Scarlet

I went to CA for my sister, Rebecca's, wedding. It was really nice. Scarlet never ceases to amaze me. She really is perfect. She's a great flier. I wasn't as nervous for the flight as first time, but the more you do things, the easier they become. It seemed, each flight I would figure out something small that would make the whole trip easier. I mean it wasn't stress free or anything, but it all went pretty good. The whole trip went well. Little by little, I got to spend time with all of my siblings and parents. Scarlet was clingier than EVER. Towards the end of the trip, when less people were around, she loosened up and got back to her old smiley self. But the first half I was thinking, "Does everyone think I'm a big fat liar, saying how easy going and happy she is?" It was weird, I'd never seen her like that before.

I cut Tanner and Kate's hair. It was really fun. Neither of them wanted haircuts so Lizzie, Amy and I talked myself up pretty good. We said I was one of the best in the world and EVERYONE wants their hair cut by me. I also emphasized when people wiggle around their hair turns out UGLY. They were the best behaved kids I have EVER cut. Hands down. It was really fun. I showed Tanner how to style it with gel and he was pretty excited about it.

Oh man, I love Elle. She is soooooo sweet! She reminded me so much of Scarlet! They were both just happy, sweet, calm little girls. I tangoed with her all over the room and she LOOOOOOVED it. It was so much fun.

These pics seem so old now! We were so excited that she could step side to side along the couch. But now she can pull herself up and as of today she's officially a crawler!!! She's not a pro, but she can do it. She just sort of whines along the way if she has to go far. 2 nights ago she started pulling herself forward and I was SOOOOO excited! She couldn't figure out the arm part for so long! She can basically just maneuver along anywhere now! She's not very fast but she's already gotten into things when I wasn't paying attention! The house is BASICALLY baby proofed, but there are a few "loose ends" to tie up now that she's on the move. As excited as I am, it's a big wake up call. She can get into anything! I have this bad habit of, "Oh let's brush this on the floor, or throw it on the ground. I'll eventually vacuum or sweep or throw it away." Can't do that anymore.

This week, she also started saying, "Da da da da" and we're pretty sure she knows what it means. Greg heard her say ma ma ma ma, but I haven't yet. It's so incredible how quickly things can change. I swear she's accomplished more new things the last week than she has in her whole life, put together.

Sharing a smoothie with Daddy.

She loves smoothies. It's the one food she can't get enough of. She'll EAT baby food . . . but she WOLFS down the smoothies.

Food. She's finally eating some. For the longest time she would just gag forever on applesauce so I just assumed I couldn't give her anything else. But she still gags on it sometimes. I saw a cousin's blog, and her son is the same age and he's eating EVERYTHING. Meat, everything. So I thought, "Oh my gosh. I need to get on this." So we started giving her bites of just about everything and what do you know? She can eat! And I realize now, if she can't, she'll just choke for a sec and spit it out. I hope that doesn't sound irresponsible. I just mean, I'm not so FREAKED OUT about it now. I really was before. It's fun to give her new things. She likes it too.

Scarlet's hair just falls forward. It will only stay to the side if it's been a clip all day. So much of the time she's like this. It's horrible. I've been trying to be better about it. I always take it out when she naps, and she still naps 3 times a day, so it's in and out all day. It makes me want to cut bangs so it won't be an issue, but I'm trying to grow them out. I trimmed her hair again, because the layers weren't blending (I can hear the laughter). It didn't help, so then I thinned out the top with thinning shears. Still didn't help! In the words of Winnie the Pooh- "Oh bother!" All that hair removal and for NOTHING!!! Oh well. So then I debated to just cut off the part the wasn't laying right (the very bottom) and just give her another little bob and let it go from there, but I haven't. It looks cute most of the time. I'm just picky.

Scarlet's 9 months and still likes to be swaddled. Well, I've decided to be done with it. She's had these "moments" where she hasn't needed or wanted it. But generally, she swaddles for every nap and night. Few reasons for ending it: I'm basically the only one who can swaddle her now. Swaddling's hard enough for anybody, but she's so big and can get out of it so fast it's made it hard for others to put her to bed. But really- I could just tell she was ready and didn't REALLY need it anymore. She just likes it. It's easier just to put her down. And it's SUMMER. It's too hot for swaddling. And if she's swaddled, she can't put her pacifier back in. That's a biggie too. Sleep has been soooooo much more peaceful now that she can put that thing in at night. Oh it's the best. Also, she's been a little more difficult/needy while going down for naps/the night. I think she's passed that line, where she now knows how to put herself to sleep. She doesn't need me. So I just put her down and let her cry a little. She usually just whines and doesn't even make any noise after 10 minutes. It's GREAT!!! It was a lot smoother transition than I expected. So that's been nice. I mean, it never really WAS hard, she's always been a good sleeper and pretty easy to put down, but it just got even better. I feel like I'm such a bragger. I really was just expecting the worst, when I was pregnant, so I'm always so surprised how great she is! I'm sure the next one will be horrible. You know what I mean.

She was sick for a good week and slept in our bed 10 days straight. We almost never bring her in our bed. It's always been pointless because it didn't seem to improve hers or our sleeping at all. I only every would because she'd be having a bad night and I was sick of getting up. But she honestly wouldn't sleep unless she was in our bed. And I thought she still WAS sick, but now I think it's just transitioned into allergies. The snot is never ending. I see a snot bubble everyday. I can't believe all that comes out of her nose! That's been the hardest thing. She'll wake from a nap and can't breathe and freaks. Thank goodness for the booger sucker. We take that thing EVERYWHERE now. Is there allergy medicine for babies? I don't like giving them drugs, but is it not a biggie? Is it over the counter? Do I need to take her in? Is this just the way it is? I know my allergies have been going CRAZY this week. Horribly, horribly bad. I wake up itchy and cranky until I take my pill. So that's been hard. I keep hoping it will go away.

This has been sitting around on the floor, looking ugly for about a month.

I waited and waited for Greg to hang it, but it seemed every day we planned to make it happen, it would get pushed to the side. It's finally on the wall. I did it myself! Once it was done, I realized how EASY it was. I figured I COULD do it, but Greg is SOOOO particular about things being precisely center and I'm more, "This looks right. Let's just stick it on the wall." You could say I measured for Greg, but not as exactly as he would have. I probably could have with an extra pair of hands. Anyway. It's nice to have a big fat calendar somewhere and space to write things I need to remember. And for what could be called an "eye sore", it's actually in the hallway and you only see it when in the kitchen.

I've been really focused on cooking lately. A little obsessed some might say. I went to a friend's for dinner and she had 4 different sides and SO MUCH PRODUCE on the table. I was blown away. It's always like this when I eat with her. I realized, I never have sides. If anything- a salad. It seems I USED to have sides, but not in the longest time. It was like an instant decision. I'm going to do this. I'm going to have produce and not one side, but MULTIPLE sides. I just want to get more on the table! It doesn't have to be incredible, it just has to be SOMETHING. And something fresh. And so far I've done pretty well. I realized, it's all in the planning. I used to think it was so funny when people planned their weekly meals. I guess it was because for a year or two Greg and I had stir fry every night so we always just had to have meat, veggies and rice on hand and we just made it different each time. We've sort of grown out of that, now and just make these main dish courses with nothing else. Also, I would plan on making meals and then forget what I had picked out and boughten for! So now I write it on my wonderful white board so I won't forget. I even put down the sides, because it's hard to think of things, I think! Anyway, it's still just the beginning, but so far it's going well and I'm happy about it! I want this to become a regular THING. Y'know? Where it's not so hard! It just becomes automatic. So that's basically my goal. That by the end of a year's time, I will be getting meals on the table WITH sides, and it will just be automatic. That's my goal. Because, it will effect the rest of my life! It's only going to get more complicated as more kids come along right? I need to get this thing down! Also, the more you cook, the faster you get. I'm trying to get faster in the kitchen. So I just need to practice, practice, practice- and I feel like I'll be a lot better by the end of a year. I'm excited. Of course this could melt away, like every other wonderful goal I've set for myself, but I really want this to happen and I think it's going to.

The YW made these for Father's Day!!! It is cookies! Have you ever seen anything so amazing? Greg hasn't gotten it yet, he's still sleeping.