Yes, we are here ... it's just been one of those kinds of long and busy couple of months.

Sarah is now one! She had a wonderful birthday party. Friends and family galore. She loved every moment of the attention and excitement. She didn't care much for cake, but enjoyed rubbing it into herself, her clothes and everything around her.

She has 11 teeth now, and is busy awaiting two more molars on the bottom. She runs around and plays from the moment she wakes up. Anyone who sees hers says she wears them out just watching.

She is well behaved when we go out, and enjoys just hanging out. Now that she can walk, she has learned that she can also walk around when we're out, and encourages you to follow her around.

My favorite moments with her are in the evening watching her eat dinner with gusto, getting everything all over, then spending ten minutes cleaning her and then kitchen down, playing on the floor, spending more time cleaning up ;), and then dressing her in her fleece footed PJs, and snuggling into bed.

She has so much personality and loves to play act everything you do. She calls on the cell phone, and even texts, with one of daddy's old phones. She plays tea party and takes out her purse, both gifts for her birthday.

Daddy still is splitting his days working and watching over his little girl. I am so thankful that we have that option. And that he does it so willingly, even when I am going nuts, and driving him crazy.

We have had a very blessed year. I can only hope that we remain as lucky and blessed this year. I have a wonderful husband who, like others, puts up with a crazy woman and still loves me unconditionally.

Christmas is finally in the air here. This time of the year goes so fast. It is insane. I love every moment. So I am trying to slow down and just soak in the moments.

Hope this finds you doing some soaking in too!

What the summer will do for you...

My little girl is growing so fast, too fast if I have anything to say about it.

Yes, I spent the summer with her day in and night too... but where did the little girl go and the toddler come from.

Here's what happened over our summer...

She crawled, she sat up, she ate tons of purees and then solids. We played, and learned to crawl all over the house. Even up the stairs, and off the bed.

She got 7 teeth. Yes, 7 in 2 months. The last three all coming in the first week and a half of school.

Then on the 27th of August, she walked! 9 and 1/2 months a good month before I did. No not like across the room, but two steps from me to the jumperoo, as if to say... haha mom showed you!

This week, she is standing and walking at least 4 steps on her own. (Note: I am now nailing everything down, cause she likes to grab off tables)

She grew from 25 inches at 6 months to 28.5 inches at 9 months. I think that's off by a half inch or so, but man oh man... that explains it all.

I am so blessed that I was there to see every one of those first, first hand, not after ( or at least my hubby led me to believe she had never done it - which is a blessing too).

I love, LOVE being a mom. Not ready to share it to the point of planning another, but I can't get enough of this first year... and the change and the growth and how nothing... I mean NOTHING is as important as making our family the center focus.

FAMILY IS EVERYTHING!

Missing...

I just want to put out here in blog land that there is an important person missing in the chaotic life of the beginning of a new year... I don't know how often she gets a chance to stop by. See she changed places, and titles... she's busy because really people don't make keys on Sundays. :) I know she misses the "old" ways but I want her to know how great she will be at the "new" ways. She is missed by everyone, but man I miss being able to walk into her room and un-load, and commiserate. She probably doesn't know how much she helped me be the teacher I am... and for that I'm grateful beyond words. So Mrs. "Cardinal" (names changed to protect the innocent :) ) just know you make a difference, and you are AMAZING!

PS... to all the Gators near and far... we miss you!

Here & Now...

Okay who cannot love this stinking adorable face. Man I could just eat her up. It drives me crazy!

The summer is swiftly moving on its way, and sadly school is beginning. It was wonderful spending the time at home with her. She changed so much but it was so amazing to be able to see her do it.

Some things she did were... crawl, sit up, learn to stand, start to cruise, stand unassisted, pull up on everything, and gain... count them, 5 teeth. 2 on the top and 3 on the bottom. She loves to read books (and shhh... (check for Nonna) chew on them a bit). She loves carebears, blocks, pounding and rubbing things on the tile. Duke is her number one buddy!



PS... despite fabulous behavior out... we have some serious 'tude at home.

Playdates and Fun!

Today was an amazing adventure of moms, kids, food, & excitement. Sadly we didn't do this sooner this summer.

It was nice to watch the girls play on the floor, and hear the boys "living it up" in the front room.

But the best part was talking to other moms.

We come from all different backgrounds, and have one common denominator ~ we are gators. I won't say were, 'cause "once a gator always a gator." And if you don't know what a gator is, well, that's just too bad.

So to my fellow ladies... thank you, thank you, thank you.

It's good to hear that my life as a mom and wife is not too far from any of yours. And that the struggles, that I have thought were only mine, turn out to be yours too.

So again thank you, for the food, the space, the friendship and the sharing. We need to do it again soon!

Cherrios, Sesame Street & Summer

It really is the world's greatest food. It can keep an 8 month old busy endlessly. Man she loves theses things. At least I know that they are good for her, and that it has plenty of positives. First she will have no cholestrol, lol. Two, she is practicing that pincher finger skill. Three, she's learning self-motivation. It's tough working on getting those sometimes slippery suckers into her moving mouth. :) Four, she loves them!

I can't believe that it's been forty years for these guys! I loved Sesame Street when I was growing up. Cookie, the Count, Kermit, Grover, Big Bird, Gordon, Luis, Maria and everyone else like Slimey, Snuffy, and Barkley. I have many a found memory watching it in the morning, and even as I was in college I'd catch an episode (though they weren't the same).


We were watching a Capitol Fourth on the 4th, waiting for the fireworks to start. Big Bird appeared on screen, and began singing... his friends Elmo, Oscar, Cookie, Rosita, and Abbicadabbi were all there too. Sarah was entranced. She giggled, and laughed, and scooted ever closer with each song and conversation. It was a hit!


We always miss Sesame Street in the morning, 'cause we would much rather sleep in, but the great thing is On Demand. We can watch old episodes there, whenever we have time. Online we can do this too. But the best part of the website is we can watch the episodes and clips from when I was little... and that is AWESOME.


It is so amazing to know something that I grew up with that was wonderful, and educational and safe, is still going strong some 30 years later. It makes me happy to be able to go back to the neighborhood, and feel as if I never left. Even better I get to take my kiddo with me this time!

Isn't this the whole point of summer... enough said!

Toothfairy

I have always believed in the Toothfairy. What isn't to love about her? She brings you surprises, and makes things like loosing teeth, fun. But I always wondered what happened to the teeth she took away in exchange for all those shiny coins?

Years after I lost my baby teeth, I finally found out what happened to them. She takes them, polishes them up and gives them to little babies, 'cause babies need to have baby teeth. Duh?! Right?





Well that's what we believe in this house.




And the Toothfairy in all her glory has come to pay a visit to little ol' Sarah.

I am so excited to see her with that little tooth. For those wondering its her right center bottom. She didn't have it last night, so it cut through today. The Toothfairy must have blessed her with it at nap this afternoon.

With a few tears and a bit of aggravation I have still not caught a great picture of this new little addition, but I rest assured that we will see it soon enough in all it's glory.

Since mommy spent the better part of twenty minutes trying to coax it out for a picture, Sarah is now insisting on having the cold teething ring in her mouth indefinitely.

Ahhh, the things I do for a picture.

Well one down and 19 to go, not that they need to all come in a week or anything... (just a note to the Toothfairy).

Changing...

Okay I am still trying to find a blog background that works for me, and is unique. I will keep working on it, but I think it is pretty cool that I got the header to be transparent... mostly. Man I wish I paid more attention to Html coding. Okay, I will just have to learn as I go. :)

What We Have Been Up To!

We have been up to a few things since the last time I wrote. Sarah is now seven months. I can't believe it. Time passes so quickly. A few of the the things she likes to do now are... laughing, she has quite a sense of humor. She loves to crawl, and stand and get into everything. She definitely would rather walk then crawl, if she could just figure how to get herself up. Toes are fascinating... and tasty (eeww!), and can be polished (not painted). The iron headboard can be hours of entertainment, especially when mommy is exhausted, and just wants her to go to bed.

She loves food. Crackers were a big hit and defintely a great adventure each and everytime. She is picking up some great signs - milk, water, eat, MORE (she loves this one...). You can tell her little mind is just going, going, going.

She spent a good twenty minutes last night "chasing" this Care Bear in circles on the tile. Every time she would reach for it... it would slide off to the side. She was deeply amused. (Man who didn't love Care Bears, I'm so excited we kept some of these toys - Thanks Nonna) She is also learning to share willingly. She plays with everyone from peek-a-boo, to where'd it go. She absolutely loves Duke, and is constantly enticing him, even when he tries to herd her with his barking.

Steve's brother Chris, stopped down from Utah, and spent the evening visiting with us. It was an unexpected surprise, but Sarah was definitely fascinated with her Daddy's brother.

For Father's Day we made Daddy a card, and Sarah worked hard to eat the pen and the card and sign it at the same time. Thanks to Ms. Kelli, we finally put together the picture frame from Valentine's Day and add a Daddy and daughter pic to it. I think it turned out too cute.

Auntie came and watched her while Mommy and Daddy went and moved classrooms for hopefully the last time in a long while. (More to come on that in another post) We spent time with Nonna, and of course doing our favorite thing... shopping, which gained us a great new pal.It says all the letters of the alphabet, all the sounds, colors, and plays the tune ABC's if you pull the string, which she does constantly because she has a thing for cords (see the next pic). But it also plays 26 songs... I don't know whether to be happy about that or terrified. And for those of you crazy people... if you try to make it say a bad word... it responds with a "that tickles" instead of finishing the word.

Lastly, yep here is my cherub trying to attack the camera cord. She can find a cord a million miles away, and knows that it drives everyone crazy when she puts them in her mouth!

It's been a busy couple of days... but man, it's never dull!

Bubble Wrap

I am going to invest in good 'ole bubblewrap.

Not for packing or sending an expensive object across the country, but for my Daughter.

In the last week she has bunked her head on more things that you can imagine. She has even rolled off the bed (mind you this is the third time if you are keeping track), been imprinted by the carseat, and been wacked in the head by the "boys" of the house.

Just this morning I placed her in her crib to run and grab the camera. She was just in a good mood and the light was right, so we were going to do a photo shoot. I come upstairs to find her trying to stand in the crib... no biggie. I walk over to Hooray her again, and boom, her little feet slip out from underneath her, and she bunks on the crib. UGh!

Luckily for her and me, I believe God has bubble wrapped her himself. Except for a tiny bruise on the forehead, from wacking it on the wall as she was standing and playing, she has come away unscathed from all incidents this week. Astounding.

I, on the otherhand, am just about to lose it. How will she ever make it to a ripe 'ole age at this rate?

Someone with a young child, mentioned to me you feel as if you have put dent in the brand new car when kids get hurt. Taking them to the doctor over it is like saying... did I break it, can you fix it?

So far we have been blessed. I know I can't keep her free of a few accidents, but I've decided if God has wrapped her, I will just trust, with a little diligence on the parental part, we will continue to keep her safe, except for a few bumps and bruises.

RaNDoMs

Ugh! It erased... so sorry.

Milestones

Today, I decided to do a few pictures of this girl of ours. I just wanted to show how a normal morning looked, and to capture the fact that she had learned to sit up all on her own.

So here she is enjoying her toys and doing her best to show how good she is at sitting unassisted. She watched some TV, thanks to Daddy she already has some primetime choices.

Then she proceeded to give us a grin or two, and I should have known that this one meant she was up to something.

She was....

my six and half month old, not only learned to sit up unassisted, but she decided that she would

CRAWL

I cannot believe it! She has been scooting and army crawling for weeks, but seriously?! She got up on all fours, turned towards me and MOVED. With tears I grabbed her and hurrayed the craziness out of her. Daddy was right there too, and that just makes it the best.

Then of course I was in hot pursuit of catching it on camera, and as you can see in the above picture, once she does something she doesn't stop.

Note: I have caught nearly everything on camera... rolling, sitting, crawling...etc. :)

Where has the time gone? She was just a little bug a few months ago, and now she's a crawler.

UGH!

Well, I hope she slows down a bit, I want to keep her my little girl a while longer.

Did I mention this afternoon she has taken to pulling up?

Super 6 Months in Photo

Goodness I love this kid~ :)

6 months and counting

It's amazing how one small little thing can change every little bit in your life. I wake up each day to her beautiful smile and silly laugh, much to do with my hair I assume, but a laugh just the same. She giggles and hides as her dad comes in from work, and she has even picked up the crying when he leaves. The day is filled with changing diapers, keeping her happy, which doesn't take much, feeding her and just revolving around her. We spend more time wondering what she'll wear, what she'll eat, what she'll need next. The "we" is really her, I think. :)

I thank God everyday that she is happy and healthy, and it breaks my heart for the parents who are not as lucky, or take the beauty of their children for granted.

You really begin to see your purpose in life and eternity in your children's eyes. The things that were once important are small compared to them. Everything in life becomes them, and family.

Here's to hoping for many more mornings, evenings, afternoons, and times inbetween here and eternity.

An Elusive Search

You would think that at this time of the economy's craziness finding a car would not be that difficult. They share on the news the wealth of the cars they have to sell. They fill lots all over the valley, and just plain take up space. I even heard if they sold all those vehicles at cost, we would have enough money to balance the state budget this year.

Surprisingly, we are looking for a car.

You don't believe it when you hear as your pregnant, but kids bring on stuff. Lots of stuff. Outrageous amounts of stuff. On top of that most of their stuff is not as small as them. I think there should be a rule, that your stuff may not out size you, but I don't think I would win that one either.

So as our daughter got ready to turn the half year point, we decided that more kids would only bring more stuff, and that meant no one would fit in the car, let alone just us.

We have looked for nearly a month. True that the people we have looking aren't doing a fabulous job. With all that inventory, you think that they would want to move it, and therefore would be apt to actually provide some assistance in getting it to a willing, and eager buyer, but we still don't have a new car.

We even began the pursuit this last week on our own, since I know that we can do it better. We even went to dealerships at noon, the hottest time of the day, and therefore hopefully a quick pick to sell, but the dealerships didn't even have a good clue of what they wanted to sell or how much they wanted to sell for.

We will keep looking since we don't need the car right away, nor do we have more kids on the way, but at this rate both those things may come before we find the vehicle.

and it begins...

Really do I have anyone who will read this?

Well, maybe a few, but if nothing else I can share with those who are near or far the happenings of a young family, the general chaos of a normal day, and the thoughts that run through my head.


and of course, there's always photos.