9-month update

Today was Beth's 9-month ped appointment. She's 27 inches and 17 lbs 8 oz- both in the 25th percentiles! Our little girl is growing! Her ear still has fluid in it, although her infection is clearing up. I am praying now that she doesn't have a childhood filled with chronic ear infections. :-(

Swinging at the park!



Vegas and her new friend BFF, Lady. They're sisters now- Vegas no longer lives with us. :-(

Our freaky tree- the whole thing is wrapped in webs like this- even the branches. I'm a little weired out.

Crawling

Fun day!

Today we had a play group for Beth's friend's first birthday. She was able to play (well, as much as a 9mo plays) with 6 or 7 other kiddos. She's becoming more interactive every day it seems, she enjoys watching the other kids toddle around her! It's so neat to see all the cogs turning in her head as she tries to figure out the world... A couple of days ago we think she made her first "sign"- well, she is definitely signing something because she's repeated it several times at different times throughout the day. I think she's signing "more"- usually we use this sign when we're playing or eating. The first time I noticed it, she didn't use it in the right context (or if she wanted more of something, I didn't understand what- she was crawling on the floor in the kitchen). So now I'm really trying to emphasize it when she's eating and wants more food. There are a lot of other signs we do with her, mostly please and thank you, nurse, play, bath, and sleep. I think she understands "nurse" because when I do it she throws her head off to the side and gets ready! But she hasn't signed it to me yet!

Playing in the morning, in her favorite corner... Where she can attack the cd player, magazines, and trash can all at once.

Playing in a ball pit at our friend's house today!

Enjoying the beautiful weather outside!

Swinging with Mommy

The concert from last Saturday- The Killers. It rocked.

On the move

This video was taken last week, the day before she started crawling the "right" way (I have yet to capture that on film). But it'll show you exactly how agile, quick, and determined this litte girl is!

Baby's First Fever :-(

My poor little darling is sick. Last night she became hot to the touch, and we took her temperature- it was around 102. :-( She was stuffy, congested, and glassy-eyed. She slept on my chest last night, I slept sort of sitting up so that she could breathe. This morning she seemed better, but as the day wore on the fever kept going up (despite the Motrin) so I called the pediatrician and we went for a visit. Since she'd had such a high fever today (103.7) they tested her for a urinary tract infection and took some blood- everything is within normal limits. So... looks like we have to wait this one out. The good news is that we know it's NOT a UTI, which apparently can be very painful and hard to treat in little girls. We'll just have another easy day tomorrow and rest up so hopefully she's better by Saturday for her uncle's birthday party!

Here are some cute pictures of her from three days ago, before she got sick! These were taken in the morning, right after her breakfast.

Lots going on

My day planner is filling up quickly! We've all been so busy this past week, and as of yesterday all of our weekends in October are already filled!

Last Thursday Beth and I went to mass at Northwoods Catholic School- they had a very special visitor! Fr. Alvaro Corcuera, who is the general director of Regnum Christi, came to celebrate mass with the kids- and the local Regnum Christi members were invited to attend mass! We felt very blessed to be able to attend mass and receive personal blessings from him. There was a big crowd and Beth behaved pretty well, although the past few weeks she has become very vocal during mass. I think she likes all of the singing, but when the congregation stops she keeps going! So I think my days of having a quiet baby sleep through mass are over!

Saturday we asked Grandma and Grandpa to come visit for a few hours so Ryan and I could go out. We just went out to Lowes and walked around, but it was nice to have a few minutes alone. Those moments are rare and they are treasured! That evening was Beth's first Aggie game- well, we watched it on TV. Okay, she played while Ryan stayed glued to the TV and I made dinner. We plan to go to College Station to tailgate in Ocotber- but not to the game. I don't really want to pay full price for a ticket for Beth! So we'll have fun with family members outside of Kyle Field!

Monday we had a playgroup at our house. Five moms and 7 kids! Need I say more! It was very loud, very busy, and only slightly messy. I had a fabulous time and I hope we can do it again!

Beth semi-behaving herself during mass. The first time she tore a page from the hymnal!

The crowd welcoming Fr. Alvaro and several Legionaries of Christ

Before mass began- Fr. Alvaro is second from the right!

Daddy and Beth on game day-she's waving!

Playing at the fish tank

Her first real finger foods. They're the generic brand of Gerber Puffs- soft, easily disolvable cereal-like "puffs". They're banana flavored and she loved them!

New Furniture

Here are some pics of our new furniture- well, we've had everything for about a month, I'm just now getting around to posting the pics. The sofas are new from Lane Furniture, and the entertainment center was purchased from someone in our town who was moving.

Here you go, Mom. Here are those pics you've been waiting for oh-so-patiently. :-)

Praise God!

Last night we had a rainstorm. It really wasn't all that bad, but at one point there was the most sudden, loudest crash of thunder I've ever heard. It sound like two cars slamming into each other- Ryan and I both jumped, but Beth wasn't phased, lol. We didn't think anything of it. So this morning I let Vegas outside and she runs to our hammock and starts smelling something that appears to be a snake, so I flip out and call her to me and go investigate (don't worry, I made sure it wasn't moving before I got too close!) It was a huge piece of bark that had been sliced clean off of a huge pine tree- by lightning! Lightning struck our tree- a tree not even 10 feet from our house! PRAISE GOD that the tree or its branches didn't catch fire and fall on our house. It is really quite a site- the pictures don't do it justice.

My little escape artist

Happy!
Trying to get out of the playpin.
Almost...

New pics

I've realized that I don't have very many good pictures from this month. I think part of the reason is because my red-eye flash on my camera ALWAYS makes Beth blink! So all of the cute pics, her eyes are closed or half closed. I need to start taking more photos! It seems like for every 20 pictures I take, I get one or two good ones. Thank goodness for digital cameras, right?!

Jumping, but unsure whether to smile or not!
Us on my birthday!
Standing and looking mighty cute!
The one incredibly cute picture from this month- my two favorite people. :-)

Loooong video

Most might find this video a bit boring, but there are some cute parts! It's basically just of Beth playing and the dog running around. (Occasionally Vegas enjoys running laps around the sofas while barking. This entertains the whole family!) Enjoy this while I upload other photos- I found the battery charger! Yay!

Lost batteries!

That's the reason I haven't updated lately! My sincere apologies to all my blog stalkers. ;-) Actually I lost the battery charger (we use rechargeable batteries) and so I have no AA batteries that work, so I can't download pictures. But I will turn the house upside down tomorrow looking for them!

Yesterday Beth turned 8-months-old. EIGHT. That's almost one year! Ok not so much, but really, really close. At this point, our little bug is scooting like a mad woman- every now and then she'll stop and push herself up on all fours but as soon as she tries to go, she falls down on her tummy. She's pulling herself up to stand more and more, and we have already had a few "incidences" in which her head has made contact with a piece of furniture, poor love. I know bruises and bumps are part of the journey, but it's so sad to see my little love hurt! And we STILL have no teeth! Not even the hint of one! But everything else is the same. We're nursing still, a lot in fact, as well as two "solid" meals a day. I'm going to start introducing finger foods to her soon, as she seems ready to start putting things in her own mouth. We tried the other day with some crackers, and she really seemed to enjoy throwing them over the side of the high chair. :-)

Sadly, we're still trying to find a new home for our puppy dog, Vegas. She really is such a good dog, and we'll both be really upset to see her go, but I can't have her around Beth anymore. :-(

Today we went to the library for story time with other 0-18 month-old kiddos. It was crazy! There were probably 9 other moms with their kids, the oldest one being 12 month and the youngest one probably 2 months. We sat the kids in front of the moms and sang songs, said poems, did hand motions, read books, and then played with the other kids. It really amazed me because while we interact with other kids pretty often, today was the first day I noticed that Beth was *not* interested in me. I put her in front of me and all she wanted to do was to crawl (well, scoot) near other kids and touch them or steal their toys! It was sort of nice for me to be able to see that independece developing, sweet sweet independence. Maybe one day she'll be that way at home! It was my first time to really think, wow, this is my kid with her own personality. Very cool.

Now that she's becoming more mobile, I ordered her some shoes... I was bitten by the ebay bug and had a really fun time bidding on these shoes. They're soft-soled Pedipeds, which are very high-quality shoes. And SOOOOO cute! I want to buy all of the styles for her, but I think I would have to take on another job! She'll wear them when we leave the house since it's better for her to learn to walk barefoot.

Ok I'm off to look for that battery charger. St. Anthony, help me!

25!

Happy birthday to meeeeeeee. I'm 25 today, and this is the first year I think I've actually felt older on my birthday. I guess having a kid does that to you!

Aggieland

This weekend we took Beth to Aggieland for the first time! Well, technically I guess she's been twice in-utero, but that didn't count! We drove to College Station on Saturday morning, straight to the church for a friend's wedding. It was beautiful, I've never been to a wedding that was more focused on God than on the two people getting married. It was a beautiful opportunity to praise as well as visit the church I spent a good 5 years going to, solidifying my faith. It was also so much fun to see people I hadn't seen in a long time (years!) and to see who married who and meet all their kids. It's the first time I've felt like I really belonged because most everyone else got married around the same time we did, and have kids around the same age as Beth. I really wish we lived closer to all of these people!

After the reception we visited some old friends and met their cutie 2-month-old daughter, then visited some other friends to say hi and catch up. Afterward we went to my future sister-in-law's apartment for some yummy dinner, and met the grandparents any my sis and brother there also. We put Beth down for the evening so Grandma and Grandpa could stay with her and the rest of us went to Northgate to have some old-fashioned fun. It was my sister's first time out to a bar and I'm so glad we got to do that together. :-)

The next morning we went to Mass and then out to lunch with the whole crew for Ryan's birthday! My hubby had a great birthday- seeing old friends, celebrating like he was in college again, and having a nice lunch with extended family. What more could a guy want?

Unfortunately we didn't get to take Beth on campus, although I really wanted to. We just really over-booked ourselves this time! Hopefully next time we go in, Beth will be walking and I can get some good pictures of her around Rudder fountain- like the pictures my parents have of me. :-)

Practicing standing, with the aid of the toy basket!
Playing with Uncle Michael
Northgate! My family. :-)
Rolling around on the floor, trying to crawl but still not quite getting it.

An old video

This video is a few weeks old, but sorta cute. She's just fussing and rolling around!

Fun Weekend

"Blue Steel"










We had a really busy and fun weekend! Saturday was a dear friend's baby shower for her little boy due in September. It was a couple's shower and it was very fancy! It sort of made me regret not having a couple's shower, although really the only thing that was different was the fact that men were there. Women still played baby shower games and oooed and awwwed over cute presents. The men mostly talked to each other and ate. :-) The mom-to-be looked absolutely radient, and still wearing high heels! I was impressed!

Sunday we attended a little boy's first birthday party. He's a child we know from our playgroup, so all of the moms and their kids were there. It was all very cute, Elmo made an appearance and of course, there was the token kid who cried. I don't think Beth even noticed there was a giant red furry monster running around, lol. But the party has made me start thinking about Beth's first birthday- eek! She's almost 8 months old already! But, for those of you who know me, I am a planner! So I am now accepting ideas for themes for her party!

Monday night we invited one of our new parish priests for dinner at our house. Fr. George came over and blessed our house and then we had a nice meal! I'm so happy that our house has finally been blessed! I originally had wanted to do it when Beth was baptised, but it just never worked out. Fr. George prayed over us as a family also, it was very beautiful to be able to share that with my husband and daughter.

When I found the Mother Theresa quote, I was actually looking for this one, which is actually by St. Therese of the Little Flower: "We can do no great things, only small things with great love." This helps me when I'm doing mundane chores and tasks that seem like nothing, but are my life.

Angry at JC Penny

I'm so ticked off right now that I had to come post a blog about it! I took Beth to have her pictures taken at JC Penny a couple of weeks ago. I had a horrible time. They took at total of 17 exposures of her, and of course she was in a bad mood so that didn't help (not blaming that on them). When it was time to look at the pictures on their 1972 computer screen, I couldn't see any details because it was so fuzzy and may as well have been black and white screen. They try to get your money by only offering 1 5x7 on a page with like 4 "billfolds" and 4 "wallets"- seriously, who needs this many tiny pictures when they could have fint another 5x7 on that page? The photos we all off-centered with the background, and the lady told me she couldn't crop or edit the photos at all. So I have two good pictures of Beth with off-centered backgrounds and am told I have to order 6 pages if I want to get 6 5x7s. I left not happy, and today when I picked up the pictures, I left even not happier. My darling precious girl is cute, but the photos are awful. I get angry just looking at them! I don't plan on going back. This was a true lesson in managing my anger!

I guess part of the reason I'm so disappointed is because the first time we took pictures we had such a great experience. The first time we went to Portrait Innovations, as recommended by many people, and it was just such the opposite experience than mine at JC Penny. It was more expensive, but the photos were beautiful, the photographer was nice, their computers were up-to-date and they could edit as we wanted. I guess the lesson is you get what you pay for!

Eventually happened

Well we all knew it would happen eventually...Well it happened last night, the night we will all fondly remember as "Twosies in the Tub". HA! Lucky Ryan was bathing Miss Beth at the time. I don't think they make enough bleach in the world, luckily it was in her little baby tub so the whole bathtub wasn't infefected!

Ryan and I have had a good week. Our weekend was semi-eventful, in that we're attempting to clean out our guest bedroom closet. It was our place to put everything that didn't have a home when we moved in... Now we're getting rid of half of it, either selling it or trashing it. I don't know what to do with a lot of this stuff!

This weekend we have a baby shower and a first birthday party to attend, both events for little boys. And I just found out a good friend is pregnant with a boy. So I've been shopping for little boy stuff... It's all so cute! ;-)

In the basket while I vacuum
My hubby loves me. :-*
The guilty party, after "the incident"

Taking it easy

Playing hard!











We've just been hanging around the past few days, not much is going on right now. Just trying to keep up with endless chores and do some work in the evenings. I took Beth to have her pictures taken on Monday at JC Penny and I wasn't all that impressed. We really didn't get any good ones, I don't think, so that was a bummer.

Lately I've been thinking a lot about the virtue of charity. I feel like I do so many little mundane things in my life- dishes, vacuuming, picking up the same things over and over again... It's made me feel stuck in prayer. This week I was challenged by some beautiful ladies to be charitable in everything I do- even if it doesn't seem like anything at all. This week I'm really going to focus on doing all things with love, and for Christ.

I came across a quote in prayer last night that really struck me. In Acts, the Angel asks the apostles, "Why are you standing there looking at the sky?" after Jesus' assumption. Christianity isn't stargazing- it's serving, praying, and acting in this world.

"Little things are indeed little, but to be faithful in little things is a great thing." -Mother Theresa. This is my new mantra! Please pray for me this week. And please keep the people involved in or related to the Minnesota brige collapse in your prayers. Praise, our friends in Minnesota were not involved! May the souls of the faithfully departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace.

Bedtime Routine

We have a bedtime routine! That works! The past two weeks, we've done the exact same thing every night to put Beth to sleep, and every night it seems easier and easier to get her down. The routine comes after much recommendation from friends that it really does help get a baby in the right frame of mind for bed. We've tried it before, but I really think Beth was too young to understand it. Now, she doesn't fight me when I try to rock her (I think I had the only kid in the world who hated to be rocked). The whole routine, from start to sleep, is usually about 45 minutes long.

Her routine is this:
1. Bath (usually about 10-15 minutes of play time)
2. PJs and a rubdown with lotion
3. Reading. Mimi's Toes (about bath and bedtime) and Pat the Bunny.
4. Nurse
5. Rock while saying prayers
6. Drift asleep! I may or may not sing "Rock a bye Bethany..."
7. GENTLY place her in her crib with her mermaid

Usually this results in about 3 hours of blissful quietness around our house. She'll wake up and Ryan will soothe her back to sleep (usually takes 2-3 minutes) and she'll sleep for a few more hours. Whenever she wakes up and we're already in bed, she joins us in bed for the rest of the night. This is what I'd like to change, but it's hard since she's still waking up every few hours... Getting her down is now easy, it's keeping her down that's difficult for us. And it seems like it's something she's going to have to figure out on her own!

The results: