birthday and deer in the road

On my birthday, Jason, Joanna, Big Momma, and I went to Gatlinburg. Big Momma treated us all to a nice lunch and a visit to the Aquarium.

Joanna pointed at all the fishes and ran around the activity area and interacted with most of the displays. If it had a button, she pushed it. If she could climb or step on it, she was on it. She weaved in and out of the crowd with a precision of a skilled race car driver. I was in sheer amazement at her speed. I must have looked silly bent halfway over, trailing behind her with outstretched arms. We were quite the spectacle, I'm sure.

We were all exhausted at the end of the trip. Joanna fell asleep near the end of the tour. We finished close enough to dusk that we decided to delay our departure shortly so we could see the lights. We were all hungry and tired, so the Chic-fil-A drive thru was a beautiful sight. Joanna got a chicken nugget and we all enjoyed dinner without engaging our feet.

We stopped in a souvenir shop for more fun. Joanna hugged a giant bear and Big Momma bought her some tiny moccasins and a shake-rattle thingo. Daddy deposited Joanna on a big pile of stuffed grizzly bears. Joanna was in heaven. One not so funny toy was a sweet, cuddly bear puppet that growled a really mean, authentic growl when a button was pressed. Yikes!

I think this is the best birthday ever in my recollection of birthdays. Well, second only to my first birthday ever, courtesy also of Big Momma. Thanks Big Momma!

On our way home we came close to colliding with a car stopping in the middle of the road to rubberneck at a injured deer and car in the other lane. Goodness gracious. We called Emergency and let them know about the accident.

Gym-going

I've officially joined a gym and I've been going for over two weeks. Yay for me. I get up early and attend an exercise class at and return home before anyone is awake. So far, Joanna has slept soundly through the whole think and never realized my absence. :-) There has been only one day that she woke up right as I would need to leave, and therefore, I did not go. I haven't been to the Monday a.m. class, yet. I'm looking forward to attempting that feat next week.

I decided to join two days after the presidential election. I had to find something new to do besides follow politics with an obsessive frenzy. I realized that I did all I could do there.

I heard part of a news broadcast that said there is a rise in gym memberships before the holidays this year. Usually there is a decline at the end of the year and a peak at the beginning. I guess I'm a part of that increase. Why not start now?

Joanna After Eating Birthday Cake

Joanna's Granny sent this cute photo, taken on Joanna's 1st birthday. Big Mama is holding Joanna.

 

 

Joanna span in circles

This morning, Joanna span in circles as her piano toy played music. Awww!

Songs for Joanna

These are songs I made up for Joanna.

Diaper Time

Diaper time, it's diaper time.
Everybody knows it's diaper time.
Diaper time, it's diaper time.
Joanna knows it's diaper time.


Get Dressed

What do we do when we get up? We get dressed!
What do we do when we get up? We get dressed!
We get dressed! We get dressed!
We get dressed for success!


Cozy in the Bed

Cozy in the bed with Momma.
Cozy in the bed with Baby.
Cozy in the bed with Daddy.
Cozy in the bed til' mornin'.

(or Cozy in the bed all night long.)
(or Cozy in the bed for nap time.)

Cozy in the nest with birdies.
Cozy in a cave with bears.
Cozy in a tree with squirrels.
Cozy in a bed with you and me.

Joanna's 1st Birthday Party

Joanna had her first birthday party, although she slept through part of it!
She went down for her afternoon nap just a few minutes before her guests arrived.
We all visited and ate lunch before the birthday girl woke up and joined us.
She was very happy to see everyone.

For another first, Joanna's new buddy Kadan puckered up and gave her several smooches right when they first met. It was so cute. We were surprised to see that he did it the first time and we asked him to do it again to get a picture. It was hilarious because he just kept giving her little baby sugars.

Here is a video of our singing "Happy Birthday" to Joanna.





Later, we sat down and opened some presents. Of course, Joanna enjoyed playing with the paper and the boxes, but she got pretty excited about some of the toys too!

A special thank-you to everyone who attended and made this first birthday very special!
We are so blessed to have a great extended family and wonderful friends.

Joanna Started Crawling

Joanna started crawling a few crawl-strides at a time around June 18,
2008. On June 21, she broke out in a full crawl on the tile floor of our
vacation apartment. It seemed natural for her and within the week she was
pulling up to standing on things and beginning to cruise. She even crawled
up the whole flight of stairs, with Jason attending to her.

Joanna Clapped

Monday, Joanna clapped for the first time!
We were next door and I was holding her facing away from me. She started putting her hands together over and over.

Rubber Duck With Water Scared Joanna

I gave Joanna a bath last night and I think I may have made her afraid of
her rubber duck. I put the duck under water and let it get water pulled up
inside the squeaker. Then I pulled the duck out of the water and squished
the water out of it. I think it freaked her out and she started squalling.
I reassured her, but didn't get too excited myself. I showed her that the
wash cloth did the same thing and then repeated the trick with the ducky.
She wouldn't grab the duck after that, but she wasn't crying anymore
either. On that note, I ended bath time with a warm towel and letting
Joanna smile at herself in the bathroom mirror.

Buddy came to visit

Audry stopped by and spent the night Thursday on her way to visit Oklahoma with her two children, William Douglas and Adele Jolee (a.k.a. blueberry). We had such a nice visit. I enjoyed seeing Will again and meeting blueberry for the first time.

Chicken Curry

Too much curry is not a good thing. We made some at home according to an "Easy Chicken Curry" recipe we had saved. We evidently liked it before. This time the curry must have been more powerful. Jason fixed it by adding a pat of butter. Go figure.

Joanna was sleeping when I got home from work.

This one was unusual. I got home from work and Joanna was taking a nap. Sheryl practically sent me home to put up my feet. I did the dishes from the night before and got dinner started. Jason had just done a great job cleaning the kitchen so, I kind of felt bad not to.

Dad Brenda and Caronna Visit

Sunday afternoon, Dad Brenda and Caronna came up and spent the afternoon and evening. I'm glad they stayed through to the evening because Joanna was having a rough afternoon and didn't cheer up until after a nap at 3p.m.

She has been having tough times in the church nursery. She cries and cries. It is so sad!

Mother's Day and Parent-Child Dedication Service

My first mother's day was nice. We and several other families had a parent-child dedication service.
We basically stood in front of the congregation and acknowledged our child as a precious gift from God and we understood we have an obligation to raise her according to God's word, etc. We kept her in the service and it was nice. I had to take her out to feed her; we went into a quiet classroom. She wet to sleep and I took her back in the service.

The night before, Jason prepared a roast to go in the crock pot. I helped a little, but it was primarily his endeavor. Rachel, Chris and Tracy joined us for lunch on Mother's Day Sunday. My mom and I talked on the phone a few times. She was not feeling 100% to journey to our house, and it stormed pretty bad that evening which squashed our plans to drive down to see her. Speaking of sqashing, a branch fell out of a tree onto a dead tree and knocked it to the ground.

Jason, Chris and Tracy went to Blockbuster and Jason rented me a chick flick. While they were gone Joanna and I went over to see Sheryl for a few minutes.
Chris and Tracy stayed till like eight or so because they were waiting to hear from someone before they left.

Visit with John and Barbara

We journeyed up to visit Jon and Barbara and had a great time.
We visited the Louisville Zoo, played Settlers of Cataan, ate Ice cream and talked. Oh, and we played the wii. We stayed in a hotel on campus which turned out well. We were concerned that the cat may be too much for Jason's allergies. As it turned out, the cat didn't bother Jason as much as some others do. So we could stay with them next time!
Traveling with Joanna wasn't as bad as we thought. On this 4-hour trip, we stopped about every hour and got her out of the carseat to nurse, eat, or just look around.

Happy 6 Months Birthday Joanna!

Today Joanna is 6 months old. She is growing and changing so much now!

She has been rolling over for a while now. Her newest achievement is being able to stay sitting up a few moments when placed in a sitting position before flopping over. She surprised me when she simply rolled over and worked back to the toy she was playing with.

She loves to go stay with Nana while I'm at work. They both have a lot of fun. Yesterday, Nana had Joanna close to my work, so I was able to leave work and go visit at lunch, which made it a wonderful day!

Our Day in the Nursery and a Visit with Cousins

Sunday was my appointed day in the nursery. Jason stayed with me and the other couple as we took care of four babies. It is always an interesting time. This Sunday was a good day for the babies, though, there wasn't too much crying and there were a few naps involved (for the babies, not us).

It had been almost 4 months since I saw my cousin, so on Sunday, after church, when Jason decided to go work on Granny's shed with his brother, I called her up and took off for a visit. We all enjoyed the afternoon and evening. I enjoy watching her children interact with Joanna. They seem to like each other and I'm glad. I ate the best ribs I think I have ever had, too. We got back late, but it may have been worth it for those ribs.

Going through a car wash

Yesterday, shortly after I got home from work and Joanna ate, we went out to the store. It rained while we were inside so we took our time and looked around. Joanna was in the baby carrier on my chest facing outward and she got all sorts of attention. She was smiling at strangers and kicking her feet. Many people stopped to say "Hi" or just smiled at her as we passed.

Jason made it home before we returned so he started dinner and suggested that I take the car through the wash since it was pretty dirty. I took the car through the car wash at BP when Joanna was with me. I turned around so I could see her expression as the green scrubbers went by. She just watched the window with amazement.

I remembered that as a child I loved riding in the car when it was raining because I liked to contemplate the windshield wipers and watch the interesting way water would travel across the window.

Professional Photos

Go to https://www.smilesbywire.com/home.asp?AC=LTP66501095005JCP and enter the name "Amy Kidd" to see Joanna's photos. Note: The link expires on 6/21/2008.

I took Joanna for her Easter/5 month birthday photos at JCPenney. She had a good time and was very patient through the whole experience. We'll need to go back soon to get a family photo.

Joanna's First Solid Meal

Watch as Joanna is fed her first solid meal of Rice Cereal. The mixture is really runny and appears to be a liquid, but there really is rice in there. Jason and I took turns feeding her. Joanna thoroughly enjoyed this event, banging her hand on the high chair tray, grabbing at the bowl, and eventually handling the spoon and sending it overboard.

Pizza's Here

Watch a video of Joanna cooing, slobbering, and sucking her thumb in eager anticipation of the pizza's arrival. No, we did not give her any pizza.

Happy Valentine's Day

Jason came home from work early and took his girls out to dinner.

We went to King Tut's Grill with Joanna. She was so happy and content to look at all the lights and listen to everything going on around her. She took a nap for a great part of the meal.

Joanna sat in her swing at home and made raspberries (spitting sounds) and just spit everywhere.

Back to Work

Tomorrow, I'm heading back to the office. It'll be 3 months and it has flown by. I'm sad that this time being home with Joanna is over. I don't really know what else to say about it; there's no sense in dwelling on it today.