Dear Little Baby

Dear Lorelei,

You are almost officially crawling! Where has the time gone? You are getting up on your hands and knees and rocking, ready to move! You can take about 2-3 movements and then you fall over. What is motivating you? Dog bowls. Dog food and the dogs' water bowls look so much fun to you. Whenever you see the bowls, you try harder to get to them. And actually, you did get into the dog food the other night. I was obviously not paying close enough attention to you, just chatting away on the phone, and heard a little rustling of the dog food. I looked over, you had dumped the bowl on its' side and had a piece in your mouth. My first thought was "ew she is eating dog food." Then I realized, "she can choke on dog food!!" So I threw the phone down, reached in your mouth and pulled out your snack. You were very unhappy with me.

You started a gymnastics class once a week. It is so much fun to see you smile and squeal the whole time. We sing songs, dance, swing, practice crawling, play in the ball pit, hang from the bars, bounce on the tramp, ride the zipline, and play with other babies.

At 7 months old (almost to the day), you started sleeping through the night. Your Daddy and I waited so long for this! You sleep around 12 hours every night. Some nights you wake up, but it is usually because you need to be changed, or don't feel well.

You still do not have any teeth, but that is okay. You eat a fruit in the morning and a veggie at night, sometimes having a fruit for lunch. I have found you to be very picky. You still love sweet potatoes, squash, and pears. You hate bananas, apricots, yogurt, and peas.

You took your very first boat ride. We went to the lake for the weekend. We put your life jacket on you and Granmommy held you, but the second we got seated in the boat, you fell asleep. Your Daddy drove the boat and Grandpa sat up front with him. Grandpa says he wants you to be a little lake girl. Aunt Mel will teach you to ski, we will float by the dock, and lay in the sun. You are going to love the lake, dear girl!

You just turned 8 months and last weekend was my first Mother's Day with you. Being your momma is the most precious gift. I could never have imagined how amazing it is to be your mommy. You are beautiful. I pray that you will also have a beautiful heart, love God with all of your being, be courageous, compassionate, strong, and kind. There are so many things that I wish for you, and I know that God will guide your Daddy and I to be the best parents we can be and teach you what we hope for you. I love you with all of my heart and always will.

Love,

Momma

Reflections

Family Life:

Many years ago, my dear friend JB told me about Family Life, a ministry of Campus Crusade for Christ. Family Life has these Marriage Getaways, called Weekend to Remember. Rob and I went one our first Weekend to Remember last summer. I say "first," because we can't wait to go to another. You can choose from locations all over the US, including fun spots like Hawaii or Orlando. We were looking forward to going to Austin and spending the weekend away from Lubbock, with no computers, DVR, chores, or errands to run. Just simply listening to the speakers, to each other, and to God's word. As the weekend drew near, I have to admit that Rob was not thrilled about going. If I remember correctly, it was probably one of his only weekend's off of work and he would have rather stayed home on the couch catching up on sleep. But we got in the car and went for it. We loved it. It was one of the most memorable weekends we have had. We went out to eat, went to a date at the Oasis on the lake, talked about the upcoming arrival of our precious Lorelei, listened to the speakers talk about our roles in our marriage, God's purpose for bringing us together, and resolving conflict, and spent time talking to each other about everything we were learning. There were tons of couples there, from newlyweds to couples married 50 years, some there to strengthen their marriages, save their marriages, or learn more about their marriages. Going to Austin that weekend was one of the best decisions we could have made for us. Now, they have a Weekend to Remember CRUISE! I am not one for cruising (we tried that last year too and it didn't go so well for me), but how awesome would that be? A trip to the Bahamas, on a fabulous cruise ship, and lots of time for listening and reflecting about our relationship with each other and with God.

The other day I have found another reason to love Family Life. I was at Weirs and found these prayer cards. I bought one that is titled "Lifting My Children Through Prayer" and another that is "Lifting my Husband Through Prayer." These cards put clear words and scriptures for exactly what I want to pray for Lorelei and Rob. How fabulous!

Nashville:

I don't know how I got started thinking about this but...If I had to move, I would move to Nashville. Don't know anyone there, don't know much about it. But I do know it is the Home of Country Music and that tops everything else. Seriously, you couldn't get any closer to country music. heaven on earth! And Rob has always talked about Vanderbilt, or "Vandy."

Lubbock: (Warning- this gets a little nostalgic)

Through this move, I have realized that Lubbock was not just a crappy little town in the middle of nowhere that we went to college in and then moved away from. Yes, that is what it is to most people who go to Tech and are not from Lubbock. But, not.us. Lubbock was where we started. It was where we grew up. It was where we started our family. It was where we started our professions. It was where we met some great friends. I moved to Lubbock in 2003 and like most people, no intention of staying here past my college years. Freshman year is filled with memories of lots of time spent with sorority friends, lots of time missing Rob, and loving being on my own. In January 2004, Rob transferred to Tech. In summer 2005, on the front door step of his little apartment, he proposed. We started planning our life together, taking time trying to decide if we would move back to Dallas once we both graduated, or if we would stay in Lubbock. After much consideration, we decided to stay. We made plans for our first apartment, and in January 2007, just after the wedding and Christmas holiday, he moved into my apartment. How is it that we had no money at all, but life was so easy? Life was simple. As simple as it was, it was a crowded life in that little apartment. We decided to build a house. Rob graduated nursing school and started his career. I had started teaching. We were loving married life, we had a great little house, good friends, and full time careers. After two years of married life, we knew something was missing. We would not ever feel complete without children. Lorelei was been the greatest blessing, and I am so happy that she was born in a place that holds so much meaning to us. So, as much complaining as we did about being in Lubbock, we do miss it. We have learned--even though we are very happy in Dallas, at the same time we can greatly miss our life in Lubbock.

Cricket Update

Total Killed Today: 4 (2 in the apartment, 2 in the garage)

Total Spotted Today: Uncountable. Tons in the garage that I am too scared to go after.

Maybe we do have a cricket family in the apartment. ewwww.

To Do:

Get Maintenance over to spray ASAP. Check.

Cricket Hunting

The Remains:

What happened to that disgusting, no good, fast jumping cricket? Well let me tell you the story of this cricket:

Last week sometime:

Maintenance comes to spray garage for crickets because we have a lovely cricket cemetery in an empty bucket in the garage. (This is where I would show a picture if I thought I could take a picture without throwing up.)

Saturday morning:

Carry L's laundry basket to laundry closet. (note that it is a closet, not a laundry room) Run water in washer and add soap. L and Rob in her room playing. Notice gigantic black creature on top of L's clothes. Scream. Jump. Act like a 5 year old. Call Rob into the get the cricket. Bring Rob toilet paper to kill it. He yells says he needs a paper towel so he doesn't get cricket guts on him. (picky, picky) Run for paper towels. Come back to laundry closet and hear the terrible news. HE GOT AWAY. Spend next 45 minutes searching and hunting the cricket. Move washer and dryers, search with flashlight, drain the washer to make sure he wasn't in it, look through all clothes that were hanging in the laundry closet. Close laundry closet doors and pray that he can't squeeze under the doors to get out into the hallway. Begin searching internet for how to hunt a loose cricket. Ask Rob to go check on the laundry closet every few hours to see if he could find him. Worry about our apartment becoming home to cricket babies.

Saturday night:

L's laundry is done. Begin moving the clothes to the dryer and see some black parts. EW! Cricket pieces!! Rob decides to rock L to sleep and put me in charge of picking cricket body parts off her clothes (because he isn't a good cricket picker he says.) Find a part. Put it on paper towel. Get grossed out. Switch jobs with Rob. Me: baby rocking, Rob: cricket picking. 5 clothing articles and still Rob has not found pieces. He tells me we need to switch jobs. Switch. Me: cricket picking, Rob: baby rocking. Still not finding cricket pieces. Rob calls me into L's dark room to see something funny she is doing. Me (multitasking as always), goes to look while pulling baby pants right side out. Stick hand in pant leg, scream, act like a 2 year old, freak out, wash off my hand and arm for 5 minutes. The cricket remains were contained inside of the pants that I just put my arm into. SWITCH! Rob: cricket picking, Me: Baby rocking and listening to Rob talk about how the head is mostly still in tact. ewwwww.

The good news of the story is that we do not have a loose cricket or any growing families of crickets..that we know of.

I have tons to do. And I don't want to do it. So I found a fun little something to keep me from cleaning :)

A. AREA CODE : 75###
B. BED SIZE : Queen. The perfect size.
C. CHORE YOU HATE : ironing
D. DOG'S NAME : Maggie and Milo
E. ESSENTIAL "START THE DAY!" ITEM : Diet Coke. But I would enjoy it more if I had a fountain diet coke machine at my house.
F. FAVORITE COLOR : PINK!! Recently, I have taken a love to purple too.
G. GOLD OR SILVER : Silver
H. HEIGHT : 5'8"
I. INSTRUMENTS YOU PLAY: Notta one.
J. JOB : Stay at home Momma (ie: diaper changer, baby entertainer, baby wiper-upper, dog chaser, cook, laundry lady, bill payer, grocery shopper, household runner, and the list goes on.) Oh, and I happen to be a teacher too-just not currently :)
K. KIDS : Sweet Lorelei
L. LIVING ARRANGEMENTS : Adjusting to apartment living
M. MOM'S NAME : Karen and my mother in law, Shalinda
N. NICKNAME : MB
O. OVERNIGHT HOSPITAL STAY : Just for Lorelei. Oh and how lovely it was. Adjustable bed and food at your fingertips. Pick up the phone, order your courses, and voila!
P. PET PEEVE : when people cut in line when you have to merge.
Q. QUOTE FROM A MOVIE : Not from a movie-but a show.. Rob and I always joke about it.."You know-life, it's a struggle for you!"
R. RIGHTY OR LEFTY? : Right
S. SIBLINGS : Natalie, Melanie, and my sis in law Brooke
T. TIME YOU WAKE UP : When L wakes me up. Usually around 7:30
U. UNDERWEAR : Yes, please!
V. VEGGIE YOU DISLIKE : Spinach.
W. WAYS/REASONS YOU ARE LATE : Oh there are lots of reasons I can't get it together and get out of the house..
X. XRAYS YOU'VE HAD: Dental?
Y. YUMMY FOOD YOU MAKE : Pound Cake, Homemade mac and cheese, I don't know-ask Rob.
Z. ZOO ANIMALS YOU LIKE : Panda bears!! Wait, do they live at the zoo? Well I am sure at some zoos.

Ok-on to chores..

A disappointing breakfast

I was so excited to give L this yucky disgusting tasting stuff

deliciousness for breakfast this morning:

And this is how she felt about it:

Seriously, she was gagging. Ok, so no big deal-she isn't a fan of yogurt. Which isn't very fun because I had big plans for mixing yogurt with all kinds of yummy fruits and wheat germ. On to something else for breakfast. So, she tried rice cereal with mixed fruit. The boxed kind. I thought maybe plain old rice cereal maybe getting old so I bought a flavored kind. I got the same reaction. So, after 2 dirty bowls and a lot of gagging, she had plain.old.rice.cereal for breakfast. Boring. By the time we got to the cereal, she wasn't in the mood much to eat.

Dear Little Baby

Dear Lorelei,

Yesterday you were 7 months old! You have made your first move and we have safely arrived in Prosper, Texas. It was sad to leave our house in Lubbock. It holds lots of memories of you when you were brand new. We will always remember bringing you home to our little house on Hope. But now, we are in DFW and close your Mimi and G-Daddy and Aunt Brooke. And your Grandpa and Nana (or as I think she should be called "Granmommy") and Bug and Aunt Mel come to Dallas all the time! Your new room is GREEN!!! I have to admit I was a bit apprehensive about not painting it pink again, but the green looks oh so cute! And you have more room in there to play because it is bigger than your old room.

In the past month you have been rolling all over the place. It is like one day you realized you could roll without so much effort, so off you went. You are also sitting up by yourself!! (Most days.) I think this has helped your reflux because now that you are upright more often, you spit up much less.

You went to your 6 month old checkup with Dr. G (the Frisco Dr. G, not your Dr. G in Lubbock), and got your shots. You were 17.3 lbs. and 27 inches long. That is the 90% for length!! You just now started to wear size 6-9 month clothes and you still wear a few 3-6 month things. Dr. G said you could start apple juice and a cup. We tried this but you didn't go for the cup. That's ok, I'm not ready for you to be big with a cup anyhow. However, you love the juice! Dr. G also said that you waking up every 1-2 hours at night is completely behavioral. You hear that missy? You have some behavior adjusting to do! For the past few weeks (or months if I am being honest) you sleep terribly at night. But, with fingers and toes crossed, I will admit that for the past 2 nights you have slept THROUGH THE NIGHT!! We still swaddle you. Even though you break out of it, you have to be swaddled to get you to settle down enough to fall asleep.

You had your first play date and trip to the park. We met little Kade and his momma Natalie at the park and you played on the swings and with toys under a tree. You had fun! Then a few days later we went to the park with Ms. Leslie and you went down the slide with me!!

You have been quite the shopper lately. You have become very accustomed to your stroller because we have been out shopping and playing around DFW! Oh how I love your Pliko P3 stroller. Every time you get in it I think of how much I adore pushing it :)

You still love your baby food and have a fruit every morning and a veggie every night. I think squash and sweet potatoes are still your favorite. You don't like peas much, and you hate bananas. When I give you bananas, you blow raspberries at me and shiver after every bite!!

We celebrated your first Easter. You Daddy was still in Lubbock and you and I were at Mimi and G-daddy's house. We went to church and then took pictures of you in front of the tulips outside. You got your first Easter basket and it had bubbles, a swim suit, and a big stuffed duck inside of it!

Putting you to bed tonight I was reminded of this quote we put on your birth announcement. It sums up exactly the way we feel about you:

"First we had each other. Then we had you. Now we have everything."

Love you, Missy Prissy!

Momma & Daddy