My Little Hambino

This post has no lesson or major theme. I just wanted to share a photo of Landen from this morning. She was being a little ham and cheesin' for the camera. So this post is for my Grandma in Florida, who I know looks forward to updates on her favorite (only) great-grandchild. Here you go, Grandma...Landen says, "Hi!"

Brand New Aunt

My very first nephew was born today. Hayes Patrick entered the world in dramatic fashion. He put his mommy (and daddy) through almost 24 hours of labor, but I know they believe he was well worth the wait. 
We visited the new little family and all are doing great; although, mommy and daddy are in need of a good night's sleep. We didn't tell them that rest probably wouldn't come for quite awhile...
Landen even met her new cousin today. She hasn't realized that she now has to share the spotlight on one side of our family. It will be good for her though. We don't want her to be too spoiled.


Introducing Hayes and all of his beautiful hair!

Grammar Lesson: Possession, Part 1

OK, this lesson has multiple parts because it's a complicated one. However, I'm SURE everyone can catch on with a little attention and thought. One of the many uses of the apostrophe is to show possession. By possession I mean ownership. For example: the dog's tail (tail belongs to the dog); the chair's cushion (cushion belongs to or is part of the chair); Landen's dress (dress belongs to Landen). You get the point, right? 


Here's the lesson -


1. If you have a singular (one) object/person/animal/entity/etc owning or possessing something, you use an 's to show that ownership.

• Example: The dog's fur was short.

2. If you have a plural (more than one) group of objects/people/animals/entities/etc owning or possessing something, you add an apostrophe after the s.

• Example: The dogs' tails were wagging. (Here we have multiple dogs, so the s has already been added in order to make it plural. In order to show possession, we have to add the apostrophe after.)
• Note: This rule is for "regular" plural words. By regular I mean words that you add an s to in order to make them plural...dogs, toys, chairs. Irregular plural words are handled differently (ex. children, women, etc.) We'll get to the irregular ones later.

3. If there is no ownership or possession and you are ONLY talking about multiple/plural objects/people/animals/entities/etc, then PLEASE do not use an apostrophe.

• Example: The dogs ate Kibbles 'n Bits for dinner. (Here we're just talking about multiple dogs. They aren't owning anything. So adding an apostrophe here (dog's or dogs') would be incorrect not to mention drive me crazy.)

Let's make sure we're using those apostrophes correctly, then we'll move on to more complicated situations.... :)

Carrots!!!!

Landen and I have been snowed in for the past three days, so today we decided to be adventurous. By adventurous I mean that I fed Landen carrots - her first solid food (other than cereal). Some may think that feeding an infant carrots (or any food for that matter) does not seem like an adventurous activity. However, those that have children might understand where I'm coming from. As a new parent, I must admit that feedings are what stress me out the most because once you get comfortable with your routine, it changes! Babies are constantly growing and changing not only in size but also in their nutritional needs. So I'm always looking at the next step and how to implement it into our lives. I feel like I'm always wondering: how much? when? what time? is she ready? If anyone has answers to these questions, please let me know right away. If not, we'll just keep doing our best (and doing loads of "research" before making a move).

Here's Landen's face as she tasted her first real food.

Don't let the face fool you. She made it almost every time I put the carrots in her mouth. As she moved it around and swallowed she loved them and kept coming back for more!