Carpooling!

At my Love Affair Photography workshop, we not only learned tons of amazing and useful things about photography and the business but we also spoke about balancing life and personal priorities. Since I got back, I've been changing things both small and big in my life to really make sure I'm spending time with folks and things that are most important to me.

One of the thing I've been trying to do is find ways of spending more family time together during the week. Normally either Scott or I drop Gemma off at daycare but I thought, hey, what if we both do it? :) So we tried it! The first time I drove, Gemma got to see us all together, Scott got to read a little, we chatted a little, and we both played with Gemma a little. And you know what? It felt great and made the commute fly by. I think sometimes a little goes a long way.

We both agreed that we'd do this more often.

I think Gemma agreed too!:

Love and balance to you all! :)

Panda Halloween!

Happy Halloween everyone!  Our friend Nerissa lent us this great panda outfit she made for her kids and it fit Gemma just right!  :)  She was a super good sport about it especially since we let her venture outside.  

At first she was a little shy.   But then she got into it.  

Look out, there's a panda foraging in the forest!  Hahahha, this picture cracks me up!

I can't believe how confident she looks.  Where did our baby Gemma go?  

"What's that?"
"Mamaaaaa?"
"Wow, I'm gonna get that!"
I love that you can see her little tail here.

Hope everyone has a fun and safe Halloween!  Scott and I will be celebrating at Gemma's daycare with all the other parents and kids from the daycare.  It will be fun!  :)  Love to all!

Pony-Tails!

Yesterday we tried pony-tails for the first time.  :)  It is funny to me how different Gemma looks with her hair pulled back.  I love it!  And can't wait to put more ribbons and braids and barrettes in her hair.  Gemma she was a really good sport about it too.  The hairdo lasted most of the day, eventually getting pulled down leaving her hair sticking up in chunks - it was hilarious.  :)

Close Encounters

Our Gemma has started to use her baby sign language.  It started about 3 weeks ago and it is incredible to be able to get a glimpse of real communication with her.  At first I didn't really believe it was happening.  Could she really be signing?  Were the aliens in 'Close Encounters' really communicating through music?  We thought it was a coincidence - it wasn't.  At first each time she did her 'more' sign I'd get a little misty-eyed with joy.  I was so proud and amazed!  Now she does it so much we are getting used it and having her tell us what she wants.  :)  

'More' is for sure her favorite sign right now.  She uses it not just for food too.  If she wants more toys for her bath, if she wants to play on the bed more, if she wants to see pictures/videos of herself again she does her 'more' sign.  It is fantastic.  She also now has under her belt:

* cat

* bath

* daddy

* sleep

I know she understands a lot more but she hasn't started doing the signs yet.  For example she understands when we sign 'eat', 'change (diaper)', 'book', 'shoes', 'all done', 'bird' but she doesn't sign them herself.  So Scott and I will keep on signing and see what eventually she decides to sign (or not - either way is fine).  It is just phenomenal that we can have little conversations with her before her language abilities are fully formed.  We are hoping it will help with her toddler tantrums just a little (we know they won't go away).  :)

Playground fun!

This weekend Gemma and I discovered a little playground across the street from us at the School for Deaf.  It was great since we were the only ones there and she was able to freely explore at her own pace.  She had a blast climbing, seeing the world from new heights, running, discovering... she was so very proud of herself and so were we:

Speaking of new heights, she loved looking out at the top of the playground set by the slide.  I was always very close to her so she wouldn't fall or hurt herself.  Here is a series of pictures documenting her first time going down the slide by herself... not planned but ended up a good experience for her.  LOL.

Go Bears!

Gemma and her daddy watched the Chicago Bears unexpectedly pounce on the Indianapolis Colts in their season opener (29 to 13). For the occasion we mushed little Gemma into her old 3-6 month Bears cheer leading outfit. It was hilariously way too short for her but she didn't mind. :)

Here they are intensely watching the game. She really love to watch - I think she likes the colors of the uniforms. Victory lap!

1 Year Old

1 year ago today at 3:40pm, Gemma Maria Krotz was born!

It has been an amazing year of personal growth, sacrifice and happiness filled with tears and lots of laughter - I wouldn't change it for the world. But how has my life changed? How has it not changed? I didn't realize I could survive with such little sleep and be happy about it. :) I didn't realize my heart would ache with joy when she first smiled at me or when she reaches out for me. I didn't realize I would be so interested and proud of her poop. I didn't realize little baby toes and chubby rolls could be so kissable. I didn't realize my priorities were screwed up. I didn't realize I'd feel even more human, more woman. I didn't realize my love for Scott could grow even more intense. I didn't realize life could be so good. :)

So who is this little creature we call Gemma and who has rocked our world? To give you a better idea, her are a bunch of things that she currently likes:

* spinning around in circles (although slow she still gets dizzy)
* the 'boing' of a door stop
* books, in particle "the very hungry caterpillar" and "precious kitten" - bilingual
* pressing buttons on all our electronics - cell phones, remotes, keyboards, alarm clocks - anything that gives her audible and or visual feedback
* cherrios
* feeding mama & daddy cherrios
* her water bottle 'agua'
* chasing Blitzy (our cat - who has become a really good sport about it)
* playing 'pillow attack' - a game she made up where she throws herself on the pillows of our bed , grabs it close then falls back so the pillow is now on top of her attacking her. We put the pillow back only to start the process over and over again. This makes her laugh to no end.
* drumming - on herself and anything that can make a sound
* music - she actually is starting to dance
* dancing and singing with mama
* playing the piano
* playing 'peekaboo'
* yogurt
* chicken
* strawberries
* raspberries
* pears
* mandarin oranges
* peas and carrots
* her white bunny
* her green Winnie the Pooh blanket
* bubbles
* magnets - actually the key to the baby-proofed garbage/recycling. Because I'm lazy, I leave it on the cabinets sometimes (I know that defeats the purpose). But instead of getting into the garbage/recycling, she take the white little magnet-key and places it on the refrigerator then tries to take it off the refrigerator. The first time she discovered its strong magnetic capabilities she was in awe. :) Now she like to play 'magnet' and she's even worked out how to get that powerful magnet off the frig! LOL!

Dislikes (not many, she's generally a happy little person):
* getting her face wiped
* staying put on the changing table
* the feel of grass or sand under her feet
* sharp loud noise
* fake keyboards - she caught on really fast when she wasn't getting the visual/audible feedback was was accustomed to on the real keyboard

Nicknames:
* Gemmita
* Gemma-lou
* Gemma-wemma
* Gemma-jam
* Gemma bear (like gummy bear - thanks Tia Maria!)
* Gemmarie (thanks Tio G!)