She's a Bad Mamma-Jamma

Happy Mother's Day!! I have had a great first "official" Mother's Day. I kinda count last year even though Yuri was still cookin'. I know I haven't really kept my word about posting more regularly, but this is sooner than the last series of posts!

So, I woke up this morning and got some cute cards!

The one in the front with the little girl in pig tails was from Yuri! Then, I went downstairs to find my gift....

A wagon!! Of course it was rainy and cold today so we couldn't test drive it outside. We took it for a spin around the house! We spent the rest of the day with family! Good food, good company; couldn't ask for more!

Here are some random pics of the last month. This first one is of Yuri's new favorite thing to do; climb the stairs!! That's right, she can make it all the way to the 2nd floor by herself! This is actually pretty scary b/c sometimes she starts going up without someone behind her! Time for a gate!

This one was taken at one of Daddy's soccer games! Yuri loves to play outside and her favorite toy is a ball (and her first real word "ball"). I say real word b/c she associates the word and object. She also has a killer arm! She LOVES to throw!

These are a few pics of our trip to Arkansas a few weeks ago. My family takes this trip each year in memory of my late Uncle Tom who passed away from cancer. We did some shopping and played golf. I love to play when I get a chance. It is a great way to spend time with family, too. We played a scramble (I won't explain it but it was fun).

This chair is HUGE!

Then, a few days later, we went to Kansas City to visit Uncle Brett and Grandma/pa Malone. Michael had to attend some meetings so Yuri and I spent the majority of the time with G-ma and G-pa! Michael and Brett caught up with us later in the day. We went to see Bodies Revealed (great exhibit) and to the KC Zoo. It was nice weather, too! Thanks for taking some time off work to play with us, Grandma and Grandpa!

This is actually Brett and Yuri, although, it could be Michael and Yuri!

Keep Rollin'

I feel like I have started each of my last posts (few and far between) have begun with "It has been a long time." I will spare everyone the obvious statement and just start catching up, as much as possible and as time and my fingers allow.

As I sit typing, I am watching 'John Adams' on HBO. It is a really great show based on the biography, John Adams by David McCullough. Michael (my history geek husband) and I watch it every week and we highly recommend it. There are very few times when the TV in our house is not on HGTV (can I get a 'what, what!!') and this show is one time. We also are faithful watchers of 'Lost' and 'The Office.'

Enough about TV. I really would like to tell you about Spring Break '08. It is quickly drawing to a close. I am lamenting the return to school tomorrow. It has been a very relaxing break.

We kicked break off with family and friends visiting for Yuri's Dedication on Sunday, April 6. We had a party after the service. The weather was amazing and it was so wonderful to spend time with family and friends. We want to thank everyone for coming to support our family on this special day! It was a special occasion! Here are some pics...

Michael was out of town for the first half of the week. Yuri and I had a busy time; attending a funeral for a friend of the family, helping out my sister, and visiting friends.

Saturday, we went to Cooper's birthday party! Very fun, but, Cooper got sick in the middle of it! Yuck!

Although, it seems that everyday, Yuri is doing something new, I put on this video of one of the newest "tricks". Yuri has been crawling and pulling up on things for a while now, but recently, we got a "walker" type toy for Yuri and she has begun walking behind it. It is so cute to watch!

A few last things, Yuri did have her 9 month check-up on Thursday. Here are her stats: 16lbs.-12oz. (20%) and 27-1/4 in. (50%).
Also, around Easter, our friend Pancho took Yuri's pictures. Check out the link to see them. They turned out wonderfully!
I will try to make my blog a little more of a priority. (Thanks to the encouragement of Heather and Kasey!)

Long time...

Wow! It has been a VERY long time since I've posted. I got a little pep talk from Heather, so here I am. It would not be time-effective to tell everything that has happened since the last time I posted, so I will just give a few up-dates:

Yuri is 6 months old (as the ticker on the sidebar indicates-got that from Nicole's page).

She is rolling all over-instead of crawling! She is definitely using rolling as a means to get from one place to another. She loves to stand and started taking steps while standing when someone is holding her hands.

She started waving to people (that is very new-just today for the first noticable times). I will try to capture it in a video soon.

Yuri's favorite thing to do now is shake her head "no". This lends to some really fun videos...

Gianna Massena's 1st Birthday

This past Saturday, Yuri attended her friend Gianna Massena's 1st birthday party! It was great to see the Massena's again, and we can't wait for them to move back down to the St. Louis area again (keep your finger's crossed!). This was Yuri's first time to meet Ben, Olivia, and Gianna, so that was very special. What a cute little girl Gianna is...

Hiking in Missouri

Yuri went on her first hike a couple of weeks ago! Lots of fun riding around on daddy's chest, although if she gets much heavier that could be a bit of a problem. We went hiking in Babler State Park in western St. Louis County along with mommy cousin Will, Uncle Rodney, and the dogs. It was a great time.

Not to brag, but...

I got this from Nicole's blog. I hope you can understand my blog, Nicole:) It's a little ironic since I can't even figure out how to space things correctly on my blog.

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Until I was a mom...

There are a lot of things I didn't realize that I could do...until I was a mom. I've learned to....

make up about 12 verses to my very own "Scrub-a-dub-dub" song to make Yuri happy while taking a bath.

feed Yuri while...

-typing with one hand

-grading papers and completing lesson plans

-clipping her little fingernails

-attending a work meeting

walk two dogs and a baby with few problems

make up ridiculous nick names

decipher my baby's cry from that of the other kids in the daycare.

I can now...

pump and eat lunch at the same time, all in less than 20 minutes.

carry a car seat (with Yuri in it) and 4 bags(breast pump, lap-top bag, diaper bag, and purse) in one trip.

take off my seatbelt, find a binkie wedged in between Yuri and her carseat, put it in her mouth, and put my seatbelt back on before the stop light turns green.

pick boogers from another human being, and not be at all grossed out (I actually find it satisfying).

I find myself...

talking in a high-pitched voice and saying "lu-you, lu-you" to people that are not my baby, and sometimes just to myself.

humming "Baby Einstein" music randomly.

looking in my rear-view mirror to see Yuri's reflection in her car seat mirror-even when she is not in the car with me.

skipping the women's clothing section and making a bee-line to the baby-girl clothes.

checking in on Yuri multiple times once she has gone down for the night, just to make sure she hasn't gotten too close to the bumper on her crib.

turning up the monitor every once in a while just to hear the little breaths.

obsessed with the amount of poops Yuri has each day.

excited about the Bumbo (thanks Summer and Briley) and the Jump-a-roo.

obsessed with kissing her little cheeks.

amazed that I have been so blessed by this little Gift from God!!