Just an Ordinary Bath Towel

Routine tasks have taken on an added dimension now that Julia is grabbing onto anything within her reach. Diaper changing is fun when she keeps reaching for her toes. Dressing is interesting when the piece of clothing I need is always the one she has a death grip on. And just try buckling her into her car seat! As soon as you've set her in it, she's playing with the straps & buckles. I'm so scared I'm going to pinch her one of these days. The challenge today was bath time. When I laid her on her towel, she grabbed the corner furthest away and pulled it right up between her legs, straight to the mouth. I just had to let her play a minute before I snatched it away to put her clothes on. (A thought... Maybe this is why it takes us so long to accomplish anything - everything we do turns into playtime!) Hey, why rush through life when you can take such joy in everyday moments? I'm not going to look back on all these tasks as mundane & routine, but rather as an adventure that I have the fondest memories of! Nothing "ordinary" happens around here anymore! Every day, every moment, is new and exciting through the eyes of a child. Even when to you and I, it's just an ordinary bath towel.

Fun Photos

"Rubber Ducky, you're the one. You make bath time lots of fun. Rubber Ducky, I'm awfully fond of you!"

This book was in Julia's Easter basket from my Mom. The name brand is "Taggies". They make blankets and snuggly things with tags all the way around bacause of the way kids like play with the tags on everything. They're made of ribbons of all different textures - cute idea. But what does my daughter do every time? She locates the real tag on the thing to chew on. Too smart for her own good.

Julia loves to play in her exersaucer, now. I was so glad when she finally got strong enough to support herself in it. The seat spins and she can turn herself around to reach all the different toys. And she can make each of them do what it's supposed to do, too. They all go in the mouth of course, whether they're meant to or not! That face just kills me... and I see it every day! She will never cease to amaze me.

"Mmmm... socks!

Almost as good as toes!

But I'll get to those soon enough - just gotta make it over the heal with this thing!"

Nine Inch Gray

Yep, looks like I got the Hankla gray hair gene. For a few years already I've been seeing little gray hairs pop up and haven't thought much of it. I've heard that you shouldn't pull one out or two more will grow back in it's place. This has to be an old wive's tale, but I've been ignoring them just the same. It's denial, I suppose. But when John's eighty-something year old grandpa pointed them out to me when he was standing over me a few weeks ago, I began to worry. The man can't even see well enough to drive anymore! Since then I've been pulling them as I find them. Tonight, as I was brushing my teeth, I saw one glistening in the usual spot - right next to my part. When I separated it from the rest, I saw that this was no ordinary gray hair. This was the longest gray hair I have ever seen! Why was today the first time I saw it? So, what did I do? I went to show John, of course. He agrees it's amazing, and then just reaches up, plucks it out, and hands it back to me. Men. They waste no time in solving a problem. What if I wasn't done marveling at it yet? Oh, well. With it in my hand, I decided it must be measured. Unbelievably, that shiny, wirey, kinky, "little" gray hair was a tad over nine inches long. Yep. Like my mother, and hers before her, I'll be gray by 30, white by 40. Ugh.
I cling to this passage...
"Gray hair is a crown of splendor;
it is attained by a righteous life."
Proverbs 16:31

Happy Easter!

Julia came to work with me one day last week to see the Easter Bunny. We had to work hard to get her to look up at the camera because she wanted to touch the furry hands. She wore her bunny ears from Grandma Marlene, naturally.

Julia's first Easter has come and gone. I can't believe she's almost six months old! She looks so big in her pretty Easter dress. Our morning began with the discovery of a loaded basket. That Easter Bunny is so smart, he knew to bring baby food and spoons (since we'll be starting that soon) instead of candy! She also got a Disney movie - a tradition that the "Easter Bunny" started with me, we always got a Disney classic in our basket. She got an Easter Little Critter book (which I also loved as a kid), and a Thumper book, being that her one of her nicknames is Thumper. She likes to lift her legs high in the air when she's laying on her back and then thump them on the floor (or bed, whatever), hard! It's funny to be in the basement and hear her do it, or hear it on the baby moniter when she's in bed! Anywho... she grabbed the basket as soon I set her on the couch with it, so I think she liked it!

Posing with Daddy, ready for church, bonnet and all. The two loves of my life, looking gorgeous.

Here we are at church, our little family.

She loves Easter eggs!

Isn't that dress incredible?! We found it at Burlington. White flower eyelet, and not too much poof. The flowers at her chest have curly ribbons hanging down, which she loved to play with!

Her first Mehok Easter egg hunt - a tradition over there. You should have seen Daddy running with her. It was freezing of course, but they grabbed 'em up quick! "Julia" found the most eggs, totaling $27.00. Impressive, I know. I don't suppose that could be due, in part, to Daddy's competitive nature?

Julia found the golden egg, worth $10. It was the one egg she found without help from Daddy. Of course, that could be because it was in Grandma Marlene's pocket!

Water Park

Last week was Kristen's spring break, so my parents planned a trip to Shipshewana to stay at a new hotel with a little indoor water park. Julia and I tagged along of course! I wouldn't miss an opportunity to put the baby girl in a swim suit! Daddy had to work, sadly. We stayed two nights and spent some time each day in the water. We also went shopping one day. The flea market was closed, but there were lots of shops open in town. Mommy did good, she didn't buy much.

Here she is, all dressed and ready for the pool. Yes, the sunglasses match. Ridiculous, I know!

Posing with Nana. It's funny, the lens on the camera fogged up when we first got to the water room because it was so warm and humid.

Two beautiful chicas. Julia loves her Aunt Kristen!

Julia wasn't too sure at first. The water was heated, but not bathwater warm. She didn't like the chilliness, poor thing.

Julia's favorite thing to do was float around the lazy river on someone's lap. First mommy...

Then Nana...

Then Aunt Kristen.

We played a little in the super shallow kiddie area, but with all the kids running around she got splashed a lot so that didn't usually last long.

As soon as I had that towel wrapped around her, she was out!

The trip home was something else. I have never seen her so mad. After we had exhausted every toy option (and I brought a lot!), there was nothing that would make her stop. Finally I decided I would try to feed her, so we pulled over...

The instant she was out of that seat, all was well. (I love the way her hair is glowing in the sunlight!) Like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, I swear. She knows what she wants. I fed her, and then we were on the road again...

And on to screaming again! For those that ask me if she ever cries, here's the proof. She had us all ready to cry by the time we got home, and it wasn't even a long trip! Yikes, baby girl. It is ear piercing at point blank range, too. I bet Daddy sure was sad he missed this!

Unreal

I took a picture of Julia today.

No, that's not so unreal.

But when I took the picture of her asleep in the car seat, I had that de ja vu feeling that I'd taken the same picture before. The feeling was correct. The unreal part is just how much the two photos are not the same. Taken only five months apart, it is unreal how much my daughter has changed.

Can I do it all again?

Just one more time?

She was only a week old here. The bonnet, which is clearly too big, is a size 11. Her new Easter bonnet is a size 14 and only a little large. I don't feel like she's all that big until I look back. And then I realize she has grown, she has changed, and so have we.

Unreal.

Yummy Toes!

"Hey, not only can I grab my toes, I can eat them, too! What a yummy, fun, new toy!"

Last Saturday was the first time I saw Jules get her toes in her mouth, but ever since then I haven't been able to catch it on camera. Since they are usually covered, she gets limited time with her bare, wiggly toes. We were at church tonight setting up for a women's dinner when she had a "poopy 'splosion" (as we have lovingly deemed them). I had her stripped down, changing her clothes when I saw her chowing down. And the camera was right there in the diaper bag! I got one shot as she caught sight of me, and then she wouldn't do it any more because she was too interested in the camera! But I finally got a great picture!

Enjoy!

Women's Retreat

Last weekend a group of ladies from our church went on a women's retreat in Indianapolis. When it first came up a while back, I didn't think I'd be able to go, having to nurse Julia. I knew I could take her with me, but the older she gets the harder it is to keep to her happy and quiet in situations like that. But, God worked it out and John miraculously had those two days off. It was actually HIS idea to come along and watch the baby while I went to classes. Isn't he the greatest?! The convention is held in the hotel, so they stayed in the room right down the hall and I would come to feed her when she needed it.

Here she is, in her car seat, all ready to go. She's in a bit of a daze, it was an early morning!

John drove the church bus so most of us could ride together. There were so many, my Mom still had to drive her van with a few people. She took Julia, too. I split my time between the bus with John and the van with Julia.

Playing with her toys, such a good girl.

I was most scared about the 3 hour drive for her, but she did pretty well. She only screamed for the last few minutes on the trip there (because she wanted OUT) and for a few minutes on the trip home (she was hungry that time, but we stopped so I could feed her and then she fell asleep). Overall, I'd call it a success. I've decided that when we take our Jeep trips in June and October that it will be easier to try to do most of the driving at night when she can sleep.

Julia's first night sleeping away from home. We got a room with a king size bed, so she slept between us. John said he hardly moved all night, poor guy! I enjoyed it of course! (Confession: I sneak in naps on the couch with her whenever I can. Had one today as a matter of fact! Sleeping babies are heavenly.)

This is our whole group, right before we left.

And this is our small family.

We all had an incredible time. It was a great chance to get to know some people I didn't know so well and have fun with those I do. All the speakers were great and I learned a lot in the breakout sessions. Can't wait to go again next year! Our goal is to double the group size. I'm signing you all up!

Daddy's Girl

Julia loves it when her Daddy gets down on the floor to play with her (almost as much as Daddy loves it!), especially when she can reach his face. All he has to do is look at her and she smiles! I think it's the cutest thing when she rubs his stubble, though. They are so totally in love with each other. Mehok and Mini Mehok, I think I'm outnumbered!