So...Russ has been working nights this week.  This means that he leaves around 4 or 4:30 and doesn't return until nearly 3 am.  Which is a good night call schedule, by the way.  This also means that it takes him a while to settle back down into sleep mode, so he doesn't get to sleep until even later.  Which means he sleeps all morning and rests again before he leaves.  This gives Mama about 2 hours each day to "do something" if I need to (like go to the tanning bed, drive to Sonic alone, etc).  And that's just fine.  The other 22 hours of my days are spent looking at these sweet eyes....

Who wouldn't want to do that?!  I've also been a little under the weather this week...making those 22 hours a little more taxing.  Ha!  I don't know if I've said this publicly, but I have HUGE respect for all you single moms!  I always have as I saw it when I was teaching.  I knew it had to be difficult for married moms to go home after a long day of teaching, testing, writing lesson plans 50 pages long, and getting evaluated every two seconds.  Then, they had about 2 hours for supper, baseball, cheerleading, homework with their kids, and bedtime.  I knew they were strong women.  I do not claim to be one.  I've played with the idea of going back to teaching when Millie Janalee is in school...but I don't know if I'm strong enough or have enough energy.  Ha!  Kudos to you working moms!  But, to do all that AND do it alone?  That takes things to an entirely different level!  Even those of us whose husbands work many long hours and travel to work out of town on off days have the support of another human adult.  Someone to at least talk "adult talk" with and hold the baby while you go potty if you're lucky enough for him to be home when the urge strikes.  Having this terrible cold made me think of these women more often.  Especially with Russ gone most of the time.  Whew!  And a cold doesn't even count as being sick!  What about when you have the flu or stomach virus!?  Praying for you now. 

Wild Saturday night!

Millie Janalee and I always manage to have great time!  While friends were texting me from their Saturday night outings...I was having my own "wild Saturday night!"  There's no other place I'd rather be on Saturday nights than with this cute baby doll!  And her Daddy too...when he's available.  I think his next day off will be the Saturday before Easter.  Not that I'm counting down or anything.  Ha!  I'm SO thankful for such a hard-working hubby!  And he rarely complains about it.  I'm ashamed that I'm not a better wife to him. 

You may remember that we have a new member of our family these days.  Millie Janalee's little toofie joined our Party of Three on March 5, 2013!  It's the cutest little toofie I've ever seen, and it keeps growing out of those sweet gums.  We decided it was time to start our dental hygiene lesson #1.  Brush!

Russ and I are not the best dental patients in the world.  I'm pretty sure I've seen worse...but we are certainly NOT GOOD teeth people.  We don't go get our teeth cleaned or checked like we should.  I'm terrible at flossing.  Like, I don't ever do it.  Do you think I'm gross now?  We have cavities and crowns and more!  We have high dollar mouths.

Thankfully, Millie Janalee won't be inheriting any of our "teeth genes," but every little girl needs to know how to brush those pearly whites.  Because one day, she will be coming to me asking to have her teeth whitened for some boy!  Didn't we all do that?  OH...yours were already perfect and white?  I see.  Anyway, Russ and I have been having a fun time helping brush Mr. Toofie during bathtime.  Haha!  Millie Janalee is so enthralled by the fun game!

Every time I look at that cute little tooth, I'm reminded of how fast these bitty baby days are flying by!  I just want to box up all these moments and put them on a shelf for safe keeping.  I tried boxing my little girl up yesterday.  She thought it was great fun, but I realized it wasn't going to serve my purpose.  Putting her in a box would not keep these baby days around any longer...

"Are you serious, Mama?!"

So, we just played in the box.

Actually, I needed to make some more baby food and this was a fun way to keep Millie Janalee by my side and contained to a clean spot.  I think she enjoyed her playtime.  I envision her doing this one day with the box all decorated like a Barbie car or space ship.  Ha!  But for now, this box now holds some of the 6 month clothes Little Miss Priss has outgrown.  So sad!

I just want to BOX IT UP!  Box up these little baby days!

Visitors

Most of our days are spent with just the two of us.  And we have a pretty darn good time!  But, you can imagine the excitement when our routine is broken up.  We've had a few fun surprises this week, and Millie Janalee was beyond excited.  As was I.  Ha!  We had some visitors!

Pat and Millie Janalee

Pat and Felicia are some of our dearest friends from medical school.  I think we kept each other sane, we went through infertility together, and now that we've moved away...we enjoy long distance mommyhood talks.  Millie Janalee has two cute little Robbins boys to choose from as her potential husband.  You know...in like 30 years or so.  Ha!  We miss having them close, and we enjoy popping in on overnight visits with them from time to time.  Always last minute, and they never skip a beat.  Those are the kind of friends I LOVE!  It doesn't hurt that Felicia cooks tomato gravy and biscuits every time I spend the night.  I could wake up to that every day!

"Nananabooboo, Felicia!"

Pat had an interview for a fellowship position in Little Rock, so he decided to stop by for supper on his way home.  What a nice surprise!  Millie Janalee had a great time staring at him and playing after dinner.  We were sad that Felicia and the boys weren't able to visit, but I'm expecting a visit from them very soon!  Ahem.

Yesterday, we had more visitors.  Auntie Kristin and Maw Maw were in town for Maw Maw's treatment.  Kristin usually comes to visit us while my grandmother is getting her IVIG treatment.  This time, we rode with Auntie Kristin to pick her up after her doctor visit.  We stopped by Newk's to pick up lunch and came back to the apartment to eat lunch.  Millie Janalee loved some great-grandmother time, and I'd say the visit was good for Maw Maw's health too!

After lunch, we got Maw Maw situated in a comfy chair to hold Millie Janalee.  She endured the non-stop action of a seven and a half month old complete with bouncing, scooting, and being hit in the face by the O-ball.  Ha!  Maw Maw also got an idea of just how heavy Millie Janalee has gotten since our last visit.

Full out playtime in Maw Maw's lap!

Happy little girl...and happy great grandmother!

Millie Janalee talked and talked to Maw Maw.  She also showed off all decibals of her newest screams and squeals.  This girl loves to hear herself talk.  She's in the right family for sure!  She and Susu can just go on and on and on telling a story!  Ha!

We are so happy when we have visitors!  So, when are you coming?

My Little BUTTercup

Russ coined the term "BUTTercup" today when I sent him some of these bloomer pictures!  Haha!  He's corny like that.  And we like him just the way he is.  He keeps the conversation lively...and provides tons of inside jokes for my family.  Bless him!

Millie Janalee and I had a productive day.  She stayed in her pajamas all day, and I never put make-up on or dried my hair.  That's the way we roll daily around here.  Ha!  I was busy catching up on laundry, organizing our taxes for when we meet with our accountant in a couple weeks, and working on a little DIY project in our apartment breezeway.  Let's just say that I hope we aren't fined for my spray painting in the breezeway.  I couldn't go too far with a baby asleep inside.  And we don't have a balcony.  So the breezeway it is!

After Millie Janalee's afternoon nap, I thought I better get those yucky pajamas off.  But here's the dilemma.  It was around 4:00...nearly the end of the day for a baby.  I knew she needed a bath.  So, do I dirty an entire outfit for the 2-3 hours she would wear it?  Absolutely not!  Ha!  So, we played dress up for a little playtime photography session.  Mama got a little funky with the accessories.  Hehe!

My mom bought Millie Janalee a set of these "bloom"ers when she was born.  We have her One Week picture taken in a pair.  I saw the box in the drawer and thought I'd give it a try.  We are itching for spring around here!  I'm ready to swing Millie Janalee on a swing and go on pretty strolls.  It was pretty outside today.  But it was COLD!  I happened to see these little legwarmers leftover from her Halloween costume.  Looked good to me!  Maybe not to you?

I left her in the bed to play around.  She's gotten to where she really likes playing in her crib.  I've never really given her a chance to before.  But, now that she sleeps with a little minky dot lovey, she just scoots around and plays in there when she wakes up.  I'm thinking there may be many more crib photo sessions in our future.  Especially as she tries to grasp this scooting and crawling thing.

No, that is not Farley's toy she is playing with.  Although I did let Farley play in her crib with her today.  Shhhh!  I know it's not the most sanitary thing.  We'll just say I'm working on building her immunity.  Anyway...this toy was mine when I was a baby.  My mom says that the first time she saw me push up with my arms I was staring at this little toy in my bed.  Millie Janalee loves this little guy.  I say "guy" because I'm not exactly sure what he is.  A bear? A dog?  A mouse?  Who knows.

It was so funny watching her reach as far as she could trying to reach our little orange man.  She isn't real good at scooting the direction she's aiming.  She usually ends up scooting backwards or falling on her side.  But she works SO hard and grunts and squeaks and whines the whole time.  I pretty much just sit there laughing and cheering her on.

 We aren't crawling quite yet.  And, to be honest, the closest she ever gets is when she's in her crib.  Maybe the mattress is what she prefers.  When she wakes up...and lots of times at night...she pulls her little knees up under her to sleep.  If she pushes with her little legs, her booty goes up in the air.  That's as far as it goes.  She falls to one side or the other after that.  When Millie Janalee wakes up from her naps, she usually lifts her head and smiles at me.  Then slams it back down on the bed and pulls her knees under her.  Then she straightens her legs and lifts her head up to smile at me.  Then slams it back down and pulls her knees under her.  This cycle repeats a few times before I ask her if she wants Mama.  I put my hands out when I say "Mama" and she puts one hand out to me.  It's our fun little ritual I guess.

Sweet BUTTercup!

"I think I can."

"I think I can."

"Well, at least I've got the position down."

 After a while, Little Miss Thing gets a bit impatient with her inability to move in the desired direction.  Her face scrunches up rarely.  Honestly, she is not a big crier.  So, although I hate to see her cry, her face is just priceless!  And, what does this loving Mama do when her baby starts crying?  Take a picture of course!

"MA-MA!  I'm tired of crawling practice!"

Her little pouty position

Aaaaannnd we recover just like that!  3.5 seconds of crying.  Ha!

We don't smile right away though...

 Unless Mama starts making faces and talking jibberish, Millie Janalee isn't smiling immediately.  I'm sure she has her pride to think about after such a little mini show.  Ha!  I've started trying to let her know when something is not a good habit.  I know.  I'm a dork.  But, she seems to have started understanding my look or my tone.  It may be because she's trying to figure out what in the world I'm trying to do.  In fact, she's probably laughing on the inside.  So anyway...if I know she's not crying because of pain or sadness, I don't pick her up immediately.  I wait until she's calmed down and back to her little smiley self.  Which never takes too long.

We're almost there.

There's that smile!

 And, just so you can see how precious and cute it is to watch Millie Janalee playing in her crib...

I spy with my little eye...the sweetest face on earth!

And that's how I spent this cold spring day with my little buttercup!

Sippee Cup Training

Yesterday afternoon, I made another rare and dreaded trip to Walmart to pick up a few necessities.  I had Millie Janalee with me, and I had a few more places to go...so I wanted to get what I needed in as few trips as possible.  Solution...Walmart.  It was just as enjoyable as I might have imagined.  I find it very interesting and partly disturbing the crowd that I see there.  Maybe it's just our local Walmart, or maybe I'm extra sensitive now that I'm responsible for this little person.  I made my way down the aisles in search of the items on my list.  As I walked down the baby aisle for diapers, I caught sippee cups out of the corner of my eye.  I remembered Roan suggesting I could go ahead and let Millie Janalee practice some during her supper if I wanted.  I looked at all the options.  Which one is the best to start with?  I had no idea!  I picked up a pack of Take 'n' Toss Training Cups and one regular Nuby sippee cup.  The Nuby had two different nipples to "grow with baby."  

"Is this how you do it, Daddy?"

You must remember that so many friends and family gifted us with nearly anything and everything we could ever need.  So I had very limited experience in the baby aisle. Ha!  If you know something different than what I got, don't tell me yet.  Because the damage is done.  At least until my next outing to Walmart or Target.  

I was feeding Millie Janalee her supper...sweet potatoes, avocado, and apples...when Russ got home.  I showed him my purchases, and suggested we see what Little Miss Thing would do with a little watered down apple juice in a sippee cup.  At first, it looked as if she was a natural.  Doesn't she look like a pro in the above picture?  Until we heard what was really going on.  Millie Janalee as just nawing on the spout thingie.  We could hear her little lone tooth knocking up against it everytime she bit down.  Nothing was coming out.  It was just a teething toy to her.

Then things started getting fun!  I guess she picked up on the monumental event when Russ got the video camera and I started snapping pictures.  Because she really started showing us what all she could do with this little funny shaped cup.  Like waving it around as apple juice sprinkled our floors and countertops.  

"Woooo!  See how I can shake it?!"

"Is this not what I'm supposed to do?"

"Are you proud, Daddy?"

"Watch how high I can hold it!"

"Okay.  I'll just set it over here by my dinner bowl."

 Millie Janalee was so proud of her new experience.  She was as smiley and giggly as ever.  And covered with sprinkles of apple juice.  I never could get her to actually drink anything from the spout, so I asked Russ to try it and see how hard it was to drink.  He confirmed that it wasn't that easy.

So proud!

If you look closely, you can see that little toofie poking through.

So I pulled out my second purchase.  The Nuby cup.  This one had a nipple like that of a bottle, so I assumed it had to be easier for her to drink.  We sat the cup in front of her, and she began exploring.  Too bad there wasn't a hole on the bottom or I'm quite sure she would've drank it all up!  After realizing she was going to lick and suck on the bottom of the cup for as long as we let her, I helped her turn it right side up and showed her how to lift it to her lips.

But those little handles are just too fun to play with!  Who wants to hold on to them and drink?  Not this spunky little girl!  She was still busy showing out.  Which is what she loves to do these days.  Grin as big as ever and show all her new skills - talking, yelling, spitting, waving, etc.  So she did all those things.  While holding a sippee cup full of watered down apple juice.  Well, it really wasn't full.  I filled it with an ounce of apple juice and an ounce of water.

"Such neat little handles, Mama!"

"Hmmm..."

"Tip it over and pour it out."

"Let's see if I can reach alllll the way over to the table with it."

"Let's see.  What else can I do with this cute cup?"

"Oh, I know!  I wonder if Mama and Daddy saw me pour apple juice on my head..."

Yep.  These are the fun days.  The messy days.  We are about to embark on a messy journey with Little Miss Priss.  You know the ones...self-feeding, sippee cup spills and leaks, crawling around with toys all over the place, pulling books off shelves, and tipping lamps over, etc.  These are the days! 

Just so you know, she did finally drink all the juice in the bottle.  Apparently, she just didn't want any juice right then.  So, she waited.  And drank it all with no problem at all.  Sippee cup training has begun!