There's really not much to report, but I haven't posted in a couple of days so I thought I should. Monday was a great, relaxing day off for Doug (and all of us). As the afternoon wore on, I started feeling my recent 'down' feeling creeping back in. I think it was just the knowledge that our long weekend of fun was about to be over and our normal week would be starting. Doug and I talked about it and prayed about it that evening.

I can't say I woke up feeling wonderful on Tuesday morning, but this week has definitely been better than the past few have been. One thing I realized is that I got out of the habit of showering and getting dressed/fixing my hair/etc. as soon as Lila goes down for her first nap. I had been doing that consistently (as a stay-at-home mom, it's easy to stay in your pajamas most of the day and never bathe) until the last time I got sick. At that point, I started sleeping during every spare moment because I was exhausted and didn't feel well.

My mistake was allowing myself to stay in the habit of going back to sleep when Lila did instead of getting ready for the day. It makes a huge difference in my mindset when I'm clean and dressed. It was SO hard not to go back to bed this morning, but I forced myself to do my morning routine instead and I'm glad I did. FlyLady would be so proud! :o)~

If you don't know what I'm talking about, see www.flylady.net.

Doug tried to blind himself today. Lila and I were both taking naps and I was awakened by an odd sound followed by Doug crying out and then running into the house, through the bedroom, and into the bathroom. He was opening a can of 6-year-old primer and it exploded into his face! We rinsed his eyes for a few minutes and then called Poison Control.

I just happened to have gotten some brochures and magnets on poisoning and Poison Control from the pediatrician last week, so I knew what to do. I never thought the first call to Poison Control would be for *Doug* though! Anyway, they said there is nothing in primer that can injure his eyes, but he needed to get in the shower and let the water rinse them out for 15 minutes. His eyes are all better now. :o)~

Lila is blowing me away with all the words she's starting to say! She doesn't say them as clearly as an adult, but we know what she's saying. The most absolutely pitiful thing she's said is, "Nigh' nigh' Lila!" This was said through her tears, while in the car near the end of our trip to Houston when she was very tired and wanted to nap in her own bed and not the carseat (thankyouverymuch) and it sounded more like, "Niiigh' niiiigh' Liii-luuuh..." It was so sad that I almost started crying! Oh, the drama.

Lila, flirting for the camera. This photo cracks me up! 

"Okay, I'm smiling. Now get this thing off my head!" 

Lila and Mommy having a good time. Such a cute girl! 

Here she is with Papa Joe. She actually learned to say "Papa" this weekend! 

Grammie, Lila, and Mommy - ready for dinner. Lila is such a movie star... 

"Look at me! I can clap!" :) 

Angela Peeler, reporting from Houston...

I have two personal movie reviews:

King Kong - We watched this on Wednesday night. I loved the first half of the movie! The suspense was great and the action on Skull Island was good. And then animals started dying and grotesque man-eating megabugs started attacking. There was way too much CG-animal death in this movie and I literally had to keep my hands over my face when the bug scenes were happening! The last ten minutes of the movie was excruciating because you know Kong is going to die and it's so sad. They drag it out forever though! One completely personal problem I had with the movie is that I simply cannot take Jack Black seriously. I did try, but he looks crazed even when he's not being goofy! And shall we talk about the plot holes...? So, great action and special effects, but overall not nearly as good as I anticipated.

But enough about that. On to my next review...

X-Men 3 - LOVED IT!!! We just got back from the theater and it was wonderful! I won't really say any more because most people will not have seen it yet, but it is so worth the price of admission. I might actually want to go and see it again before it leaves the theaters. Oh wait - that's not so easy with Lila around. Well anyway, we'll definitely be owning that one as soon as it's available. :)

There's really not much to report except that Lila is teething again and I don't like summer.

Poor girl is all cranky and now she's started saying "Mama" while she's crying, as if I don't already feel sorry for her! Earlier, she started crying in the car because she wanted my attention, so she's sitting in the back seat crying and saying "Mama" and sounding all pitiful and there was nothing I could do! Alas. I am giving her Tylenol, which will hopefully help *some*.

I have noticed before that I tend to get depressed around the beginning of summer and it's happening again. I don't know if it's because I hate the heat and the feeling of lethargy that comes with it or if it's a conditioned response from when I was in school and the summers meant endless days of trying to entertain myself. Either way, it's not fun. I've been feeling down for a few weeks now and I can't seem to shake it. :(

I did get an appointment for Lila's physical therapy evaluation. Her appointment is on June 14th. I wish it were sooner - oh well...

I have Lila's update from her 9 month check-up, but first a story...

I was feeding Lila her lunch earlier and I tried giving her a spoonful of squash. Instead of opening her mouth to eat it, she reached up and grabbed the spoon. Now, she is capable of feeding herself and near the end of every meal I'll give her spoonfuls of food and let her feed herself. Sometimes though, what she really wants is to get her hands on the spoon so that she can play with it - fling it around or scoop the food out of the spoon with her fingers and decorate the high chair with it.

I do, occasionally, let her do these things because I know it's a stage of development. But today I was not in the mood and I could tell that she did not have honorable intentions when she grabbed the spoon. So I pulled it out of her hand. Apparently I did not do it very carefully though and she was really hanging on. Well the spoon came out of her hand alright... and the squash came out of the spoon... and landed on the floor (halfway across the kitchen), on my pants, on her high chair tray (where she played with it and smeared some onto the kitchen table), and *in my hair*!!!

I knew that one day I would end up wearing my child's food, but I still wasn't prepared for it. I just took the Cat Approach to the situation though. I closed my eyes for a few seconds and then went on with the rest of the meal like I had no idea that there was squash in my hair. It was really the only way to maintain my sanity.

As for the doctor visit - there is good and not-so-good. She is a healthy girl and is still growing, though she's slowed down a lot. She's 18 lbs. 13 oz., which is what she weighed one month ago and puts her in the 50th percentile. And she's 27 inches - that's only the 30th percentile. She's short! The doctor wasn't worried though. She said that she grew a lot in the beginning and is now probably slowing down and that's fine. Given my height and Doug's, we don't expect her to be tall.

The doctor was shocked at her verbal abilities - she can already say half a dozen words (and a short sentence)! Go, baby, go! She may be short, but she's way ahead of the curve in social and verbal development! :) Now for the not-so-good: first of all, she's borderline anemic. That's not overly surprising, but it's a reminder that we need to be faithful in giving her vitamins every day. Not just when I happen to remember.

The doctor is concerned about the lack of gross motor development in her legs. She said Lila's muscle tone in the legs felt a bit decreased and she's not interested in standing up at all. It's not uncommon for a child not to be crawling at this point - some babies never crawl! However, Lila won't stand on her legs at all and most babies this age love to bounce (you support them so they don't fall, but they bear weight on their legs and bounce up and down).

I try regularly to get Lila to do this, or just to stand for a few seconds and she won't do it. I think I've gotten her to do it maybe three times ever. And even then, she didn't really stand up, she held weight on her legs, but had her upper body bent forward. Anyway, the doctor is referring her to a physical therapist for evaluation. They might just give us some exercises to do with her to help build the muscles.

Okay, now Doug is waiting on me to finish a movie we started last night. Better go...

Today is noteworthy in the Peeler household for two reasons:

1. Doug is 32 years old today.
2. Lila is 9 months old today.

Doug has had a pretty good birthday weekend, in my opinion. He got to be alone in the house for a few hours yesterday while Lila and I went shopping with some other girls. That is a rare thing these days, being in the house alone. In the evening, he got his birthday present from Lila - a valet. That is basically the Man Version of a jewelry box. It is where he can put his watches and keys and wedding rings, etc.

This morning we went to church, then had lunch with a few folks afterward at Chuy's. We tried to embarass him by telling the waitress that it was his birthday, but they didn't even sing to him! At least he got a free cup of ice cream out of the deal... After that it was time for the real birthday surprise - he and six friends got to spend a couple of hours playing networked computer games at Cyber Jocks!

We didn't do anything special for Lila today, besides wear her out. We all left the house this morning at 10:45 to go to church and she and I didn't get home until almost 5:30 this evening! She handled it *so* well though - she's SUCH an easygoing girl! Anyway, there's not a whole lot to report on her development this month. She still isn't crawling or pulling up on things, though she's close to doing both.

She is talking more though. Now she can say (when she's in the mood): Lila; Hi, Lila; Dada; Uh duh (all done); Muh (more); and, finally, Mama. What's both cute and sad about her saying Mama is that she only says it when she's crying! I think it makes Doug a little sad when she's upset and she wants me instead of him. :( Trust me, she still loves her Daddy! :)

Tomorrow she has her 9 month check-up with the pediatrician. I'll tell you more after that.

I realize that I just posted new photos of Lila a couple of days ago, but let's face it -- I'm addicted to my child!

Close-ups of Lila. Every part of her is just so perfect! :) 

Her toes are what inspired me to take these close-up photos. It was so hard though because we were chasing each other around in circles - me trying to photograph her feet and her trying to get the camera from me! 

What a sweet girl... I love her little knuckle dimples! 

I'm so glad that it's Friday...

Lila clapped her hands for the first time earlier. No prompting and no special occasion. She had just finished eating and was sitting in my lap and just... clapped her hands! Must have been good milk! We've gotten her to do it a few more times. Like when her Daddy was picking her up and dropping her on the bed. She had a huge grin on her face and kept clapping. It's just funny because it's not like we've tried to teach her that. I guess she's just seen us do it when she does something and we're excited. Smart girl!

She also had a spectacular poopsplosion earlier. I'll spare you the details of that adventure.

My legs and tushie are very sore thanks to yesterday's workout. I'm surprised my arms aren't though. By the time we left, they were so tired that I could barely carry Lila out to the car. I felt like I was about to drop her the whole time and she must have weighed about 40 lbs! Anyway...

It looks like we might get to go on a date this weekend! :)

Oh man, Daddy is just the funnest! But Mommy gets all the kisses! :) 

"Oh ha ha. I'm so cute!" Her hair and eyebrows look red in this photo... 

Lila, post bath. Look at those rolls! 

I had another workout with my trainer today. That woman is brutal! I had her make a copy of the workout we did so that I can do it on my own. I don't know if I will be able to make myself work as hard as she did though. I only have two more sessions with her and then I'm done, so hopefully I'll learn a lot. If only the trainers worked for free... :o)~

Have I mentioned that Lila has started to wave? For a little over a week now, she's been waving. Sometimes she initiates it as a game and if we're leaving and I tell her, "Say, 'Bye bye, Soandso!'" and wave then she'll do it too. Today though, I was leaving her in the nursery at the gym and I said goodbye to her and told her to have fun and all that good stuff and she waved to me on her own! Not as a game, but she's made the connection that waves are how you say "Bye bye"! Cute girl!

Doug's dad, Joe (or Papa Joe, if you're Lila), had hip replacement surgery yesterday. Apparently it went fine and he's in his room now and doped up on morphine. He was so drugged yesterday evening that Irene couldn't get him to wake up and eat his dinner! Please be praying for a speedy recovery for Joe and for God to give him patience with his limited mobility in the beginning.

I am quite pleased to report that the new food processor works wonderfully! I made squash for Lila last night and it was *so* easy. When I put the squash in the food processor and turned it on, I held my breath. Ten seconds later I checked the food and it was mooshy! I started cackling like a mad scientist - Doug was very amused!

Today I am having a "15 Minute Day". I've been having trouble getting things done lately. Perfectionism and excuse-making have kept me from focusing on anything long enough to finish it. So today I'm using my timer. It started with Lila's first nap. Once she was asleep, I challened myself to finish showering and getting ready in 15 minutes. I got MOSTLY finished (no eyebrow plucking or tooth flossing)...

Then I set the timer for another 15 minutes and went to work on my morning routine. I didn't finish it in that time, but when the timer went off, I stopped! Now I'm giving myself 15 minutes of computer time. After that, if Lila is still asleep, it's back to my morning routine. And so forth and so on. Already I've accomplished more this morning than I did in some entire days last week!

*Happy Mother's Day*

I have had a wonderful first Mother's Day! It helps that my daughter is wonderful and so is my husband! :) Lila's present for me was perfect. It's a very pretty diamond necklace. Simple, beautiful, and delicate. It's a reminder of the beautiful gift of being a mother.

Doug's gift was pretty good too - a food processor! I make a lot of my own baby food and it's frustrating at times because our food processor/blender thing is inadequate. It just spins the food around instead of "processing" it. Hopefully this new, better quality one will work better! Yipee!

I also got a yummy breakfast of ginger pancakes and we went out for a Mother's Day Brunch after church with MY mother. There was so much food that it was overwhelming! Thanks to the portion control thing we've been doing, my stomach has shrunk. I got about seven bites into my first plate of food and started feeling full already (even though i'd been starving before we started)!

Now we're just relaxing and sleeping off the food and the noise. I might get a little alone time later if Doug is able to take Lila with him when he goes to meet someone. It will all depend on timing though. Anyway, it's been a nice day... :)

Lila and Cordy playing together. Cordy has started being very sweet to Lila and Lila is even starting to learn how to touch Cordy without yanking out tufts of fur! 

She was NOT interested in sitting for a photo shoot. She does love New York though! 

This is Doug's opinion of cleaning out the litter box. Hee hee. :) 

Is it true that guys can only think about one thing at a time? I mean, I learned pretty quickly what Doug's concentration face looks like. If he's intently doing something, I leave him alone. Or, if I need to talk to him, I get his attention first and give him a few seconds to figure out who I am before I start speaking.

But today he has claimed that he can't mow the lawn and think about where he'd like to eat dinner at the same time. What?!? I feel like there are always at least three things going on inside my head at once, so I don't understand this. Mowing looks pretty mindless to me. Push the mower to the edge of the lawn, turn 90 degrees, push the mower to the edge of the lawn, turn 90 degrees, push the mower...

Maybe he was only kidding. But maybe not. I'm going to laugh if he comes in from mowing and I ask him where he'd like to eat dinner and he gives me that look that says, "When have I had time to think about that?"

I don't know, sometimes I'd like to be able to think about only one thing at a time...

*That's right, my child IS a genius!*

I'm wearing a shirt today that Lila really likes. It's orange and has a row of different colored circles across the front. Earlier today, she was staring at it and I was telling her that those were circles and what color each one was. That's a blue circle. That's a white circle. Etc.

A little while ago, we were sitting in the floor and I was reading a book to her. She was sitting in front of me and I was holding the book while she turned the pages. We came to a page with a school bus on it and she started pointing at the wheel. I said, "Do you like the wheel? That's a circle - like on Mommy's shirt."

Then, she turned around and pointed to a circle on my shirt!!!

This week she has also started waving (when she's in the mood) and saying things that sound suspiciously like words. (she'll look in the mirror and say something that sounds a lot like Lila) What will she be doing next week?!?

Lila is still sick. She's only had a fever a couple of times - once on Saturday morning and once yesterday evening. I've given her Tylenol a few times when it's obvious that she just feels crummy and it seems to help. She's still congested, though not as snotty as yesterday, and now she has a cough. And she's had icky diarrhea since yesterday. I'm just trying to keep her hydrated and happy.

I don't think I ever told the story here about the latest amusing way that I injured myself. We have a rolling desk chair in the office and a phone on the desk. I was sitting in the chair (this happened a week or so ago) and the phone rang. I reached toward the phone and the chair decided *not* to roll! The chair and I both fell over sideways and I have a big bruise on my elbow from where it hit the desk. Oops.

I am trying to get Lila to take a nap right now. Apparently this is the worst kind of torture. (she normally doesn't object - much) I put her down to sleep and she cried for about 5 minutes, so I went in a few minutes ago to rock her for a little while. She just kept crying though. At one point, she stopped crying for a second, dropped the pacifier out of her mouth, leaned her head back and just started wailing. Life is so hard... :o)~

This is my poor sick child wearing... a blanket. She's pooped out on three outfits so far, and I didn't want to put another one on her - but I didn't want her to get cold either! :o)~ 

Now look at this! Can you believe how big she is?!? (look at those legs!) 

This photo is from the day we brought Lila home from the hospital. Look at how tiny she was! [sigh] 

This is not a terrible rash on Lila's face. This is what happens when she sleeps *on* her face. 

Well, after being sick for nearly a week, I'm feeling *almost* normal today. Sadly, Lila now has a runny nose. She doesn't have a fever, but you can tell she's just feeling a little "under the weather" and is extra sleepy. Either she has allergies as well (which is possible) or what I had was actually a cold and now she has it. :(

My child mocked me for the first time yesterday. Okay, maybe that wasn't her intention, but it sure seemed like it! Whenever I'd cough, which was frequently, she'd make fun of me! She thought I was trying to play the game where we fake cough at each other. This game started during the time when her favorite sound to make was a fake cough. Only I wasn't faking this time! It was really funny though. There was at least one time when she was nursing and I coughed and she stopped eating to look up at me and cough back. :)

And now I have committed the heinous crime of turning my back on Lila and she is crying like I've stabbed her. I must go and rescue my poor, puny child. It's a good thing she didn't inherit my flair for drama...

Charlie really does not approve of this Baby Thing we brought home. I've caught him, more than once, giving me a look of deepest disdain when I'm playing with her. The first time, I was being all gooey and telling her how wonderful was and I think it was more than he could handle. Today, Lila was playing in the floor, making her squealing noises and I was doing it in return. I glanced at Charlie and saw him giving me a look that clearly said, "Please, Mother, don't encourage her!" Poor Charlie... :)

Well, I've been some amount of sick for most of the week. It started with just a sore throat on Tuesday and by Wednesday I was full-on sick. Body aches, head that weighed 100 lbs., etc. Sadly, this has been the Mother of all Stressful Weeks for Doug at work (he didn't make it home on wednesday night until nearly midnight!), so he couldn't come home and help out. I felt a lot better yesterday and a little worse today. I think it's allergy problems. Who knows... Why must I be allergic to *grass*?!? That's not something you can just move to a new area and avoid. Unless the new area we moved to were a desert! And I don't think THAT would be worth it.

It was brought to my attention yesterday that I have neglected to talk about my birthday here! So, for those who are interested, here you go... My birthday was on Thursday of last week and it was a fun day! I was given the wonderful gift of having a few hours alone by my friend Ellen. She came over around 11 a.m. and took Lila off to play group with her. I was able to have a lunch date with *myself* and go shopping.

The shopping trip was at the Gap, where I used another birthday gift - a generous gift card from my parents-in-law. I got an outfit that I absolutely love and feel very pretty in. Skirt, shirt, and shoes - all for less than $25, thanks to a coupon and the gift card! :) After Doug got home, the three of us went to Marie Callendar's for dinner where I ate way too much. After a month of doing portion control (which has resulted in the loss of about 8 lbs for each of us!), that was a major shock to my body. I felt way gross! I recovered though and still enjoyed the rest of the evening.

Doug's gifts to me were a t-shirt from Chuy's (which i had been dropping not-so-subtle hints that i wanted) and the game Scene It: Harry Potter Edition. Because I am, without shame, a major Harry Potter nerd! To add to my Harry Potter glee, my friend Anne gave me a t-shirt that says, "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good." on the front and "Mischief Managed" on the back! :)

I also got some money from my parents which I plan to use on at least one chair massage at the gym in the near future. Oh, just thinking about it makes me long for one! Ack! Anyway, I also received a number of cute little things from parents and grandparents. Despite this detailed list of what I got, I mostly just love getting attention on my birthday. It's the little kid in me that loves to feel special!

Many thanks to those of you who sent cards and emails and phone greetings. They made me smile. :)

Doug, Lila, and I went to Dallas this weekend to visit family. Lila started babbling for real while we were there. Up until now, she's made little noises that were kind of like babbling, but mostly she just said, "Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!!!" On Saturday evening, she started saying, "Bow." Well, really she started saying, "Bow bow bow bow bow bow bow bow!" Over the next 24 hours, she started to vary it a bit. Now she also says, "Ba" "Bo" "Boo" and "Bao".

So, when she's happy, she says something like, "Ba ba ba bao bao oooo!"

When she's mad she says something like, "Bow! Baaao!"

When she's talking to her toys she says somthing like, "Ba bo ba ba ba bao."

You get the picture. It's very cute, but I'm hoping that soon she'll be able to say something else. Like, "Ma ma ma ma ma," for example. :o)~