9 Months Old

Little Britches is 9 months old!  Her well child check up went just fine.  She is 26 and 3/4 inches long; she weighs 17 pounds and 3 ounces; her head is 44 centimeters around.  She is in the 25% for length adn weight and the 50% for head circumference, which is good because her daddy can't wait to get her head into a bike helment and get her out on the road. 

Little Britches- we love all that you will be and all that you are!

A day in the sun

Today Little Britches and I met our friend Elisabeth and Bop for our weekly walk.  Last time we met them I noticed the sun was in Little Britches' eyes.  I noted that I might need to get her a hat.  Before I could find a hat I liked our friend Jackie got Little Britches some stylin' sunglasses.  Problem Solved!  She wore them for part of the walk and then at some point took them off.  She looked super cute, don't you think?

What are you holding on to?

Yesterday was a beautiful day so Little Britches and I spent some time outside.  We go in the front yard because the back yard is the dogs' domain with toys and other things strewn about.  I am sure the neighbors think I am just out showing off our cute baby girl, and they may be partially right.  As we were outside enjoying the cool breeze Little Britches kept grasping at things.  First she grasped at the grass. 

Why do babies do so much grasping?  What are they looking for? What do they experience?   Did the grass feel cool or wet?  Did it tickle or poke?  It didn't seem to be what she wanted, so next she grasped onto her toy links.

And how was this?  Exciting? Stimulating?  Better than the grass?  I don't know, but it must not have been what she wanted either, because last of all she grasped me.

How did my hand feel?  Warm? comforting? strong?  Is that what she needed?  Who knows what she felt, but I know God gave me a picture of me.  So often I grasp for the things of this world.  Some of them "natural", some of them bright and promising, but in the end I only need to grasp for the hand of my Father, who holds me up and makes me not only feel secure, but know security, love, joy, peace, and contentment.  May you always grasp for the one that can offer what you most need.

Giggly Girl!

Our Little Britches is a total gem! She smiles and often squeals with delight when you tickle her or kiss her neck, but before today her true laugh has eluded us. We've caught a glimpse of it every now and then like when we are playing on the bed or when the dog does something funny. On those occasions she would let out a "ha, ha". That's it! Two ha's put together. I wasn't even really sure those were real laughs, so I hadn't recorded any of them in her baby book, but today's date will go down in Little Britches history as the day she first laughed and laughed and laughed some more.




We had friends come over for dinner. They arrived not too long after Little Britches had gone down for a nap. The extra commotion woke our sleeping princess, but she was in a good mood. It was early enough in the afternoon to give us time to walk to the park that is about a mile away, so we set off on our field trip. About half way to the park Little Britches started to cry in her stroller, which she rarely does. I didn't know if she was still a little tired from her shortened nap or if she was hungry, since it had been just about 3 hours since she ate. Daddy carried her the rest of the way to the park and that seemed like it was what she needed. Our friends have a one year old daughter who started to swing. We put Little Britches in her own swing and she started to cry. She is not normally so fussy, so I knew we were dealing with tiredness and hunger. These were certainly not the circumstances that I thought would lead to her first laugh. I finally sat down in a swing to just have something to do while I talked. Daddy handed Little Britches to me and she started to gnaw on my wrist. I started making hints and starting towards home, but to no avail. The husband of the couple that was visiting with us sat down in the swing next to me and started to swing. When he wanted to slow himself down he let his feet drag through the pebbles below the swing set. Little Britches let out a BIG giggle! I didn't believe it at first, but every time our friend would drag his feet through the pebble Little Britches would laugh and laugh and laugh. Well, Little Britches's Daddy would not be left out, so he started to swing while dragging his feet through the pebbles, too. The more he dragged his feet, the more she laughed.



It was a sweet, contagious, wonderful, joyful laugh. I hope I hear it many more times in the coming days, but each time I hear it I hope it reminds me that even less than ideal circumstances can render sweet moments that I will treasure forever, if I am on the lookout for them.



Thank you Giggly Girl for that sweet laugh today!

Thank you God for the abundance of blessings that you continue to pour out in my life!



(Here is a picture of us swinging just prior to the giggly moment.)

 

Boo!

Yesterday I put Little Britches's Halloween onesie on her.  It was cute, but it just needed a little something.  I had bought some tulle in hopes of making her a cute little lady bug costume before Bella got her the cute poodle outfit.  I decided the black tulle would be perfect as a quick tutu to go with the Halloween onesie.  So I took the tulle and used my rotary cutter to cut it into long strips about 2 ish inches wide.  I then cut those strips in half so they wouldn't be so long.  I wanted a short tutu.  I then tied those strips onto a black grosgrain ribbon and then tied the ribbon around Little Britches's waist.  Oh so cute! 

Here's the proof:

Hook Em and Burp Em

Well I have been a busy bee.  Last week I sewed Little Britches an entire outfit- dress, headband, shoes, and a matching burb cloth.  The outfit's colors are blue and gold, otherwise known as yellow, in honor of my alma mater's homecoming this weekend.  I will take pictures this weekend and let you see my handy work.  Before I started that project however I made a burp cloth for game days at home.  You see, my alma mater is a small school whose football games are not televised or even reported on the news, so we cheer for the local university's team that has an excellent football team.  We needed that special burp cloth for those times when game-day snacks just got to be a little too much. ;)  Here are some pictures of Little Britches on game day and her new burp cloth:

The weekend recap

Well, weekends around here are busy! 

On Saturday I did go for a run.  I decided to cut my postpartum body some slack and run/walk my runs until I don't feel like I am going to die.  That might mean I don't quite run all 13.1 miles of the half marathon in November, but I am okay with that for now.  So I set off Saturday morning with my ipod and ran a song and then walked a song.  I did that for 40 minutes and covered four miles.  I was feeling good so I went to the end of our street and back for a total of 4.76 miles.  Not bad.  I actually felt like I could keep going for a while if I needed to.   I need to do a longer run tonight, but it has been rainy here all day, so I might do it tomorrow night.  After the run Little Britches's dad and I did a few things around the house.  Boy is he getting some stuff done!  The house is looking great.  There are those few areas that have to look worse before they look better when you are cleaning them out....we have one or two of those areas right now, but we also have several areas that have come out on the other side of that process and look fantastic. 

Also on Saturday Little Britches's Bella came for a photo shoot and quality time.  Here a few of the results.

It was a little chilli outside on Saturday and I did wake Little Britches up from her nap to take these pictures, so no smiles, but no crying either!

We then met Papa D for dinner and dancing...well not too much dancing, but dinner anyway.  After such a full day Little Britches slept all the way through the night.  Woo hoo!  Sunday was also full, as it usually is with church stuff and she slept through the night again!  The two days daddy can be on duty- slept.  Monday night, when daddy is sleeping because he has to get up for workout and work.  She woke up at 11, 3, and 5.  I love her, though and will miss those sweet night time visits soon enough! 

I am currently "working" on a few sewing projects, meaning they are rolling around in my head.  I am going to make Little Britches an outfit to wear to my college's homecoming at the end of the month.  I will be sure to post pictures as I go.  Well I hear someone waking up from their nap, and it is not me, so I better go get the doll and feed her!

This weekend we are headed out of down for the day to visit with cousins.  That should be fun.  I will let you know. 

Many miles to go before I sleep, well 8 to be exact

Oh to be young again! Little Britches is one of the great loves of my life, but I can't help but be a little jealous of her schedule sometimes. She wakes and eats, plays, and then sleeps. Then she repeats the cycle several times during the day. I am happy if I get to "play" once a day, and really happy if I get to sleep once a day. Little Britches's daddy comes home from work each day and lets me have some "play" time. (He is a dream come true!) Now, what I would love to do with that play time is go to Target and shop, but since we cut down to one income when Little Britches came along that is not a good plan. So I exercise instead. It doesn't cost us money. It just cost me pain. Today I need to run 8 miles. I had every intention (well I had many intentions) of doing my long, 8 mile run, on Saturday, but it rained all day, so today is the day. Wait, what's that I hear...the weather forecast on the TV...rain for this afternoon and tonight?...there go my intentions! Just kidding. If it is raining I may just have to go run on a treadmill. Yuck! Oh well. I am thankful for my health and the health of my family. There are many who wish they could run 8 miles, but for whatever reason they cannot. I don't want to waste any of the gifts I have been given, because there is no guarantee they will be available tomorrow.    

Costumes

MGM's Bella (grandmother) got her this costume for her first Halloween. I just couldn't resist trying it on her to see how she looked. Pretty cute, don't you think? The only problem is MGM's Bella advertised this as a lamb costume. As you and I (but not Bella) can clearly see this is NOT a lamb costume. It is a poodle! Now I don't have anything against poodles necessarily, but I am more of a Boarder Collie, Austrian Shepherd, even Great Dane kind of a girl. The only excuse I can offer in Bella's defense is she was off to the eye doctor when she dropped the costume off to us, so maybe she will soon be able to clearly see her cute little poodle more clearly.