Four Months

Oh where has the time gone?

Recent Accomplishments:

+ Making all sorts of strange new (and loud) noises

+ Drooling, drooling, drooling and chewing on everything within twelve inches of her mouth...which hopefully means teeth are on the way

+ Getting more control over her busy little fingers and grabbing onto whatever she can (including my hair)

+ Discovering her new favorite toy...her pacifier on a ribbon

+ Going crazy grinning, laughing, and wiggling her whole body whenever people give her the slightest bit of attention

+ Rolling over from stomach to back

Merry Christmas to You!

We wish you an especially Merry Christmas and a beautiful new year!

All our love,

Bryan, Ashton & Poppy Louisa

New Keys!

We closed on our town home yesterday. Hooray, it's finally real! We have our own keys to the front door. I'm so excited to get settled again and make a new place our home.

But truth be told, there are some things I will miss about being homeless.

Seeing things like this while staying with my sister, for example...

Yes, that's my nephew Christian's head popping out from the side of the wall. (he may have had a little help from Bry.)

We also learned a lot the past three months. Things like...

• Our family is amazing
• Our friends are amazing
• It's good to be flexible
• Living out of a suitcase for months on end is possible (though not ideal)
• We want to open our house and hearts to others like people have for us
• Don't drink kombucha tea next to other people's laptop computers (Yikes...ask my sister Andria about that one)
• We are so blessed to actually have somewhere to call home

Thank you, thank you to everyone that let us stay with them and helped us get through this transition time!

There may be some before-and-after decorating posts to come. Bring on the paint! And stop by any time, we'd love to see you.

The Little Angel

My nephew Adrian looked at Poppy the other day and crooned in his sweet, talking-about-babies voice, "Aww...she's a little angel."

As soon as he had said this, Poppy decided it was a good time to spit up all over.

Shocked at this rather un-angelic display, Adrian replied in surprise, "Hey, I didn't know angels could puke!"

Hah. Don't be fooled by the innocent face.

My Favorite Couples Group

I was looking through pictures and found some from this summer when our couples group got together for a picnic and some Vivaldi at Symphony on the Prairie. Spending time with those couples every month has been so much fun. I'm very thankful to have such a great group at our church.

Chad and Heather--a few months before adorable little Beckham Eli joined them

Makoto and Anna and Ben and Suzanne--such awesome people

Three Months

There was a new something--or rather someone--to be thankful for this Thanksgiving. I think she's going to make the holidays even more fun.

Recent Accomplishments:

+ Giggling back at us

+ Being too busy, distracted, or grumpy to eat

+ Finally outgrowing her newborn clothes

+ Chewing on her hands (her two middle fingers are her favorites)

+ Keeping us on our toes with her opinionated little self

Mom of the Year Award...

...goes to me!

So it all started when I realized that it had been a very long time since I had given Poppy the Vitamin D drops that I'm supposed to give her every day. Being the responsible mother that I am, I decided that I should probably get around to that. I filled up the dropper and as Poppy was finishing it off I realized with a sinking feeling that I had just given her a whole dropper full of Tylenol, not Vitamin D.

I hate giving babies medicine under any circumstances, let alone when they aren't in the least bit sick and I've just given them about four times as much as they need. Therefore, I was starting to feel a little stressed. Thankfully before I got too sick about it, I remembered that my brother-in-law is an ER doctor and nervously dialed his number.

Meanwhile, it was getting closer and closer to the time when I was supposed to pick up Bryan at work to meet his parents. I was scurrying around trying to pack things up and load Poppy into the car seat while my brother-in-law was reassuring me that she would survive. (FYI: It takes 11 droppers of infant Tylenol for it to be lethal to a 12 lb baby)

I got outside before I realized that I had forgotten yet another thing in the house. I set Poppy down next to the car and rushed back in for just a second. Still on the phone, I hopped into the driver's seat and took off, noticing that Bryan was now popping up on call waiting, no doubt wondering where in the world I was.

Several minutes later I started noticing that Poppy was being unusually quiet in the back seat. Great, I thought to myself, she's probably passed out from her drug OD. I glanced back to check on her, and to my horror I saw that she was NOT IN THE CAR! Awesome.

I swerved across a few lanes of traffic and ended up awkwardly in the middle of the intersection with cars zooming around me. I waited an agonizingly long time for a green arrow to let me finish my U-turn and rescue my abandoned child. If I was lucky, I would get in a wreck first. I sped back as fast as I could and sure enough, there's Poppy in the driveway with big eyes, looking very small and helpless and a little confused about why she has been left out there by the road. (I think the Tylenol had sedated her enough to keep her from crying.)

Oh goodness...

Florida, Baby!

Vacation with Bryan's family. Sun, pools, piña coladas, tennis, whole days spent with family, and too many pictures of Poppy...Good time. I love vacation.

This look is one of Poppy's favorites and has been dubbed the "cheerio mouth" by Mimi

Jenny came to visit for a day and brought Luca and Avo. At one point, we looked over and saw this: Luca at the bar, ordering a drink and chatting with the bartender. Hilarious! (he decided to stick with a water since they had to drive home that evening)

This is the "Luca stance." What a little stud.

Precious Avo.

I love the chaos of this picture, even though we really did have a wonderful, relaxing day together.

Aunt Javon and our little Sun Shine. (yes, she has a slight black eye. She had a fight with the shampoo bottle in the bathtub.)

I think she's a natural at this vacation thing.

Working on her tan...she's a bit pasty. (don't worry, she's wearing spf 70+)

And back home again in the airport. Poppy and her first pair of wings...I think we have a little world traveler in the making.

Looking for Gift Ideas?

Check out Jon and Amy's blog here for good Christmas gift ideas. Bonus: It's a great cause!

*sigh*

It's enough to melt your heart into a big puddle.

I love these two. A lot.

Covered Bridge Festivities

Every October in Southern Indiana there is a festival near an old covered bridge, hence the name Covered Bridge Festival. For a week, the place is filled with booths of food, antiques, crafts, and whatever else you can imagine. This was my first year to attend and I was not disappointed. Who doesn't love pumpkin ice cream and people-watching?

It may have been more fun because I was with some of my very favorite people...my mom, Kait, Mia, and my crazy aunts. The changing leaves and the perfect fall weather were also an added bonus.

Two Months

Two months have sailed by already. Enough time to half-way figure out a new normal and start feeling like our own family, but not enough time to quite believe that we actually have a little baby girl for real.

Recent Accomplishments:

+ Sprouting more blonde-red fuzz on her head

+ Babbling and cooing in the most adorably social way

+ Standing up (with a little assistance for balance)

+ Proudly sporting a few new rolls on her thighs

+ Sleeping up to seven hours at night (hallelujah!)

+ Going ridiculous amounts of time without sleep during the day

+ Studying everything around her with tireless intensity

+ Being an all-around passionate little fireball

The Next Steffi Graf

Based on that smile, I'd say she likes tennis.

Watch out Wimbledon.

Birthday Boy!

Bryan turned 27 a couple weeks ago. Hip-hip-hooray! Too bad it was in the middle of closing on our house and moving.

But we did manage to get away for a little birthday surprise. First was a quick stop at Fresh Market where I told him to pick out whatever he wanted, and then I acted as his mysterious GPS guide as we headed south to Oliver Winery for wine tasting and a picnic lunch.

It was a beautiful fall day and a much-needed break from packing boxes.

Orphan Sunday

Check out Jon and Amy's blog and see what you can do to help orphans on National Orphan Sunday. It's a very cool idea.

Just go to their address here (http://jonandamyg.blogspot.com) and click on the "are you here for the giveaway" link at the top of the page.

(And no, I'm not just posting this to win a cool shirt)

Here's a picture of Jon and Amy's little twin girls that they adopted this year from Ethiopia. So stinking adorable.

Delicious

To make you smile if you haven't already seen it...or even if you have...

For Poppy's birth announcement cards I had the vision of a scrumptious little frosting-topped treat on a cake stand, and so my dear photographer sister Andria made it happen. Mmm. We are definitely having fun with our girly little fluff of sweetness.

And It's Done

(our actual sold sign this time)

We did it! We closed on our house today. Officially. The papers are signed and the keys have been handed over. What a good feeling.

And we finished moving everything out last Saturday...after a haphazard week of living with piles of boxes and without most of our furniture. The house is completely empty now, and I have to admit that I got a little teary walking one last time through the rooms we've come to know so well. It was a good home and I'm going to miss it.

Now we have our things scattered between a U-store, Bryan's parent's house, my parent's house, and our suitcases. Our life is probably going to continue to feel a little disorganized for a while (can't wait to move all over again in a couple of months), but it will be fun staying with friends and family for a bit.

Here is a glimpse of some of the moving chaos from the weekend.

Poppy was completely bored by the whole moving business

Our superhero moving crew (plus mom, Andria, and Kait).

One last family photo in front of our first home.

Goodbye House.