May 12, 2016

A little later we had a big foot sighting.

May 12, 2016

I had CASSH Chairs Retreat all day today downtown at the Lee House.  It was a banner day, but it wore me out and took time away from my punkin.  She had a GREAT day with Ashley.  They went on an adventure to Barnes and Noble.  Apparently there are toys there for kids to enjoy while parents look at books. Of course there are also children’s books to peruse as well.

She really liked the train books.  She would point to Thomas and squeal “choo choo!”

When I got home we went to the store to get some food to keep us well fed until Daddy gets back.  Getting out of the car, she heard a baby crying.  She yelled “baby! baby!”  And I said “yes. That baby is crying.  Say ‘don’t cry, baby!'”  She held onto the idea of that baby all the way into the store, through all of our grocery shopping, and all the way home.  She would say “happy?  Sad…. Kiss?  Crying baby.”  There were so many parts to her processing through the emotions of that other child and her desired intervention with that child!  It’s was pretty unbelievable.

I continue to be amazed at her emotional intelligence and her outgoing spirit.  She brings joy to us, and she will be a strong force for emotional nurturing and healing.  I’m excited to watch her become the woman I already see glimpses of in her right now.

May 8, 2016

Selah June and I spent the morning together.  I had work to get done, but I also knew that the rest of the week looked crazy and wouldn’t offer much time for quality giggles.  She’s at a really funny age where she’s purposefully trying to make people laugh.  Everything is a joke.  If you tell her “be careful!” she immediately turns to faking you out.  If you ask for a kiss, she fakes you out.  If you ask her if she wants to see Satie, she says Ashley.  If you say Ashley, she says Satie.  The girl was born to be a clown.

Over the past few days, we’ve discovered we LOVE peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and cheerios.  And Daddy has been playing a game with us called “monkey hat.”  It’s pretty straightforward.  You put your monkey blanket on your head and laugh at your monkey hat.  Little Miss branched out on me this morning and started improvising.  Here we see ba-ba hat.

May 8, 2016

Selah June is running around in a tutu feeling “pretty.”  We laid outside in the grass while I tried to take pictures of her looking so cute.  It was pretty much impossible.  She kept tackling me and falling down on my face.  Eventually I just dropped the phone and surrendered to the magical moment of closeness with a giggling ball of baby joy surrounded in light and tulle.

Then we went inside to have a snack before moving on with our day.

We went to Kim and Tom’s for Mother’s Day lunch.  AMAZING POT ROAST, MASHED POTATOES, AND CARROT CAKE!!!!  The weather was absolutely beautiful, so we all enjoyed spending time outside while the kids played and swam.  Little Miss was totally captivated by the play kitchen.  She pretended to drink all the canned goods and moved things systematically from one spot to another.

playing kitchen

Someone(s) sent me beautiful flowers for Mother’s Day.  They are spectacular.  My whole house is smelling of lilies and smiling in vibrant bloom.

April 30, 2016

Selah June and I spent the morning of my birthday on an adventure to the beach.  Jeremy went to Crestview to participate in delegate selection for the RPOF.  We were free to go and do whatever we wanted, and what I wanted was to spend my birthday at the beach.  Selah June wasn’t of the same mind.  She fussed most of the way out there.  “OUT! OUT! OUT!”  A little voice from the backseat reminded me several times over of what she wanted.  We stopped in a drive-thru so that I could get a drink to take out to the water, and then we cruised through the toll booth paying our $1 to drive onto Pensacola Beach.  SJ was a big fan of the Casino Beach beach ball water tower.  She kept squealing “ball! ball!”

I stopped at Casino Beach because she was so ready to get out of the car.  But she didn’t really want to make the trek out to the water’s edge.  She actually wanted to walk along the little ledge surrounding the amphitheater.  She wanted to run up and down the wheelchair access ramp.  She wanted to wave at people coming to the beach and people leaving the beach.  And she apparently needed to kick my drink over.

So eventually we left Casino Beach and went to the little sound-side beach behind Grand Marlin.  She was much more willing to walk the short distance to the water.  There were lots of kids to watch, and we found a good spot to sit down and have some snacks.       

At several points, she decided it was time to make friends with our neighbors.  The people would change, but the fun of the challenge remained the same.  Step 1: Say “hi!”  Step 2: Invade their space.  Step 3: Try to take their stuff.  The best encounter was when she encroached upon the territory of some ladies and, before they could even get situated, stole their beach chair and rifled through their bags finding an unopened Gatorade.

All in all, it was a good adventure.  I can’t say that it was my dream birthday trip to the beach.  But I can say that it was with Selah June, and that’s all that mattered.

April 24, 2016

Selah June is giving kisses and saying “I uv oo!” when prompted.  It’s precious.  She’s also starting to sing to some of her favorite songs.  “Let go” has been central to our lives for quite some time, but just recently she’s started singing “Wheels on the Bus” and “Baby Finger.”  She does hand motions too.  “The momma on the bus says sh sh sh.”  Sweetness!

Selah June is wearing shoes pretty regularly now.  And she’s really expressing interest in other people’s shoes.  This particular day she was taken with Daddy’s shoes.  How cute is this?

Don’t pay attention to how dirty the floors are.  Did I mention we really like spending time outside?

April 2016 (all of it)

Selah June wants to spend every waking moment outside.  The weather is beautiful, and this child senses it.  She loves to listen for the birds and the airplanes.  She loves the breeze and the trees.  She loves to run in the grass and splash in the little puddles formed by our uneven stone pavers around the fire pit.  She even loves to “go night night” with her blanky face down on the patio or the pavers.

April 17, 2016 (continued)

When we got home from church and lunch, Miss Selah June wanted to play outside.  It was a beautiful April day, and so we did our best to enjoy it.  Here are some of my favorites from the afternoon.

You’ll notice that she’s carrying a toothbrush.  That’s right!  Selah June has discovered oral hygiene.  The only problem is that she’s interested in everyone’s toothbrush.  She doesn’t discriminate.

And there was silliness…

It was a really good day.

April 17, 2016

Grammy’s Birthday!!!!!

Jeremy and I dressed Miss Selah June up in a cute little dress and paired it with her sparkly new silver shoes for Sunday morning service at East Brent.  She usually fusses a little bit about being left in the nursery, but this time she went right in there and never looked back.  I guess that’s a good sign, but it still makes me a little sad.

Dad told Mom that she could go anywhere she wanted for lunch for her birthday after church.  She picked Zoe’s.  We joined them, and Selah June enjoyed pita bread, tomatoes, cucumbers, and some of Dad’s steak kabobs.  I had quinoa salad, and it was delightful!