Hello, Colorado!

Last weekend we packed up and headed out West to Colorado. We're here for a bit of a longer trip because Jon is in a class, and we're excited about spending more time with friends and family that we don't get to see very often. Kate is really lapping up all the extra attention. It was touch and go for that first day but who can blame the poor kid as she tries to adjust to a two hour time change in just 24 hours? But she bounced back on Sunday and has smiles for all the doting grandparents. The Moms, Kate and I went out to breakfast on Monday and while Mom Luminati was walking around Cracker Barrel with Kate, she said a waitress came up to her and said, "Oh my, it's the Gerber baby alive and well!" Then yesterday she began sticking out her tongue as though she can't quite get that food out of the corner of her mouth--it's really funny. I'm going to need to get baby chapstick if she doesn't stop doing that. Sorry, no pictures this time, but I'll try to add some at a later date. Oh, I also wanted to add it's quite the adventure living in a small hotel room with a nine month old. We have a bedroom separated from the living room by a door, so we don't actually have so share space with her when she's sleeping. That's a tremendous help. Now we're trying creative ways to see if we can get the monitor to reach all the way to the hot tub. No luck yet.

Oooh ooh, good hair day

I'm still getting used to my hair, but I thought this was a good representation of what it looks like now. Ok, you caught me...what it looked like on that particular day. Some days are definitely better than others. And by the way--have a great Memorial Day weekend!

Happy Mother's Day

As you all know, we celebrated Mother's Day last weekend. What a great weekend it was! Jon did an awesome job of making me feel appreciated and loved. He started Saturday off by watching Kate so I could get some more sleep. And if you don't know, I dearly love to sleep in. Then, after lunch, he and Kate went on a outing so I could go shopping all by myself. I went up to the outlet malls in Leesburg and had a GREAT afternoon going my own pace--faster, slower, cutting in front of straggling shoppers, and always enjoying not having to push the stroller in front of me. I came home, fed the baby, then Jon and I watched a movie.

The next morning was church, and our church had a baby dedication. We signed up to dedicate our daughter a few weeks ago, so we had to get to church early for instructions. It's really a parent dedication at Mclean, instead of an infant baptism or christening. We, as parents, say "we will" after each vow is spoken by the pastor:

1. We commit to do our best to raise this child to honor, revere, and love Jesus Christ.

2. We commit to do our best to maintain a home where Jesus Christ is honored, where the Word of God is authority and Jesus is the head.

3. We will commit this child to God in prayer on a regular basis, trusting God to override our mistakes and make up for our shortcomings.

4. We commit to actively rely on the Holy Spirit to raise this child and to incline his or her heart to the Lord.

5. We commit to do our best to release this child to the will of God, whatever that might be, without bitterness or resistance.

6. We commit to do our best to be living models of what fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ should be, so that this child has godly examples to copy.

Whew! It's quite a daunting responsibility. Now you know what I mean by it's really a parent dedication.

For the occasion, Kate wore a pink and white eyelet dress on. (Another consignment sale bargain) Here she is hanging out with Daddy before the service:Also, some good friends of ours dedicated their son as well, and here is a picture of the moms and kids:

After church, we tried to go out for lunch, but there was over an hour wait at the restaurant, so we went home and Jon made breakfast for lunch. Yummy! We spent a low-key, relaxing day together at home and it was just wonderful. Thank you, my wonderful hubby, for such a great mother's day, and Happy (belated) Mother's Day to all you moms reading this.

Amusing

Kate and I went to the post office today. While there, I realized I needed stamps, so I went to the "mail it yourself" station. As I was finishing my purchase, this girl comes up to the stamp machine, which is next to us. She says, "Excuse me, can I ask you a question? I seriously haven't bought stamps in years and am not sure what I need to buy." I said sure, (thinking how in the heck can you go years without buying stamps??) and stepped aside to help her figure out what she needed. The Liberty Bell stamps were really throwing her for a loop (I guess because they don't have the monetary amount listed on them) and she had several things to mail. I was trying to explain why the Liberty Bell stamps were what she needed, even though they didn't have the price on them and in the middle of my explanation, she blurts out, "You're so cute-- haa haa." (Like one would say it to a child, not in an inappropriate way.) I was totally flustered and said, in response, "Oh." She thanked me again and turned to purchase her stamps. I almost reminded her that those machines give coin change, not dollar change, then thought better of it. As I was lugging Kate and her carseat out, I thought, hmmm. "Cute." I certainly wouldn't think of that adjective to describe me--it was rather amusing. Then I thought about my appearance--short hair, sunglasses on head, big shell necklace, plain t-shirt and shorts, hefting oojaboojy little baby girl--and realized, oh my, have times changed! That's how I look to a 20-something girl. Cute. I chuckled all the way to my car.

Shoot!

As you can imagine, we're racking up lots of pictures of our sweet girl. Along with those great smiles and cute grins, we're collecting snapshots that aren't so great. I realize now that she is fascinated with the lights on the camera and she is even anticipating the flash. When she does that, we get pictures like this:

And this:

But I really have to share the great shots I took this afternoon while making more baby food. Kate was sitting on the counter nearby (safely in a seat...don't worry Gram :)) and I gave her a green bean to occupy those busy little fingers. Here are the results of the green bean photo shoot:

All I wanted to capture was her interaction with a brand new food, the green bean. Who knew it would turn into those pictures we'll pull out to show her prom date in about 17 years.

Here's the best I could do: