Daily Serena

The Pink & Blue Daily

2011-02-20T21:41:00.003-06:00

Today Bret was born, and as a result, "Daily Serena" will enter the archives!! In its place, a new blog has been started that will accommodate both of our babies! Head on over to "The Pink & Blue Daily" for a continuation of Serena's life along with the new addition of Bret!!

Bathtime Pix Once Again

2011-02-19T22:12:00.003-06:00

Serena was pretty serious about 'washing' her own face in the bath today, heehee!

Tonight, Grandma & Aunt Anna arrived via Uncle Craig & Aunt Danielle! Craig & Danielle stayed to visit for a little while and had pie & ice cream with us. Serena loved having company! When everyone arrived, Jordan & I went out to greet them. A little bit later, Serena came out and Uncle Craig knelt down with arms extended to say hi to her. She walked right up to him and gave him a hug! She had lots of fun playing while they were here and showing off all the neat things she could do with her favorite toys (i.e., riding her horsie, doing her shape sorter and her pop-up toy, etc.). She brought a book to Aunt Danielle and sat on her lap and listened attentively while Danielle read the book to her! It was a really fun night! And we're all so happy that Grandma & Aunt Anna are here! Now we're all ready for Bret to come! :)

"Hi"

2011-02-18T21:05:00.002-06:00

This morning, Serena was talking on her phone (these days, anything becomes a phone: a washcloth, a plate, her doll's bottle; I think this morning it was the play dollar bill from her singing purse) and kept saying "Hi" and then talking a little and then "Hi" again. Up till now, she has not said "Hi," so I called her over and said "Hi" to her and she responded with an enormous grin and a "Hi"!!!! It was SO cute! For the rest of the day, we said "Hi" back and forth countless times. She even mustered up a "Hi" for Aunt Jessie on the phone! Then, tonight as I was changing her diaper and putting on her jammies before bed, she laid there and kept saying ever-so-cheerfully, "Hi!" :D

Here's some pix from today!

Peek!

Serena's new funnest thing to do: climb up on the toilet!

Another gorgeous warm day spent mostly outside!

Playing in the dirt with Rocky always nearby! Rocky is not allowed to dig, so he just watches closely while Serena digs. If she happens to pull up anything of interest (as she apparently did in this picture), he is right there to investigate!

2011-02-17T20:07:00.003-06:00

Video #1: Playing with the horsie. I just thought she was so cute climbing up on the horsie in her Sunday dress! :) And I love the little story she told me about it!

Video #2: "Ooo's." Serena was teasing Rocky outside and I could hear her laughter, so I grabbed the camera. It's so funny how Rocky just puts up with her silliness!! Then, she kept coming in to get more "Oooo's" so I finally got video of that because she would start saying "Ooo's" way back at the door and say it until she got them. But it's not like she's saying it to be demanding; more like she just really enjoys saying the word "Oooo's"! ;) Oh, and I love how Rocky just follows her in and out!

Video #3: Helping feed the dogs and playing with her purse. This week, as part of our morning routine, I've started letting Serena 'help' with feeding the dogs. She thinks it is really special and takes this 'responsibility' very seriously! In the next segment, Serena is playing with her purse. Every time she made the purse giggle, she looked at me with her mouth as wide as it could possibly be! I just thought it was funny!

At Play

2011-02-16T20:08:00.002-06:00

Serena had fun playing outside a lot today. Rocky was by her side pretty much the whole time. They are such pals! She made a big mess scooping dirt (with her hands) onto the patio. She also dragged her baby all over the place outside and they picked dandelions. At one point, Serena threw her baby down and hurried inside to her bedroom. A moment later, she emerged with a diaper which she took straight back to her baby and tried to put on her. Next, it was Rocky's turn to be diapered, haha!

Tonight after supper, Daddy was playing on the floor with Serena. He kept tickling her, so I told her she should try to tickle Daddy. She had this shy grin on her face as she reached over and 'tickled' his arm. "Tick-a-tick-a-tick-a!" It was SO cute!

Serena's baby is a big part of her day-to-day activities!

Lil' Screamer

2011-02-15T19:57:00.003-06:00

Serena loves playing with Daddy. He wrestles with her on the floor, tickles her, throws her in the air, and does all kinds of crazy things with her. She's getting a lot braver lately. She used to start whining when things got too crazy, but now she just screams (and wow, can she ever!) and giggles! Half the time, when Jordan says (in a formidable tone), "I'm gonna get you!" she actually runs toward him rather than away, haha!

Busy Day, Busy Baby

2011-02-14T19:43:00.004-06:00

Happy Valentine's Day, everyone!

We kept pretty busy today. After running errands all morning, Serena took a late nap and slept so long that I finally had to wake her up so she'd be able to go to bed tonight! I'm sure she's just finally catching up on lost sleep from the weekend. :P Jordan got home a little before 3, so after getting Serena up, we walked to Sonic as fast as we could to make it before 'Happy Hour' ended at 4! We might have been a minute or two late, but they still gave us our drinks half-off! :) It was so pretty and warm out today, so it was perfect to have a sweet tea to sip as we walked back home. We stopped at the park and let Serena out of the stroller while the dogs chased each other.

Serena's interactions with Rocky are so entertaining. One minute she's trying to boss him around (to no avail); the next minute she's giving him hugs!

Serena has finally mastered the art of climbing onto the park benches and is so pleased about it!

It just seems like Serena is coming up with all kinds of new funny things to do these days! I often think throughout the day, "Oh, I need to remember to write about that on the blog tonight!" Too often I forget, though. :( I tried to brainstorm a bit so I could do a little catch-up tonight, so here's a few anecdotes from recent days! :)

The way Serena plays with her baby is changing a lot lately. She brings her baby along to have her diaper changed or to sit in her high chair with her while she eats. Today, she gave her baby a ride on the horsie, too. When I was changing Serena's diaper this evening, she was actually tickling her baby (something Daddy had been doing to Serena right before we went to change her diaper)! She wiggled her fingers at the baby's neck and said, "Tick, tick, tick, tick!" Another funny thing she did with her baby today: Serena is not allowed to touch the computer, though her little hands often 'sneak' up to the keyboard if you are holding her and then she gets in trouble. Well, today she made her baby's hand reach up and touch the computer! Isn't that funny?! I was like, "No, baby, you cannot touch the computer either. Just like Serena can't touch the computer." I wasn't really sure how to handle the situation (I mean, Serena wasn't doing it, but she sort of was?), but I thought it was really interesting that Serena was 'acting that out' with her baby!

Serena has gotten a couple Valentines in the mail over the last few days. I read them to her (she was extremely interested and attentive!) and then I put them on the table with her books so she could look at them when she wanted. She loves to 'read' them to herself over and over with lots of expression! This evening, I noticed that she had them in her baby stroller. They were the only things in there and she'd been walking them around the house, heehee!

Supper is generally the only meal that we all 3 sit down together for. Jordan and I usually hold hands while we thank God for our food before eating. In the last couple weeks or so, we've started to include Serena, and it has become one of her favorite things. After I get supper all ready, I put her in her highchair and then scoot her up to the table. She knows what's next, so she extends a hand to each of us, saying, "Mm, mm, mm" until we each take a hand. For about a week, it pleased her so much that she would laugh and laugh and we'd have to try to quiet her down before we could actually pray. Now, she just has a big smile and she usually stays quiet, though sometimes she has some things to say first (I don't know if she's pretending to pray or what)!

Serena is finally starting to get a little more cooperative with trying to say words. For a while there, she would either laugh when we tried to get her to say a new word, or she would just look away and pretend not to hear us. This was after she had already learned (with apparent pleasure) to say a few words like "book" and "up." I have no idea why she stopped trying to say new words, but I'm glad she's opening up to it again! If she seems like she's not going to try, we say the word and then say, "Your turn!" and then she'll give it a shot. So now she's saying "banana" ("na-na-na-na"), "baby ("bay-bay" or sometimes just "bay")," "ball ("ba")," "cheese" ("dee-dee" or sometimes [and I'm not sure why] "da-da"), "dog" ("day") and making attempts at other random words we come up with.

Music is still a huge part of our everyday lives. We have to have some playing pretty much all day long, whether at home or in the car. When we are at stores, if Serena hears some music, she'll start waving her arm and saying, "Uh, uh, uh" to me in very urgent tones until I acknowledge that I hear the music too. She did the same thing today when we were walking and a car drove by with the windows down and the radio blaring!

Last night, Serena was wearing a sweatshirt with pockets, so I put a toy cell phone in one of them. She thought it was the neatest thing! She tried putting it in and out, but it was kinda hard for her to do since the toy was kinda big. Anyway, she finally got it in and I told her to go show Daddy. You should have seen her strut over to Jordan and just walk on by him with her shoulders back and her belly sticking out! She thought she was something else with that cell phone in her pocket! She kinda juts her chin out and raises her eyebrows, but doesn't make eye contact. It's SO funny, because you can see how impressed she is with herself! "I have a cell phone in my pocket. I am big stuff!" Then, she pulled the cell phone out and proceeded to have a long, loud, and detailed conversation with whoever was on the other end! :D

Sunday Times

2011-02-13T21:10:00.002-06:00

We had a really late night last night! We went to a friend's (from church) birthday party and didn't head home until 10:30! Serena came along and she did so well! I was a little worried about 'crashing' the party with our 1-yr-old when all the other guests (16 people total) were adults (except there was a 4-week-old baby too, but she pretty much slept the whole time), but I didn't have to be worried. Serena was fun to have around! She played with their dog (a Lab mix) a lot, played with the toys we brought for her, let people hold her, and was just all-around a good sport! :) She fell asleep so quickly when we got in the truck to go home!

I wondered if today would be rough because of her losing 3 hours of sleep, but she showed no signs of crankiness. Hope that doesn't mean it's going to catch up with us tomorrow, haha! We had a great day having Daddy home with us all day!

All dolled up for church

Daddy fell asleep during Serena's nap. When Serena got up, she played for a little while and then she noticed Daddy was laying on the couch. She laughed and played with his feet (which were dangling off the end) a little bit, and then she climbed up next to him. Of course, the dogs were right behind her. I knew that if I tried to get all 3 of them to leave him alone it would be more disruptive of his nap than if I just let them be. It was inevitable that he was going to be awakened! So, instead of pulling them away, I grabbed the camera, heehee! ;)

"Hmmm...which book should I read?"

Enjoying a chat with Uncle Luke. This was right before she hung up on him, haha!

It was a gorgeous day in the 60's! We took advantage of the lovely weather and went to the park.

Daddy Got Me a Pony!

2011-02-12T16:09:00.000-06:00

Some friends of ours (the Olsens) were moving today (just locally), so Jordan spent most of the day helping out over there. At noon, he made a stop here to change into some shorts and to drop off this cute little rocking horse! Apparently, the Olsens didn't want it anymore, and Jordan thought Serena might like it.

Serena loves the pony and can even climb up on it all by herself!

(BTW, isn't she looking so much bigger in this picture? To me, she seems to have grown up a lot in the last couple weeks...not just physically, but developmentally too!)

Boxer Babe

2011-02-11T21:57:00.003-06:00

Serena thinks it's really fun to put on any clothes she finds accessible. Thankfully, these boxers were clean...! ;)

Boxer Babe with lipstick, heehee!

AT LEAST Thirty-Second Thursday

2011-02-10T19:46:00.004-06:00

Video #1: I set the camera up to catch Serena doing some very expressive reading! ;) Towards the end, she picks up a book that has a reflective page in it. She sees her reflection and is pretty tickled about it! Then, she decides to get up and walk to another part of the room, but she keeps the book open in front of her face. Off camera, you can hear her trip and fall over her 4-wheeler and then laugh! It's so funny!

Video #2: A couple tiny clips from bathtime yesterday. :) Then, a bunch of giggles and screams from playing with Daddy tonight! :D

More Bathtime Pictures

2011-02-09T20:26:00.002-06:00

...because no kid can have too many naked bathtime pictures from their childhood, heehee! ;)

Bathing beauty

The ever-curious Rocky-boy: "Whatcha doin' in there?"

"Mmmm...baby soap tastes good!"

"This bath is getting a little long, don't you think?"

Sitting at the Table

2011-02-08T20:47:00.003-06:00

Our little climber has mastered the kitchen chairs. Now, if one of the chairs is left pulled out from the table, she is up in it in a flash! You can tell she thinks she is SO BIG to be sitting at the table! She had a snack of "Oooo's" at the table this afternoon and enjoyed it quite a bit!

Dog Groomer-in-Training

2011-02-07T20:34:00.000-06:00

After Jordan got done brushing Rocky today, Serena got a hold of the brush and played with it off and on throughout the rest of the day. When I was picking up the house after she went to bed, I found it in her shopping cart. :) She mostly chased the dogs around hoping to get a chance to brush one of them. Macy is always quick to run away when she sees Serena coming, which Serena thinks is hilarious. Rocky lets her play with him a little more. Even when she's not playing with him, he's usually hovering close by because he's so curious to know what she's doing.

Not the greatest picture, but seriously this kid was on the move constantly today!

Oooo's

2011-02-06T21:13:00.003-06:00

Enjoying Oooo's on her fine china

Busy Girl

2011-02-05T21:25:00.002-06:00

Well, I thought I had a carseat for Bret, but apparently we're going to need to get a different once since Serena needs this one for her baby! ;)

Busy grocery shopping. Which actually looks more like: throw everything out of the cart and then put it all back in again; walk around a little, and repeat.

Notice the death-grip on Jordan hair, haha!

Snow Day

2011-02-04T21:33:00.002-06:00

I wasn't paying attention and loaded all these pictures in the reverse order of what I intended. :P For this reason, I must ask you to scroll to the bottom of the post and work your way up!

I did manage to get a smile out of her, though!

Serena didn't really know what to think about all the snow. She wasn't really excited about it at all.

All ready to go!

Serena loved getting all bundled up

We had quite a snowfall last night and today! There's probably a good 5" out there! A little mind-boggling to think that just last week I was wearing a tank top, shorts, and flip-flops! ;) After naptime this afternoon, we made a little excursion into the winter wonderland!

AT LEAST Thirty-Second Thursday

2011-02-03T20:19:00.003-06:00

This afternoon at the birth center, Serena just roamed around like she owned the place! After I was done with the midwife, I stopped by the 'office' to talk to Lynn, who runs the office. Serena saw that Lynn was sitting at a computer and went up to her and started waving her arm (her sign for music). Lynn thought she was saying "bye," but I explained that Serena thinks that computers are for playing music and that she was asking for music. Lynn thought it was great and turned on a song right away. "Next time I'll be sure to have some music ready to play for you!" she said. :) Serena then proceeded to ask to sit on Lynn's lap while she listened to the song. It was so cute!

Today's video features:

1.) Serena's new trick (which she is immensely proud of): buckling her high chair. She also does some more fake sneezing, which I get such a kick out of!

2.) Serena 'feeding' Rocky

Making New Friends

2011-02-02T23:59:00.000-06:00

This evening we gladly accepted an impromptu dinner invitation from a couple at our new church. They are a couple years younger than us and don't have any kids yet, BUT they do have a dog! Their dog is a big black Lab mix and very friendly. He and Serena hit it off right away! She had so much fun chasing him and letting him lick her hands! It was hilarious to watch the two of them!

Daddy's Home!

2011-02-01T20:56:00.002-06:00

One of the dogs heard the garage door open, and pretty soon they were all 3 gathered at the door awaiting Daddy's entrance!

This evening, Serena took her second-favorite pastime of pretending to eat (her favorite is actually eating) to a whole new level. She had her tea set out and was playing with it. She would dip a knife (she's pretty indiscriminate about eating utensils still) in a tea pot and then carry it across the room to where Rocky was laying on the couch. She would then 'feed' it to Rocky. Mostly he cooperated and seemed to play along. Now and then he wouldn't respond right away, so Serena would grab his snout and 'help' him! It was so funny! Video coming on Thursday! ;)

18 Months Old

2011-01-31T20:39:00.003-06:00

Our little munchkin is 18 months old!!!! She has 4 front teeth on the top and bottom. She has 3 molars...we're still just waiting on the bottom left to come in. She's about 31 inches tall (25th percentile) and weighs 22 pounds (15th percentile). She still doesn't have much of a speaking vocabulary, although she communicates really well with the words she does know and the signs we've taught her. And she understands pretty much everything we say to her. Over the course of this past month, she's also weaned herself; which is somewhat of a relief considering that Bret is getting very close to making an appearance!

Ready to go grocery shopping with Mommy! Usually she puts bags over the crook of her arm, but this one was too big!

Wearing Daddy's sweatshirt with him. Notice the purse over her arm! She's kinda getting into carrying purses around lately, heehee!

Ruffle Dress

2011-01-30T21:36:00.002-06:00

When I was little, my sisters and I each would designate our fanciest dress in our closet as our "Ruffle Dress." I have no idea when this started or anything, but I do remember that each season we would have a "Ruffle Dress." Serena's "Ruffle Dress" is from Gram Rabe for Christmas this year. It is so pretty! Serena just flounced around the house in it after Jordan got her all dressed for church this morning! She looked like a fairy princess! ;)

A Pretty Day in January

2011-01-29T18:45:00.003-06:00

Wow, it was gorgeous out today! We tried to spend a lot of time outside to enjoy this great break in the weather!

Happiness

Serena loves buckling her high chair

After each successful buckling, she comes to find me, clapping her hands and smiling enormously in celebration of her accomplishment

Whenever Serena wants a snack, she sits in the corner of the kitchen and signs "More" and "Eat." She sits down there EVERY TIME and for EACH BITE, even though I have never told her that's where she needs to go for snacks.

Appointment

2011-01-28T20:45:00.002-06:00

Now that we're going to see the midwives every week, Serena is starting to get pretty comfortable over there. She walks around the house like she knows her way around. I have to keep an eye on her or she will just leave me! Today we had a pretty long wait, so Serena passed the time climbing on the bench and eating string cheese. Another little girl about Serena's age came with her parents after a while and they watched each other curiously. A young girl (maybe 10 or so) came with her parents towards the end, and Serena liked her a lot. She gave her fives and then smiled and waved bye-bye when we left!

Climbing the bench

Looking out the window

AT LEAST Thirty-Second Thursday

2011-01-27T22:11:00.002-06:00

1.) Serena being 'body slammed' by Daddy (with the goofy dogs fighting in the background, vying for his attention) :P

2.) Daddy gets a phone call! Serena's reaction was a little delayed, but you get the idea of how she hurry-scurries to get to the bedroom!

3.) Daddy gets home from work.

4.) I hope Serena is always this obedient and excited about brushing her teeth, haha! She will literally drop whatever she is doing whenever I say it's time to brush her teeth!

5.) Saying "O's"

6.) Identifying body parts

Just Another Day

2011-01-26T22:00:00.002-06:00

No toy has brought Serena more frustration than this one! She has always loved pushing the animals back down, but she couldn't figure out how to get them open and would just get mad when I tried to help her. She just wanted me to do it. Well, after much perseverance, she finally has reached the point that she can operate all the gears accept #2. But that's okay with her! She just opens up 1, 3, 4, & 5 over and over and just doesn't worry about that #2. ;)

Suppertime antics: "Where's Serena?"

"Oh, there she is!"

Important Job

2011-01-25T20:19:00.002-06:00

Serena takes her job of exploring the world pretty seriously! This afternoon, we stopped at a park while we were on a walk and I let Serena get out of the stroller so she could do her 'job.' ;) Macy found a little tree that still had lots of acorns around its base. For some reason, Macy thinks acorns are a really yummy treat. She's so weird! Serena sat down to inspect the acorns one by one. Thankfully, she didn't try to eat any! :P

Acorn inspector

Body Slamming

2011-01-24T21:05:00.002-06:00

Serena & Daddy have a new rough-housing game. She runs at him and he grabs her and 'slams' her to the ground! Then, she grabs his index fingers and holds on while he pulls her back up so they can repeat the process. Serena thinks it's so much fun!

Getting slammed!

When I get ready in the mornings, Serena is almost always at my side watching everything I do. This past week, she's started asking me to put make-up on her. She points to her eyes and cheeks as I put on eye shadow, mascara, and blush! As I do each step of my routine, I stop and pretend to also apply it to Serena. :)

Vitamin C

2011-01-23T21:00:00.001-06:00

This time of year, I always start craving oranges. I got a particularly tasty sack of them at Aldi the other day, and Serena and I have been greatly enjoying them! Although, she usually eats the slices about as quickly as I can clean the rind off of them, which doesn't leave much orange for me! She easily puts down 1 1/2 oranges in one sitting!

Mmmm!

Juicy!

Haha, oranges make me feel silly!

Serena crossed off another 'first' today: She pooped in the bathtub!!!!

Our Sunday morning routine includes throwing Serena in the bathtub while we get ready for church. It works great because she is right there with us (contained so we don't have to wonder where she is!) and plays happily while I do my makeup and hair and all that fun stuff. :) Well, this morning, she was having a great time in the bath as usual. She stood up to play with some toys on the edge, and I thought I heard a little 'plink.' I subconsciously dismissed it as her foot or a toy hitting the water. I heard a couple more before it dawned on me that I should investigate! Sure enough, Serena was dropping little presents in her bath water!!!! Guh-ROSSSSSS!!!!!! :P I was really thankful that Jordan was there to help! We pulled her out, cleaned her up, and dried her off. Then, Jordan took her into the kitchen to wash her hair since we hadn't done that yet and it really needed it! Meanwhile, I fished poop out of the tub. Jordan proceeded to get Serena all lotioned, dressed, and pretty for church while I finished my hair. I got the visible mess cleaned up, but I'll go back and use hydrogen peroxide on the tub and toys tomorrow, I think! :P

Death of the SD Card

2011-01-22T20:04:00.002-06:00

My ability to take pictures is somewhat handicapped right now because my SD card died! It doesn't register anything when I plug it in. It won't even show up at all on the computer or the camera! Bummer! At least SD cards are quite a bit cheaper than they were when we bought this one 3 years ago!! ;) So, even though I'm not exactly a great photographer normally, it's going to be even worse since I have to take pictures with my phone until I can replace the card for the camera. :P

It was a really pretty day out today. Sun shining, temps in the mid- to upper- 50's, a little breeze. So, of course, we went for a walk this afternoon. :) As soon as I put Serena's shoes on, she rushed to the coat closet, pointing urgently, until I got out a coat for her to wear! It's so fun watching her put sequences together like that!

Another sequence she's put together is that when Jordan's phone rings (or clucks, actually), he usually gets up and goes into the bedroom to take the call so he can shut the door and not have background noise from Serena or the dogs. He is justified in doing that, since Serena & the dogs are usually swarming him and vying for his attention...and intensify their efforts when they realize they have to compete with the phone. ;) Serena really doesn't like it when he does that, though. Of course, she's always too late getting to the bedroom door and finds it already shut. So now, as soon as she hears Jordan's phone start clucking, she hurries to the bedroom as fast as her little legs can go! It's so funny! Her shoulders are all drawn up and her arms are pulled slightly back, like she's about to try to take off! I'm definitely going to be trying to get video of it once I get a new card!

Sitting on the bench like a big girl at the park

Trying SO HARD to climb up! It was a little too high!

On a Chilly Day

2011-01-21T20:57:00.002-06:00

I know, I know! I saw all the Facebook statuses today and I am well aware that everyone up north was in the double digits BELOW zero today! I promise that my posting pictures of us enjoying the great outdoors on a chilly January day (44 degrees) in Texas is not an attempt on my part to make you all jealous. Though if you are, I totally understand! ;)

Daddy came home sick yesterday afternoon, so today he stayed home! Even though he was still pretty wiped out from yesterday, his very presence at home today kept Serena and the doggies in great moods! Around 4 this afternoon, Jordan mustered up enough energy to take the slightly-stir-crazy dogs to the park. I bundled Serena up in her fleece-y snowsuit and she looked like such a munchkin toddling around the park!! She laughed and laughed as the doggies whizzed by her time and again, chasing each other and acting like complete maniacs!

Serena's becoming a little more confident in trying to repeat words after us. It's so funny how she has no qualms about babbling on and on all day long, but when I try to get her to say an actual word, she giggles nervously or completely ignores me! Anyway, she says "Oooohs" for her Cheerios now. It sounds so funny; like she has a really thick Minnesotan accent!

Another fun game these days is learning body parts. Not only can Serena find her nose, ears, eyes, belly, bellybutton, feet, hands, and elbows; but she can also find the nose, ears, eyes, and feet on Rocky & Macy (much to Macy's chagrin)!

Serena has gotten really good at her shape-sorter this past week too. She brought it to me earlier this week and I dumped out the shapes for her. It had been a few weeks since we'd played that game. Then she sat down and proceeded to find the spots for each of the shapes all by herself! I didn't even know she knew how to do that!!

AT LEAST Thirty-Second Thursday

2011-01-20T21:13:00.003-06:00

Serena, the Tumbler

I found this video from our visit with Jordan's side of the family over Christmastime. Serena was waiting for the music on the computer to start playing. It's hilarious how intensely excited she is about it!

Tea Party!

2011-01-19T21:02:00.002-06:00

Serena got a cute little tea set from Uncle Jason & Aunt Julia for Christmas. It caters well to her love of pretending to eat, haha!

I'm thinking she's taking after Jason by dunking her cupcake in her drink! ;)

I love all those little curls! :)

It seems like Serena is getting more and more silly these days! She loves finding ways to make us laugh! I really had to laugh this morning when I got in the shower and she started clapping her hands!! I have NO IDEA what made her think my getting into the shower was cause for such celebration (was I stinky?!), but I was cracking up! :D

Now Macy's Sick!

2011-01-18T21:17:00.002-06:00

My goodness, 2011 has not been too great for us yet in terms of health! :P Though the rest of us are pretty much back to normal (just the lingering runny noses :P), now Macy has apparently come down with a bladder infection! We have an appointment for her tomorrow, but we're trying to help her start feeling better by giving her cranberry juice to drink. She actually likes it! What a silly dog! At the first administration of the juice, of course we were all gathered around to see what Macy would think of it. Serena got right down there to make sure Macy drank all of her 'medicine'! ;)

Watching carefully

You still have some left, Macy!

Today was another fairly nice day, so we went for walks and Serena even walked around in the woods with Daddy & the doggies. At home, we had the back door open for a while this afternoon and of course Serena got busy playing in the dirt again!

Notice the dirt around her mouth. How did that get there?! ;)

What a goober!!! Hahaha! :D

"Hi" From Serena

2011-01-17T20:51:00.002-06:00

Cute new thing Serena's been doing lately: If she's in the bathroom when I finish my shower, she grabs my towel to hand it to me as soon as I turn off the water. I never even had to teach her to do that or ask her. One day last week, she just came up with it all on her own! Isn't that just the cutest little 'helper-esque' thing? :)

"Hi!"

More Climbing

2011-01-16T22:14:00.003-06:00

Serena really loves to climb. And she loves chairs. Put the two together, and you can imagine how pleased she is to finally be able to climb up on our kitchen chairs without help!

First, you have to pull yourself up as far as you can

Then, you swing your body around so you're up on the chair

Finally, you have to sit back against the chair and take in everything from your new vantage point. This must be why adults always sit in chairs!

I Can Do Tricks!

2011-01-15T20:21:00.002-06:00

Do you want to see me do a trick?

I get up on my 4-wheeler just like this!

What do you think?

Hee hee!!! I'm so funny!

So THAT'S What My Pockets Are For!

2011-01-14T20:47:00.003-06:00

This afternoon, Jordan showed Serena how to put something in the pocket of her sweatshirt. She was immediately fascinated by the concept! She walked around with either a toy or her hands in her pockets for the rest of the night.

AT LEAST Thirty-Second Thursday

2011-01-13T22:26:00.000-06:00

This week's edition of "AT LEAST Thirty-Second Thursday" is a string of clips of Serena in action!

Twirling
Diving over the back of the couch (and getting big static-y hair in the process!)
Riding her 4-wheeler like a crazy woman
"Sneezing" and wiping her nose
More diving
1, 2, 3, FALL-ing
Tackling Rocky?

...sorry it's so long again!

Static Is SO Not a Girl's Best Friend!

2011-01-12T20:19:00.003-06:00

Serena loves climbing around on the couch, but it makes her hair stand up on end! She looks so funny!

Who Is It?

2011-01-11T20:16:00.002-06:00

This is the face Serena makes when she hears Jordan's phone cackle, haha!

The Thrill of Being Chased

2011-01-10T20:02:00.002-06:00

Serena has recently discovered how much fun it is to be chased! Tonight Jordan was chasing her with a wooden push toy she got from Grandma & Pa for Christmas. I wish I were a better photographer...these pictures do not capture the hurry in her steps, or how she holds her breath and brings up her shoulders while she runs, or how the giggles are just beneath the surface! I'm not really sure yet if her 'run' is faster than her walk, but it definitely has a lot more energy to it!

Wild Child or Domestic?

2011-01-09T20:54:00.004-06:00

Serena gets really crazy sometimes and just yells and laughs and waves her arms as she runs through the house. Today she took it on the road...or at least her 4-wheeler from Aunt Julie & Eric! She was such a hoot! Do you see that mischievous look in her eye?!

So I try to calm her down and cultivate her domestic side sometimes. ;)

A Day Without a Picture

2011-01-08T22:14:00.001-06:00

Yes, it's true. There's no picture today. I don't really have any Serena stories today either since I barely saw her all day. I came down with the flu this morning, so Serena spent pretty much the whole day with her daddy. He played with her, fed her, and kept her happy while I laid in bed and made trips to the bathroom. It was a horrible blur of a day. Not to mention that I ended up getting so dehydrated that contractions kicked in at a regular pace and brought great discomfort and some cause for concern. Thankfully, with a little advice from the midwife and the prayers of our many friends and family, Serena did not become a big sister today!

First Bout with the Flu

2011-01-07T22:02:00.001-06:00

Well, Serena continues to check off her "firsts"! Last night she had her first bout with the flu. It was not pretty, my friends! I woke up around 1:15 to the unmistakable sound of her throwing up in the bed right beside me. It was quite a little mess! I took Serena and cleaned her up and changed her, told a half-asleep Jordan that we would be spending the rest of the night on the couch, made a little nest for us on the couch, and then headed back to Serena's room to rock her for a while. She continued to throw up every 15-30 minutes until 6:30am. At the beginning, she was really wide-eyed and surprised by it, but not upset. A couple hours into it, she was so exhausted that she would immediately fall back to sleep after each episode. She got to where she hated my holding the bowl in front of her face. The dry heaves at the end of the night made her cry...a very pathetic whimpering cry. I felt SO badly for her! It was such a long horrible night!

Somehow, this morning, she still woke up happy and ready to play play play! She was really thirsty, and I tried to keep her diet as bland as I could, but she really showed no signs of any lingering affects from the flu. If it weren't for all the yucky laundry that I suddenly had to deal with (taking priority over the 4 loads I need to get done after being gone for so long!), I might not have believed that she had been sick the night before. Ah, to have the stamina of a child again! ;)

Serena earned herself a bath today!

AT LEAST Thirty-Second Thursday

2011-01-06T22:41:00.004-06:00

A little clip from the bridal boutique featuring Keira & Serena at play! Also, some of the crazy Twister game!

Day in the City and Serena's First Flight

2011-01-05T23:26:00.001-06:00

Today was our last day in Minnesota. We decided that since we had to go up to the Cities to go to the airport, we might as well go early and spend some time up there having fun! We were even lucky enough to get one last snowfall as we drove up! Serena was stubborn and didn't take a nap during the 2 1/2 hour drive (YIKES!) but then caught a quick snooze while we were at the Mall of America (how's that for good sleeping conditions?). First things first, though! We made a stop at Cracker Barrel for some good down-home-style cookin'. ;) Let me just say that their cinnamon French toast is REALLY GOOD!!!! :) After that, it was off to Target and then the rest of our time was spent at the M.O.M. (I know that's not the initials for the Mall of America, but it's been what we call it in my family for several years now. I'm not even sure if I remember the origin of the joke?)

I was trying to keep Serena entertained at Target while Jessica was at Customer Service. Target's $1 aisle is great for keeping Serena entertained! She thought she was really funny with this headband on! She wiggled her head to make the hearts bounce and then she would laugh loudly when we laughed at her. Then, she would take it off and point to her head to ask one of us to put it back on for her!

Serena thought she was really living it up at Cracker Barrel. The highchair they gave us was more designed for bigger kids, so she had lots of room for her antics. She thought it was pretty neat to put her feet up on the table. I know you're thinking that sort of behavior should be nipped in the bud, but what could I say when Mom & Jess were laughing so hard at her and taking pictures which just encouraged her to do it some more? ;) Guess I'll just have to deal with it at the next opportunity!

Our flight went really well. The part I was the most nervous about was getting through security since I did not plan to check any baggage. Was my suitcase small enough? Did I pack anything that might incite a search? Because a search is inconvenient, but can you imagine dealing with that while trying to keep track of a one-year-old at the same time? I hated to even entertain those thoughts and just hoped for the best. It all came off without a hitch. After getting through security and then getting myself and Serena all put back together while we chatted with a nice little family of 3 with Australian accents (By the way, does the government really think someone's going to put bombs in their baby's shoes?!?!?!?), I headed off to find the big screens to find our gate.

The screens were easy to find, as was my flight information. However, to my disappointment I learned that my gate was all the way at the end of the airport. Of course!!! Off we went. At least we had plenty of time! I held Serena's hand and tugged my luggage behind me. Serena was really slow, though (she had so many interesting things to look at!), and my luggage was surprisingly heavy. Finally, I decided to carry Serena. At the halfway point, there was a stretch of big windows, so I stopped to take a rest and let Serena look outside. At this point, the father of the aforementioned Australian family appeared and offered his assistance. His gate was the one right before ours, and he had apparently been sent by his sympathetic wife to help us out. :) He kindly made sure we were all settled at our gate before heading back to his family.

We didn't have too long to wait before it was time to board. The man behind me heading out to the plane was very nice and offered to take my luggage for me. He even put it up in the overhead storage for me. I have no idea how I would have done that myself! Thankfully, our plane was not very full; I had an aisle-seat and an empty seat beside me. That was very helpful in keeping Serena contained! The college girl sitting in the window seat was not very talkative. She spent most of her time proofreading a very long paper. Towards the end, she pulled out a notebook and made a To-Do list. I didn't mean to be snoopy, but #4 caught my eye as it was very easy to read: "Study, study, study"! Haha! Ahhh, college days! ;) Oh, and in true Serena-style, no sooner were we in the air than she decided to poop! Little booger! If you ever need to change a diaper on an airplane, the changing table is located above the toilet; you just have to pull it down out of the wall. Anyway, Serena made friends with the two people behind us: a business woman who reminded me a lot of the weird gothic girl on NCIS (do you know who I'm talking about?) and a black man who was very black, had very white teeth, and wore a hat. They both liked Serena a lot and helped keep her entertained. At one point (somehow unbeknownst to me), Serena threw her sippy cup over the seat at the empty seat between them. They handed it back to her and (of course) she repeated the gesture to see if it was going to be a game. I caught her this time, though! I was so apologetic and felt so badly about it (what if they hadn't been watching and she'd hit one of them?!), but they were very gracious and understanding about it and laughed it off.

The flight seemed short and I never ran out of things to keep Serena busy. I was very relieved when we landed, though; I don't think I would want to make it a habit to fly with a baby! The take-off and landing didn't seem to bother her too much; she didn't fuss, just nestled down in my lap until we leveled off. She spent the rest of the time either climbing around in the empty seat or playing in the aisle next to me. Getting off the plane I was on my own, but at least it's easier to lift baggage down than up! I was so happy to finally see Jordan again after a whole week!! Serena just laughed and laughed at the sight of him! She reached for him and it was obvious that she was very happy to be with her daddy again! She was sound asleep before we even got out to the interstate, but woke up when we got home. Seeing the dogs elicited more excited laughter from Serena! We let her play for a little bit to wear off some of the excitement and then it was time for beddy-bye! What a big day for our little girl!

Bathtime Pix

2011-01-04T21:52:00.000-06:00

The other day, Serena was watching Aunt Julie paint Aunt Jessie's toes. It's been a long time since I've painted Serena's toes, mostly because I figured she'd be too squirmy. However, she really wanted to get her nails painted after watching her aunts, so that's what we did! She cooperated very well, too!

Pretty painted toenails

I love bathtime pictures!

Serena was so silly after her bath tonight! She was definitely over-tired, which of course meant that she had a hard time falling asleep when it was time for bed. :P But, Aunt Jessie & I had a lot of fun laughing at her antics anyway! She would dance around and then just fall to the ground and laugh and laugh. Then, when we skyped with Daddy, she was very giggly with him too. He used video effects to make funny faces, and she would sign "More" and then try to copy the face he was just making. Whenever he responded by making the face again, she threw her head back and laughed so hard!

Poor baby girl is still not feeling very well! This has been a rough couple of weeks with these colds! :P

1, 2, 3, FALL! and Fake Sneezing

2011-01-03T23:26:00.000-06:00

Well, today's picture leaves much to be desired, BUT I do have a couple cute stories!

Ever since Kaden showed Serena how to 'play' Twister, she LOVES getting the mat out and falling on it! She just needs someone to watch her and agree that she should do 'More' after each fall. If that person will also count, "1, 2, 3, FALL!!" it makes it that much more fun! ;) Serena even did it for Daddy on Skype today, haha!

'Playing' Twister

Aunt Jessie & I watched a movie this afternoon while Serena played Twister, looked through books, and pretended to eat a whole bucket's worth of food. Serena's cold has either taken a turn for the worse or she caught a new strain of it. Whichever it is, her nose is running like crazy! Every sneeze brings on a new fountain of snot that needs to be wiped up. Thankfully, she's being a really good sport so far about getting her nose wiped. I'm using a cloth diaper rather than going through a box of Kleenex. :P Serena apparently thinks it is so fun to wipe her nose that she started 'fake sneezing'! She takes a deep breath, sticks out her tongue, and does a short spit; then she runs to where I'm sitting, grabs the snot rag and wipes her face! Sometimes she'll even do a few 'sneezes' in a row! She kept it up all evening! What a funny little kid!

All Dolled Up for Church

2011-01-02T23:15:00.000-06:00

Serena looked so pretty for church this morning! She wore her red wool pea coat and it was SO adorable! :)

During the song service, Serena would sign for "More" "Music" in between each congregational song! It was pretty cute!

Tonight before bed, Serena had a lot of fun playing with Aunt Jessie & Miss Bekah's cell phones!

More Copying

2011-01-01T23:58:00.000-06:00

This morning, Kaden really wanted to play a game since he saw all the cool games out for the New Year's Party. It's hard to find a good game for a just-turned-3-yr-old! ;) Grammie finally had the idea to get out Twister. We tweaked the rules a bit by disregarding the left-right designations on the spinner! ;) It wasn't long though before Kaden came up with a new way to play the game! He would step back a little ways and then run and slide on the mat! Ooo, he was SO cool! ;) Serena figured out that Kaden was getting a lot of laughs for his big slides onto the mat. Not to be outdone, she began throwing herself onto the mat, too...just without all the ceremony of the running start and slide! ;) We were all laughing so hard at the two of them!

A Game of Twister...1- & 3- yr-old style!

My Buddy

2010-12-31T23:45:00.001-06:00

Pretty little face peeking over the counter!

Serena thinks it's really fun to follow Kaden around and do what he does. They spent quite a bit of time climbing the stairs today! Serena wasn't as fast as Kaden, but Kaden was happy to wait for her at the top or the bottom until she could catch up. Then he say, "C'mon Shreena!" and off they would go again!

They both had a good time at the New Year's Party tonight. Kaden quickly disappeared to play with all the kids who came. Serena was a little overwhelmed by all the new people, so she stayed pretty close to Mommy. Until she met Victoria J. Victoria was really sweet playing with Serena and carrying her around! I think Serena liked her because she reminded her of her Aunt Anna! ;)

AT LEAST Thirty-Second Thursday

2010-12-30T23:44:00.001-06:00

The first part of today's video is just a teeny clip of Serena on Christmas Eve. I just included it because I like her little smile. :)

The main part of the video features Serena's mad retrieving skills! She loves doing the things she sees the doggies do. Not the least of which is being 'walked' on a dog leash, haha! Or, as in today's video, retrieving a duck dummy to Grandpa! :D

At the Bridal Boutique

2010-12-29T23:20:00.001-06:00

Today we went to the bridal boutique in Easton. It's the same one where I found my wedding dress! Hard to believe it's already been about 6 years since that special day!!

Serena enjoyed the big platform with the huge mirrors all around it, as you can see from her grins!

After she'd gotten over the fun of the platform and mirrors, Serena noticed that there was this neat little room off to the side that Aunt Julie kept disappearing into. When she realized that there was only a curtain preventing her own entrance into that special room, Serena was in and out constantly for the rest of the time we were there!

Whoosh! Ooo! A pretty bride!

Serena & Keira were wearing matching outfits today! They looked so cute together! Towards the end, Keira ventured up to the platform and put her hands up on it. It pleased her so much that she started slapping the platform. Serena, always interested in rhythms, was immediately at her side trying to get her to slap the platform some more. Then, when Aunt Julie came out with the next dress, both girls were right in the middle of the...ummm....action! ;)

Serious Business

2010-12-28T23:17:00.001-06:00

"Eat" (she still signs this one by pointing to her nose!)

Little Cleaner

Oooo! A Family Pic!

2010-12-27T22:35:00.000-06:00

Who Let the Dogs Out?

2010-12-26T22:22:00.000-06:00

All bundled up to help Daddy let the dogs out

Merry Christmas!

2010-12-25T22:07:00.000-06:00

Merry Christmas, everyone!

Grant being a very good uncle, heehee!

Serena in the "Grandpa Chair" at Uncle Craig & Aunt Danielle's

Christmas Eve

2010-12-24T21:14:00.000-06:00

Today we celebrated Christmas. Serena was busy all day 'helping' with preparations!

Helping Grandma slice oranges

Time to start the dishwasher!

Big smiles for whoever let her climb the stairs!

A mouthful of banana

A little last-minute cleaning

Time to open presents! Serena was fascinated with this one from Uncle Daniel & Aunt Andria because it kept making noise!

A hug for Daddy

Goodnight grin

AT LEAST Thirty-Second Thursday

2010-12-23T22:42:00.001-06:00

Jordan revisited the idea of getting Serena dizzy again this week. This time, when she realized we were laughing at her for falling over, she started doing it on purpose. In the first part of the video, she is 'falling' on purpose; and then after Jordan spins her again, you can tell when she starts doing it on purpose again. She had us in stitches!

Playing with musical toys at Grandpa & Grandma's. Lots of laughs, a little dancing, and a finale that you won't want to miss (and you might want to replay a few times, heehee!)

Kaden's 3rd Birthday Party

2010-12-22T23:33:00.002-06:00

Today was Kaden's 3rd birthday, so Serena & I went to Jason & Julia's for the day! The whole family gathered to celebrate and participate in his big party this afternoon! Unfortunately, Serena wasn't feeling too great. :( She had a really rough night last night. I felt like we hardly slept. One of those nights. :P She fell asleep in the car on the drive over to JaJu's, and that ended up being her only nap of the day (which I'm sure didn't help anything). We still had a lot of fun, though, and it was wonderful to see everyone (even Gram drove over!) after such a long time!

Serena did have some fun playing when she was able to get her mind off of her teeth

But she spent a lot of time attached to me!

Playing with Keira!

Serena and the Snow

2010-12-21T23:33:00.000-06:00

It wasn't too bitterly cold out today, so I thought it would be a good opportunity to take Serena out and let her experience the SNOW! There's plenty of it on the ground and I was excited to see what she would think. Thankfully, Grandma & Great-Grandma have been busy gathering cold-weather gear for Serena in advance! It was so fun to get her all bundled up in the cutesie pink snowpants and the pink winter coat!!! :D

I had a hard time getting a decent picture of Serena in her snowpants. She just wanted to play with Mommy's snowboots!

Jordan carried Serena out and plopped her in the snow, but she was not too excited about that! She started to kind of enjoy herself when he picked her up and carried her through the yard, but when he put her down again she seemed very troubled about walking through it herself. After walking a few steps, she was ready to be picked up again. We couldn't get her to relax and 'play' in it at all. :( Guess we'll just have to keep working on her! At least she looked cute doing it! Hahahahaha! :D

NOT a snow baby

Grandpa found some ear muffs to put on Serena this evening. She thought it was really fun to take them off and then hand them to the nearest person and pat her head to ask them to put the muffs back on.

Wearing ear muffs

Serena was fascinated with this singing snowman thing last year, so we pulled it out tonight to see what she would think of it this year. She still loves it! Someone would push the button to get it started, and she would giggle and cheer. Then when it stopped, she would make her 'music' sign (waving her hand) until someone got it going again!

Day #1 of Getting Spoiled

2010-12-20T22:12:00.002-06:00

Serena had a lot of fun today! As soon as she woke up, Grandma came to get her and off they went to play and have breakfast and listen to music (and anything else Serena's heart desired, I'm pretty sure!)! Meanwhile, Mommy & Daddy slept for another hour or so! :)

(I have forgotten to mention that Serena learned a new sign last week. I taught her a sign for 'music' since she loves it so much. I just swing my hand back in forth like you would if you were conducting a choir. When Serena does it, it looks more like she is waving. I have been so surprised how often she asks for music now, though! Every morning, one of the first things she wants to do is have me turn on my computer and start cranking out the music. When we get in the car, sometimes I'm not even done buckling her in and she's already asking me to turn on some music! It didn't take her long to figure out where the music comes from at Grandpa & Grandma's either; and if for some reason it gets turned off, Serena notices very quickly and finds someone to turn it back on for her!)

Serena had a lot of fun this morning exploring the house and playing with the toys. Aunt Andria & Caroline came over to play for a while, and that was fun (at least for Mommy!). Serena wasn't as enthusiastic about Caroline as she was the last time she saw her, haha! Caroline, on the other hand, was very excited to see Serena! They had switched roles in their reactions to each other in comparison to their last 'playdate.' ;) By the time Great-Grandma & Pa came over, Serena was hungry for lunch and then ready for a nap, so she wasn't too fun for them. After her nap, she was really out-of-sorts and in pain from her tooth. There were a couple times when she was eating a cracker that she bit down and then just started bawling like she'd just suffered through the worst experience ever! Poor little baby! Poke through soon, you Big Mean Molar! Needless to say, she wasn't too interested in being friends with Uncle Luke & Aunt Anna when they came over tonight, either. Even though Luke offered to feed her, she wasn't about to be separated from her mommy! (And that's saying a lot, since food is usually a no-fail!) ;) Hopefully she'll be in a friendlier mood the next time we see everyone! :P She's sleeping now...she's stirred and whimpered a few times, but hasn't really woken up yet. Here's hoping she has a good night!

To Grandpa & Grandma's House We Go!

2010-12-19T21:50:00.001-06:00

Today we made the 14-hour drive back to Iowa for Christmas!!!

Serena's bottom right molar is apparently coming through (I haven't gotten a good enough look at the left side to see if it's coming through too) since I found a big blister on that spot yesterday. :P Nice timing, huh? That made for a kind of rough night's sleep last night! I woke up around 4:30 or so, and she was thrashing and squirming and obviously not sleeping well. I just laid there willing her to fall back into a deep sleep since I was hoping to get up in 15 minutes or so to take a shower (we planned to leave at 6). Finally, around 5:05, I decided I was just going to have to get up and get going and let Serena do whatever she was going to do. I wasn't in the bathroom for more than 3 minutes when I heard little hands on the door and a little Serena-voice saying, "Ah! Ah!" For the next hour, she followed Jordan & I around with big red-rimmed eyes, whining pitifully as if to say, "Why are we up this early?!" When I finally buckled her in her carseat, she kind of laughed as if out of relief; and she fell asleep within the first 10-15 minutes of our trip! Jordan and I both breathed a huge sigh of relief, haha! Especially when she continued to sleep until 8 or 8:30! Yay! We had brought along all our own food and drinks, so we only stopped for gas and bathroom breaks. Serena spent the time in the truck eating, talking, listening to the radio, and playing with the toys I had brought for her. She took a 2-hour nap in the early afternoon, too. When we got to Des Moines, we stopped briefly at our house to pick up some things we had left there. Serena had fun running around in the empty rooms and climbing the staircase 4 or 5 times! For the last half hour or so before we arrived at Jordan's parents' house, Serena started getting a bit fussy. It was her normal bedtime, so I wasn't too surprised. Finally, she fell asleep...literally 3 minutes before we got to our destination, haha!

She was a bit reserved when she first saw everyone, but she warmed up fairly quickly with the help of Daddy & his dog whistle! She soon figured out that she had eager playmates and an enthusiastic audience here! I'm sure tomorrow will be lots of fun for her!

Playing with a cup on the trip

Pedicure

2010-12-18T21:29:00.002-06:00

One of my least favorite chores as a mommy is trimming fingernails and toenails. I honestly dislike it even more than changing stinky diapers! ;) Mostly because Serena also greatly dislikes it and squirms and pulls away and just generally makes it a very difficult process.

Serena always wants to be involved in whatever Jordan is doing with the dogs. As soon as he sits down on the floor with the pedipaws thing and calls a dog over, Serena hurries to his side as fast as she can! This afternoon, when Jordan finished up the dogs' toenails, Serena was hovering there begging Jordan to get her involved somehow. I said something about how I hadn't clipped Serena's toenails for a long time, so Jordan pulled her up on his lap, and pretty soon Serena was sitting oh-so-still while she had her toenails filed down by the pedipaws!

Getting my toenails done just like the doggies!

Daddy told me to sit very still just like the doggies

Chillin'

2010-12-17T21:53:00.002-06:00

Tonight Jordan popped in one of his dog training videos, and he and his ever-present entourage (Serena & the dogs) enjoyed some chill time.

AT LEAST Thirty-Second Thursday

2010-12-16T23:19:00.000-06:00

Today's video:

Some giggles
A little chat
Bye-bye, Hello game
Putting on socks
Bye-Bye!

In Which Serena Earns a Bath

2010-12-15T20:31:00.005-06:00

This morning was a little different to begin with because Jordan left at 4:30 to go duck hunting. Yes, you read that correctly! I do not understand how hunting can possibly be 'fun' enough to motivate someone to leave their nice warm bed that early in the morning, but that's what he did! So, when Serena and I woke up, Daddy was long gone, and it was just us and the doggies (he didn't take either of them this time because the guy he went with already had a dog).

***THE FOLLOWING PARAGRAPH CONTAINS GRAPHIC DESCRIPTIVE WORDS AND IS NOT FOR THE FAINT OF HEART!***

We went about our normal routine: diaper change, nurse, breakfast, clean-up, and THEN (possibly Mommy's favorite part of the day) Mommy's shower! Serena is so good now about just keeping herself occupied while I take my shower. I was about half-way done when she came in the bathroom with a little book of farm animals and shut the door behind her (shutting the dogs out in the process...this is a very important detail!). She sat down somewhere out of my sight but I could definitely hear her as she read her book to herself! And soon, I could smell her! "Of course, she had to go and poop right now while I'm in the shower. Oh well, she's just going to have to sit in it for a few minutes till I can get out!" I thought. A minute or two later, I heard her kind of whining and then suddenly she was standing right outside the shower door with her hand outstretched to me like she was wanting to give me something. I leaned down and wiped away the fog on the shower door with my hand. At first I couldn't tell what it was, but I could tell by her tone of voice that it was bothering her so I kept trying to figure it out. Then, it suddenly dawned on me! That caramel-colored gunk was POOP!!!!! AAAHHHHH!!!!! What to do now? Finish my shower? How much damage had already been done with the apparently accessible poop? How should I even tackle the clean-up of this catastrophe?! My mind raced through these questions, sorting through possible solutions until I had a plan of attack. I talked happily to Serena the whole time, and she soon calmed down. Thankfully she stayed there on the rug while I rinsed the conditioner out of my hair. The first thing I did when I got out of the shower was to pick Serena up and put her in the bathtub to keep the mess contained. Then, I grabbed my towel, wrapped up my dripping hair with it, and bolted (like only a wet naked pregnant girl can) for Serena's room to get baby wipes and a clean diaper (and letting the dogs into the bathroom in the process). When I got back, Serena was smearing her poopy fingers on the shiny chrome faucet. Lovely. I used a wipe to clean off her hands and get what poop I could from off her back where it had escaped her diaper. Next, her clothes came off and went into the sink which I began filling with scalding hot water. I then braved the worst part: the diaper. Off it came, and I somehow managed to wipe her little bottom pretty clean. Finally, I started filling the tub, handed her a couple toys to play with, and turned my attention to the (thankfully minor) smears of poop that I had remembered seeing on the rug by the shower. But, all I found was Rocky-boy licking his chops and sniffing around. I couldn't see any traces of poop on the floor or the rug, and Rocky was apparently not finding any more either. Disgusting as it was to think about what he had obviously just done, I couldn't help but feel a little relief that the mess was cleaned up! With the situation now more or less under control, I resumed my normal post-shower routine while Serena played happily in the bathtub. I couldn't help but think how providential it was that Jordan was not home this morning! If he had been, Serena would have been much more likely to have been somewhere else in the house (or, God forbid, sitting in his lap!) when she had her blowout. Also, it was a really good thing that Serena had shut the bathroom door behind her when she came in. Not only did it keep her from leaving the bathroom, but it also kept the dogs out (thankfully they hadn't followed her in!) until things were a little more contained. Macy turns her nose up to Serena's poop, but obviously Rocky has a weakness. While it doesn't really bother me that he licked up a few tiny smears on the rug (and they really were small), it would have been a much bigger pill to swallow if he'd licked up all the poop that she had going up her back (which I'm sure he would have done if given the chance!). Guh-ROSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!! Anyway, all in all, it could have been much worse. And it was kinda nice to have Serena all sweet-smelling today after her impromptu mid-week bath!

On to other stories now! ;)

It was a gorgeous day here today. The temps were in the low 70's (I kept thinking, "Is it REALLY December 15th!?"...especially considering the weather reports I'm hearing from everyone back up north!), so I opened the door and let Serena & the dogs play outside. Serena of course spent time digging in the dirt. She kept putting tiny fistfuls of it on the patio. It's funny how fascinating it is to her to transfer things from one place to another (i.e., if I give her a bowl or container along with her finger-food snack, she'll take two or three times longer to eat it simply because she spends so much time transferring the food in and out of the container). Anyway, she finally brought a fistful of dirt into the house, walked up to the tile (thankfully by-passing the carpet!) and deposited it on the dining area floor! Just as she was turning to go back outside (doubtless to get another fistful of dirt!), I realized what she'd just done! "No, ma'am! We should not bring dirt into the house, Serena," I said. She looked at me and at the dirt as if trying to come up with a solution to this problem she'd apparently created. Then, she reached down and picked up a tiny rock from the tiny pile of dirt she'd brought in. She then hurried over to me, hand outstretched, to give me the rock. I put it in the trash and thanked her. Pleased to have come up with a suitable solution, she went back and got another rock. We repeated the process a couple more times, but then there was only sand left. I grabbed the broom and swept up the rest of the mess. She then took the broom and moved it around the floor in an attempt to sweep up some more! There's just nothing like getting 'help' from a toddler!

As Serena wandered around the backyard, her side-kick Rocky was never far behind! They spent some time at their favorite rendezvous spot: the tiny tree. Serena picked leaves off the tree (it's amazing to me that there are still any within her reach!) and 'fed' them to Rocky, who obligingly put them in his mouth and chomped around on them a bit.

Rocky and Serena playing out by the tree. Macy is usually just an on-looker...curious, but aloof!

We took the dogs out back to the lake this afternoon to train them using a duck Jordan had brought home from his morning hunt. They were beside themselves with excitement to be handling a REAL bird! Serena quickly caught on to the excitement. Even though all Jordan says is, "Good dog!" whenever one of them completes a retrieve, Serena enthusiastically claps her hands and cheers! Today, she added one more thing. After cheering, she would look up at Jordan and very emphatically sign, "MORE!"

Playing with diapers before bed

Christmas Shopping

2010-12-14T20:12:00.002-06:00

This morning, Serena and I headed out to finish off our Christmas shopping. It's very different shopping with a 1-yr-old as opposed to the 4-mo-old I had last year! Last year the hardest part about shopping was trying to find a place to sit and nurse her every 2-3 hours. Big deal. Other than that, she just hung out in the Moby wrap and was very content! This year, she's in the stroller and I dare not linger too long in one place! Browsing? I have a feeling it will be YEARS before I can truly 'browse' the racks in a store again! And the TOY AISLE! THAT is a different experience this year, too! Her little interest indicator dial goes all the way over to red and hits an alarm bell - DING DING DING DING DING DING DING DING!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You might think I'm being facetious with the 'interest indicator' and all, but if you could see her face you'd know exactly what I was talking about! ;) She's not too grabby, thankfully, if I can just keep her far enough away from the toys that she doesn't think she can reach them. Mostly she rides along in the cart completely enamored by all the bright shiny toys. But, if I pick up a toy or (rookie mama mistake!) push a button, then it's apparently open season, and it is not a good idea to try to put the toy back on the shelf until Serena has been able to push at least 3 buttons! Usually, I let her hold it and play with it until she loses interest and then I sneak it out of the cart when she's not looking. Heehee!

We hit the mall, IKEA, and Walmart today, and Serena did splendidly. When I go into a store with carts in it (i.e., Walmart), I usually have Serena walk in holding my hand rather than carrying her nowadays. With back pain starting to be an issue in this pregnancy, I'm trying to keep my holding/carrying Serena to a minimum. Serena seems to like being able to walk into the store herself, though! She gets that "I'm a big girl" air about her and swings her free arm like she always does when she's pleased. As soon as we get inside the doors of Walmart, though, she lets go of my hand and rushes over to the carts! She can hardly wait for me to lift her up and put her in one! It's so funny, because this is only a very recent turn of events! Up till this week, it was a toss-up whether she was going to fight being put in the cart or not. I'm not sure what made the difference, but I'm happy for it!

By the time we made it home, it was a good hour or more past Serena's naptime. When we were in Walmart (our last stop), I had been feeding her apple slices since she was getting pretty hungry. After I put her in her carseat, she made the sign to me that she wanted more to eat, so I gave her another apple slice. A few minutes later, I looked back and she was sound asleep, apple slice clutched in her hand, uneaten. She snoozed all the way home. I hated to disturb her much-needed nap (last night was a rough one), so I sat in the car and later in the front yard with Jordan and the dogs while she continued to sleep for over an hour and a half! Thankfully, it was an absolutely gorgeous day! :) When she woke up, she looked around and saw us out the window. We waved to her and she looked so confused, haha! Then Jordan got her out, and she started her chatterbox up right away! She's so like him, able to wake up and immediately strike up a conversation, haha! ;)

Sleepy shopper

Too bad you can't hear the giggles that came with these pictures! These still shots do not come close to portraying the enjoyment!

Dat!

2010-12-13T20:49:00.002-06:00

Serena 'visits' the Christmas tree a few times a day. She points to each ornament within reach and says, "Dat!" about each one. For the most part she's been really good about leaving the ornaments on the tree. She's allowed to touch, but not take them off. When she does 'accidentally' take one off (she always looks a little surprised to suddenly find it in her hand), she brings it straight to Jordan or I!

All Pretty

2010-12-12T23:03:00.000-06:00

We took some pictures of Serena after church today. It's true, she's wearing a bow in her hair! ;)

SPECIAL THANKS TO JORDAN FOR ALL THE GREAT SMILES! ;D

Bundled up for a walk in the afternoon

Bibs & Giggles

2010-12-11T20:37:00.000-06:00

Today Jordan found this green bib outside our front door. He thought it must be ours, so he brought it inside. It's not ours, though! It was pretty windy outside today, so it just probably got blown over here from who-knows-where. Anyway, as soon as Serena laid eyes on it, she of course wanted it on! So, she wore a green bib over her outfit for the evening! (Thankfully it was clean, haha!)

Being a goof

Dancing to her music

Trying to balance a cup on her head. Oh, the laughs every time it fell to the floor!!

Wiggle Worm

2010-12-10T20:31:00.000-06:00

As Serena fills up, she becomes less interested in her meal and more interested in any activity going on around her (i.e., the dogs).

Believe it or not, she is still buckled in

Little goober-grin

AT LEAST Thirty-Second Thursday

2010-12-09T20:31:00.000-06:00

Today's video is just a conglomeration of silly clips from this week.

Dancing to Christmas music
Climbing and 'more' climbing...along with some chit chat about the Christmas tree
Loving on Maggie
Getting pushed in the doll stroller by Daddy (Serena thought it was HILARIOUS!)

Out of Sorts

2010-12-08T19:54:00.004-06:00

Well, our reprieve from teething was short, though definitely much appreciated. We seem to be back in the trenches now and let me tell you, those molars take a lot of work! And not just for Serena, either, haha! ;P She is mostly her normal happy little self; it's just that the smallest little thing will send her over the edge...from which she is usually easily retrieved after a hug from Mommy. So, today I spent a lot of time sitting on the floor and just keeping myself available to her. I'm really struggling with back pain the last couple days, so I'm trying to avoid picking her up and holding her. :( We did venture out with her to the Olive Garden for lunch (thanks to Julie for Jordan's birthday!) and that was so fun! Afterward, we walked around the mall a bit and Serena was Miss Congeniality over there too. I was happy to see her enjoying herself! :) At home, Serena continues to love on Maggie. The first thing Jordan does every morning is to let the dogs outside. He'll ask Macy, "Do you want to go outside?" and I'm not sure who hurries out the bedroom door the fastest, Macy or Serena! Macy heads straight for the back door while Jordan lets Rocky out of his kennel, but Serena now heads straight for Maggie's kennel (in the living room) and makes all kinds of noises and gestures in an attempt to get Jordan to let her out! I agree, Julie...Serena's probably going to LOVE Amy! Hopefully not too much, haha!

Serena in the middle of the fray

It's like Serena knows she's overreacting about things, and when something makes her upset she'll often just come over, climb on my lap, and nestle her sweet head on my chest for a minute or so and then go back to playing like nothing happened. Poor little baby just needs some Mommy-love to make it all better! ;)

Baby Cakes

2010-12-07T21:08:00.004-06:00

We often call Serena "Baby Cakes;" hence, the title of today's post. I was having trouble coming up with a title today.

Serena loves to play with the broom. She had a hard time waiting for Mommy to be done sweeping the floor this morning so she could take a turn with it!

Daddy gets the credit for this one! ;)

I think I've mentioned a time or two how much Serena loves to copy Jordan. Tonight at supper, Serena kept looking at Jordan and doing her sign for 'more' -- meaning, "Do more funny stuff, Daddy!"

This afternoon, we went for a walk out behind the development and watched Jordan work the dogs. It was funny to get Serena all bundled up (it was pretty chilly out there...in the 40's) and see her waddle around! She was NOT happy with me when I took her fleece snowsuit off afterward, though!

Not that great of a picture, but I posted it because I think she might actually look a little like me here!

Serena claps for Rocky and Macy every time they complete a retrieve

The hour or so before supper can be a kind of difficult one for Serena. She sees Mommy in the kitchen and knows food is being prepared and I think it just gets her little tummy to thinking it's time to eat NOW! I try to have some nutritious fingerfood on hand for her at this point of the day because chances are she'll be eating it right up until I get supper on the table! One of our favorites is frozen peas. The only problem with frozen peas is that they are so little that they don't keep Serena occupied long enough for me to be able to use my hands for anything but handing out frozen peas. So, I usually pass that job off to Jordan. Jordan, being the resourceful person that he is came up with a new system tonight for feeding Serena the frozen peas and it worked wonderfully! She thought it was really fun, plus it slowed her consumption a little, and it gave Jordan some free time! :)

Eating her frozen peas from off the table. Brilliant idea! I think we're going to patent this one and call it the Horak Frozen Pea Feeding Maneuver (or HFPFM). Catchy, huh? Oh, and you may have noticed the little 'alien dog' (our nickname for Maggie) in the picture. She's the Olsen's little doggie and we're watching her this week! Serena loves her so much! She even cries when we have to put Maggie in her kennel, haha!

More frozen pea eating

Serena loves all the dogs, not just Maggie. Although, Maggie has definitely won a special place in Serena's heart! Here, Serena is giving Rocky some love. Thankfully, Rocky is very tolerant!

DON'T Take It Off!

2010-12-06T20:55:00.003-06:00

Tonight after supper, Serena was trying to climb up on the cube and getting so frustrated because she couldn't get up there. It didn't take long for Jordan & I to figure out that it was because she had her jeans on and couldn't extend her leg as far as she normally does. So, Jordan went over to take the jeans off of her since I was busy cleaning up supper. No sooner did he get the jeans off, than Serena started crying and looking over at me with the most pained expression, like "Mommy, PLEASE make Daddy put them back on!" I grabbed the camera, but I was too late; she got over it pretty quickly! Bummer! ;) I did get this cute picture of Jordan explaining to (a much calmer) Serena that it would be easier for her to climb now that she didn't have her jeans on. Soon after, he was helping her get started climbing on the cube and she happily forgot about the trauma of having her jeans removed! This is only a little glimpse of how much Serena enjoys clothes. I have to keep her clothes put away (and the dirty ones go straight to the laundry room) or she will bring them to me and want me to put them on her (regardless of what she's already wearing)! When I get out an outfit for her to change into, she comes right over (especially if she sees that socks/shoes are involved!) and sits down in front of me very expectantly. She just loves getting dressed!

"It'll be easier for you to climb without your jeans on"

Serena (still) loves climbing on this cube and (still) claps enthusiastically for herself every time she gets up there. She's even added a delightful little "Aahhh!" to celebrate the accomplishment each time!

Serena is starting to learn that her signs can be applied in different situations from what they were originally introduced. For example, tonight she found it absolutely necessary to come and tell me each time that she was going to climb some "More" before she climbed onto the cube! It made me laugh how serious she was about it! And as soon as I would say, "Okay, go climb some more," then she would hurry back to the cube and get busy climbing!

Oh, and in other news, Serena stacked 5 (count them, FIVE) blocks today, heehee! ;) AND she discovered the hilarity in knocking over stacks of blocks (even if they are only 2 high)! LOTS of laughs, let me tell you! :D

Changing Baby's Diaper

2010-12-05T20:05:00.002-06:00

Serena's newest thing to do with her 'baby' is to try to change her diaper. She'll toddle out to her room, reach into the big box of diapers, pull one out (or two or three), and bring it (them!) back to wherever she left her baby (ie., the living room floor, the bathroom drawer, the kennel, or the back yard). She then very painstakingly tries every possible way of putting the diaper on the baby...diaper on top, baby on top, diaper on baby's face, etc...you get the idea! After Serena goes to bed, I go around and pick up all the toys and things we got out during the day. Part of that routine now includes gathering diapers to put back in the box for Serena's bottom. ;) Tonight, Serena wanted me to put a couple diapers on her baby. I happily complied, not realizing what I was thereby signing up for! I spent the next 30 minutes sitting on the floor across from Serena with her baby in between us, putting the diapers on the baby over and over and over and over again!!

Serena and her baby

Little Digger

2010-12-04T20:50:00.002-06:00

Another pretty day! Not as warm as yesterday, but we did get to spend quite a bit of time playing outside again! Serena discovered Macy & Rocky's little hole that they have been digging at on the sly ever since we moved here. She spent a good half hour doing her own digging in the dirt!

Lotsa Pictures!

2010-12-03T21:13:00.006-06:00

I just got around to dumping a bunch of pictures from my phone onto my computer, so not all of these are from today!

November 26th

Serena loves my shower cap and always wants us to put it on her. She was teething on this day...you can see it in her eyes! :(

November 28th

Jordan left early in the morning to go duck hunting. He took Rocky and left Macy with me. So, one of the things Serena wanted to do when she woke up was try to get Macy to howl.

November 28th

Success! ;) Too bad I didn't get a picture of Serena's face after Macy howled...she gets such a kick out of it!

December 1st

Carefully stacking her blocks. Yes, of course, her tongue is sticking out! The highest tower she could do was 4 high. But she usually knocked them over while reaching for the next block, haha!

December 1st

I just think it's so cute when she's bending over to reach something in her toy box! By the way, isn't that just about the cutest toy box you've ever seen?! ;)

December 2nd

Melts my heart!

December 2nd

With all her teething the last few days, Serena has spent a lot of time on Daddy's lap. Apparently it makes her feel better!

Today was SUCH a beautiful day! It was sunny and got up in the high 60's. Serena slept 13 hours last night...which means she slept in...for more than a whole hour past her normal wake-up time! And to think I used to consider 8:20 a fairly early morning! Serena obviously felt so much better today than she's felt all week. Apparently her teeth have decided to give her a break! She played outside all morning long while I relaxed in a chair on the patio, haha! After her nap, we took her to the playground. It was so nice to have our happy little Serena back again!

Serena spent a long time this morning pulling grass and putting it in the gutter trough. Then, she would brush it all out with her shovel. And repeat. Rocky was close by to monitor her work. You never know when she might pull out something edible! ;)

After her nap, Serena was in such a silly mood! She would put her paci in and then pull it out and just laugh and laugh like it was the funniest thing ever!

Although she loves swinging in the baby swings, Serena's trip to the playground is never complete unless she's gotten to swing on the big-kid swings too!

AT LEAST Thirty-Second Thursday

2010-12-02T20:35:00.002-06:00

First video:

1) Serena watching Biggest Loser at lunch the other day. Whenever it goes to a commercial break or anything that makes the screen go black even for a split second, she points to the computer and in a very urgent voice says, "Uh! Uh!"

2) Serena is not easily startled, though Jordan does try.

3) Serena getting thrown around by Jordan. She loves it!

Video #2:

One of Serena's favorite places to be is in Daddy's lap while he works on his computer. Even if all he is doing is typing emails, she thinks it's just great to sit there and watch. Lately, he's had his duck & goose calls nearby so he can practice, and Serena always likes watching him do that. The other day, Serena finally figured out how to blow hard enough to make noise come out of them! It's so funny to watch her take in these HUGE breaths and push them out! Jordan was watching a video clip about bird calling at the time, which he paused while I took the video; but then Serena insisted he turn it back on, so you'll hear it playing in the background! ;)

Another Teething Day. Boo!!!

2010-12-01T20:34:00.003-06:00

Blah! Day #3 of teething for Serena. She ranges from very sweet and happy to suddenly very sad/crabby/whiny! :P Hence, Jordan pulling out the old nursery rhyme tonight (modified slightly, haha):

There was a little girl,

Whose name was Serena.

When she was good,

She was very good indeed,

But when she was bad she was horrid.

We went for a walk, but Serena wasn't really 'into' it today :(

Later, she perked up a lot while playing with her 'pretty' necklace! She was having fun showing off for Daddy!

Putting the necklace on her baby

Just Serena

2010-11-30T20:52:00.003-06:00

Today Serena turned 16 months old! It just so happened I had an appointment at the midwives' so I took the opportunity to weigh Serena on their scale. She was 21 pounds! I think she's pushing 30" so that puts her in the 13th and 20th percentiles respectively. Still on the small side, but definitely growing! :)

"See how I put my pretty bracelet on?"

"And this is how I move the zipper on my purse!"

"A bracelet on each wrist and a measuring cup to clap with! Fun times!"

Holding Hands

2010-11-29T20:34:00.002-06:00

Serena loves holding hands (well, actually, she just wants to hold one of your fingers). It's so sweet! She comes up to you, arm reaching out with her hand opening and closing while she says, "Uh, uh!" This means, "Hold my hand and let's go somewhere and do something together!"

I'm pretty sure Serena's teeth are moving some more today. A couple days ago, I discovered her second molar had cut through. It's the other top one. So, maybe now it's the molars on the bottom? Who knows! Anyway, she was a kinda pathetic today and she definitely earned herself a dose of Tylenol before bed, haha! Hopefully, tomorrow will be better!

Out for a walk this afternoon

Holding hands

First Movie and Bird Calls

2010-11-28T22:06:00.002-06:00

Today was a very exciting day for Mommy! Serena kept a bow in her hair all morning!!!! Yay! She has not cooperated with bows since she was about 11 or 12 months old, I think. Every now and then I would try, but she always pulled them out. Then, Friday night when we went to the Christmas thing in McKinney, it was so chilly out that we wanted her to wear her hoodie. (She doesn't have a hat yet; but don't worry, I'm planning to get her one this week!) At first, she kept trying to pull it off like she always does, but then Jordan put up his hoodie and showed her how great it was. After that, she kept her hoodie on the entire evening! So, this morning, after getting her dressed for church, I put a bow in her hair, hoping that Friday night's hoodie episode was the dawn of a new era. As usual, she reached up to pull it out. I told her to leave it there because it was pretty, and she seemed satisfied enough with that explanation to just leave it there! It finally came out when we got home this afternoon! Woohoo! Bring on the bows again!!!!! :D

After Serena's nap this afternoon, we walked to the playground. By the time we got home, it was already a quarter after 5. I needed to get supper going, but Serena was already hungry and really wanted me to hold her or play with her. So, what did I do? What any American mom does in that situation, haha! I plopped her down in front of the tube!! ;) Back when Julie was visiting, she got Serena a Christmas CD that came with a companion DVD of "Little People." Sure enough, it held Serena's attention (along with some homemade graham crackers) long enough for me to whip up some omelettes for supper! Thanks, Aunt Julie!

Serena enjoying her first kid movie

Today was the end of the first duck season down here; but don't worry, there's another one opening in a couple weeks! ;) In the meantime, Jordan is going to be working on perfecting his duck calling. And, apparently, so is Serena! After listening to Jordan's duck and goose calls for the last month or two, she has developed a great interest in them. Today, for the first time, she managed to blow enough air into them to make some noise come out! You should have seen her face! She was so pleased!!!! Oh, and don't worry! I got a video and it's already sitting in the archives just waiting for Thursday! ;)

Our little bird caller. Maybe next year Jordan can just bring her along on his hunts to run the calls while he does the shooting, haha!

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.5

Baby Doll Play

2010-11-27T23:57:00.000-06:00

Serena has recently taken a renewed interest in her doll. For quite a while, the doll was just one of the toys that she carted around in the doll stroller, haha! For the last couple of days, though, she's been carrying the doll around a lot again. She loves hugging her and kissing her, pretending to change her diaper (with one of Serena's own diapers even though the doll has an extra diaper, haha!), pretending to feed her, and trying to cram her into my bathroom drawer (surely one of these times the drawer will shut...nope, better try it again!). I think it'll be interesting to see how her doll-play changes after we have a real baby in the house! There will be lots of imitating, I'm sure!

Once again, this is the only picture of the day! :P It's not a very good one, but Serena's trying to put the bottle in the baby's mouth.

Black Friday

2010-11-26T23:41:00.000-06:00

Well, today was Black Friday, but we did not do any shopping. Instead, we were home for most of the day and then spent the evening with our friends, the Olsens.

Serena loves watching The Biggest Loser while she eats lunch. It's been her & my ritual for the last couple of weeks. Jordan loves it! ;)

We took a little stroll down to the park. Serena looked so cute in her spotted sweatshirt!

This evening, we met up with the Olsens to go to the downtown McKinney "Dickens of a Christmas." There were lots of vendors and cute shops lining the streets. We even got to see some real reindeer! We watched a live nativity that was really good, and also watched the annual lighting of the Christmas tree (which turned out to be hilariously anti-climactic)!

Serena all bundled up for the walk around downtown

Afterwards, we got some pizza and went to the Olsen's house for supper! It was fun to catch up with them after not seeing them for a few weeks, and Serena had a great time playing with Fox & Max!

On the way to the Olsen's house, I kept hearing Serena do her high-pitched "Ah! Ah!" which generally means she's playing peek-a-boo. So, I turned around and here she was pulling her hood down over her face and then pulling it back! It was so funny because that's what Jordan had been doing with his hoodie before we left home earlier this afternoon!

AT LEAST Thirty-Second Thursday

2010-11-25T23:54:00.001-06:00

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! Serena managed to stay awake through this year's Thanksgiving dinner! ;) She enjoyed eating a bunch of smoked turkey, a few green beans, and lots of stuffing!

I divided today's video into three episodes so that hopefully it'll be a little easier for everyone to load them!

Video #1: Serena's opinion of the Christmas tree & her new-found ability to blog the doggie whistle

Video #2: Chatting on the mirror phone

Video #3: Sheer silliness! We took this one this afternoon. There's lots of belly laughs...mostly induced by Rocky's antics!

Mirror Phone

2010-11-24T22:09:00.003-06:00

Serena continued with her mirror phone conversations today! The only way I can think to describe it is H.I.L.A.R.I.O.U.S.! I really hope I can get some decent video tomorrow, because you guys just have to see/hear it!

I don't know why, but I only have two pictures from today. And, believe it or not, this one is the better of the two! :P You can't really see the little mirror, but she's holding it up to her ear. I caught her mid-'word' in this shot. ;)

Tiny Tree

2010-11-23T21:03:00.003-06:00

Serena is very interested in the Christmas tree (as you can imagine a 15-month-old would be!), and it's very hard for her to be content with just 'touching' the ornaments when she'd really like to be able to take them off and carry them all around the house! I have this little tiny tree that I originally bought to sit on my desk back when I worked in the Maintenance office at Northland (wow, that seems like forever ago!). Last year, I put it in Serena's room just for fun, and thought I'd do that again this year. But, last night when I was contemplating getting it decorated, I had a light bulb moment...Why not let Serena just play with that tree?! So, this morning when Serena went for the Christmas tree, I handed her the mini one and some ornaments. She played busily with them while Rocky looked on with lots of curiosity (jealousy?)!

The best part about the ornaments was not putting them on the tree, but taking them in and out of the box, of course!

Happy times with her little tree (and Rocky!)

We received another surprise package in the mail today! This time from Grandpa & Grandma! Jordan was like, "Is it Serena's birthday or something?!" Haha, I guess when it rains, it pours! ;) So, we opened it up and found an adorable pink Cowboys wind suit!

Cutest Cowboy fan out there!

Serena got out her purse again today. She hasn't played with it much for a while. I was surprised she still remembered how to 'put on' the lipstick the way I'd shown her! ;) After carrying the lipstick and bracelet around for a while, she went back to the purse and pulled out the mirror. Although she noticed her reflection in it, she didn't seem too interested in that. Instead, it apparently reminded her more of our phones, and she walked all around with the mirror up to her ear, talking away! It was so funny, you guys! Now and then she would look at it and apparently pretend to push some buttons and then it would go right back up to her ear for more talking and laughing and even sighing, with periodic breaks while she apparently listened to the other end! I'm working on getting video for Thursday!

A Box from Grammie & a Spaghetti Dinner

2010-11-22T20:46:00.002-06:00

Serena has been such a happy girl today having Daddy back home again!

Today's big accomplishment for Serena was finally figuring out how to use Daddy's dog whistle! She was pleased as punch to finally be able to blow on that thing and make noise come out of it just like Daddy does! Now, if she could just figure out why the dogs don't seem to respond like they do for Daddy...even when she goes and stands RIGHT IN FRONT of them and blows the whistle as hard as she can, hahaha!

This afternoon we got a package in the mail from Grammie for Serena! Inside was this adorable soft cozy sweatshirt! It looks so cute on her!

I wanted to get a picture of Serena in her new sweatshirt (I wish I'd thought to take the tags off first! :P), but she wasn't really into posing and smiling for the camera...until Daddy came to the rescue with his hat, haha!

When we have spaghetti, I use whole wheat rotini rather than spaghetti noodles for Serena so she actually has a chance at getting some of it in her mouth. Have you ever watched a baby try to pick up spaghetti noodles and eat them?! But, even with the better gripping surface, it's still a huge mess! And then comes the inevitable itch on the forehead with the spoon in hand...and then the tickle from the food deposited on the cheekbone from the spoon...and then before you know it, she's rubbing her face between each bite because of all the food on it that's tickling her!

Snowman! Foot! Ear! Poopytime!!!

2010-11-21T23:01:00.001-06:00

Last night after Serena went to bed, I turned on Elf and put up the tree! Serena didn't notice it until after breakfast this morning. When she did notice it, she was standing about 5 feet away from it and suddenly burst out in a very high-pitched tone, "Da! Da! Da!" and pointing and giggling! It was so funny! I set a few other little Christmas-y things out too. One of them being a cute little beany-baby snowman. I put him in the corner of the kitchen counter on the right side of the stove. He's not really conspicuous there, but I thought he could sit leaned up against my cooking books and make me feel a little more festive in the kitchen, heehee! Well, this morning when Serena came into the kitchen for breakfast, somehow her eyes caught sight of the that snowman right away! I really didn't think she'd even notice him stuck in the corner like that, but she insisted I let her get her hands on him! And then, oh, the love that little snowman got!

Loving up the snowman!

Serena is getting very good at identifying body parts. She's known where her nose is for a long time (thanks to The Nose Book from Aunt Julie!), but lately we've added ears and feet. I think she could get a lot more of them pretty quickly, but she's kinda choosy about when she feels 'in the mood' for that game, haha!

Foot!

Ear

I was trying to get some pictures of her reading her book, but I didn't realize until a minute or so later (when my nose picked up on a clue) that it was poopytime for her, hahahaha! The pictures are too good not to share. (Sorry, Serena!)

Poopytime! This one made me laugh so hard!

Seriously, Mom, you really think now is a good time for pictures?!

Slide Mastery and Other Things

2010-11-20T21:00:00.002-06:00

This afternoon I took Serena to the playground again. She wanted to swing for the first 10 minutes or so, and then she spent about half an hour walking/standing around watching all the other kids. She can be so pensive at times! Finally, I encouraged her to climb up the steps on the playset and then I went down the little kiddie slide with her on my lap. After we had done that 3 times, she was kinda tired of it and went back to watching the other kids. Then, she suddenly decided to climb the steps again. This time, I stayed on the ground right next to where she was. When she got to the slide, she turned around and went down on her tummy! I don't know how she got the idea to do that; I hadn't shown her that option and none of the other kids had been doing that! After that, she was Queen of the Slide and went down all by herself several more times before we went home!

Serena took a break from sweeping the floor to go through the ads that came in the mail today

Yesterday, Serena spent a lot of time dragging her xylophone around the house. After she went to bed, I found some string and tried to find an appropriate toy to tie it to for her. I settled on this little car. She thinks it's so great to drag it around! It's added a whole new dimension to playing with it! Of course, she makes sure the passengers are always inside...which can be hard work when they keep getting flung out!

This toy has just amazed me! Serena was 5 months old when Grammie gave it to her for Christmas last year. It has been an awesome toy since Day 1! She still loves to play with it! Whether pushing it, dragging it, maneuvering it out the door to take it into the backyard, or just sitting and playing with all the activities on the front, it has provided countless hours of amusement for her through all of her different stages of development over the last 10 months. Truly an amazing feat for any toy!

New Version of an Old Favorite

2010-11-19T22:07:00.002-06:00

Serena loves her ring-stacking game. Tonight I put one of the rings on my finger, and she thought it was so fun! She then got busy gathering all her rings from the dog kennel where she'd thrown them earlier today and began stacking them on my finger. She's still just barely short enough to be able to stand inside the kennel without hitting her head!

AT LEAST Thirty-Second Thursday

2010-11-18T21:59:00.000-06:00

Things got a little out-of-hand this week in the video-taping department, and I ended up with over 13 minutes of video...about 4 minutes of which I just couldn't live without. My system is that I edit the video clips together each week and then just delete what I don't use. Then, I keep the edited version in a folder for us. So, in a big way, this blog has helped me stay up-t0-date on keeping my photos and videos of Serena organized; which is really good because it's so easy for me to get behind on stuff like that!

This first video has a bunch of Serena & Daddy goofiness. They are quite the buddies! ;) Then, there's a little teeny clip of Serena doing the snorty thing that Aunt Julie taught her (Serena thinks it's REALLY cool to do that now. Thanks, Aunt Julie. Haha!). And a teeny-er clip that I just couldn't bring myself to edit out of Serena smiling at me from the playground set. I thought I had the camera set to take a picture, but it took a video instead; but it's actually really fun to see her smile in an action shot rather than still!

This second video is a little longer, and if you don't watch the whole thing, I completely understand! I even edited out a good 3 minutes, you guys! It's all just Serena 'reading' her book, and I just get the biggest kick out of it! She is so expressive and earnest in her reading! In the mornings, the first thing she does (after sitting up in bed and chatting at her still-sleeping parents) is to climb down from the bed to go find a book. She then brings the book back to the bed, asks to be lifted back up (which I grudgingly pull myself from my comfy spot to do), and commences her morning read...which happily for us can last a good 15 minutes or so! ;)

Where's the Truck?

2010-11-17T21:15:00.002-06:00

Tonight we played a rousing game of "Hide the Toy Truck Under the Pail and See If It's Still There When You Lift the Pail Up Again." Guess what?! It was! Every time! And it got a smile every time, too! Haha! Gotta love playing with a one-year-old! ;)

A Walk

2010-11-16T21:28:00.002-06:00

When we left for tonight's walk, we forgot the stroller! We had driven over to the other side of our neighborhood so Jordan could take the dogs out in the field for some exercise, so we didn't really want to turn around and drive all the way back home for the stroller. So, Serena got to walk! She thought it was really great and it was fun to watch her explore! She found a big dead branch lying on the ground with all its leaves still on it. When she grabbed a hold of it, she realized that whenever she shook it, the dry leaves made a rattling sound. For some reason, that really struck her funny bone!

Trying to keep up with Daddy

After a while, Daddy came back and brought her out in the field with him!

She did pretty well navigating the uneven terrain. It certainly did not hold her back!

Big strides while holding onto Daddy's finger

Reading

2010-11-15T20:25:00.002-06:00

Serena's 'reading' has gone to a whole new level lately! It's so funny to hear her 'read' to herself and watch her point to the pictures. I already got some video footage for this Thursday's video!

Serena was such a NUT tonight before bed! Jordan was laying on the floor throwing a toy into the air and catching it, which is something that has always fascinated Serena. So, Serena had a toy in hand which she held way above her head and then dropped. She laughed and laughed! And then she did it again. And again. And then, she started throwing it from up on the couch to the floor where I was sitting. That really made her laugh for some reason, and we pretty much just kept playing that game for the next 30 minutes until she finally went to bed! Her laugh was just hilarious and she was being such a goof!

Playing with Daddy

2010-11-14T20:33:00.002-06:00

Serena thought it was so funny to chase Daddy around while he tried to snap pictures of her!

Awe, a hug for Daddy!

Daddy makes me fly and it's SO fun!

Stuff Serena Did Today

2010-11-13T21:06:00.002-06:00

After her morning nap, Serena wanted to sit on Daddy's lap and watch sports news on his computer. She was very 'into' it!

Getting a 'Big Squeeze' from Daddy

We went to the park at the front of our neighborhood that has a playground. Serena got so excited when she caught sight of it. She started talking in her high-pitched voice and laughing!

On the playground. Yes, Rocky went down the slide with Daddy & Serena! ;)

Baby-face