Wednesday Edition - 16 weeks

Hey guys!! I am 16 weeks old today!! Next week I'll officially be four months old... Impressive, huh? I want you all to check out this photo first.....

"Aren't I cute? Wait.....that's not me!!! That's MY MOM!!!! Well, that is my mom 27 years ago... She's about four months old in that photo... Back then my mom lived down on Barry Road, and this was in their living room. Grammy took the photo and even developed it herself! So my mom thought it might be nice to recreate the photo with me! Here I am on my coffee table!

She thought she still had that old mini pillow somewhere, but she couldn't find it. But then she sat the old photo of her in front of me and I was checking her out. Don't tell my mom, but I think I am cuter than she was at 4 months old...

D

Last month I had posted a bunch of photos of my bedroom... Since then, I have an addition to my room! My mom made a giant "D" for my room! It's paper mache, then she painted it the same green as my walls, then she painted it white. Then Dad sanded the edges so the green comes out through the white. My parents are so crafty!!

Samantha

A couple of posts back there was a photo of me in a chair my mom had bought in a garage sale, remember? Well, she bought it for me, but more specifically, she bought it with a certain doll in mind. The doll is the "Samantha" doll from the American Girls collection. She also has the "Molly" doll, but she said I can't play with either of them yet. Not until I am older. But I wanted to share a photo of Samantha in her new chair for you guys!

My weekend...

While my mom is working away, I get to play! Boy oh boy, do I enjoy myself, too! Sometimes I enjoy myself so much that my mom has to stop working to play along... Like today for instance, I was in my swing watching Bob Barker on "Price is Right" and I was playing along! This one guy said a can of dog food was like $4 and I was yelling at him saying "No way!!!" I'm still sad that Bob is going to retire before I can get myself on that show and kiss him. But anyway, I was just yelling along with the audience and for some reason my mom thought it was the funniest thing in the whole world! So she made a video to share with you guys... And as usual, since our basement is so dark, this video is dark, but if you turn on your sound you can hear me "talking"! Plus, it's funny to watch my arms and legs wiggling about!

After the show ended, I got bored when the "View" came on. Rosie and Elisabeth just debated Politics again.... Those two bicker more than the Hatfields and McCoys! So I asked Mom to move me from the swing over to my ExerSaucer. I was playing away, but suddenly, I just got so sleepy, I fell asleep right there!! Mom was laughing so hard at me, she had to take a photo...



Turk and Ophelia are away this week, they went up to visit Grandma in Iowa. The basement was lonely without them today..... Grandma if you read this, will you tell Turk and Ophelia I miss them? I was excited, though, because Grandma came down to visit!!! She was here for the weekend, she came down to visit her friend, but then she spent the night with us. I love when Grandma comes to visit! She brought my mom a cute gift - a bracelet that spells my name!! We went out to get one of those new pizza's that Panera sells, but they wouldn't let me have a bite... Grandma brought me a gift, too!! It's a white afghan with pink flowers on it!! Mom is going to wash it so I can use it...I can't wait! But when Grandma left, she took Turk and Ophelia back with her for a whole week.... I miss them already..... I LOVE YOU TURK! I LOVE YOU OPHELIA!

Yesterday Meyer came over to play! Our dad's were doing some electrical work with the TV and wires up in the attic... So Meyer and his older brothers Max and Myles came to play too. Max was sleeping when they came over, so our mom's, Myles, Meyer and I went for a walk on the trail. Down by the creek is a park with a community playground. Myles wanted to stop and play there, so us girls and Meyer sat and gabbed while Myles tested his speed down the slide. It was a fun day!!

Green Grass

Today was so nice outside, so while we waited for Dad to get home from work, Mom, Turk, Ophelia and I went outside to play in the green grass! The weather was just so pleasant after such long spells of rain we've been having recently. Then we had a couple days with hot hot temps, so today just seemed so perfect! Blue skies with beautiful white altocumulus clouds circling the horizon. Couldn't ask for a better day! Warning.....this post is photo heavy....

I was laying in the grass, on top of a blanket of course! But I just was itching to feel that grass with my toes, so I kicked off my socks and inched my way off the blanket slowly so my mom wouldn't notice and then started to tickle my toes with the green grass...This next photo looks like I am asking my dad to mow the lawn!! I would ask mom, but she tends to run over items..... *cough cough*
If I smile a lot at mom, she won't pay attention to the fact that I am playing with grass with my toes.....
Just look at my mom and me hanging out together!! This is a tradional photo my mom does with all of her friends...they get their heads close together and then she holds a camera out with her left hand and blindly takes the photo. Little do all of you know, this photo is actually photoshopped... She took two photos like this. In one, I was looking cute, but mom had hair blowing in her face. In the other one, mom looked cute, but I was looking off to the right at Turk. So being the Photoshop Master that I am....VOILA! I combined the two photos into one. You never would have known unless I had told you...

For a bit, Mom was throwing a tennis ball down the yard for the dogs. But Ophelia is way out of shape and pooped out after about three tosses. She came over to chill with me.
Even though the yard has several peony bushes, a late frost stunned the bushes. Mom was so mad at that frost, because she didn't get one lilac on her bushes either. Not a one!! And here is the lone peony..... Would that it a peoni?
Oh crap!!! I missed the bus again!!!!!! Ooops, probably shouldn't say crap. Not in front of the M-O-M. "Oh no!! I missed the bus again!" The bus barn our school district uses is just down the street from us, so everyday I get to watch millions of big yellow school buses drive past.... Well, maybe not millions, I tend to exagerate.
Being that BOTH of my parents are red heads, the odds of me joining the elite force of 4% of the world is pretty high. Go figure, only 4% of the world is red heads and the majority of my family is.... Both of my parents, my aunt, both of my uncles, my Grandma.... Well, I don't know if I can call myself a true red head yet. How about I say I have five red hairs on my head... This photo is not that attractive, is it? I have some hair up top, then a stripe with no hair, then a big bundle of red at the bottom. I hope that all fills in soon!!! Haha, I just noticed something in that photo.... My mom's foot is sticking out near the bottom, but it almost looks like from the angle it coule be my foot. Yup, I could pull off Crocs and flare jeans, couldn't I?

Wednesday Edition - 15 weeks

Today I am 15 weeks old!!! Four months old is approaching fast!! I've got my application to Yale all filled out, I hope they accept me! This morning on "Good Morning America" they had a six year old piano player who can play about anything, well, I'm going to top him. I'm going to be able to play the piano by the time I am FIVE. Um....at least the pretend piano... I don't have a Baby Grand in my living room, heck, I don't even have a $10 electric keyboard in the house... I have one of those wooden instruments that you pluck the metal pieces and it makes different noises hanging on the wall in the Africa room...does that count? Maybe my mom will buy me a musical toy at that Marshmallow Kisses store she found.

I still can't beleive I am 15 weeks old. To help you remember here is what happened the month I was born (January 31, 2007 - so long ago!)

Movies that were released in theater:
The Departed (re-released)
Catch and Release
Epic Movie

Movies released to DVD:
Snakes on a Plane
The Illusionist
Open Season

Famous Births:
Daphne Rae Churchill
Meyer Demski
Clayton Eck

Famous Deaths:
Richard Kelley
Brent Liles
Ron Carey
Betty Trezza

Major Headlines:
War In Iran looming
War in Iraq still going
(hmmmmmm)

Hollywood Gossip:
Lindsay Lohan in Rehab
Lindsay Lohan out of Rehab
Lindsay Lohan in Rehab
Lindsay Lohan out of Rehab
Miss USA does drugs; Trump forgives her

Moving on up...

My world is expanding... I'm moving on up! No, not to the East Side... Well, I suppose it is in general direction of East. I have officially made the move from bassinet in the folks room to the big crib in my room. It's only been two nights so far, but that's a step, right? Next thing we know, Dad will be dragging the toddler bed down from the attic! Can't wait for that!!!!

Here's how much I have grown... Here is my photo in the bassinett at three days old (man, look how tiny I look!)

And here is my photo today in the bassinet... (I fill that thing up, don't I?)

But check out this hot mamma! I'm chilling in my new bed! Grandpa bought me the mattress, it's a Serta! He must have hit big money on Wheel of Fortune or something! Hahaha! Serta has the talking sheep right? One day I will look at this photo and think how tiny I look!

Marshmallow Kisses

Tonight my mommy volunteered at the Women in Training program through her work, a program that helps women gain confidence by training for to walk/run a 5k. My mom has volunteered for the last two years, handing out water at a mid point for all the walkers. It's always been down at English Landing Park in Parkville, but since that is underwater right now (Thanks Missouri River!) tonight they walked around Zona Rosa Shopping Center. After mom was done serving the water, she had to venture into a shop she'd been eyeing down for almost two hours... Marshmallow Kisses. It's a baby heaven!!! They have a gazillion books and toys, blankets and bedding, art and rugs, chairs and rocking horses, bibs and cribs... About anything you would ever want for a baby. The nice store clerk told mom they just opened on Monday...to which Mom said she had wished they had been open before I was born because she would have LOVED to have registered there! I am sure my Dad was grateful Mom's purse was locked in her trunk, otherwise she would have bought me a million things!! There were these set of 18 mini books about animals, a giraffe blanket (like I need another blanket), a baby Elvis or Beatles CD, a plastic bib with catch tray, funky wall letters, a chaneel kiddo chair, a puppy rocking horse, a puppy piggy bank, just to name a few items mom wanted to buy for me. Plus, in the back of the store, they sell maternity clothes that look incredibly hip! Mom told her co-workers Amy and Brittany that she couldn't wait to buy some stuff here! The three of them were so amazed with the store!!

You can check them out at www.marshmallowkisses.com if you want... Or head down to Zona Rosa, they are between Marshals and Build-a-Bear (across from Bravo!) Mom told me when she got home that if she makes incentive bonus on her paycheck, she is going to go down there next Friday and buy me something.... Oh I hope she makes incentive!!! Now I am off to watch Survivor and CSI with Mom that she recorded while she was gone... I already watched it once with Daddy, so I won't tell Mom that during the immunity challenge Earl.........

Correction - 14 weeks

It has been kindly pointed out to me that I messed up my age... I am NOT the unlucky 13 weeks old, but I am actually 14 weeks old! I am rather obtuse about my age, always forgetting. I'll get it one of these days...I promise!

Playtime!

My motor skills are developing a little more and I can actually use my hands for some good now... Here you can see I grasped Mom's camera cord! One day I'll the pull out of her hands and hide it so she can't take any more photos of me! She was playing with me and almost missed my smile...



And here I got my hands on a rattle...I enjoyed it, but I think it might be annoying to mom who was tring to work... Then again, she stopped working long enough to make a video of it...



Oh, sorry...I didn't realize how dark that video looks. On the camera it looks okay, but here it looks really dark. But if you have your sound turned on, you can hear the rattle noise.

And here is one more video, and this one is also more blackmail stuff. In the Wednesday Edition post, I admitted my new thing of sucking on my lip. I know this is not kosher, so I tried to hide to suck on my lip, but my mom caught me. She pulled away the burp rag and videoed me sucking on my lip!!! But she was giggling, so then I just had to smile at her. Warning this one is really dark, too, but luckily, I must not have been sucking loud enough because you can't hear it on the video...THANK GOODNESS!

Wednesday Edition - 13 weeks

Today I am 13 weeks old!! I am still shocked sometimes that I am already this old. I better start applying for colleges soon, otherwise I won't get my first choice... Hmmm... I wonder what my first choice will be?


Well, this week on Monday night, Dad and I were just chilling in the living room. He was feeding me, but I was so tired... So tired... And when I get tired, I like to suck on things: my pacifier, fingers or more recently, my bottom lip. Somehow I suck in my bottom lip and then I suck away on it. My parents think this is the funniest thing in the world and laugh so hard at the strange sound I make while sucking on my lip. Well, anyway, Dad was feeding me and I was getting so tired, so I spit out the bottle and started to suck on my bottom lip. Dad was cracking up at me, since I still had formula running down my chin. And then he took this hideous (and future blackmail) photo of me...

Last week my mom went to a garage sale and all she came home with was a doll chair! Can you beleive that? She past up all the toys and got me a doll chair. But I will admit, I love the chair. And my big diaper booty actually fits in it! My mom bought it because she has two of the "American Girl Collection" Dolls (Molly and Samantha) from when she was a little girl that she was saving for when she had a daughter. So hopefully one day I will get these dolls. But in the meantime, mom said the chair is perfect for Samantha. (Oh and I was almost named Samantha becuase of this doll! Maybe soon I'll post a photo of Samantha and me...)

Funny story, while my mom was trying to take the photo of me in the chair, she had a heck of a time. See, I can't exactly sit up on my own yet so Mom had to hold me up with one hand and take the photo with the other hand. So she tried setting the camera on the ground...but as you can see, she cut off my head! And then she accidently turned it to video instead of photo! She's a silly mom sometimes...but I still love her.

I Laughed!!!!

Tonight was a great night!!!!!!!!!!!!! I laughed for the first time!!!! Let me tell you the story... It was after dinner, mom was doing the dishes and dad was changing my diaper. The television show "Dancing with the Stars!" (vote for Apollo!) was just starting in the living room, so my dad started to hmmmm to the theme song. He was wiggling my body around and I just couldn't contain myself, I let out a little giggle! Dad yelled for mom to come in my room, but I got stage freight and couldn't do it again. So mom sadly went back to the kitchen.

Dad carried me back into the living room and we sat down on the couch together. My dad has this thing for not shaving, so he often has stubble on his face. So when he plants big ol' kisses on my cheeks or forehead, it tickles and I always end up smiling really big. Well, he was plastering my face with millions of kisses and making funny noises. Before I knew it, I let out another laugh!

But yet again, with the noise of the TV and the running water from doing dishes, Mom didn't hear it. Dad had her come into the room and he kissed me all over again, but the moment was past. No more laughing for me tonight; my abs are too sore. Maybe tomorrow.

Parent as Teachers

I'm enrolled in a special program called Parent as Teachers, so every so often Miss Peggy comes to visit! When she comes, she plays with me and hold me! She has two grandchildren of her own that aren't much different in age to me, so she's good with babies! Not to mention she has taught preschool since my mom was in preschool! Grant Kathy has taught in her preschool since Katee was in preschool...that's a long time! Miss Peggy is my friend, I love when she comes for a check up. She always gives my parents new ideas of ways to help my motor skills and vocabulary develop on schedule.

Chilling...

My mom works from home three times a week, which means, I get to stay home and play with her on those days! Dad and mom set up several stations around the room for me to rotate around so I don't get bored or mess with mom too much. Occasionally, I get bored with all the stations before mom is done with work...so she "creates" new ones. Last Friday, I got to lay on the couch, with a blanket on my side so I couldn't roll off... But as you can see in this photo, there is a big black soft object on the floor that would cushion my fall. Turk really likes me and he is always close by me, I think he's my guardian angel.

I'm smiling pretty easy now, smiling is fun!

Playing outside

Since it's spring time, the weather reports are full of rain... So when we actually get a nice day, I enjoy to spend some time outside! I love being outside... Before all the rain started, my mom and Grant Kathy used to walk everyday and they took me in the stroller. Fresh air is good for a soul.

So the other day, the rain let up a little bit so I got to go outside and play! In my Easter Basket, I got a little red wagon. Grammy and Mom thought I might fit in it, but as you can see, I am too big... I can't remember if I am crying or sneezing in this photo... Peanut, who is Grammy's beagle, kept trying to sniff me. Must be all that baby lotion that makes me smell so good!

Dad had just mowed the lawn, so the John Deere riding mower was in the backyard. Since my Gramps is such a John Deere enthusiast, they decided to take my photo with the mower. I don't think so!! I didn't want to be placed on that filthly machine! And I let my objections be known!

Sarah Charley's Wedding!

What a glorious day Saturday was!! Not only did I attend my first ever wedding, but I got to meet a lot of mommy and daddy's college friends! Sarah Charley was getting married! Give me a moment to explain who she is... In college, my parents were both members of a group on campus called the Christian Campus House. But everyone called it CCH or just Campus House. The group met in an old cute house across the street from the football field. Dad even rented an apartment for several years in the upstairs with Austin, Olivia's daddy! Well, Roger Charley was the Campus Minister, and he had two daughters, Sarah and Rachel. Aren't they pretty? They were just in high school when my parents were in college, but they hung out with all the Campus house people and were friends with them!

So here at the wedding, lots of Campus House alumni were there. But I was just excited to attend my first ever wedding! It was similar to church in that I heard praying, a pastor speaking (Olivia's dad again!), songs and I got to wear a pretty dress. I know I shouldn't wear white to a wedding, but it had flowers on it and a pink sash... Isn't that okay? Plus I got to wear a cute little headband, even if Dad was concerned with the mark it left on my skin...

After the wedding, everyone walked over to the gym of the church for some good ol' fashioned fellowship and of course...CAKE! I tried to steal a bite of icing from Amy (Olivia's mommy) but she wouldn't give me any. I even tried to get Devon to give me a sip of her punch, but she wouldn't either...

Then Gabe came over and said he needed to hold a baby. I looked around for the baby, then realized he meant me. Amy picked up Olivia and next thing you know, a crowd had gathered to check out the Campus House alumni babies...

I enjoyed hanging out with Olivia again! But then we got to meet another Campus House alumni baby... Emma Derr! Emma and Olivia liked my ballet slippers...

After a lot of talking, the old people decided they all wanted real food, so the whole group drove down the street to Applebee's. Well, first we went to Cracker Barrell, but we pulled in the parking lot at the same time as a tour bus, so then we drove across the street to Applebee's. Olivia and I didn't care though... We just wanted to talk and hang out more! And we got to! Daddy set me on the table so I could look at Olivia...and I watched every move she was making. I tried to emulate her, but the dang motor skills aren't as developed as hers...