8 Months

SJ turned 8 months old on Christmas Day!

Fun Facts:

• Sits without support and has started falling over on her hands into a crawling position.
• Weighs about 17 pounds.
• Started cutting her first tooth and it was MISERABLE for both of us!
• Gets mad when I take something from her that she isn't supposed to have. It's actually quite funny to see her throw a hissy fit.
• Has started eating mum mums (dissolvable wafers) and baby puffs. Loves them!
• Still working on the sippy cup.
• Drinks about 30 oz of formula per day and eats 3 jars of baby food.
• Threw up for the first time in the middle of the night. It was prunes, enough said.
• We adore this baby girl! She's still a super happy girl and already seems to have that "please everyone" attitude. Natural first-born child! I'm extremely blessed to be her mother!

'Tis the Season

December is always a busy time for us! We always have several parties and get togethers to attend. Throw in a baby and life in December is just CRAZY!! Here was our lineup for the last week...

Sun - Birthday party for Riley Woody!

Sarah and Anna

Mon - Happy Birthday Jesus Party with the churchies.

Tue - Book exchange with Tuesday Morning Play Group (TMPG)

Aren't they adorable?!

Wed - BSF, lunch with Daniel, deliver gifts to Lincoln Jr. High

Thur - Deliver gifts to Grace Hill Elem. and White Elephant Gift Exchange with our small group

Fri - Head to Mazie

Sat - Mom's extended family Christmas

Sun - Back to Bville, Christmas party with my high school girls' Bible study group, shopping with Becca and pizza at the Kirbys.

I would NOT change a single minute of last week. It was super busy but super fun! Glad to stay home today, though!

As mentioned earlier, Saturday we headed to the booming metropolis of Scipio, OK (ok, really, I dare you to try to find it on a map) to celebrate with my extended family on my mom's side. I can remember being a little girl and just staring at ALL the gifts under the tree...well really they weren't under the tree because there were way too many! It was always a fun and exciting time to be with my family. What I really miss from our times was when we would all stay the night at MawMaw and Papa Sal's house. It was a tiny house and we slept wherever we could find a space but we LOVED it. Well, I did anyway. I miss that so much! I miss MawMaw and Papa Sal the most. But, I think we have done a pretty good job keeping the tradition going in their memories though...except the sleeping over part! Ahh, anyway, enough with my reminiscing and onto the pictures! Oh and thanks for hosting us, Aunt Susie!

Cousins!

Her first gift to open. Naturally, she only cared about eating the paper!

Chayton and Brach

We got them pocket knives and they seemed to be pretty excited!

Part of the chaos of the unwrapping of presents.

More chaos and fun!

So Proud...

My favorite thing these days is watching SJ get one of her toys to start playing music. She has this perfect, sweet, proud grin on her face when she gets it to play and looks for me immediately. I think it's precious...see for yourself!

7 Months

We are a little behind on this post! She was 7 months on Thanksgiving Day but we were in Oklahoma so we couldn't take our picture!

Fun facts about SJ:

• Sleeps about 12 hours per night.
• Takes 2 two hour naps a day.
• Got her first cold :( (luckily never ran a fever!)
• Rolls everywhere!
• Is now an official sitter!
• Loves to talk! Says "da-da-da-da". Daniel likes to think she is actually talking to him. I've been practicing "ma-ma-ma" with her!
• Can do a 360 degree turn on her belly!
• When she is on the floor playing, she prefers her back and her legs up in the air and arms clenched above her chest. Almost looks like her belly is in pain but it isn't!
• Eats solids 3 times a day!
• Now weighs 16 lbs 12 oz! (That's an almost 2 lb gain in about 5 or 6 weeks!)
• Takes her shots at the doctor like a champ! Cries about 10 seconds then smiles...so sweet!
• SJ is just a genuinely happy smiley baby. We adore this little chica! I am so blessed to be her mommy!

A Man's Man

Daniel's annual Kansas hunting trip was a success this year! Around 5:30 on Saturday night we got an excited phone call claiming his victory. Don't be surprised if you receive deer jerky for Christmas! :)
Also, check this blog to see a contest D won for one of his famous butchering tips. If it wasn't so cold out I would go and take pics of this but the deer has been gutted so it wouldn't work right this time.

Congrats on the kill hubby! We can now survive winter with all that meat... I must say, I have a very manly husband. He can "skin a buck deer; run a trot line, 'cause a country boy can survive." Ha! (for those of you non-country music fans, that's an old Hank Williams Jr. song!) But really, he can do just about anything outdoors or fix anything indoors. A real man's man! I love and appreciate that!

Thanksgiving...updated

I need to make a correction on my last Thanksgiving blog. Sunday night at our house was actually our 3rd meal celebrating the holiday. Our small group kicked off our week of celebrating last Thursday with a full meal as well! After it was all said and done, we enjoyed FIVE Thanksgiving meals! Whew...that's a lot of food! Pics of our fun times on Thanksgiving Day...

Our attempt to get all of my Granny's great-grandkids in a pic...ha!

Get Granny in the pic and we finally get one!

Sarah and her great-great-grandmother (yes, 2 greats!).
This is my Great-Grandma "Tat". She will be 100 in March!

Aunt Betsy and SJ...aren't they cute?!

Solids

"Solids" (which are really liquefied fruits/vegetables) are going so well now. We like everything orange except SJ is not quite sure what she thinks of peaches. She likes the initial taste but as soon as she swallows she rethinks her decision. Watching her face is quite funny. We've done a lot of fruits, orange veggies and green peas. We'll be moving on to second foods in the next week or so which will offer much more variety...oh joy for those diapers to follow!

Thanksgiving, Round Two

We celebrated Thanksgiving with my mom's extended family on Saturday so that was TG #1.

Every year since we moved into our house we have hosted a Thanksgiving dinner at our house for all of our friends on the Sunday before Thanksgiving. This was our 5th year! Our first year was a quiet 12 person dinner eaten on the fine china complete with assigned seating by names. This year was a bit larger...30 adults, 4 teenagers and 14 children four years and under. Now that's a crowd!

5 of the 14 that were under four years!

Becca with Blair and Amy with Timmy...they are 8 days apart!

Kate (below on top right) has Reese who is 5 days younger than Blair!

It was a busy September around here! :)

Look at the cute newlyweds (Betsy and Chad) on the left!

And the fab mommas, Jessica and Melanie on the right.

I LOVE doing this meal. It's always a blast and really, I only cooked the easy things...ham, smoked chicken, corn, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, dressing and rolls. I always have people volunteer to bring the desserts and sweet potato casserole...which are always so yummy (and more difficult to make)! Thanks to everyone who came! We seriously love having you in our home! Also, a special thanks to Becca for coming over and helping me with the finishing touches around the house! I promise this will be the last time I say thanks :).

Women of Faith Conference

The first weekend in November I attended a Women of Faith conference with friends Cheli and Molly. It was a blast! Just a few of my favorite parts:

• Natalie Grant did a concert...one word for her = AMAZING! If you're unfamiliar, check out http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vyEMJBhCtU8 or http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iOufqWodFNo and you will be a fan. As my friend Jen said, "girl can sang!" :)
• A 5ish year old daughter of one of the singers from Mary Mary opened Saturday's meetings singing God Bless America. UNBELIEVABLE! I. Was. Bawling. It was that good.
• Sheila Walsh was one of the speakers and was by far my favorite!
• Molly, Cheli and I had cheesecake from The Cheesecake Factory on Friday AND Saturday. LOVE their cheesecake!
• Kansas City does not believe in giving you much chicken if you order a meal with chicken in it. Experienced this on two different occasions. I live in chicken country so maybe I'm used to abnormally large amounts of chicken!
• I got to sleep in because I was SJ-free! (Thanks Daniel and Connie!)
• Overall, I had a great girls weekend with two great friends! Thanks for organizing, Molly!

Old people shouldn't be driving.

Like my title? Ha! Ok, before you get all upset with me, I'm totally kidding...well mostly!

My sister likes to let off a little steam on her blog from time to time so today I'm joining in!

Almost every Tuesday we have play group with a few friends and it rotates from house to house. We had PG today because of the holiday this week and today we were in Bella Vista (for those unfamiliar, it is mostly a retirement community). Anyway...the most exciting part of play group today happened right outside as four of us were loading up our kids! The streets are a little tight in BV and driveways tend to be short. Today, people had to slow down to pass by our cars BUT (and this is a big BUT) they could still get by us. Anyway, as we were loading our cars a crazy old man came speeding around the corner (it was later determined that he had been waiting on us just down the street). Mamas were grabbing babies and throwing them out of the way! It was scary! I had already placed SJ in the car so I left my door wide open and stood next to it so he would have to stop. Then he slams on his brakes and inches up to where I am and stops. Has his window rolled down and proceeds to lecture me on the way I'm parked. Asked if I was "trying to get in a wreck". Umm, no sir, I'm trying to leave. He then calls me ignorant and peels out. Extremely inappropriate driving IN a neighborhood AND with kids around. Soooo...I followed where the old fart went and got his address and license plate number AND called the police to file a complaint. I explained that any car passing did have to slow down to get through but that it was a neighborhood and a non-through street so there was no need for anybody to drive fast. Also, even if it was tight (which standing there watching him pass me, after I politely received my lecture, it wasn't THAT tight) there were no accidents and cars were only parked like that for about an hour and a half to two. He was mean and crazy and probably between 65 and 75...I thought retirees were supposed to be laid back and sweet, not this man! The lady that took my complaint said they would go to his house and let him know there was a complaint filed...eek! If he had driven up slowly and asked that we not park in the street, try to all park on the same side, or just offered some other solution about our parking I wouldn't have had a problem. The speed that he drove up and the anger in this man's voice and on his face were completely and utterly unacceptable with children present. Oh well, don't be driving foolish with babies around or I will turn into mama bear! Done with my rant! Just had to share. :)

Well...

It's official! I'm 10 weeks along...due June 10th. Life is going to be crazy come June because SJ will only be about 13 months old! We are so excited for this baby. I think our news has shocked a few and excited a few...regardless, we are thrilled! Besides, we always said we wanted to have our kids close together. So...ready or not...here we go!

If...

...we had dressed up this weekend, this is what our costume would have been!

Grammy and Papa

My parents came to visit on Friday because Daniel was going to be out of town all weekend. They also got to bring Carter with them because Kati and Darin were in Dallas! We ate dinner out Friday at Bud's Family Chicken then came home to play with the kiddos!

Grammy reading Sarah her Halloween Dora book.

Papa playing with Carter...he loved that toy.

We also headed to Eureka on Saturday. It was a beautiful fall day to be outside. Thanks for coming to visit us, Grammy, Papa and Carter!! We had a blast!

Another letter to Mom and Dad

Dear Mom and Dad,

I love you, I really do. I realize you are ready for me to be a big girl and eat some "solids". I will oblige you and allow you to feed this stuff to me, but only because I saw my boyfriend Jude eat the same orange stuff earlier today.

I will put it in my mouth for a second and then try to let it fall down my chin where you can't catch it and put it back in.
Because, honestly, I don't trust this stuff.

My plastic bib tastes better than that orange crap. I applaud your efforts. We'll see what I think of it tomorrow.

Love,

SJ

(This is only day 2 of trying sweet potatoes...we'll get there!)

6 Months!

Wow...here we are, 30 days later and another month older!

Fun facts about Sarah:

• Rolls over both ways and all around the room...I definitely have to keep a closer eye on her now!


• Has decided to move her wake time to between 6 and 7. Mom has not and will not adjust...we are practicing crying it out in the AMs because 6 AM is just too early! I know we will adjust and things will be just fine soon.


• Still takes about 2 great naps per day.


• Completely on formula now...it's been great for both of us!


• Loves singing/talking/chatting/cooing...and I love hearing it!


• Starting foods this week...eek!


• No teeth yet.


• Stands now, with support of course!


• Working on sitting up, we're pretty close.

A BIG weekend!

Thursday was a BIG day for the Penturf family! It started out with Jim and Connie coming over around 9 in the morning to pick up SJ. She was going to spend the weekend with them while Daniel and I headed to Chattanooga for a good friend's wedding. This was our first time to leave SJ over night...and it was going to be 3 nights!! It also marked our official switch to formula! Wow! I think several people were praying for me because I did really well all weekend without my baby girl. Thanks to you if you were praying! SJ, on the other hand, had a rough first night (again, I'm so sorry Connie!) but quickly turned her attitude around on Friday and had a great rest of the weekend.

We had a fabulous time in Chattanooga and it was a HUGE blessing that we did not have SJ with us. We were able to stay late at the rehearsal dinner, sleep in, and stay late at the reception...not to mention we drove to Chattanooga and didn't have to deal with a fussy baby on the drive. Thank you, thank you, thank you to Connie for all your help. Also a big thank you to Jim for opening his home to a 6 month old and Betsy for coming to help Connie on Saturday and Sunday. We wouldn't have had such a great weekend without all 3 of you!

Jaz, Daniel, Josh, Tim and James at the rehearsal

All the OSU Alumni in attendance

Daniel, Josh, Eric and Tim at the reception

And can I please tell you for the millionth time that I have the BEST mother in law in the entire world. That little missy, drove SJ back on Sunday morning and rolled in around 11. Sweet Connie cooked dinner for us, did our laundry, vacuumed and cleaned our bathrooms. I mean, people just don't do that! But she does, what a huge blessing to come home to dinner and a clean house! She also stayed the night and made breakfast for us! My goodness, Connie, you are a saint! THANK YOU! (P.S. She already warned me not to blog about her coming over here but I had to disobey!).

A Fair Family Wedding

On October 2nd, my cousin Eric got married on a beautiful bluff overlooking a lake. It was a perfect fall day...therefore, a perfect photo-op! Sarah wore her first fall dress (Thanks Leslie!)...isn't it adorable?? Congrats Eric!My sister and I, with kids in tow, also spent the evening with my dad and stepmom. Fun time getting to visit followed by a morning with Granny!

On Sunday we headed to the Tulsa State Fair. I LOVE me some fair food...corn dogs, funnel cakes, nachos, etc! I had it all! Carter is "tall enough" to buy tickets for rides...yet "not tall enough" to actually ride the rides. Those fair folks sure know how to get some money out of you! Seriously, he measured tall enough at the ticket booth, but at every single ride except the carousel he measured too small. Didn't make sense. Thankfully, Kati and Darin were able to sell their tickets to a person standing in line at a different ticket booth. We still had a great time!

A Little Girl and Her Prince

Sarah loves her daddy! She is so excited when he comes home in the evenings. She loves to sit in his lap or sit in her bouncy seat and watch him work or play the Wii. She even gets fussy if I try to hold her when he is in the room! It's very sweet to see her adore Daniel.

5 Months

Sarah turned 5 months on Sep. 25. This month promises to hold LOTS of new changes. We are currently in the process of switching over to formula. Talk about a ton of work! She is being a trooper, though, I must say! We also plan to leave her for a weekend when we go to Chattanooga, TN for a wedding in October. Pretty excited for a getaway weekend but nervous about being gone from her for that long. It'll be good for both of us...and if she's not weaned by then, I'm pretty sure she will be after that weekend. (I promise, Connie, I will make sure she is BEFORE that weekend :)!)

Here are the fun things Sarah is up to these days:
-Sleeps from about 8 to 4, wakes up, moans and groans, gets the paci stuck back in and goes back to sleep until about 8...great sleeper! AND we no longer swaddle!
-Doesn't seem to mind being on her belly. Rolls from belly to back and back to belly but doesn't care to do it that often.
-My unofficial length measurement for SJ is 27 inches.
-She is genuinely content about 95% of the day. Takes about 3 naps a day that range anywhere from 1 to 2 hours.
-Smiles at just about anybody and for any reason. Might take her a minute but if you persist, you will get a sweet toothless grin.
-I can still leave her on a blanket or on her play mat for about 30 to 45 minutes while I do chores or work around the house. She is just fine to play by herself!
-Can find the television in every room no matter where we are...even restaurants!

I absolutely adore this little girl. She is sweet, cute and soooo lovable! I told Daniel the other day that personally, I think we have the best baby in the world! Ha, I know all parents think that! However, I will say Sarah has been just about the easiest baby I have ever met. Not that I really have experience or other children to compare her to but she is definitely spoiling us!

Newborn Buddies!

Congrats to three of my friends!

-Timmy was born to Amy on Sep. 5th

-Blair was born to Becca on Sep. 13th

-Reese was born to Kate on Sep. 18th

It is baby central around here! I don't yet have pics of SJ with all of the new babies but here she is with Miss Blair...

Buddies

A couple of weeks ago, I snapped a few pics of Sarah with one of her besties, Anna. Doesn't it look like they are in deep conversation here?