Peak-a-boo

I like to sit in the back seat with Keara when Brandon is driving. Entertaining her keeps the shrieking to a minimum. Today we played peak-a-boo. I put a small blanket over her legs because the air conditioner was a bit chilly. She kept pulling it over her head and then back down. So I started saying peek-a-boo every time she pulled the blanket back down. She thought it was the funniest thing ever. It cracks me up the things that make her laugh!

I am going to do foot/hand prints in clay for all the kids at Keara's B-Day party and then put them in frames. I wanted to know what size frame to get, so I put Keara's foot on the glass of the frame to see which would work better. Every time on put her foot on the glass she started laughing really loud! It was so cute.

I haven't taken many pictures lately. We have been doing the same thing over and over. I can only have so many pictures of Keara playing in the living room. Soon I will have pics of her new room. We are half way done painting (finally!!!!!). Then I can have my room back. Yeah for showering whenever I want and for being able to brush my teeth at night without being sneaky and super quiet.

Here's a picture to show how different Keara and my skin tones are. She definitely got her daddy's skin tone, although not as dark as he is. She's yellow and I am pink. Plus a picture of Keara and her dad. She gets really excited when he comes home from work. She bounces up and down and snorts and squeals.

My Poor Baby!!!!!!!!

The Drama Queen

The Tooth....never before captured on film.

This must be bad mommy day. I was just reading Sasha's haircut post earlier and laughing. I think we have all had bad haircuts, sometimes given to us by ourselves. When my hair is short it can be pretty curly and I used to have two chunks of hair that were determined to curl straight out. So, I just cut them off. The next time I got a haircut the stylist comment on what a bad job the previous stylist had done. I didn't tell her it was me.

So, onto my bad mommy story. Keara was playing in the living room and I had gone into the kitchen to get some lunch. I heard a thump and the her scream/cry. This in itself is not unusual. Keara is a bit of a drama queen, well maybe more than a bit. She usually cries at first when she falls down to see what kind of attention she will get from it. This time it was one of those screams that makes you go running to them. Mother's intuition is an amazing thing. I seem to be able to tell which falls really hurt and require comforting, and which ones she is just looking for a reaction. I run over to the front room and there are three blood splotches on the carpet and blood running out of the corner of her mouth down her chin!! My poor baby hurt herself!!! When I got the blood cleaned up I couldn't really tell where it was coming from. I called Brandon and we concluded that she had bit the underside of her tongue with her tooth. Yes, her first tooth finally popped out, and it is sharp! I have been trying to get a picture of it, but she always sticks her tongue out! After her initially crying she seemed fine and wanted to get back to playing instead of having the blood wiped off her face. After she got up from her nap I was able to see that it wasn't her tongue, but that little flap of skin inside your upper lip that connects to the gums. I looked where she had fallen and under the couch was a wooden block. I think she fell while chewing on the block and the corner cut her. It doesn't seem to bother her. After biting me once with the new tooth (resulting in me screeching, and her then having a meltdown) she nursed fine and then ate some cottage cheese.

It is so hard to see your baby get hurt. I know this isn't the last time that she will fall down and scratch herself. She has many bumps and bruises ahead of her. I just have to be there to help her avoid what I can and comfort her when I can't.

babies and cats

It's amazing how cats and babies are similar. They both eat, sleep, poop and play all day. They also contort themselves into crazy, uncomfortable looking positions while they sleep. This is how I found Keara this morning when I woke up. Maybe babies are still used to the cramped quarters from when they were inside. She has this whole big crib to sleep in and I usually find her in one of the corners. I wouldn't be able to move for the rest of the day if I had slept like this. Cats sleep in all kinds of crazy ways too. The favorite of JuBe is to be stretched out with his top half facing one direction and the lower half twisted at the waist 180 degrees the other direction. I thought I had a picture of him doing this, but I can't find it. That might have been from the pre-digital days.

Talk about having a crick in the neck!!!

Yuck!!!!!!!!

Keara normally likes ricotta cheese and mixed vegetables, but not this day!! She did not want to eat them at all. It was so funny watching her try to get away from the spoon. Needless to say, that batch got thrown out and we started over with something she was more interested in. I recently bought her some of the mott's applesauce containers. They have some that have no added sugar and are mixed flavors like peach and blueberry. You get 6 for $1.55, which is so much cheaper than buying applesauce baby food jars. She eats some things fresh, like peaches. But the sauce is really good for mixing with yogurt for breakfast. How long are kids supposed to eat baby food? I don't want want to still be feeding her that when she should have moved onto more solid food.

Babies are just so cute when they are sleeping and not making any noise. Keara, my baby who used to rarely cry, now loves to scream at the top of her lungs anytime things are not going her way. And these are not just screams, but ear piercing, toe curling screams. I hope she grows out of it when she is better able to communicate what she needs or wants.

Finished Project!!!!!!!

I have to say I am very proud of myself. I love how this album turned out and I finished a project!!! It didn't even take that long. It took about 4 days, lots of hours in those days, but not months or years. Sad to say, but I misread the sign about the tryouts and it ended June 20th not July 20th. The manager/owner still took my projects and is displaying them in the store. So, maybe next time. I am still glad I did it. I finished this project and 2 others that were mostly done. The 2 page spread of Venice that was once on display in the goose, and the recipe box also started in Germany. I added a few pictures of Venice to it, lettering and put a picture with journaling in the lid. I am going to put pictures of Venice in it and other trinkets from there that might not fit in a scrapbook.

I liked this word book so much I bought another that said believe and am going to do Keara's first Christmas. I have so many Christmas and winter stickers that I will probably do another traditional album as well, probably 8x8.

Scrapping Again!!!!!!!

Once again I can't figure out why the picture keeps loading sideways!! How frustrating.

Well, I finally scrapbooked again. It is small, 8x8, and not very fancy, but I did it and I like it. I really enjoyed being creative again. And it was fun to do some Keara pages.

I found a new scrapbook store in town and they are having "tryouts" for their design team. You have to submit a 12x12 layout, an altered item and one other item. Then the customers will choose who they like best. The 5 people selected will do all the samples for the store and get a discount. So, I think I am going to try out. I may not get it, there are some really talented people who have already turned their things in, but it will be fun to try. I'll post pictures of my entries when I get them finished. Wish me luck!! It would be really cool to be a part of the crafting community again.

Black eyes and Prune feet

My poor little munchkin got her first black eye (hopefully her last). Well, it is not quite black, more like pink with a tinge of purple. Learning how to walk can be tough. She was walking from the couch over to the t.v. and started to lose her balance and the last couple of steps were quicker and then she tripped and plowed head/eye first into the TV stand. She cried for a little bit and wanted cuddles and then went back to playing. Kids are such resilient little creatures. They don't let much keep them down. If I had done that I would not have bounced back so quickly.

I don't know what it is about her feet, but she always gets prune feet in the bath tub or pool. Even when she has not been in that long. Nothing else gets wrinkly, just the feet. She absolutely loves to take baths and would probably stay in for hours if we would let her.

My first Bell Pepper!!!!

We were a little late, but we got some veggies planted about 2 weeks ago. And, yea!!!!, there is a pepper growing. I am excited to finally have a veggie garden. We have 2 green peppers, 2 orange peppers, 2 eggplants, and 4 cantaloupe. We are also growing some tomatoes in the hanging planters that grow the plants upside down. I am going to plant some marigolds around the plants to help ward off undesirable insects. Next year we will probably make another raised bed and plant some zucchini, watermelon, and maybe some carrots or onions. It will be so nice to have some fresh veggies. Even the veggies at the commissary here are half bad like in Germany.

She loves to stand over the air conditioning vent. She even sits on it sometimes and her hair flies all over the place. I need to find a way to cover it so that she can't stick her fingers down in the holes. Kids are like cats, curious about everything and having to be in everything, especially if you don't want them to be.

Keara loves to help me dust off the tv. I guess it is my turn to finish the job!! I started scrapbooking again today!!!!!! When I get a few pages done I will post them. They aren't really fancy, but I needed to do something creative before I went crazy.

Chunky Monkey - Not Quite

Like most first time moms I worry about everything when it comes to the baby. The current concern is her weight. I noticed that she didn't seem to have grown recently, which is odd considering how much food she eats. She nurses 6-8 times a day, and eats at least 6 oz of baby food at each meal, plus things like toast and cheese. She loves yogurt with fruit mixed in and ricotta cheese. I just bought a baby scale and weighed her and she only weighed a few ounces more than she did a month and a half ago (currently 16 lbs and 3 ounces). I had stopped being concerned about how small she was (she can still fit into some of her 3-6 month clothes) because she was gaining weight at a steady rate. This small of a weight gain did concern me and I made an appt with the pediatrician. In true Tricare fashion I wasn't able to get an appt until 3 weeks from now. So I called back the next day and wormed my way into the doc's schedule. The doctor weighed her and confirmed that her weight gained has slowed compared to previous months, but didn't seem too concerned. He said she just might have a fast metabolism, but to bring her back in a month and they would check her again.

She is in motion ever minute of the day that she is awake. I can't imagine what it is like to have so much energy. I get tired just watching her. She is really getting steady on her feet and is now able to take 5-6 steps without falling down and can stay standing after walking, where before she would always fall down after a couple of steps. She is getting more confident in walking and tries more aften. When it is something really important, like chasing after a cat, she usually drops down and crawls because she is pretty fast at that. She also likes to crawl off in the middle of diaper changes. Sometimes she gets away before I can get the diaper on her and I just pray she doesn't pee on the carpet before I can catch her. Other times she crawls off with her clothes half off. Silly girl!