Word

The Rules: Answer the questions using only one word (very difficult for a journalism major to leave it at just one word!). Then tag three others. I tag: Mom, B, and ReginaM.

1. Where is your cell phone? bag
2. Your significant other? loved
3. Your hair? washed
4. Your mother? gracious
5. Your father? generous
6. Your favorite thing? cupcakes
7. Your dream last night? sleepy
8 Your favorite drink? ddp
9. Your dream/goal? significance
10. The room you’re in? cozy
11. Your hobby? crafts
12. Your fear? hurt
13. What do you want to be in 6 years? better
14. What you’re not? perfect
15. Muffins? warm
16. One of your wish list items? dslr
17. Where you grew up? Tyler
18. The last thing you did? played
19. What are you wearing? comfy
20. Favorite gadget? Flip
21. Your pets? Puppers (do E’s stuffed animals count?)
22. Your computer? create
23. Your mood? content
24. Missing someone? mab
25. Your car? silver
26. Something you’re not wearing? sssssssocks (in honor of ella!)
27. Favorite store? etsy
28. Like someone? Ethan!
29. Your favorite color? green
30. When is the last time you laughed? today
31. Last time you cried? fortnight

Gaga, goo goo!

Well, E had his 9 month check up today, and he is healthy and right on track for where he should be at this point. He waved at everyone in the doctor’s office and said bye bye to almost everyone we passed. He also sat up and looked around while sitting in the scale. I wish I had taken a picture of the funny expression on his face!

He continues to talk and laugh all the time. His laughter is often brought on by random everyday things I do or say such as when I blow my nose, fold towels, turn around, or lean down to pick something up. He just loves to laugh! His “talking” includes things such as mama, dada, bye bye, baba, nana, and this past weekend, he even said, “Gaga, goo goo.” (That one really cracked us up!) He also said something today that sounded a lot like Ella.  We’ll see her and mab tomorrow, so I guess he can practice that one a little more (although JJH said he must have been trying to sing “Umbrella”).

He’s also started venturing into other rooms with his own favorite version of the military crawl. Today was his first day to really be brave enough to get on the tile floors. He crawled from the living room into the kitchen and later into our back tile hallway. He quickly found out that he could scoot pretty fast on the tile, and he kept patting the tile, looking up at me and then laughing. It was pretty cute!

His favorite toys these days are still his books (he loves to look at the pictures and talk to them), his Puppers, his car with stackable toys, and his new Fisher Price Laugh & Learn table that Grandana bought him. It plays all sorts of fun songs and sounds, and he really enjoys it.

Here are some pics of what we’ve been up to the past few weeks.

Sister~Friends fun!

I got my Sister~Friends swap package in the mail yesterday with lots of fun treats from my new friend JennyM!  I loved all of it, but especially the custom painting she made for me.  She is a fabulous artist in Tyler, and now I can say I own a very fabulous, autographed Jennifer Moreman original!  Thanks so much for everything, Jen!

Cupcake pops . . . yum!

I found a fabulous recipe online for Cupcake pops, so I decided to give it a try (see above for a sample of my work!). I’m thinking of creative ideas for treats at E’s birthday party in a few months, so this was one of my first attempts. It was definitely messy, but they were a lot of fun to make. They’re just little bite-size cupcakes on a stick, covered with chocolate and topped with sprinkles. Does it get any better than that?

(tasted and approved by chocolate connoisseurs Hannah and Kaitlyn)

Sister-Friends Swap

I recently came across a blog with a really cool idea. They were hosting a swap of favorite things where you send someone a few of your favorite things, and they send you a few of their favorite things. I don’t know about you, but it just brightens my day to get little fun surprises, particularly in the mail! Soooo . . . I’m hosting our first-ever Sister-Friends Swap for any of you girls who want to participate.

All you have to do is choose 4-5 things (I’m sure no one would mind if you choose to send a few more) to send to your swap friend. These should be some of your favorite things that you think someone else would enjoy (a book or magazine you really enjoy reading, a favorite Bubble bath, pens and note cards, lip gloss, a favorite snack or brownie mix, etc.). The items don’t have to be expensive. They can include bought or handmade things, and you can also find out the type of things your swap partner enjoys. The most important thing is to be creative and send things that will brighten someone else’s day!

If you want to take part, post a comment here (with your preferred e-mail address) by Friday, July 18, and I’ll e-mail you to get the information I need (address, e-mail, and a little about yourself for your swap partner). Then, we’ll randomly assign everyone one swap partner, and I’ll e-mail you their name, address, and a little info about them. Everyone will mail their package to their swap partner by Friday, August 1.

I already have 8 people signed up, so I hope this will be a fun, day-brightening thing for all of my sister-friends out there!

Broccoli, Little E, Gotta Be a Veggie Tale

Ethan is always such a good little eater, and the only food he has gagged on so far has been green beans, that is until yesterday. He tried broccoli for the very first time. The cute thing was that he continued to eat it, even after gagging, so as a result, Mommy got one hilarious photo shoot.

(Unsuspecting Ethan) Mmmm, these pears are good. What is that green stuff?

Eww, what on earth is this stuff?

Gag me!

Surely Mommy is not really going to keep feeding me this stuff!

Well, maybe it’s not as bad as I thought.

Wait a minute! I know what I can do. I’ll make a goatee out of broccoli!

And I’ll blow some broccoli bubbles!

Oh yeah, this is the life.

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is our veggie tale for today.

What we’ve been up to lately

Well, for my faithful readers out there who continue to read even when I don’t blog that much, here is a new post . . . finally!

We’ve been staying busy lately spending time with friends and family. We’ve had play group at our house and at the zoo, and we’ve enjoyed swimming in the little pool we got for the backyard and playing with Ethan’s little tugboats. We had dinner with Momma and Papa G, spent time with Uncle Clint and Aunt Julie, and had dinner with the Cockerhams so E could play with Mallory, Will and Charlie.

A week or two ago, we took E to Louisiana for a long weekend. He got to see his PaPa and Grandma and had a lot of fun playing with them, visiting PaPa where he works, and meeting some of his Daddy’s old friends. Then, T dropped us off in Tyler for a week to spend time with my family. Ethan got to visit his Poppy and Grandana, Papa and Dawn (his great grandparents), he got treated to some green jello one night and some vanilla soft-serve another night, he got bargain shopping lessons from Poppy and helped pick out clothes for boys at the children’s home, he played and played with his Uncle B (Ethan thought he was hilarious) and spent time with his Aunt Kiki, he got to meet Sphinx the cat (who he really liked but wasn’t quite sure what to think of - the feeling may have been mutual), and he just had a great time. He even got to go swimming in a real pool for the first time and had a blast. He kicked and splashed all over the place!

Last week, we went to lunch and E got to play with Hannah and Kaitlyn, two of his favorite girls (don’t worry, Ella, he hasn’t forgotten about you!). Christie Lynn and Nathan were passing through town, so they got to join us. It was fun to see them, and Nathan has grown so much! I’m glad these two little buddies could finally see each other again.

We had a great Father’s Day celebration on Sunday. Ethan made a picture book for his daddy, filled with pictures of the two of them. I found a lady who paints watercolors from photos, and they are just breathtaking, so I had one made for T for his Father’s Day gift from me (see below). I wanted to find something really special that would always remind him of this very first Father’s Day.

That’s really all we’ve been up to lately. Here are some more recent pictures for those of you who enjoy pics!

It’s been a busy month

It’s been a busy month, and I haven’t made time to blog or upload pictures. Ethan continues to grow like a weed and is changing so much every single day. We are having so much fun together, and it is such a blessing to watch him grow!

Lately he’s been rolling over, laughing, sitting up on his own (with a little support from mom to help out with that whole balance thing!), playing with his friends, waving at people and things (yes, he loves to wave), saying da-da, ma-ma, ba-ba, and lots of other sounds, and has started eating solid foods. He is a really good eater, but our funniest encounter was his first taste of green beans. He ate the first few bites smiling and acting normal until he realized, “Wait a minute, mom, this isn’t rice cereal!” He is eating them just fine now. I guess it’s just a huge change for him since it is such a new texture and taste!

It has been rainy here a lot lately, so we’ve spent a lot of time indoors playing, laughing, “talking” and reading books. T & E also took me out to Cracker Barrel for dinner on Mother’s Day and gave me two sweet cards and a beautiful necklace that symbolizes the joy of being a mom. It was strange not being with our moms on Mother’s Day, but it was a special day celebrating my first year of being a mom to our precious little one. It just fills my heart with joy!

How time flies!

Boy, it seems like time is flying as E is growing up right before our eyes! We have been having lots of fun lately. He loves to play with his Mommy & Daddy and his little friends (one of them is Hannah who told me she just knew his first word would be Hannah). He also likes to go stroll around and see the fishies at the zoo. He really likes to play with his toys (particularly Puppers, his little stuffed puppy) and his books (he has even learned to turn the pages). We also started rice cereal at 5 months to help with the transition to solid foods in a few weeks.

We love to see his smiling face and to hear him laugh out loud every day. Even though he doesn’t know what he’s saying, it melts my heart to hear, “Mmmm, ma, ma, ma, ma, ma.”  We also have fun watching him roll and kick and discover his feet. It is just such a joy to watch him grow and explore each day.

What fun we are having, but oh, how time flies!

Pray for Sarah Sims

I recently found out that some friends of ours from college who we haven’t talked to in awhile had a baby girl delivered at 28 weeks.  Her name is Sarah McKenzie, and she is a tiny little thing (she weighed just under 2 pounds when she was born).  She is still on a ventilator and is having difficulty eating.  They are asking for prayers that her body will accept milk and digest it.  Please pray for Sarah and for the Sims family as they are going through all of this.  I can’t imagine how difficult it must be to watch their tiny newborn child struggle.

If you know the Sims or want to leave a message to encourage them, visit Sarah’s website: http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/sarahsims.