Richly blessed and wonderfully made

I thought that the verses ("richly blessed" Proverbs 8:28 and "wonderfully made" Psalms 139:14)on this pillow were a perfect title for this post because it tells exactly what we think about our lives with ME.


Today, ME is 14 months. WOWZA!!! I thought I just checked into the hospital last week to deliver her. Ok, I know that really didn't happen, but I can't believe that Drew and I are now raising a kid instead of a baby. As you can see in the picture, she loves to climb into the rocking chair and then slide out of it. She's getting so independent and into everything lately. Although tiring, it's so much fun!





A few weeks ago, ME yanked the spoon out of my hand and thought it would be a great idea to feed herself. I'll let you look at the picture to decide if she was successful. And yes, in case you're wondering, she is still on baby food. This is pretty much the only way I can get her to eat veggies. But what can I say? She comes by it honest...I'm probably even pickier than her when it comes to eating!





Updates

• New Words: "bable" for Bible (thanks to her daycare!) and bottle; "this" for please; "diaper"; I know there are a few more, but Drew and I can't think of them right now. She can finally sign the word "please"! I gave up on teaching her baby signing b/c we weren't accomplishing anything, but last Wednesday she used the sign for please. Her wonderful daycare has been working on signing with the kiddos! Let me just say that it is so much cuter to see her do that than hear her whine "uh-uh-uh-uh" for things that she wants!


• Foods: As I've already mentioned, she is very picky!!! She pretty much eats meat sticks, cheese, and crackers everyday for lunch and dinner. Occassionally, she'll let me sneak other foods into her diet. Breakfast varies with Nutri-grain waffles and Cheerios. It's funny when ME's daycare teacher gets her to try a new food because she gets so excited to tell me about it. Then that new food will be in her lunch the rest of the week.
• She's become a much better walker, but trips over nothing often. Hmmm...I wonder where her clumsiness might come from?
• She loves to give kisses on the lips and dances at any possible beat (even the click of my heels when I walk)!
• She's been giving Dixie and Mo dog treats, but now she knows where to get them and when to get them.
• She likes to use my makeup brushes on her own face and walk with her "purse" (it's actually her lunchbox that looks like a purse).

Mary Elizabeth, thank you for blessing our lives. Our lives truly are wonderful because of the joy that you bring to our lives. Happy 14 months! We love you, Munchkin!

A proud homeowner

A few weeks ago, VeVe made her final payment on d the house that Drew pretty much grew up in. Wow...I didn't know that people ever actually live to see that happen!!! This card to the left shows VeVe and Drew in '89 when she bought the house, then it shows the family now. VeVe, we're so excited for you!

Which way do I go?

If you noticed in the last post, ME's car seat is turned back around. BOO! As part of a Junior League community service, I helped with their "Buckle Up and Be Safe" program a few weeks ago. I figured while I was there, I would get my car seat checked. Boy, am I glad that I did! Even though I read the instruction booklet, which apparently is not helpful at all, I found several things that I did wrong when I turned the seat around. After the car seat inspectors checked mine, I made both grandmas get theirs checked, and then called a few of my friends to get theirs checked. Although I'm not happy about ME being rear-facing again, I feel much better after the inspectors asked me a "morbid" question...would I rather fix a broken leg, or a broken neck and spine (since most accidents are frontal collisions)? The crazy thing is that she can stay rear-facing up to 33 pounds in my seat. It seems like she'll be in college by the time she reaches that number!

The real alarming part of this all was that 93% of the car seats that were checked that day were not installed correctly! So if you're curious about if your seat is installed right, don't hesitate to get it checked!

Our funny little Valentine

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!

Today was probably the best Valentine's Day that I've had in a long time. The other one was when Drew made a surprise visit to Fayetteville our Freshman year. Anyway, Drew took me and Mary Elizabeth to the park to have a picnic this afternoon. I absolutely love picnics, but we just never do them, so this was the perfect gift for me! We discovered that everyone else had the same idea, too, as we drove up to Pinnacle Mountain. So we decided to head on down toward Maumelle Park and eat by the river. Luckily, the wind held off for the most part. ME had fun sitting at the table like a big kid, then rolling down the hill. Here are a few pix of our sweetheart.

She loved watching the geese fly and hearing them squawk!

Daddy, am I making you nervous being so close to the ledge?

It's tough having fun!

Yesterday was our class Valentine's party. My kiddos have been begging me to bring ME, so I thought it would be fine now since she can walk. I wish you could have seen the kids' surprised faces when my mom walked in with her. Thanks, LaLa, for your help!

The kids were really sweet to ME. They made me make her and my mom a bag for their own Valentine's cards. The second picture shows some of the girls helping ME with her bag. She got bubbles, stuffed animals, and some headbands (we'll save those for later). You may not be able to tell, but there is an organized method to my classroom, so please don't judge the messiness of it!