Pumpkin Patch

On Sunday we went to Smith Family Farms. Miriam had such a great time running around the farm looking at animals and picking her pumpkin.

MJ's Baby

I have been wondering if Miriam carried any type of mothering instinct in her. Well, today proved she does. Miriam has taken to swaddling, feeding and even patting her baby. This evening she carried the baby around for over 30 minutes. (Which for her is an enormous amount of time to do the same activity)
It's so cute to watch. We are hoping all this practice helps her become a great big sister!

MJ's New Room

Over the last few weeks Lee and I have been preparing Miriam's big girl room. Lee built the side rail for the twin bed, hung the curtains and MJ's picture. We have been taking Miriam into the room to read books on her bed and just get comfortable in there. She loves it! On Tuesday my OCD/ pre-nesting kicked in and I just had a need to finish hanging things. Lee however wasn't that thrill to be "working" on his days off. But because he loves me and MJ sooooo much he let it go and hung up some more pictures and her name.

We didn't have a timeline on when to move MJ in there, but after getting everything done we decided to let her take a nap in there on Wednesday. She did so well!! And after nap we officially moved her in. Lee grabbed her clothes from the closet, Mj grabbed her books for her book shelf and I grabbed the diapers and wipes. :o) She spent her first night in there and slept soundly. What a blessing.

The finished product:

Miriam loves taking her own dirty clothes to the hamper, it is her first real chore. We are using the desk as her changing table. Here is our 17 month old baby, acting like a big girl.
Now the nursery is truly plain and boring. Oh well time to start planning our Baby Boy's jungle room. ;o)

Daddy's Girl

We all know that Miriam is our little girly girl. Lately it has gotten worse. See for yourself:

MJ giving Daddy a pedicure: (she will even swipe a nail polish bottle across your toes to paint them)
MJ putting eyeshadow on Daddy:

Poor Lee!! However, it is all worth it when your non-cuddling daughter decides she wants to give you loves!

Easter & Animals

For Easter this year we celebrated at our house. The family came over for a early dinner and then we went to the evening service at church. Miriam's GG and G-PA (Lee's grandparents) gave her a very pretty Easter basket. Here she is asking me (signing "please") to open it. Miriam also went on her first Easter egg hunt and wore her first Easter dress. She has enjoyed playing with the eggs this week. Today we hunted for them in her room.
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Lately Miriam has really been into her books. One of her favorites is a picture book of different animals. Lee and I are not only teaching her what each animal is but if we can we add sound effects or facial expressions to them. So far MJ has copied us in sounding like an elephant and sticking out her "lizard" tongue. Since she has taken to the animal images we wanted to take her to see them in person.

On Tuesday we went to Discovery Kingdom (aka Marine World). Here Miriam got to see dolphins, Shouka the killer whale, giraffes, elephants, lions, tigers, etc. Because she is only 14 months I am not to sure what she liked best but she did smile when Shouka jumped out of the water.

She didn't seem to like the shark tank to much, so I don't think we will be going to an aquarium any time soon. Miriam did so well all day however she did get a little tired. Here is our little safari explorer napping in her stroller.

Take a Guess

Dancing

Outside

Now that Miriam Jade can walk and practically run around, she is becoming a bit of a outdoorsy kind of girl. So much so that for the last couple of mornings, just after breakfast and while still in her PJ's, MJ will bang on the back slider look at me and then point out back. She really loves going outside and since the weather has been nice we are making it a part of our daily routine to take her to the park or just out in the back yard.

Her favorites include baby swings, bubbles and rocks (I think she thinks they are little balls).

Her not so favorite part about going out back is the grass. It scares her to walk on it. Today we finally had her sit down on it but she was afraid to move.

Eating my words

As most of you know Lee and I decided not to find out the sex of the baby until it was born. So we had 9 long months of people asking us and debating with us on what I was carrying. When they were done offering their opinions, I would usually add that we wanted a boy and if I did have a girl she would NOT be a Girly Girl.

Again as you know God blessed us with a beautiful baby girl and we couldn't be happier! However, I am now eating my own words and as not to be a hypocrite, I’m retracting my previous statements on having a girly girl.

I can’t help but dress Miriam in pink. At first it was out of necessity; to prove to the public that the bald bundle of joy I was toting around was in fact a baby girl and not a boy! (Since the pink blankets didn’t give it away, I guess). Then it became habit to buy her pink clothes specifically with bows, flowers, butterflies and other girly looking things.

Secondly, I began planning her big girl room. This project was provoked because Lee pointed out that Classic Winnie the Pooh (even though it is my favorite!) isn’t very girly or boyish for that matter. So, I set my sights on making her future room bright, cheery and girly. It will be mainly pinks and greens with lots of flowers and of course butterflies. That’s not too girly is it?? ;o)

Now since I have control over clothes and room decor it still does not mean Miriam is turning out to be a girly girl or so I thought. It was the other night; after watching Miriam play around, when I realized that I have a girly girl in the making. Here is the list that brought me to a change of mind and heart.

Clothes = √: Last night she got into my closet and began digging through all my tank tops. Once she picked the two she liked best, she dragged them around the house until bath time, when I had to distract her and hide them.

Shoes = √: MJ also has a fetish for her shoes. They never stay on her feet for very long. She enjoys holding them and today’s shoes of choice were her new pink converse. (At least she has good taste, thank you R&R).

Fashion Accessories = √: Two nights ago, I caught Miriam carrying her pink purse around the house. She loves this purse (again a thanks to R&R)! Today she wanted to wear the pink bracelet and every time I would put it on her wrist, she would hold up her arm smiling.

Makeup and Polish = √: Well, not really makeup, but anytime I put on my chapstick she leans forward for some. And I am the guilty one who got her into polish. For her birthday, I painted her toenails hot pink. I can ask her, “Miriam, where are your pretty pink toes?” And she lifts up her foot to show me. :o)

I have officially admitted to myself that I was wrong and that my mom, mother-in-law and all my girly girlfriends were right: it is fun having a little girly girl and I love it! (And that maybe a part of my girly side is coming out too).

Also, MJ is practicing to be the next Coppertone baby model.

all we need is the dog and a tan for my white girl.

Birthday Girl and Movers

First, our little Miriam Jade is no longer an infant. She had her first birthday on the 9th. Here she was trying her first cup of whole milk. It has taken a few weeks for her to get used to it, but I think she is beginning to like it. She is also eating so many new foods and really enjoys feeding herself.

Miriam has been walking like crazy. The only thing she is having a little trouble with is standing up without holding on to something, she is quick to get frustrated with herself. She will crawl to the wall or couch pull herself up and the take off. Once up, she can walk from room to room.

This week she has had a bit of a fever, we think it might be due to teething, so she has been clingy. Which has been semi nice because normally she isn't one to cuddle with us. Yesterday she sat curled up on my lap with her head on me for ten minutes! (heaven on earth) I do feel bad for her, but I am totally into the extra loves.

I am amazed at how fast she is picking up on things lately. It may seem small, but she can go and get something if I ask her for it. For example, when I say, "Miriam were is Brown Bear?" She will put her palms up and shrug as if saying "I don't know" and then will waddle to wherever she put it last and get it. :o) I am a proud mama.

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As many of you know with the events of last year we really wanted to be closer to the majority of our family, friends and to church. Which lead us to house hunting last September. After looking at nearly 15-20 different houses (maybe more I lost count), putting in 4 dead end offers, and walking away from a moldy house, the Lord lead us to our new home, "Leila". Now we are blessed to be 5.28 miles from my sister, 2.55 miles from my dad and 1.27 miles from Lee's brother. :o)

We truly believe God had his hand over the last 4 months. Everything about this house fell into place. He orchestrated everything from finding this house, handling the bank and signing the papers, to move in day. All it took was our complete trust in His plan and timing, not ours. With that being said, this is not our house, BUT the LORD'S! And it is our prayer to always use it for his glory. For we have nothing without Him.

Count Down

We are approaching a momentous occasion in our little family... Miriam Jade will be turning 1 in 8 short days. As her birthday approaches I can't help but reflect on how much she has changed our world. We thank God for her daily, for she has brought us so much happiness over this last (not so happy) year. Her smiles and laughs fill our hearts with pure JOY!

Two Steppin'

We are so proud of Miriam Jade! This last Sunday she began taking her first steps. We have been making her walk from Mama to Dada, back and forth. I think she thinks it's a game. It's so cute watching her try to balance and move her little feet. We got really excited Sunday night when she pushed her shopping cart to the front room, left it and then just walked towards her Daddy like it was nothing. We tried to re-enact it for the camera, but that didn't really happen. So, here is a quick version:


She looks like a orangutan. At the moment, the most she can take is 10 steps until she leaps into our arms. She has a ways to go before she is officially walking, but it wont be long. Plus only 13 days until she is a 1 year old!!! :o)

Family Time

We had The Stillman family over for a visit. Since it was such a nice day, after nap time we decided to go for a walk. We went to a little park down the street. As Lindsey and I pushed the girls in their strollers, Kyle and Lee played their own version of badminton in the middle of the road. Miriam got a big kick out of watching her crazy daddy and uncle hit a hot pink little flying net ball thingy back and forth.

These two brothers can have fun making a game out of anything. For example, below is a picture of them playing with the girl’s toy. We thought they were going to break it when they started competing to see who could beat the flashing lights while flipping the plastic computer top open. Then they began singing their own made up songs to the ABC’s tune and it went on and on and on. Silly daddies these toys are for kids.
I should have got a video to show how annoyingly silly they were really being. ;o) All in all it was a good visit, come again please. :o)

New Tricks

I thought I would share some of Miriam's new favorite things to do.

During the week of Christmas MJ began pointing. She will now point at everything. This was a very cute new development in the beginning, however, Lee and I have been busy naming every object in the direction of her little finger. Sometimes over and over and over again. Also too when we are in public she isn't shy about pointing at complete strangers thus causing her very nonsocial parents to interact with people. (Thanks a lot kid.) Her second new favorite thing to do is scrunch up her nose and smile. I don't know where she learned it but it's cute.

Today at snack time it hit me that Miriam was 11 months old so I grabbed the camera to take a picture for our monthly collection. While doing so, MJ was so kind to display both her new "tricks" for me.

Please excuse the cheese bites and the puffs, she so rudely left in her mouth. :o)

And if you look closely you will also see her two new top teeth. I think we might need some braces.