Man I love those church ladies

I love this pic.

Yep, you're seeing that right, those are pig tails.

This Sunday I completed a huge feat: We went to church. This means I dropped Amelia off at the nursery for the first time. As if it weren't difficult enough for me to leave her with my own twin sister, now I dropped her off with some smiley old lady who allowed me zero time to give my long, dramatic goodbye, let alone even see the nursery (which I didn't). She literally reached over the counter, took Amelia from me and whisked her away into the unknown. I had to tell myself to close my mouth as I watched the back of Amelia's cute little head, name tag stuck to her back, bob down the hall with the cheery, wrinkly lady. But after some thought, I realized that old lady knew exactly what she was doing: sparing us the drama and embarrassment that is created by an overbearing, first-time mom. Those church ladies, what a sharp set of gals.

I picked up Amelia after the service. She appeared to have a great time doing who-knows-what for an hour, and now we're experiencing the inevitable cold that follows her exposure to the general public. I can't help but compare the repercussions of that crazy hour at the nursery to a wild night out that we'd have in college, that we'd pay for with a hang over. Life's funny that way I guess.

Also...Amelia made the swim team. Lessons start next week, I can't wait!

sorry, Mills.

The other day Me and Amelia went to Fred Meyer for a few groceries; a fantastic activity for her right now. We leisurely wondered the store, she strained around me to make eye contact with every soul in there, and try to find anything that resembled a big shiny balloon. (As all mom's know, it's a great way to kill 45 minutes). We finished up and were heading out to the parking lot, feeling the early spring's warm air. As usual, I had my wallet in my pocket, groceries in one hand, and Amelia on the other arm. As we approached the truck, it hit me: "KEYS." Yep, I locked 'em in the truck when I was first pulling Amelia out. I called Grant who happened to be working in the area. Not wanting to go back inside the store, I opened the tailgate and Amelia and I climbed in the truck bed and waited.

If you know me well, you know I forget things, a lot. I always have. In high school our parents ALWAYS had to bring us our forgotten mit, jersey, book, lunch, tennishoes, etc.. And fortunately we were in a small enough town that anyone could find one of us and say, "uh, you left your passenger seat door wide open in the parking lot". In college Meg and I survived only because there were two of us to bring what the other forgot due to a desperate call from our cell phone, or Grant was always our savior; walking behind us in any public place with our forgotten purses, keys, licenses, coats, etc.

So, as I'm sitting in the bed of my truck in the Fred Meyer parking lot with my 11 month old daughter, I couldn't help but think, "I'm sorry, Amelia, for bringing you into my life of irresponsibility. This won't be the last time we'll be sitting, waiting for dad to bring us something I've forgotten. In fact, this is only the beginning of me stopping dead in my tracks saying 'oh crap!' and fumbling for my cell phone to call for help." I hope this is something we can all learn together, this "responsibility" thing. Who knows, maybe Amelia will be so tired of me forgetting things that she will always be the one to remember and remind us of all of our items....when she's two.

What's happening at 11 months?

Amelia will be 11 months old in 5 days. Things are happening so fast now! Here's a laundry list of what's new:

She is starting to stand (hands free), and it is one of the most exciting things to watch!

She says mama, dada, Cash (At-sssttthh), and my mom said she told her to "top! top!" (stop) while she was wiping her face.

She's starting to enjoy Cash's huge kisses, she crawls over to him and puts her face right next to his mouth, he licks her, and then she grabs the sides of his head or sometimes his snout, to try to get him to do it again.

She loves to be chased by us, but stops and waits after a few feet to let us tickle her.

At meal times, when she gets bored in her seat, she grabs and lightly pulls a few strands of hair from the back of her head. Needless to say, after oatmeal or cinnamon toast with butter, she has a pretty stylin' "moussed up" do.

It seems like everytime I pull her out of her carseat and lift her out into the fresh air of wherever we're going (grocery store, grandma's, the park), she sticks her head out, smiles, and squeals like it's the first time I've ever let her out of our house.

I know this is not uncommon, but she imitates me when I'm on the phone, saying "la-la-la-la-la-la-la" with a few clicks of the tongue in between the "la"s. It's a "baby language", and it is hilarious.

So, that's what's new at 11 months. Whew!