Meemaw's 80th Birthday

We went up to Dallas this weekend for Justin's grandmother's (Meemaw's) 80th birthday celebration!  We had fun, ate waaaay too much cake, and even had a "mini date" while my parents watched Ari so Justin and I could go to the mall and play cards in the food court.  :)

Ari is really acting like she's remembering grandparents and people from time to time when she sees them.  She starts singing every time she sees PaPa Joe and laughs everytime she sees her Uncle Jerd and I think James is starting to scare her.  She was fascinated with my dad's oxygen machine, though (which we are calling his life support) and kept trying to eat the little cord.  We finally gave her a stethoscope and that seemed to satisfy her.

On Sunday we went to church with Justin's parents (which is about 18 hours away by car, or 55 minutes, I never can remember which) and Justin sang a sort of impromptu (decided to do it the day before) duet with his father.  It was really neat and I'm glad we got to go.  I loved the sermon the preacher gave and will be blogging about it later.  On the other hand, I am never leaving Ari in that child care ever again.  (Always trust your gut, mamas!)

I think Ari might be starting to get the concept of waving.  She'll hold her hand up but she doesn't quite move it yet so we'll see if it develops into something or if it's just a coincedence.  She does move her hands a lot.  :)

Well, that's it!  I think we're all starting to feel a bit better (except for the hacking, uncontrollable, sleep depriving cough) so it looks like it might be business as usual for us from now on! Back to play groups! :)

Standing up by herself!

Ari is getting so big!

Today she stood for a long time by herself. She had already been standing for about 30 seconds when I took this picture. She's not nearly as wobbly on her feet as she was a week ago, and she wants to practice standing all the time. She'll pull herself up on anything she can find, the wall, a table, Mommy, the dog. Once I was laying on the couch watching her play, and she stood up using her table then would let go and sway for a few seconds before grabbing the table again. Then she would bounce up and down and get this huuuge grin on her face like, "Yay, yay! Look what I did look what I did!" And then do it again. I laughed so hard. :)

So here's our little angel, practicing being a big girl!

Well, I held out long enough. Plus, I might be going insane.

I tried. I tried SO HARD. I just can't avoid the batteries!

I bought her toys that would really stimulate her brain. You know, blocks. Stacking toys. Cups. Stuff that crunched when you twisted it. A ball. For a long time, she only had one toy that ran on batteries.

I have officially given up.

I went out and bought her a play table at a garage sale yesterday. Now I'm singing my 123s to the tune of La Cucaracha, Ari is pressing on the chocolate chips of a half eaten plastic cookie to hear a crunching sound and playing with an electronic pizza that unceasingly declares how yummy junk food is. I am going to be an awesome parent.

*sigh*

Manwich

Me: "Manwich does NOT come with meat!"

Justin: "Yes it does."

Me: "No! It doesn't! You buy the meat and brown it and add the sauce. Manwich is the sauce! It does not come with meat!"

Justin: "Then why would it be called Manwich? If it didn't come with meat, it would be called Girlywich."

Standing UPPY!

So I wanted to wait to post this until I had a video but my little one is waaay too into my camera phone to be interested in showing off while I have it pointed at her. So I'll relay the news less dramatically: ARI CAN STAND BY HERSELF!

That's right folks, and I'm not talking your I'm-keeping-balance-just-long-enough-to-find-a-safe-place-to-land standing. I'm talking 20 seconds. 20 SECONDS! It started about a week ago and now she's having tons of fun with it, even pulling herself up to a stand without help! (Okay, that was once, and is disputed, but I stand by it!...haha...stand...by it...gettid?...ha...um...::ahem::)

I don't know where my baby went! What's next? Flying lessons? Scuba diving? Dates? (No way, Ari bar! Not till you're 53!)

Awesome Mommy Moments #1

I've decided to start a new section on my blog called Awesome Mommy Moments, because there are just some things that only mothers understand.  It's the little things...

Today I kept going around and something on my arm would itch.  I'd reach up and scratch and it would stop but then it would randomly start itching/scratching again.  I finally lifted up my shirt sleeve.  I had a partially digested Teddy Puff dried to the inside of it.

Thanks, Monster Mess*.

*Ari's new nickname.

Lesson for Today

Never, ever, EVER accidentally not press hard enough on your $7 crappy Wal Mart diaper pail that was probably designed by drunk monkeys because the latch, well...DOESN'T...and end up leaving the lid open after your baby starts eating solids.

NEVER.

EVER.