Six Months Old

It's hard to believe that Natalie Shea is six months old already. What a joy she has been and continues to be. On this my very first mother's day, I feel blessed indeed. It's still weird to think of myself as a mom. When I hear the word mom, I think of my mom.
Well, I finally kicked what ever it was that had me. It's hard to fight infections when you really can't take anything but Advil, but I wouldn't trade it for the world. Also, my work "drama" is FINALLY come to an end, and for that I am thankful. It was quite a learning experience, I tell ya. This coming week will be a fun one. It's "Associate Appreciation" week, and there are always fun things planned throughout the week. Wednesday is "Spirit to Serve", and I'll be volunteering at our city's nursery. I always like to get out of the office literally, so this is right up my alley. Friday is "department day", so I am going to have to think of something fun to do with my team - they sure deserve it.
The dinner auction went pretty well. You can definitely tell we are in a low economic time, though. I was excited that our basket went for $275! Gee, now that puts a lot of pressure on us to put on a good dinner party! :)
On to Natalie updates. We finally got some teeth shots. Look closely to spot them for yourself. She is sitting up better and better all the time, but still not quite solo. She is still apt to topple over sometimes. We really need to get a rug for the living room, and I really WANT some new furniture. Maybe before too long. I've been waiting patiently for 6 1/2 years.
She isn't crawling, but she does move. She scoots and shimmys and can do a complete 360. She also doesn't mind being on her belly as much any more.
On her menu at 6mos is "the leche", sweet potatoes, avocado, and banana. Starting this week she will begin getting some brown rice porridge. I already have it ground and it is ready to boil. Hopefully she'll do well with that also.
We hope to get some 6 mo pictures taken soon, but in the meantime, here are some that we took ourselves this weekend. Like any good parents, we took LOTS of pictures.









Natalie's Aunt La La and cousins Loren and Krystle got her some toys for a shower gift. We were finally able to break out the wagon with the blocks, and she had some fun with it this weekend.



And here's that toothy grin! :)

Finally, I feel inclined to talk about my baking skills. I'm beginning to think that I'm not such a bad baker after all. It appears that perhaps cookies are my Achilles Heel, but other baked goods are ok. My old boss turned 50 on Friday, so my gift to him (like everyone else at work) was to bake him the cake of his choice. I admit this has been pretty risky since most everything I've made has been my first go at it. Well, this past week I made my very first carrot cake. All from scratch, of course. Let me tell you. I guess I've never really had carrot cake before, so I can't say for sure how one is supposed to taste. All I know is that this was one of the best things I've ever made - ever. It was AWESOME. So, I had to take pictures of the masterpiece. Here it is: carrot cake with cream cheese icing. YUM!



Here's wishing everyone a great week!