Monthly Archives: September 2009

4 month stats …

Posted on 09/18/2009 | Leave a comment

Lily and I both survived the trauma of yesterday’s 4 month appointment – whew! Another one down … thank goodness!

If you’re curious, here’s where she stands as of Thursday, September 17th:

Weight: 14 lbs 10.5 oz
Length: 24″
Head: 41.5 cm

So … that means:

Length for age: 25th – 50th percentile
Weight for age: 75th – 90th percentile
Weight for length: 75th – 90th percentile
Head circumference for age: 75th – 90th percentile

You go, girl! She was awesome; she didn’t cry long after her 3 shots (Ouch!) which is SUCH a good thing because my heart was breaking into a million pieces as every second passed. We got the low-down on flu shots (He he, have I mentioned that I LOVE this pediatrician? He totally shares our sentiments on the whole thing …), and all in all, it was okay.

I totally enjoyed my day with Peanut – we got up and did lots of laundry, went to her appointment, strolled around Kohl’s in her big girl stroller (First time in it!), then headed home for a long nap (I should have joined her, but didn’t.). It was an awesome day!

Oh, I can’t forget … we rounded the day out with an awesome dinner – Poor Man’s Lobster! I promise to take pics next time we make it. It’s SO simple! You’ll need halibut (However much it’ll take to feed you/your family will work.), 1 gallon of water, 1/2 cup salt, and 1 cup sugar. Bring the water, salt & sugar to a boil. Cube the halibut (Mine were about 3/4″ square.) and when the water boils, drop the halibut in. The halibut is done when it rises to the top, so scoop it out as it rises. It truly tastes like lobster – of course, it must be served with melted butter! Sooooo good!

P.S. – Don’t forget … if you want to win your very own copy of A Million Miles in a Thousand Years: What I Learned While Editing My Life by Donald Miller, jump over here and leave a comment – any comment by Friday, 9/25!

→ Leave a comment

Posted in family, health, lily, recipes

Tagged 4 months, doctor, halibut, health, infant, lobster, recipe, shots

alphabitty moments – C

Posted on 09/18/2009 | 7 Comments

I’m a day late … sorry!

These Alphabitty Moments layouts are so much fun! MamaBear at 4 the Love of Family kicked off the fun to keep record of the little things our children do. She, along with the other weekly participants, have some amazing ideas and cute memories … check this week’s out here!

So … as soon as I started brainstorming on what I would do for the letter C, I knew immediately – catfish face! Though she doesn’t do it anymore, when Lily was really little, she’d make this face that we swear looks just like a catfish! (The best are the two images from June 14th.). Seriously, you can’t say they don’t have a striking resemblance to the catfish illustration!!!

I don’t ever want to forget her catfish faces (Nor the fact that we called her “Catfish Lou” for quite some time …), so I dedicate the letter C to forever remembering catfish face!

Psst …
Want to see all of the Alphabitty posts together? They can be found here …
Want more information on these Alphabitty Moments? Yep, it’s awesome! That information is here …

→ 7 Comments

Posted in alphabitty, blogging, lily, parenting

Tagged alphabitty

Book Review Sneak Peek: Find Your Strongest Life

Posted on 09/16/2009 | Leave a comment

Coming soon …

On October 5th, I’ll post a review of Find Your Strongest Life: What the Happiest and Most Successful Women Do Differently by Marcus Buckingham. Here’s a brief description:

In Find Your Strongest Life, Marcus Buckingham reveals the powerful key to bring fulfillment, peace, and control into a woman’s life.

In today’s world, can a woman truly “have it all”? A fulfilling career full of passion and performance? A belief that she is truly becoming the best, authentic version of herself? A happy, healthy life outside of work?

Countless women would roll their eyes at the possibility. Work is overwhelming. And for many of them, add the necessities of family and home. It all feels disconnected, out of control, and relentless.

In Find Your Strongest Life, Marcus Buckingham reveals the powerful key to help women draw enough strength from life to feel fulfilled, loved, successful, and in control. Even more, he helps women reconnect with their purpose and gives a starting point for change. A research-based message that applies to work and life, Find Your Strongest Life shows women a “unified theory” for how they really can have it all . . . the right kind of all.

I got the book last night and while I haven’t started it yet, I had a chance to skim it, and it looks great! So … check back on October 5th to learn more!

Note: Many thanks to Thomas Nelson, the publishing company that provided the above mentioned book for my review.

→ Leave a comment

Posted in books/reading, review

Tagged book review, find your strongest life, marcus buckingham, thomas nelson

Book Review Sneak Peek & Giveaway: A Million Miles in a Thousand Years

Posted on 09/16/2009 | 6 Comments

Coming soon …

On September 25th, I’ll post my review of A Million Miles in a Thousand Years: What I Learned While Editing My Life by Donald Miller. Until then, here’s a brief description of the book:

Full of beautiful, heart-wrenching, and hilarious stories, A Million Miles in a Thousand Years details one man’s opportunity to edit his life as if he were a character in a movie.

Years after writing a best-selling memoir, Donald Miller went into a funk and spent months sleeping in and avoiding his publisher. One story had ended, and Don was unsure how to start another.

But he gets rescued by two movie producers who want to make a movie based on his memoir. When they start fictionalizing Don’s life for film–changing a meandering memoir into a structured narrative–the real-life Don starts a journey to edit his actual life into a better story. A Million Miles in a Thousand Years details that journey and challenges readers to reconsider what they strive for in life. It shows how to get a second chance at life the first time around.

I’m currently about halfway through and am loving the book so far … that’s all I’ll say!

Want to win a copy of A Million Miles in a Thousand Years? You can! Just leave a comment here on this post – any ol’ comment will do! I’ll choose a random winner on Friday, 9/25.

(P.S. Make sure I have a way to track you down – either via your blog or an e-mail address. I’ll also post the winner in the comments here and as a separate post on 9/25, so if you’d prefer to check back in that way, go for it! Just don’t forget – you’ll have a week to get back to me or I’ll have to choose someone else … I’m sure you don’t want that!)

Note: Many thanks to Thomas Nelson, the publishing company that provided the above mentioned book for my review as well as the extra copy to give away.

→ 6 Comments

Posted in books/reading, review

Tagged a million miles in a thousand years, book review, donald miller, giveaway, thomas nelson

4 months …

Posted on 09/11/2009 | 4 Comments

At this very moment, I was probably pacing hospital halls, having been in labor for 9 hours. I didn’t know what was coming … had NO clue what natural childbirth would be like at this point. Then again, I wouldn’t have changed it, either. We didn’t know what true love meant, because she hadn’t arrived yet. Perfection still had the same old meaning. And I never thought I’d love this job of mom as much as I do. At this point just 4 short months ago, I was a completely different person.

Our baby is 4 months old today – so hard to believe. She’s learned so much over the past month and seems to get funnier each day! She’s now …

reaching for things,
grabbing small objects,
getting frustrated when she can’t grab things (Like the animals printed on her sheets and pajamas …)
really seeking the source of noises,
laughing at Cody (All the time!),
talking up a storm,
laughing for no reason,
revealing her tickle spots,
sleeping on her side,
hanging out in her crib (Even when she wakes up at 2 am, like last night!),
rolling over if she’s in the mood,
spending time on her belly and actually enjoying it,
putting anything and everything in her mouth,
drooling like crazy, and
getting mad when we do something she doesn’t like.

She’s no longer in 3 month clothes for sure. Nope, that girl is much too big and far too long for those any more. Sad to put away some of the adorable clothes she’s hardly worn, but also fun to see what she’ll be wearing over the next few months.

Car rides now consist of either sleeping silence or her adorable chatter. She’ll sit back there and talk the whole way!

She’s got pudgy cheeks and wrinkles in her thighs. She’s even got a crease at her wrist! I adore the puffy feet – so glad that lasts a good long while!

And the hair on the side of her head seems to be coming in full force, though we’re unsure of whether it’ll be red like the hair on the back of her head or blonde like the hair on the top of her head! (Yep, red in the back, blonde on the top. Who knows …)

She’s not really waking up to eat throughout the night now, though I do need to quiet her twice or so each night (We’re working on nights now … elimination of feedings: check. Elimination of need for comfort mid-sleep: close to done.).

There have been attempts with rice cereal, but as it isn’t exactly a fun experience right now, we’ll try that again in a few weeks.

At this point, she’s even spent two nights away from mommy and daddy! (Yes, it was absolute torture!!!)

Yep, she’s a trip, that Peanut of ours. It’s been an awesome month, and I’m sure more fun is to come over the next 4 weeks! Every day is a blessing.

→ 4 Comments

Posted in lily, parenting

Tagged 4 months, infant

our little bargain shopper …

Posted on 09/10/2009 | Leave a comment

I can’t look at this picture without laughing. Her expression is priceless! It’s as if she’s saying, “No way, daddy! That’s dirt cheap!” Looks like we’ve got ourselves a bargain shopper!

→ Leave a comment

Posted in family, humor, lily

alphabitty moments – B

Posted on 09/10/2009 | 7 Comments

I am LOVING this! Here’s the letter for this week … B! I’m not 100% psyched with the layout, but it’ll do for now. I would also like to add some different photos, but at this point, they’re all I’ve got in high res (Thanks, Aunt A!), so they’ll have to do.

Now, I present to you the letter B – “birth” day!

Psst …
Want to see all of the Alphabitty posts together? They can be found here …
Want more information on these Alphabitty Moments? Yep, it’s awesome! That information is here …

→ 7 Comments

Posted in alphabitty, blogging, lily, parenting

Tagged alphabitty

progress …

Posted on 09/08/2009 | Leave a comment

Now on to this Peanut of ours. On our way to the hike in DC, I sat in the back with Lily. I gave her a ring that has large beads on it to play with. I watched as she took the ring in her left hand and worked to pass it from her left hand to her right. I could see her brain process each action, and was so excited for her when she accomplished it! What an awesome stage of development! She never ceases to amaze me.

Our next adventure was on Monday afternoon … I changed her sheets on Saturday morning – the new ones are yellow with animals on them. Justin noticed that she was trying to grab the animals and was growing frustrated when she couldn’t get them. Hilarious!!! She’s so into grabbing things now – it’s awesome to watch (But it hurts when what she wants to grab is your hair!). So … these sheets might be placed in the reserves until she gets a bit older – I don’t want to torture our little Peanut – she’ll be so confused!

Excitement #3 of the weekend was last night. She woke up around 12:30, and when I went in to get her, I found her on her belly! I watched for a minute or so as she flailed around, attempting to flip back over. She was so mad, and I just had to laugh (there’s mean mommy again …)! Going from her stomach to her back is the easier of the two, so I know she could have done it, but I couldn’t leave her to struggle any longer, especially on a hungry tummy. She’s got the rolling over thing down, but it’s always been for fun before. Now that she’s been sleeping on her side (Yep, on her side! We put her on her back, but she folds to steady herself on her side and usually has her head on her arm. So cute!), I’m sure she’ll end up on her belly more often.

→ Leave a comment

Posted in lily, parenting

Tagged 3 months, 4 months, grabbing, infant, learning, lily, milestones

bittersweet …

Posted on 09/08/2009 | Leave a comment

Saturday night led us to Justin’s parent’s house for a cookout. It was a gorgeous evening with some really great people – some I hadn’t seen since our wedding almost 5 years ago! Naturally, there was plenty of guitar playing – awesome! I loved the time with my nephews (And we missed you terribly, Aunt Chelle! Hope you had fun!), although I could always use more! Once again, it was an exhausting evening – two in a row! Lily fell asleep outside while Grandpa and Mr. Ray were playing guitar … and then Grandpa woke her up about an hour later. (Argh …) When I put her to sleep the second time around, I went with her! Blah! Wish I could have spent more time with everyone, but it is what it is, right?

Really, after the events of Friday and Saturday night, we needed the next two days to recover! We ventured out briefly early Sunday evening for a walk through the woods, but that was it for Sunday and Monday. Of course, no weekend would be complete without the usual cleaning, laundry, cooking, etc., so that is how we spent the day hours on Sunday and Monday.

So, that’s the short version of our weekend. Lots of fun, and so hard to leave behind. Any opportunity I get to spend extra days with my Peanut are ALWAYS amazing, so naturally, we had a fantastic time. That also makes leaving a million times harder. I hate Monday mornings and those after a 3-day weekend are much, much worse. My conclusion is that long weekends are bittersweet – so much fun, but so hard to leave behind. Thankfully, we’re one day closer to Friday, so I’ll stay positive and keep on movin’! I think this weekend we’ll be at G-ma and G-pa’s, and that will be lots of fun! (Lily is making her plans with G-ma on the phone below …)

On the plus side, I have some hilarious memories to get me through the day until I can see her again! Wait for a post on this funny little girl … she’s cracking us up more and more every day!

How did YOU spend your long weekend???

→ Leave a comment

Posted in blogging, family, holidays, lily

Tagged cookout, labor day

monuments in the moonlight …

Posted on 09/07/2009 | Leave a comment

On Friday night, the three of us headed to DC for a Monuments in the Moonlight hike. Turns out our “stroll” paced hike had been canceled on our way down there, so we had to join the “brisk” paced group. It worked out okay, but I think we would have enjoyed it more if we could have slowed down a bit with Peanut. Anyway, it was an awesome evening! I don’t have a ton of pictures, but did manage to get some. Did you know baby-wearing isn’t a good match with nighttime photography? Yeah, the two just don’t mix, even with a tripod. Totally okay with me (That just means we’ll have to do it again – bummer, huh?) – Peanut was awesome, and I think we all had a fantastic and exhausting evening.