Random Life Occurences

This is going to be a collage of random thoughts and things that have been going on in our household during the last few weeks.

1) Lizzie is VERY close to successfully crawling. Everyone who already has children continually warns me that I should not desire this milestone in Lizzie's life as much as I do. I'm sure they all know what they are talking about, but I am so excited for her. Additionally, it would seem like I might be able to get more accomplished around the house if she could crawl - right now she just whines when I leave her for any small amount of time.

2) Lizzie is continually spoiled by all of her Grandparents. Grandpa and Grandma Griffen gave her her first taste of playing in the Tupperware drawer and being allowed to bang pots/pans/Tupperware together. She loved it! So, as any good mom would do, I moved all of my Tupperware into the drawer closest to the floor so that she could enjoy the same giggle inspiring activity at home.

3) Lizzie's two bottom teeth have pushed their way through her gums (THANK YOU!). Now she spends a lot of time pushing her tongue back and forth over her teeth - it is so cute.

4) I planted an herb garden along with two tomato plants. I really wanted to plant a real garden but our yard does not get enough sunlight for the garden to be successful.

5) Last, but not least, I've included a picture of my niece Cassidy wearing the beautiful dress that Ryan's mom knit for her (Ryan's mom also made the same dress for Lizzie - its just much larger and a different color).

Our Family Picture

Create your own family sticker graphic at pYzam.com

Enjoying the Outdoors

Lizzie absolutely loves the outdoors! Whenever she gets crabby all we have to do is put her next to the window and talk to her about the birds and the trees and she is quiet.

The other day I decided to see whether she liked the touch of grass on her toes and fingers (because Dylan hated it). To be honest I was surprised to find out that she really seemed to enjoy it. She is very much a girl who likes to feel different textures. So, if you ever drive by our house and wonder why we are always sitting out in the front or back lawn on the ground it is probably because she is patting the grass or pulling it.

You'll also notice that I've included a few pictures of our recent trip to the park. Lizzie giggles with glee when she swings. It reminds me of Psalm 8 "From the mouths of infants and children you have created praise."

Piano Prodigy? Maybe.

As many of you know, Ryan's dad is a wonderful pianist. Ryan is often asked if he can play the piano like his father. To the surprise of many, Ryan responds by saying, "no, I've never played the piano before." I would love for Lizzie to be able to play the piano, even if she could play half as good as her Grandpa W. I would be thrilled. So, as you can tell from these pictures, we are delighted to see that she actually seems to enjoy the piano. Do we have a piano prodigy in the making? I'm not sure. As I said earlier, it doesn't really matter. If she enjoys playing the piano, she will be better than both Ryan and I as neither of us know how to play.

I think we'll start her off slowly...we'll let her plunck away for the first few times and then we'll start with Middle C. I imagine that she could figure out the names and locations of all the keys before she learns to crawl, walk or speak...that isn't asking too much is it?

Lizzie's 6 Month Pictures

Lizzie is almost 8 months old, but I thought I'd share her 6 month pictures with you. Katie Deboer took the pictures of her. Katie did such a wonderful job that we had a very difficult job choosing which ones we wanted to get developed into larger pictures. I would recommend Katie to anyone and everyone; check out her website at http://www.katiedeboerphotography.com/

Our Basketball Star in the Making

About this time last year I went to a garage sale and found a Little Tikes basketball hoop. As I thought of Ryan's love of basketball and our yet to be born baby, guilt set in as I tried to walk away and leave it for someone else to purchase. The current owner was only asking $5. The hoop was way too large to fit in my Honda (or so I thought), so I purchased the hoop and asked if I could come back for it with my husband. Unlike other garage sale purchases, Ryan did not have a problem with this one.

Lizzie is now 7 months old and Ryan has already introduced her to the little basketball. She is almost set to crawl, so I am sure that he will soon try to introduce her to the actual hoop.

Behold the Future of Lizzie and Sophie

I thought this was so cute. It made me think that this will be a picture of Lizzie and Sophie in about a 1/2 a year to a year.

The heading on this picture was as follows:

'Aggghhhh! Someone dial 911, I'm being mauled by a troll!'