Baby and Momma on Sunday

Angelique met up with us last night at Peay Park to visit with her girl.  It was a great visit.  Just about the best I remember over these last ten months.  It was good to hug her and grin at her and share some peaceful hours with her.  True story - this is the first time I have seen her since February.  Her one visit in March, she was a no-show and Josh went out afterwards to see her himself.  April she was in and out of jail the entire month again.  And May I was at a shower during her visit two weeks ago.  So yesterday, I hugged her and {literally} grabbed her head as I told her how good it was to see her.  Thankfully, she laughed along with me. Ha!

Lucky for me, she is patient with all my picture-taking.  She just rolls her eyes, grins bashfully, and murmurs, "Kimmuhly an' her pitchers..."  

I count it a small but sweet victory that by night's end, she had asked me to text her these and others I have so she can print them.  She particularly liked the ones Meghan took last month and the one from tonight through the plastic screens while she played with Lasa. ❤️

Not sure what it means for the next couple months and custody status and/or appeals, but Momma seems to be trying to get her act together.  She has a job in housekeeping at a hotel in Hendersonville (really close to our church actually), she is attending her outpatient program at Renewal House (which is a great facility), and she was in a really great mood.  Even better, Lasa was actually playful with her at this visit.  Smiles were flashed. :)

How can you be happy and also a smidge uneasy about a visit like this?  Foster care, that's how.  My own selfishness, that's how. Addiction cycles, that's how. Precious beautiful baby hanging in the balance between two outcomes, that's how. How do we rest in peace in the wait and unknown? God's sovereignty, that's how!  He is good and His purposes will be accomplished no matter what.  Amen!

Triple Play on Saturday

This kid!  Made a TRIPLE PLAY at his game Saturday night!  And in so doing, brought home the game ball.  I was squealing with excitement for him.  And pride.  Curse my vanity.  But still, Woooooooohoooooooo, Baby!  So proud of you.

Even after all the hootin' and hollerin' that went down during that play, Noah says he still doesn't quite know what happened.  HA!  The retelling goes like this ... the boy was at the pitcher's mound and caught the ball (1st out), he then ran and tagged third base before the runner at third base could get back to it (2nd out), and then he tagged the runner from second who was trying to slide to safety into third base (3rd out).  Wooooo-freakin'-Hoo, Noah!!  You rock.  I have known it all season, but I just eat. it. up. when everyone else knows it, too.  Love watching you play!

TomatOverdue

You can tell that Josh and I are tired, tired, tired by this time in the school year.  And tired, tired, tired by the third child factor still.  We finally, finally, finally got some plants in the garden last night.  At the tail end of May.  A solid MONTH overdue.

For now, just tomatoes.

Anna and Josh are in cahoots about trying some carrots too.  I told them to grab me a zucchini plant or seeds while they are at it.  We may just grow some goodies this year after all!

Chaney's Field Trip

Our homeschool group LOVES to go to Chaney's Dairy Barn.  Me? It's an ok trip.  But we have been three times now so I think I have had my fill, but we went this year because apparently Anna has never been.  Well, now she has.  Fun moments from my camera yesterday and friends' shots as well.

Chaney's is in the process of building a new high-tech barn on the property, so I might be swayed into going again next year ... we shall see.  Just wish it wasn't a tedious hour in small town Kentucky traffic to get there!

Lasa @ 10 Months

The beautiful babe turned 10 months old today. Wow!  So big.

Ten month tid-bits include..

• She has started {trying} to dance when she hears music.  Sort of leans and jerks ever so slightly, like she feels like dancing but doesn't quite understand why. :}
• She has favorite books - Noah's Ark (which has been chewed so badly I have had to take it away), and Number Puppies and Look Look, both of which she squeals and giggles for every page.  Delightful!
• She continues to have the cutest smile ... made even cuter when she jut her chin out and scrunches up her nose.
• My favorite thing she does is that open-mouthed panting sound she does when she is happy and excited. I eat it up!
• She got her first ride-on toy this month.  It's/She's the cutest!

 

• She loves when I trace her face with my fingers.  Usually in quiet moments of the day.
• After naps and in the mornings, she will play in her crib contentedly for up to 45 minutes! So nice.
• She cut three more teeth on top, so now she has four on top and four on bottom.  With them, she has taken to gritting.  Yikes.  She also like to nibble bite on us or our shirts now.  On occasion she's taken a painful bite out of our legs and there've been some hootin' and hollerin' about that.
• We tried coconut oil on eczema patches on her face and it worked like magic.
• She does this entirely adorable shoulder wiggle when people are talking to her.  It's like a flirty shrug.  It's a crowd pleaser.  So quirky!
• She stands up to play more than not now.  Getting so sturdy on her feet.  She has even let go entirely on occasion and independently stands for a few seconds before going down. 

• Speaking of standing, she tends to want to eat standing up half the time now, too.  She lets me hold her to finish the first half of the bottle.  Then she is stop and go, choosing to eat like a gerbil from a feeder. 

 

• Which is why it is a good sign that she learned to drink from a sippy cup this month. One step closer to the milk days after 12 mos.  Exciting! Toddlerhood is a'calling!
• She cries like she's dying or heartbroken that you would leave her when we put her down for nap and then she is sound asleep within minutes. Napping 1-2 times a day still.
• She finished up about 20 days of antibiotic this week from another ear infection that just. would. not. die!
• She was delighted when I took her out to stand in the rain.  She has the makin's to be one of us for sure with our rain-loving ways.
• She figured out how to open cabinets this week, sooooo we have more baby-proofing to do. 
• She continues to be entirely magnetic out in public.  No one can walk by her without greeting her and/or playing with her.  That grin and twinkle in her eye is irresistible!
• She reaches table tops now when she stands, so that is another degree of child-proofing we must catch up on. 
• She has learned how to shake her head side to side.  Not sure if she knows that it means NO yet... 
• She met her momma's momma and her momma's little sister this month.  So her grandmother and aunt.  She was not herself at this visit with those three, but she didn't scream and cry, so that's something.

• She is a smidge over 20 lbs and wearing 12 months clothes. Has moved into size 4 diapers.
• She is willing to eat Stage 3 foods a bit now and really enjoys it when we give her soft bits of food from our plates. 
• Her favorite toys to carry around are a play food pretzel, a play food bagel, and her favorite toy to chew these days is a really realistic looking rubber snake.  She chews it head first into her mouth.  It's kinda creepy.

• She has two foods she enjoys eating with Josh - a popsicle and a banana.  If he is eating a popsicle and doesn't give her licks right away, there is MUCH screaming and fuss.  It's adorable! Reminds me of Josh's routine with Anna as a baby - she always had dibs on his yogurt.
• She's met her first swim session in a baby pool and the hot tub (when it is cooler).  She approves. :)

 

• We also finally baby-proofed the back porch, so she has ventured into her new play space out there and ADORES it.  Before this, she would stand at the back door and wail when Noah and Anna went out without her.

• She's begun to try a new sound - Mamamamamamamama.  Usually when she's crying, but once or twice when she was happy. 

I cannot believe how attached to you we are, Lasa!  It's become quite normal to hear shouted from any end of the house at any given moment, "Oh my gosh, I just LOVE this BABY!!" 

We can't get enough of you and, truth-be-told, are asking the Lord if you can stay at this point ... however complicated the situation might get.  We've covered enough ground like that as it is.  What's a little more?  We love you, LasaLove, and will trust all your days to the Lord either way and will thank Him for all the ones we get to share with you in the meantime!!

Happy 10th Month, BabyDoll!

Grab Bag

Just dropping off some happenin's in no particular theme or order from the last week or so...

The company I have used for years to publish my blog up and dropped their blog print feature altogether this year.  I was so bummed!!  I went with another company after dragging my feet for months and, honestly, I think I like it just as much.  Phew!  

Me and this guy hired a sitter and took to the movies this weekend just because.  Movies are my love language. Captain America was awesome!

These sweet ones.

How spooky are these skies over AL that my sister sent me?

Reallife.

Anna's precious attempt to "fix" the hole in the seam of my pillow.  She thinks tape is the answer to ev.er.y.thing.

The kiddos participated in a Homeschool Days class at the zoo last week.

 

 Lasa and I amused ourselves while we waited for them to finish. She also got to pet her first goat!

I mean, so gorgeous!

We got the baby some playground gear.

She loves it!

This other gorgeous shot taken just up the road in Portland by my girl, Kristin!

My in-laws were here this weekend, too, and I dropped the ball in the picture-taking category!  Boo!  However, I do offer this pic which consumed much conversation and shopping while they were here - their new vacation rental property in NC.  Check out the view!  

We are so excited with them about this adventure and we are really tickled to get to go check it out over the 4th of July!  Looking forward to more visits with them there. :)

Group Shots

From a Redeemer Women's Gathering earlier this month.  Too bad we didn't take this shot til a number of us had already left.  Was a good night! I even won something ... which hasn't happened in years. Ha!

A little MNO end-of-year gathering with the mommas in our homeschool group.  Another good night! I laughed so hard my stomach hurt.  Becky and Regina were on the backside of the camera, so they added their lovely faces in second shot. :}

From our most recent visit with Lasa's momma this past weekend.  Angelique brought along her little sister, Cherish, and her momma, DeAngela.  This is the first time any of her family has met Lasa, not counting Rodney ... whom we have decided doesn't count anyway. Ha!

A dear friend from high school and college (and many visits and moves in-between over the past 21 years) moved to Nashville last summer and we finally, finally managed to get together yesterday. Looking forward to meeting up with Heather and her crew some more before school starts back in the fall.  They live on the other side of Nashville, so there is a solid hour between us.

My favorite group!  Josh got industrious after giving Lasa a bath and tried to "do" her hair.  He was proud of his work.  You should have seen her crazy hair the next day!  

This weekend my in-laws and Josh's aunt come to town, too, so there will be more group shots to follow, I am sure! :}