Peek-A-boo Grammy!

So, we made this video especially for Grammy... but, the rest of you will enjoy it as well! Zanna LOVES peek-a-boo.... enjoy the laughter!

Veggie-lovin' girl!

Zanna's now 6 months old and has been enjoying her veggies for a week now! So far, she's had sweet potatoes, peas, avocado and squash.... she's a HUGE fan of dinner time and especially loves sweet potatoes and squash! Peas and avocados are going to have to have a second and third test-run before she decides if she enjoys them or not. Here are some shots of tonight's meal... oatmeal cereal mixed with squash- YUM!!! .... a bath was definitely in order as soon as dinner was over :) She was a messy messy girl!

Just a Small Town Girl...

So, my family has this thing about the 80's band, Journey...and Aunt MULE, Super Cousin Ember, Aunt Stevie and Super Cousin Lyss, are in an unofficial acapella cover band of this rock-ballad 80's craze band....and, so, that leads me to the point of this story. Aunt MULE (who lives in Brooklyn and does lots of fun Brooklyn-y things) went to a flea market and lo and behold, there was a lady who makes Journey lyric onesies. Well, Aunt MULE was beside herself excited and bought Zanna this "just a small town girl, living in a lonely world" one-sie before she was even born. And, I had continually pulled it out of the under-the-bed storage to see if it fit... finally, the other day, it FIT! :) So, here's the newest and youngest fan of the Demarest/Lawther/Altimus Journey cover band, Zanna Allen, sporting her onesie, and the proud momma/sister/cousin fan as well!
Oh, and, these pictures were taken by the mommy of this cutie-patootie in the last picture, Mrs. Joey Hardy! This cutie is the 6 week old Tesla Providence Hardy, and she is SO adorably sweet and cuddly. We love going over to visit her and try to do it as often as possible! Joey and I are braving the cloth-diaper world together, so we swap diapers and stories and have "tutorials" on new styles of diapers... ah, the world of motherhood. It will be so much fun for Tess and Zanna to grow up together...

The Gorilla Sit!

So, this is a tad bit late because now Zanna is quite the sitter-upper, but, here are some shots taken of her "gorilla" sit (learned that term from Josephine's mom, Jenny) just a couple of weeks ago... notice all of the pillows there because mom's a
'paranoid android' as Cam would say, and was afraid that while she was playing she would take a major tumble... but, she didn't and had fun playing with her fun toys we checked out from the Family Connections library!

Suzanna's Baptism

Today, August 16, was a very special day in the life of our family. Suzanna Grace was baptized at First Presbyterian Church. Pastors Terry and Sam baptized Suzanna Grace... Pastor Sam (or SamPa as the kids call him) reminded all of us that even before we understand what is going on, God loves us and that baptism reminds us of God's claim on us even before we were born. During the children's blessing, everyone in the congregation was reminded of our baptism as Pastor Sam flung water on us :) I have been a part of many baptisms so far in my ministry, even baptizing 3 confirmands in May, but now I have an even greater understanding of the sacrament being a mother and standing up in front of the congregation, promising in front of God, family and friends, that we "unreservedly dedicate our child to God" and listening as children and adults in the congregation promise to nurture and support Zanna and us as we raise her as a disciple of Christ. We had many family members who came to celebrate with us, and those who weren't with us physically were definitely there in Spirit! We could feel their prayers with us! The worship service was incredibly special and I am truly thankful to be a pastor of such a loving and supportive congregation. We look forward to Zanna growing up at FPC. Yes, Grammy, there's a video... I'll send it your way soon :)

Twins for an evening....

Our good friends Jenny and Sean went to go see the Counting Crows last night while am and I got to play with the babies :)! Josephine, 4 months old, came over to play and "sleep over" (well, at least till 11). It was like Zanna had died and gone to baby heaven; I wish I had a video of them cooing and talking to each other... and, as you can see, they were quite fascinated with one another's faces. At one point, I caught them holding hands :) Josephine's a friend for life! My fave is her face as she gets used to crazy Zanna in this first shot :) And, then, I decided to pretend that I had twins and had to carry them both around at once.... it's weight-lifting at its best... 15 or so pounds in each hand! Come over again Josephine!

Learning how to sit up!

Doesn't she look proud?! Zanna can sit up on her own for about 10 seconds before toppling over :) A new trick discovered this week.... look at how proud she is!

And, in feeding news, after trying rice cereal and learning that Z's tummy doesn't really like it so much, we took a hiatus from food for a bit while we tried to recover from rice cereal and tonight was the first attempt of oatmeal cereal which the doc says is often better on those really sensitive bellies.... please pray for a full night's sleep :) Zanna's parents could use it!