Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree...

Our tradition has always been to put the Christmas tree up the day after we get back from our Thanksgiving travel. This year was no different, other than the fact that we had a little pair of eyes observing as we put each ornament on the tree. When we finished the decorations, I turned out the lights and let Zoe see what all of the lights on the tree looked like with the lights out. Totally amazed! Darin held her close to the tree and the first thing she did was reach out to feel the prickly tree. Even a week after being up, she still just stares at it with wide eyes and an open mouth.

Thanksgiving at the Buscher household...

We attempted to make our first LONG trip with Zoe this week for Thanksgiving. We traveled all the way to Illinois where 3/4 of Darin's family lives...an 8-10 hour pre-baby trip. In all actuality, though, having a baby who doesn't have to stop every hour and a half to go to the bathroom and get a drink made the tripno longer than typically would have been. Ask us how the same trip goes two years from now and it may be a different story! She did wonderful on the car ride up, despite having all her 4-month immunizations just minutes before we left, and equally as well during the car ride back. Very little fussing, and lots of playing, talking, and sleeping. The time we spent there was great as usual...lots of fun, games, catching up, and of course...food!




The Buscher 19 (minus 3)...We missed you, Bruce, Neita, and Luke!!!








The Buscher Totum Pole








Nephews and neice from top left to bottom (view like reading a book)...Caleb holding brother Silas, Noah holding Zoe, Isaac, Jonah, Elijah, and Elizabeth

The Buscher boys...

What can I say? When the Buscher boys get together, there's no telling what you'll see or hear. The adults regress back to their childhood days, and the kids, well...they stay kids. And every once in a while, you might find the Buscher women sneaking a peek into their childhood as well.




Like I said, you never know what you're going to hear...not sure what inspired this. (Push the play button to watch video)















"Giddy-up!"
















Hmm...what do you say about this picture except...PERFECT TIMING!















Who says you're ever too old to play with dolls???

Glow, lights, glow...

I was working on a case for my home interiors party last week and opened up a new strand of Christmas lights. Of course I turned the overhead lights off so that all you could see was the glow of each bulb. Zoe looked mesmorized at the new and brightly shining lights. I put her nearby so that she could get a closer look, but realized it was too close when one of the lights immediately ended up in her mouth. Scooting her back so that they were out of reach, I watched her face light up with amazement. Once again, I ran to get my trusty camera so that I could capture the moment...and this picture is what I got. It's sad when it takes a 4 month old baby's simple amazement in the littlest thing to make us pause for just a moment in our busy lifestyles and look in awe at the twinkling of Christmas lights.

Autumn in Arkansas

This is my absolute favorite time of year; the leaves are falling, the temperatures are crisp (ok, so I'm dreaming there), and the colors of the trees are brilliant shades of red, orange, and yellow. We had a decent amount of rain this summer and early fall, so the color change is beautiful! What a great reminder of the God we serve. It's as if for just two weeks out of the year He paints the world and tells us, "This picture is for you." I think I missed the brightest of the trees, actually. Last week would have been the ideal time to take these pictures, but I still got some really good shots. All but one of these are taken somewhere on OBU's campus.

Another one of my photo experiments

Fascinated by the leaves...

Humpty Dumpty...

A few nights ago, Zoe finally decided she wanted to roll over from her back to her front. She has just had absolutely no interest in it up until this point. She'll get to her side with ease, but doesn't try to go any further than that. When she finally decided to try, she flopped over and then picked her head up with a smile. The following day, she sat up (sort of) for the first time. She managed to stay up with no support for about 15 or 20 seconds w/o toppling over. I tried to catch a shot of it today which proved to be a difficult task. I had to take it fast enough and make sure I was fully available to catch her if she toppled over...so the pictures are terrible quality...but it captures the "first" (or almost first). So I guess she's in the beginning stages of sitting...or in otherwords, she'll sit unassisted for short periods of time until she gains some more strength in her back muscles.






Ooops! Battery change. Forgot to change the date.

Books, books everywhere!

Zoe has been exposed to books for a couple of months now. She loves to be read to, and can just sit and stare at the pages for minutes at a time. Of coures we read mainly the pillow type books that make crinkly sounds if touched and I try to draw it out for as long of as she'll let me. The picture on the left is her favorite book...she loves the red/black colors on it. A few weeks ago, I put her in the rocking chair (Daddy's old rocking chair) and placed a book in her lap. She looked at it inquisitively for a minute or so and then tried to open it up...or so it seemed. The moment was too perfect to pass up, so as always, I ran to grab my camera to snap a few pictures.

"Now how do I get this open??"

"Will you read me this book?"

Hear ye, hear ye....

Oh the joy of making your voice heard. Zoe has definetely found hers and makes it known to everyone around. Lots of squeals of delight, squeaks, grunts, and giggles fill our house. She LOVES the camera, so while videoing this, she was talking directly to it. Now if only we could interpret the baby talk. :)

Miss Giggles

I love the afternoons when I catch the perfect moment in action. Today was just another lazy Sunday afternoon...nothing special going on. There are many days (or rather moments in the day) when Zoe's just in this giggly mood, and today was one of them. She's always a "happy" baby, but she got the giggles today for about 3 or 4 minutes. Of course the her laughter sparks ours, and thus a cycle is born and continues for minutes at a time. These are the moments that I'll cherish when she's 13 and in the middle of teenage drama telling me that I'm not fair and that I don't ever let her have any fun. And just an FYI, for those of you who aren't familiar with this, the above (and one of the ones on the post below) are videos. Click play.

Johnny Jump-up

Zoe got her first "bouncy" experience in her Johnny Jump Up today. It's looks like it's swallowing her up, but she's got great head control and strong legs. We thought we'd try it out today for a few minutes, but discovered that she absolutely loved it. She spins around more than she bounces because she's not quite figured out what all you can do in it. Oh, and she loves eating the seat...apparently it's flavored with something baby friendly. :) I took a few pictures and then shot a video of her in it. I know that it's expected from a mom but I'm going to say it anyway.....too cute! So as you can see with this first picture, she wasn't quite sure what to think about being put in. But she took to it quickly and thoroughly enjoys it.







'"Yummy, this is good!"















"Ride 'em, coyboy!"

First Solid Food

Another first! Zoe had her first taste of rice cereal tonight. It's a little earlier than the recommended age to begin (only by a week and a half or so), but she's just not completely satisfied with milk anymore. So...three firsts in one night...first time in her high chair and first time eating being introduced to rice cereal, which means the first time to eat with a spoon. Fun times! I don't think she quite liked sitting in her new high chair. This was taken just moments after we strapped her in.













Yummmmm...














"How does this shiny thing work? Ohhhhh..."














"More, Mommy!"

MOPS Pictures

Last weekend we had a photography session as a fundraiser for my MOPS (mothers of pre-schoolers) group. And of course the trees decide to wait to turn brilliant colors just days after the photo shoot. I do have to warn you, though, that Zoe is not exactly Miss Cheer in any of the pictures. She had been pretty sick with a cold all the week before and was just beginning to get over it. She still looked a little out of it in my opinion. Bummer deal! Anyway, most of the pictures turned out pretty good despite the frowny faces. Here are just a few of them.

Semi-Professional Pictures

So I got camera happy the other day and decided to try to set up my own backdrop made up of none other than a black sheet and some leaves for a "dramatic" effect. They actually turned out pretty good. Here are a few of them.









The dog tends to get a bit jealous and make himself known when I give too much attention to Zoe...so he just happened to "roll" into the picture at just the right time.

The inventions of the new century....

So babies have it so good these days...tons of toys to play with, new things to stimulate them, videos designed for baby's development, cuter clothes. I remember the old rainbow colored ring set that you put in order onto this yellow stick...which we still have today (only today's version has lights and music). And who can forget the push popper...the toy that you push and all of the little balls inside pop up and down inside a bubble? Too many new toys can be dangerous for a mother who is easily entertained and could quite possibly enjoy playing with them as much as the baby. Anybody with me???


Tummy Time....



"Look mom, this block is almost as big as my head..."