Food For Thought

Happy 7 Months Kiera!

We have reached yet another "month" birthday...I think once she hits 1 year I may not do these anymore, but for the first year I think it's fun! Here's Kiera at 7 months old today


















She is still learning many new things. This past month she has learned:

How to test her flexibility























To play video games (which Jared LOVES)


















And she's smiling more than ever


















which makes me smile a lot, too! Now that she has her first 2 teeth, she's been a lot happier and I'm really enjoying this age. Her many smiles melt my heart and she's getting more and more interactive which is a lot of fun! She sleeps about 16-17 hours a day, 10-12 of which are at night, so I'm finding this stage to be fairly easy most of the time and extremely restful! She's more than making up for the first 2 months, so that is such a blessing. :) YAY God!!

Happy Birthday Jenene!

Today, my little sister, Jenene, turns 23!

















Since she has Junior Youth tonight (she's a youth mentor), we're going to celebrate tomorrow at my parents' place. She's coming over during the day today and I'm planning on going for a walk in the beautiful +22 weather with her and Kiera which I'm really excited about. :)























This may be one of the last birthdays we celebrate with her for quite a while because she's marrying Art in July and moving away to Washington state.


















Happy birthday to you, Jenene! I hope it's wonderfully marvelous and I wish you many many more!

Studio Pictures

These are just a few of Kiera's 6-month photos that my professional photographer mom-in-law, June, took. I know they're a month late, but better late than never!





















































































































I'm having a hard time picking my favorite one, so which is/are your favorite(s)?

Gotta Have a Little More Faith

I got hit with a cold this week. I was quite shocked since I haven't been sick like this for a year and a half-2 years, besides being nauseous at the beginning of my pregnancy. I've been blessed with great health. Since moms don't get "sick days" I've been praying for Kiera to be happy and easy to take care of since I don't have the energy to do a lot with her and then I was surprised when God answered yes to that. Why am I surprised when I get answers to prayer? Kiera has been very happy today and was quiet in her swing for quite a long time. Thank you Lord! I also prayed that God would help me to sleep last night since I rarely ever sleep properly when I'm stuffed up. I went to bed at midnight, got up 10 minutes later to go outside to cover my flowers when Jared mentioned there was a risk of frost, then came back to bed and slept through the night 'til 6:30. Kiera woke up for a feeding and then we both went back to sleep until 10 a.m.! Again, I was so surprised that God did that. Why don't I think that the God who created the whole universe and has raised people from the dead can help me sleep through the night when I'm sick? The theme of our Bible Study at church is "Believing God." Apparently I haven't been doing a very good job of that. Lord please help me!

Another thing that has been on my mind lately is that I need piano students for the fall. I don't know why it's so hard for me to trust that God will provide all my needs according to His riches and glory. He keeps proving Himself over and over again, so I need to simply trust and not worry. I feel like I'm in a battle but thankfully God is fighting for me and helping me every step of the way.

This morning, I went to put teething gel on Kiera's lower gums and something poked me that wasn't there before. Kiera got her 2nd tooth! She just barely got her first one and now she has two!! Crazy! Some days I feel like I can barely keep up with her.

I'm SUPER pumped that my all-time favorite t.v. show is starting tonight: "So You Think You Can Dance." I don't watch a lot of t.v., but that's one that I definitely love. American Idol just ended last night and although I was cheering for David Archuleta, I also like David Cook and was pretty happy that he won. This is probably the longest blog I've ever written...I'm not usually much of a writer which is why I like pictures. Just thought I'd share what's been going on in my heart and life in general. Ciao!

Kiera Eats Plays With Dominoes

On Sunday night, Jared and I went to my parents' house. One of our favorite games to play there is "Mexican Train" which is a game you play with special dominoes tiles. Kiera wanted to play, too, so this is her own version of it.

Milestones

Today is an update on some milestones and new things that have been going on here at home. For of those of you who are not on facebook or didn't see my status update earlier this week, Kiera got her first tooth last week! Finally all the drooling, sucking on fingers, and recent fussiness has produced something semi-permanant, at least for the next few years. I've only gotten a couple of short glimpses of this tooth because Kiera gets mad and turns her face away every time I try to pry open her mouth (go figure). Another new thing is that she is starting to sit on her own (yay)!



















I have made her practice sitting every day for the past couple of months, so it's great to see the fruits of that now that she's past the 6-month mark! We have now stopped taking her lounge chair with us everywhere we go. We celebrated my first Mother's Day last week-end and Jared surprised me with this:



















I love it! The laptop was not part of the gift, in case you were wondering. Kiera also started baby food now which has been interesting. Certain flavors she definitely likes more than others. Sweet potato has been a hit with her. She's still a little on the messy side, though. She's not catching on to the whole table manners thing yet. Hopefully she'll catch on before she gets her first boyfriend or he's not going to want to take her out for supper.



















Kiera also got her first bass guitar lesson from Grandpa G (my dad)



















Yep, my girl is gonna be a rock star! Just don't forget who went through 24 hours of labor for you and changed your diaper when you're famous, Kiera. You may still need your mommy from time to time! She also had her first piano lesson from me this month, but I didn't get a picture. I'll let you all know when she goes on tour. Those are all of her accomplishments from the past couple of weeks. She's been busy! I hear her singing over the monitor...yes, she's a one-girl band! Well, time for her drum lesson...