Standing On Her Own Two Feet!

My baby is standing! She's not walking yet, but it's very obvious that it's going to happen soon. She will stand and attempt a step (she doesn't actually make the step yet, but I can see one leg moving in place while the other remains still.) She has attempted steps in the past, but never while she was able to stand on her own. The steps she attempted were while whe was holding onto something (a chair, the wall, etc) and simply let go as she was taking a step. Now she is standing, so I can't wait for that first step! She still has not yet demonstrated that she can clap. It looks like we are going to totally bypass that milestone! She doesn't wave anymore, either, but at least I know she can if she wants to. I still can't believe she is almost one year old! The absolute best method of measuring time is to actually watch a child grow. The time slips by so fast. Don't blink or you'll miss it!











My poor little angel has a dipaer rash that I simply can't get rid of! She's never had a rash that I couldn't conquer in a day. This pesky rash has been around now for 4 or 5 days, with no sign of leaving. It's actually only a small spot in a very localized (and very sensitive) area, but it is dark red and blistered. Wiping it makes it bleed. I have air dried it and purchased the finest and most expensive diaper ointments and powders that I could find, but it is still there. It's not spreading, but it's not clearing up either. If anybody has any ideas on what I could do, I would be most grateful!

I ordered birthday cakes today! Annabelle's first birthday party is next Saturday, July 19th, and Big Sis Gabby will be having her Sweet Sixteen on the following day. It's going to be a hectic weekend, that's for sure! I joked around with Gabby that I was going to make them have a double birthday party and that the theme this year was going to be "Elmo". She didn't find that very funny! Anyway, I decided to go ahead and do a Pooh themed party for Annabelle and Gabby, of course, will have a Sweet Sixteen theme. The cake I ordered for Annabelle is absolutely ADORABLE! It's called "Balloon Ride" and features a basket with three real balloons coming out of it, and miniature stuffed Pooh characters in the "hot air balloon". The cake is blue with clouds and a rainbow "painted" on it. The picture (in the baker's book) was stunning, so I'm hoping the reak cake will turn out just as amazing. Naturally, there will be photos plastered all over this blog when the time comes!

For the past two years, and up until last month, I have had a very nice online photo album with all the pictures I had been taking around here. Not just pictures of Annabelle, but of the whole family, the area, our outings, etc. Well, the site that was hosting my album decided to make some changes that I didn't like, so I reluctantly cancelled my subscription, and now I am left with no photo album. I was about to go with another company, but they sent out an email shortly after I made up my mind to sign on with them, informing everybody that they were "going belly up" so to speak. Well, that stinks for me because I haven't found another site that I like. So I am considering expanding my blog somehow to include more of the family pictures that my far-away friends and family can view. I haven't figured out how I'm going to do this yet, but the wheels have started spinning. I have also decided to move my homeschooling blog over here to blogspot so I can keep everything together. This is mainly for my benefit, but maybe somebody else can benefit from my homeschooling notes as well. That would be great! I'm planning on getting that up and running (here) soon, as soon as I have time to move it all from the other account to this one. Hopefully it will be before Annabelle gets her driver's license!