Read much?

One evening not too long ago, Sarah became suspiciously quiet while I was working on dinner. It wasn't much later that I found strange paper dots on her face. And not too much later than that that I found her favorite book, like this...

Please note the book's bottom right corner. Yep, the cover page has been gnawed through.

A little extra fiber for her daily diet?

I guess the fact that "touch and feel" doesn't include "taste" should be on the long list of things we need to teach Sarah in the near future!

What we've been up to lately...

Sarah and I had the chance to visit Nauset Beach on the National Seashore just before their season began (which means they started charging for parking). This beach is really different than they beaches we have around here. There is a sand cliff you walk down before getting to the water, which is very cold and much more clear than our local beaches. Being on the eastern arm of the Cape and on a preserve, all you see is beach and water- beautiful!

For six weeks this spring and summer we have had a somewhat random group of friends from church over to watch both Star Wars trilogies. It is an extreme understatement to say these folks know a little about Star Wars- it is fun being a little nerdy! Getting to know these guys and gals more deeply has certainly been a highlight of our weekends.

Sarah and I like to take afternoon walks around the neighborhood circle on sunny days while we wait for Dad to get home. One day we found this guy in our path! Thankfully, a car drove by at the same time and the driver moved him off the road. Sarah found the turtle much less interesting than dogs...

When Dave gets home we often like to go for an family evening walk. Sometimes we go the beach for our walk, and one evening we went down to Centerville River (the beach is just to the left in this photo). Sarah gets to ride in the backpack and loves to feel the sea breeze on her face.

Beach night is a highlight of summer church life at OBC. The last three Sunday evenings of the month the church gathers at the local beach for sack dinners, fellowship, and baptisms. June beach night included a clam chowder contest, which was delicious. People play volleyball and kids play at the water's edge. It is a fun night for all!

The definite highlights of beach night are the baptisms. Once everyone has eaten and settled down, those being baptized share how the Lord has changed their life. It is an incredible testimony to the church family, seeker friends, and random vacationers just hanging out on the beach. Everyone then walks down to the water and one by one, believers are baptized. It is an incredible testimony of the work of the Spirit!

Mid-June we had our opportunity to host the deacons meeting. If was just after Father's Day and Dave was itching to use his new grill, which was perfect for me! The guys gathered around the grill for "grill talk", then enjoyed hamburgers, grilled veggies, watermelon, and chips, with blueberry cream cheese pie for dessert. They were able to have their meeting in the sun room, which was quite pleasant.


Now you know some of what is keeping life exciting this summer!

Star of Mom's blog...

... so says the bib!

Getting ready for lunch

Mmmmm!

Thanks to the Artmanns for the fun new bib! It seems like Sarah and I spend a lot of our daily quality time over her meals. It is a joy and one of my favorite parts of our day, but very repetitious. Thus, it is good to have (more) reason to smile across the dinner tray :)

Father's Day Fun! And Preaching!

Last year I had my first Father's Day, but this was my first one with a little girl to hold. What a treat to go upstairs and get her up this Father's Day morning! We had a good day, consisting of a home-cooked breakfast, Daddy preaching at church, a lunch on the new grill (itself another story) and a trip to the beach.

According to the good people at Sermon.net, a simple cut-and-paste on my part will put an audio player below that will allow you to listen to the sermon. Let me know if it works!



And, as it turns out, Sarah makes a very cute beach girl! Here's some proof:

Lettuce crop

Remember the lettuce we planted back in February? If not, check out the picture on this post. We harvested on May 31 and had a nice salads worth to share.

Here we have the pot of crazy, weedy lettuce.

And here we have the picked product! Spinach is at the top, all other lettuce at the bottom. It was delightfully fresh and tender. Happy eating!

Mississippi 2011: Part 1

It's ironic that when there is so much going on to tell everyone about, there is so little time to tell it! We have all sorts of things to update you on, like our trip to Mississippi, our trim painting marathon, our summertime fun, and Grandma Lynda's visit. But we'll start by catching you up with a few posts about our vacation down to Mississippi last month.

We don't like spending much time apart, but we decided it would be best if Emily flew down a few days early while I finished the week's duties at church. This way she could attend both of the weddings going on around that time while I only had to take one week's vacation.

So Emily and Sarah flew down and I lived the bachelor life for a few days. Although I must admit it was a bit of an idealized bachelor life, as she left me stocked with lasagna and a very clean house. Much of the hours were spent sleeping in, playing guitar loudly, reading in the sun room, and having dinner with the neighbors. I was able to fill it with enjoyable things, but I still would have rather been with my girls!

Meanwhile, Emily attended the wedding of her childhood and college friend Grayson Luther, took Sarah to her first baseball game (giving her a chance to wear her cheerleader uniform,) and visited Grandma.

Grandmama, Sarah, and Emily Cheering on the Southern Miss Eagles

Sarah Seeing Grandma (Emily's Father's Mother) for the Second Time

Happy 11 months!

Can it really be that in less than one month Sarah will be one year old. Ahhhhh!!! Our baby is growing up, going places, and loving life. Every month is just more and more fun. We are so thankful God gave us Sarah!

Weight: probably still around 22 lbs
Height: ?
Head: ?
Diaper: size 4
Clothes: 12 or 18 month, we love the freedom of summer clothes!
Likes: crawling FAST, baths, pulling up on everything, eating, music, cardboard books, walks, playing with toddlers, cheerios, nightly lotion massage (for the rash)

Dislikes: diaper rash, eczema, painting projects (which mean she doesn't have free reign)

Schedule: Same old same old...we are loving it!

7:30 Nurse and solid

9:00 Nap

11:30 Nurse and solid

1:00 Nap

3:30 Nurse and solid

7:00 Nurse and off to bed

Solids: This has been a great month for meals. Given time, we have really figured out some great finger foods. Some of Sarah's favorites are colby cheese, bananas, blueberries, chicken cubes, turkey loaf, broccoli cheddar nuggets, and cheerios. Now that we have some good daily staples, we have had the freedom to try some new recipes. Most recently, we tried creamed spinach with lentils over rice- Sarah loved it, but it left her little bottom so sore! Consequently, this is off the menu for a while. She is also still doing well with the sippy cup. We have only given her water, so it will be interesting to see how she makes the transition to milk. It is such fun to be able to give her table food too- she is a big fan of lasagna and pizza!

Nursing: We are still going, praise the Lord! Our goal from the beginning was to make it one year and, Lord willing, it looks like we are going to make it. There have been plenty of challenges along the way, but Sarah is a champ and Dave is incredibly encouraging. We are thankful for all of our family and friends who have encouraged us through this journey. A couple of weeks ago I stopped my nightly pumping and will hopefully start transitioning with some of our stored supply soon.

Teething: Still no top teeth, but stuff is definitely moving. I have no doubt we will see something soon!

Speech: I LOVE listening to Sarah talk. She talks to herself when we are in the car and likes watching our mouths when we talk and trying to imitate us. "La la la" is a really fun one for her to imitate! She still says "da da" and "ma ma" and may do it intentionally. We shall see. I'll have to try to get a video of one of our laugh offs- they are classic!

Sickness: Refer to earlier post! It has been an interesting month, but nothing seems to keep her down for too long. Let it be known that I am thankful the runny nose season has passed for the year!

Next appointment: July 18th we go in for Sarah's one year well visit!

Sarah keeps me company while I weed the garden

"Reading" some of her new books from Grandma Lynda

Helping Grandma Lynda tape

Tagging along to the potato chip factory tour has some perks for Sarah- rattles and chew toys for the ride home!

She is an old pro at opening gifts these days- thanks to all who have helped her learn :)

Getting ready for her first swim- loved it!

Southern Miss baseball- TTT!

It gets HOT in MS

Garden plan

We have planted our garden! Everything went in the ground on Memorial Day, right after we returned from MS. Below you see our master sketch and the packets of seeds.


This garden has the two types of tomatoes on the left, peppers parallel the tomatoes, potatoes along the back, lima beans in the front, and lettuce along the right end.


Here we have the two types of tomatoes in the back, peppers paralleling the tomatoes, green beans along the left, lettuce on the right, and zucchini in the front corners.


This is their home along the back fence. Yes, one of the tomatoes is staked with a reflector...we do what we can! The others are all very appropriately staked with yards sticks for the time being :)


Be looking for updated garden pics. We have had lots of growth in the past 2.5 weeks!

Getting to know the pediatrician...

It seems that since Sarah moved to three months between regular doctor visits, we just can't stay away. Last Wednesday, Sarah was in the church nursery while Dave taught and I participated in child dedication classes. When the class was over we both had messages from the parents who were watching the kids asking about a rash on Sarah's belly.

Rewind to two or three months ago. Sarah developed a small red circle on the lower left part of her tummy, above the diaper line. It seemed fairly normal in the dry winter air and we just lathered her up with lotion like we did all of her dry places. Strangely, this red spot didn't go away, but it didn't change either.

Back to last Thursday. The parents spooked me a bit Wednesday night. By this time Sarah's rash covered her whole tummy and was bright red. I called the nurses at her doctor's office and we talked it through and determined that we could wait for her one year well visit in July. Friday morning when she woke up it seemed even more red and was starting to break the skin. I called the doctor again and they said to bring her right in.

The nurse practitioner took one look and pronounced a cause- eczema. She said some babies have it in the winter and others the summer, we have a good summer case on our hands. She prescribed a steroid cream and gave us a detailed list of lotions and washes to regularly use. Thankfully, Sarah's tummy is already significantly better and it never seemed to bother her.

While I was telling the doctor about the redness, she also solved another mystery. While we were in MS Sarah woke up after one morning nap with a bit of a fever. The next afternoon that fever was 105.4 and we somewhat frantically called the pediatrician and in the meantime a family friend who is a doctor. The both said to alternately giving her Tylenol and Motrin and the fever should pass, only worry if she starts to act significantly different.

Two days later her fever was nearly gone, but she had the beginnings of what looked like a heat rash around her hair line. It would come and go, but didn't seem to be related to heat- we were inside all day. The next day we were flying home and the rash spread over her whole body, with the exception of her legs and feet. As soon as we landed in RI Dave and I were ready to call the doctor, and it seemed to clear up. Monday it was still there, but by Tuesday her skin was completely clear (other than the different stomach rash). All very mysterious. The doctor left and came back with a medical book opened to some pictures and ask if the "heat rash" looked like the photos. It absolutely did, which confirmed that Sarah had the Roseola virus. Mystery solved!

Like it or not, we are getting to know our pediatricians!

Mississippi Vacation

We have been back from MS a full week now and are just now getting settled enough to point you toward some pictures. Dave posted pictures throughout the week on his facebook page, which I hope you can access through this link: MS Vacation.

Our travels home were fairly smooth, though Sarah did have a very stinky poop-out on our last flight. She also had a pretty outrageous rash, which I plan to expound on in another post. Thankfully, people were kind and the skies friendly.

Upon our arrival home we had a delicious meal waiting via the hands of our house guest, which meant we were free to put Sarah down, eat, and go right to bed ourselves. We were a tired family! Our guest stayed through Wednesday and was a great help around the yard, as well as to catch us up on recent Cape life.

It is good to be home and we enjoy getting back to our normal routines. Our church family is such a joy and it was wonderful to worship with them again Sunday after a few weeks away. Though we always miss all our family, we are thankful the Lord has given us a home and family of our own.