I just had to...

...take advantage of the cute pink chair that my friend had.
Can't let a cute prop like that go to waste.

A First

One year ago, this little gal joined our family. She stole our hearts, wrapped them around her little pinky finger, and I don't think we'll ever get them back.

She wasn't the most pleasant of babies to be around for the first few months, what with all the screaming, and crying, and...well, SCREAMING. I couldn't take a 5-minute drive without her screaming her head off. And those 40-minute drives to town? I've got to give her credit, because most babies would try to scream, but would fall asleep of exhaustion after 15-20 minutes. Not Marie. She screamed the entire way. My neighbor would give me looks of pity as I pulled into the driveway with a red-faced, hysterical infant. It was bad.


However, some magic fairy dust must have blown my way, because at 5 months a switch was flipped and she became mellow and easy to please. There was a certain peace about her; she was such a joy to be around.

• Feisty: adj. quick-tempered
  

• Spunky: adj. spirited
  

Well, I think the switch has been flipped back, because this girl is ferocious. Don't get me wrong, she's as cute as can be, and still a fairly happy baby. But she's become independent. She knows what she wants, and she wants it now. Just try telling her she can't have another M&M out of the candy dish and see what happens. I dare you.



She's also a climber. I never had to worry about this with Kyle. I swear he just learned how to climb last year! Okay, maybe an exaggeration, but I've never had to worry about Kyle's safety. He's very cautious. Not this spunky thing. She's given me many heart attacks already.



She rules the roost, and we let her. Because as much as Kevin & I love her, I think that Kyle does even more. He plays with her, and carries her. He lets her play in his bedroom. He holds her hand in the car. It's adorable. Don't get me wrong - he gets annoyed with her sometimes. He's been known to chuck her binkie across the room, in hopes that she'll chase after it and leave him alone. But he adores her.


And it was so important to him that we celebrate her birthday in style. He wanted streamers, so we did streamers. He even hung a few on her crib. We had balloons. She had her own cake, with a "1" candle (note to self: please remember to buy him a "6" candle in August!). And he decided to wrap up some of his old toys to pass on to her - even his precious blue ball.


The presents? A definite hit. The unsurprising favorite was her first baby doll. She's always hugging and smothering stuffed animals, so we knew she'd love it. But the surprising favorite gifts were the clothes! She LOVED them. She grabbed them, pull them to her, and hug them. If I dared take them away, she yell and grab them right back. I think I have a shopping buddy in my future.

The cake? Not quite such a hit. Oh, she loved the candle flame, but once we quickly blew that out and took it away, she didn't want much to do with her cake. She picked at the frosting and proceeded to cry. Very reminiscent of her big brother's birthday. Maybe we'll skip the cake with the next child.

All in all, such a great day. We're so lucky to have this little lady in our family. She brings us so much joy that we didn't even know we were missing.

Happy 1st Birthday, Marie!

Dodgertown

We paid a visit to Dodger Stadium for their game against the Anaheim Angels.

My dad likes to refer to this hallowed place as "Mecca," so it was only fitting that he accompany Kyle on his first visit.

And let me tell you, Kyle was excited! Some would say it was the nosebleed seats (that's cool to a kid!) but there was also something in the air. That is one cool stadium.

I think Marie could sense the excitement, too. But that girl always loves a crowd. And the crowd always loves her back.

Grandma was a good sport about it all - she didn't even bring a book! Actually, she was a really good sport - even after she kind of got sandwiched in her seat by a rather large lady. Yikes.

This is what Marie did most of the time - watched people's food. That's right. She didn't watch people - she watched their food. I tell you, that girl's an eater. She watches each a every bite people put into their mouths, and then smacks her lips in anticipation. It's hilarious. I had to save people's drinks from her little hands more than once.

Undefeated

Kyle had his last t-ball game of the season. And what a season it was.

He had his usual cheering section of mom, dad, and Marie. But this time, Grandma & Grandpa joined the crowd. Lucky boy.

I'll tell you - this kid is a slugger. He knocked the ball out of the park (or at least over all the kids' heads!) almost every time. The boy LOVES his baseball.

He started off playing shortstop, but once they got the hang of throwing & catching (kind of),
his coach moved him to first base. He loved tagging people out almost as much as batting.

He was a pretty good team player, too, always letting his teammates have a chance at the ball. He's come a long way since last season.

But none of that means a thing if you don't have a trophy waiting for you at the end.

Captain, Cappy, Capistrano???

No more derogatory Lieutenant comments, because today, Kevin pinned on the rank of Captain. Now, in all reality, the rank of Captain isn't a big deal - it's pretty much a gimme. You'd basically have to be kicked out of the Air Force to not make it. So, other than the pay increase, it didn't mean a whole lot.

However, what was great about pinning on Captain, was that my dad got to do the oath. And seeing as how he's retiring this fall, and Kevin's Air Force career may not last more than a few years, that was a once-in-a-lifetime occurrence.



After the oath, we got to change the pins on his uniform. Colonel Skousen took one shoulder, I took the other, and Kyle got to do the hat. After we were done, Kyle was instructed to take his fist and really pound those shoulder ranks in!


Kevin had some nice comments, and presented us with some gifts - flowers for me, a pack of Bakugans for Kyle, and a can of green beans for Marie. Does he know his family or what???

We had a little luncheon afterwards, that I wouldn't have pulled off without the help of my mom. It was fun to visit with some of Kevin's co-workers. He works with such great people. It's such an honor to associate with them, and be a part of this wonderful organization in this wonderful country.

Four Stars

I love to read. Love it. But sadly, I haven't done it in awhile. I could never read during those long hours spent nursing Marie - she'd swat the book right out of my hand. So I went through a very long hiatus.

Until now.

I just rejoined Book Group, and the book for this month was "The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society." And oh, I LOVED this book. Finished it off in the blink of an eye.

So for all of my fellow book lovers, this one's for you. READ IT. And pass on any other recommendations while you're at it. Pretty please.

Experimentation

We planted a tiny garden.

And had a great time doing it.

Especially Miss Marie.

Now we'll just see if it grows out here in the desert...

Missing:

Lots of teeth.
3 down, many more to go.

I guess dentist's intervention won't be necessary.

Little Miss Mischief

Little Miss Marie is giving me a run for my money. Don't get me wrong, she's as cute as can be. I just think I forgot how busy they are at this stage. She's doing the usual:

And the not-so-usual. I'd turned my back long enough to turn off her bath water, and she'd managed to grab the bag of jelly beans off the chair, rip it open, and stuff a handful in her mouth. Needless to say, she was NOT happy when I swiped her mouth and took them all away.

After months of waiting, she finally fits into all of her cute size 3 shoes, including these adorable All-stars. They might be a tad big, but we make sacrifices for fashion. Every girl knows that.

Marie doesn't want much to do with baby food anymore. I try to cram in a jar of fruits or vegetables everyday, but she wants only finger foods. She got to partake of her first chicken nugget and I think it's safe to say, she loved it.

She continues to sport headbands, but I can finally put a barrette in her hair. It might be the tiniest clip you've ever seen, and it might be holding on for dear life, but it's adorable.

She's speed-crawling, cruising the furniture, standing on her own, and is pretty close to walking.

She's a total opposite from her brother, in that she LOVES toys. She occupies herself forever, and makes quite a mess. Her favorite place to play? Brother's room.

But her favorite toy of all time: Curious George. She breaks out in a huge grin everytime she sees him. He gets lots of tight squeezes, and tackles to the ground. Always accompanied by a sigh of contentment.