mullet, be gone...poof...

and it was so.

this: minusequals...

That's right people. I did it. I cut the hair of this beautiful child--FOUR months early! Really, we just couldn't take it anymore. The length collected knots, which collected bananas, which collected Athena hair, which collected Harley hair, which collected cereal--a vicious cycle. And I might also add that babies don't keep their heads still, ever. I have no illusions of grandeur for my skills at hair care, and I do recognize that what has been done to my child was not necessarily done well. Still, I find the new look charming, a bit sophisticado. When I am in the presence of one who can truly work with hair, I do plan to have a little "help"--I'm not so good with straight lines. Fortunately, Gracen hasn't learned what lines are yet, so we're good for a while longer.

I want to wish Ghi-ghi (aka: Mama, Judi, Jude, Judster, Gaga2, BestMamaEver) a very HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!! Sadly, we weren't able to get to Weaverville this weekend, but will soon. Gracie's needing some of her grandmother's love! We love you and miss you, and so sorry we aren't there...

and thank you for having me, so that we can have her.





I wish I had remembered the camera today, but forgot. I do that a lot these days. We took Gracen on her first hike by Jordan Lake. We waited ALL morning for her to get her first nap in so we could leave. We're apparently on Nap Strike again, so just headed out sans sleep. She was awake for the first mile or so (in the backpack that we all LOVE, LOVE, LOVE) and then crashed hard for the last couple. I was following Adam and she, as my legs are a good foot shorter and unbelievably slower than my big guy. It looked like a bobblehead doll (a mulleted one at that) riding behind him. And then it rained, but still she slept, and it was a perfect day.

~BFF~

I would like to apologize to Athena, who is not pictured. She is also a BFF, but she was sleeping during photo shoot. Sorry pup; wake up!

P.S. Blogger formatting is doing very odd things today, and depending on the computer I'm using the oddities change. Just know that the "draft" version of this post is all very professional and beautifully laid out:)

Gerber-Model-In-Training

Before you go running off to Kodak, SmugMug, Target, etc., let me first warn you about copyright laws. You are NOT allowed to illegally copy these. JC Penny will hunt you down. If you are interested in the "official" copies, let me know, and I'll email them out to you. Hope you're having a fabulous day!!

Cheerios vs. New Year's

Adam. My husband. Gracen's daddy. Our HERO!!

Today was an interesting day. That's probably the wrong adjective, but I'm not sure what would best describe this day. Gracen woke up, happy as ever. I did not, as I had partaken of too much "festivity" last night at our New Year's gathering. Anyway, when I woke at noon, I was recovered and ready to be a parent again. Shortly thereafter, Gracen started choking. And I don't mean the choked up, coughing, sputtering kind of choking. I mean the honest to goodness face red, no breathing, monsoon salivation, panic stricken CHOKING! We think it was a cheerio gone terribly wrong. Anyway, Adam (recently first aid certified) very calmly grabbed the lil'un and started giving her the Heimlich. After what seemed like minutes (probably a few seconds), she started coughing and crying. She was back to her joyful self in no time, though Mama and Daddy were traumatized for much of the day. Okay, perhaps I was the only one truly traumatized by the event. I'll be taking some first aid training myself this month! So any parent or soon-to-be parent or maybe-eventually-to-be parent out there, go and learn ya some good life saving skills.

We are eating a mango for the first time in our self-feeder. She can't believe mama would give her something so amazing!

These photos are taken post-choking incident, so she's obviously not harmed. She loves to have her picture made. Speaking of, when Mama (Ghi-ghi) came to visit this week, we took Gracie to her FIRST professional photo shoot at JC Penny. We were so proud. She posed like crazy for the photographer, who said she was, by far, the best subject she'd had that day. I'm supposed to be getting the pictures emailed to me soon, so any Gracen fans can purchase some "official" pictures. I'm sorry it has taken me 7 1/2 months to do this.

Also, I need some advice. For those of you who have either seen Gracen up close or in my camerahappiness, you may have noticed that she has what one might refer to as a mullet (aka: business in the front, party in the rear). She came into this world with a full head of hair, which I fully expected after ingesting cases of TUMS whilst pregnant. And as this mop continues to grow, it seems to only really grow in the back. So here we are at an awkward stage. From the middle back of her head down, the hair is about 4 inches, perhaps longer. The two inches above this is what was once the bald spot, which is slowly growing back with fabulously wiry hair. An inch above that is a wave of hair that gently bows over the old baldie in a nice comb-over. The rest is about 3 inches, which gets in her eyes, but relatively controlled. The question is this: should I just cut it already? I've heard not to do so until one year, but those people were not having to deal with what I'm dealing with. I have no control. I fear it's hopeless until we add on a few more months.

Happy New Year!!

Holiday Slideshow

in no particular order...

It has been an eventful week indeed. We have travelled the Carolinas, visiting family, gorging ourselves on unnecessary but fabulous fare, watching our daughter fall in love with the extended families, and having, quite simply, a wonderful time.

Today Mama (aka Ghi-ghi), Gracen and I visited Fork, SC and the McDaniel clan. Gracen saw her third great-grandmother of the week, Grandma Dot, though I somehow managed to not get a photo op of them (odd, as I am a camera happy fool these past 7 1/2 months). Gracen was particularly enthralled with her great-uncle Ricky. He has a goatee, which must be petted. He is a constant reminder of my late father's smile, laugh, and voice, and I am grateful that even in Grandpa Ronny's absence, Gracie can still be close to him through his little brother. Gracen also met her first horses, as well as played with kittens. I'm not sure that the kittens enjoyed the event as much as the little girlie. Although a short visit, it was wonderful!!

Here we are with Mama Lessie, the second great-grandmother we visited this weekend. Lessie celebrated her 95th birthday this year--what a lady and a life!

Christmas Morning!

Look what Mimi and Papa Jim gave me!

And here we are with Great Ma, the first great-grandmother we visited this week. While it's not completely clear in this pic, Gracen is actually helping Ma, Mimi and Aunt Mary sing Christmas carols. Such a sweet little voice!

But before we left for our travels, we had to be appropriately groomed, and we so love our baths. And, why yes, that is a unicorn baby. For you blog/youtube enthusiasts, I am trying to upload a bath video to the link. So far, Youtube is not mytube this evening and is refusing to assist me in this process. I will persevere...

I hope all of you had a wonderful Christmas. For those of you we were able to see, it was grand. For those of you we missed, we missed the heck out of you! Love you mucho y siempre!

Rylie Jayne Arrives!!

On Tuesday, December 18th, our dear friends Jessica and Myron Carr had their first child, Rylie Jayne. Rylie was determined to stay with her mommy for as long as physically possible, but after a long induction, Rylie finally joined the world, and we are so glad she is here. Myron and Jess are truly remarkable people in so many ways, and they will be incredible parents to this precious little girl!

This was Gracen's expression when I told her about her new buddy Rylie, who we hope to go visit in Colorado in the coming months!
We're still having some nap time issues. I'm pretty sure that the earlier drama was due to her being "stuck" in the standing position. You'd think, however, that if she was stuck and mommy was so good as to come in and lie her down again that she would be appreciative and fall off to slumber. Not so. But, she has now learned to sit back down from a standing position, so I don't feel as obligated to go in and check on her every 30 seconds anymore. Though not as trying as before, she still prefers to stand and scream for me to come retrieve her, so she and Harley can eat their cheerios together. What a pair. Athena rolls her eyes at them and their silliness.

Ah yes, the cheerios. Whole grain, of course. She loves them. Harley loves them. I don't have to cleanup except for a little Clorox Anywhere spray (my new favorite invention besides toilet wands and the exercauser).

I'm not sure quite how you would characterize this milestone, but Gracen has learned to crawl into baskets. Not necessarily for any reason. She just kinda likes to hang out there and giggle. We keep baskets of toys throughout the house in a futile attempt to find order in our home. We have been using them to barricade areas and keep sweet thing contained. She will not be held back by a wall, uh-uh! I suppose we'll have to find a more suitable means of keeping the child safe and imprisoned. Silly kid. Mobility is hard. Sorry Mama--it really makes me appreciate you keeping up with three of us.

For any of our video viewers, I finally put another one up. Again, nothing terribly exciting; just a minutes of our lives.

get up, stand up...stand up for your right...

to never sleep again. Our developmental milestones are piling on, and I'm trying to catch up to our new life together. Our latest amazing feat is our new found ability to pull ourselves up to standing. This was quite cute when she was doing this on me a couple of days ago; it is NOT so cute now that she's learned to stand up in her crib and refuses to take naps. We've gone from 0-5 minutes of crying followed by 50 minutes of sleeping to 45 minutes of crying (mostly while standing) followed by maybe 15 minutes of sleeping. Oh, the drama. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I really can't bring myself to read another sleep book, as four is my limit. All of those would suggest letting her cry, cry, cry--which she's doing beautifully. We really have gotten spoiled on having such an easy baby so far and probably deserve this backlash. I think she's also teething. Woo-Hoo!!!

Other than some tears, life has never been more wonderful. I am amazed and ecstatic that we get to spend our lives with this little lady, and with each other. Gracen and I have been going on playdates, and she loves them. She's the runt of our playgroup, but definitely holds her own. There were 7 little ones yesterday, and all of them are gorgeous. Gracen has a tendency to take the others' toys, but she's only 7 months, and it will be a while before she understands that whole sharing thing. She also pulled a little girl's hair yesterday. At first she was petting it, oh so gently, and then pull. Followed by scream. We left shortly thereafter.

And if you were unaware, an exercauser is the GREATEST invention ever. Thank you evenflo, thank you.

Thank you also to my friends and family who have had to listen to me freak out over these past couple of days of baby drama. Your words and support mean more than you can know. Love you all.

And PS--Rylie, get your precious lil' Carr butt out here!! Your Mama has been patient, but deserves to have you out already. So, please, help her.

Primary Treasures 1987

(I didn't realize this one existed when I wrote my earlier post...the profundity continues...)

My name: Shanna McDaniel

Today's date: May 14, 1987

Age: 9 Grade: 4th

Height: Weight: 81 1/2

My teachers: Mrs. Brown (homeroom), Mrs. King (Reading), Mrs. Ledford (Math)

My best friends: Hannah Seal, Sarah Cutshall, Mandy Nesbitt

My favorite foods: pizza, ravioli

Things I like to do: swim, play, go to school, come back from school

When I grow up, I want to be: a vet or a guidense counsilor, dog trainer, work at the mall!

(this one is written in cursive!!!!)

More signatures this year...

Best Friends,

Hannah Seal

2 sweet

2 be

4-got-10

.................................................................

You're wonderful sister,

Annie

p.s. sorry about the spelling

p.s.s good luck with the boys (written microscopically)

..................................................................

To a possibly nice sister

Annie

Ha, Ha, Ha

Just kidding

..................................................................

I just

I just did

I just did this

I just did this to take room

Bobby C.

..................................................................

Have a good summer.

Stall cool kid.

Best friends always.

Your friend

Shirley

..................................................................

Trevor Moore

..................................................................

Larry Mason

..................................................................

etc.

Primary Treasures 1986

(the following is exactly as written in yearbook '86 and a gift for your amusement)

...............................................................................

Memory Page

My name: Shanna McDaniel

Today's Date:

Age: 8 Grade: 3

My teachers: Mrs. Merille & Mrs. Bain

My favorite subjects: Math & Reading

My best friends: Emily Bell, Hannah Seal, Mandy Shuford, Teinnille Profet

My favorite foods: Spegheti, Pizza

Things I like to do: Play, play baton, play pineo, go to school

When I grow up, I want to be: a gidane councler

I don't know how to sell wery good!

...................................................................................

Also to be noted, the only signings in my yearbook were:

Annie

Shanna

Judi (Mama) McDaniel

Best of Luck!

Ron McDaniel

And apparantly, if I liked you, you got a little purple line under your picture. If I did not, you got a little "x."

She's Nekkid...

and from the looks of it, she's not real happy about it. This is one of those photos that I'm sure she'll be angry with later in life. I can't help it. She's just so cute, clothed or not. This is right before bath time, as I'm getting her tub together: water right temperature, toys in place, soap and washcloth handy. She's always been a fan of the bath; indeed truly a McDaniel, or perhaps a Waldroup. We have recently upgraded from the infant bath to a lovely inflatable tub. She can now sit up and get rowdy with her toys without fear of bonking her sweet head on the grownup tub. I try to not let her stay longer than 15 minutes, and she gets mad when I take her out. That's my girl!