We spent the day doing girl stuff with Luli today! We spent most of the day going to Tyler to see Aunt Dannise. You were trapped in your car seat for quite some time and did amazingly well! As a reward for your good behavior, we fed you some Blizzard and we went to the mall so you could play on the soft toys.

When we got there we saw a carousel! So, you & I rode it! You were very unsure what to think of it so after about 10 seconds I ended up holding you the whole time. I think you thought it was pretty cool….just were a little unsure. You then played on the soft toys for quite some time – you are a HUGE fan of that. Then you rode a very small, 3 seater, merry-go-round. You rode the duck and pointed to him and said “duckie”!

We all had a great day and thouroughly enjoyed our grandmother – mother – daughter day!

With VERY few exceptions, for the last year or so, you have been in bed and asleep no later than 7:30pm…usually closer to 7:00pm.

We developed a new bed time ritual upon our return from the Ranch…I rock you in the chair in your room until you are good and relaxed…and sometimes asleep. Then I will lay you in your crib and close the door behind me. You don’t cry, you don’t fuss, you just drift off to sleep until the next morning – usually between 7:00 – 8:00am.

Well, last night you made it clear you wanted no part of the relaxation time. Thinking you were just sleepy, I put you in your bed kicking and screaming thinking you’d quickly fall asleep. Not so! You made it very clear that the last thing you wanted to do was sleep. So, after about 5 minutes, we caved and let you out. You ran around the living room for the next hour or so and had a blast. It was clear you just weren’t ready for bed yet.

We pretty much repeated the cycle tonight! It might just be that your growing up a bit and your bed time is getting later. You are growing up so fast!

Well, Luli and Papaw came to town and we all took you to the petting zoo yesterday. WHAT FUN! You got to see and touch all kinds of animals: zebra, brama (cow), buffalo, baby pigs, chickens, goat, sheep, alpacas, horses, and mommy even got to milk a cow for the very first time in her life! GOOD TIMES!

You have definitely inherited my love for animals. You get so excited when you see them that you can hardly stand it! It’s the most adorable thing to see. We even got to pick out a pumpkin from the pumpkin patch before we left. It’s nicely perched in the front flower bed, along with the two that daddy & mommy picked.

You are growing up so fast. Though not all of your words make sense, you definitely have a way of communicating. You understand & respond to commands like “throw it in the trash”, “get your bib”, “is your hair in your face”, want to go bye-bye”, “where is…”, “what does Maddie say”, “where is your…”, “are you done”, etc. You also make it VERY clear when you are dissatisfied…for example, you let us know you are very unhappy when we take something away from you or try to put you back in your stroller after you’ve been allowed to walk around. We are working on finding the balance between teaching you that behavior will get you what you want…while still making sure you feel heard – no matter how you choose to communicate. It’s pretty amazing that we can have an entire conversation with you now!

You like to dance whenever you hear music, and you LOVE it when mommy & daddy sing songs like “The Wheels on the Bus”, “Old Macdonald”, and “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star”….you actually like it when we sing anything. Even if it doesn’t make any sense.

You are very curious about EVERYTHING. You are methodical. You are a busy body and like to constantly stay on the move. For some reason, you love to play with anything that you are not supposed to. You could have 48 toys in front of you and you’ll want to dig through my purse, or play with daddy’s keys. You are still a healthy eater and there isn’t much you’ll turn down. We are in the process of converting you over 100% to whole milk from formula….we are about 60/40 milk to formula right now.

You know words for and can identify things like banana, cup, baby, balloon, puppy, bow, daddy, mommy, uh-oh, bottle, bear, bird, and ball. In fact, the sweetest thing happend the other day. I had just gotten you up from a nap and you were pointing over at your armoire and saying “baby”. I couldn’t figure out what you were talking about. The only thing “baby” by the armoire was a picture of me when I was just a few months old, with Luli feeding me a bottle. So, I took you over there and you immediately pointed to the baby (me) in the picture! AMAZING!

There simply are no words to express the abolute joy you bring to our lives…each and every day!

Til Death Do Us Part.

Such emotionally fired and passion evoking words – that was the thing that stood out most to me from MamaLou’s funeral. I pictured Louise and Dann in their twenties standing at the alter exchaning vows and promising those words to each other. They meant it. And now they rest together….forever in love.

Though much more popular in their time, so seldom in this day and age do children get to grow up in an unbroken home. How lucky for each of their children to have such a wonderful example of what unconditional love should be. In today’s world, getting a divorce is just about like ordering a cup of morning coffee at Starbucks: a little time consuming and way over-priced but still a fairly simple undertaking.

Til Death Do Us Part. Your father and I promosed those words to each other, too. I cherish the thought that you will be one of the lucky ones – to grow up in a home with a true example of passionate and endless love.

Mommy’s last living grandparent and your great-grandma, MamaLou, made her way to heaven Tuesday night. She is finally able to rest in peace and live forever with the love of her life DaddyDann. I have visions of the happiness they shared when they were finally reunited after being apart for the past 8 months.

Her funeral is Saturday – the celebration of all the amazing things that made up her wonderful life. May she rest in peace.

I can’t believe it’s been over a month since your father & I have blogged! Shame on us! What’s been going on in that time?

I left for the Biggest Loser Ranch on 8.8.10; your father joined me after 2 weeks on 8.22.10. He also brought you & Luli with him when he came to town! Your visit was supposed to be a surprise but I had a mini nervous breakdown about being away from you for so long just before I was scheduled to leave…it was a tough decision, but your dad decided to let me in on his little secret. I was SOOOO relieved and excited to know that I would get to see you in 2 weeks…even if it was for just a short time. Our visit was far too short, but very much needed!

You spent the week of 8.22 with Luli & Papaw and the week of 8.29 with Grandma Karen and Grandpa Bruce. You ended up getting strep throat that last week – even had to go to the doctor and take antibiotics! Being away from you was hard as it was, but knowing you weren’t feeling well made it that much more difficult. It helped knowing you were in good hands though.

We were both super excited to come home on 9.4. We got home about 10:30pm and were upstairs talking to your grandma and I guess you heard us and started crying. Your dad and I looked at each other with the same thought in mind…then barged right into your room to cuddle you up! It was obvious you were surprised to see us….somewhat confused but absolutely overjoyed at the same time. We just scooped you up and loved on you. Lots of hugs, kisses, and watery eyes. You smelled so good – like only you can smell. All things felt right with the world at that moment.

You’ve matured so much in the last month. When I went to get you out of bed the next morning you were sweeping your hair out of your face with your hand. I hadn’t seen you do that before. Then you started pointing at your hair bows and grunting. You were totally communicating your needs to me! It was pretty amazing to see you make such strides in such a short amount of time!

It’s clear you missed us. For the first few days you would get anxious and upset when one of us would leave the room or gets out of the car. You’ve also been much more cuddly than before which you know I love!!! You have also become much more vocal about your wants and desires. One might also say you are a bit demanding and insistent. Not sure where you get either of those traits. 🙂 We are working on finding the balance between teaching you that tantrums are not successful in achieving your goal while still making sure you know we love you more than life itself. I’ve got a feeling that’s the song we’ll dance to for the next 20 years or so. 🙂

I had many motivators for going to the Ranch. One of the most important was to set a good example for you and to teach you healthy habits. It makes me feel good to feed you healty and wholesome foods. We’ve cooked at home more this week than the past year! As a result you’ve gotten to enjoy some yummy things like grilled chicken, shrimp, banans, peanut butter, nutrigrain waffles, zucchini, mushrooms, and your all time favorite – bananas!!!

It’s absoultely baffling how quickly you are maturing and growing. You are cuter than ever…and strangers notice and comment on it all the time. Your smart, determined, curious, busy, and sooooo lovable.

It’s so good to be home!

By the way – while at the Ranch your father lost 14 pounds and 4″ off his gut. I lost 22 pounds and a total of 8″ (5″ of that off my waist). That brings your dad’s grand total weight loss to 25 pounds in a month and my grand total to 45 pounds since May! We are on our way to being the healthy family we’ve always wanted to be!

For the past 14 months we have carried you out of daycare to the car. Today, you walked out on your own! Holding my hand, of course. 🙂

Just one more of the many milestones you have yet to accomplish in your life!

Wow Hailey Bear, it’s been quite the month. It started the weekend of July 4th when your Grandma Karen, Grandpa Bruce, and cousin Jacob came to visit from Iowa. They really miss you and are sad that we live so far away. We knew you were getting close to walking before they got here. Grandma told me I couldn’t let you start walking until she got here. Although I didn’t have anything to do with it, her wish came true. You took a step or two, but didn’t really start “walking” until that weekend. Grandma and Grandpa were very excited to be a part of such a special milestone. In addition to walking, you also started to learn to stand on your own. You’ve got the stubbornness and persistence of your father. You tried to stand non-stop for 10 straight minutes. Grunting, huffing, puffing, sweating, and red faced – you didn’t give up until you stood up at least once. Although brief you were SOOOO PROUD! By the end of the weekend you were really getting it figured out.

Then two weeks later you had your first sleepover. You spent the night at Grandpa Nash and Grandma Abby’s house. For as close as they live we don’t get to see them quite as much we’d all like. In the morning before we picked you up we decided to grab some breakfast at IHOP. It was VERY weird to not have you in tow. It’s only been a year, but it’s already starting to get hard to remember life before you. You’re such little angel, it was actually rather a uneventful evening, but I think you all had a blast! You get so tickled at grandpa’s dachshunds, Manny and Ashley.

The next weekend Grandma Luli came to visit from Wichita Falls. All your Grandparents absolutely adore you to bits. But for some reason there’s a unique twinkle in Luli’s eye that sparkles in just a little different way when she sees you. She loves you so much and she has so much fun every time you are together. You seem to have a special bond with her, too. When she leaves the room, you cry in an effort to get her to stay close by. She was also kind enough to watch you while mom and I went to a movie. Toy Story in 3D. 3D movies are now the newest hottest thing – about 1 in 50 new movies are now in 3D. I can’t wait to see what movies are like when you are our age.

So here we are about 3 weeks after you started walking, you’re now ripping around the house like a little mad woman. You stumble every now and again, but standing and walking are pretty effortless now.

It’s been an action packed month with lots of milestones and tons of love for one lucky little girl!

Love,
Daddy

After much practice, I think it’s safe to say you are officially walking. Though you have trouble getting from a sitting position to a standing position, when given a standing start you’ve taken as many as 15 steps at one time! It’s soooo cute to see how proud you are when you succeed!

You are talking a lot more…using different sounds and sylables. You LOVE to play pick-a-boo and will stand behind the wall or cover your face with you lovey and and say “boo!”…well, it sounds more like “Bha”. So it makes sense that you love to be surprised! From getting caught off guard to quick movements…if it startles you, it makes you laugh!

You are growing like a weed! You are by far the tallest one in your class and you carry your weight very solidly so you are heavier than you look. As soon as you are 100% comfortable walking, you will have to move to the toddler room. Which means you will no longer have Catrina as your teacher anymore. 🙁

You are still a big fan of sucking your thumb but aren’t addicted to the pacifier like a lot of children your age. You learned over the weekend how to drink from a straw! It’s already come in handy a few times. You are incredibly smart and you are showing signs of being analytical and methodical…just like your father!

You like to dance (move your body & arms) when you hear music. Your hair is super long…and oh so pretty! It’s got a great color with natural highlights, too. Your eyes are a mystery color. Sometimes they look really blue and other times they look more hazel. The bottom line: you are absolutely beautiful….both inside and out!

It’s only a matter of time now. You are weeks, maybe days, away from walking. This weekend you practiced standing on your own quite a bit…and you did a pretty good job of it! You even took a couple of steps a few different times! It’s only a matter of time before you are up and at ’em!

You have 8 teeth now: 4 full ones on bottom, 2 full ones on the top middle, and the 2 on either side of the top front teeth are about half in.

You’ve been in the pool a few times this summer and LOVE the water. You don’t however, like to be confined to your floatie, just like out of the water, you love to be moving ALL the time!

Oh, and your diaper rash is finally getting better…thank goodness!