buffaloes without showing fear.

Having passed all the tests, the child will stay in almost complete isolation at the temple, and will be allowed to return to her family only at the onset of menstruation when a new goddess will be named to replace her.

"I feel a bit sad, but since my child has become a living goddess I feel proud," said her father Pratap Man Shakya.

During her time as a goddess, she will always wear red, pin up her hair in topknots, and have a "third eye" painted on her forehead.

Devotees touch the girls' feet with their foreheads, the highest sign of respect among Hindus in Nepal. During religious festivals the goddesses are wheeled around on a chariot pulled by devotees.

Critics say the tradition violates both international and Nepalese laws on child rights. The girls often struggle to readjust to normal lives after they return home.

Nepalese folklore holds that men who marry a former kumari will die young, and so many girls remain unmarried and face a life of hardship.

A TOOTH!!!

This morning a sliver of a tooth appeared in her mouth. Just thought I would share! It is on the bottom left-front.

Nana, I know you have been waiting for this news for a long time! Love you!

*On a side note, we really enjoyed Daddy this weekend:

What a good pic of my hubby! Too bad she wasn't smiling... she really wanted the camera for herself.

Random

Realizations from the weekend:

Well, we braved going to lunch/dinner yesterday (at 4:30 p.m.) with Little Bit. My dear husband asked me if I thought it wise and I told him we have to be able to leave the house at some point in her life. LOL I mean, come on, one early evening dinner can't be that bad right? Well, it wasn't horribly ugly, but was by no means nice. We just don't have a content-to-sit-there child. She wants to be all up in the action all the time. I know what everyone says, if you just keep putting them into the situation they will get used to it. Well I will tell you that we have braved the car seat MANY, MANY times and there is no getting used to it. I am the one that comes out conditioned. Conditioned to learn ways to deal with a screaming child wherever we go from the time the engine starts to the time the engine stops the majority of the time.

Realization one: We have to live with her dislike of the car seat. Okay, I get it!

Second, to the stroller. We have tried wheeling it into the restaurant or wherever we are going so that she has her own space, but her space (where she is happy and doesn't feel the need to exercise her lungs in displeasure) is in our laps standing up and climbing on us like a jungle gym.

Realization two: My lot in life, maybe only temporarily is to be Little Bit's jungle gym. I am fine with this. It is the only time she likes to cuddle... if you call that cuddling. I mean I am just glad she wants to be close to me. :)

This brings me to...
Realization three: My daughter only likes her stroller if: you are carrying her and she is pushing it for you OR she is being strolled outside.

I assure each of you that I have not knocked the idea of eventually they will learn to like it before I tried it. It just seems that it takes longer than 6 3/4 mos. to learn to like it. Trust me, we will keep trying. I would LOVE to have her grow to love her car seat and stroller.

Realization four: We only have one more weekend together in this house. We will be learning to make a new location "home" in a week and a half. Please pray for our transition and for Little Bit's journey in the car as she will be spending a lot of time in her car seat and stroller at the end of next week.

I don't remember if I blogged about it or not, but when she and I went up the night before my hubby was to report to his new job we had to wait around after we dropped him off to check him into a different hotel because the rates had not been established and the hotel we were able to stay at the night before had no availability anyways. Well, that next morning we woke her up at 6 a.m. and dropped him off with his superior at 7 a.m. and she and I had to brave it in the car until 3 p.m. Well, you can imagine how that went. By 9 a.m. I had pulled over 5 times, the last time being in a neighborhood where I knew no one. I parked at the sales center and got out the stroller and took her for a walk. We ended up getting in and out of the car an upwards of 10-15 times that day for my sanity. I thought a child would wear themselves out by screaming, but she has my go-getter energy. My friend Carolyn calls me the energizer bunny and BUDDY, SHE JUST KEEPS GOING AND GOING AND GOING. She gets it honest!!!

Love you Little Bit. You are my energizer bunny sunshine! How can I work that into the song?

Realization five: Her favorite song is "You are my sunshine."

I have been singing this to her since she was born and had to use it on Saturday. We were going to a church function and she started wailing on the way so I started singing, at the top of my lungs, "you are my sunshine." Yes, picture it if you have to. Poor Devin, my friend Anna's little boy, thought I was nuts as he was in the car with us. BUT, it made her stop crying. Every time I stopped singing she would start crying again.

Realization six: She understands more than we give her credit for.

She really does understand us most of the time. I have realized over the last few weeks with her crawling and pulling that she is into everything all the time (which is why naptime is especially precious time for me now). Well, you know the "aanh" noise we make to our children? We all know it, the "no ma'am, you can't get into that" noise that is only one syllable instead of a kizzillion. Well, it works with her. She even pays attention when I do it to the dogs to make sure she is not doing something Mommy doesn't approve of. It sometimes takes 3 aanh's to get her to crawl away, but I seldom have to physically remove her myself. She will just go find something else to climb on/play with. Praise God for this! This enables me to travel more than 5 feet from her while she is awake.

Realization seven: Our baby monitor has a cord.

So, we have a video monitor that had been conveniently (for us) propped up on the corner of her crib so we could watch her at night. This Saturday during her "nap" I flipped it on as I went upstairs to get dressed for our church function and thought it was broken... it was just flashing images. Well, I ran into her room to witness her chewing on the antenna. I took it from her and moved it onto the floor until I could come back to mount it on the wall. So, we remounted it, all is well and we can see her (not as well though) again. Problem here. I told this story to my mother last night and she told me a story about a baby who had wrapped the cord around his/her neck and died. So, I have been back and forth about 8 times to "check" even though I had tacked the cord firmly to the wall out of reach (for now) of her little arms.

Realization eight: With this move comes giving up control.

We are having our moving company partially pack us as my husband is gone and aside from nighttime I can't just focus on packing without hiring a sitter of inconveniencing a friend (The same one I inconvenience every time I need help- I hope I make her feel as comfortable as she makes me feel when I have to leave my little one with her- Thank you Anna in advance for watching her next Wednesday and Thursday! We love and treasure you more than we can ever say!). I would usually not allow anyone that I don't know very well to touch my things and definitely not trust them to pack me. I am a bit of a control freak for those of you who don't know me well.

Realization nine: Blogging is a source of stress relief for me for two reasons: it keeps me from receiving emails requesting pictures and updates which frees up my time and it is sort of like a journal for me... a place to get things off my mind so I can be free to move on.

Thank you Shea for getting me started.

Realization ten: When my baby is ready to eat and is hungry, she will.

She has been eating two jars of baby food plus her cereal plus a few 4 oz. bottles a day. This is a drastic improvement from the last month. I think she just wasn't hungry! Now she is. This is like her pigging out! She is just a little baby. I have come to terms with that.

Realization eleven: She is growing up so fast that I am already getting prepared for the days we can bake cookies together and make crafts for daddy.

My idea book is growing weekly. I can't wait... or maybe I can. I love this age so much!

Wow, I won! I never win!

Hello everyone!

I won a bracelet last week! I read a blog, was directed to another blog and entered a comment and won! The blog where I entered was: http://carolinamama1.blogspot.com and the product was from my sis-in-law Shea's friend, Greta over at http://ilovemrpibb.blogspot.com/ She has a super cool store at: http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5583467 If that doesn't get you there, go to etsy.com and search for GLCarter Cute, cute stuff!

Here is a pic of the bracelet I won: http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=9302300 Isn't it beautiful?

Her stuff would make great gifts, huh?

15 things... yeah, can I play too??

15 things I'm not scared to admit... or am I?

1. Obviously I spend way too much time on the computer... case in point.

2. I have just recently begun to rock my daughter and am so thankful that she is beginning to expect it because I ABSOLUTELY love it. (Yes, I was one of those moms that was not going to put her baby to bed already asleep so she could learn to "self-soothe... which for us took 5 mos.! LOL I missed out on a lot of rocking, huh?)

3. I have night terrors... I mean really, really, really bad dreams. People die all around me and I am trying, usually unsuccessfully, to save them. It has been really tough the last few weeks to sleep alone.

4. I have a very big fear of losing my child. (By losing I mean either losing her in a crowd or something horrible happening to her and the Lord taking her from me. Please Lord, I know you can hear me, please don't take her. I love her too much.)

5. I have never tasted beer or smoked a cigarette.

6. I DVR (and watch or at least listen to... in full) every episode of the Young and the Restless.

7. Every year I get more fearful and more dependent. Crazy how this happens. Used to I could have conquered the world. My husband tells me I still can, but I wouldn't know where to start. Right now I will just keep contemplating a part-time job while raising my daughter. :)

8. I love to cook but am not great at it... surprising that I still like to do it as I tend to want to be the best at everything I do... maybe a little perfectionism in me.

9. I had a call today from a sales rep from my last job asking a question about my old job because she thinks it may be being done incorrectly and I felt a sense of pride that she felt like I was the one who could set it straight. I really miss my old "non-mom" responsibilities. (But I LOVE my job as a mom... please don't mistake that for any ounce of regret.)

10. I absolutely love our home (right now... in Florida) and cried for days when my husband said we may be moving with his old job. After I got over the "we may be moving" I actually suggested him look elsewhere knowing we would have to move but secretly I am very sad that we are leaving here. This has really become home and even though it is our second home together, this is really home. I have never been happier in my life. Oh well, we will be happy in GA, right? :) At least we will be together again.

11. I snack way too much and eat way too little healthy food while being a stay-at-home mommy. One week I literally ate brownies for every meal... including breakfast. It is so hard to cook when your husband is out of town... just trust me on this one, especially with a 6 month old that only eats out of a jar!

12. I would love to have many more babies but have no idea how we would afford them, but still want them really badly.

13. I have days where tears are behind my eyes all day long and I feel like I am walking around squinting, but rarely ever really cry. (This is far different than when I was a child, the tears just flowed at the drop of a hat, right Mom?)

14. I am blessed beyond measure. More things in life have gone well for me than have not and for that I am immensely grateful. The Lord gives and takes away and I have found his timing is perfect, it just doesn't always seem so during the storm.

15. I take my dogs for granted. I love them so much but forget to show them often times because I get so wrapped up in chores, the baby or just doing things for myself. I have been trying to spend some cuddle time with them each day after the baby goes to bed. (See my pic below as to how well they all get along. LOL)

16. I often pause a 30 min. DVR'd show and stretch it for a full 8 hours because I never stop moving. I am constantly thinking of things I need to do, both productive and non-productive... again, case in point. :)

17. I touch up the paint in our home about once a month. I even organized each color into it's own screw on ziploc container for easy access. Yes, I am certifiably looney. I HATE to see nicks and scratches on my walls, especially in the stairway. I can't imagine what it will be like when little hand prints are everywhere.

Okay, so I went over. Did you really see me stopping at 15??

My love to all!
K

Hello family and friends!

A recap of our week:

Playing with the activity table from Granny. Thank you Granny! I love it!

Getting her first taste of mango... she loved it!

Trying to get friendly with the dogs... did you notice they were running for cover?

It's Friday and I just got home from taking Little Bit to the doctor and running some errands while I waited for her prescription to be ready. (P.S. Did you know Publix has a list of free oral antibiotics? Got hers for free today!!)

Okay, so in saying that, I guess I should let you all know that she has a sinus infection. Nothing to be alarmed about, but this is the 3rd cold/runny nose/coughing spell that she has had since she was born... first one was at 3 mos, so pretty much one a month. I am really hoping that it is just a fluke and that she doesn't get my allergies! I was on shots for 4 years as a child and it is not a fun experience and it will break my heart if I have to watch her endure the allergy test one day, so please if you think of it, join me in praying for no allergies (and no diabetes) if it crosses your mind. I did get her a humidifier today so that we can keep her comfortable at night. That is when she is most frustrated because she can't breathe with her paci in her mouth and a runny nose. Overall though I have to say that she is an excellent sick baby! She is so happy with only small fussy spouts here and there. In fact, we were in line at Publix and she was dancing to the music and laughing at another patron. You would never know she was sick if you didn't get close enough to see her runny nose. PRAISE GOD!!

So, we are really hoping we get to see Hubby/Daddy today. He was unsure he would be able to get off work tomorrow, but we are crossing our fingers and hoping for the best. We really treasure the couple of days (or should I say day and a half) with him lately. My heart goes out to those families who have to live like this for long periods of time. Thankfully ours is very temporary.

Wishing everyone a safe and fun weekend. Talk to you all soon!

Love,
K