My name is Trouble!

     I haven't had much time to blog (or sew, shop, cook, breathe, etc.) lately. Miss Sara Beth is very mobile now and into everything. She requires my full attention--every bit of it! What tiny bit of energy left in me, I've been using to finish the piles of work for my two online graduate classes. When I'm overwhelmed, which is about every other day, Adam likes to remind me that taking these classes is allowing me to stay home with SB. I know! I know! But, can't a girl whine about it anyway? Here are some pictures from our precious little troublemaker. We love her, by the way! 

In laundry basket jail

Trying to play with the kitty's toys. Notice how dirty her backside is!

Climbing on the dog's bed

On a side note. . . Adam did a fabulous job decorating our house for Christmas this year! We have the prettiest house on the block! Merry Christmas!

Her First Christmas Stocking

     Tonight I finally finished Sara Beth's Christmas stocking. I redid the top part three times, but I'm happy with how it came out. I drew, cut out, and appliqued the manger scene and her initials and I made the body of the stocking out of pre-quilted material. Now it's ready to be filled with all kinds of goodies for Christmas! I'm getting excited! Merry Christmas, everybody!

O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree!

     We recently drove out to Frierson, LA to Santa's Woods Tree Farm to find the perfect Christmas tree. For the past 3 years we've gone to a different place, but we thought we'd try out a new spot this year. It was a gorgeous day for tree hunting! We took a hay ride to the back of the property and then set out by foot to find our tree. We looked at the Carolina Sapphires and the Virginia Pines before deciding on a Leland Cypress tree. We had narrowed it down to two trees and were walking back and forth between them when SB finally said, "Bah!". We figured that must be her way of choosing the tree, so that's the one we bought. She's got a good eye! Adam cut it down for us and then the workers came to pick it up and get it tied to the car for us. We enjoyed some hot apple cider while they worked away. It was a great way to spend a Saturday and kick off the Christmas season!

Want to Smile? Watch This Video!

Sweet, Sweet 7 Months

     Sara Beth is 7 months old today. Happy Birthday to my sweet little one! She is doing wonderfully and being as perfect as ever, of course. She's grown up a lot this month for sure! Here's a little about what she's been up to during her seventh month of life. More detailed blog posts are soon to come.

• She's VERY mobile now. Whether it is rolling around the room or army crawling as fast as she can go, she is sure to go after whatever is off limits. There can be tons of toys all around her, but she will grab the dog's rope or my shoes and put them in her mouth. Yuck! She loves to lift up the edge of the rug to see what's hiding underneath (mostly just dirt and dust). 
• Her first tooth started to come in last week. It's still working it's way out, but you can see it and feel it already.
• She loves sitting in her highchair! We love it too!
• She tasted her first solid foods this month too. I'm nursing, so her main nutrition still comes from breast milk. The other food is just for tasting purposes, which makes it less stressful for all of us. First came sweet potatoes, then zucchini, and now apples. She's still learning to swallow, but she does better every day. I really enjoyed making her food and I'm looking forward to the next time I get to do it! I'm thinking avocado, banana, and sweet peas will be next. Oh the possibilities!
• She is drinking water from a sippy cup now. It's a great way to occupy her at the dinner table, although she's started throwing everything on the floor lately. Let's just say, Adam and I get a good workout at dinnertime.
• Shopping with Sara Beth is much easier since she can sit in the front of the shopping cart. Brookshire's carts are the worst because the food is level with her. She tried her hardest to pick up an avocado a few weeks ago.
• Her first Thanksgiving was a good one. We spent the day at my mom and dad's house with lots of extended family that I hadn't seen in 15 years or so.
• The Saturday after Thanksgiving, we took her out to Frierson, LA to cut down this year's Christmas tree. We were trying to decide between two trees and she yelled "Bah!" (which we interpreted as "Hey, this is the tree for us!"), so that's the one we bought. She made a good decision. Our tree looks beautiful this year!
• Her language development is coming along nicely (I can't help it. I'm a teacher.). She can now say. "Bah", "blah", "da, da", "da, dee", "mah, mah", and "yah". She also loves to scream and growl for fun! It's fun at home, but out in public, it's a little embarrassing sometimes.
• Her baby dedication at church was this month. It was a sweet, sweet time! She was surrounded by her grandparents and on her best behavior.
• Our diaper service ended this week, so Sara Beth is trying out her new "BumGenius" diapers. It's going well so far. I just washed my first load of diapers today. No big deal! I will definitely miss my diaper fairy, Alan, though. Putting out dirty diapers and getting clean ones in return certainly was nice!

Here are some pictures of November with Sara Beth. Enjoy!

First bite of sweet potatoes

Getting ready for her dedication

Rolling everywhere!

Hunting for the perfect Christmas tree

Loving her new diapers



Swinging at the park

Ready for Christmas (on her 7 month birthday)

Going Visiting

     Thank goodness for Thanksgiving break (especially when all your friends are teachers)! I love being home with Sara Beth, don't get me wrong, but I do miss seeing my friends. This week we did a little visiting while we could. On Monday, we met Diana and Tristen for lunch and did some shopping with them. I love getting to visit with Diana and it's always fun when SB and Tristen get together. We didn't snap a picture (which is sad because the babies had on coordinating outfits), but we had a fun time with them.
     On Tuesday, we went over to visit the Wibbens. Crystal and I have been friends for what seems like forever and we are used to seeing each other every day at school. Since I've been on sabbatical this year, we haven't gotten together as much as we'd like. So, Crystal and I chatted up a storm while SB played with Caden. He sure knows how to handle a baby! I guess he's had lots of practice with his sister, Caroline. John Collier was in the mix too, of course. All in all, we had a great time with the Wibbens! I just wish we could do it more often!

Wrestling with Caden

Sweet Caroline

SB with her "Aunt" Crystal

Sewing Solo

     All of my previous sewing projects have been done under the guidance of people with lots of sewing experience, namely my mom-in-law, Mrs. Jonell, or my good friend, Carol. Well, my 31st birthday just recently came and went and my sweet husband bought me a sewing machine as a gift. Hooray for me! Now I have one of my very own for any project that my heart desires. So, here are pictures of my first two solo projects on my new machine. The first one is a reversible dress and the second one is a pacifier keeper/leash (or whatever you want to call it). Sara Beth wore her new dress today for her first Thanksgiving. She looked adorable in it!

Homemade Baby Food

     I've been neglecting the blog lately. My excuse? No time. Sara Beth is in a very hands-on stage right now. It's not a bad thing, but it does take all my attention.
     For the last 6.75 months, Sara Beth has been exclusively breastfed. No water, cereal, formula, or baby food yet. She's been gaining weight, meeting all the right milestones, and growing strong and smart with just her momma's milk. I'm pretty proud of that! What a blessing!
     Well, she's growing up fast and it's finally time for her to taste what else is out there. (I've put it off long enough!) I'm still planning to nurse her every four hours or so, except during the night when she goes 10-12 hours. The baby food is just for tasting, to get her used to solid foods. She tasted sweet potatoes for the first time this morning and seemed to like them. It was a fun morning for our little family!
     Those of you that know me well, will not be surprised that I'm making SB's food from scratch. No offense to anyone that uses jarred baby food, but here are my thoughts on it. Adam and I do not eat very much packaged food, so why should SB? Baby food is really easy to make, so no worries.
     Here are some pictures from my first time making baby food and Sara Beth's first time eating it. Enjoy!

Sweet potatoes and zucchini from the farmer's market and organic apples from the grocery store



Sweet potatoes ready to steam. I love this little machine (Thanks, Carol!), but you could do the same thing with a pot of water, a steamer basket, and a food processor.



All cooked and blended

My supplies- A cookbook, freezer trays, and Sara Beth's first sippy cup of water

Almost done and ready for the freezer

Her first bite of yummy food-- delicious!

Done. . . Finally!

     I totally bit off WAY more than I could chew with my latest sewing project! But, thanks to Mrs. Jonell's guidance, it's finally done. It took 2 days, but it's done and it's really good too! On this shirt, I learned how to do so many new things--- sleeves, ease stitching, gather stiching, ruffles, yokes, and more practice with button holes. Mrs. Jonell even monogrammed Sara Beth's initials for me. That makes it even cuter! It's too big now, but I'm hoping that it will fit by her 9 month pictures in February.

The finished product. . . a labor of love!

Close up of monogram (Yes, I know it spells "she") and neckline detail

Buttons on the back (not sure why the picture is sideways)

Ric-rac trim on the bottom of the shirt

SB modeling her new shirt

It was a very short photo session since this is what she really wanted to do!

Daddy's Girl

There's just something about daddies and daughters that touches my heart! I love these two!

Cousin Charlie

     Sara Beth met her new cousin, Charlie, for the first time yesterday.  His mom and dad, Carie and Travis, had a super long day trying to get him here, but he is finally here and doing great. Carie labored for over 24 hours before finally having to have a c-section. She was amazing! We are so happy to finally meet this adorable little guy! Welcome to the family, Charlie!

Charles Hudson Hart

7 lbs. 18.75 inches long

November 3, 2010 at 12.23 am 

It's Sara Beth's Half Birthday

Sara Beth on her 6 month birthday

     I can't believe 6 months have gone by so fast! It seems like yesterday that we were waiting for her to be born and now she's half way to her 1st birthday. Crazy! Sara Beth is getting sweeter every day. She is so interactive and vocal now. We love playing with her and making her laugh. Her laugh is contagious!
     She went to her 6 month check-up with Dr. Ritch yesterday. She weighed in at 15 pounds 14 ounces and 25.75 inches long. She's still measuring in the 50% percentile in weight and height. It was vaccine time again. Yuck! She did great, as usual, and afterwards, even stayed at the hospital all day (and night) waiting for her cousin Charlie to be born. He's finally here, by the way, all 7 pounds of him. We are so excited for his mom and dad, Carie and Travis! He and Sara Beth will be close friends growing up, I bet!
     Here are some milestones from Sara Beth's sixth month of life. She. . . . .
- can sit up and play for long periods of time now.
- has great control of her hands and feet. She can grab exactly what she wants and then put it down and pick up a new toy (over and over again). We think it's funny when she plays with or grabs things with her toes too!
- goes to the nursery at church on Sundays now. So far, we haven't had any problems. She seems to enjoy it!
- has recently discovered our dog, Zilla, and our cat, Sasha. She loves to get licked by Zilla and grab her fur. But her favorite is to watch the cat slink by. She'll stop whatever she's doing to see the cat.
- has been quite the party girl this month-- 2 Halloween parties and a birthday carnival. So fun!
- had fun on her first Halloween, dressing up as Pebbles Flintstone and trick-or-treating.
- went on her first road trip without Daddy. My mom and I took her with us to Dallas for a couple of days when Zilla had to have surgery. She also went to IKEA and stayed in a hotel for the first time on that trip.
- is trying to get used to wearing shoes and socks now that the weather is getting cooler. Right now, they look like toys to her and I can't get anything to stay on her feet.
- went on a fun trip to Arkansas where she had her first experience staying in a cabin and watching us rock climb.
-loves, loves, loves to ride in the baby backpack! She's been hiking several times now.
- likes to make the /b/ sound and blow raspberries. It's too cute!

Here are some pictures from this month. Enjoy!

Swinging with Opa

Play time at Eli's birthday party

A family of silly monkeys (at Eli's party)

Precious cutie pie!

Trick-or-treating

Hiking in Arkansas

Patty Cake with Nana at the hotel in Dallas