stuck in a laundry basket

okay okay okay i lied when i said the next post would be after her first birthday. today was a funny day and i thought i would write about it. so our laundry area is downstairs and there's a kitty door at the bottom of the door so when i go downstairs to get laundry and other stuff sadie usually follows me but can peek through the door to see where i'm going. usually when she sees me she backs away from the door so i can get out but today as i was trying to open the door with a huge basket of laundry she would kick the door shut with her feet then peek through the kitty door to see if i was still there, then i would tell her to move a little so i could get through, opening the door a tad, then the whole game would start over again. i could hear her laughing and babbling as this went on about two minutes. i didn't want to knock her over so i didn't push very hard. it was pretty cute though. she figured out that i couldn't get out until she moved so she was messing with me. stinker :)

i also uploaded some pictures of her doing her thang lately- pulling as much stuff as she can off of any sort of table or counter. from one of the pictures, you can see her path of destruction, books, dvd's, nothing is safe. she loves exploring, opening drawers and cabinets. there was even a time last week she got stuck in the laundry basket. i'm not sure what she was going for but she leaned over too far and couldn't get herself out of it. my first reaction was to take pictures, not get her out of the predicament she was in.

one more thing she does that i'm trying to capture on tape is to furrow her eyebrows, it started out as a joke that one of the youth ministry kids taught her but i think now she does it because it makes us all crack up laughing. she gives us this look that can only be described as "whatc-you-talkin-bout-willis" it's almost give, seriously mom is that was you are going to wear look, "oh no you didn't" i have yet to get it, but i'm still trying. sadie and i have also been having lots of dance parties, one of these days i will get her shakin' it. happy thanksgiving everyone :) love and peace!

The Boogie Monster

Well our miss Sadie has a case of the boogie monster, the last few days, almost a week she's been waking up covered in boogers, all over. it got so bad one morning that josh had to cut some boogers out of her hair (i of course wouldn't have gone that route, however he was home i wasn't) i don't have any pictures of our little booger face, i didn't figure that most people would want to see what we see in the morning. usually sadie is standing up in her crib with the hair mashed and sticking to her face, up her nose, all over her cheeks, etc.
one thing we've noticed is that sadie LOVES pens, no matter where we hide them, sadie will find them. she loves to carry them around in her hand, while we are trying to take them from her of course. she also loves batteries, again we aren't sure where she's even finding them, and as closely as we watch her she seems to end up holding onto them while she's crawling.
sade climbs stairs like a pro, one minutes she's sitting (probably holding her batteries or pens) the next she's halfway up the stairs to her room or the bathroom. she loves to empty cabinets, drawers, and any sort of counter or table space. we've learned what we need to to clear out of the room so she won't throw it on the floor. gone are the days we could have a drink on the table near the couch, gone are the days books or writing utensils could lay idle on the floor. we have one busy bumble bee in our house now :)
we've tried really hard to keep up with healthy eating habits, we've noticed that sade will eat just about everything but she doesn't really like corn. today for lunch i strained homeade chicken noodle soup for lunch and she managed to pick out all the other vegetables, meat, and noodle from around the corn. she even started to create a pile. just about everything else she will eat.
one other lesson sade is quickly learning is that she needs to be quicker than the dog. if sadie's holding a piece of food willie will quickly be her best friend, until he gets the food then he goes back to being very wary of her. it's pretty cute.
probably the next time i will write will be for her birthday. wow. it's unbelieveable to think it's already been a year. how blessed we are.

halloween/election night and beyond

well my friends we witness history this last week. and no matter where you stand on the political spectrum it was absolutely fascinating to watch. i can say i definately got choked up listening to tom brokaw's voice crack as he talked about it. all i kept thinking is that my daughter, whether she knows it or not will be growing up in a world that is completely different than the one i grew up in. i was disappointed to hear stereotypical or racist comments the next day about our president elect. i just wish people could for a moment consider the momentous occasion we find ourselves on right now. i pray that our leadership will take all people into consideration from the unborn to those at the end of life.

this next two weekends are the biggest for our youth ministry group that we have all year, i ask for prayers that the holy spirit pulls everything together, as it always does. somewhere along the line i sort of forget that it's not my doing, but God's, please pray that i remember to keep it all focused above.

sadie is continuing to grow and change and be such a joy in our lives. it's really amazing to look back and think where we were a year ago this week. the confirmation retreat was over with, i was gearing up for the end of the pregnancy when on november 8, 2007 i got a call around noon that my grandma had passed away. for those of you who don't remember, picture me supposed to be on bedrest, having major contractions, not supposed to leave the county let alone the state and you find out your grandma has just died. i remember feeling so helpless because i wasn't sure if i was going to be able to go to the funeral, and the whole time being completely wrapped in love by those around me. one of my best friends heather, offering to come and stay and be a birthing couch for me in case i went into labor. (oh did i mention that josh was also out of town during this entire time for work? good timing huh :) friends calling me to come and stay at the house with me, a nurse just calling to see if i was okay. it was amazing to feel so completely wrapped in love during a time of such grief. i was able to go to the funeral, god knew i needed to be there. and little do poeple know but i recieved several signs from god during that trip that everything would be okay. it's still hard because i really miss my grandma and there was a long time that i was even a little disgruntled that she didn't get to meet miss sassy but i know she's definately with us during those moments of laughter.

speaking of which. here are some pictures of sade from the past few weeks. the first is a picture of sadie chewing on a doggie bone. i know you are probably thinking why in the heck didn't you take that out of her mouth, let me just say that it's not that i didn't try and she seems to find these no matter where i put them. i guess this happens when you love the dog more than anyone else. she watches him like a hawk. sadie decided to go trick or treating over at her friend hannah's house (well more of mommy's friend than sadie's) she also got to see her friend hallie. we love hallie a lot, she comes to visit at the office all the time, hallie was one of the names we considered for sadie, and it's because of this sweet little girl. we also went to see grandpa wilson, as well as great grandma and grandpa wilson :) so fun! sade continues to say momma when i ask where willie is (grrr) and is pretty much done with her bottle now. when we try to give her one, she'll drink a few ounces then throw it, which also happened to be the case in the picture below. man that girl's got an arm :)

another picture of her and that darn bone....

may 25, 2008

tonight as i was taking some pictures off my mom's camera (there was an incident with mine involving me getting distracted, the yard, and a little bit of rain...) i was noticing pictures that had been on there for a very long time. two in particular caught my eye. i remembered the exact day and time these were taken. in the background you can see the tv and a large storm cell moving across butler county. the picture was taken around 5pm on may 25th. this tornado caused so much destruction and people are still trying to put their lives back together. the first time i went to see parkersburg i couldn't believe that a force of nature could do so much damage. little did i know in a few short weeks mother nature would turn the sassiness on once again. as i stopped to really remember that day it puts life in perspective for me. a few weeks ago the flaherty's lost a close family friend, once again a sign to me that we really need to appreciate and take the time to tell those around us how much they mean. it takes but a second for life to flip around. i'm so grateful to have this beautiful baby girl who really keeps us on our toes, who changes daily. (Her new thing is pointing and saying "GA" to everything. Our sweet baby has taught us to stop and examine life around us, the wind through the trees, nails pounded into a garage, a dog barking. all of these are part of life and deserve to be celebrated.

take time to today to tell those around you how much they mean.

okay i know this picture is sideways but she has a really strong grip and wouldn't let me take her chicken finger out of her mouth. little miss sass

she sort of looks like she's a member of the rodeo. she does love being on my shoulders though...

she climbs and climbs now, although mommy helped her on the chair, but she's all over the place otherwise.

fall

it seems longer than just two weeks ago that i posted anything about our dear sweetie sade. this might sound redundant but she really does change so much even in a week. today i discovered that when josh puts her on the ground with her bottle she can hold it herself, something she's been doing for almost a month, i however just found out today. sade also is a pro now at standing up, something she really just started to do yesterday. she loves to crawl out in to kitchen, even when the lights are off. we are discovering our litlte baby girl has no fear, or at least we haven't seen it yet. next door at grandma and grandpa wilsons they have a toy bear that sammy (sadie's cousin who is 2) used to cry and cry at when it was turned on, sadie on the other hand tried to kiss it tonight. she's happy 99% of the time (unless of course there's a meal around the corner, then watch out!). on thursday when i took her to day care, she started squirming to get out of my arms to get inside the room, then when i opened the door she laughed and laughed. no matter where she is, she loves being there. she is playing shy lately. anytime she sees someone new, whether its someone she's seen two minutes before or never, she puts her head into my chest and plays coy. that stinker :) ten minutes later, she's won everyone over and they love her.

when sade was over at grandma and grandpa flaherty's today, grandma run upstairs to get something only to discover that sade had climbed to the third step, yes the third. she's a daredevil already. she's becoming more and more verbal, mostly just momma right now, but also babbles quite a bit, especially when she's calming herself down to sleep.

sadie is very excited for halloween, we are still trying to figure out the perfect costume for her.
she still loves the dog more than any of us, and is getting really quick on her knees chasing him, it won't be long before he will have to find better hiding spots than the top of the couch.

Happy Birthday Mommy

Another year older, another year wiser huh? As I was reflecting on where I was last year on my birthday, it's hard to believe so much has changed. A year ago today I was put on bed rest, now I am running around like a banshee with a very active almost 10 month old. Miss Saders made has made this year so wonderful, and this birthday so special. Josh and Kate put together a surprise for me in Dubuque this past weekend where so many awesome people were there to chelp celebrate. Sade and I are starting a few road trips, we visited Iowa City to see how the college kids were holding up, we ran into so many people, and visited with Uncle Kevin. She was also there to surprise me on my birthday dinner in Dubuque. We also visited the John Deere Waterloo 90th anniversary. It was fun to put Sade on some tractors

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Sade and the chair Jon would've sat in had he come :)

Em and Sade

Kevin and Sade

She's not quite sure what to make of him...

Hanging out at Kevin's house

Grandpa and Sade at the John Deere party

Future career move perhaps?

NOTHING runs like a Deere

Sade and Kate's boyfriend Brad at birthday dinner

I believe the toy adds something to this picture!

Two days in a row!

So sweet :)