I am addicted to teething biscuits!!!

Yes, it's true, I have fallen helplessly in love with "Healthy Times Maple Biscuits for Teethers." I am not kidding. For those of you that see me pretty often, you may notice that I am always tasting Mikail's food. I could blame it on wanting to be an informed mother that knows what my daughter is eating, but while I do seek to be "informed".....that's not why I try her food. The truth is that I like it. (wow I feel so liberated getting that out in the open :) - and so that is where my love for these biscuits began; needless to say, now I am hooked. I can easily go through a whole box in one day!! I am sure the person at the grocery store thinks I have a child with some major teething problems when I strut up to the checkout with three boxes, but in my mind I am thinking, "two boxes for me, and one box for little M." So I will humbly end on this note, to those of you (mostly my family) who have always thought I had the most interesting eating preferences, I am beginning to think you are right.

Ransom Note

tO WhOm IT mAy CoNcErn:

wE ArE hOLdInG yOUr GiRaFFe RaNsOM.
iF You wAnt tO eVeR sEE hIm AgAiN,
yOu WilL sEnD uS YoUr aDDreSs (and we will kindly send him back :) ).

I *heart* Mikail

Today was so much fun with our little M. It seems like everyone keeps telling me that starting at 6 months old, babies begin to become more and more fun. Well, it's true! I have started writing Mikail little notes about our time together. I figure she won't remember our time together yet and it would be fun to give notes about it to her someday. This was my little short entry from today (I have some video footage that I hope I can add later somehow):

"Mikail- Today was the first day that we really played together. It was so much fun. You and I were in your room sitting on the floor when you looked at me, pulled up on your hands and knees and began moving away from me as fast as you could laughing the whole time. When I didn't catch on immediately, you stopped and looked again at me until I realized you were waiting for me to come get you. I finally caught on and you went crazy trying to continue to move away as fast as you could. You initiated our first game of "tag." I am not sure where you learned it from but for the next 10 minutes, we played and each laughed the whole time. I love you and will cherish these little moments in my heart. You make me smile"


Thanks for enduring my sappiness. It was a great day. -Danielle

Everyday is so much fun with Mikail...

This is my fav fav
FAVORITE picture!!!!




















This is how Mikail was when I walked into her room the other morning. She somehow managed to pull her arm out of her shirt. Imagine my surprise when I peeked over her crib to see this. It made me laugh out loud.































...so the very next morning, I walked in and her little foot had poked through her pj's. I laughed again. :)

















Mikail loves dogs also!! This was her first time being around a dog that was just her size- a beagle puppy! :)

Pray Pray Pray...

I just visited a friends blog and noticed one of her entries about a family whose daughter died this past weekend. Now that I am a mom, these things hurt more to read than before Mikail, but in the same way lead me to my knees in prayer quicker. I didn't know any details, but noticed a link directly to the blog of the family who lost their girl. I clicked on it. Almost immediately I began to cry because their page looked like it could have been mine, or any of my friends. The parents looked my age- the sadness I felt for them was becoming overwhelming. Prior to finding out details, I guess I half hoped (if you can even use that word) for the parent's sake that this little girl would have died from losing some sort of battle that would have allowed "time" to maybe help the parents cope with this reality before actually losing her. But their blog clearly didn't let on to the fact that this little girl had any health problems. I dug a little deeper and found out that this little 18 month old girl drowned last weekend at a lake. The tears began to flow harder. I am a very empathetic person (a blessing and a curse) and my mind immediately replayed everything they must be dealing with and how they had no clue that morning how their life would change. I am soo sad for them.
I guess my purpose for writing this was two-fold. The first is that for Dave and I, blogging gives us the opportunity to be real and raw on a regular basis- giving those who read this near and far a window into our lives. This is where I have been lately- burdened and sad for this family. I can't shake it. The second reason for the blog is for Prayer for this family. I keep putting myself in their shoes and know that I would embrace any and all prayers- even those from people I have never met. We get the opportunity to be a part of their healing story. Though we will never be mentioned by them, or even known, the Lord is allowing us to take part in their journey via prayer. Please pray for them.

Just me and little M

Dave left today to take some youth and college students to a camp in Arkansas. This won't be his first time away from home since Mikail but will be the longest so far. This wouldn't normally be a big deal but lately little M has been teething. Getting her to take a nap has not been very easy...AND with that being said, the only person that has been able to get her to sleep is...DAVE. Since he is gone, I am sure there will be at least a couple of days where I will wish more than ever for him to be home. Honestly, this "stage" of needing her daddy to put her to sleep will be one that I will cherish in my heart mostly because of the gentle smile that comes across Dave's face when she melts into his big arms. I love my man!!
Onto other news...Mikail just turned 6 months and according to the doctor she is in the 20th percentile for her height and weight and her head circumference is in the 10th percentile...she is definitely our Little peewee.