Day 14 - Sleepytime...

Daddy is working tonight, so it's Princess, Mommy and Kula home together this evening.  Princess laid down for her nap just before Daddy left for work... and she slept... and slept... and slept...  I think she thought it was night-night time.  Not a bad assumption, since it gets dark SO early now.  And she was comfy, cozy and snuggly in her K-State blankie made by Grandma!  Isn't she the most precious thing?  =)
PS - I woke her up a few hours later, to feed her and change her diaper.  We played and chatted for awhile, then she went back to sleep.  I didn't want to be woken up at 4 a.m. by a wide-awake baby who's had enough sleep and is ready to go!

~XOXO~

Day 13 - Baby Fashion!!

Princess has 15 pairs of legwarmers.  YES, fifteen!  As you can see in the pic (all are present except a plain lavender pair, which she was wearing at the time) she has many colors and patterns - stripes, dots, hearts, stars, even cow print!  =)  Leg warmers are great - not only do they look super cute, they keep her legs warm in the winter.  Baby socks are funny little things - half of them don't seem to fit very well and tend to work their way down the foot and if you're not paying attention, will fall off completely.  And baby pants are so cute, but unless they have elastic on the bottom, everytime you pick her up the legs crawl up and her poor little ankles/calves get cold.  Baby legwarmers solve both of these problems - AND make diaper changes much faster/easier!  No taking the pants off and putting them back on a squirmy-wormy baby!

We LOVE this Web site:
www.mylittlelegs.com

Since Princess's legs are so little right now, the leg warmers go all the way up her thighs and scrunch a bit.  As she grows, she'll still be able to wear them - and when she gets big enough they'll fit like they're supposed to (just under the knee).


The Web site gives AMAZING discounts - free shipping, and the more you buy, the bigger the discount!  Tell everyone with baby girls (they have hats, headbands, flowers, etc. too) - or just buy some for them!  They make great gifts!

~XOXO~

Day 12 - Future BFFs

Baby Princess and Lil Bug got to hang out together at church this evening.  I got to sing a bit of back-up for the youth group worship band, and James was working, so Trish and Bryan took Princess into the adult service with them for a bit.  They were able to snap a few pics of the best buds sitting side-by-side.  Lil Bug can't really sit up on her own yet, so Bryan was trying to show Princess how to put her arm around Lil Bug... you get the idea.  They're so sweet! 

Princess is 5 months, Lil Bug is 2 months.  Within a year (especially within two) there won't be much difference in their ages/development, but right now it's amazing how much difference there is between the two ages.  I remember when Princess was that young... my, how she's grown and changed!

Day 11 - Don't be a jerk

So... my loving father-in-law knows how much I LOVE Hawaii, LOVE warm weather, LOVE sunshine... and every now and then, especially when the weather in Dodge City (or in PA, where he's from - where my Hubs was born before his fam moved to the Big Island when he was 6 yrs old) isn't that great, Kona Bill will send an email.  I'm sure it's just a friendly little HELLO, just to keep us updated on how they're doing, not in any way meant to rub it in...

So here's the latest - while it was a frigid NEGATIVE FIVE according to my awesome Explorer's temp display, it was a lovely 80 degrees in Kailua-Kona.  ARG.

~XOXO~

Day 10 - Livin' the Life of Luxury

Ah, how nice to be a baby...  Doesn't she look so laid back?  All cuddled up in Daddy's arms, awesome PURPLE leg warmers on chubby thighs, warm bottle filling up a li'l belly that's poking out - cute CUTE  C*U*T*E, if I do say so myself!  =)

~XOXO~

Day 9 - Chillin' at Church

Our little Princess, showing off her awesome sitting-up skills!  She got to hang out with "Lil Bug" and her daddy while Mommy and Daddy were warming up with the worship band before service.


"NumNumNum - that bug's leg (actually the heart attached to the bug's leg) feels sooooooo good on my teething gummies!"


~XOXO~

Day 8 - Magnet Messages

A sweet Christmas message - my refrigerator magnets started out as one tiny set in my pseudo-twin Ashley and I's house in Newton (with maybe 35 letters?) and it has grown and multiplied throughout the years so that I only need a few "ghetto" letters to complete messages!

Alas, I think it's time to come up with a new message...

~XOXO~

Day 7 - Bathtime!

Grammy Paulette (who lives in Hawaii) is coming to visit tomorrow - we're going to pick her up from the airport, so the little Princess is taking a bath!  First time in her big-girl seat (thanks, P.Mike & Sharon!) - she loves bathtime!

~XOXO~

Day 6 - Ruffle Butt!

Surprisingly, it's somewhat difficult to find baby clothes with ruffles on the butt!  I thought I remembered having LOTS of butt-ruffles for little girls, but we don't have that many clothes for Princess featuring the cute little accents.  Here's one such outfit - SUCH a cute little (tired little) tushie!

~XOXO~

Day 5 - (Wife) of a Preacher Man

Pastor Jason, our friend and the youth pastor at the DC Church of the Nazarene, is out of the country taking his first Master's Class over in England, so he asked some of the other youth group leaders to fill in.  James preached tonight for LTV - topic for the night:  "God is Extraordinary!"


~XOXO~

Day 4 - Beach Hat

Princess got a cute Hawaiian-flower print hat from cousin Morgan.  But Princess takes after her mommy and has a big head, so I'm sad to say, it fits NOW - and definitely will not by the time spring/summer comes around again.  =S  But she looks super cute in it today!!

~XOXO~

Day 3 - Ah, Christmas

So... Christmas is over, but our tree is still up - partly because we're too lazy/busy to take it down (b/c then we'll have to rearrange the living room shelves 'n' stuff), and partly because Princess likes (I like) to look at it!

Here's our tree - one pic showing the pretty lights, and one so you can see the new decorations we got this year - all BRIGHT, fun colors!  Hot pink, lime green, deep purple, bright blue... so pretty!

It's been tradition in my family that Hammaw gets us grandkids new Christmas ornaments each year - since we have a kid now, we're cut off and she gets an ornament each year.  I thought I'd use the opportunity to get new ornaments (keep mine packed away) and do something fun/theme-ish, since she'll only have two ornaments - a pretty little lamb that says "Granddaughter's 1st Christmas" from Gma/Gpa, and a sparkly gold angel from Hammaw.

 

Can't forget the Powercat - Gooooo, State, Go!!!

A favorite from a few years ago - maybe someday soon (11 1/2 months?) we'll decorate a palm tree for Christmas...

Kula had a good Christmas, too. Santa left her a chew in her tiny stocking, she and Grandma got to play with bubble wrap, and she helped everyone discover what their Christmas presents were (she tried to help eat Christmas goodies, but Mommy said she was not allowed).

She tried to see what present Uncle Waide got, and enjoyed looking at the pretty bubbles from Mommy, Daddy and Uncle Waide's stockings. 

Sweet baby Princess with Daddy and Mommy...

Mommy and her girls...

Hope everyone had a GREAT Christmas!

~XOXO~

Day 2 - Snow Angel

Baby Princess made her first snow angel a few days ago - here's her perfect little mark, left to document her first big snow!  Great job, sweetums!  It looks soooo cute!

(Second pic taken New Year's Eve)

~XOXO~

Day 1 - 365 Day Project, the beginning

So - I'm finally starting my own little 365-day Project! My wonderful Hollsberry-friend has been an inspiration for... (lemme look) 3 years and 79 days! I haven't been following hers that long (I had to play catch-up when I first learned about it), but always wanted to do my own. Now that we have a baby (and a furry baby), what great subjects to use! =)

So, speaking of my furry baby... She'll be a year old in a few days - and still likes to grab our baby Princess's stuffed animals, rattles, teething toys, you name it. Not that you can blame her, because they squeak, rattle, crinkle and look OH-SO-CUTE! So here's the latest victim: I was stopping at the back door to check the ice/snow outside and saw an extra-large white blob on the back deck. Walked outside to see this little white Prayer Bear, frozen solid with about a half-centimeter of ice frozen over his poor little body. But he was still praying! =)

Ran him under the water to thaw him out, then put him in the laundry. One trip through the washer/dryer and he's back to normal, good as new! Kula... leave the baby's babies alone!

~XOXO~

~ New Year, New Project ~

Coming soon...

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Check back tomorrow for some exciting news!

~XOXO~

My friend and former choir/classmate Brooke is having a little giveaway on her blog - SHE'S actually really good about keeping up on her blog (unlike some of us...) So check out what she has to say!



~XOXO~

Our furry baby

I've been waiting almost 10 years for this...

The beginning weekend of Spring Break, we finally got our Furry Baby!!! She was 9 weeks old, and came from some breeders that live out in the country near Turon, KS. She is so cute - a tiny baby Great Dane - with coloring I've never seen in my 10 years of Great Dane research! They call her a "golden blue merle" - she has the fawn/golden base, with brindle striping (her butt totally looks like a tiger!) - but the catch is that half of her brindles are actually blue (grayish blue color)! The breeders had named her Goldie, but we just couldn't "grab onto" that name. So James did a little research - found out the Hawaiian word for gold is kula, so we named her Kula! It's a perfect name - it's unique and sounds like a fab dog name!

My poor little baby was SO scared on the two-hour trip home. It didn't help that her doggie mommy and doggie daddy live about a mile and a half down a dirt road that felt like it hadn't been grated in 17 years... It was so bumpy and rough, she wouldn't stop shaking so I just held her close to me, telling her it was OK. She slept 3/4 of the way back to Dodge City. We stopped twice to potty, and she shifted a few times to attempt to get more comfy, but she stayed like this on the way home - most of the time with her little paws up on my shoulders, her little claws digging into my neck.

When we got home, we thought we'd let her walk around the house to see what's what, but she was very timid and shy. My poor baby - when we finished bringing the rest of her newly-purchased stuff inside, I found her... She had hidden between the couch and the loveseat! Only her little butt was hanging out! I pulled her out and cuddled her close. After a few minutes (without the ruckus of us bringing bags and suitcases and whatnot inside) she got the investigative bug... but made sure to stay in the same room as us!

She and Daddy cuddled up on the couch and took a nap together - she's so tiny! So sweet... Daddy's using the "preggo blankie" that Grandma made for me - I think Kula likes it, too!

~XOXO~

Guess what!!!

In a totally unexpected turn of events... we're gonna have a baby!! Here is a first glimpse of our precious little soon-to-be addition to the family. A beautiful profile shot - you can see arms and legs.

In this video, the baby is waving. Grandpa says it MUST be a girl, because she's saying, "Look at me, look at me! Here I am, look at me!" We'll see if he turns out to be correct... =)

~XOXO~

Maggie!

We have visitors this weekend - my parents are here in DC (they live in Omaha), and of course they brought their pup, Maggie! Here she is playing with her "bunny," who has been put to the test. Mom has stitched bunny up quite a few times... but the squeaker still works. Mags loves her bunny!

She was busy today - we took down the fence in the backyard, had a few visitors, and of course played throughout the day - so she didn't get her regularly scheduled naps.
She crashed on the floor - she was so cute, I wanted to snap a picture of her, but she kept looking at me saying,
"Quit taking my picture, I'm trying to rest!" =)
Look at her - isn't she pretty?

~XOXO~

Babies... not yet!

I'd like to take a few minutes to say:

CONGRATS to all the new babies that have joined us lately!

Lil Erin in Wichita is almost a week and a half old, Quincy (who was born in another place) finally knows the meaning of, "There's no place like home..." as she's an official Kansan now. Former Air Force friends' baby was a week old yesterday, and the local boy from DC, Kristopher, joined us just within the past week. SO MANY BABIES! And they're all SO cute, so cuddly, and they smell so good! But when I'm thinking about them, and praying for them - because I know the struggles that some went through to get to this point, and I know it's such a responsibility, and must feel overwhelming at times - I can't help but think... I am SO glad it's not us right now! Not that I don't want kids (I do!), but I want to wait another year first. We've been married barely over a year. So give us one more and then, bring it on!! (Especially since I'll have all these wonderful gals to go to for help and advice, heehee...)

Oh - and to my friend who's on the other end of this story... Maybe the grand plan is for you to wait another year so we can do it together. HA, not really funny, but I knew you'd see the humor in the pathetic attempt to bring out a little smile! You're in my thoughts and prayers, and I'm SO glad you're keeping positive in this and not falling to negativity toward everyone/everything like we've seen in so many other situations. Hang in there, it will ALL be worth it in the end!

~XOXO~