Off to See the Wizard!

Near the end of September Nate, Stella, and I ventured north...to the Emerald City (and beyond!). Nate's extended family is mostly in Washington, and we had been planning on making a fall trip to show her off when Nate's maternal grandmother passed away. It was decided to have her memorial service and celebrate her life up in the mountains she loved near where she grew up. And so the trip was booked and off we went on our northwestern adventure!

The trip began with Stella's first airplane trip. My dad, the pilot, would have been so proud of her if he could have seen her just relax and enjoy the flight. She's a natural traveler, just like me. Why is this the caption under a naked baby picture? Well, it has to do with the shock to the system I received on the flight from the disposable diapers! We use cloth diapers at home, and I was just mentally unprepared for the switch while traveling. I have never had poo leak from a cloth diaper much less be expelled from one with great force! Needless to say, I was glad to be able to give her her very first sink bath in Great Aunt Sabra's kitchen when we arrived.

Here Stella is with her namesake, Great Grandma Pearl!

Stella enjoys her Uncle Jack tremendously. He is gonna be a great dad in a few months!

Dad was so excited to introduce the baby to one of his favorite places ever!  

Stella wrapped 3 generations of Simons men around her finger simultaneously!  Great grandpa was smitten with her, "she's a born winner!" and "that's one cute baby!" he exclaimed.  They cooed at each other for a little while...what a treasure to witness! 

I loved watching all the wonderful people in her life getting to love on her, including Great Aunt Lucy and Cousin Paloma!

Baby's first mountains!  Here we are near Snoqualmie Pass.  My outdoor-lovin' baby was in heaven.

 

This was at a cabin in the Cascades where Great Grandma Reynolds' memorial service was held.  It was a beautiful place to spend time together remembering how blessed we all are to have had such a wonderful woman in our lives.  Stella is enjoying getting to know Great Aunt Teresa in this picture.

Here are a couple of sweet baby and daddy moments I snuck up on while they were out on the deck enjoying the view.  Priceless.

Stella with two of her very favorite people - Mimi and Grandpa!  She is such a lucky girl to have such awesome grandparents.

Aunt Lael and Uncle Jack (and baby Nora - yay!!!) traveled back to Seattle with us via Chinook Pass.  I love that drive, and I loooove these two crazy kids.

Here we are...gorillas in the mist.

Lael finds a tree that's just her size! Then later, so does Stella!

We always like to prowl around the market when we are in town.   We enjoyed some delicious gelato which Lael is nicely modeling.  I have no recollection of what was actually being said...but I love this picture because it features a classic Jack-in-response-to-Lael face, equal parts surprise/delight/intrigue/confusion.  Hilarious. 

Here Stella sleeps through a street concert, vendors yelling, cars honking, gulls gulling (or whatever those terrifying birds do), a Breast Cancer 5K, and mommy laughing and moving around.  She is at one with the universe.

One last family dinner before heading back to Texas.  Stella enjoys some more bonding with Great Aunts Sabra, Tory (below...the infamous stink-eye!) and Leslie!  She has no shortage of awesome aunts, that is for sure. 

And I will close this post with a slightly blurry parting shot of the Oklahoma branch of the Simons clan (minus sleeping Stella) with Great Grandpa.

August 2010



The people have spoken!  (Okay, really it was just JB...)  Here are some pics of sweet baby Stella from August 2010.  I apologize in advance for the spacing.  I hate the way blogger does photos!  Enjoy!



Play time with daddy



I love wearing her around.  I can't think of anything that snuggling doesn't improve.

Showing off her poodle skirt at the diner!

We were so excited any time she had those pretty eyes open early in the month.  It wasn't to often...so we grabbed the camera!



She loves having her hands up by her face.  I love it too.  Do I sense a flair for the dramatic?

She's been so good at restaurants so far.  It's a blessing.  This day we were at good ole El Charro T with the Parker's.

A day out with her buddy Max!

Sometimes she gets to "help" daddy work. 

She loves to bat the bugs on her bouncer

My first bunny ears!

Sometimes she likes her carseat.  She loves to ride once she gets in the car though.

BOOMER!

I am so glad sweet baby smiles are a part of our lives now.

All dolled up for church

Loving her playtime with her Mouschi!

She learned to read!  haha 

She's ready for her close-up!



She's starting to hold her head up so well!


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She's a happy girl!

There's only one Oklahoma...
(Raisin' her up right!)

 

The Perfect 10!

...10 week old that is!  This has been a huge week for our sweet girl!  She is ten weeks old this week, and has made huge strides!  Probably the most exciting ones are related to her social skills.  She has been smiling for a couple of weeks here and there, but this week she has been smiling in response to you smiling and talking to her.  It is irresistible! Let the silly smile solicitation begin!  Now you can find me doing things all day long trying to get her to smile at me.
She has slept well all night each night this week, despite having her first little low grade fever this week on Wednesday.  She has been kind of fussy for her, worst this weekend, and mostly she just wants to be held.  She's sleeping right now, and so I am sneaking a minute to try to post some of these sweet things about her.  Oh, and by the way, when we went up to see dad at his office this week on Wednesday she weighed 14 lbs 7 ounces.  She's a growin' girl!
She is following objects consistently now, though not for long.  Also, she's becoming a pro at batting the bugs that dangle in front of her on her bouncer.  
I recently went to a consignment sale in Houston and got her a floor activity gym.  I wasn't sure how she would like it, so I was glad it was cheap, but she loves it!  It has a little star that lights up and plays music at the top, and she kicks her legs and moves her arms and smiles.  She gets so excited...it's hilarious!  One funny thing though is that she doesn't like to be left alone on the mat.  She only really likes it if you sit down on the floor by her.  So, I fold my daily loads of laundry during gym time and it makes the laundry much more entertaining.
She and I also like to dance lately.  I turn up the tunes in the living room and we boogie!  I think she likes the motion and being able to look around, and of course the music!  She has always been okay with music and noise.  I think she grew accustomed to it in utero between my loud music in the car on my long commute, dad's pager, and the doggies barking...it's a good thing. :)
This is been such a wonderful week.  I am so looking forward to what she'll do next!

So long, farewell

Well today is my last day of full-time employment for the foreseeable future. I am entering the world of full-time mommyhood with so much joy in my heart. I am so thankful for a husband who really values and supports me being here with our little girl. It is interesting that today she has her first little low grade fever. I am glad that I get to be here with her to watch her myself and overanalyze her every grunt and wiggle.

I have really enjoyed the working world. It's a good thing since Lord knows I spent plenty of time training to do my job! It was fascinating, fast-paced, and engaging, but in a deep place in my heart all my training and education always kind of felt a little bit like a placeholder of sorts. A placeholder for this adventure of my life of which I am just now on the precipice. I will most likely do some PRN work as the Lord presents opportunities, but I am so thankful to be here right now. I am thankful that unlike my brainiac mom who had to wait until her fifties to get to really challenge herself with advanced education I have had that luxury.

I guess the rain and the HR paperwork and the little fever has just made me feel like expressing some gratitude today. Thank you, Jesus.

Farai turns 6!

Allow me to introduce Farai Shadow-dagger Simons.  Farai turned 6 years old Sunday!  She is a glorious black labrador retreiver.  I actually started this post then, but am just finding the time to finish it today.  My philosophy is that it's never to late to celebrate!

I adopted Farai and brought her home when she was 10 weeks old, and she has been my faithful companion ever since.  I think I will do posts dedicated to the dogs sometime in the near future, so I will stick to the party for today.  Suffice it to say, the dogs are family to us.  Furry, cuddly, adorable, zany, and sometimes exasperating family.

We had Farai's party the week before since my family was in town to help celebrate.  They have been a part of these celebrations for several years, and no longer find it strange. 

Solomon, or Saul, as we more commonly call him, was Guest Numero Uno.  He is a 3 year old chocolate lab with about as much zeal for life as can possibly be contained in his 90 pound frame.  He still retains a lot of his puppyish features, and I still think of him as my puppy.

Here are the canine guests being corralled for a picture.  I forgot to take a picture before I pulled the cakes out, and they completely lose their minds when the cakes come out!  Thanks for helping get a party hat pic, babe!

The scene was set!  Decor at dogs-eye level, naturally.

Here were the cakes.  (Human at the top, ha.) Farai's cake was chicken which I shaped into a dome and then "iced" with greek yogurt and decorated with a marshmallow flower.  It was delicious according to the dogs.  Saul got his own cake without a flower.

I can't wait until she's old enough to throw dog parties with me!  And oh my gosh, am I excited about the birthday spectacular that we'll host for HER first birthday!

I was so glad that my mom, brother, and his girlfriend (below) could be here to party!  They are awesome!

I'll wrap up this post with a picture of me and my girls.  I am one happy momma.