The “Ear Holster”

Matt often will hold Stella and dance around the house with her.  She absolutely LOVES doing this with Daddy!  One evening as Matt was doing this with her he called for me saying, “Look… she’s using my ear as a holster!”  Oh boy this was cute.  Her little hand was gripping onto her Daddy’s ear for dear life as he whisked her around the house dancing!

It’s crazy how her little chubby hand is as big as Matt’s ear.  It’s also funny how as a parent you find the silliest little things so darn cute!  It’s such a blessing to see your husband and his daughter enjoying one another so much and sharing special moments like these together.  Love you both so much!

This NEVER Happens… With Mommy

Since Stella was a tiny little newborn, I have been unsuccessful pretty much EVER time when it comes to the sleeping transfer.  Whether from the car seat to her crib, or from my arms to anothers arms, she would wake up without a doubt.  This is not so with her Daddy doing the transfer.  Going to Nana and Grandpa’s house after church one Sunday afternoon, Stella was zonked from fun in the Nursery!  Matt simply picked up sleeping beauty from her car seat, and carried her into the house with the wind blazing and snow falling.  He then spent a few moments just cuddeling her, and then layed her on the couch, covering her with his coat.  She didn’t even bat an eyelash.

I noticed that his technique was much different than mine (which always fails).  It probably works for him because he is much more patient, and gentle with her than I am when attempting to transfer her.  It’s probably also that he is much bigger than I, able to cradle her better.  Actually, it’s most likely that she just realizes Daddy is the one holding her and she feels safe and relaxed.  It’s a special thing to be cuddled in your Daddy’s arms.  So precious!

A Few Milestones

Stella is now 8 months old and I am continuously amazed with how FAST she is growing and learning.  It feels like almost every day she is surprising Matt and I with a new trick.  Here is a pic of her at 8 months old.

Here’s what she can do:

1.  Turn the light switches off when we ask her to.

2. Wave goodbye and hello.

3. Give Mommy sloppy wet kisses… and her stuffed velociraptor.  (for some reason she won’t kiss anyone else).

4. Clap her hands to music and when she’s happy.

5. Stand steadily alongside the furniture.

6. Look super cute even when she’s crying or upset (I know this doesn’t really count).

7. Drink from her sippy cup all by herself.

8. Eat rice puffs, mum mum, arrow root cookies, and cut up apple pieces all by herself.

I’m so proud of my little girl.  No crawling quite yet… but everyone I talk to says that her current inability to crawl is a blessing… so I guess I’ll accept that. 

On a side note, and simply for document purposes, I have a wee story to tell.  Stella had some free bum time today (where she doesn’t have to wear a diaper) and she crapped all over the place.  Good thing she was on her play mat and not the carpet… but it was super gross.  We had to say bye-bye to a few toys forever, and one made it into the washing machine on “sanitize” mode.  I just scooped her up off the floor and plopped her in the laundry sink… good thing she loves baths cause she got two of them (one to get all the poop off, and one to suds her up and give mommy peace of mind.  Oh yuck!  I may consider this being the last “free time” she ever gets.  P.S. Above picture taken about 30 minutes post poo experience.  Clean as a whistle!

Introducing Nana Susan

I know that I’ve mentioned Nana Susan in a few of my blogs before, but I just recently came across this photo from the summer/fall time and was reminded of how great Stella’s first experiences were up at the cottage.  I’ll tell you one thing… it wasn’t always easy up there with a kid like Stella!  She liked her routine and familiar places, and when she was at the cottage she would start protesting immediately.  Susan would always talk me through these frustrating situations and give me a break from my little screamer every time I needed one.

The three of us spent lots of time driving up to town, roaming through the grocery stores, and cooking together in the kitchen.  Stella LOVES to watch her Nana in the kitchen!  Stella better acquire some sweet cooking skills from Nana Susan… even though Stella can’t eat her food yet, she’s Nana’s biggest food fan.

Nana Susan is also Stella’s personal fashion consultant.  Most of Stella’s coolest outfits come from Nana.  I’m sure that in a few more years she will become one of Stella’s favorite shopping friends!

I am so grateful that Stella has Susan as a Nana.  It’s wonderful to watch the two of them continuously developing a special Nana-granddaughter relationship together!  P.S. Day by day Stella’s eyes are turning more blue, just like her Nana’s.  Since the first hints of blue peaked through Stella’s eyes I have told her how lucky she is to have Nana’s blue eyes!

Shoveling the Driveway

Everybody knows that when it snows, the driveway needs to get shoveled.  This is a difficult task to accomplish when you have a wee one that is too little to play in the snow beside you on the lawn.

The Bumbo is very versatile.  In order to get the driveway done, I put Stella in her snowsuit and plopped her on the front porch in her Bumbo.  She looks like a little butterball (horizontal stripes are not helping) that can’t move.  In fact, she could only move her neck from side to side… everything else was stuck in position.

She lasted for about 6 minutes (half the driveway) and then she’d had enough.  Normally this would be a Matty job… but he was in Hong Kong, and I thought that asking him to skip home to shovel the driveway would be asking a little too much.

Nonetheless I eventually did get it done.  It all works out somehow.  Love you my little Stella!

Special Friends

Stella has a friend named Avery that is very special to her.  Avery is 17 months older than Stella, but they play with each other quite nicely and love each other a lot!

One day last week Avery came over to play for a little bit while her Mommy went for an appointment.  Stella got so excited when  she saw Avery that I thought she was going to jump out of her skin!  Avery would give Stella a hug and kiss, and there interaction together simply made my heart melt.

Avery knows that Stella is much younger than her, and wants to be a big helper when it comes to diaper changing or taking a drink from her sippy cup.

This is a picture of Avery helping Stella take a drink, but her aim is a little off.  She hit the nose instead of the mouth… but the effort between both of them is SO cute!  Avery is gripping the cup steadily with both hands, while Stella tilts her head with her mouth wide open… but still a miss.

I am thankful for this little friendship that is blossoming.

Christmas Memories

I know that we are already well into the new year, but I was scrolling through some photos on my phone and decided to do one big blog highlighting some of this years fondest Christmas memories.  By no means does this blog include all the wonderful Christmas memories… only the ones I had pictures of.

This first one is very special.  In this photo, Matt is reading Stella the familiar Christmas tale, “Twas the Night Before Christmas.”  The special part is this: The book was given to Matt on his first Christmas by his dad (John).  John then gave it to Stella as a keep sake, and Matt has decided to read her this story every Christmas Eve as tradition.  It’s a “Daddy-Daughter thing”.  The book is really old (as old as Matt), but still in good condition.  We intend to keep it that way.

We we unsure how Stella would react to opening gifts on Christmas.  We were guessing that she would enjoy the wrapping paper more than the gift inside.  For this reason, we didn’t get her much… but it was so much fun to watch her open the presents.  She would tear off a tiny piece of paper at a time and examine it before going to tear off another piece.  Knowing this method would take all day we helped her out a bit.  To our surprise she was actually thrilled with the actual gifts and not just the paper.  This is likely because they all played music, but we liked to pretend that it was because she was so appreciative.

When we were at my mom and dad’s visiting over the holiday’s, Matt was walking around with Stella and I just had to take this shot.  The contrast is so cute!  Matt has size 12 or 13 feet, and Stella (now almost 8 months old) is still wearing size 0-3 footwear.  This is such a perfect picture of Stella’s dependence on her dad… so little and fragile.

I got Scrabble from my mom for Christmas.  I LOVE this game, and one night when Matt and I had some alone time he challenged me to a game.  I almost always win Scrabble, but not this time.  I wanted to win SO bad!  I even almost cheated to win, and then decided against it.  Having Matt win wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world… and surprisingly he was very sweet about the whole thing.  He only poked fun at me for a few hours, and insisted I take a picture with the final score in clear sight.  But I’m a good loser… if I was a bad one then I wouldn’t be blogging about it.

While spending time at John and Susan’s on Christmas, Stella got to chill out with her Grandpa John near the Christmas tree.  Stella was always reaching to touch the tree, so having this perfect seat with her Grandpa was pretty sweet.  She sat there for a good 20 minutes just feeling the needles.  How precious!

In every way our Christmas season as a family of 3 was amazing.  God blessed us abundantly with family, friends, food and fun!

The Big One

This is a picture of Hong Kong.  This is where my husband is right now.  Yesterday he woke up bright and early to catch a 15 hour plane ride to this faraway city.  One of my previous posts talked about his first “big” trip to Dallas for work… this one is way bigger!  He is gone for 9 days, and has a massive time change to adjust to (13 hour difference).

It’s weird because when he is getting up for the day I am going to bed.  Right now it’s 9:30 am for me, and it’s 10:30 pm for him… hopefully he’s catching his very first zzz’s since waking up yesterday morning.

I must say that this is not an adventure I would want to go on alone, but he is making it look easy.  Although he misses Stella and I, and is more tired than ever before, he knows it’s part of his responsibility to be there (it’s a toy show for the company he works for).  I can’t help but feel so proud of him as he goes through this next week and a bit with a good attitude!

It would be in my nature to shed some tears everyday while I wish he was here with me, but I must also strive to have a good attitude.  I know it will all be over before I know it, and I know that this is situation in life where I need to think rationally about… not emotionally.  Yes I miss him terribly, but pouting is not the answer.

I love you Matty, and look forward to hearing many amazing stories when you return.  Stella and I will be waiting with big hugs and kisses!!!!  XOXO

Happy Birthday Jesus

So it’s December 25th and we are celebrating the birth of our savior Jesus Christ.  I find that every Christmas that goes by, it is a challenge to NOT focus on the hustle and bustle of consumerism, Santa, Reindeer, Hot Chocolate, Snowmen, Presents, and Mistletoe.  Our world is so focused on a ‘Christmas’ that has little or nothing to do with Christ at all.  How terribly sad is this?

I find that reading through the Christmas story found in Luke chapter 2 helps me to re-focus and delight in the truth of this celebration.  During the Christmas season I do this over and over again.   It was the day so long ago, before I was even created that my world changed forever.  All the sin I ever commit would be paid in full on behalf of this precious little baby boy… so tiny and yet so powerful!  This was his whole reason for coming… and today I rejoice!  Thank you God for sending your son Jesus to die in my place that I may have everlasting life!  No present in all existence will ever top this precious gift.

Today I challenge you.  Amidst all the turkey, presents, and traveling, take the time to read this story and praise your King.

Grandpa’s Girl

I saw this shirt and just had to get it for Stella.  Grandpa’s are special.  They are the ones that teach you how to play tricks on people and play in the mud.  She is so blessed to have two of the most amazing grandpas in the world.  Grandpa John and Grandpa George… she is going to get into a lot of trouble with these two… I just know it!

Praise God for Nana’s and Grandpas and Grandma’s!  I know for myself that my grandparents were always very special to me.  They were extremely influential (and still are) in my life.  They invested time into my life, and prayed for me continually (still do)!

Yesterday Stella spent some time at her Nana Susan’s house while Mommy got a haircut.  (Unfortunately Grandpa wasn’t there… he was at work).  I was blessed to see Stella sitting in between her Nana’s legs getting tickled and laughing so hard.  She was so happy to spend the day there without Mommy, and it was sure a gift to me as well!  I think of my relationship with my grandma, and I look forward to Stella sharing a similar relationship with her Nana Susan and Grandma Mary!

She is a very blessed little girl.  Thank you grandparents for all your love and prayers for Stella.