I’m back! Who knew that starting a blog would mean adding one more thing to feel guilty about? After nearly seven months without a post, I have a few stored up and hope to get back into the swing of things again. We’re using a different program for posting pictures, so it shouldn’t take me hours of previewing and correcting code for each post.

I’ll start off with a Not Me! Monday story for you. Remember Not Me! Monday? It was started by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.

But first, take a look at a series of events that didn’t happen to us a couple weeks ago:

I did not forget to change my daughter’s diaper upon waking from her nap, since I’d been waiting for her to wake up so we could get groceries and prescriptions. I especially did not forget about that diaper until placing her into the shopping cart in the grocery store entrance, deciding to change it at the next stop. While nearly an hour into our shopping trip, I certainly didn’t run out of Baby Mum Mums from home (at least Baby Mum Mums aren’t sold at that particular grocery store, so it wasn’t completely tacky…yet). Because if I HAD run out of snacks from home and still had a hungry daughter, she might have turned around in her grocery cart seat and grabbed the package of freeze dried Yogurt Melts and started biting the photograph on the front of it. But even if she had done such a thing, I NEVER would have opened the bag of yet-to-be-paid-for toddler treats and fed her two at a time to buy myself (and my fellow shoppers) five more minutes without squawking before we checked out.

Once we arrived at the pharmacy, I most definitely DID take the whole diaper bag inside with me rather than just pop a single diaper into the zipper pouch of my Ergo baby carrier. And Siena was, of course, perfectly content to be carried in said baby carrier while we waited in line at the Drop Off counter, with no complaining, squirming, or shrieking to get “dow! dow! dow!” down.

And just because, during all our previous visits to this pharmacy, we’ve had a 30 minute wait between the front of the line at the Drop Off counter and getting in the back of the line at the Pick Up counter, I would NEVER have assumed that to be the case on this particular occasion, planning to change a soggy diaper during some of those 30 minutes. No, no, when I was told our prescriptions were filled and waiting on the shelf, I was pleasantly surprised and strolled my peaceful babywearing self to the back of the Pick Up counter line (during which time, I did NOT allow my daughter to take bottles of cold medicine off the shelves, line them up on the floor, then put them back again. I know medicine should never be confused with playthings).

Of course, once we reached the front of the line (and Siena showed zero interest in pressing all the buttons on the debit card keypad with one hand and holding my debit card in her other hand) and spelled our last name to the pharmacy assistant and waited for her to find all three hanging bags, remove all three containers of medication and side effect inserts and place them into paper pharmacy bags, I did NOT look at the $100+ total and realize we were technically uninsured for another day until the new policy started up and we could order insurance cards with the new company my husband’s employer switched to. (Yeah, and I’ve never written a run-on sentence in my life…)

But if that all HAD happened, I wouldn’t have been so thrown off course that I started to leave the store, forgetting all about the diaper…again. No, I went straight back to the restroom and changed that diaper and put Siena back in the pants she was wearing when I carried her in. There is — absolutely — no way that I was reminded of that diaper halfway to the exit doors when I heard the tinkling sound of urine falling on my boot. No way had I let a diaper get so soggy that it couldn’t hold a drop more, and spilled through her pants and down a few feet to my boot. And no way did I go buy baby wipes and a pair of Valentine’s Day pants, change the diaper, and carry a pair of wet pants out of the store in a shopping bag.

No, I’m way too good of a mother for ANY of that to have happened. I don’t know why you’d possibly think there’s any other reason for my daughter to be dressed in a pink flowery top and pink heart pants.

Oh, and did I mention we are now having all our prescriptions sent to the grocery store?

How many people get to say, “My husband flew me around today!” ? Apparently there are only 600,00 active pilots in the country. Their spouses are a fortunate bunch who have the opportunity to accompany them on their flights…and I’m blessed to be one of them!

Hawk in Winter’s flight instructor, Johnny, was also joining us. He seemed to indicate that Hawk in Winter has just a few more hours of instruction before he’s ready to solo.

Many little boys love airplanes and dream of learning to fly one day. My husband never lost that dream, and I loved seeing the gleeful little boy in him before we took off and after we landed.

In the air he was happy, but all business. I am confident he will be a safe pilot and I’m so proud of the work he’s put in so far.

Oh, and how’s this for a dream? Can you imagine living so close to an airport that you keep your plane in your garage/hangar and just taxi a few hundred feet to the runway?

I remember dreaming about my first flight in a commercial airplane, and then being disappointed when I couldn’t see trees, buildings, and cars except for take-off and landing. That’s always my favorite pat of flying commercially, and that’s how it was the entire time this morning! Flying in a small airplane turned out to be exactly how my childhood self had imagined.
Here were my views to either side…

…as well as in front of and behind me.

I loved seeing our plane’s shadow (look closely or click to see a bigger image – all of these are more impressive if you click them, actually!),

and looking down at tiny livestock and hay bales.

I especially got a kick out of looking down on a hawk as it soared and played on the wind gusts.  (Too quick for a photo though, bummer.) Another captivating sight was the wind rippling through fields of grain.

Flying over a VOR beacon was pretty cool too. VOR is a radio navigation system that predates GPS. It’s been around since the 1950s and is still used today.

We live in a scenic area, where people pay to take scenic tours of the landscape. We saw rivers,

towns,

farmland,

bridges,

highways,

plains,

mountains,

windmills,

sailboats,

clouds and cloud shadows.

Yes, I saw it all and all for free no extra charge!

I took pictures as they practiced some maneuvers and discussed appropriate procedures in various emergency situations. I overheard the ABCs of what to do if the engine fails.
A= airspeed (maintain your airspeed)
B= best place to land (there’s plenty of time to locate and fly toward a landing spot)
C= checklists (run through a process of trying to restart the engine, then a process of shutting off the fuel)
D= declare (get on the radio and tell important people what’s going on)
S= seatbelts (make sure pilot and passengers have seatbelts on)

I was pleasantly surprised by how much time a pilot really would have to land safely as long as he or she didn’t panic and remembered their ABCs.

Before we left, Hawk in Winter’s flight instructor told him to study for his pre-solo written test. From the strange “trophies” on the wall, we get the feeling Hawk in Winter shouldn’t wear any favorite shirts to his next few lessons. Hmm, maybe I’ll suggest he keep a spare in the car, too!

It was an incredible experience to join my husband in his flight lesson today, and I am so excited for the day when it’s just the two of us in the cockpit!

Read about my husband’s first flight here.

I don’t like personality tests. Either none of the answers fit me, or two or more of them would work.  No personality test would ever give me the label of “decisive”. 

And yet, for some reason I took an online quiz today as I nursed Siena. The teaser question was “What Kind of Animal Mother Are You?” 

I had to laugh when my results indicated I apparently have characteristics of motherhood from all their possible animals EXCEPT the hen! I had to laugh again when I read that I supposedly have “a great knack for organization”, especially after today when I went to put the chocolate milk powder in its spot on top of the fridge. There was no room on top of the fridge though, because the gallon of milk was up there instead. Um, oops?

So while I can’t vouch for the validity of this quiz, here are my results:

Your answers correspond to types: 2, 3, 4 and 5

1- HEN – Mother hens are notoriously great moms. Their very nature is to protect their baby chicks. They are loving, proud, and very involved in shaping their children’s lives and governing over daily activities.

2- BADGER – Badgers moms are especially strong mothers; they are keepers of the family schedule and expert disciplinarians. Very good at juggling the complexities of family life, badger moms strive to keep their children on a straight and narrow path.

3- DOLPHIN – Dolphin moms have a free and easy nature; they are very laid back mommas. With a passion for teaching their children everything they can about the world around them. Dolphin mothers long to be not just good moms for their kids, but good friends and confidants as well.

4- ELEPHANT - Elephant moms are very independent and gifted when it comes to remembering all their family’s activities and events. They have a great knack for organization and are able to manage careers, keep their homes clean, get their kids to school on time, and look great through it all.

5- HIPPO - Hippo mothers put everything they have into rearing their children. They are very protective of their little ones’ safety and are willing to sacrifice much of themselves in order to provide what they feel is best for their children. They are patient and affectionate, careful, and loving mothers.

I know, I know…things have been quiet on the blogging home front this past month. I have a few picture-laden posts in the works, so prepare for a week of updates. For now,  I invite you to head on over to my hubby’s blog to see his post about our Fourth of July, including a great slide show.

We staked out a nice grassy spot by the river just before dusk.  Siena had a grand ol’ time taking in the sights before the show – people, dogs, sparklers, boats, waves, sunset, moonrise, and even low-flying antique airplanes.

Hawk in Winter took some great long exposure shots of the fireworks, although we wish we’d turned the camera around to capture Siena’s reaction to them. Eyebrows up, eyes wide, mouth in an “ooooh” shape – pretty adorable. Once the show was over, it took a looooong time for the crowd to clear.

Instead of idling in our car, we enjoyed some idyllic family time on the grass. The temperature was perfect as I rested my head on hubby’s stomach and Siena slept on mine. (I figure if I lost any Momma points by keeping Siena up so late, I earned some back by bringing her pajamas along.) Hawk in Winter called his family, and as I listened to his side of the conversation I thanked God for my family, my country, and the fact that life is peppered with memorable moments such as these.

Siena’s little buddy London has appeared a few times on Hawk in Winter’s blog. We have pictures of London and Siena both dressed as Tigger, and dressed up for St. Valentine’s Day. I got to watch London again on Saturday and was surprised how easy it was this time! (Last time they both got hungry at the same time. Very hungry…)

This time, they started off playing in The Box. (See the post just before this one where I introduced The Box.)

I couldn’t believe that Siena, the kid who looks at me like I’m crazy if I offer a pacifier, was completely fascinated with London’s pacifier. I guess she figured if it’s good enough to be in London’s mouth, it’s worth trying in hers.

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London didn’t put up much of a fuss…

…maybe because he got her back by trying to take the ring out of her mouth.

I washed and hid the pacifier, then put them both in “the dog run” (again, see previous post) where they had more room and more toys. London got hungry so I made him a bottle. I knew Siena wasn’t hungry, but she was very interested in London’s bottle. So I gave her a bottle of water and we were good to go.

London is an awesome napper, and since he got sleepy first I put him in Siena’s crib. He slept peacefully for the next two and a half hours until his parents came home. Once I’d nursed Siena, she fell asleep too, so I lay her on a sheepskin on the floor where she slept like an angel…for about a half hour. It was long enough for me to take some pictures though, which I had fun tweaking in Adobe Lightroom.

I finished sweeping my floors during that little window where both babies were sleeping, then got back into Momma mode once Siena was up. We all look forward to London coming over again soon. (Maybe he can teach my daughter how to nap!)

Remember when I posted about Siena constantly falling down and screaming, between being a new crawler and a brand new pull-to-stand-er? Well, I’ve devised some creative solutions. To keep her from repeatedly smacking her head into the hard sides of her crib, I borrowed the portable (and soft sided!) crib from my parents. With so little room in the nursery, I decided to just plop it right inside the real crib. Works pretty well!

Oh, and putting her in the sleep sack keeps her from getting up on her feet, too

As for all her faceplants while she’s crawling and playing on the floor…

I’ve tried a few things. I put four interlocking foam mats together into a square to make a softer surface, and tried using furniture as a border around it.

She just scooted the barriers as she pulled to stand on them…then fell on her face. So I pulled the couch away from the wall and put the foam mats all in a row.

We call this “the dog run” and it can keep her occupied for quite a while as long as I rotate the toys. She has just started to get fussy when she can’t see me, which led to the newest addition to our household:

Introducing, The Good Old Fashioned Cardboard Box! (The Box, for short)

I love that I can scoot The Box around to the different parts of the house I’m working in and she’s contained and content. Our standing Siena is finally starting to plop to a sitting position rather than fall forward or backward like a plank, so soon these creative little solutions won’t be needed. Until then, I thought they were cute enough to share.

Can you believe…

that from these pictures…

taken at her six month vaccinations….

to these pictures today at her seven month vaccinations…

she gained nearly two pounds and a full inch??

Me neither.

Then I realized it was actually two months ago that she had her last measurements taken, since last month was just vaccines. Here she was at five months:

So I guess it’s not as dramatic a change as I’d thought. So much for this blog post!

Let’s start again:

Here are some pictures of Siena at the doctor in the past three months. While we’re at it, you can click here to see pictures from her very first doctor visit.

Yay. I’m going to bed. Growing babies make tired Mommas.

Hey guess what? I won a contest! I won’t be able to use my prize right away, since it’s meant to help reduce nausea and morning sickness. (NO, this is not an announcement that we’re expecting again! Sheesh.)

It’s called a Psi Band and I had my choice of colors. I went with black, since I’ll be able to wear it with more outfits. Not as fun as the others, but I was sick for over six months of my pregnancy with Siena so if history repeats itself I”ll be ready to try anything. If there’s anything to the whole acupressure thing, I probably won’t want to ever take it off. 

The contest was through Mom4Life.com, a site I discovered when looking for a good deal on BabyLegs (very helpful for Infant Potty Training, which I mentioned in this post).  I got such a kick out of looking through the site, since it’s full of products made for moms, mostly invented and made BY moms. 

I also won a drawing with my BabyLegs purchase, which meant I got a deal on my next purchase of  a Secure2Me UVA/UVB protective blanket with clips so it won’t fall  off the carseat/stroller/swing/baby carrier… you get the idea.

But so far my absolute favorite products from Mom4Life.com are the Blush topless undershirts. I wish I’d known about them when I was pregnant, since they would have  helped cover my growing belly as a simple layer underneath my regular, non-maternity tops.

I didn’t discover them too late though (unlike the Psi Bands)! I’m loving using them for nursing, since I don’t really like exposing my stomach and back when I lift up the bottom of my shirt to nurse. Nursing tops with easy access on top are great and all, but I can’t exactly buy a complete wardrobe just for  nursing. This thing helps me stay modest, keeps me from getting chilly, and gives me a cute layered look without wearing a full camisole or tank top.  I never really played with the layered look before but I think I’ll keep using it even when I’m not nursing. 

 

So, since I have had good luck winning things with this website, I thought I’d be a winner and tell you about them. Did I mention that this post also enters me in a huge contest? You can enter, too. Just be sure you have some time to surf around the site, cuz Mom4Life.com is full of innovative stuff to make motherhood just a little bit easier and more fun! And anything that can do that is definitely a winner in my book.

Siena’s Half-Birthday/May Day Block Party was beautifully decorated (if I do say so myself) ….

but not very well attended.

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We had almost as many dogs in attendance as people!

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We met one new family, and talked with the two families we’d previously met.

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Siena enjoyed the balloons…

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…especially when the wind blew them down toward her.

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She had a great time with our five year old neighbor (who was tickled to be at her second butterfly themed birthday party in one day, as evidenced by her painted face).

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I took pictures with the SLR until its battery died.

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Then I took pictures with our point-and-shoot until *its* battery died.

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Last resort was pictures with the cell phone…

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until IT DIED TOO!

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So these pictures will have to do!(Woah. I’m not kidding – my laptop just warned me that its battery is about to die!)

Siena hits the seven month mark today! When she turned six months old, you might remember that we celebrated three ways:  a half birthday block party, starting solids, and starting this blog. Today let’s “celebrate” with an update on those three things, shall we?

Half birthday block party -

I was waiting to publish the block party post I’ve been working on, because I wanted to figure out how to include some pretty adorable video that’s too large to upload with our blog software. It looks like the best video choice would require uploading to and streaming from YouTube, but without the permission of all the neighbors appearing in the video, that doesn’t seem quite right. So in a few minutes here I’ll publish that post, sans video.

Starting solids -

In the past month Siena has tasted baby rice cereal in a variety of thicknesses,  as well as mixed with both expressed milk and water. She’s tasted guacamole when we were eating out at a deli, which prompted me to later try avocado as a finger food at home. (So many delicious avocado chunks ended up on the floor that I decided to wait for better fine motor control before trying again. I didn’t mind sacrificing Rice Chex though, so I’ve been getting those a bit soggy and letting her practice her pincer grasp with them instead. They stick to her fingers better, so more make it to her mouth.)

Here are a few cell phone photos, for what they’re worth:

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Even with her limited repertoire, she makes her preferences known when it comes to eating, lemme tell ya! I had read in Child of Mine that’s it’s good to hold the spoon a few inches in front of her to see if she’s ready for another bite, and to wait for her to indicate that she’d like some more. The book said she’d indicate that she’d like some more by leaning forward and opening her mouth.  Siena didn’t read the “indicating that you’d like some more” section of the book though, so she tells me she’s ready by grabbing onto the spoon and helping my hand bring it to her mouth! Just yesterday she fussed and kicked when I offered the spoon, and I realized she wanted more Rice Chex instead!

Starting this blog -

I have enjoyed using this blog as a venue for sharing updates and pictures of Siena, but I wish I didn’t have to spend so long on each post. Hawk in Winter tells me it will get faster as I become more familiar with the code, particularly when it comes to arranging the pictures the way I want them.

Maybe by her eight month birthday we’ll have pictures of OUR family in the header, rather than the ones that came with the theme. ;-D