I know I'm running just slightly behind on getting these three weeks posted, but alas Piper has been developing so quickly these past few weeks that I've barely had the time to absorb it all, which I am trying to do so I don't miss a single moment, and that's where my priorities have been focused. This growth spurt she's been going though has been astounding! Crawling at top-notch speeds with no more wobbles, pulling up to standing on anything that gives her even the utmost of support, cutting two teeth, and saying mama and what sounds an awful lot like boobie. (She also, since I first started writing this post, has also been trying out Nana, bye-bye, and uh-oh. She hasn't perfected these as much as she has mama, but they're close enough to count). And that's just a smidgen of her developmental milestones she's been pummeling through in the past week, yes I said week! So as you can see, I've been bombarded with capturing baby moments rather than focusing writing on my acts of kindness. Even though I've been otherwise preoccupied, that doesn't mean they haven't been accomplished.
To cut down on much needed time, I've decided to do a combo post which will cover weeks 10 through 12. Normally I wouldn't, but this time I think I need to give myself a much needed break and just go with the flow. So here goes...
Week 10:
Week 10 was a bit odd. I had pledged to support someone in a charity event, but that fell through due to me not being contacted in the end. I was kind of disappointed, but oh well. It was probably a good thing as Arkansas Children's Hospital called seeking donations. I've had a pledge page set up for them for a little over a month now, and I need to get back hounding people to offer their support, but I had not recently contributed my own donation to them. Since my other pledge had kind of vanished, I decided to take that money and offer it to Children's. It was nothing astounding, but every little bit helps. If you want to help out by offering a small donation yourself, here is a link to my personal fundraising page where I'm trying to raise $1000 for ACH. The money goes directly to them, just an FYI.
Now I'm going to jump to week 12, just to mix things up a bit.
Week 12:
I had another busy week and hadn't really had much time to seek out a deed. Luckily for me, the universe presented me with an opportunity. This past Tuesday a little boy came into our offices looking for donations to help support his youth football team, the Arkansas Avengers. He was so dang adorable and shy. Of course I had to help out! For a rare change I actually had some cash on me, so I gave him what I could. He was very polite and let me know he plays running back for the team. I encouraged to keep working hard and dreaming big. And then he left the building with a huge grin on his face...priceless!
So there you go, week 10 and 12 over and done. It's probably best I decided to combine the posts of these three weeks just because week 10 and 12 don't really merit any huge write-ups on their own. Not all deeds deserve pomp and circumstance, but they are all appreciated regardless of the hoop-la associated with them. Week 11, however, was a combined effort that tied into the giveaway I hosted on my Facebook page. It needs some good old fashioned hoop-la, so here it is!
Week 11:
Week 11 began several weeks before it's actual official 11-week status was decided upon. You may have seen my previous blog about a little local mother/daughter team who began their own business handcrafting baby goodies, such blankets, burp cloths, binky holders, bibs, and other such awesome stuff. Their tiny yet totally terrific shop is called Shaybee's Babies, which is named for Shay, the rockin' mom who manages to create amazing baby items while still handling a myriad of other responsibilities in her life. After having the pleasure of communicating with her, I'm amazed at not only her crafting skills, but also her gumption and practically superhero momness! Funny enough, her mom was my lactation consultant at the hospital when Piper was born, and I can see where Shay gets her awesomeness from. Her mom is also terrific and I couldn't have asked for a nicer person to help me get my lactation in gear from the get-go.
Anyways, Shay has been following the blog for some time. Once I started the 52 random acts segment, her and her daughter got inspired and wanted to help. She contacted me privately and wanted to offer some items for me to use for one of my weekly acts. How amazing is that, huh? She asked me to decide on an item for either a boy or a girl, and I asked if she could do one of each and I would pay for the second item. Then I would giveaway one item to a needy mother and the other I would giveaway on my Facebook page. This second item would be given away contest style and would be used as a way for me to help drive my fan base towards her business. Let me state here, I would never push a product I didn't believe in. Having seen her craftsmanship, I so knew she needed to get her name out there because her products are second to none!
The dachshund minky blanket for both the NICU baby and my friend's baby shower gift.
The boy binky clips!
Shay, being the awesome person she is, decided to give me both the boy and girl items instead of having me purchase them, wow! She also made Piper a minky Razorback blanket and two binky clips, one red with black polka dots and one Halloween one that is purple with black bats on it! I was seriously surprised, flabbergasted, and so appreciative of her generosity. Piper adores her blanket and clips, she uses them daily and they go everywhere with her!
Piper loves her blanket!
For the giveaway items, Shay made a minky blanket and two binky clips, one set for a girl, and one for a boy. As she finished them up, she sent my photographs. I fell in love with the boy set that had dachshunds on one side. I was getting ready to go to a baby shower of a girlfriend whose husband and her are huge dachshund fans. So of course I had to order a matching minky blanket and binky clip as my baby shower gift. I also ended up purchasing some burp cloths, one of which went to the baby shower, one I used as the second prize in the Facebook giveaway (along with a binky clip) and one I gave to Piper because I just had to have on myself!
The girl minky blanket and binky clip for the giveaway.
I was going to let the Facebook giveaway entrants choose whether they wanted the girl or boy set Shay made, but then I got wind of a mother who had a 28-week-old NICU baby boy in the hospital. I then chose to go ahead and give the boy set to him and use the girl set for my grand prize in the Facebook giveaway. Sometimes the universe steps in and makes decisions for you, and this was one of those times.
The Halloween clips. Left one is Piper's and the right one was for the contest!
In the end, Shaybee's Babies and I gave an awesome minky blanket and two corresponding binky clips to a needy mom and baby boy in NICU. We then gave a girl minky blanket and corresponding binky clip as the top prize in the Facebook giveaway. Then I decided to offer up two more prizes for the giveaway, a burp cloth and binky clip combo that I had purchased, and a Halloween themed binky clip which Shaybee's Babies donated for the cause.
The burp cloth and binky clip for the second giveaway prize.
It was many weeks coming to actually get to this post about week 11, and it was well worth the wait. I was so thrilled to be such an inspiration to someone that they wanted to help out and become a part of my random acts. It allowed me to give more than I could normally, helped me discover an extremely talented woman and her amazing baby products, which I am totally obsessed with now, allowed me the opportunity to host my first and hopefully not last giveaway, and gave a small gift to help a woman and her tiny baby boy, a little boy who is oh-so-young to already be born. I hope the gift let's them know someone is thinking about them, which I do everyday now, wishing for his speedy growth and wonderful, full life ahead of him.
All the giveaway products in one pic. Please visit Shaybee's Babies and check out her other items!
I hope you all didn't too much mind the wait over the past few weeks while I was busy with Piper's stupendous growth spurt! I so wanted to get these out quicker, but dang life can go by so fast! She is now sleeping soundly beside me, recovering from a high fever brought on by her 6-month vaccinations and flu shot yesterday. This weekend I am going to get her 6-month blog post written that will catch everyone up about what all she's learned this past month and what all the docs said about her current stats and stuff. Believe me, you don't want to miss that one when it comes out!
Piper says you best pay attention! :)
For now, I will leave you with the usual spiel to drop me a vote over at both Top Mommy Blog and Top Baby Blogs. Then come join me on my other social sites. Remember, Facebook is where all the daily action happens, so I highly recommend that one for all things Piper all the time!
As usual, a lot has taken place since my last post. If you keep up with Piper and me on Facebook, then some of the following may be a repeat. Since Facebook is a secondary site, I much prefer to post things here, yet it sometimes takes me a bit longer. This particular entry will reach back to the Labor Day weekend and go from there, so let's get started!
First off, Labor Day weekend was a blast. This year we once again went over to my brother's house, the brother who spawned my adorable nieces (not to discount my adorable married-in nieces from my other brother's family), and did the usual cooking out and swimming. I swore I was not going to get into a bathing suit this year, and I had a damn good excuse not to. I'll have to admit there is nothing worse than popping out at baby right at the beginning of swimsuit season! Regardless of my vow, I sucked it up, threw on my maternity suit, and decided to hit the water. I allowed Piper the immense pleasure of going swimming on the Fourth of July with my brother, but this time I wanted to be the one with whom she swam. I so regretted not being the first person she ever swam with, but a close second I will take.
Had to get a duplicate shot similar to my brother's picture with her!
Piper absolutely loves the water! I'm not surprised as we are all a bunch of water babies in my family. I mentioned in a previous post how I could swim before I could walk. My favorite method was a few inches below the surface, on my back, and with eyes wide open. I so wish my parents had footage of this bizarre style, but maybe I'll get lucky and Piper will do the same. If not, oh well. I can already tell, even if she doesn't adopt my odd swim style, that she is fearless of the water. I took her under a few times, and even though the first time she got a bit choked, she didn't cry or get scared. The next two times she was already a pro at it and there was no fussing or choking at all. She actually started to kick a bit when I pulled her through the water, so I'm going to take that as a good sign that swimming will come very naturally for her. I can see us spending a lot of time in the pool next year.
Loved being in the water with her!
Happy as can be!
Kisses!
Swam her pants right off!
Before all the swimming festivities, my nieces, mom, and myself put Piper through an impromptu photo shoot. She has this adorable black with pink polka-dot MudPie outfit my mom bought her (see first pic of this entry). With it came a hat that had a pink ruffly part underneath. Here are some of my favorite pics from that shoot!
Love her peepers!
My personal favorite!
Are we done yet?
Once we finished up with swimming, we sat around and hung out for awhile. At this point, Piper really began to show off. She has begun this thing with crinkling up her nose when she gets excited or is trying to learn a new skill. It's not just a crinkle, usually there's a huff and puff or other such sound that goes along with it. It is the cutest damned thing I have ever seen a baby do! Yes, I'm partial to my own little darling, but I've been around a lot of babies and have never seen anything like it. Anyways, my oldest niece had her giving great nose the entire afternoon!
Too cute!
Me trying to get in on the action...not so cute :-p
I mean seriously cute!
I managed to take a few more pics that day that I adore, so here they are!
Piper with her other niece...such beauties!
Love this look!
Always with the hands!
Face of an angle!
Look ma! No hands!
Got to love the turtle lip!
Well then, that about wraps up Labor Day. Of course there were many more pic, but those were all my favorites. I just love my new camera as it allows me to capture special moments like never before. I do still love my camera phone, though, for it allows for more spur of the moment shots, or "selfies" with Piper. And speaking of selfies, I snapped a great one of us in our Hog gear for the first game of the season!
Woo Pig Sooie!
The pic above is not her greatest facial expression, but she really does look adorable all dressed up in her college football best. We had such a horrible season last year I didn't watch any games just so she wouldn't hear our losing streak in the womb. Hopefully with our new coach, this season will be better...it better be because her cheerleading uniform is too awesome not to wear! We've won our first two games, so fingers crossed!
Okay, what next? Maybe a couple of videos? Remember the crinkle-nose I told you about? Well I sort of caught it on tape one night. I know, miracle, right? I'm hoping to catch a better film of it later, but this will have to do for now. She started doing the crinkle while trying to crawl. It has crossed over into other scenarios, but this is a great crawling effort video.
Here's another video, one of her in her swing. She loves Baby TV and watches it every weekday morning while I get ready for work. I know TV is not the best thing for her, but it's educational, she loves the channel, and it helps us both stay sane for an hour while I run around getting myself in gear!
Let me jump back to the crawling thing. Piper has been trying to crawl for a few weeks now. I swore she'd be doing it by 4 1/2 months, but she is still doing her commando crawl for the time being. I am so okay with this! I love that she is smart and physically ahead of the game, but I'm enjoying her not yet being completely mobile while I can. Now don't get me wrong, she cannot be left alone unless she is strapped into something because she has no issues with getting around at all, she's just still slower than she will be, and very soon I imagine! She just turned 5-months yesterday, so she's still ahead of the game for now. I know she'll be crawling before six months.
With her trying to crawl, she is also trying to move to a sitting position from her knees, which she almost has down. She is sitting completely upright without hand support now, something she started this week. She can also twist side to side and freely use her arms, although she still topples over or slouches forward when tired. She can also move to a crawling position from a seated one. Additionally, she has just this week started trying to scoot on her butt while sitting. She doesn't move fast nor far, but it is dang cute.
Well, that should take care of the video portion of this post. My goodness, this is getting to be a long one isn't it? I've been so busy with my 52 acts of random kindness that I haven't spent enough time focusing on Piper. She changes so much on a daily basis now, learning new skills at a breakneck pace, it really is hard to keep up. That's why I highly recommend following us on Facebook (see link at bottom of page), because I post there daily. For my Facebook fans, many of these pics are old news, but I'm sure they do not mind the re-hash, at least I hope they don't!
Since I've been drawing this one out, I'm going to wind everything down with some more pics, go figure! I've taken a bunch over the past couple of weeks, so I hope no one is too overloaded with cuteness at this point.
Sometimes I let her get naked and messy for dinner!
Still love breastfeeding her. Best part of my day!
A pic at the office, please ignore diaper bag :)
She loves breakfast time!
I bought her a 3'7" sock monkey on a whim. Needless to say, she loves it! And who wouldn't? I actually have cuddled with him in bed a few times. Just for the record, his name's Sake.
Is he mine?
Adores!
I spoil her!
We were accidentally matching this day!
Oh my goodness, I think I'm finally out of pictures to post. Well, don't let me lie, I have hundreds more, but I'll just keep all the rest to myself. I have so many pics it's actually causing me anguish trying to do her baby/life book. I finally started working on the first page last weekend, although it won't actually be the first page in the book. Of course, I can't be like everyone else and just throw some pics into an album. No, I've got to hand make the damned thing! So far, I've almost completed one whole page, woohoo! It really will be spectacular, at least in my eyes, when it's complete. Hopefully, if I do a page every week, I'll have it done before she is 20. In the end, all the hard work and over thinking will pay off, but I have seriously got to narrow down my pic selections for it or I'll never even get it started past that first page. Oh well, that's another post altogether. For now, I'll wrap things up with a snapshot of that first page. The album is going to have a mixed-media designed wooden cover held together by rings and ribbon. Inside are 12x12 chipboard pages with beau coups of embellishments, special touches, envelopes full of goodies, pull-out portions, etc. It's more scrapbook/keepsake/life treasure map than anything else. Anyways, here's a glimpse at the first partially completed page. I'm thinking of adding more embellishments and quotes from the blog within the open spaces. Who knows how it'll look when finished, but it will definitely be eye catching! It's my first try at something of this nature, so hopefully it will get better as I go along.
Love creating the picture borders from scratch!
Okay, now I am finally going to end this rambling and release you all from this post! I hope you have enjoyed catching up on all things Piper. If so, show us some love and throw us a vote over at Top Baby Blogs by following the link below. Remember, you can vote every 24 hours. So if you've voted before, please do so again. Also, come join us on our other social sites by following the links below. Facebook is by far where most of the action happens, so if nothing else, come join us there! As always, thanks for stopping by!
