Amelia's new bed

Ever since Amelia was born, she has slept in the bassinet of her pack 'n play. Well, she's started to outgrow it, so I ordered a crib for her last month. It finally arrived yesterday, so we set it up right away in her room. She slept in it for the first time last night, and actually slept almost 7 hours straight, which is pretty good for her. These pictures were taken of her playing in her crib this afternoon while I cleaned her room up.

Grandma Sally's Special Request

Why are you guys laughing at me?
Do you like my dress?
Laughing at Daddy!

My mom sent Amelia a pair of bunny ears for Easter, and I finally got around to taking some pictures of Amelia wearing them. Oh, and I kind of misplaced them, and found them recently. Aren't they cute? She didn't seem to notice she was wearing them, but liked smiling and showing off her dress and her new sitting skills for some pictures.

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Uploaded by Hen7975

Here is a video of Amelia that I took today. She started to sit up on her own really well within the past week, and she also scoots around the living room floor on a blanket. She isn't crawling yet, but she uses a combination of rolling, scooting backwards, and turning her whole body around to get where she wants to go. Just this morning, she started to lift her belly up off the floor and hold herself up on her hands and knees, so I predict that crawling will happen pretty soon. She is such a different baby than she was just a month ago...she used to be content to be held all the time, but now she bucks and rocks and squirms because she wants to be on the floor, moving around. And of course, now we have to babyproof our living room, which includes getting rid of our iron and slate coffee table and covering up all the wires for the surround sound system.

To play the video, click it, wait a second, then click it again.

More Pics

Yesterday afternoon we spent some time outside, since it was warm and relatively windless. For those who aren't familiar with Clovis, the area of the country we are in is called the High Plains, and we get some really high winds here. And those winds carry the red Clovis dust, so not only is it horrible to go outside on windy days, we have to keep our doors and windows closed because the dust will get inside. But it was really calm yesterday, so we took Amelia outside for some sun. She really loves being outside, and likes to watch the cars and motorcycles go by the house.

Austin's Battle Wound-Showing For a Limited Time Only

So, some of you know that Austin had some minor surgery on his scalp performed yesterday. Here's the pictures of the stitches he got. It's 1 running stitch, but looks like 5 stitches. It might look bad to some of you, but he's doing good, and the procedure wasn't as bad as either of us thought it would be. Unfortunately, he has a half-dollar sized bald spot now and his head is too tender to wear a hat, but it should grow back soon.

All Tuckered Out

Today, the 3 of us went to see my friend Amy's new duplex (really nice, with a jacuzzi tub and wow...airconditioning!) so Austin could help her out with hooking up her clothes dryer. Amy played with Amelia and we showed off her rolling over and standing skills, and consequently, Amelia missed her afternoon nap. On the way home, we stopped to pick up dinner, and Amelia fell asleep in the car in this really uncomfortable position. (I tucked her hat under her cheek because she was resting her head on the plastic part of the car seat.) She was sleeping so soundly that I decided not to move her head, and instead, to take a few pictures.

What is this green stuff?

We had some nice weather this weekend, (even though it actually snowed a little on Friday) so I took Amelia outside in our back yard for some fresh air. With all the rain and snow we have had recently, our yard has really sprouted and we haven't had a chance to get it mowed. But it makes for some nice pictures. Amelia loved playing with the grass, grabbing it, and pulling it up, and surprisingly, she didn't stuff any in her mouth.

Office Party

The whole group (too many to name individually, but it's pretty

much everybody in our office, plus a few spouses and kids)

Amelia and my coworker Jenny
(she's having her own baby girl in July)
Amelia and my coworker Sherron (it was her party)


Tonight we went to an office get-together at my coworker Sherron's apartment. Sherron was in the hospital recently and she had this party to thank everybody in the office for helping her out when she needed it. Wow! A lot of people! Amelia was wild at the party (despite what the pictures show). She was really jumping around and was excited to see so many different people (I guess she gets bored just seeing old Mom and Dad!) We got home a little after 8pm, and Amelia fell asleep almost immediately...I guess she was pretty worn out.

The Other Woman

Here are some pictures of Amelia and the other woman in her life, her babysitter, Colleen. Colleen has been watching Amelia a few afternoons a week for about a month, and Amelia absolutely loves her. Colleen is my coworker's wife, and we were thrilled to find her...she watches only Amelia, and she takes really good care of her. This is great because then I don't worry about her constantly. Amelia loves Colleen because she holds her all the time and sings "Humpty Dumpty" to her in German.

If it doesn't work, bang it against something!

Here is some video I took today of Amelia in her exersaucer. She is holding a butterfly toy which makes noises when you move the wings. Of course, Amelia doesn't know how to work the toy, so she settled for just banging it against the exersaucer until it worked. To play the video, click it twice (don't double click it; space the clicks a second or so apart) and it should start playing.

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Uploaded by Hen7975

Easter Brunch

Amelia with Amy

My friend Amy and her mom invited Austin, Amelia, and I to Easter Brunch today at the club on base. I met Amy about 4 years ago when we worked together in San Antonio. When I told her I was moving here, she said, "oh, my parents just moved to Clovis too!" A few months later, Amy moved here also. Amy and her parents are like our second family now; we even spent Christmas Eve at their house.

So we all went to the brunch today, and we had a lot of fun. The food was great...there was prime rib, carved turkey, ham, waffles, eggs benedict, lots of sides, fruit, dessert, and mimosas.

Amelia in Mommy's baby clothes

Here's some pictures of Amelia wearing one of my old baby outfits. My mom sent it while I was pregnant, and I kept it stored away until Amelia was big enough for it. I believe it was originally given to me by my Great-Aunt Sally. I was looking at it in the closet today, and pulled it out to try on Amelia, and I was surprised by how well it fit her; I thought we'd have to wait a few more months to try it, but I'm glad I did, because it fits so well that she would have grown out of it in a month or so. So cute, and the animal blanket from my friend Wendy makes a perfect backrground.

Snow Day!

A flower outside our front door that survived the snow.
View from our front yard (above)
and from the front door (below)

We had some late-season snow last night, and it is cold!!! It had been in the mid 70's just a few days ago, so when the snow was forecasted, I really didn't believe it. I was thinking that this is really late for snow, but I remembered that we had snow on Easter weekend last year. I'm looking forward to some warm weather again.

Can't leave her alone for a second!

Here is another video showing why we can't leave Amelia on the floor and leave the room for even a second. She can get anywhere! She learned how to roll over in the past month and she has gotten scary good at it. It's happened when we have left the room for seconds to get the phone or grab a soda, and she is 4 or 5 feet away from where we last saw her. To play the video, click on it twice (but not a double click, space the clicks a second or so apart), and it should start playing



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Messy Amelia!

Here are some pictures of Amelia taken while eating a biter biscuit. Now that she has 2 teeth, she is really vicious, but we know she doesn't mean it! She bites our fingers all the time, and her teeth are so sharp and jagged that they really hurt. I bought a box of these biscuits at Walmart...she seemed to like them, but they made a huge mess! For all the moms of teething babies, I highly recommend Hyland's teething tablets. They are cheap, safe, and easy for Amelia to take, and they really help with her pain and irritability.

Hi Aunt Jenny!

Amelia wants to say "Hi" to Aunt Jenny and all her friends at St. Patrick's Hospital in Missoula, MT.

Peek A Boo Video

Okay, I think I fixed it! Email me if this doesn't work. Here is a video of Amelia and I playing Peek A Boo. She finally understood the game. When I had tried it before, she got disinterested whenever I hid my face.

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Uploaded by Hen7975

To play the video, click on it twice (not a double click...space the clicks apart a second or two) and it should start playing.

More Pictures

Last Thursday, I left work early because they were doing construction in the room next to my office, so I thought it was a great excuse to go home and hang out with Amelia and Austin. We went for a walk together, and right before my camera battery died, I took these 3 pictures.

6 Month Well Baby Checkup

Practicing her exercises before she sees the doctor
Amelia and Dr. Winters

Amelia had her 6 month checkup this morning, with Dr. Winters, who is the best pediatrician in the world. She first met Amelia a few days after she was born and she has been her doctor since then. She said Amelia was "great!" and said she is a little ahead of the game with her motor skills, like sitting and raising her chest and stomach off the ground. Dr. Winters said Amelia is growing really well, and at 27.5 inches and 17 lb 7 oz , she is in the 90th percentile for height, and just above the 75th percentile for weight. Remember, this was our tiny, tiny baby who was 19.5 inches and 6 lb 5 oz when she was born and wore newborn sizes for the first 3 months. Unfortunately, Amelia also got 3 shots and an oral rotavirus dose at this appointment, but she took it like a champ, smiling at the nurse right before, then crying a little, and then smiling at her again within a minute of the shots. She stopped crying even before I did...it's still hard to watch my sweet girl get shots because it hurts her so much. Her next appointment is in 3 months, and Dr. Winters predicted she will be talking, standing, and crawling by then.

Easter Egg Hunt

Amelia, not quite understanding the whole Easter basket thing.

Amelia and Addison

Amelia with Ronnece and Addison

Amelia and Mommy

Amelia riding a miniature horse.

Ronnece and I took our daughters to our squadron Easter Egg Hunt on Saturday, March 31st. We knew our girls were too young to actually participate, but we thought it would make for some good pictures, and in case it didn't, we actually brought our own props...Easter signs and Easter baskets. We thought we could put up the decorations and the girls would cooperate by sitting up and smiling, so we could take pictures. And of course it didn't quite work! Amelia just ate her basket and hardly looked at the camera, and Addison was a little upset and preferred to sit in someone's lap. But they still sat on a miniature horse, chewed on their Easter eggs, and sat for a picture in the Easter Bunny's lap. Then we all went to IHOP and the grownups got pancake combos, so it was a pretty good day!