Weekly Wrap Up

I just finished this scarf for her! :)  She loves it!

Last week's awkward Steppin' Out picture.

Squirrely Face!

Grilled cheese!

Look at the determination on that face!

Don't forget to enter my HALF-BIRTHDAY GIVEAWAY, ends 11/25!!

And come link up tomorrow for "PINNING!" Wk. 2!!

Linking up with these ladies:
     

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18 Months & Happy Half-Birthday Giveaway

On Tuesday, my little baby girl once again reminded me of the numbering of days.  18 months.  EIGHTEEN months!  That is 1.5 years old!  That is HALFWAY to TWO!  And Zion, how I have enjoyed watching you grow up so far.  It is so hard to look back at pictures of you and see how much you really have changed, especially when at times it is hard to remember you any way different than you are now.

You are high-spirited, beautiful, inquisitive, thirsty for adventure and filled to the brim with giggles and silliness.  You love: bananas, (still), toast with butter, shoes and sock-socks, Elmo and Diego.   You adore your daddy and look forward to weekend playtime with him, while cherishing the short time you have with him each morning before he leaves for work.  Each day you greet us with a huge "HIIIII" and plenty of hugs and cuddles.

You love reading and get excited any time a new book is added to your library.  Every morning you demand (pleasantly) that daddy read with you.  You have a sweet sweet innocent understanding of God and proudly say "Aye-men" after your prayers.  Often you will be singing a song, typically the ABC's or Elmo's theme song.  You especially love acting out the motions to Itsy Bitsy Spider.

You still love coloring and stickers.  You don't know what to think about play dough.  You thrive on every opportunity to help mama…and have become the chief recycler in our home.  :)  Yesterday you helped me make a batch of brownies from start to finish.  I sure hope you will grow a love of baking and cooking like I have.

You've begun to further explore your independence, testing boundaries, climbing new heights and practicing new skills.  You can climb up onto the couch all by yourself.  You love practicing buckling your high chair straps together.  You try to put your clothes, socks and shoes on.  You often try to take them off, resulting in getting stuck with an arm strapped tightly to your head or falling over sideways with a booby trapped pair of pants twisted around your feet.

Despite the day to day challenges of looking out for you, disciplining you and teaching you healthy boundaries, I find my heart overwhelmed with your innocence, still wishing I could freeze time and not endure the slow unraveling of your dependence on me…but then I catch glimpses of who God has created you to be…and I open my hand and heart recognizing that you are a gift and not a possession…one that I will cherish for all the days to come.

I love you my little cutie-patootie-pie.
Mama

P.S.  To celebrate Zion's half-birthday I am giving away FEATURED AD SPACE in December 2012!  Enter using Rafflecopter below!! XO XO XO





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Wordless{ish} Wednesday on Thursday: Zoo Edition

Last Saturday, Jerry and I decided to take Zion to the Central Park Zoo for the first time.  We'd been planning it for a few days, and the excitement (for me) was almost too much to contain.  I tried desperately to squelch my delightful anticipation in fear that I would over-hype the experience in my mind, and then suffer from disappointment if Zion wasn't as thrilled about it as I'd hoped.  She. LOVED. It.  It was a total blast.  It was a stunning fall day and I'm glad we decided to take the time to walk through Central Park on our way…the leaves in red, orange, yellow and brown were a sight to behold.  We entered the Zoo greeted by this black bear sculpture.  Zion was especially fond of the Polar Bear, exclaiming proud little "Grrrrr"'s at it, followed by her rendition of Go! Diego! Go!  Apparently she associates all of the animals at the zoo with Diego.  Another highlight of the adventure was when a large wild bird flew right over us in the tropic zone.  We snapped a couple pictures of the animals, but neither Jerry nor I wanted to miss out on her reactions to each new exhibit while fumbling for the camera.  We finished off our visit by playing with the plush toys in the "Zootique" and then a quick bite to eat before heading home to relax and store up the treasures of her first trip to the zoo in our hearts.

 

Red Pandas

Snakes!

^{paper mama photo challenge entry}^

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Someone should slap that Murphy guy who came up with that law...

Hey Friends!  It has been an exceptionally challenging week!  Remember how Zion was JUST sick?  Right as she was nearing 100% (99.99% to be exact) she caught another cold!  For all of you that utilize daycare and have to deal with plague after plague of cootie-sharing, let me just tell you, the endless string of viral replication isn't limited to kids in daycare…Zion is with me full time, but here she is sick yet again.  Thankfully she is on the mend (again) but it has been a draining week.

I've been going a little nuts because I actually took the time to schedule my writing this week.  I thought out my posts in advance, had a plan…you know…the perfect ingredients for Murphy's law to wreak havoc.  So here I am, (not going to apologize) way behind schedule on posts this week.  I've had a lot of exciting things happening which have actually, for the first time in my writing career, caused me stress!  I believe a little bit of stress, handled appropriately, is good for a person, but it is still stress and I am in need of a long hot soothing bubble bath, or maybe a weekend staycation where I can swipe up the laptop and high-tail it to a place of solitude for a writing intensive?

I'm not likely to get either as the big feast quickly approaches and I will be preparing my first ever Thanksgiving dinner for our family with a bunch of new recipes.  Thank God for Martha Stewart online because I will be following her every instruction.  There’s no time for online cooking classes! I'm terrified of shopping for this holiday…and then figuring out some sort of timing grid so I can keep track of all of the dishes.

This morning I am counting down the minutes until nap time so I can get some work done, did I mention that I have a mom's Bible study coming to my place tonight?  Or that next Tuesday I have to have all of my backpacks and supplies together for the MacDella Cooper Academy in Liberia, Africa?  Or the fact that I totally got confused about the Tumblr Parents meet-up being on Friday Saturday? And while that is in Brooklyn I have a 1st Birthday to attend the same day immediately after on the UWS?  I'm thinking back to this fun little graph once posted on Mammalingo's blog…and it is the story of my life at present.

I'm exploding with exciting stuff to share…Zion's first trip to the Zoo, Weekly Wrap Up, Top 5 Software to get NOW with BONUS Top 5 Apps, Zion's 18 month update, Pinning Wk. 2!, Recipes from Mama B's Kitchen, A review of an AWESOME new baby monitor, and TOMORROW…a special chance to win featured ad space in December on Life with the Baxtrons!  Wheeeew!  Just writing all that is overwhelming!  Get ready!

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