A Glimpse

The cat is out of the bag. I was caught TWICE this week looking like this:




Most days I wake up, brush my teeth, go upstairs, log on to work, get Joey, change her diaper, feed her, answer emails, then get Shelby breakfast. The rest of the day is pretty much the same cycle over and over again. I usually don't get a shower until Jeremy gets home, unless I have to be somewhere that day like the doctor or something, in which case I will take a shower on my "lunch break".

So, if you come to my house during the middle of the day, you will likely find me still in pajamas, Shelby will be naked (because that's just what she prefers), and Joey will look like Raggedy Ann. So, now you know and have been forewarned.

6 Month Stats

Joey had her 6 month check up today. Here are her stats:

Weight: 17 1/2 pounds
Height: 26 1/2 inches
Head: 16 3/11 inches

She is in the 75th percentile for height and just under the 75th percentile for weight. Her pediatrician said we have a baby genius since she is already crawling and saying "mama". :) He also said it is ok to go ahead and give her some of the veggie and fruit puffs so we tried those out tonight. She ate a few. Mostly I think she liked holding them and putting them to her mouth and licking them. It kept her occupied and happy during dinner. She had gotten to the point where she was getting mad when she saw us eating and she wasn't.



She also had six shots today. She takes her shots pretty well. She cried for twenty seconds tops and stopped as soon as I picked her up. They did wear her out though, and she fell asleep watching the Cowboys vs. Giants game with Jeremy.

Quickie

A few weeks ago I started researching Dallas area photographers. I really wanted some family pictures taken while Joey was still a baby. I searched and searched, but ultimately I just wasn't satisfied with the quality of work/price with any of the area photographers. Then I received an invitation to a friend's baby shower in New Orleans. Ordinarily I wouldn't entertain the thought of driving 8 hours for a shower, but things just started to align. I checked our soccer schedule- no game. I sent Becky a quick email- and she could squeeze us in for pictures! It was fate.

So, Friday after work we headed out. It was a LONG night. We didn't get in to New Orleans until 3:30 am. Then Joey was up til 5 am because she was just too excited to sleep. We met Jeremy's mom, sister, and our nephew, Peyton, for the typical French Quarter walk. We had beignets, walked around, then went to Central Grocery and split a muffaletta. Yum. (Our mission whenever we go to New Orleans is to get in as much New Orleans-y food as we can while there.) Look at the picture below. It was such a pretty day! The clouds looked totally photoshopped in to me.





After the Quarter we went back to the hotel so I could get ready for the shower. While I was gone at the shower, Jeremy got the girls ready for our pictures. As soon as I got back from the shower we left to meet Becky at City Park. Unfortunately, we got stuck in traffic due to some random festival we didn't know was happening. Because we were in the car so long, Shelby fell asleep. When we finally got to City Park, Shelby was horrendous. If there's one thing we've learned it's that you DO NOT wake up a sleeping Shelby. But what could we do?! She was so mad and whiny and did not want her picture taken. Finally, through the magic of Becky, Shelby finally warmed up at the end, and hopefully we were able to get some pictures. Can't wait to see them!

After pictures we had dinner at Superior Grill. Again, YUM! Then we hopped in the car and drove over to Lafreniere Park for Park-A-Boo. It wasn't hot outside, but not quite cold enough for Shelby and Joey's costumes, so Shelby didn't want to wear the hood/head part of her monkey costume, and I only had Joey in her banana costume for 5 minutes. Park-A-Boo was really cute and a good alternative to Boo at the Zoo (we originally were going to go to Boo at the Zoo but tickets are limited and they were sold out).



We fell into bed last night and woke up early again this morning so that we could stop by Brianne's house on our way home. Every morning for the past week Shelby had been waking up asking if today was the day she got to see Claire. So she was super excited that today was finally the day! We got to spend about 3 hours with them today. While there we ate breakfast, played on the Wii, played with princess dolls, had a hot cocoa party, played with Joey, and played dress up. It was a good 3 hours!








On our way back today we stopped in Natchitoches for lunch at El Nopal, one of the best Mexican restaurants ever- in little ol' Natchitoches, LA...who knew?! Jeremy was in white queso Heaven. There are so many new places in Natchtoches- glad to see the historical society is finally letting it grow. There is something to be said for small, quaint towns, but a college town definitely needs more than a few fast food places! I was sad to see that not only was I-49 Exxon and Subway gone (apparently Jay sold them and they were torn down), but the house we used to rent had been torn down as well. It wasn't too surprising given that the house was REALLY old, but still, it is a part of our history!

Finally home now after that quickie trip. I don't know if we'll do that again anytime soon. It was exhausting! But we had a great time and it was all worth it. Now it's off to bed to rest up for this busy week! Halloween themed dinners, Halloween party, birthday party, gymnastics, soccer, HALLOWEEN...

Comedienne

I know I just posted about some of the funny things Shelby has said, but she had me cracking up today and I wanted to be sure and write it down.

-Jeremy asked Shelby what she wanted Santa Claus to bring her for Christmas this year. This was their conversation:
Jeremy: Shelby what do want Santa Claus to bring you for Christmas?
Shelby: What?
Jeremy: What do you want Santa to bring you?
Shelby: What? I can't hear you!
Jeremy: What do you want for Christmas? World Peace?
Shelby: Wildebeests?!

-On the way home from the store, Jeremy and I were playfully arguing about something and Shelby threw up her hands and said, "Guys! Guys! Stop talking!". Jeremy explained that we weren't fighting and she said, "Ok, but one at a time!". I said, "Oh, she doesn't want us to talk over each other, that way we can hear each other's point. So glad she's our mediator". Shelby said, "Mom, I'm not a mediator, I'm just a kid".

-During her prayers, Shelby has been saying "thank You for this Sacrament meeting" during every one. We have tried and tried to explain to her that we aren't at church, so she doesn't have to say that. She thinks it is funny now and will giggle after every time she says it. Tonight, she started her prayer and then said, "thank You for.....this day. Mom! I didn't say sacrament meeting!".

6 Months

Joey turned 6 months old last Thursday. I can't believe how fast that went! She is such a fun, easy going baby. She can sit up on her own for about 10-15 seconds before she leans over to get a toy and falls over. She is getting better though. She has been army crawling for about 3 weeks now, and this past week was getting up on all fours trying to really crawl. We started Joey on rice cereal about a month and a half ago. She still does not really like it. We have been doing about one "meal" a day with it. She will eat a few spoonfuls and be done with it. Tonight she had her first vegetable- green beans. She actually liked them better than she does rice cereal, but it was funny to see some of the faces she made.

We also celebrated with a cake. It didn't look great, but it sure tasted yummy. (Joey was eyeing the cake and then giving us looks like we were the meanest people in the world to taunt her like that.)

Joey loves to laugh. If she hears anyone else laugh she will instantly let out a laugh herself. I love it. This picture is a little blurry, but it is so "Joey".

Funny Girl

Shelby has been cracking us up lately. Here are a few of the funny things she has done recently that I wanted to be sure to write down:

- Yesterday at church two ladies were singing a duet. In the song, were the words "shall be". The first time the ladies sang this part Shelby (very loudly) says, "They said Shelby! That's me! I'm Shelby!".
-Also during the duet, Shelby stood up on her chair and pretended to be singing the song, making very dramatic opera singer faces.
-We were goofing around yesterday and Shelby said something about a "butt". We reminded her that "butt" isn't nice to say, and to say booty instead. So then she starts singing, "Old MacDonalad had a butt farm. Ee-Ii-Ee-Ii-Ooooo!". She was so proud of herself and laughed for 5 minutes afterwards.
-Shelby has been very into knock-knock jokes lately. She loves to make things up and then laugh at herself and say, "Oh, Shelby, that was a good one!". This morning her joke went like this:
Shelby: Knock, knock!
Me: Who's there?
Shelby: Poop poop
Me: Poop poop who?
Shelby Poop poop had a little lamb! Hahahahahahaha!

I think she gets her sense of humor from her daddy.

September

Holy cow. This has been one BUSY month. We kicked off the month by taking a trip to Hattiesburg for Labor Day. It is always so fun to visit. Shelby has such a good time with everyone there. I don't think she stops running around until we strap her in the car to come home. While we were there, Joey had her first taste of rice cereal. I don't think she liked it too much, but I'm sure she'll come around.





The next weekend we met our very good friends, Mike and Jenny, in Galveston. We refer to Mike as Jeremy's "Mexican Twin". Those two are so much alike it's scary. Like the time they both ruined their phones on the same day, both by dropping them in water. Mike was in Hawaii, Jeremy back in Metairie. Or the time they bought the exact same set of golf clubs on the same day (Mike was in New Orleans, Jeremy in Shreveport. They had not talked that day.) They are wonderful friends, and we only wish we lived closer so we could see Uncle Mike and Aunt Jenny more often!







As soon as we got back from Galveston we got down to work doing little projects around the house, preparing for family to visit. My dad had to work in Ft. Worth for two weeks, which worked out great for us as it gave us a chance to see him. But, he is a master of all trades and a perfectionist, so we wanted to finally finish up painting the wainscoting in our bedroom and painting the cabinets in our bathroom before he got here. We got to meet up with him for dinner one night last week, and then last Thursday we took him to an FC Dallas game. I did not realize the game would be as loud as it was or I wouldn't have brought Joey. We've taken her to a few Roughriders games and they were not as crazy.




Last weekend was kind of hectic. Jeremy had a Scout camp out on Friday. That night went pretty well just me and the girls. They both went to sleep pretty well and I was able to get some cleaning done, and even made my first wreath! I was very pleased with the outcome. Saturday morning I took Shelby to gymnastics bright and early, then came home and made 50 cupcakes for the ward talent show. We dropped off the cupcakes at the church and went to our first soccer game. Jeremy and I joined an indoor coed soccer league. I played soccer my junior year of high school and was on the coed team at NSU (more like PRACTICED WITH the coed team at NSU), so I don't have TONS of experience. I was so nervous that I threw up at half time. But, it ended up being REALLY fun. It is so different from regular soccer. You don't really play positions, and there are big plexiglass walls so the ball just bounces off the wall and you just run and kick. I even scored!



On Sunday my sister and niece, Brianne and Claire, came up from Baton Rouge, and my mom flew in from Utah. Shelby and Claire are 7 months apart and they reminded me so much of me and Brianne. They play hard and fight hard. (K, they don't really fight HARD, but they definitely don't have a problem tattling on each other!) We had a great time staying up late and talking, running around and playing, and eating yummy food like mom's chicken salad that I only make when she is in town.

Brianne and Claire left on Wednesday, but mom and dad were here until today, so mom came over for the day again yesterday and then we met up with Jeremy and dad in Ft. Worth after work. We headed over to Billy Bob's, the world's largest honky tonk. I'm not sure how we ended up there but it was fun! The fried green tomatoes were great and my brisket sandwich was AWESOME. I guess this is a major attraction in the area, especially for foreign visitors. I was so funny to see the little old Asian ladies in their full-on Western wear line dancing on the floor. Oh! And the best part of the night was when Jeremy and I got carded (you had to be 21 to even go in and eat, and kids had to be kept at arms length)!










We have gymnastics and soccer again tomorrow and then I am looking forward to a nice, quiet Sunday afternoon after church. Hopefully we can get a little rest because I am sure October will shape up to be just as busy as September with all the Halloween activities! (I just ordered Shelby's and Joey's costumes today!)