Pip Pip Cherrio!

Greetings from Jolly Old England!

We celebrated Piper's Birthday with our families, neighbors, and friends this weekend. We transformed our house into a tea room. And the best part? I finally got my chalkboard wall. 

 More pictures and stories from the weekend coming soon!

Legos

Mr. R. loves Pip with all his heart. And the day we found out she was a girl he rejoiced right a long with me. He didn't hesitate in sharing my joy over pink, glitter, bows, and hopefully a ballet class in the future. He said he never cared one bit if that baby in my belly was a boy or a girl. He just wanted her to be healthy. 

Since Miss Pip's arrival, Mr. R. hasn't let that second X chromosome stop him from introducing her to the things he loves. She has seen Star Wars episodes 5 & 6. She has held a light saber and tried to attack the pups. And she has fallen asleep to chapters from Lord of the Rings.

 Last Sunday she made Mr. R's heart melt when she picked up her first LEGO. They spent 30 minutes laying on the floor trying to fit pieces together. He made her a princess castle and she got to add the final block. This scene has been happening almost nightly.

He said he always knew he would love having a girl.

All about Mom Questionnaire

Answered by Piper, age 1!, (with help from Mr. R.)

 I saw these all over pinterest and the blogosphere this year and I wanted to be  a part of it.

I also think this would be a great yearly tradition (hint, hint Mr. R!)

And now onto the questions:

1. I really love it when my mom sings, even though she is tone deaf.

2. My mom likes to wear pajamas.

3. My mom calls me monkey or Pippa-girl.

4. The best thing she does is feed me my bottle.

5. It makes her happy when I am asleep.

6. My mom loves to relax by, mommy relaxes? not on my watch!

7. I like it when she dances with me and takes me to the pool.

8. The best thing she cooks is grits and my new fave popcorn.

9. When my mom shops, she likes to buy shoes.

10. My mom's favorite household chore is cleaning up all the books I throw on the floor. 

11. My mom's favorite TV show is Modern Family.

12. If she could go on a trip, she would go to a spa.

13. I love my mom because she loves me.

Linking up with Emily.

Microwave Popcorn & Modern Family on DVD...

on Wednesday nights, that's how we roll.

My PIP ring.

The ring on my finger is my Mother's Day gift from Piper and Mr. R. 

 The ring is titled Pink in Paris and goes by the nickname P.I.P.  

I now have a gorgeous ring named after the girl who made me a Mama. 

I could not even imagine a better gift. He's a keeper that one.

It's such a grand thing to be a mother of a mother - that's why the world calls her grandmother.

We celebrated my Grandmother over breakfast on Sunday. 

My grandmother who never misses a chance to celebrate, who loves tea, and loves to entertain. A lady always, who exhibits grace and class even under the most stressful of circumstances. My grandmother who is a master at cross-word puzzles, who makes the best sourcream cookies, who loves board games as much as I do, and who loves our family unconditionally. 

 I consider myself incredibly blessed to live so close to my grandparents. I lived with them until I was four, they moved away when I was eleven, and then at 26 Jeff and I moved in next door. Currently we live a quarter mile a way. I love that Pip is getting to experience their love on a weekly, sometimes daily basis. 

On being a mother.

I have 366 days of mothering under my belt. In those 366 days I have learned that being a mother is like riding the Space Mountain ride at Magic Kingdom. 

I know I am going to have to wait to get on the ride. I know the ride is going to be fun. And I know that during some parts I will be scared and white knuckling the safety bar. I know that there will be twists and turns and bumps. I know that it will go by so fast. And I know that at some point I will want to do it all over again. 

 And a very Happy Mother's Day to my own Mama, who has been mothering for 30 years.  She is seriously the best!

Happy Birthday Piper Jayne!

I am typing this post still in disbelief that my girl is one. 

Stats: 

21 pounds

28 inches tall

90th percentile for height

60th for weight

Talking: she says Dada, Mama, dog, book, and no. She also babbles constantly, yells at the dogs, and I am pretty sure she talks back to us after we tell her no. She also talks with her hands. When she is excited or angry its jazz hands all the way.

Walking: Pip walks quickly and with purpose when she is behind her walker, but without something to hold on to, she takes two steps and sits down. She is pulling up on EVERYTHING! She loves to open drawers and cabinets dumping their contents out and on to the floor. This week her new thing has been pulling all of her books off her books shelf. She seems to love Sesame Street books the most with Olivia the Pig books coming a close second.

 Motor Skills: She is still learning to stack things. She has no problem stacking her soft big blocks, but the small wooden ones are still a challenge. She continues to love to play Godzilla/Pip-zilla and knock down any block or sand towers we try to make. She feeds herself now, but does not use her spoon. It is hands all the way around here. Last night she had her 1st taste of icing and LOVED it. Once the icing was gone from her cupcake she declared herself done and demanded icing from my grandmother's coconut cupcake. Have I mentioned that she is very vocal and demanding. This little girl knows what she wants! (I keep telling her father that she picked up that trait from him).

Social Skills: Piper continues to be shy with strangers. She will wave hello and goodbye, but if a new person attempts to talk to her or touch her she buries her head in my neck until they step back or leave. With family and friends Pip will babble, share food, show-off newly acquired skills, and sometimes sing.

Eating: She continues to be a good eater loving all fruits, chomping down on veggies (her current favorites being broccoli, corn, black olives, beans, and grape tomatoes), this month she had her first taste of pork (she tolerated it), pizza (she loved it and demanded more!), and cake. Cake was the overall winner. She claps and yells when she sees cake now. 

Personality: This girl is a sassy. She knows what she wants. And she is trying to learn how exactly to get what she wants. She has become increasingly vocal this month, screaming, singing, and laughing loudly. She did throw her 1st fit in the hospital last week, but luckily it was short lived and we haven't seen on since. 

We feel incredibly lucky to be the parents of such a funny, happy, silly, little girl. I know I say this a lot, but I really cannot imagine my life without her. She really was the missing piece of our family. 

She's ONE!

 May 12,  2011

 May 5, 2012

May 13, 2011

May 5, 2012

May 15, 2011

May 12, 2012

"A baby will make love stronger, days shorter, nights longer, bank accounts small, home happier, clothes shabbier, the past forgotten and the future worth living for." -Unknown

Her FIRST Birthday Card

 Our baby turns ONE tomorrow. I am in shock. How have 365 days passed since I first saw her face, counted her fingers, and officially named her Piper Jayne. She has received a few early birthday cards from friends and family this week.

 Sweet Katie, a friend from college, was the first to wish Pip a Happy Birthday. Piper's favorite neighborhood bulldog, Cosmo, even dropped off a card. But the card Pip loves the most, the one she carries around from room to room, came from Mr. and Mrs. Republican Sr. 

  Mr. R.'s parent's found a card that sings Hip Hip Hooray for Winnie the Pooh and to say Pip loves it is an understatement. She has spent no less than an hour opening and closing it. When the song starts to play she sway with the music swinging her arms from side to side with a giant grin plastered on her face. 

I sed to say that my birthday was the favorite day of the year, but I think May 12th might just edge out March 19th...or at least become a very close second. 

Plastic Menagerie

In college I was forced to read Tennessee William's Glass Menagerie. I hated it. My 18 year old brain couldn't comprehend why Laura was so obsessed with her animals, why her mother couldn't go out and get a job to help support the family, why Laura so desperately needed a suitor and why Tom was the one we should be mad at when it was his work buddy who was already engaged. I remember rolling my eyes as we discussed the plot and societal undertones. Maybe I just don't get T. Wills. 

 On the other hand, I pink puffy heart Piper's plastic menagerie. Each night during bath time we line up all her plastic animals and she chooses which animals are allowed to join her in the tub. She only allows two a night. And she totally has favorites. The whale and polar bear are almost always invited to the party, but sometimes the pink seal or the orange hippo sub in for polar bear. 

I am loving the little bits of personality that Piper is displaying. I love that she is loving music, that she dances, and that she is starting the sing to music during worship at church. I am loving that she has found her voice and is talking up a storm. She loves to have our undivided attention. Forget trying to talk to each other or another person. When Pip is awake we are very much living in the Piper show. And right now, I wouldn't have it any other way. 

Hat Practice

My Aunt Michelle hosted my Mom, my Grandmother, and me for high tea when I was nine. I wore my best church dress, my fanciest hat, and white gloves. We had finger sandwiches, cookies, and tea in china cups and saucers. I remember feeling so special and so grown-up. 

I love that memory. 

In celebration of Piper's 1st Birthday we will be hosting high tea. We have invited all of our favorite people and in two weeks our house will hopefully be filled with fancy hats, white gloves, bow-ties, and lots of memory making opportunities. 

There is only one small problem. My girl doesn't like shoes, socks or hats! 

The minute you put any of these accessories on her she uses all her available energy to pull them off. I have started including hat practice as part of our after dinner before bed routine. Hat practice basically boils down to me putting the hat on Pip's head and Piper pulling it off immediately. 

At least I am trying right?

Guitar?

 So Monday night I decided to make dinner while Mr. R. gave Pip a bath. The plan was for us to switch jobs when it was time to rinse her hair. Mr. R. calls me to the bathroom and instead seeing a soap covered baby head I see my daughter holding the shower head like a mini guitar bopping her head to 80's Van Halen. She and Mr. R. were having an 80's dance party and I guess his air guitar inspired her. That night, I made sure to ask in my prayers for Pip inherit my taste in music.