love fern

while my mom was here last month (need to blog about that too!) we re-potted my plants....including my precious shamrock; which Nate and I have had since we were first married. it had grown really big and so we decided to split it into two pots to give it some room and fresh soil. we also gave it a major CHOP to stimulate new growth and i was a little scared at first but lo and behold it was just was they needed! (insert analogy here)

freshly potted and looking a little sad:

one month later:

Thanks Mom!

PS: the little hanging elf belonged to my great grandma Eula :)

snow

this little girl's first snow day!

Quote:

"I must learn to love the fool in me--the one who feels too much, talks too much, takes too many chances, wins sometimes and loses often, lacks self-control, loves and hates, hurts and gets hurt, promises and breaks promises, laughs and cries. It alone protects me against that utterly self-controlled, masterful tyrant whom I also harbor and who would rob me of human aliveness, humility, and dignity but for my fool." -- Theodore I. Rubin, MD

(found on http://joannagoddard.blogspot.com/2009/03/quote-for-life.html)

next time won't you sing with me?

our ALPHABET collection is almost complete!

all i need now is an "f" and an 'i"

my mumsie found a sprinkler "O" for me!

the "H" is hard to see but I think
it will look fine once it's on the wall

my assistant Fritz helped me arrange them

the original plans were to put these in our kid's room someday (we have been collecting for about 5 years), but Mabel's room is fairly small and the wall they would need to go on is right above where her bed will go. i wouldn't be able to sleep at night thinking about the possibility of a horseshoe "U" falling on her head! soooooo....the alphabet is going to hang on the big wall in our kitchen above the dining room table! i will take before and after pictures once we get it all finished. don't hold your breath though. :)

a ladybug's 1st halloween!

my mom got Mabel this costume and she looked adorable in it!
but then again, I think she looks adorable in everything.

rubber ducky you're the one

this girl enjoys bathtime most when she
has a rubber duck as an appetizer

Poem

read this poem on my friend Sarah's blog and thought it was beautiful...


Real Presence


Let my heart be a wide and welcome harbor
where my children come to rest.
May these arms stretch wide and strong
to hold his fear, her hurt, their tattered sense of self.


May there be a solidness within me
on which their pain may crash
and recede
and I remain.


Let my presence be an island to them
in storm-tossed seasons,
rising up from troubled waters to offer
shelter, respite, and firm dry ground.


May they find in me
a haven to tend to battered souls
until the day the certainty of such solid ground
launches them to sail uncharted waters unafraid.


-Tom McGrath

five months

today little miss Mabel is five months old! people keep saying how fast time has gone....but for us it feels like five months or more! i guess that is the sleep deprivation talking. :) we are in love with watching this sweet little girl grow and develop and we both agree her giggle is the best sound ever.

a few things about Mabel at this age:

• she loves bouncing in her doorway jumper
• she grabs at EVERYTHING (and whatever the object is goes straight into her mouth)
• she has started tasting a few tiny morsels of big girl food: banana, gnawing on an apple, sweet potato

• she enjoys listening to Nate play the guitar
• she could stare at Fritz and Charlie for hours
• she rolled over a few times and didn't think it was that great, hasn't done it again
• she is getting a little bit more hair
• her favorite book is Baby Einstein's "Mirror Me"
• she likes to watch the neighborhood kids play outside
• her pediatrician announced she is in the "tall" category
• she looks like such a big girl when she sits in her Bumbo chair

• she likes to "talk" to her toys
• we lovingly call her "drool girl"
• she is all smiles and happiness when she wakes up in the morning

i am going to try to get back into blogging since I have a gazillion pictures of Mabel and lots to talk about. (we moved!) it has just been easier to use Facebook since i can upload pictures right from my phone....blogger totally needs an app for phones to make it quick and easy. anyone know if there is one?

i sure love this little girl