Swing & video 5.24.12

Jeralyn's new swing came in the mail and we finally had a perfect evening to put up the swing (well, Quent put up the swing, we just watched!).  She loves her swing!  And it's so nice to have right outside our house for her to enjoy!  And we have it hanging below our deck/car port for those light rainy days.

Sorry for the poor quality of this video.  I'm not sure why it's so bad...

Mama & Baby 5.24.12

After dinner we played outside for a bit while Quent put up Jeralyn's new swing.  We also noticed our neighbor's got a puppy, so we had to check that out (sorry, no pictures of the puppy).  It was a sweet evening together!  And I just LOVE these pictures:

Giving me kisses!

Garden 5.24.12

This is our third year with our raised garden.  Each year we learn something new and plant something different.  Last year we had a lot of disappointment because of the cool and wet weather, so we are hoping for a better year.  So far this year we have planted radishes, green onions, cilantro, carrots, green beans, lettuce, and peas (I'm probably forgetting something though).

The radishes are doing really well!

Our little garden.  Last year we put up the hoops and plastic to make it more like a green house.  It's a good thing that we did because we probably wouldn't have harvested anything.

9 Months!! 5.24.12

It's hard to believe that 9 months ago this little cutie-pie was born!  And it's even harder to believe that in just 3 months she will be 1!!!  I think I say this every time she hits another month mark.  I made sure to take a lot of pictures today in celebration of 9 months.  It's getting to be quite a challenge to take pictures of her because she's ON THE MOVE!  I am happy with the results.  These are my favorite pictures of Jeralyn from today:

She now fits into 12 month clothing.  And with that size comes a lot of dresses.  I don't think of dressing up myself, and it is the same for baby girl.  I just don't think of putting her in a dress.  Anyway, so I am making a mental note to dress this little doll up because she has a lot of cute dresses for this size!

She was chomping down on this side of her mouth a lot today.  Lots and lots of drool!  The teeth are on the move!

Today was GORGEOUS!  Like super duper awesome totally amazingly beautiful!  Clear skies!  Mid to upper 60's!  AMAZING!  (Hey Tash, are you hiding out somewhere on the island because we only have this kind of weather when you are here?!  I know it's probably hard to believe, BUT the only *really* nice day we had last summer was when you were here!)  And tomorrow is supposed to be another awesome day, too!

So I took her outside on a blanket and we enjoyed the perfect breeze in the only shade I could find in our yard.

See, there she goes again chomping down and if you look real close you can see some drool on her chin.

Playing with a dandelion I picked for her.  She put it in her mouth to taste, but it must have not tasted very good to her because she quickly pulled it out.

This expression and her face reminds me of a picture of my brother around this age.

I just love this hat!

I hadn't taken toe pictures for a long time.

This picture makes me want to kiss her sweet little lips!

Also, she had her 9 month check-up a few days ago and she's 20 lb 9 oz.  She is in the 75-90 percentile for weight/height/head circumference.  The doctor said that there's no sign from looking at her gums of any new teeth popping through anytime soon, despite the drool.  She said she has "slow-moving" teeth.  It's been 2 months since her second tooth popped through.  She's healthy and doing well!

There are more pictures that were taken today, but it's time to get some shut eye!  Until tomorrow...

Puffy Cloud 5.23.12

I love clouds!  And even though we live in a rainforest and get a lot of rain, we don't see a lot of cool clouds.  So these clouds got my attention.  There were other stacks of clouds, but the trees were preventing my ability to see them.  These clouds made me miss the Midwest and watching storm clouds build throughout the day.  They aren't as impressive in this photo.

Standing in crib 5.22.12

She's been practicing standing in the crib for well over a week now, probably more like two weeks.  I know this because her two naps were a little crazy when she was first practicing this skill.  I think the novelty has worn off now.  *crossing fingers*  She sure is proud of her new skill!  And I love coming into her room to get her in the morning or after a nap and she's standing, ready for me to get her.

Jumping Outside 5.19.12

If I ask Jeralyn, "Where is your Jumperoo?" she knows right where it is!  And now she goes up to it, grabs onto one of the polls and starts this jumping motion.  So the Jumperoo is back in style for this baby girl!  Plus it gives Mommy a break from keeping her out off too much trouble.  Whew!  

On this beautiful day I thought it would be fun to bring the Jumperoo out onto the deck.  It was easy to slide out the door, so that's what I did.  And she loved it!

We've been noticing her doing that cute lip thing where she bites down on one side of her bottom lip.  Would you like to guess where she gets that from?  From her mama!  I have been guilty of making that same expression, but it's much more adorable on her!

Eating peas May 2012

Instagram May 2-18, 2012

More photos from Instagram:

Jeralyn LOVES blueberries!  If there's a blueberry on her tray, she knows about it!

She enjoyed the goulash!

Sitting in the grass with a sun bonnet on her cute little head.  I had to keep her from eating everything she kept finding in the grass.

An interesting tourist shop.

Eating lunch outside Quent's work.

One of the Ketchikan harbors.

Eating blueberry breakfast cobbler.  She picked out all of the blueberries first.

Eating [for the second time] parts of a stew I made the previous night.  It included butternut squash, quinoa, chicken, tomatoes, and olives.  She liked the olives and squash the best.

Black bear, black bear... 5.15.12

This morning at about 8:40 am I was feeding Jeralyn breakfast.  I happened to glance out the window and saw what I thought was a dog at first, but no, it was a BEAR!  It was slowly walking through, passed our house (going through part of our driveway) and then up the path between our house and our neighbors house.  It was in no hurry, but I was to grab my camera.  No dogs were barking.  Where are those annoying barking dogs that wake me early in the morning?  Time to take down the bird feeders (oh wait, we didn't even bother putting one up this year because of what's happened previous years), and time to store the garbage cans in our shed again, and time to arm one's self with a gun bear spray when playing in the yard.  Should I put a sign up in the yard for the bears that reads, "Beware of MOM!"?

5.14.12

What a cutie!

Mother's Day 5.13.12

My first official Mother's Day as a mother!  It was grand!  Jeralyn and Quent gave me cards, a big heart balloon that says 'Happy Mother's Day', Quent made me breakfast, and [tried to] take me out to dinner!  We went to church, she napped, and then we went on a short hike on the Perseverance Trail near Ward Lake.  We didn't go too far on the trail because the Forest Service is doing trail maintenance.  We stopped at the 'end' of the trail and fed Jeralyn banana and Cheerios.  It was a great day all together and my heart was overflowing with joy!  I love being a mother!  And I sure do love my little girl!

Cantaloupe 5.11.12

This was the first time Jeralyn tried cantaloupe!  She really liked it!

Playing with Tupperware 5.9.12

I honestly didn't think I would let her play with my Tuppeware bowls, but I caved in!  She had fun for a few minutes and then it was onto something else--probably trying to play in the cat water dish!