Today I was brave. I decided to give Sarah some new food so for dinner she had mac and cheese, a fruit mixture, strawberry puffs and a cracker. She did so great and I am so proud of her. She gagged on the puffs at first but then got the hang of it. The mac and cheese was not a hit at first but she loves that fruit mixture. She ended up eating half of a jar of mac and cheese and half a jar of the fruit mixture. I just can’t believe she was eating the cracker. She didn’t eat the whole thing just a corner of it but it was so darn cute.
Today was a great day. Sarah and I were very busy and we played hard. We went to church this morning and Sarbear actually went to the Nursery. She didn’t do good at first so I took her downstairs with me and sang some songs and prayed. As the Pastor was praying Sarah decided she wanted to join in and started babbling while the Pastor was praying. It was cute. Then I took her back upstairs and she did great. There was German lady in there who held her arms right open and Sarah went right to her. It was bittersweet! I missed her but it was good to hear God’s message with trying to control a squealing, hyper seven month old. After church was over I picked her up and she was just relaxing in the swing. It was like old times .
When we got home she took a little nap and I got some garden work done. As I was weed eating she woke up so my neighbor Julie asked if I wanted her to take Sarah on a walk so I could finish. She is such a great person and so very kind. So I got the bear ready and she was off. She is getting so big. She was just relaxing in that jogging stroller enjoying the breeze. I got a lot done but then I started to miss the silly little bear. Then I saw them coming around the corner and it was so cute. Sarah and Caleb were sharing the stroller so of course I had to take a picture.
So cute!
Ready for Church.
Julie, her boys and the bear.
Here are some pictures of Sarah with Mia. They had a fun time together. Mia is so good with her unless there is food around then its a free for all. Mia was letting Sarah pet her for awhile. It was so cute!
The Sarbear looking so cute.
Sarbear just loves Mia. Take notice to the tongues.
Best Friends
Happy Birthday to Aunt Andrea. She emailed me and told me a picture would make her day happy. So here it is. Sarah in all her glory. Enjoy your day Andrea!
The countdown till daddy comes home is on. I can’t wait to see him walk through that door.
It seems like yesterday when Allen left for Iraq but it was a year ago. I am so grateful that it has gone by at a nice steady pace. I can remember the day he left as if it happened this morning. I still remember our last words to eachother before he parted for Iraq. There are days when I feel like I just can’t do it and then I think back to the smile and the joy that he gives me and then I know I can make it for a couple of more months. About three months after he left Mia (our dog) bought his hat downstairs and was laying on it and then I thought to myself why is she doing that. I picked up the hat to put it away and I realized why she had pulled it out as it smelled and still does smell like daddy. It isn’t a great smell more of a army sweaty smell but its him when he comes home from work. After that Mia and I cuddled with that hat for hours.
There are a lot of people who have to go through what I have gone through this past year but there are many who will never have to go through it. I remember when my friend Jannie came to visit me and it was the first time her and her husband had ever been apart and they have been married for decades. When she got home after a short week visit to Germany her husband told her that he didn’t know how I could be apart from Allen this long as he couldn’t do it for a week. I can honestly say it takes a strong women to get through 12 months without any attention or praise from your partner.
This past year I can honestly say I have learned a lot and one is to never ever complain about things because there is always someone who has it a lot harder than I could ever imagine and want to imagine. When I get upset about something like lack of sleep that Sarah gives me, the stinky diapers that never stop, or any other thing I feel like complaining about I just take a moment to reflect and think about my husband and his fellow soldiers. I know we all have hardships or disappointments in our lives but get out of your pit for just one minute and think of the soldiers. These soldiers never know what they are going to wake up to and they sure don’t take a moment for granted as it may be their last moment.
Just a thought for you to ponder about. There was a Lt Col that was home on R&R and was just walking down our street and stopped. He then proceeded to take off his shoes and walk in my neighbors grass. When my neighbor came outside to ask him what he was doing. He looked at her and said “I haven’t seen grass in 12 months and I just wanted to feel it between my toes”. How amazing! The little pleasures in life we don’t even think about.
Please take a moment and pray for our soldiers. It has been a hard 12 months that they have had and it is going to get harder as they still have some time left.
Can’t wait to be in my husband arms and see him hold his precious gift from God!
May God continue to bless you all each and everyday. I am so grateful to have such a loving family and group of friends.
Philippians 4:8 says “Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things.”
Lately Sarah has been thinking that she is it which of course she is right but we won’t let her think that:). She is just so darn cute and her expressions just get better and better. Since Grandma left she has been giving me a hard time with napping and night time. Last night she woke up every single hour and was wide awake at 6am. I tell you a mother’s job never even stops. Thank goodness I knew this before having a child . However I have taken many notes to self when the next little stinky joy comes.
Look mom one hand!
This is the new look…whatever mom. I am sure I will see this one a lot as a teenager.
She just finished her lunch. YUMMY! She ate it all.
Grandma left this morning and Sarah, Mia and I are already missing her. It was hard to come home to quiet empty home. I am so grateful that Grandma got to come and stay with us and even got to stay a couple of extra days than expected.
Sarah learned so much while Grandma was here. She of course can crawl now. She pulls herself up on the couch and anywhere else where she can. She also makes silly nosies now and can even use her walker as you saw in the video.
It was so wonderful to have Grandma here and she helped out more than I can ever pay her back. We had a great time just hanging out watching movies, talking, going out to dinner, bible studies and we even attended a new church which I LOVE!! While Grandma was her I got lots of breaks but didn’t really need to go anywhere as it was a break just having someone to chat with. I did get to go to the doctor and the hairdresser. The doctor told me I have bicep tendonitis. It has only taken a year to get someone to tell me what was wrong. O’well I guess better late than never.
Gege will be here in less than 20 days. Oh yeah Grandma got to talk to Allen three times.
Well kind of….Today Sarah really started to use her push walker and she did great. She has been able to take one to two steps but today she did great. Grandma sure got lucky that her flight was cancelled as Sarah has grown so much since she got her. She is just so big. Enjoy the video!
Can you believe Sarbear is seven months? Boy, how the time flies. It feels like yesterday when Allen and I bought baby girl home and know she is doing all sorts of things.
This month she has learned so much and Grandma was here to see it all. She has offically perfected crawling and is trying to pull herself up. She loves to walk with assistance as you saw in the video and can even take a couple of steps with her walker.
Sarah is tenacious as Grandma would say. She loves to pick a toy of the day and she will take that toy everywhere. Last night after her bath she held on to her hairbrush and crawled all over her room and looked through lots of books but still had her hairbrush in her hand.
++Sarah has started to say other sounds such as ba and ga. She has not said mama or dada yet but we think she will pass those words and her first word will be astronomical.
Here is a picture of Sarah and her favorite toy. She can close all of the doors and even open a few back up. Sometimes she will even pull this toy from one side of the room to the other.
Sarah is like her daddy in many ways. She loves to play wires and type on the keyboard. Sometimes Sarah will make a certain facial expression and you can see her daddy all over her.
Sarah still loves to grab her little toes and put those in her mouth. She has also started mimicing things mommy does and its so cute to watch the look of concentration on her face.
As for eating Sarah is doing great. She eats three meals a day. She will have rice with bananas for breakfast, fruit for lunch, and veggies for dinner. She loves squash, peas, pears, and of course sweet potatoes.
She is trying to stand up on her own. She pushes her legs outward and its looks like she is doing a yoga move of some sort. I am so proud of my baby girl and the things she has learned.
Here is a video of Sarah walking with help. She has been doing this for a long time but finally was able to video her doing it. She is a great walking and has know got the crawling down perfect. It is amazing to see how fast she can get from one side of the room to the other. Enjoy the video.
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