My baby girl.....

Some days she makes me laugh.

Some days I want to curl up next to her.

I love watching her learn and experience and discover.

Some days I just want to take artsy-fartsy photos of her.

And she's always fun to watch!

The Froggie Princess

When my mom was about 16, her dad said to her, "You know I've never called you Princess." She nodded her head. He continued, "It's because you're not." My mom then had a look of confusion on her face. He continued again. "You're an enchanted frog. When you were just a small frog you were hopping down the trail and you ran into a witch. You 'ribbited' at her wrong and she waved her magic wand and turned you into a little girl. Your mom and I saw you and rescued you."

They thought it was so cute and fun. Since then, they've been exchanging frog things. He buys her knick-knacks, she buys him a shirt. He made her placemats for christmas, she made him a quilt for his birthday. Frog things all over the house. So many frogs, that my father has made a few comments about having enough of them. But my mom and Grandpa haven't stopped, and probably won't until he dies.

My favorite frog thing that my grandfather gave my mom is a napkin holder. She asked for a napkin holder that holds the napkins flat, with a bar to keep them from flying off the table. He came up with a design of a frog hopping on a lillypad. The lillypad is the base of the napkin holder, and the frog is the bar that keeps the napkins down. It has a wheel that is offset, so that when you pull out the napkin, the frog hops. It's very fun to watch. So much so, in fact, one visitor to the house put in a roll of toilet paper just to watch the frog hop continously.

Because my mom loves frogs so much, she passes frog things on to lots of family member who know and laugh at the story. Audrey is one of those family members. The "Gramma Janet" quilt has frogs on the backside. Last November, my mom bought Audrey froggie PJs (with cute little frog feet). The Gramma Janet cradle cover is also frogs. My former student and mom bought Audrey froggie bibs. And my sister-inlaw bought Audrey a froggie onesie that was identical to the PJs my mom bought, except it was short sleeve and no pants.

When I told my mom how many frog things she was receiving, my mom was thrilled and nick-named her the Froggie Princess. Frog and Froggie Princess are two of the many nicknames we've been calling her. (Aud Ball and Little Miss are two others.)

My mom struck gold again when she sent Audrey another pair of froggie pajamas with froggie feet. This time they are flannel and have a pink background. They are VERY cute. I love them. They look and feel so comfortable.

On a related note, Josh and I are very blessed with good friends. One co-worker is continually cleaning out her storage unit and finding old things from her son and passing them on to us. And my boss' wife knitted Audrey a sweater that looks like it will be a perfect fit when rainy season starts up.

I guess that's all I have to say for now.

Labor Day

We labored on labor day.

Since we were busy this spring and summer having a baby, we kind of let the gardens get away from us. The weeds overtook the flowers and killed everything, the bushes got overgrown and the ivy was climbing up the walls. So we spent Monday of this week tearing everything out. We left one plant, the prettiest and healthiest rose bush on the far end. I got into a couple fights with the rose bushes, but I got the TKO.

After everything got ripped out, we (and by "we" I mean "Josh") laid down new mulch. Ultimately we should've put down a plastic layer under the mulch to prevent weeds and prevent the mulch from sinking into the ground, but we didn't. Probably next year after we do this all over again.

Part of me feels bad that we let the flowers die and get overtaken by weeds since they were all planted by the neighbor lady across the street. Oh well. We'll try again next year.

 

While doing all the work, we got a visitor on our car.

Where Oh where?

Oh house of mine, why do you hide my things? Do you and the dryer have a conspiracy against me? I don't understand why you want to keep from me my chapstick or Audrey's slipper.

I accept that the dryer wants my socks. I can deal with that to an extent, but why must you go to the next level? My lips are chapped and Josh's carmex isn't doing the trick. My baby's feet are cold at night and she needs slippers that she can't kick off.

Sigh.................

I guess this just means I have to go shopping so we can do this again next month.

Sept 7, 2008

One year ago today I felt different. Things just didn't feel right for me. So I went to the store and bought a $7 test and came home and received news that changed my life.

Little Miss Aud Ball Froggie Princess made her presence known to her family. We are so happy and blessed to have her with us. It's only been 3 1/2 months, but I already know this is the best thing I've ever done. I love watching her grow and develop and learn new things and reach new milestones in her development.

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Daddy and daughter sleeping in on a lazy Saturday morning.......

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Audrey had a doctor appointment yesterday. She is 13 lbs and 24 1/2 inches long. That's a gain of 3+ lbs and 3 inches since her last appt 2 months ago.