Sitting Up and Sweet Potatoes

Siena is really getting after things these days! I just love watching her grow more and more every day. She is such a joy to watch...and it forces me to look at the world through the eyes of a child. Who would have thought mashed up sweet potatoes or sitting up all by yourself could be the greatest of things? But they are...
I have decided to take on the task of making Siena's baby food. I really love to cook, and although I can't make great pasta dishes or pieces of meat for her (yet), I thought it would be a fun little adventure for me to take on. I tend to be a little bit of a perfectionist, so sometimes I find that I make it way more difficult than it actually has to be. But I think that may be a common thread in a number of things I do. :) That being said, it's a really great feeling to finally sit down with a small hunk of potatoes and see how she reacts to the new tastes and textures. I never thought I would get so excited.
We started out the first couple of weeks with boring, ol' rice cereal. After 2 weeks of that, I went to the store, bought 6 huge sweet potatoes, cooked them up, threw them in the food processor, and distributed them into little baby ice cube trays to freeze. It's super handy! I just make up a ton of little cubes, throw them in a freezer bag, and now I can just pull them out whenever she's ready to eat! It's great! She really caught on super quick. She of course made funny faces and got the food all over the place, but I didn't hear any complaints! I have fed her sweet potatoes in the morning for 4 mornings in a row, just to make sure she liked them and had no allergic reactions to them. So far so good! Next on the list is avocados, or as we like to call it, "baby guac". It's been really fun to watch her get the hang of eating and start to really enjoy and look forward to food.
At first, she was more interested in playing with the food and the spoon. Now, she actually lets me feed her, and just sits there waiting for the next bite.




Also, in the past week, Siena has decided to sit up on her own. It was kind of an all-of-a-sudden thing. One day she was still pretty wobbly and you couldn't leave her to sit up on her own. Now, she's a pro! It's fun to see her sitting up, playing with her toys, and gaining enough balance to reach for things around her. Every once in a while, we hear a little clunk, and she's toppled over on her side...but even that doesn't seem to bother her too much. I think she feels like a big girl too..or in this case, a big koala bear. :)
Man, Siena's growing up fast! The best journey ever though...

Our Little Snow Bunny

The weather has been crazy this winter! But I must say, it has been beautiful. Blame it on the Michigan blood flowing through my veins, but winter is a really great time of the year. I love the days where it's super cold, crisp, and sunny outside. When you breathe in the air, it feels good going through your lungs. Bundled up in a cute scarf and sunglasses...my favorite. We had one of those days earlier this week. Siena needed to know what that wonderful feeling is like.
We bundled her up and headed outside. What was especially cool was the trees. A few days prior, we had a rain/snow wintery mix. Because we got some rain first, when the temperatures were above freezing, the wet rain ended up freezing on the trees. With the bright sun and blue skies, the tree limbs look gorgeous! It almost looks like they have Christmas lights on them. Driving down a street with big trees on both sides was so pretty to look at...they were like ice sculptures lining both sides of the road. Stunning. Our trees in the back yard were no different. A nice little moment to capture...







PS. A funny little side note...watching Siena with mittens on is quite funny. For that young of babies, they don't make mittens with thumb holes. So, it's almost like she's wearing a sock around her hand. Being that she puts everything in her mouth, including her fingers, it was a strange mystery to her why her fingers felt so weird in her mouth and why she couldn't reach out and grab for things like she normally does. She kept looking at her hand wondering what on earth was blocking her fingers! They sure looked cute covering her little "sausage links", but I'm not sure what a fan she was of them... :)

Photo Shoot!

Siena and I were lucky enough to have Matt home all day yesterday due to yet another snow day! Kansas City hasn't seen a winter like this in a really long time...lots of snow and lots of bitter temperatures. I guess I can't say I'm complaining...for now. Come the end of May, I may wish they weren't still in school making up all the days they had off in the winter. Oh well...
We certainly used our time off together wisely - we created an in-home 6 month photo shoot! Matt takes some really great photos and has a really great eye for it. So, instead of paying a lot of money for professional baby photos, we had a really great time creating our own. Siena was a trooper too. She played along with all my "outfit changes" very well and even gave us some great smiles. Granted, I was jumping around behind Matt like a maniac trying to get some big smiles out of my child, but I have learned that babies make adults do ridiculous things...why should it be any different for a photo?! :)
Speaking of ridiculous, I have to admit, Siena definitely got the last laugh. In the photos with the white bloomers and white bow, I decided not to put a diaper on Siena. I didn't want those ugly things to ruin a cute picture. Everything was going so great, and my favorite pictures ended up being of her in that outfit. She was smiling and having a good ol' time...I found out quickly just how much fun she was having. She peed all over the black sheet she was laying on...and her white bloomers were soaked! No wonder we got such good smiles from her! I had to laugh - that's what I get for wanting the "cute, no diaper" look. :) Oh well, makes for a good story, right?
So, without further ado, I present to you...Siena Grace, 6 months old. Photos taken by Matt Marble Photography. (I got a really good deal on the photo package from the photographer...) :)

Feed Me!!

Siena has finally been introduced to the wonderful world of food! I think "me milk" was getting a little boring to her...so we're spicing things up with a little rice cereal! (I know, watch out...big flavor there!) Matt and I decided we wanted to wait to feed Siena solid foods until she was 6 months old. She has been very content with the "me milk" thus far and well...it's free! So, might as well take advantage of that...it won't last long, I'm sure!
She was ultra curious about all of it. I put her in her high chair, strapped a bib on her, and away we went! She didn't really make any gross or weird faces, but she did give a rather puzzled look as to what that could possibly be in her mouth. What I thought was the funniest part was the fact that she already was proving her independent nature - she wanted to do it all herself. From the very first spoonful, I had to hold her hands down so I could get the spoon near her mouth! Cracked me up. After the first few bites, I gave her the spoon and let her experiment. She knew right where that spoon went, that's for sure! She would get really excited and squeal "da, da, da" and little projectiles got me in the face. I'll let it slide right now while she's learning...but after that, it's on! :) I don't know what most babies eat their first go around, but she almost ate the entire little bowl of cereal. She was a champ! She really seemed to enjoy the food and she didn't mind that it got up her nose, in her hair, and behind her ears. :) That's all part of the fun of eating, right? Matt's still working on perfecting that part...ha! just kidding. :)
She's eating a couple bowls a day for right now. I am planning on making her baby food, so we're going to do the cereal bit for a few days and then introduce some fun flavors...bananas, avocados, squash...mmm, yum. I can't wait to see what that all looks like!
It's crazy to think that Siena is eating food already! She's getting to be such a big girl. It's fun to witness the little milestones in Siena's life. Their little bodies and minds are fascinating! She is still super content, super happy, and she certainly loves her daddy. Her latest "tricks" are: turning her head when she hears her name, rolling all over the place (both ways now!), sitting up with assistance, bringing everything to her mouth - even if she's just doing the motion with her hand to her mouth, squealing, laughing when tickled (and when she gets scared or when people jump around in front of her), and beginning to put her arms up when someone comes to pick her up. Another thing she has been doing lately which is very interesting to us is the backwards wave. Matt and I have been showing her the sign for milk/food before she eats. Basically, it's just the motion of milking the udder of a cow. Lately, she has been doing that a lot. We're not sure if she is copying us or if it is just a coincidence that she is making that hand motion. But all the time, she'll put her arm out and make that hand motion with her little fingers. It's super cute. Maybe we'll just say that she's super smart and is signing to us already that she wants food. :) Ha! Wishful thinking...
Life is good!!!

Love.

Love takes on so many different meanings as we move through life. When you're a little kid, you love everything...the grass, your toys, your teacher, your family, the bugs, etc. Love seems to have no limits when you're little. The innocence of the word at that age is sometimes humbling to those of us who try to put limits around it. They just love. No questions asked. We think we know so much more about love as we get older and yet, maybe we just make it so much more complicated? But then again, as we get older, we learn to love in different ways. I may still love laying in the green grass in the summer but it doesn't compare to the love I have for my husband and my daughter and my family...
And then I think about how much I love Siena and I can't imagine anyone loving anything else more. And yet, God loves us with an unconditional love that I can't even wrap my mind around. He loves Siena more than I'm even capable of. His love for her is unmatched. Blows my mind...
I don't know. I found myself thinking about love and how that word (and all it stands for) has shaped my life. I'm pretty blessed to have love in my life...to love and be loved in return.
Speaking of love, these pictures capture a few people I love a lot...

Grandma and Siena.


Auntie Em and James with a very happy little girl...



Siena, showing off her vocal cords.


Splish-splashin' in the tub...


My precious little Valentine...

Meeting Great Friends

This past weekend, Siena got the opportunity to meet some really great friends of ours. It's been a long time coming and we were very excited to spend the weekend in Columbia. Derek, one of Matt's best friends from college and a football teammate, and Kelli, Derek's wife and a basketball teammate of mine, live in Columbia. We drove down there to visit for the weekend. Tameem, another one of Matt's best friends and football teammates, and Julie, Tameem's girlfriend (and a new friend of mine!), drove down from Iowa City. We all got to hang out and catch up. It was really great.
Matt, Derek, and Tameem are great friends and have a very unique sense of humor when they get together. Us girls just smile and shake our heads while the boys laugh, crack inside jokes, and catch up with each other. I do have to say, it's really fun to watch them all together. I can't ever get Matt to laugh as hard at me as he does with his boys. It's good to see that and really great for Matt to have such great friends. (I can't complain either - Kelli and Julie are wonderful and I always love hanging out with them! We have to stick together when those boys get together!!)
Derek and Kelli had a little son born just a couple months before Siena. Joshua is a sweetheart and it's always fun to put babies together. Siena snatched Joshua's binky a number of times...but don't worry, Joshua stood up for himself and pulled her hair. :) They played with toys, got lots of love from all of us, and made the weekend that much sweeter.
Time goes by way too fast when you're with great friends. It's always hard to say goodbye. Tameem is in residency for orthopedic medicine and is extremely busy. I have complete respect for him and what he's doing right now. He will be a great doctor when all is said and done. So, for now, any chance we get to see him and Julie...we can't pass up!
Thank you Tameem and Julie for driving down to meet Siena and see all of us! Derek and Kelli, thank you for hosting us. Your little one is precious - a great friend to Siena already!

Tameem and Julie with Joshua and Siena.


Tameem and Julie brought down gifts for the little ones...one of them being a Iowa Hawkeye beenie...so cute! Siena loves it!

Mom Moment

I am assuming this will be the first of many of these moments, but I had a major "mom moment" the other day.
I was at a friend's house playing with the babies when I felt a little pea-sized bump underneath Siena's skin. I asked Amanda to feel the bump to make sure I wasn't crazy. Sure enough, she felt it too. I didn't know exactly what it was, so I thought I would just call the pediatrician to see if they could give me the answer. When I called, I guess I must have expected them to just give me an answer over the phone...because when the nurse asked if I would like to take her in to have it looked at, it totally caught me off guard. "Do I need to??" was the only response I could think of. The poor nurse, with a small chuckle in her voice, said, "Well, if you would like to have someone look at it, you probably need to bring Siena in so we can see her!" Duh, right... :)
So, I decided to just go ahead and run up there so they could put any concern to rest. My next thought was Matt. He would probably really like to know that I'm taking his daughter to the doctor. It was during school hours so I texted him, asking him if he could call me. He texted back, "Emergency?" I wasn't sure how to answer that. I didn't want to scare him but at the same time, I wanted to talk to him. So, I texted him back saying, "Well, not really bad, but it would be great if you could call me." So, after some conversation, he got someone to cover his class, and he drove up to the doctor as well. The drive up to the doctor was not my favorite. Your mind can play VERY MEAN tricks on you. But for the most part, I was good. I wasn't too worried at all. I prayed driving up there that I would have peace in my heart and that Siena would be fine.
After waiting for a bit in the waiting room, we met with Dr. Dean, who was really great. She put all concern to rest and said it was probably just lymph nodes that I was just now noticing. She made me feel a lot better when she said she was super conservative and a mom herself, and if she thought there might even be the slightest question, she would check it out with an ultrasound or something. So that was really great to hear. Everything was all good. :)
However, while Dr. Dean was talking to us and I was asking questions to make sure I understood "doctor talk" (ha!), all of a sudden, I looked at Matt and whispered, "Get up, I need to sit down!" He was sitting in a chair next to the doctor table where Siena was laying. I was standing up next to Siena, blocking her barrel rolls that she is such a big fan of. I thought I was going to pass out! I broke out into an immediate sweat. My face was sweating, my stomach was sweating, my legs were sweating. I felt all the color leave my face and I got real light-headed. I was wiping my forehead of the sweat, still trying to play it off and talk to the doctor. He gets up, I sit down, and put my head between my legs. I was certain I was just going to fall right off the chair. Dr. Dean leaves the room, assuring us that is all is great and Siena looks happy and healthy, and I had to sit there for a few minutes to compose myself. Fortunately, I didn't actually pass out. Matt joked, asking if he needed to call the doctor back in to look at me! All was fine after a couple of minutes, and we walked out of the office, thrilled that everything was okay.
Apparently, the doctor visit and the slight concern I had for Siena must have gotten to me. I didn't think I was all the concerned or anything...I guess I was wrong?! I can laugh about it now...how ridiculous! I guess, even subconsciously, you don't realize how much you really love your little one. Boy, do I...
I'm sure that is only the beginning of what life with children will be like. As a parent, you feel responsible for another human's life, and all you want for that little life is happiness and health. Thank God, I have both of those things...