What To Do With a 19 Month Old

Rather than attempt to do a post on every little moment I have captured here's a little mash up of what Daisy has been up to lately...I know our families can never get enough of Daisy on the blog:).

We have a little tent that our neighbors gave us nearly a year ago (thanks again Judy!).  Daisy still LOVES this thing and whenever her friends come over they love to play in it too.  I threw a blanket on top and turned the tent into a fort and then managed to squeeze my adult sized body inside the insanely tiny tent.  It was worth it to see Daisy having fun!

We had a chilly enough day to break out the sweaters and beanies (looks like we are going to be having a lot more chilly days starting tomorrow).  Surprisingly, Daisy didn't seem to mind wearing her cute hat so I was able to take a few pictures.  Oh, and in her hands you will notice the cap to my camera.  She loves to put the cap back on the lens even when I in the middle of taking a picture.

Happy baby!  She loves looking outside and watching the trash trucks and mail man drive by.  She shouts out Airpwane at every bird and plane that flies by and woofs at every dog she hears or sees.

unhappy baby...seriously, what happened in three seconds to get to this face?? I have no idea. lol

She loves playing with my make up bags and my nail polish...this was right before she opened the clear polish and dumped it all over our hardwood floors, her hands and clothes.  There is NOTHING this child cannot open...even child safety bottles (she just pops the lids off with her teeth).

Right before we left to take our family pictures Daisy decided that she didn't like the shoes I wanted her to wear so we had to change them.  Can't blame her...I was particular about shoes as a kid.  Perhaps my little one has taken after her mommy:).

I keep a couple of old magazines in the baskets by our door so Daisy can go to town when she feels like it.  It usually distracts her for about 10 minutes.  Just long enough for me to empty the dishwasher without having her under foot.  Perfect!

Her new Craigslist toy.  She was so obsessed with these cars whenever we went to the park and people had them, so being the awesome mommy and Daddy that we are, we got her one.  Of course once we got her one,  her interest quickly vanished.  Ain't that how it always goes...sigh.  I think she'll come around though.

A bunkie, poppy and a little PBS kids make the world go round...when you're 1 1/2  I won't go into Daisy's Elmo obsession...I must do an entire post on that so stay tuned. 

Daisy loves playing "soccer" with mommy and Daddy.  She loves kicking the beach ball and then we all run for it.  It's fun for the whole family!

And she SCORES!

Our backyard has become a favorite play place.  She explores every square inch of the yard and all that is in it; the solar lights, the BBQ, the tiki lights, bugs which she does not like, gaps in the fence, solar lights, the picnic table and testing me by climbing on top which is a no no, watering the plants etc.  The weather has been perfect for outside time finally!

I love how creative she gets with her snacks and her toys.

Lots of car trips these days and I must say that Daisy has in a lot of ways improved as a passenger.  She needs far fewer toys and typically all she wants to do is fall asleep if I let her.  I love my girl!

Oh how I love her

Now that you all have OD'd on Daisy I hope you have a most wonderful night! 

She LOVES Her Blanket

I am so behind on my own personal editing and blogging that I don't think I will ever "catch up."  It appears that I am in a new and long term season of being very busy with my photography business which is nothing to complain about.  I shot a bridal session this weekend and absolutely cannot wait to share my favorite images.  The bride was drop dead gorgeous, the setting was breath taking and the pictures turned out mesmerizing as a result. I will be shooting her wedding at the end of November (exciting!) so I look forward to sharing her bridals shortly after that with you all.  I am so thankful that I get to pursue something that I love, make a little money and even better than that is the fact that I get to be a mom and wife first and foremost.  God is so good!

Okay, so enough of that ramble...Let's get back to the subject matter of this post which is to share with everyone how much my little girl LOVES her blanket and I finally got pictures to prove it.  Well, technically she loves her blanket and her pacifier (and always together) but, we'll just focus on the blanket for this post.  Ever since Daisy was a newborn I let her sleep with a blanket and she quickly required it to nap or drive quietly.  It didn't take long before she latched on to this specific type of blanket with extra thick softness and a super soft satin edge and now they are inseperable.  She calls it "bunkie," and asks me to spread it flat on the ground so she can lay down on it and snuggle.  It is hilarious to watch her roll around and sometimes she pretend cries for fun....not sure where she learned that. LOL.  Gosh I love this silly little girl to pieces. She is just too too cute!

and if that wasn't enough to convince you...wait, she's not done...

then she got creative...

Why hello there:)

Fun Family Pictures

 The past several years I have done our family pictures myself with a tripod and I really didn't enjoy it because it is so hard to get the shots that I wanted.  Last year I knew with a child in the mix that a tripod would be too stressful, so I asked my hubby's sister to come along and be my assistant and she was much more able to get the shots that I wanted and could never have gotten with a tripod.  I seriously love her because I get to meter the shot, put her where I want and she gets the shot perfectly...really, she is such a blessing and makes these sessions virtually stress free for all of us!  Plus she's just fun to have her around and Daisy adores her Auntie:). Thank you Jess!

I browsed Pinterest for family picture ideas but, I really wanted to come up with something creative...I have to say the exercise ball idea was a last minute thought as I ran out the door and saw them in the office as I passed by.  The pictures with them crack me up, because it is so unexpected and silly to see something like that in a picture and I only wish I had remembered to get a family shot on the exercise balls.  LOL.  Daisy was asleep in the car when we first arrived so we parked the car like literally right next to us and Joey and I were able to get a few pictures without her which was nice as we haven't done that in a while.

I edited these pictures a bit bright, over the top fun, because I have been wanting some really colorful pictures for our hallway collage.  I'm excited to get them printed and finally fill the four empty frames that I have to stare at everyday!  Oh and the best trick to get Daisy to sit still now is to give her a package of smarties.  Granted the downside is that she doesn't want to look up at the camera, because the candy in her hand is far more interesting....hmmmm....

This first picture cracks us up as you just never know quite how a picture is going to turn out until you see them afterwards and this just turned out plain funny. lol

This was the only picture that Daisy looked at the camera and gave a happy face.  Love it!

See the little smarty package in her hands....yup, she was very happy:)

Me and my beautiful sister Jessica.  I've known her for nearly 12 years now and I am so thankful for the friendship we have and that she lives here in NC.  Very thankful to have family so close by.  Please forgive this horribly over exposed shot. I liked it regardless. :)

Hope

Daisy was up Friday morning at 2:30 AM with a coughing spell that wouldn't stop.  I brought her into bed with me while Joey set up the humidifier in her room.  I was surprised that she stayed so still on my chest while while I sang to her and rubbed her back.  This is the first time I have had to get Daisy out of bed in the middle of the night for at least 9 months or so.  It felt so different to hold my much bigger baby in my arms in the darkness of the morning.  To hear her raspy breaths and feel her warm forehead on my cheek took me back to when she was even littler and sick all the time but, she is still helpless all the same.  I took my time walking her back to her crib.  I was in no hurry to put her down.  I rocked her by her bedside and prayed for lungs to ease up on her.  She was so tired that she never stirred and when I finally laid her back in her bed she curled up without a peep even ignoring the jet like roar of the humidifier.  I walked back to bed and heard another nasty cough on the monitor, said another prayer and pleaded with God to give her rest and then all praise to Him, there was silence and she slept the rest of the morning in peace.  Thank you Jesus!

Needless to say, we are staying home from church today so that we don't spread our sickness to other poor families trying desperately to stay healthy.  I think I am going to be reading some of Francis Chan's Crazy Love this morning (a fantastic read!!) to be my church alternative and I'm breathing in the sweet perfume of the verses I've shared in this post today.  I am always carrying what feels like a heavy heart these days and fatigue is a constant companion.  The day to day struggle to hold on to my own joy in the midst of my husband's battle with depression is a challenging one but, I give God all the glory for sustaining me, giving me rest and giving me so many things to be thankful for.  I am learning more life lessons than my brain can contain and I look forward to the day when I can give back to others who are struggling in a similar battle.  I look forward to paying forward and sharing more in depth with you all as well as I'm sure I am not the only one walking this road.  Meanwhile, I ask that you pray for our family but, not worry for us.  God is good and we are going to be okay.  HE works all things together for our good and this too will pass.

And to conclude on a lighter note...Daisy is currently tugging on my leg and asking for a sip of my "tahpee (coffee)."  I guess it's not a good sign when one of her many first words is coffee because that means that somebody is giving her sips...and shamefully I only have myself to blame.  The horror!  hehehe  Just a couple tiny sips people...tiny and it's SO worth it to hear her ask for, "tahpee, tahpee," every morning and then after giving her a tiny sip, "mmmmmmmmm, tahpee."  I'm cracking up right now!! hahaha




Psalm 34:18
"The LORD is close to the brokenhearted; he rescues those whose spirits are crushed." (NLT)

Psalm 10:17
"LORD, you know the hopes of the helpless. Surely you will hear their cries and comfort them." (NLT)

Psalm 94:19
"When doubts filled my mind, your comfort gave me renewed hope and cheer." (NLT)


Psalm 121
A song of ascents. ^1" I lift up my eyes to the mountains—
   where does my help come from?
² My help comes from the LORD,
   the Maker of heaven and earth.
 ³ He will not let your foot slip—
   he who watches over you will not slumber;
⁴ indeed, he who watches over Israel
   will neither slumber nor sleep.
 ⁵ The LORD watches over you—
   the LORD is your shade at your right hand;
⁶ the sun will not harm you by day,
   nor the moon by night.
 ⁷ The LORD will keep you from all harm—
   he will watch over your life;
⁸ the LORD will watch over your coming and going
   both now and forevermore."

My Punkin Asked Us To Pray Tonight

We try to make a habit of eating together as a family at our dining room table at least a few times a week and each time we do this we put Daisy in her high chair and she gets VERY excited about our prayer.  Tonight as my hubby, Daisy and I sat down to enjoy our pizza we began eating and forgot to pray.  Daisy lifted one hand out to Joey and one hand out to me and said in an angelic little voice, "peh (pray)," with the hugest smile on her face.  I can't describe how much this simple act blessed me.  My 18 month old reminded her parents to pray.  My husband and I looked at each other with that twinkle of joy in our eyes and bowed our heads to pray and then as always we were interrupted by Daisy's very loud "AyyyMEEEN."  We all laughed and savored the beauty of the moment; we savored the priceless gift that God has given us.  It really is all about the simple things in life.  In spite of all the hardships that our little family has been enduring, moments like these shine brighter than the sun and they pierce the heaviness that is hanging over us.  They fix my heart on the things that really matter and remind of God's loving kindness.  I am blessed beyond measure!

I should have bought the tiny pumpkin for Daisy.   She loved it because, it fit so well in her little hands and I really should have purchased it after she did what I captured in the last pumpkin picture:)

Her favorite thing to do with the small pumpkin...fastball pitch it as hard as she could!  Hilarious.  Though also a bit embarrassing because the guard guy was keeping a close eye on us and he wasn't smiling.  I was worried that he might stick all 3 of us in a time out so we wrapped it up quickly and ran away...well, we didn't really run. lol

I've added a couple of videos for fun.  One of them captures the first time Daisy has really truly laughed.   In 17 months Daisy had never barrel laughed  She has her chuckle that sounds like a cartoon character but, she has never full out cracked up.  This video is priceless because I finally found something that brought that out of her.  Priceless to say the least.

Her Second Pumpkin Patch

 Let's face it, the days can get pretty long when we stay home all day with our ball of energy, also known as Daisy.  Both me and my hubby look forward to any opportunity to get out of the house, go somewhere fun and pass an evening with lots of laughter and smiles.  There is a farm not far from our house that sets up a really fun pumpkin patch each Fall.  They have so many different things for kids to do such as pony rides, getting lost in a corn maze, jumping in several bouncers, playing in a giant sand pile, running along giant hay rolls, getting faces painted or munching on a yummy funnel cake to name a few.  It was such a lively family atmosphere and our little bean had such a blast though she was a lot less smiley than usual.

Evidently her two year molars are coming in now. I'm telling you our kid hasn't gotten a break from teething since she was 3 months old and she is not a happy camper.  She has been biting on her cheek all day, tugging on her ear and smiling less and less for my camera (shocking, I know!).  The molars could also explain her early morning wake ups ranging anywhere from 3-6 AM.  Luckily for me Daisy is content to chat in her crib for an hour or so and then she eventually falls back to sleep on her own.  Thank goodness!

Okay on to the fun pictures....

Daisy was the only kiddo brave enough or perhaps crazy enough to climb through this super long tunnel that was under what I can only imagine to be 3 ton rolls of hay.  Honestly it made me really uncomfortable to see her climbing in something that could be crushed by giant hay rolls but, I stifled my paranoia and let her crawl through a few times.  Daddy got this picture and I love it!

I think the sand was Daisy's favorite place.  So many of our parks out here use wood mulch and don't have sand boxes which is so foreign to me.   Daisy loved that there we so many toys to choose from and lots of other kids to stare at and observe while she played. 

Daddy helped Daisy climb on the giant hay rolls and these pictures show the more serious face that she has these days.  I absolutely adore the picture of Daisy and Daddy looking at each other below this storyboard.  I will be framing it for sure!

Daisy was absolutely fascinated by the ponies.  She was content to stand close by and watched them go around and around until Joey and I were itching to move on....and I'm a patient gal so you know we stood there for a long time.  I figured like always I would take pictures with the time I had and the only way I could get Daisy to look at the camera was if I yelled out, "where's Daddy," and then she turned to look for him and "snap" I seized the opportunity to get a picture of her looking in my general direction. lol

Do you see that beautiful turquoise camera purse that I am wearing?  Can I just say that it is very uncomfortable to lug around a humongous camera bag at a pumpkin patch.  Sure, it's super cute and yes, I even got a few compliments on it but, the thing is so dang heavy that I felt like the nerve in my shoulder was being severed. lol.  I really do love my camera purse just not for prolonged use.  I also love that it added a nice pop of color to these shots.  Our family shot below was captured thanks to a very sweet lady who randomly asked if she could take a picture for us.  I love when people notice that a family might need a family picture and offer to capture that for them.  Not to mention she didn't cut off any heads and we are pretty centered.  I cannot tell you how awful most of our pictures turn out when strangers take them for us.  This lady had skills! hahaha

Daisy was uber nervous on the bouncer.  She has never been on one before so the experience was very foreign to her.  Not to mention there were a lot of kids on it at one point and the bouncing got a bit out of hand which is when Daisy climbed towards the exit.  She never cried but, then again she never smiled or seemed all that thrilled.  We'll have to give the bouncers a little more time:)  I can't tell you how old our little girl looked in the bouncer all by herself.  We watched her standing there alone and I swear I felt like she could have been 5 years old and heading off to Kindergarten.  I definitely felt some crazy tugs on my momma heart.

The corn maze was a dud.  Daisy was bored after t-minus 2 minutes and was asking to be held.  Plus she refused to smile.  I think this was when we realized we were going to have to start wrapping up our night. lol.  She sure is cute isn't she.

This was Daisy's happiest moment for the camera.  "Where's Daisy???"   I LOVE this peak a boo picture!!!  I could just eat those chubby little baby hands and seeing her eye trying to peak through the cracks in her fingers just melts me to pieces.  AHHHHHHH.....tissue please.

There she is!!  I love this little peanut so much! 

I still have to post the actually pictures of Daisy and the pumpkins but, this post was getting far to picture heavy so I'll share those next.  Have you been to a pumpkin patch yet this year?  I can't wait to put some pumpkins on our porch!  I LOVE fall!