Family Traditions

One of the most fun things as a parent is to watch your children carry on family traditions. Whether it is a favorite recipe that they love (or even learn to make) or a special song that they join in to sing (so amazing when you realize they know the words!) or a comment about a special day of the year that they are looking forward to.... this weekend Signa participated in a long time family tradition as she gobbled up a German pancake that was made for her by her daddy and her big sis, Jessica. Jeff grew up eating these delicious pancakes every Saturday and I so enjoy watching him teach our big kids how to make them and watching our little one practically lick her high chair tray as she joins in a long time family tradition!

Me and My Sisters

Signa is so blessed to have such wonderful siblings. Sometimes people ask if it is hard having 15years between our oldest and our youngest. At times it makes things a bit more complicated but for the most part it is such a blessing. I can tell Signa misses the big kids when they are gone, her little face just lights up when they return. She is going to appreciate her sisters more and more as she grows up. Here are a couple of pictures that Jeff captured that are just irresistible.

First trip to the ER

What a week!! After fighting a high fever (104+ at times) for 2 days the pediatrician sent Signa to the ER. Poor baby girl was poked and prodded and x-rayed only to discover she has pneumonia. She seems to be on the mend now thank goodness. I can't imagine how I would have gotten through this week without my family: Brandt who stayed up with me from 2am-4am while we tried to get Signa's fever down, my Mom for helping me at the ER and feeding me for the last 5 days, all the moral support from Blythe and Christy. I am so blessed to have such a great support network. Love you guys!!

Hawai Trip

Signa's first trip to Hawaii was truly memorable! Half way through our week in paradise she developed a 103degree fever which meant she was miserably uncomfortable, incredibly needy and unable to sleep. Needless to say it was a rough trip for all of us. Jase and Lisa, who joined us on our "vacation," were incredible troopers. We're home now and she seems to be back in fighting form. What a trip! We are going to have to try that again one day. Here are some pics of us trying to cool her down...

I've Got the Power!!

After weeks of practicing, hours of effort, fits of frustration and collapses of pure exhaustion on Friday Signa officially conquered rolling from her back to her tummy. Unlike her previous ventures into tummy to back rolling - which she did twice and immediately quit - she is pretty impressed with her back to tummy roll. In fact, as soon as you put her down on her back she contorts herself right over onto her tummy. Of course, once she is on her tummy for about 30seconds she has a total fit trying to figure out how she ended up there. After all she hates being on her tummy. What a character she is!!

Icky Shots

On Monday Signa had to get her 6month shots. Overall it was far less traumatic than her 4month shots but still not what I would describe as a fun experience. Katie and I took her and she definitely enjoyed having her sister there. Plus Katie had never gotten to see Signa turn purple (thanks to the extreme crying). While the shots were not fun the aftermath is really the icky part. The poor girl just does not do well! Check out her pink cheeks in the picture! She ran a fever for a good 36hours after the shots. The washcloth was our attempt to cool her down when Tylenol wasn't doing the trick on its own. I have to say I am really excited that we don't have to do shots again for 6months! The 3 hours of sleep I got Monday night and the disturbed sleep last night are enough to make you want to skip them all together.

Six Months...

I can't tell you how many people warned me that time would fly by, and that Signa would grow up faster than I could possibly imagine. Well, let me tell you that was an understatement. I can't believe she has been here with us for 6 months already. It has been such a roller coaster of emotions - total joy, incomprehensible love, complete sleep deprivation and so much more. What a blessing she is. What a privilege it is to be her mom.

My New Favorite Toy

Signa has found her toes and she is in love. Every chance she has she grabs them. It is almost as if she is constantly checking to make sure they are still there. This week she actually succeeded in getting them into her mouth to suck on them. Quite an accomplishment in terms of flexibility. It's hard to believe we were all that bend-able at one point! It is so amazing watching this little person figure out the world. What a privilege!

I'm a Big Girl Now!!

Big news from the Foster household.... Miss Signa Elise is sleeping in her bassinet. Many of you know the love affair we have had with her swing. Making the move to the bassinet proved to be far less traumatic than I had imagined. What a good baby she is!!

Easter Best...

Signa looked adorable dressed in her Easter Sunday best! Other than it being only the second time she has worn a dress perhaps the most significant thing about Easter happened Saturday night. We went to church and Signa went to the nursery. This was the first time someone other than family watched her and certainly the first time she has been watched in a new location. It was clearly way harder on me than on her. She spent the hour and a half being cuddled by a very nice woman named Suzanne. I spent the hour and a half trying to concentrate on Pastor Rick but mostly focused on the pager in my hand. I am sure it will get easier every time!

First Solid Food

This week Signa experienced 'solid' food for the first time. In truth calling what we are feeding her, extremely runny rice cereal, solid is a bit of a stretch. But sitting in her high chair, wearing a bib and eating off a spoon, even runny food, is quite an accomplishment. I use the word eat loosely here since she really ends up wearing more food than she actually consumes. I keep telling her that once we get this down we can move on to more fun stuff like vegetables and fruit. Stay tuned for more on that adventure!

Four Month Shots!!

Any parent who has taken their child for shots can attest to the trauma of these appointments. Typically I think the anticipation is worse than the actual appointment. Not the case for Signa's four month shots!! To say that, that was the angriest, most upset she has been in her four months here with us would truly be an understatement. Even the nurse commented on her bottom lip and crocodile tears begging me to, "Go ahead, pick her up! Pick her up!" Even a professional was melted by her sad face. Let's face it taking your child for shots is a tangible reminder of all the things in life which we can't protect our kids from, the pain we can't spare them. Times when telling them, "This is for your own good" just doesn't provide you or them any relief. So, I did what every mom does, I scooped her up, comforted her, told her she was a brave girl, packed her up and took her home. On the bright side she is now 14lbs and 14oz and 24.1" long. My mom checked my baby book and at 4months I was 15lbs and 24.5" long. Pretty cool.

Jeans?!?!?!?

Signa wore her first pair of jeans today. There is something about dressing her in jeans that is such a reminder of how big she is getting. Tomorrow we have her 4month check up. I can't believe she is already 4months old. Where did the time go??

This one's for my dad..

Future Cal Poly alumni??

Trip to Arizona

This week Signa and I had the chance to go to Arizona with Aunt Jenny to visit Grandma Sue. We had a fabulous time! The weather was gorgeous and the company was fantastic. Signa was an angel, as usual, so the visit was incredibly relaxing. Having the chance to spend so much time with Grandma Sue and Aunt Jenny was such a blessing. Some trip highlights included: playing with chopsticks at PF Changs, drinking water off a spoon for the first time, taking a bath in the kitchen sink, "swimming" in the pool for the first time, and getting to wear warm weather clothes including no socks!! We had a blast. The only thing that would have made it more fun would have been having Grandpa George there too :-)

Me & My Lip

Everyday Signa shows more personality and more of an opinion. Today she is 15 weeks old, and when I think about how much she has changed in that time it just blows me away. This week she has actually developed a little temper when she doesn't get her way, and don't get me started on her lip. You can see in the attached photo that she has quite the bottom lip pout. When she combines that with her crocodile tears it is just too much for me!

My Sister Makes Me Laugh

Pictures taken by Jessica. Just hilarious!

Santa Rosa Visit

Spending time with Mor Mor

My dishpan bath

Lunch with Aunt Blythe

This week Jeff was out of town so Signa and I decided to visit family in Santa Rosa. Signa was a great travel buddy. She slept through the 2 1/2 hour drive both times - what an angel! Highlights of our trip included lots of time with Mor Mor, a bath in a dish pan, lunch with Aunt Blythe, dinner with Uncle Brandt, hanging with Aunt Christy & Aunt Anna & Rhonda, visiting with Tage and much much more. It was our first night away from Jeff and we both missed him. Check out the photos above!

How do I use these darn things??

For the past week or so Signa has been fascinated with her hands. It is hilarious to watch her try to figure out how to make them work! She loves having them in her mouth but it usually takes a shot to her eye and then her nose before they make it into her mouth for sucking. She's getting better at using them to manipulate toys but as you can see in the attached picture she still doesn't have total control. What an amazing thing to watch as she figures this out.

I'm a big girl...

Signa's favorite thing right now is to be sitting up or standing. Of course, she can only do both of those things with a lot of help. We tried out her bumbo chair this week with hilarious results!! I don't think she is sure whether she likes the chair or not.

We love our binky!!

Now where did I leave that darn binky?? Oh nevermind...

Signa's Smile

Here is the smile I was talking about...

Time Apart

This week Signa celebrated her 12 week birthday. It's so hard to believe that she has been here with us for 3months already. Time has just flown by! I honestly cannot remember life without her or imagine how I lived without her. To celebrate her mini b-day we spent the morning together and then I headed up to UC Davis to guest lecture. It required me leaving her for about 5 1/2 hours which is the longest we have ever been apart. I was lucky to be able to leave her in the capable hands of Grandpa George, Aunt Janelle and Grandma Sue. You can see from the picture that she was very well taken care of :-). We are so lucky to have such loving family so close by. I think the time apart was more traumatic for me than for her. I was amazed by how much I missed her! When I returned she greeted me with her adorable smile. It starts with a twinkle in her eyes before it lights up her whole face. What a greeting! It just melts my heart. That night her Dad and I took her out to dinner to officially celebrate 3months together. She was an angel - as usual - and didn't make a peep. What a blessing she is!!

Our First Official Posting

So, instead of emailing around all those HUGE pictures I thought I would set up a blog where I could post Signa's latest pictures and stories about our adventures. Hopefully you will all enjoy! Here is one of my favorite pictures of Jessie, Signa and I.