51/365 (Feb 20) Really Not Feeling Well

By Sunday afternoon, it had become quite clear the baby girl was experiencing something more than just a cough or a cold. Our little baby who normally hates her car seat with a passion, and insists on constant interaction either with us or with toys, had become the opposite. Suddenly she was fine with staying in her car seat and sleeping the afternoon away, even after the car had stopped and she had been moved inside. She didn't care to do much other than sleep - either in my arms or the car/car seat.

Here is my sweet baby girl sleeping in the living room, while in her car seat - 45 minutes after getting home:

50/365 (Feb 19) Lullaby's and Rolling Eyes

On Saturday, Grace and I went over to Priscilla's house to visit with her and her adorable boys (my two oldest nephews) and to help her make her wedding invitations (I seriously could not be more excited for her and her boyfriend, Josh!!!). Unfortunately while we were there, Grace threw up and started to show signs that she really wasn't feeling well at all. Though our time there was cut a bit short because of her being under the weather, I truly cherish every single bit of time I get with the three of them.

Skylar absolutely adores Grace. He loves to hold her and to sing her his version of lullaby's that he always seems to remember a little different than the originals but in a very cute way. The one I love the most is "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, How I wonder what you are. Up above the whole big sky, Like a diamond the whole world sky." Maybe it isn't quite as cute or funny when you aren't there, but I love it and I know she loves listening to him serenade her as well.

Here are the two lovely cousins. You can see how much he loves her by how much he loves to stare at her in amazement. Unfortunately, you can also see the beginning of the sick baby coming through:

Jaike, my oldest nephew and my first favorite (it's okay to have favorites, as long as there are four favorites, right?), has begun to master the eye roll. He is obviously way too cool for pictures now, and you can't even bribe him to smile in a picture anymore...trust me, I've tried. When I told him I wanted to take his picture, he looked at me with a blank stare. Then I (gasp!) asked him to smile. How dare I interrupt an intense Wii session to ask for a smile?! One great big eye roll later, this is the picture I ended up with:

Little does he know, I love the picture just as much as I would if he had a great big smile on his face. Auntie Mandi - 1. Jaike - 0. But don't tell him that, please!

49/365 (Feb 18) Fancy Feet...and a "Little Black Dress"!

As I mentioned, yesterday Grace and I went on a wonderful playdate and part of the playdate was shopping. One of our purchases was these fancy, adorable, wonderful baby slippers. What is even more wonderful than how cute they are is how functional they are. Grace has had a recent obsession, as you can witness by scanning through past posts, with her feet. This includes her socks and shoes. Not a single pair of either socks or shoes has stayed on her feet for longer than half an hour lately. She kicks, pulls, rubs, and tugs until her feet are again bare. Quite talented, this little lady is. Until now! These little slippers stayed on her feet from 9:30 this morning until I changed her for bed around 6:30 this evening. Mama/Baby Slippers 1 -- Baby Girl 4868.

Look at her chubby little legs in her fancy foot slippers:

And of course, every little girl with fancy feet must be rockin' her little black dress!

48/365 (Feb 17) Playdate Time!

It was time for another playdate with Grace's friends Addie and Ryker. We did a little shopping and then visited at Starbucks. Shopping and Starbucks makes for a happy mama. As you can see, the baby came home very happy afterward, too:

Here are the three little ones sitting on a bench. They look so adorable and so grown-up!

My beautiful baby girl:

Thank you to Stefani, who took the two pictures shown while we were on our playdate!

47/365 (Feb 16) Good Morning, Baby Girl!!

At about 7:15 on Wednesday morning, I woke up to sounds on the monitor. Happy sounds. The baby girl was talking, cooing, and awwing. I turned on the video feed and saw her smiling, reaching for her toes, and telling stories to both her ladybug lovey and the seahorse (whom she was so eager to talk to that she was contorting her neck so she could look him in the eye and make sure he was paying attention, too). I gave her a few minutes and just laid in bed, enjoying the time that I could watch my baby being so happy. As a mama (a fairly new one, I will admit) I can say that there is honestly nothing more fulfilling than seeing/hearing your child in a state of pure happiness. It fills your heart with love beyond belief. I then walked in and when she caught my eye she got even happier. If it was possible for a heart to explode with joy, I would probably be in a hospital bed somewhere recovering from a heart transplant! Happy baby = happy mama. Who wouldn't want to wake up to this bundle of joy everyday??

(And yes, Grandma Jo...I let her go to bed with her hair up. You want to be pretty while you sleep, too!)

46/365 (Feb 15) A New Must-Have and Cousin Landon Turns 2!!

We stayed the night at Janna's house in Bellingham on Valentine's Day so we could get up and help Landon celelebrate his 2nd birthday (which wasn't actually until the next day, but that was when the party was to be). Grace woke up and decided to practice her sitting skills, which have improved by leaps and bounds. She is confident sitting with no hands for support and looking around, twisting and slightly turning to see the world from a whole new perspective. She can correct herself if she starts to topple in either direction now, too. She has yet to figure out how to sit straight up and try to eat her toes all at the same time, though.

Grace also showed interest in something new- that has become a must-have for our house. Mama has been looking for one that baby can call her own. She loves cousin Landon's bean-bag chair. Not just kinda likes or loves a little - she LOVES loves it! She squirms around on her back and smiles and giggles at how it feels.

See? Happy baby girl!

She even really enjoyed tummy-time on a much more inclined scale than ever before. For a baby that normally can't stand being on her belly for more than a couple of minutes, this was the selling point for Mama.

And of course, here he is. Look at my handsome nephew, Landon, enjoying his birthday cake! I absolutely love him and I can't get enough of his smiles!

45/365 My Most Perfect Valentine!

Valentine's Day was perfect because I got to spend it with my sweet baby girl! They say nobody is perfect...but I think whoever "they" are, they clearly haven't met this little lady.

Getting a picture with her at the end of the day was hard - because all she wanted to do was plant big kisses on me and give me "face squishies." It's how she shows me her love- and I can't get enough of either.

Sure, sometimes her kisses look more like she's trying to eat my face:

And the face squishies make me look...well, squished:

But I love her just the same and will cherish our first Valentine's day together forever.

Earlier in the day, Grace had fun playing in cousin Landon's Johnny Jump Up. It wasn't the same as her jumperoo, but she seemed to have fun. She was amazed by how she could lift her legs and spin in circles effortlessly:


And while the adults enjoyed dinner at the restaurant, Grace shared her lovin' with Sophie:

This sweet baby makes my heart so full of love every single day. She was definitely my most perfect Valentine!