Puppy love.

The little one squeals with glee every time she sees the pup. She loves loves loves her puppy. When I ask her where the pup is, she looks right at him and beams a huge smile. She’s now scooting/crawling, and when she sees him on the other side of the room she bolts straight to him. Luckily, he likes her too.

Lately, she’s fascinated with his fluffy tail. She scoots to him, grabs his tail hair in her hand and just shakes it like a jump rope. The pup is so good with her; he lets her pull his tail for hours, even when he’s eating! I guess it’s a trade off for him. Now that she’s eating some finger food, he gets quite a bit more snacks. She feeds him purposely and she doesn’t quite have great aim when feeding herself, so inevitably the food ends up falling on the floor. He didn’t realize one was on his head here, but she thought it was pretty funny…

She also found it funny to have the bottle cap on her head as a hat…

And she’s all about pointing now. She loves to point to peoples pictures hanging on the refrigerator or wall. She especially likes to touch index fingers with people. I don’t know why, but it melts my heart when she does it…

She’s learned a few words in sign language. She signs “all done,” waves hi, and her first real sign/word she learned was: LIGHT. {I can’t help but to find this as a little wondrous thing. My girl already knows the Light. I pray she knows Him all her life.} When I ask her where the light is, she points up and then does the sign…

It’s crazy how much she’s developed just in the last couple weeks. I love my bright girl {pun intended.}

Another auntie.

The little one has a new {soon-to-be} Auntie!

Eugene’s brother popped the question to his adorable {and awesome} girlfriend last night. I took some photos for him before she arrived so she’d have some of the details to remember. When she walked in, he had a slideshow made for her…

And candles, balloons, and rose petals everywhere…

The bride-to-be loves candy…

And my favorite picture…

I’m so happy for them!

Watching a workout.

Eugene & I have been occasionally going up to the high school where he works to exercise. We run bleachers, run the halls, do plyometric, Eugene shoots the basketball and I do abs. Oh, and the little one sits and watches us. Apparently our fat rears attempting to exercise is entertaining to her! I really love the phone photo below. It looks so classic.

She especially likes watching her daddy shoot the ball…

And in case you’re wondering why my baby has a bandana on, rest assured. It’s not a bandana, it’s a knitted ear wrap thingy that her auntie made. It’s really cute, and it was a little chilly in the gym so I kept it on her.

I hope this girl loves the playing gym when she gets a little older like her daddy & I did.

Donkey basketball.

Eugene was asked to play in a fundraiser for his high school. This wasn’t just any fundraiser, it was a game of basketball…while riding donkeys. Yes, that’s right – donkeys.

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I’ll be really honest, watching the donkey basketball game made me really uncomfortable. I didn’t like watching the animals in a gym being used as entertainment {maybe I’m being too sensitive}, and I didn’t like watching my husband ride bareback on a donkey while praying he didn’t get sent to the ER. ;)

This is not Eugene, but it gives you an idea of the evening…

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Eugene’s team didn’t win; however, he did score one of the few baskets by his team. I just so happened to capture the uncanny event on video {aren’t you lucky!}

Go hubby!

I have all I need.

My Valentine and I chatted a few times throughout the day on the computer while we were at work. He called me at 7 while I was feeding the little one sweet potatoes, just to make sure I made it home okay. Then around 7:45 pm we saw and spoke directly to each other for the first time on Valentine’s day, and most of our talk was about getting the little one bathed and in bed. He had parent-teacher conferences after teaching, I was at work, and that’s how our lives go some days. I left him a note in the morning, and he left me a note and homemade flower in the afternoon. And we spent Valentine’s night with a crying and super unhappy baby between us in our bed. 

No, it wasn’t a romantic, special night for us – far from it. We rarely have those. But you know what? I don’t need them. I have all I need.

I have a husband who loves God, who loves me, who is humble, who admits he isn’t perfect, who is selfless, who makes sacrifices for me, who leads my family for God, who shows me grace when I fall short {which is often.}

And to top it off, I have a beautiful baby girl, one whom I’ve prayed for years.

I’ve learned more than ever lately, that I’m beyond blessed to have this man as my gift. It’s not something I take for granted. So we may not have had a romantic Valentine’s Day, and we might not have a romantic Valentine’s Day for a handful of years. But that’s not what I need.

I have all I need. {And I am so blessed.}

Eight months.

And somehow we’re already at 8 months old. The little one is quite a character now. She’s a snuggle bug, she’s stubborn, she’s loud, she’s sensitive, she’s happy, she’s oh so loveable.

The second any music comes on she begins her little bob ‘n sway dance move. She says mama & dada, and she is waving hello too. Oh, and just lately she’s obsessed with standing. She’ll even cry and scream until someone stands her up. Silly girl.

She does not like to wear shoes. Or, maybe she just likes kicking them off and playing with them more…

I also get this {below} a lot lately. I don’t know if she’s teething now, or just fighting some kind of sickness {or both}, but she wants to be held constantly…

She loves pat-a-cake and clapping.

She’s such a cute little Valentine!

Pup.

I haven't given the pup much blog-time lately. Guess the little one trumps the pup on the cuteness and blog-worthiness scale {yes, I'm aware those aren't words.}

Here's a shout out to my crazy, affectionate, excitable pup. He has been so amazingly good with the little one; it's truly an answered prayer. I love this silly pup!