Whooooo Wants Cookies?

The inspiration for these owl cookies came from SweetSugarBelle. They were fun to make. They don't look as good as hers, but I think not too bad for my first attempt at them.

Happy Fall!

Even though it's still about 90 degrees here most days, slowly but surely the temperatures are cooling off and fall is finding its way in. We have also finally been getting some wonderful rain!

And to help get us all into the spirit of fall, here's a cute little pumpkin:

We are busy gearing up for Halloween and Bailey's first birthday on November 2. I can't believe she's almost 1 year old! She is still on the go and has started standing on her own and even taking some steps. She has gotten to the point where she can take several steps at once before she falls or just sits down. Crawling is still her preferred mode of transportation, but she's picking up on the walking thing quickly. It won't be long now before she is running all over the place. It's amazing to watch her grow and learn new things every day. Here is a little bit of what we've been up to lately:

Visiting Cousin Luca

This was a rare moment

I <3 my uncle

I'm getting her started early

First time wearing real shoes

First time standing on her own

September 16, 2011 - Bailey looking at her new baby cousin, Colton, for the first time

Getting acquainted

2nd Graders

A couple of weeks ago I substituted for my sister-in-law Lisa's 2nd grade class. One of the assignments she left for the kids to do was some math worksheets. They were learning about double and triple digit numbers and place value (ones, tens, and hundredths). One section of one of the worksheets had three questions that asked what number came before or after a number or what came between two numbers.  i.e. What number comes after 300? What number comes before 669? What number comes between 430 and 432? The fourth question of that section asked them to make up a number and write a riddle (using this word was probably confusing) with the words "before," "after," or "between," just like in the previous examples.
Lisa instructed me to have the kids bring their work to me to check and for me to send them back to their seat to correct any problems that they missed. It was Friday, we were nearing the end of the day, and the kids had been pretty wound up all day. So there I was trying to focus on checking their work as they lined up at my desk, while also trying to maintain some control while the rest of them were bouncing off the walls. Things were a little harried to say the least.

One boy in particular I had sent back to fix some of the problems, and when he brought it back to me to re-check, this is what I read for question #4: Directions: Make up a number and write a riddle about it using the words "before," "after," or between." Answer: "What did the cow say to the hen?" I couldn't read the answer, but it had something to do with "beff" (beef).

I couldn't keep a straight face.

9 Months

Bailey is now 9 months old. At her 9 month checkup, she weighed 15 lbs 9 oz., height was 26.5 inches, and head circumference was 17.5 inches. This puts her in the almost 10th percentile for weight, 11th for length, and 67th for head circumference. I think she is just really smart. : )

And so that I will have these all in one place, here are her stats from all her other checkups:

2 weeks:
Height - 19 inches (5.7%)
Weight - 5.9 lbs (2.02%)
FOC (Head Circumference) - 13-1/4 inches (4.1%)

2 months:
Height - 20.5 inches (2.18%)
Weight - 7 lbs 1 oz. (0.3%)
FOC - 14.5 inches (7.6%)

4 months:
Height - 24 inches (39%)
Weight - 10 lbs 8 oz (2%)
FOC - 15-3/4 inches (23%)

6 months:
Height - 25 inches (20.37%)
Weight - 13 lbs 12 oz. (8.91%)
FOC - 16-3/4 inches (22.84%)


At 9 months, she is crawling all over the place. There is no stopping her now.

She mostly does this crawl with two hands, one leg, and one foot.

She's also pulling up on anything she can reach to stand up. And....we've got our first tooth! It actually popped up just before she reached 9 months.

If you look closely, you can just see it on the bottom.

I will miss her toothless grin when she has a mouth full of teeth.


Here are some things we have done in the last few weeks:

A trip to Pineville:

Sitting in our old high chair

Sitting in her Bailey-sized chair

Playing with crayons at Cracker Barrel 

With Cousin Paige at Cajun Catfish

With Uncle Adam and Cousin Lilly

While we were there, we took Bailey to Ms. Cony's to get her hair cut:

Bailey also got to visit with Maw Maw....

ride with G-Bob on the lawnmower....

and swim in her very own pool.

A couple of shots before bed:

A couple of weeks ago Bailey had her first experience at Chuck E. Cheese :

First sippy cup:

Bailey has now also had her first taste of dog food. It must not be that bad because she didn't spit it out. (Don't worry, I fished it out of her mouth.) Sadly, I didn't get a picture to document the occasion.

Also, a couple of weeks ago she took a steak knife from a restaurant, which we didn't find until we got home. Thankfully she did not hurt herself with it. I plan to return the knife on our next visit to said restaurant.

This is all I have for now, but now that I am somewhat caught up, I will really try to update more often. I have lots of pictures to post!