A really big cat

We took P to the Topeka Zoo yesterday,
which is much nicer than the Manhattan
zoo. As I've typed the last two sentences,
Paisley has managed to hit her head
TWICE!!! How? When did she go from
being a little helpless baby to an almost
mobile, manipulative baby? Anyway,
we think she enjoyed the zoo, she was
really happy for the few hours we were
there. Even happier after we got her
out of the stroller, since she started
screaming the minute we put her in it.
See what I mean about manipulative?
Of course my picture service isn't working,
so I can only post this one picture. She
liked the goats though, as they didn't hiss
at her when she poked their faces.

It's amazing how much happier she's been since I've been feeding her more

but she started screaming as soon as
I typed the title. So I guess that thoery
doesn't work so well.

I had a dream that all of her teeth
came in during one night. Yep, all
46 of them.

This makes me happy...

Despite the sunburn, headache, and general
smelliness from being outside in the heat, I
love my garden! I doubt anyone else much
cares, but it's my little piece of heaven.

Look! Grass!





She'll hate me for this one day.

Help me. Help me help me help me help me...

Does anyone have any suggestions on how to
comfort a teething child? NOTHING seems
to help, and it just hurts to watch her so upset.
I've shoved tylenol down her throat, rubbed
her gums with orajel, given her everything cold
and/or hard in the house to stick in her mouth,
held her, rocked her, put her down, played with
her, read to her, all to no avail. I finally put her
in her crib, hoping that she may fall asleep...
although I can hear her in there crying, talking
and kicking the mattress. ANY suggestions
would be appreciated...

I'm glad I get to watch you grow old.

The birthday boy. He is 29. For the 3rd time.

Here's the cool cake I made. Unfortunately
the top layer fell apart so I tried to glue it
together with icing.

Happy Birthday Grandma!

Today is my grandma's 90th birthday. I find that
absolutely amazing. She is such a spectacular
woman, and a wonderful example to everyone
she comes in contact with. She goes dancing ALL
THE TIME. She is more active than most teenagers
I know. She has 13 great grandchildren, yet she
still shows interest in Paisley, wants to see her and
get to know her. I figured after all those kids, she
wouldn't have the time or interest, but I was
so wrong.



She doesn't use the internet so she'll probably
never see this, but I still wanted to with her
a happy birthday. I love you grandma!

LIVESTRONG DAY

Please make sure to check out this link:
http://www.tinypineapple.com/kate/
and the entry for May 17th. I did not
realize it was LIVESTRONG day,
although I probably should have. For those
who don't know, this is the blog of Charles'
sister.



Here's the cute bikini shot, when she was
still happy and hadn't been subjected to
the pool.

Yes, those are big, huge scared tears
in her eyes.

How cute is this dress?

If this isn't pure joy on Grandma's
face...

The trip home, she finally conked out
after screaming for a few hours.

The look of terror

I'm getting really frustrated, as I haven't been able to upload any photos for the past 3 days, and have no idea why. Here's one to tide everyone over...

Swimming: Paisley did not enjoy it the first time we took her. She looked so cute in her little bikini, but she started crying the minute she got into the pool. But as I've said before, we like to torture her. She was also tired and hungry, so it probably wasn't the best time to introduce it to her. We took her again the next day when she was rested and full, and she had a lot more fun.

She's been doing some new tricks lately; yesterday she rolled from her back to her stomach TWICE! Of course, I didn't see either of them, I just saw her on her stomach and knew I hadn't put her there. She's also been doing a lot better about going from her stomach to her back. It's very evident that she knows how to do it, but she's either stubborn or lazy or both and cries until I turn her over. If she takes after Charles and me, then she very likely possesses both traits.

She's also turned into a snuggler, which we LOVE. When she was little, of course we snuggled her because she had no choice, but as she's gotten bigger, she hasn't wanted to as much. She'd rather sit up and look around. The past few days though she'll lay her head down on my chest and just lie there, sometimes falling asleep. So nice.

No teeth yet, and she's not quite as fussy. She's been super clingy with me though, if she's with someone else, even Charles, and I walk by her, she starts screaming and crying for me to pick her up. In one way it's nice to know that I'm needed so much, since I know she'll start to push me away sooner than later, but at the same time it's frustrating, since I can't get anything done!

Trip: Day 2

Hanging out with her Uncle Eric.


Reading a book (although he was
doing his best to take it away from
her, then she hit him) with her
cousin Anders.

Lotion is more interesting anyways.

Being dainty with another cousin, Leif. Check out
the fingers. She should be holding her skirt up.

Day 1 of the trip

Charles and I took the baby on a trip last week,
a family vacation in Illinois where we met up
with Charles' parents and siblings. What we
thought would be a 5 hour trip turned out to be
around 7 hours. Since P has never been on a
trip longer than 2.5 hours, she wasn't too pleased
to be stuck in her car seat.

This was about 30 minutes into the trip, I
stopped to make sure I packed the camera,
and loved seeing her asleep, clutching a book.

I think this was about midway through the drive.
I hopped into the backseat (which was quite a
feat, since I have a two door, and the back
contained P and the cooler), and tried to feed
her lunch. She didn't want to eat, instead
she cried and cried and cried. The way home was
even worse, I ended up sitting back there with
her for the last half of the drive.

A built in best friend

My neighbor (and friend) had her baby girl
last Thursday. Paisley and I went to see them in
the hospital before we left for our trip, but the
baby had fluid on her lungs and was in isolation,
so I could only peek at her through the window.
Today my friend called to let me know she was
home so P and I went over to meet the new baby,
Sydnee. She was 9 pounds, 6 ounces when she
was born, but seeing her next to Paisley makes
her look tiny. I never thought I'd forget P being
that small, but even after only 7 months, I can't
really remember her being so little. Technically,
the two girls are the same age, and will be in the
same class in school, but at this point the differences
are (obviously) huge.

Like I mentioned last week, P has been so
grumpy! I'm sure she's teething, I just didn't
realize it could take so long for something
to pop out. We got home from our trip last night,
where she was out of sorts, but I figured that was
from being out of her environment, etc. Today
has been the day from hell! She's now taking her
3rd nap, and when she's awake, all she does is cry.
I've shoved tylenol down her throat a few times,
but that always makes me feel guilty, since I don't really
know for sure that she's teething, but it does seem
to help. I just have to check on her every once
in awhile to make sure she's breathing! Yes, I'm
a little paranoid.

Isn't this just the saddest face?

A picture (or 6) is worth a thousand words

Baby Blues

We think the babe must be teething,
as she's been super cranky ever since
we got back from KC on Sunday.
Usually she's sweet and happy, but
she has been soooo grumpy! I took
her to the store today, that was a mess.
Luckily I had a friend with me who
held her and entertained her while
I rushed through the store. She didn't
cheer up when Charles got home, so
we ended up putting her to bed about
an hour early. I feel so bad for her,
because there's not much we can do,
and she can't tell us what's wrong.

Happy Birthday MaryAnne!

So like I was saying yesterday, Paisley
and I went to a belated Easter egg
hunt at Aunt Bev's house in KC. India
was the only child big enough to
enjoy the hunt. Everything was cute
and decorated, and even the big
people got presents. That's always
fun.

India was sweet enough to sort out
all the candy from the eggs and split it
with everyone.

Paisley and Nancy.



Afterwards, we went to visit my grandma, since
she hadn't seen Paisley since Christmas. I love
that Paisley has 3 great-grandmothers still living,
hopefully she'll get to see them more so she can have
memories of them.

That evening my sister-in-law and I went to
see American Dreamz, leaving 2 babies and a 4
year old with my dad. It was sooooooo nice to
go out, I thoroughly enjoyed myself. Paisley's hair
is pretty special here, the results of having it
in pigtails all day.