16 Months

Today marks 16 months since Shelby entered into the world. I just want to take a minute and write down some things about Shelby at this stage so I can remember them forever.

-Shelby is goofy and funny. She loves to laugh and loves to make us laugh. She cracked us up a week or two ago with this conversation:
Me: Shelby, are you stinky?
Shelby: Nooo.
Me: Are you sure? Did you poop?
Shelby: Nooooo.
Me: Are you lyin'?
Shelby: Rrrrrraaaaawww!

(She thought I meant lion. I was laughing so hard.)

-So far Shelby is not too picky with food, between me despising anything from the water, a lot of meat, and Jeremy being wishy-washy with what he likes, I was worried Shelby would pick up on our habits. We made a deal to be in charge of feeding her whatever the other dislikes. So far Shelby likes shrimp, catfish, mushrooms, and broccoli (these are just foods that one or the other of us doesn't like).

-Shelby is not really into cartoons or TV. I'm not complaining. I hope it stays that way. She LOVES books. She loves being read to. She really loves her nursery song books, and loves for people to sing her the songs as she turns the pages.

-Shelby and Roxy love each other. Shelby loves chasing Roxy around, giving her hugs, and tickling her belly. She really loves feeding her from her high chair.

-I love that Shelby is able to follow directions. She likes to help clean up by putting clothes in the washer, helping load the dishwasher, and throwing her dirty diapers in the Diaper Genie.

-She loves to point to all her body parts- eyes, ears, mouth, nose, fingers, toes, belly button, and BOOTY.

-Right now she thinks it is hilarious to stick her tongue out whenever she is close to my face so she can lick it. I guess I am just super sweet?

-She thinks it is funny to toot and then look up at me and say, "TOOT-TOOT"!

-She still does not have a "security item" like a baby doll or blankie. She loves her babies, but when she wants to be comforted, there's only one thing that can do the trick: my hair. She will still hold her arm up while she is drinking her sippy cup until she gets a hold of my hair. She loves it to tickle her face, and (weird as this sounds) she loves to suck on the ends of my hair.

-Most importantly right now, she has been off a B-O-T-T-L-E for a week. I know, I know. Should have done it a long time ago. It was sheer laziness on my part. She would drink milk out of her sippy cup, it was just that she would fall asleep so much faster with her bottle. But, last Wednesday I said, "Ok, bottles are going bye-bye", and we haven't looked back. She had no problems with it. And it kind of killed two birds with one stone, since now she only takes a few sips from her sippy cup at night before bed.

Pumpkin Patch Part 2

Last night we headed to ANOTHER pumpkin patch, this time just a few miles away in Grapevine. Shelby didn't show much interest in actually picking out pumpkins, but I did get a couple pictures of her actually wearing her sweater. (This is the sweater I bought two years ago when I was literally weeks pregnant, but so excited I couldn't contain myself. I would go shopping and see things and HAVE to buy them.) The best part was that it was actually cold enough to NEED the sweater!

The Mommy Test

Anybody who listens to Kidd Kraddick has probably heard the Mommy Test skit. When Kelly Raspberry was pregnant, they would do this skit where a little boy (supposed to be her stepson) would "test" Kelly by creating all sorts of havoc and seeing how she would react. This week I had two of my own "Mommy Tests".

Last Wednesday, Shelby and I flew to New Orleans. It was just a quick (VERY QUICK) trip, as I needed to be in the office for some meetings. Again, Brianne was kind enough to rearrange her schedule so that she could come over and watch Shelby and Claire in the hotel room.

The flight on Wednesday was not good. It was dinner time. We had already been delayed a bit when we got on the tarmac and had to wait for 7 other planes to take off. This was also the first time Shelby's ears have really bothered her on the plane. She was not a happy camper. Thank goodness we had a row to ourselves, but even more importantly, thank goodness that flight is only a little over an hour long. That was Mommy Test #1.

So I got in Wednesday night, had meetings all day Thursday, met Jordan in Mandeville for dinner that night, worked all day Friday, then flew home Friday night. Told you it was a quick trip!

Thanks again, Bri, for watching Shelby. I know she had a great time playing with Claire Bear!



Saturday morning we attempted a visit to the pumpkin patch at the Dallas Arboretum. The Arboretum is BEAUTIFUL! (Lexi, we definitely have to go there for picnics in the Spring.) Of course I went with the highest of hopes of snapping some cute Halloween pictures of Shelby. She wore her cute Halloween onesie, had on her cute Jack-O-Lantern socks, and I brought her super cute Halloween sweater that I bought 2 years ago, and have been DYING to put a child in ever since. So of course Shelby was uncooperative. She would either not sit still, or not look up. We finally left and decided we might try a pumpkin patch sometime this week and hope for better results.







But that was not Mommy Test #2. That came later. When we left the Arboretum, we ate lunch at Chili's where Shelby filled up on Mac and Cheese and Baked Potato Soup. She would occasionally lay her head on the table, and we just thought she was tired. After Chili's, we headed over to Target to pick up a toy for Shelby's friend, Mabel (Shelby calls her "Babel"). Just as I turn the corner to one of the toy aisles, Shelby starts spewing in a way that could rival Linda Blair. Of course, my initial reaction is to cup my hands in front of her, but that was not going to be sufficient this time. She soaked her clothes, the cart, and the floor. Jeremy ran to find some paper towels, while the worker in electronics calmly walked up with that powder stuff and started cleaning up the huge mess. We proceeded to strip Shelby down to nothing but her diaper and I had to quickly carry her out through the crowded store.

As I was washing my hands for the twentieth time, and trying to clean bits of food out of my rings, I thought about my reaction to the situation. Only for Shelby would I instinctively hold my hands out to catch her vomit. That's love.

Prayer Request

Two minutes before boarding my plane on Friday, something told me to turn my phone back on and check it. I had gotten a text message from Jeremy saying the my brother-in-law, Roy, had had another seizure. That flight home seemed like the longest ever as I waited to touch down in Dallas and call my family to see what happened.

About this time last year, Roy had a seizure at work. The doctors finally determined he had seizure disorder (what would have formerly been called Epilepsy). That time he was around coworkers who witnessed the whole thing and called 911. This time he was driving on the interstate. He felt the seizure coming on and was (thankfully) able to get to the side of the road. Another driver saw him slumped over in his seat and called 911. He is doing well, just a little sore.

Of course Jordan was freaking out because she was still in Slidell with the kids. She quickly packed some bags and drove the kids, along with Brianne and Claire, to Houston. At this point they are not quite sure what to do, since Roy won't be able to drive for a while, and Jordan obviously doesn't want to leave him.

Please keep them in your prayers. We are praying that Roy will recover quickly, that the doctors might be able to find a medicine that will work and not make him feel sick, and that Jordan and Roy will be able to sell their house quickly so that they can be together again soon.

Weekend Wrap-up

We had a special visitor on Saturday- my brother-in-law, Roy! He just started a new job and is currently living in Houston while my sister, Jordan, is in Slidell with the three kids so they can sell the house. Anyway, he came up yesterday to visit us for the day. We had a lot of fun walking around West End. After burgers from Five Guys, we walked around the grassy knoll and visited the Sixth Floor Museum.


(If you look in the picture above, the shots came from the building on the left, square window second from the top.)


After that we walked over to Thanksgiving Square. It is actually kind of cool that in the middle of town there is this little reminder that we should all thank Heavenly Father for all our blessings. There is a cool spiral shaped chapel with amazing stained glass windows winding all the way to the top.




After that we headed over to dinner at Mariano's, then to Top Golf. It was a very eventful Saturday! We were so glad to see Roy and thankful he made it safely home after the late drive back.


I LOVE this time of year because it is perfect weather for playing outside. Here are a few pictures from today:

Fall Food Day 2: Spaghetti Squash

The other night I attempted my first spaghetti squash. I don't know why I never tried it before. It was delicious! And so easy! All you have to do is cut the squash in half, then roast it in the oven for about an hour. Then you scrape the inside with a fork and it comes out like spaghetti, only a little sweeter tasting. We had ours with a doctored up jar of spaghetti sauce (I added some chopped up chicken, then sauteed onions, garlic, carrots, red pepper flakes, and chopped olives). We all loved it. I think it will become a regular meal at our house.

My Itsy Bitsy Spider and Fall Food

I began thinking about Halloween costumes MONTHS ago. I really, really wanted to make Shelby's costume this year. I don't always get to be the super mom I wish I was, so this was one thing that was really important to me. I want it to be a tradition (as long as I can make what Shelby wants to be in the future), and something that we can do together. But as October approached, I looked at my sewing machine, looked at Shelby, and just knew it wasn't going to happen. I have only been getting 2-3 hours of sleep as it is. There was no way! So, I scoured four different Halloween stores, Walmart, and Target, and finally bought a ladybug costume. It was perfectly cute, but deep down I was a bit sad and disappointed in myself.

Then my coworker alerted me to some really cute ideas on marthastewart.com. I should have known Martha would have something perfect! I saw an idea for a mother and child costume, so I combined that idea with one I saw on another website and came up with this:






She's a spider! And I am going to be the web. Of course, I will (hopefully) have better pictures come Halloween, but wanted to post my progress. I'm definitely not the best seamstress, but I really did enjoy making the costume, and that is ultimately why I really wanted to do it.

Now, on to some FALL FOOD. The other night I bought an Acorn Squash, a Butternut Squash, and a Spaghetti Squash. They all looked so pretty sitting in the produce section, I couldn't resist. The problem is, I have never used any of them in my cooking!

Tonight I attempted the Acorn Squash. I saw tons of recipes online, and sort of combined a few to come up with my own version of a stuffed Acorn Squash (basically I added onion, celery, and apple to a box of dirty rice). I really liked the filling, but was not so keen on the squash itself. I felt like the flavor was a little over-powering. But, it was worth trying once!

15 Month Update

Original Video - More videos at TinyPic


We had Shelby's 15 month appointment today. Just for stats purposes, she is 33" tall (Brianne, the nurse DID measure right- shocker!), so as I thought, that puts her up there in the 2 yr old range. At 25 lbs 4 oz, she has not gained any weight since her 1 yr appointment, and actually hasn't even gained a whole pound since her 9 month appointment. Thus the reason for the disappearing roles. Anyway, all is well with Shelby and she is developing right on track.