model material

Okay, I know I am bias but I just can't get over how cute my kid is. Between the chubby cheeks and chin, chocolate brown eyes, and the bean sprout hairdo I feel like I could just eat her up every minute. The best part is she has an adorable personality to go along with her cuteness so she is just one big cute package. I sat her on the counter the other day when I was getting out the cereal for a snack and I snapped this picture thinking maybe someday I'd send it in to General Mills just in case they want to start copying Quaker by putting kids faces on their cereal boxes. How could you resist this face?
In other news, Raegan( in her typical fashion), has chosen NOT to start walking on a regular basis even though she can. Like everything else in her life, she will only do it when she wants to and you can't make her if she doesn't feel like it. Crawling is still her favorite mode of "transportation" and that includes crawling up the steps again and again, much to my horror. Thank you daddy for teaching her that new trick. I've tried to "teach" her to crawl back down the way she goes up but that only ends in her screeching as I grab her chubby legs to try to show her how to move them DOWN instead of UP. Looks like we're in for some bumps and bruises in the months ahead... 

'One small step...'

Yep, Raegan reached a major milestone this weekend when I was out of town (OF COURSE!!) but I have to hand it to her daddy, he was working with her on it for quite awhile so it is only fair that she did it in front of him for the first time.
I came home to see my baby take 6 or 7 steps towards me...and I swear all 11 months of her life flashed before me in that instant. I was sad and happy all at once. Just one of many emotional moments that I have had since being a mom, and will continue to have with her as she grows up.
If I can get a picture to post I will, but we couldn't even catch it on the video camera so I guess for now, you'll just have take our word for it!

BLAH!!

Here is a picture of my "naughty" little eater. Gone are the days where she would sit nicely and wait for me to spoon food into her mouth. Suddenly she wants to touch everything and then grab her hair or her ears or just smear it all over. She also thinks it's really fun to spit the food back at you and no matter how much I say "No" and try to put on my stearnest face, she thinks it's funny and just shakes her head "no" and grins at me. I am constantly turning my head and shaking with silent laughter!

A long day

Once again, it is grey, dreary, and 30 some degrees outside. UGH. Luckily I had MOPS this morning which forced me out of the house and then I brought lunch over to my girlfriend's house and had some quality time with her. Terri DeBoer (from News 8) came to speak at our MOPS group this morning which was very cool. She is a very passionate Christian woman and gave an awesome testimony. It was neat to hear about her background and also how she balances her faith, family and career in the media. I walked away feeling very inspired!
Now Raegan is taking a nice LONG nap so I've been able to write a few letters, workout, and relax in front of the computer. Brad is starting to get busy at work now and he is in Traverse City all day today which means he won't be home until late tonight. That makes for a long day when you're a stay-at-home mom...especially when it's too cold to get outside even just for a walk!
On a side note, I've made a few more baby steps towards planning my yard and garden (that I talked about in an earlier post). I consulted a good friend who is an excellent gardener (thanks,Megan!) and have spent quite a bit of time on the internet researching what veggies will grow best in what soil-type, sunlight, etc. Unfortunately I've come to realize that the "perfect" spot I had picked for my herb and vegetable garden will not work because it is mostly shady...so I have yet to make a Plan B for that.
And again I was overwhelmed with the wealth of information and glossary of "technical" gardening terms to be found on the internet. I think after all this is done I will write my own version of "Gardening for Dummies" for all the other 'Black Thumbs' like me out there! Why do they have to make it so difficult? (Or rather, why do I have to be so clueless when it comes to making something grow?)
Oh well, at least I have something to keep me "busy" and to help me look forward to spring.

Hey...I never asked for a sister!

I promised more pics to catch up on the last few weeks so here is one from Sunday night when we watched our friends' daughter Emma. Raegan was not too sure about having to share Mom and Dad's attention; especially when I sat in the glider holding just Emma in my lap! Raegan did not like that at all and let me know it by standing next to the glider and screeching at me.
It was fun to have a little one in the house again though and made me realize how quickly you forget just how tiny and helpless they are when they are newborns! (It was nice to hold a baby that is a snuggler too! Emma fell asleep in my arms and that was the BEST!)

Just a pic

It's Monday again and we had a busy but nice weekend with lots of time with friends and family! I'm a little behind on downloading pictures so I'll have to catch up this week. Here is just a cute picture I took of Raegan after she had a particularly messy lunch. She had to go right from the highchair to a sink-bath and she thought that was really fun! It's actually only about the 2nd or 3rd time she's has a bath in the sink so I thought I had better get it documented on film since she's almost too big for it already! Well, the sun is out this morning and I'm feeling pretty motivated so I should probably make the most of it while Raegan is napping. Stay tuned for more pictures and stories this week! 

Personality?

Raegan has "developed" something in the last week that I really hope is just a phase...When she doesn't like something, doesn't want to do something, or is just plain upset, she throws a "tantrum". It can involve screeching, kicking, back-arching or a combination of all three and it is somewhat startling! Is this our sweet little girl? Will she be a bratty little kid now? I have visions of being "that mom" in the grocery store when she is three or four and throwing a fit because I won't let her have a candy bar in the check-out lane and everyone stares and thinks..."What a spoiled little girl". Is this really what lies ahead for us?
Last night we stopped at PetSmart after dinner out with the three of us just to browse and show Raegan the animals. She was facinated by the birds so we stood and watched them for awhile but when we turned to leave she let out with a VERY loud scream and started to cry and arch her back. So we turned back to the birds (to see what she would do) and she instantly stopped crying and had a very satisfied smile on her face! Brad and I exchanged a look of horror as the realization set in. It's not so bad that she has fits when we're at home, but in public it's a whole new ball-game....and she's not even a year yet! Yikes. What do we do now?

Drop me off anytime mom!

Thanks to Brenda and Joel for watching Raegan last night so we could enjoy time with our small group. Raegan had a blast and in true Brenda-fashion she took about 20 pictures and two video clips of their night together! I feel so blessed to have friends that love my kid (almost) as much as I do and that are willing to help us out with baby-sitting. We're eagerly looking forward to swapping favors and watching Emma next Sunday night!! 

White Chiclets

If you look VERY close in this pic you can see Raegan's new little chompers that just recently broke through on the bottom! I love this picture too b/c you can also see her "messy" hair clipped back in a barrette. She likes to put her hands in her hair while she is eating lately so instead of bathing her 3 times a day I just clip back the dirty strands with a barrette. Gross, I
know-but kind of cute just the same...don't you think?
(At least we get alot of use out of all the "hair pretties" we have!) 

Hats off to the camera!

If you read my earlier post you will understand that we had quite a time trying to get a picture of Raegan in her outfit from Great Grandma and Grandpa Weaver. She did NOT want the hat on because it was much more fun to swing it around in the air while we laughed. I finally had to hold her hands while Brad snapped the shot. Stinker!

It's Monday, March, and still Snowing

I am ready for spring. UGH! As you can see, I changed the look of my blog because I am so sick of the dull and drab of winter that even the colors of my blog were starting to depress me. So, I felt like a nice bright pink would be uplifting. Hope you like the change too.
I don't have any pictures to post right now because I haven't downloaded from our camera in the last few days but maybe later today I'll get motivated to do so.
Last night I again had the "panicked" feeling that I need to take more pictures and video footage of Raegan before her life flies by any more. Of course every time I haul out one of the two, she does not want to "perform" so that sort of lowers my motivation. For example, she had on a couple very cute outfits this weekend but everytime I tried to get a shot of her in them she would crawl away or cry. Yesterday her church dress had a matching beret and we tried for 10 minutes just to get her to leave the hat on for two seconds so we could snap ONE picture. It became a game to her of course and that made it even harder to get her cooperation. Brad even tried being silly and putting stuff on his head to distract her but she wasn't buying into his ploy. She's too smart for an almost 11 month old!
We had quite a bit of family time this weekend which was a nice change. We are always looking for things to "do" with other people on the weekends but it was nice to just hang out with the 3 of us. Yesterday we went to the Home and Garden Show downtown and had a nice time walking around and getting ideas for our yard this spring. My goal is to try my hand at gardening and planting some landscaping around the sides of our house. Brad laughs (in kindness of course) because I am not known to have a green thumb-nor do I claim to have one!- but I know he is happy to hear that I am taking an interest in doing some outdoor projects with him. Of course I grabbed every piece of literature offered at the show and once I got home and read through most of it, my head was swimming with "gardening terminology" that gave me a headache. Why can't you just dig a hole, drop in some seeds, and watch something grow? Nothing is ever that simple. BUT- I am determined to give it a fair shot and I will be hounding the people at the local greenhouse to enlighten me with their wealth of plant knowledge. If I can get at least ONE vegetable or flower to grow from a seed this summer I will consider my efforts a success. I'll keep you all posted.

It's Official

Congratulations and Praise to God for my friends Brenda, Joel and Emma Hondorp. As of 11:00 a.m. Emma Leigh is officially ADOPTED!