15 month Hodge Podge

"Please"

"Sorry Jax & Jilly, but I like this cereal."

"Whew, that was a lot of hard work!"

Okay, you might think we never change Saela's clothes anymore - but this happens to be her favorite pair of pajamas. She will hold them up and sign "please" as she is demonstrating in the first picture. She says "please" by signing for everything and it melts my heart every time. From wanting food to her shoes put on to her favorite pj's - she says please - what gets hard is when she says please for something she cannot have - it's hard to say no.

She's becoming an expert walker and is falling less and less. She loves covering things up with washcloths or paper towels or blankets - or whatever she has handy. Her vocabulary is growing daily - her words now consist of "Ja"=Jax, "Mim"=Mom, "Da-da"=Dad, "Uh-oh"=Uh-oh, and when asked what a ducky says or what a cow says she says "Qak, qak and Boooo" respectively. I have been trying to catch this on video - but have not yet been successful. She will also look at the pages of a book and "read" to herself and this is seriously the cutest thing EVER!

Her favorite food is cottage cheese - and we now hide her vegetables inside the cottage cheese to get her to eat them. She no longer freely eats broccoli as she did a few short posts ago! We also discovered this morning that she likes taco chip dip - so much for feeding my kid healthy food. She had a banana, store brand "Special K" and taco chip dip for breakfast. Perhaps this is why she is passed out in her high chair. What I've been telling myself to ease my conscience is - "at least she doesn't eat like this everyday."

As her 15th month mark has come and gone - she continues to grow and amaze us daily. We thank God everyday for her presence in our lives.

Guilty?

"No, Mom, I do not have anything behind my back."

Saela Shares

Coming Soon to a Theatre Near You

Big Sisterhood

starring

SAELA CATHERINE GREEN


Estimated Date of Release
6.2.09

The Difference in a Year (Part II)

From Our Little Tootsie Roll

10.31.07

to Our Little Teddy Bear!

10.31.08

We had a great time Trick-or-Treating this year with Saela - she didn't quite know what was going on - but had a great time playing with the candy when it was all said and done. We thought our excitement for the night was over until we caught Jilly with the candy bowl. All-in-all, she probably had 15-20 small candy bars. We had to induce vomiting with hydrogen peroxide - it was not pleasant. Jilly, aside from a sensitive tummy for a few days, is doing well. I highly doubt, however, that she learned her lesson and given the opportunity would oblige us with a repeat performance without hesitation. She's lucky that we love her - a lot. We hope everyone had a happy and safe Halloween 2008!

The Difference in a Year (Part I)

Saela Catherine Green

10.30.08

10.28.07

10.30.08
(I still don't know if I like this Mom!)

10.28.07

(Clearly, I did not like it then!)

Stay tuned...trick-or-treat pictures to come!

Walking Away

Just a little video of our walker - if she walks toward the camera she just drops to her knees and wants to play with the camera - so her backside will have to do!

10.15.08

Yesterday was National Pregnancy and Infant Loss Day - and it certainly re-opened my eyes to how incredibly lucky I am to have such a vibrant and healthy child. Last year, dear friends delivered a stillborn baby and I think of them often and said the following prayer for them yesterday and for all of the other parents who have experienced such a loss (Psalm copied from a blog, bravely written by a family who recently experienced loss, which opened my eyes to National Pregnancy and Infant Loss Day). My heart aches for all of these families.

Psalm 121
1 I lift up my eyes to the hills—
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.

Every once in awhile you need an eye-opener to bring you back to reality - to remind you what is truly important. It's easy to get bogged down in everyday life and miss all of the wonderful things that make up your life. For me, yesterday, was a reminder to how beautiful my life truly is and how close I came to being one of the families that I prayed for yesterday. There were two times in her life that I thought Saela would not survive and those were truly the scariest moments in my life so I wanted to take the opportunity to tell her this:

Saela,
Something I never want you to forget is from the moment your daddy and I knew about you - we have loved you. Only when you have a child of your own will you realize the depth of our love for you. We continue to be so grateful to God for keeping you safe for us to nurture and love.
Love to my Baby Girl,
Mommy