Quite possibly the sweetest thing ever

C and i had been playing with blocks on her nursery floor for a while when I decided it was the perfect time to catch up on emails. I grabbed my computer and sat down in her rocker while she continued to play. I became so engrossed in writing replies that I didn't realize C had been quiet for a few minutes. I glanced up and saw this:

C spotted a corner of her favorite lovey that was sticking out of her crib, crawled across the playroom, stood up, grabbed it and started sucking her thumb! Poor baby! She is now taking a little siesta--thanks for the hint, kiddo!

Darth Vader strikes again

Back on April 22nd, I posted a video of Baby C doing her Darth Vader impression. It wasn't her best shot because, when i finally remember to videotape, she usually gets too excited about the camera and starts pointing at it instead of "growling" like Darth Vader.

Not the case today, oh no...Baby C was very excited to verbalize her impressions today and have me mimic them back to her...I really hope you'll watch the video--it had me laughing throughout while filming!

Wordless Wednesday: Let's Go Shopping!

Okay so this post won't be so wordless as wordful but the pics need some explanations!

As we live in a small apartment that is short on space, we use every corner of the house to its fullest potential. Case in point--we store present boxes, bags, and ribbon, in the corner behind C's crib...like so:

Never thought anything of it until today...

C was supposed to be napping and I kept hearing this rustling of papers. I ran into her room to see what she was doing and found her ready to go shopping. Needless to say, the swaddle came out after that!

for more WordLESS Wednesdays, visit 5 Minutes for Mom
and
for more WordFUL Wednesdays, visit 7ClownCircus

Phew! Crazy weekend recap!

In case you couldn't tell, I'm really into the photo collages--while some details are lost because the pictures are smaller, it (hopefully!) is easier to get the main idea when we have lots to update! Don't worry, this won't be the norm!

I mentioned in one of my Thankful Thursday posts that our church finally has our own building! What a joyous occasion it was when our church family celebrated with a grand opening gala. The women behind the design are more than amazing--I'll show you close ups of the incredible rooms later--they are breathtaking! And the nursery! oh my! You don't even know how incredible that is!

After the church party, we headed to our community's annual Summerfest Dinner. We love where we live because we can walk everywhere and enjoy our neighbors. More than 1000 people come out for food and fellowship and then a kid-friendly movie at dusk. We always end up meeting new people who are so neat!

On Saturday, we went to the Braves' Game with J's company. C went last Fall when she was really little but this time was much more fun because she interacted with lots of kids.

We actually left the game before it even started (gasp!) but we went to an even better party--three backyards full of fun, food, and fellowship! C was particularly enamored with one of the older boys from our church--can you spot them throughout the collage? Hilarious!

On Sunday, after our inaugural church service in our new location (awesome, by the way!) we met with my parents and enjoyed the end of Summerfest. The highlight for the kiddos was getting to explore one of our local parks.

and, finally, our friends from church who live seriously 60 seconds away from us, had their baby girl on their 12th anniversary--which was Saturday! Talk about congratulations all around! We were able to visit her today--she is a gorgeous little baby with tons of hair. Hard to believe C was smaller than her. It will be so fun watching her grow.

Hope you all had a great weekend, too!

PS Didn't realize my camera was on an absolutely horrid shutter speed setting until after all the pictures were taken. Fixed that so stay tuned for better quality! :0

Catchup!

We had a fabulous weekend that was jam packed with fun. I'm going through my photos and will update soon. For now, I recapped our first family vacation as a family of three...it is on my other blog if you want to check it out--I cannot believe how small C used to be!

I ❤ Faces: Family Vacations

Awww...Sweet Baby

The Twin's daughter is, sadly, not a cuddler. So, when Little R (sniff! no longer "baby" R!) decided to one day snuggle in on her mommy's shoulder, the twin said, "aww sweet baby." Well, that seemed to motivate Miss R and she would often lay her head down and wait for her mom to say, "Aww, sweet baby". She is a riot.

I am happily blessed with a daughter who does enjoy cuddling and snuggling. In fact, the twin would often try to steal Baby C from me just so she could get in a coveted hug. Not only does C love cuddling with real people, she also loves to bury her cute little face into anything soft--from a stuffed animal to a blanket, you name it, if its soft, her head is snuggling into it!

Since the twin had such success with "Aww, sweet baby" I thought I'd try it with C, too. Now, everytime she cuddles up to me or her stuffed animals (or the bed or the towels, etc.), I reiterate the twin's phrase and rub C's back. Let me tell you, she LOVES it!

She thinks it is hilarious that I say that and wants me to keep repeating it. She'll look at me to make sure I'm watching, snuggle into whatever she is near, get a huge smile on her face when I rub her back and say the phrase and then, BAM! she's popped her head up just to do it all over again. Her version of throwing a cup just for me to pick it up again (thankfully we aren't at that stage yet and maybe we'll bypass it if she can get her fix by cuddling and hearing "Aww, sweet baby"! Could we only be so blessed!)

I kept trying to snap a few pictures of her doing it but she thought the camera was much more interesting than the stuffed animal...so here is a video we have of her demonstrating it in a half-hearted effort. Stay tuned, though--if I get some more pictures today, those will be uploaded ASAP because it is just so funny!

Wordless Wednesday: our NEW playground!

for more WordLESS Wednesdays, visit 5 Minutes for Mom
and
for more WordFUL Wednesdays, visit 7ClownCircus

She's baaaack...

Brought to you by:
Little-Miss-No-Sleeps, Sleepless-Girl-Wonder

in case you can't see the pictures, C is teething again--an unfortunate catalyst that leads to many sad-sack moments. Hence her renewed status as resident Woodchuck, hence her lack of ability to sleep, hence her crankiness. Thank goodness for that swaddle!

Time to get on my knees...

I blogged about our collegiate friends who welcomed a newborn THREE months exactly a week ago. I just received an update from them and felt their story needs to be heard so that more people can pray for Esther..since i couldn't recap it any better than how Rachael wrote it herself, I'm taking the liberty of sharing her latest journal entry below:

The day I was discharged from the hospital, I met with one of the neonatologists to discuss Esther’s care. He explained that all NICU babies go through a honeymoon period right after birth and then something goes wrong and things always get worse before they get better. He said there is no way to predict what will go wrong or when it will happen, but it always does and we should begin preparing ourselves for that day.

Today is that day. Esther’s honeymoon phase is over. The last couple days she has had more difficulty breathing and keeping her heart rate up. Today between 3:00 p.m. and 4:00 p.m. I watched her go between being pale white to purple and back twice. Both times she could barely breathe and her heart rate dropped rapidly. Her vitals have been a rollercoaster all day.

Esther’s red blood cell count was low this morning and her attending physician ordered a blood transfusion, but the blood did not arrive until 4:00 p.m. this afternoon. They began the transfusion just before I left to try to get some sleep and the nurses said it should help stabilize her for a few more days.

All this is being caused by the PDA valve. As long as it remains open, Esther will continue to struggle, and her heart and lung condition will only get worse. I am meeting with another doctor later this evening to see if there is anything we can do to get the surgery done sooner than Monday.

Please pray for Esther and me, that we both have the strength to get through the next few days – her physical strength, my emotional strength. Aaron will be back tomorrow afternoon as soon as he can get away from work and our friend Kristie is coming to spend the evening with me for emotional and moral support.

It is time for me to get some supper and head back over to the hospital, but I will leave you with the good news that Esther’s doctor increased her feedings to 1.5 ml every three hours (which she is tolerating very well) and she is up to 1 lb 9.75 oz. At least her digestive system is working properly!

A day unplugged...

Many thanks to Kelly for telling me about the idea her friend, Jodie, had to go unplugged for one whole 24-hour day in May. I was up for the challenge because my desire to be plugged-in at all times borders on the ridiculous.

So, I chose Monday, May 18th to completely unplug from my computer and iPhone (conveniently, C had gummed the iPhone near-to-death so it was in the permanently off position, anyway, and couldn't tempt me). My computer, on the other hand, silently stared at me with its white glow, taunting me to just open it up and turn it back on...just for a moment!

Choosing this day was particularly hard for me--I love to participate in I ❤ Faces every week and, forgetting that i could enter on Tuesday, felt the urge to enter on Monday--which requires using the computer. Thankfully, I happened to head to the bathroom around 2:30 AM, saw that the Mr. Linky was up and running, entered my picture and promptly turned off the computer. I justified this moment of weakness by telling myself I wouldn't be on my computer for at least 24 hours after that!

Anywho...here is what our day looked like in bullet-points, followed by pictures in slideshow form

• The baby got up...VERY early
  
• instead of reading my emails, while nursing (yes, i seriously do this), i read "My Outmost for His Highest" and my "365 Day Bible"
• I made coffee, thinking I'd need it STAT
  
• C and i played--she tired quickly, so i put both of us back to sleep. The coffee could wait!
  
• C got up. I fed her breakfast while pouting: i could not call my mom or sister, my typical morning routine
• C practiced crawling into her red pottery barn chair
• We got ready to go for a run.
• On our way out the door, we found a crazy fun package with C's name on it--treats and clothes from Grandma! C was estatic.
  
• Carried on with our run together--speed workout on the Active Oval at Piedmont Park. i worked hard, C snoozed: BRUTAL
• Stopped at the park for a quick reprieve from the stroller and the jogger.
• Forgot to take pictures after we got home. Oops
  
• Came home--shower + lunchtime + playtime
  
• C went to sleep, i went to town on the many piles of laundry i'd accumulated from the past two days
• C got up (laundry almost done!) and we took to the hallway again, this time trying to capture some feet for a future I ❤ Faces theme. Pretty unsuccesful
  
• I read and cleaned and all-in-all bemoaned the fact that i couldn't get on my phone or computer. it was HARD people!
• C had an incredibly runny, very green nose all day so we sent J to Bible Study without us. I cheated and watched the opening of the Bachelorette.
  
• For the first time in forever, i went to bed at 11:00 PM.
  
• What a day!

Enjoy the photos!

Update on Grandpa!

this just in from my Aunt:

Grandpa's first radiation treatment is tomorrow morning at 8:15am. He will take his chemo pill at 6am, then go back to bed until 7. His doctors recommend taking the pill 3 hours after a meal and one hour before to avoid any possibility of nausea. Grandpa is very positive-- he watched lots of people walking in and out of the office. And as he stated-"they haven't carried anyone out yet"

We praise the Lord for a wonderful beginning. Grandpa was pleased that he could handle laying on an MRI table with the radiation mask and not feel claustophobic.

So that's it from here. Grandpa is going swimming now. Meredith is cleaning the pool and Mom and I are juicing a bunch of carrots, kale, beets and apples... so yummy.

In case you are a new reader, my grandpa has stage-3 Astrocytoma but he is being treated for it and we are praising God for grandpa's progress and outlook!

Minding your "p"s and "c"s

Thought I'd update you on what C has been up to these days!

The three "p"s

1. Pottying
   C has become an expert at the potty. We are thrilled that #2 diapers are relatively a thing of the past! Now she'll even do #1s! Thrilling to many, i'm sure
   
   
   


2. Pointing
Sadly, I can't get any pictures of C pointing because she is usually pointing at the camera and then grabbing it...I'll work on it, though, because it is hilarious when she points! Right now she points at everything but, never fear, we'll teach her how to not be rude when the appropriate time comes!


3. Proofing (baby proofing, that is) Since C is everywhere these days, we finally went to the store to buy baby-proofing supplies. Turns out that store was Ikea (way more fun to get baby proofing materials at Ikea than at Target!)
   

So now we have outlet covers and the ever-glamorous white hand edge protectors for our coffee table. I'm hoping the white hand is for white-glove treatment, and not anything to do with Michael Jackson. Why couldn't they have gone with the black-glove for OJ?

The three "c"s

1. Climbing

C climbs stairs now--which is saying something as we don't have stairs in our apartment! We took her to Mimi and Poppy's, let her loose, and she took to the stairwell like duck to water. Too afraid to take pictures with one hand while ensuring her safety with the other i, again, do not have pictures.

2. Cruising

As we mentioned in the "proofing" bit, C is cruising everywhere. Maybe we should post a "no cruising zone" sign for her...

3. Clapping

Her clapping has gone up a notch--she claps at everything. Clapping has now turned into the question "where"?. She starts clapping, stops half way, shrugs her cute little shoulders, and points her palms upwards, questioning who, what, when, where, and why...

And, last but not least, C learned how to sort yesterday! Check it out!

prepping C for her party

i love to participate in i❤faces every week. This coming week is super tricky for me because the theme is "Birthday Party" but it has to involve a child. The only child's birthday party i've recently attended is R's and I wasn't thinking about capturing photo entries at the time.

I thought about perusing local parks and stealthy taking pictures of kids celebrating their birthdays. Besides my Cybershot's zoom being pretty ineffective, following through on that idea would be a little creepy.

Since I never considered not entering, i decided to do a test-run of C's birthday party...which will be in...2 months (can't hurt to plan!). {DON'T WORRY--I tweeted with the awesome ladies behind i❤faces said they stage themed photos at times themselves!}

First stop--head to Trader Joe's for a free balloon. Check. Seems like C loves balloons. Good to know.

Then i forgot to take photos of C so the balloon sat in the corner of our apt. and shriveled up and died. Good to know TJ's balloons only last one day.

Left to make do with what we had at home, I dug up a banner I won

and busted out two of C's birthday gear paraphernalia from her Grandma and her GiGi (great-grandma). I found some ribbon, grabbed a pink blanket, flung open the windows, turned on the lights, and voila--we had a mini photo shoot in our dining room!

Granted, the one thing that was missing was cake + frosting. Pics of those two key ingredients usually lead to pretty fun photos. I didn't want to give C her first taste of cake pre-birthday, though, so I gave her some banana bread from a recipe I found at Never A Dull Moment (thanks Mandy!).

Now I'm sure you're dying to see what the photos looked like, right? Well, I'm saving my best for the actual i❤faces submission so, until then, here are a few outtakes:

and J's personal favorites, just for good measure...

Like Father like...daughter?

J has been training hard for the Peachtree Road Race

He and C decided to dress alike for extra motivation

{The question is: what makes him faster? the glasses or the bandana?}

Since I'm "forbidden" to talk about it...

Click here to see someone who is!

So mysterious, eh? can you guess what I am absolutely excited about?

{hint: check the label}

Life's a Splash!

We are so blessed to live within walking distance of great parks and public recreation areas. Our newest city project just opened in time for Memorial Day weekend--a brand spankin' new pool.

I was pretty convinced it was just going to be your basic, rectangular, boring pool--wow did they ever step up and make it incredible!

Now, upon calling the Big Suz (aka, my mom, whom i love, and whom i hope doesn't hate her moniker) to tell her of my newly-formed infatuation with the pool, she immediately warned me of the perils of public swimming pools--namely nasty little bugs and viruses that want to come home in any number of your kid's orifices. (how was that for the world's longest sentence).

C, unfortunately, has no fear of the water, not even a healthy fear--she dives right in and even tried to crawl in the pool yesterday. We'll work on that.

C also made friends with three 3rd graders who toted her around the pool {yes, we just met the girls, and yes, they really did carry her around the pool. BUT i was with them the whole time and they were very sweet}

Since it was just me and C at the pool yesterday, it was a bit tricky to take pics of her but i snapped a few with the iPhone (which, by the way, gives you great pictures imo!) Since i've now dropped my iPhone into coffee (yes, really) and then had it sucked to death by a teething C (yeah...), I know it can recover from small amounts of water damage but probably not pool-water damage...that being said, the pics aren't spectacular as i was very.gingerly.holding.the.iphone while standing in the water!

Welcome!

{For more about-me, click here!}

I am having a blast writing Monkeys on the Bed! Unfortunately, i often post two or three times A DAY on that blog which is annoying to anyone who reads it, even me!

I love my daily themes but still want to be able to write about Baby C and our adventures as a family. Thus, a new blog is born and here we all are.

Why Cutie Face? Well, whenever my grandpa sees Baby C, he calls her "Hey little Cutie Face" (and i added the "s" at the end in hopes that we will one day chronicle more than one little life!). We love our grandpa and we think C is a cutie face (and all the monkey blog monikers were already taken!) so there you have it!

I'm working on the banner and some buttons but, for right now, we're going to be s-i-m-p-l-e! Hope you enjoy a peek into our lives!