"Dadadadada!"

Hattie has been saying, "Dadadada" all day long. I have to admit, I'm a bit jealous. She has yet to babble, "Mamama." I don't understand it! I mean, who was the one that did 99% of the night feedings!?!?! Who is the one that takes care of her all day long?!?! Who is the one that GAVE BIRTH to her!?!?! NOT DADA!!! She is even saying, "Bahbah," which I understand because a girl's gotta eat, but why not "Mama?!?!" Well, anyways, Hattie Ruth is definitely a daddy's girl, and from what I can tell, Sean is pretty smitten, too ;0)!

Not So Pretty Faces of Hattie

We thought we'd share with our readers a glimpse into the darker side of parenthood . . . .

Now, don't you feel all warm and fuzzy inside?!?!

New Design to Our Blog

Thanks to our friend Andrizal (see HIS blog) I decided to spice up our blog a little bit. Now in blog land going with a "template" is so last week.

Happy Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul Day!

Today is the feast day of the conversion of St. Paul.

Acts 22

"1 Brethren and fathers, hear my defense which I now offer to you."
2And when they heard that he was addressing them in the Hebrew dialect, they became even more quiet; and he said,
3"I am a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but brought up in this city, educated under Gamaliel, strictly according to the law of our fathers, being zealous for God just as you all are today.
4"I persecuted this Way to the death, binding and putting both men and women into prisons,
5as also the high priest and all the Council of the elders can testify From them I also received letters to the brethren, and started off for Damascus in order to bring even those who were there to Jerusalem as prisoners to be punished.
6"But it happened that as I was on my way, approaching Damascus about noontime, a very bright light suddenly flashed from heaven all around me,
7and I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, 'Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?'
8"And I answered, 'Who are You, Lord?' And He said to me, 'I am Jesus the Nazarene, whom you are persecuting.'
9"And those who were with me saw the light, to be sure, but did not understand the voice of the One who was speaking to me.
10"And I said, 'What shall I do, Lord?' And the Lord said to me, 'Get up and go on into Damascus, and there you will be told of all that has been appointed for you to do.'
11"But since I could not see because of the brightness of that light, I was led by the hand by those who were with me and came into Damascus.
12"A certain Ananias, a man who was devout by the standard of the Law, and well spoken of by all the Jews who lived there,
13came to me, and standing near said to me, 'Brother Saul, receive your sight!' And at that very time I looked up at him.
14"And he said, 'The God of our fathers has appointed you to know His will and to see the Righteous One and to hear an utterance from His mouth.
15'For you will be a witness for Him to all men of what you have seen and heard.
16'Now why do you delay? Get up and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on His name.'

Just a little commentary....I am struk by Ananias' response to Paul. I don't think most modern Christians would say in effect, "What are you waiting for. Go get baptized and wash away your sins." Most of us would most likely say something to the effect of, "Ask Jesus into your heart."

Hattie's Tongue

Hattie is very into sticking her tongue out these days. I know I am not the only one who has noticed this because I have had several strangers comment about her having her tongue out when we have been out and about lately.

I took a couple of pictures of her this afternoon because she was being so cute, and in EVERY SINGLE ONE she has her tongue sticking out. I am slightly concerned since we are getting professional pics done of her a week from today. Let's hope the tongue phase is over by then!

Pet Strollers

This past Friday I took Hattie to the mall near our house. Apparently it is "the place" to hang out on Fridays for moms and their babies because the mall was packed with strollers. One stroller in particular caught my eye while we were in the food court because it was hot pink and was a model I had never seen before. When I got closer, I noticed there was a net over the front of it, which I thought was weird, but unfortunately, that was NOT the weirdest part. When I looked past the net I saw a miniature dog sitting in the stroller! Apparently they now make strollers for pets, and they are as expensive as baby strollers . . . our society is definitely going to the dogs . . .

Super Soup

Since it's been so cold out, I've been making soup a lot lately. About a week ago, I made Southwestern Corn Chowder, a recipe from a cookbook that my mom gave me for Christmas. Sean and I both LOVE it. It's actually more of a stew than a chowder, I think, so if you're not a big chowder person, you'll probably like this anyway. The best thing about it is it's pretty easy and quick to make.

Southwestern Corn Chowder

4 chicken breasts cut into small chunks
1 medium onion cut into thin wedges
1 tbsp vegetable oil
2 tsp ground cumin
2 cans (14-1/2 ounces each) chicken broth
1 pkg. (10 oz.) frozen corn
3/4 cup picante sauce
1/2 cup chopped red pepper
1/2 cup chopped green pepper
2 tbsp minced fresh cilantro
2 tbsp cornstarch
2 tbsp water
Shredded Cheese for topping (optional)

1.) In saucepan cook chicken & onion in oil until chicken juices run clear. Stir in cumin. Add broth, picante sauce, and corn; bring to boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 15 min. Stir in peppers and cilantro.

2.) Combine cornstarch & water until smooth; stir into soup. Bring to boil; cook & stir for 2 min. or until slightly thickened. Spoon into bowls and top with cheese if desired.

It's yummy and low-fat if you go light on the cheese or leave it out. Hope you enjoy!

Cold Day...Shut In

It's in the 20s outside. The roads are covered in ice. We can't go anywhere. Sounds like time for a photo shoot! Hattie is such a ham...well, Mommy and Daddy encourage her!

The Best Birthday Present

Unfortunately I am now closer to 30 than I am to 20, but since 30 is the new 20 I hear, I guess I'm actually still a teenager! This morning when I woke up, Sean ran upstairs and told me I had to wait to come downstairs. When I got the okay to come down, I saw a birthday cake with crayon candles lit waiting for me to make a wish. Now, love may be blind, but I've never seen a prettier birthday cake!

Your guess is as good as mine as to what it says, but it's quite colorful and unique and yummy, I might add!

Happy Sabbath to all of you! Gotta go get ready for church . . . I might have to have another piece of cake first, though!

MIRACLE BABY!

HATTIE is only 6 months old and she is already WALKING . . . okay, not really . . . not even close, but the pictures sure make it look like she is! Her legs are definitley getting stronger, but we're still working on scooting. She is still not a big fan of being on her belly. She sure loves to stand, though, so maybe she'll just skip crawling and go straight to walking. But for now, I am enjoying having a baby who is still pretty immoble.

Hattie's 6 months!

Hattie is now half a year old. We can't believe it! I took her in for her 6 month check up on Friday, and she now weighs in at 15 lbs. 9 oz. (50%) and is 26 1/4 inches long (70%). The biggest growth has been her head. When she was 2 months, her head was in the 20th percentile but is now in the 75th percentile coming in at a whopping 17 1/8 inches around. This can only mean one thing to her parents of course! Her brain must be on the large side, right?!?! Below is a picture of her wearing a hat at two weeks old and then the same hat at six months old.

All I can say is big brains run in the family on her mama's side (he he!). We are so proud of our little girl who seems to be getting so big all of a sudden. It must be all the sweet potatoes and squash that she can't seem to get enough of! I even got the okay from the doc to start giving her teething cookies. Maybe that'll bring on some teeth cause as of right now she still doesn't have any, but all the crankiness and constant chewing on everything lately keeps us assured that the teeth are on their way!

Now you see it . . .

Now you don't!

Hattie is learning to sit on her own. The second picture may be a little blurry, but I was so afraid that she was going to fall back that I had to hurry and take it. She is able to sit on her own for about 20 seconds before she topples over. She still loves her bumbo, though.

Happy New Year to everyone!