11 months!

I'm going to chalk it up as a success that I managed to get these posted before her first birthday :) Small victories people.  Since this is serving as part of her baby book, here's a couple things about e's 11th month.  She eats EVERYTHING (except for the gerber chicken and vegetables) Our dog is a pickier eater than she is.  Apparently she has her dad's metabolism bc she downed an entire grilled cheese this afternoon, and then proceeded to finish off her bottle.  She loves her baby praise dvd, eating, Riggs, the outdoors, her purple ball, the water, her daddy, other babies.  She is not a fan of being strapped into anything, unfortunately this includes high chair and carseat, having to wait for food, and being told no.  Can't blame her on most of those.  She has had to be very flexible this past month and has done so well.  She is my little traveling buddy and I love it (except for those few minutes when I wish I had earplugs in the car) :)  She has had her first taste of ice cream, first trip to the water park, first move, first stair climbing adventure, and first step (which she promptly fell down as soon as she realized what she was doing)  She's weighing in at a whopping 18lbs and 2oz.  Oh and good thing we are about done with the monthly stickers, apparently they taste much better than they look....

10 months!

So I am a little behind and before I lose the camera in the ever growing stack of boxes here is miss E at 10 months.... (notice she only kept the sticker on for about 2 whole pictures) Baby girl is growing up!

This continues to be such a fun age (minus the adventures in teething and hand foot and mouth)  She is all about anything musical and will break into her dance as soon as she hears something worth dancing too.  She cruises along the furniture and will stand for a few seconds on her own.  She is a big fan of anything she can feed herself.  Latest favorites have been black beens and peas.  She still loathes her carseat, which has resulted in probably an over indulgence in mum-mums whenever we travel.  Bring on that 20lb wgt limit.  I cannot wait to turn that seat around.  As far as sleep....we've had better.  But im attributing it to the yucky sickness and evil teeth she is fighting.  She has been kind enough to throw in her old 12 hours when she knows mom and dad are on the verge.  :)  We have got a lot of transitions coming in the next few weeks.  Praying this sweet girl adjust to change better than her mama! :)

Procrastination.

Procrastination. That is what this post is. That and maybe a little bit of a vent. You have been warned :) This week has felt a little like this...

via

Too bad that hasn't been an option. E has had hand, foot and mouth disease. I do not wish it on my worst enemy. The low grade whine has been a constant in our house as our sweet girl can't seem to get comfortable. We have felt terrible for her! She only had one sore on her hand but the pediatrician said they were all down the back of her throat, making eating painful and quite the challenge. Thus re-introducing 2 am feedings. She is on the upswing now so we are attempting to fix the middle of the night routine we started this week. Night 1 =fail. Game on tonight.

We have to be out of our condo in 10 days. I have packed us in less than 48 hours before but just cant seem to get it together this time. We will be storing stuff for about 4 months and I have a really hard time deciding what we can pack away. I also have labeled about fifty eleven boxes as FRAGILE. Chris informed me last night that once I got past 5 boxes that no one would believe me. Oh well. worth a try. Back to bubble wrapping....To say I am ready for the weekend would be an understatement. Hope everyone has a nice, relaxing one! We are determined to! :)

a little catch up.

I am so far behind I am just going to let the pictures do the talking. We had a wonderful Easter, split between Irmo and home. E loved all of her Easter goodies and we enjoyed spending the time with family and celebrating our risen Lord. I'm sorry for the picture overload. You have been forwarned.

Pretty excited about the day!

Thank you Lolli and Pop!

kisses for peter rabbit

After church

She's so proud of her monkey face

Pat the Bunny takes me back.

Thanks Oma and Opa!

Back to the whirlwind that will be the next two weeks. My living room looks like a liquor distributers mixed with an infant pharmacy... Updates soon.

Salt.

Sometimes you just need to step back, take a minute and reset. After a busy and trying few weeks we decided to take a day. I told Chris it was a "mental health" day. We had E's 9 month check up and then decided to head down to Folly. It was necessary. We needed to not be running in a million different directions. To not be tackling to-do lists, or excel spreadsheets, or whatever other equally fun things have seemed to be taking us over the past couple of weeks. I believe as important as the tangible numbers, work schedules, and obligations that make a family function, even more important are the intangibles. These things that make you tick. That allow us to step back and look at how blessed we are. The things that aren't so calculated and often times therefore deemed less important. We had put in the tears and the sweat, yesterday it was time for the sea.

This was E's first trip since she was 10 weeks old. She loved every minute. I am not a mushy person. At all. But I fought back tears watching her experience the sand and water for the first time. Each tiny shell was observed. Each wave anticipated with a loud squeal. She could not get enough. You could tell the freedom she felt. She could roam without being told "no" to the outlets, sharp objects, and cords that she normally has to navigate around. Maybe that's why the beach is still so therapeutic as an adult. It reminds you how small you are. And sometimes, most times, that's just what you need.

Midweek Confessions

Its Wednesday already so we are linking back up for confessions. We have felt really busy and pulled in a million different directions the past few weeks so I can blame some of these on that? right?! k good.

-Chris and I were at the grocery store the other night and I was standing in the frozen section staring at my watch. Chris wondered over to ask if a) i was in a hurry or b) needed help telling time, as I had apparently been staring at it for longer than I thought. I replied, "no, i'm just trying to remember what else I needed" Chris said "oh yeah, that must be some watch to hold your grocery list?" Note to self - make a list, don't go shopping past 9pm.

-Emerson may have gained 10 lbs last night. We were heading to a friends house for dinner and she decided she was mad at the world, or at least her car seat. I have no idea what it was other than possible utter exhaustion but she was beside herself. I tried my best rendition of every song I know and even threw in a little (loud) rap from the radio. All to no avail. Moments after telling chris I wasn't going to climb in the back seat (as I felt like it was rewarding such behavior) I caved. At the red light I hopped in beside her and ransacked the back seat to find the Puffs. She was silent. I think I gave her half the package. I technically bribed my kid with food. Not a proud moment.

-I have bought fifty eleven sippy cups. Literally I think I may have 7 different brands in the cabinet. I started offering it at 6 months just to get her used to it and it has been a beloved teether ever since. She has her 9 month check up tomorrow and my ridiculous goal oriented self really wanted to check off that box. Well Emerson must have just wanted to mess with me because yesterday she finally turned up her pink sippy cup and went to town. Way to make me sweat it girl. :) Just kidding. Well sort of. Don't give me a goal people. (ps i am aware I need to lay this one down...we are working on it...)

- And while we are on sippy cups. Every time I say pink sippy cup, I hear the "red solo cup" song. Its awful and incredibly annoying.

- Retail therapy. Its a real thing. And I was a victim today. (or maybe an eager participant)

Now to assembling some Easter Baskets! Hopefully the cellophane doesn't wake my napping girl. Happy Wednesday!

Lady in Red

Bridge Run weekend always brings everyone in! (even if we don't actually participate in the run) We did some carb loading at Mellow Mushroom on Friday with my sister. (who actually did run, I was just encouraging her by partaking in the pizza) I was out the door by 615 Saturday for some dental work. Definitely a benefit of living in a town with a dental school. I've officially had my first filling (or three) thanks to Caleb and the dental boards! I went straight from the dental chair to a shower for my sister in law who is due in May and then on to a girls night with my roommates from college. Chris was wonderful and played mr. mom all weekend. While I was busy Saturday the girls went shopping and picked up this little number...

Love it! And so did E. Apparently the sun glasses taste as good as they look. Thanks Aunt Dre and Hea! Be back soon with a photo dump from the weekend!