Waking Up

Whether it's waking up in the morning or waking up from a nap, this is how we're finding Nina each time. It seems that she is quite proud of herself for being able to stand up in her crib all by herself.

On The Move

While Nina's preferred method of travel is still holding on to our hands and walking, she decided to start crawling this weekend. We think her crawling style resembles a drunk crab at the moment, but she gets where she needs to go.

They're Here!!!!

After an 8 month wait (yes, she turned 8 months old yesterday), two teeth have arrived. As evidenced in the picture, she does NOT want to show her teeth or have anyone prying around in her mouth. However, if we can get her clapping and happy, you can see the teeth in her open mouth...look closely!!

Nina's Dedication

Today at church we had Nina's dedication. She definitely enjoyed the attention she got from everyone. A special thanks to our friends, Mike and Megan Clarke, and Mary and Simon Roberts, and our family, Shenley, Garland, Emme, Mom, and Dad for braving the snowy roads to come to the dedication!

A Little Something I Picked Up

Who would have thought that Costco had such a cute selection of babies!!

Nina's Evening

In the evening, Nina normally likes to do some reading, some standing, and some walking around the house. She definitely likes keeping busy!

Visitors (cont.)

The kids seemed quite entertained by each other, so that was nice, but more than that, it was really great to spend some time with good friends!!! Here are the kiddies - Sam, Lauren, Katelyn, and Nina.

Some Visitors

Today was a great day for visitors. Five of my great girlfriends from college (and three little ones) came to our house today for a visit. Heather and her girls, Lauren and Katelyn, are visiting from Japan, Amy and her son, Sam, came from Virginia Beach, Paula and Kristin came from Jersey, and Mary came from just down the road a bit! We had a great time visiting, but unfortunately, I only got pictures of the kids...In these pictures, Nina is playing with Paula, and in the others she was laughing so hard at Lauren who was pretending to be a frog.

Ready to Swing

Since we've had such unseasonably warm weather this winter, I had the chance to take Nina out for her first visit to the swings. She really enjoyed it, so we're looking foward to the spring (or more warm winter weather) when we can get out and do it again!

Love the Giraffe

Nina loves to say hello to her giraffe every morning. Now that she can get a lot closer than she used to be able to, she loves to give it kisses and touch it's face and ears. It's kind of becoming a little morning ritual that she's developed.

Being Silly

A Great Visit to Great Grandparents

Shenley, Emme, Nina, and I went to visit the girls' great grandparents, PB and Grandma Bette, yesterday in Maryland. We got to stay and enjoy lunch, a picture slide show, a post-Christmas birthday party for Jesus, and some piano playing by PB and Emme. It was a great visit!

Fun New Game

Nina and Mark have started a new game together that Nina loves. She gets ready to try standing on her own, then Mark lets go and they see how long she can stand on her own. She gets very excited and falls quickly, but it looks like that is part of the fun also.

Piano Player

Nina has really enjoyed playing the little piano that Grandma and Grandpa Maynard got her for Christmas. We think she kind of looks like Linus when she plays with it...very cute!

7 Months Old

Nina turned 7 months old yesterday. She really likes books, saying "da da" (much to her father's delight), bouncing in her Hop 'N Pop, and holding onto anything and everything to stand up. She loves her blanket, has a happy personality, and drools like a little St. Bernard!

Bath Time

Nina really likes her bath time. She seems to enjoy the water and has discovered the fun of spashing and kicking her legs in the water. And for those of you thinking that you just missed seeing something, Mark is wearing shorts...haa haa!

Supposed to be Napping...

When Nina is supposed to be napping or when she wakes up from a nap, we often hear the little one-sided "conversation" she has with her monkey wall painting. She likes to say sideways in her crib and prop her feet up on the bumper so she can stare up at the monkey and talk to it.