Daddy Bear is Home!!!

So thankful we had skype for the (almost) 6 months Jerry was gone. This little girl knew exactly who her daddy was and was so excited to see him!

So glad to be a family again! I love seeing my Little Girl in my Big Guy's arms!

Grocery Cart Cover

With a little girl who is getting more mobile by the day, I knew I needed to get one of these things at some point. Piper is no longer content to sit in her car seat while I shop and HAS to be sitting up, facing out and looking around. I started shopping for one a few weeks back and was blown away by how much these things cost! The ones I was looking at were between $65 and $85 and they didn't even have the right features I was looking for. Additionally, the manufacture would claim that it would fit "any size shopping cart - even warehouse shopping carts" but many of the customer comments/reviews said that it wouldn't stretch far enough to cover the whole cart.

I found a McCall's pattern (#5721 for those interested) and waited until they went on sale somewhere. I finally found them at Hobby Lobby for $.99 and went to pick it up. A friend gave me tons of her left over fabric a while back since she was cleaning out her sewing room. To cut costs further I decided to use some fabric I already had. She gave me some that were gender specific and others that weren't and decided to go with the cute puppy dog print since it would be fine for either boys or girls. It took me about 2 hours to put it together and I was so excited with the way it turned out. I added some features and took away others that I didn't want and was able to make exactly what I was wanting. I've got about $9 wrapped up in it with supplies and that's all. Piper and I went shopping the other day and I used it for the first time. I think the puppies on the fabric were more entertaining than her toys that I attached to it!

It does in fact have two places for legs, you just can't tell from this angle. I used two kitchen chairs for the model;-)

I wanted a bigger pocket on the back for toys/wallet/muchies, etc.

I wanted three loops for toys and I wanted to add my own buckle so I didn't have to use the nasty ones attached to the carts.

I still made it reversible (like all of the other ones for sale) and made it big enough to fit on a Sams or Costco cart as well as your average grocery store cart or even restaurant high chair.

The best part: it folds back on itself in the big pocket in the back and the buckle and strap act as the handle! I love this thing! Thank you McCall for helping to make this so much easier for me to create:-)

Happy 4th of July!

I hope you all had a fun and festive day yesterday celebrating our country's 235th Birthday! We had a great time at our neighborhood block party grilling, visiting, laughing, playing Washers and watching fireworks! There were lots of adults and lots of kids and lots of dogs and it was such an enjoyable evening!

A friend snapped this of Piper and I later on in the evening yesterday. Piper was quite tired and hot so I took off the cute denim blue jumper she was wearing. Right after we took these pictures, I fed her and put her to bed. I think she was worn out!

I forgot to mention in Piper's 6 month update that she is sitting on her own so much better now! She used to be a good "assisted sitter" but I can actually walk away when she plays with her toys while sitting up! She is so in love with mirrors! Makes me smile:)

Visit from Mamageese!

My mom came to see us the first part of June and we had a BLAST!! The trip went by way too fast (she got in on Friday night and left Sunday morning) but she still managed to spoil us to no end! She took me to get my hair done, gave me a mani/pedi, took us out to eat, bought Piper lots of new toys and some precious new clothes! We had so much fun and I was so sad when she had to leave. We got to visit and talk for hours and she got to spend some quality time with the baby. The last time she saw Piper was when she was only a few days old. Mamageese changed diapers, bathed her, gave her a juice bottle, gave her her rice cereal, sang to her, played with her, prayed with her and put her to bed. It was a fast trip but we managed to squeeze in many activities and had SO much fun! Thank you Mom for taking time to come out here and see us! We had so much fun with you!! Here are a couple pictures:

Breakfast Saturday morning before our shopping trip!

Saturday night with her new *precious* tutu skirt from Mamageese!

Playing with one of her many new toys and loving it!

Juice bottle with Mamageese

Bedtime prayers with Mamageese (Piper didn't want to let her go! She loved Mom's jewelry too!)

In another new outfit from Mamageese! So precious!! I'm a fan of the lime green:-)

6 Month Update!

Piper continues to grow big and strong and never ceases to amaze me with the new skills she masters every day! We love our baby girl so much!! At 6 months old, Piper:

-Weighs 16.0 pounds and is 25.5 inches long

-Loves to eat rice cereal two times a day (In the morning I mix it bananas and in the evening I mix it with sweet potatoes)

-Enjoys her Gerber cookies (and makes a complete mess when eating them)

-Blows bubbles with her tongue when she's had enough food (and ends up spitting it out all over whatever I'm wearing. I thought about coming up with some kind of "bib" for adults and selling them to make lots of money and then remembered someone already did. It's called an apron.)

-Makes the funniest faces when I try and give her a taste of whatever I'm eating (then she acts like she's starving and can't believe I didn't think of sharing with her sooner)

-Responds with her voice by making high pitch little sounds when I ask her questions (I can tell she wants to talk so bad)

-Gets up on all 20's (as my mom calls it) in the perfect "push-up" position

-Has started getting up on all fours and rocks back and forth on her knees (as if to get some momentum going so she can swing way forward and reach for the toy she's eyeing)

-Scoots all over the place on her belly (people normally pivot on their heel - Piper pivots on her belly)

-Is totally enamored with tags. If there's a tag on a dolly, a tag on a blanket, a tag on her clothes when she's "helping" to fold laundry, or a tag on any of her toys, she finds it and studies it and plays with it:-) It is brand new to her each time.

-Is Mama's big helper when I'm in the kitchen cooking. She is so happy to sit in her bumbo seat and watch all of the goings on. She reaches out for everything and wants to touch and eat anything she can get her hands on.

-Totally loves her new toys from Mamageese and Papa Carl that have lights and songs and mirrors (Mom, remember the green smiley toy with the mirror and motion sensor? I forgot it had an on and off switch. I can't tell you how many times I've walked by that toy when I'm closing up the house at night and everything is so quiet and all of a sudden I hear, "Weeeeeeee" or "Hahahahahaha" coming from the floor. You think I'd remember to shut the thing off. I'm surprised the toy is still "smiling" at me. I think I've killed/kicked it about four times.)

-Speaking of mirrors, she loves looking at herself in the mirror and often cracks up when she sees herself (and if the angle or view is not quite right, she moves her head from side to side to "fix" it)

-LOVES being outside! (It is not uncommon for us to spend about 2 hours outside taking walks and visiting with neighbors each evening. She sits in her stroller just taking in all of the sights and sounds)

-Does not mind being held by other people (she just positions herself where she can see me the whole time)

-Sleeps well at night (most of the time - she wakes up usually once to eat around 0430 and then goes right back to bed)

-Is teething, teething, teething. She has one little bud on the lower left that has popped through but that's all so far. I'm sure the rest of the bottom ones will pop through any time

-Sometimes gets fussy (and runs a low grade fever) because of her teething but overall is the HAPPIEST baby ever. One of my neighbors asked me the other day if she ever cries because they've never seen her upset:-)

-Gets excited when she talks to her daddy on Skype! She also loves it when her daddy whistles/sings to her. She just sits there listening and watching on the skype cam. S0 precious! We love our little girl so much!

Well, I guess I'll close with that. I know there is so much more - these are just the things on the front of my brain. I better scoot while the baby is still sleeping and get more things done around the house. Here are a couple pictures...

Up on all 20s -sorry she's not looking at the camera!

Outside enjoying some beautiful sunshine!

A teething and slightly fussy Piper... but still precious nonetheless!

LOVES looking in her little mirror!

Precious happy baby! And she is her Daddy's girl for sure!

5 Months Old!

Yes... another month has gone by and Princess Piper is just getting cuter and cuter by the day! (Can you tell I'm the proud Mama?!) She seems to learn new skills and is changing in looks and personality every time I turn around. She is so social and loves to have people talk to her and interact with her. She doesn't seem to mind if someone else holds her... she just turns around so she can see me at the same time. So cute!

She has found her "squealing" voice and is constantly squealing at the top of her lungs! She gets such a kick out of herself too. Sometimes her voice gets so high she starts to cough and choke. I end up laughing right along with her. At church today, I didn't have to take her out because she was fussing or hungry, I had to take her out because she thought it was her time to squeal while everyone else was quiet! Everyone around me got a kick out of it but I felt so bad! But I guess that's the stage of her life that I'm in... listening to Sunday sermons in the nursing mother's room! They have nice gliders and a monitor in there and to date, I am always in there alone so I can have the freedom to listen and pay attention.

Piper has also found her hands. Yes, she has been reaching and grabbing out for things for some time, but it was the object that was intriguing her. Now, her hands seem to be the center of her attention. I will have her on the floor playing with her toys and every once and a while I will catch her just staring at her fingers... bending them... moving them... waving them. I love her curiosity. It is such a joy to watch her discover life.

Drum roll please..... Piper is officially rolling over now! May 1st was the day of her first roll and she was a little shocked after it happened. The look on her face was one of great surprise. She had so much momentum going into the roll that she kinda rocked back and forth for a second involuntarily afterward and I think that is what scared her. I of course was so happy and excited and got down on the floor with her to tell her that she was ok and such a good girl! She still has to "work up" to do her rolls but she knows where to put her hands now to make the complete turn. If there is something a few inches away from her that she wants to reach out and grab, that is a big motivator for her to roll over and grab it! I'm so proud of her!

She is also loving her rice cereal these days. She has one bowl of those yummy-yummies every day and can't seem to get enough! She gets so exasperated if I don't put it in her mouth soon enough. She is still working on and learning tongue control and is getting better and better with each feeding. The first time she ate with a spoon she was spitting out quite a bit but now she seems to know what to do with it when it hits her mouth and she doesn't have near as much coming out. I know I probably sound redundant but I am just amazed at how fast she learns and how smart she is.

I'm very grateful that Piper is such a good nap-taker! That is one area where she is not spoiled! She refuses to go to sleep in my arms and likes to be put in her bed when she's tired. As soon as I hear the "tired and fussy cry" I go put her in her bed and she falls asleep within about 10 minutes. Before Jerry left he made sure that I didn't spoil her by rocking her to sleep. And if she did fall asleep in my arms I was to go put her in bed immediately. Thankfully that has paid off and she still takes wonderful naps.

Well, I could go on and on but I don't want to bore any of you. This blog serves as my "journal" of her growth and development and it is so fun for Jerry and I to watch as her life unfolds. She is a precious blessing to us. I'll close with a few videos of her squealing. Thank you for keeping up with us and reading our updates!

This and That

Helpin' Mama make some chocolate chip banana bread.

I love this pic... she looks like she actually ate a taste... but I promise she didn't :-)

LOVE the bald spot in the back of her head. Makes me smile! It is slowly starting to grow back in!

This little bunny got caught in the window well... poor little guy. I was down there working out and kept hearing this scratching noise. I walked over to find him all curled up in the corner. He was so scared:-(

He was so wild! I was trying to catch him in the window well and he got so scared he actually jumped in to the house down in the basement! I finally cornered him again in this box and took him outside. It took him a couple minutes to come out... I felt so bad for him.

Piper had her FIRST bowl of rice cereal! I can't believe she's getting so big! She LOVED it too!

I couldn't shovel it in fast enough... here she is "helping" me put the food in her mouth.

So sad her bowl is empty. And I promise I did not leave her on the table unattended sitting in the bumbo... I was with her the whole time!

Our little Cheeks almost 5 months old! Where has the time gone? I love those beautiful brown eyes!