Mommy and Me Party

Since Lulu was 3 weeks old, we have attended the Mommy and Me group at the hospital where she was born. AT first i thought the lady who lead the group was a little wacko I have come to like her and respect her opinion on all things baby related. Since we are now 4 months old, we have to promote to the next group. Monday was our Halloween party. Lulu was a Polar Bear.

Jazmin and Lulu. Jazmin is 5 days older than Lulu and they have attended group together since the start.

These are all of the babies in the morning 0-4 month group. Hard to believe that there is an afternoon group too. Whenever I look at all of these babies, I keep thinking that someday they will all be in kindergarten together.

She was not that much of a partier. She got tired and slept on Nanny. So since this was our promotion week, we decided to double our partying fun. We attended our first 4-8 month Mommy and Me class Thursday morning. We had some special guests join us for the fun. Check out the fun pictures.

Dedication

Sunday we publicly dedicated our girl to the Lord. Nanny hosted a little family brunch after church.

Nanny and Papa with the guest of honor.

Hank and Haddie joined the fun.

Lee's parents with the girl.

This is Aunt Laine and Cousin Jared. Jared is 22 months old and only 6 pounds heavier than the girl. Poor guy, you can barely see him behind her healthy-sized noggin.

State Neighbors Return

Our state neighbors decided to come and visit again. The first night they were there after all of the kids were tucked into bed and all of the fathers were left at home, the ladies went out. Katie, Kers, Nanny, Tara and I went to Carlos to enjoy half price margaritas and each others company. My two naturally blonde sisters showing their most natural smiles.

Saturday morning we had a family movie watching. Nanny, Amelia, Hank, Junie, Kers, Katie, Mac and I wet to see High School Musical 3.

After 15 minutes of, "When is the movie going to start?" It finally started. And then after previews and 3 minutes of movie, the screen went blank and the lights came on. Uh oh.

Disappointed faces.

Never fear, they got the movie fixed and we got to see the rest. We all liked it, but I am not sure I liked as well as it predecessors.

4 mo

We had our 4 month appointment today and everything is terrific. Before the shots. She isn't quite sure where she is or why she is naked.

After the shots pose. Her face seemed to say, "Why did you guys do this to me? You knew what they were going to do. You let them hurt me." And about 60 seconds later I think she had forgotten why she was crying.

She weighed 16lbs and was 25.5 inches long. 90% for both so at least she is proportional.


****Nanny said to tell everyone, "My other jacket isn't pink, it's MAUVE!"

Biker Nanny

So, the other day I walked into church and this was the first thing I saw:

98% of the time our Nanny dresses stylishly. She is the best dressed 65 year old I know. Thankfully she has three daughters, and we all try to help her avoid her favorites: Alfred Dunner, elastic waists, and brightly colored floral blazers.

Although this new jacket is neither AD, elastic, or floral, I am not sure I am a big fan of it. Anyone have any thoughts? Garbage bag? Motorcycle mama? Pleather Barbie?

Thanks for being good blog fodder, Nanny!

Poor Nanny!

Nanny had cataract surgery (I always thought it was just for elderly people too) this week. Papa drove her to the hospital, and lulu and I picked her up. She had 3 hours to wait before the doctor rechecked her. Can you see how dilated it is? Apparently they laser the eyeball open, take something out, replace it, and close it up...oh yeah, all this while she is awake. Who knew? Nanny said it didn't hurt. She said it was uncomfortable and she really wanted to blink but her eye was taped open.

In our family, Panera's is a panacea. Nanny wasn't allowed to lift anything over 10 lbs, but she thought it would be okay if Lulu was handed to her and sat on her lap.

As I look at this picture, I realize how funny it might be for someone not in our family. If you enlarge the picture look at Papa, you can see 4 empty butter containers and his knife is in the 5th. Upon further inspection you can also see a huge chunk of muffin at the corner of his mouth. We love him just the way he is...most of the time.

The next day Nanny was feeling much better, she even multitasked: talking on her cell phone, sitting with the girl and trying to look nonchalant.

I broke her first.

So I have always wondered whether Lee or I would be the first one to break the girl. It was me.

The other morning she and I were chatting and I noticed a scratch on her cheek. So when we were getting dressed, I grabbed the clippers. I clip her nails about twice a week because they grow so stinking fast; so I am pretty much a pro at it. I found the offending nail and squeezed down on the clippers. I realized that I didn't hear the click of metal cutting nail and looked at her. She wasn't crying and didn't seem upset. About 10 seconds later, the lower lip came out and then the wail. I looked the finger and saw blood.

I am not so good with blood, so I just followed my instincts. I scooped her up and put her finger in my mouth (probably not very sanitary, but I didn't even think about it). She only cried for about 30 seconds and then she was fine. Unfortunately, the bleeding did not stop after 30 seconds. I kept trying to put pressure on it, but every time I looked or she grabbed my fingers, it would start bleeding again. I ran to the bathroom to get another Kleenex, and when I came back, I looked at her she had blood on her leg and her belly. She must have been wriggling around and accidentally painted her body with blood.

I tried to make a bandage with a small bandaid and some medical tape, but she got it off about 2 minutes.

I had to use a normal bandaid and medical tape, but it stayed on. She chewed on it most of the day and it looked much worse then it was.

Have I ever mentioned at the my husband is a hypochondriac? I sent him a picture message of her poor finger with my cell phone and he responded by texting, "The bleeding doesn't seem to be stopping very quickly. Do you think she has a clotting disorder?" I mean really, Lee. Can you imagine if he would have broken her first?

I am not sure where this outfit came from, but I thought she looked like a tiny, flamboyant matador. She just needed a red cape. Ole.

I tried to tell her not to wear white pants after Labor Day, but she just didn't listen.

Bloomsbury Farm

Last weekend after all of our Oktoberfest fun we went home and took a nap. Later that evening we went to Bloomsbury Farm with Lee's family. BF is geared toward slightly older (than 3.5 months) kids, but we had fun anyway.

They have this skywalk system where the goats and llamas can walk up planks and get food. Silly goats. You can also buy them food and send it up a shoot to lure the animals up.

Cousin Jared trying to figure out why there is another baby present. He is not a big fan of Lulu quite yet. He usually cries and points at her.

My favorite part of the evening...Pig Races. If you look closely you can see the contestants running on the track.

I was cheering for the black and white one, Jay Piggo. My pig ending up inching out the competition, David Piggerman, Oprah Pigfrey and Pigus Hilton. The emcees had a multitude of pig jokes (ie: what do you can pig who write to one another? Pen pals...etc). Never a dull moment at the pig races.

Cousin Jared went on the tracker ride. I mostly like this picture because the corn is so tall and looks cool.

Reading with Dad

Of all the times for my camera to flash, "Memory Card Full" at me. The other day Lee was talking about how he was excited to read books to the girl. I told him to try. He thought it was silly, but Lulu loved it. She didn't make a noise and liked the pictures. As you can see, Lee likes to add a little to the printed words.

Oktoberfest Fun

Although we aren't German, we decided to celebrate Oktoberfest anyway. We jumped in the car and met the family for the parade. Family portrait watching the parade.

Her new favorite thing is standing up.

Mac was enjoying the parade. I think he was waving at the floats passing by.

The whole gang (Junie, Nanny, Lydia, Mike, Holly, Tara, Amelia, Haddie, Kers, Hank, Mac, Katie, Lee and Lulu) in the Amanas watching the parade.

All six grandkids posing. This was the first pictures with the two new additions.

Lulu getting hugs from Hank while Junie was cheesing (or growling) for the camera.

Amelia and Mac with Haddie enjoying a cookie from Nanny.

Nanny with the babes (yes, that is her natural smile).

Katie and her kids.

Mom wanted a picture with her three girls.

Just because it is a cute picture...

Adult beverages and brats for breakfast.

I had to take a picture of this guy. I mean seriously...Oktoberfest is for Germans, not Celts. And even so...I am not sure this is a kilt; I think it might just be a creepy guy with long hair wearing a skirt.

A random man walking down the street wearing lederhosen.

Lulu got a little tired of festivities. So she fell asleep in her dad's arms.

Family Bonding

Thursday evening Katie and her family came to Iowa to visit (obviously...we are state-neighbors now). Friday Uncle Scott and Lulu bonded.

Friday night Lee and I hosted the whole crew for a little grill out. Lee and Lulu were waiting patiently for the guests to arrive. He was also teaching her the faux pas of wearing "double denim."

Tuni was also waiting for the guests although she was banished to the basement after their arrival. Poo girl...

Only so much outdoor excitement for this crew...they are snuggled up on the couch to watch Peter Pan.

Is there a medication for this...

Friday night the family gathering was at out house. I was making a potato recipe that called for the potatoes to be sliced 1/4 inch thick. I thought I was doing a pretty good job, but I wanted to be sure. So, I pulled out my trusty ruler to make sure the slices were of the right width. How'd I do?

and for good measure...