These pictures are a little old as this happened during my blogging slump. I fed baby girl a wee bit of cottage cheese and almost instantly this happened (that's a mutilated teething biscuit):
But then, an hour later she looked like this:
Bottom line: No more dairy for a few months!
Today I walked into her room to discover something like this. She STANDS!! She's been pulling herself up to a kneeling position for awhile and standing on her toes briefly before crashing. But this? This is a new milestone. She's growing up, I tell you! She laughed hysterically when I walked in on her, just beaming with pride. And yes, I'm a wee bit proud myself.
By the way, do you like her leg warmers? I was going to wait until a Works for Me Wednesday to talk about these, but I may as well tell you now - these are one of my all-time favorite baby purchases. When she was really wee, I could put her in a one-sie for easy changes but still keep her legs cozy. 
Now, that she's crawling, they save her knees from getting scraped and red on our hardwood floors. They are called Baby Legs and you can buy them online here in a variety of colors and patterns for 12 dollars a pair.
I just received these pictures from Pumpkin's first swim on Memorial Day. She absolutely loves the water. The one thing you can't see which just split my sides that day is what happened to her diaper. I didn't have any "swimmer" dipes and so I used two disposables on her which rapidly grew into five pound weights, spreading her legs wide and making her look like she was going to explode - very funny.
"I just read your blog. You have painted yourself as a fat, slovernly mess with bad breath. I get visions of Carol Burnette when she played the part where she played the cleaning woman on her show. Love you, Mom"
Sorry, Mom. I'm going to go brush my teeth right now. And scratch my behind with my tongue tucked inside my bottom lip.
Here's a little somethin' my Mother sent me via her new friend, the internet. (Welcome, Mom!) I found it funny but the truth in the humor also has me really pondering my diet. I eat maybe a serving each of fruits and veggies a day - ooh! wait! do Fig Newtons count?! I'm carrying twenty extra post-baby pounds. I went a little crazy and gained almost 60 pounds while I was pregnant. I was so happy to not have to look slim for a show (I'm an actor) and I had ever so much fun eating (almost) whatever I wanted. Well, I did! But I've never really gotten back to eating sensibly. I'm round, jiggly and I've had enough!
So, I'll be joining these folks in getting serious about changing that and finally losing the extra baggage. I hope if you need to, that you'll join me! And now that I have thoroughly ruined the mood for a joke, here 'tis!
In the
beginning, God created the Heavens and the Earth and populated the Earth with
broccoli, cauliflower and spinach, green and yellow and red vegetables of all
kinds, so Man and Woman would live long and healthy lives.
Then using God's great gifts, Satan created Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream and
Krispy Creme Donuts. And Satan said, "You want chocolate with that?"
And Man said, "Yes!" and Woman said, "and as long as you're at
it, add some sprinkles." And they gained 10 pounds. And Satan smiled.
And God created the healthful yogurt that Woman might keep the figure that Man
found so fair. And Satan brought forth white flour from the wheat, and sugar
from the cane and combined them. And Woman went from size 6 to size 14.
So God said, "Try my fresh green salad." And Satan presented
Thousand-Island Dressing, buttery croutons and garlic toast on the side. And M
an and Woman unfastened their belts following the repast.
God then said, "I have sent your heart healthy vegetables and olive oil in
which to cook them." And Satan brought forth deep fried fish and
chicken-fried steak so big it needed its own platter. And Man gained more
weight and his cholesterol went through the roof.
God then created a light,
fluffy white cake, named it "Angel Food Cake," and said, "It is
good." Satan then created chocolate cake and named it "Devil's
Food."
God then brought forth running shoes so that His children might lose those
extra pounds. And Satan gave cable TV with a remote control so Man would not
have to toil changing the channels. And Man and Woman laughed and cried before
the flickering blue light and gained pounds.
Then God brought forth the potato, naturally low in fat and brimming with
nutrition. And Satan peeled off the healthful skin and sliced the starchy
center into chips and deep-fried them. And Man gained pounds.
God then gave lean beef so that Man might consume fewer calories and still
satisfy his appetite. And Satan created McDonald's and its 99-cent double
cheeseburger. Then said, "You want fries with that?" And Man replied,
"Yes! And super size them!" And Satan said, "It is good."
And Man went into cardiac arrest.
God sighed and created quadruple bypass surgery.
Then Satan created HMOs.
(my apologies to anyone who works for an HMO - I have no personal experience with them.) Here's to healthful eating! (sound of me toasting myself with two fig newtons)
Laughter is so contagious. I had to share...
So far, the only people to view this blog are my husband, the folks listed on the right and my mother. And, er..you. Hi. My mother lives a few hundred miles away in my hometown so the blog is one way to let her see pictures of her dear granddaughter. To protect our girl as best I can without hiding her from the web completely, I refer to her as Pumpkin Girl, which has been her nickname since she was just a few days old. My mother, who thinks it is both a terrible and terribly funny name, wants to know why. A love of squash? Of the color orange? Or is it her big cheeks? Her jack-o-lantern grin? Nope.
I call her Pumpkin Girl because of her: 
I love this dog. At the time of PG's birth she
was just over a year old and all puppy. In fact,
I still called her "Puppy Girl". And when I was
talking to PG this "Puppy" would jump on me in
her obnoxious endearing way. I'd get flustered
(remember I was sleep deprived) and I would
accidentally call our daughter Puppy and try to
cover it by saying "Pup..Pumpkin...girl. "
And it stuck!
