Randomnicity

-Hey...that would be a good name for a band...Randomnicity. My other favorite "It Should Be A Band Name" name is Flaccid Bacon. That's the one we came up with at work. Their first album would be called "Limp and Greasy."

-Becky and Scott finally agreed (for the most part) on the names for the twins. Read all about it on her blog. My boy name is still Edward Ronald. Our father will just be honored twice if I ever have a boy. He deserves it.

-I don't get the whole Twilight mania that's going on right now. I guess I now understand how some of you felt during Harry Potter mania (although Harry Potter rules, so that was warranted). For those who aren't "in the know," Twilight is a series of teen books about a high school romance between a human girl and a "vegetarian" vampire. Well, vegetarian in the sense that he doesn't feed on humans. Anyway, there are three books out now and the fourth is coming out on August 2nd and we have to have a midnight party for it. It's not anywhere close to what our Harry Potter release party was, but I'm expecting about 150-200 people there for it. Don't get me wrong...I read the books and enjoyed them. They're just not the end-all-be-all that some people are making them out to be. Whatever.

-Studying is actually going well. I'm starting to understand this whole insurance thing. I'm done with six of the ten parts of the exam I need to know. I'm shooting for Wednesday or Thursday to take my exam. Woohoo.

-I have to work tomorrow. Blah.

-For some reason, my mom has this thing about not liking to give Abby sippy cups. She is starting to take to the Nuby ones that my sister recommended. The top is closer to a bottle nipple, so it's easier to get them to make the switch. I gave my mom the cup with some juice/water in it to give to the baby and she decided to pour it all into a bottle instead. Weird.

-Time to put Abby down for the night. Bye!

Just Another Way to Put Off Studying

Not that I have much to say that's actually interesting, but I really don't feel like studying. It's 9:24 now...I'll give myself until 10 and then I have to start. Ed and I have a goal for me to take my test next Wednesday. We'll see how that one goes. But we really are in a time crunch right now, so I gotta just suck it up and do it. It's a little stressful because if I fail, I have to wait 2 weeks before I can retake it, which will be too late for what we need my license for. Blah.

I have a random summer bookfair tonight, which is why I'm home right now. I just went ahead and dropped Abby off at daycare at her usual time. Why throw off her day if I don't have to? Then I ran to the grocery store and now I'm playing. I also need to get a shower in before 10 so I don't have to go to work looking totally gross. I have no idea how big this bookfair tonight is going to be, but if I had to guess I would say that it's going to be lame. It's just an odd time of year to try to do one, but I'm willing to give it a shot if they are.

The training of the new CRM is going well. She's one of those awesome people who have done everything and been everywhere. She used to work as a lead bookseller at our Annapolis store, so she already knows a lot. She also used to work for Scholastic's bookfair division and for Joe Corby's, so she knows how to get into schools and all that jazz. So really, we've been just chatting up a storm for the past couple of days with a little training thrown in. Good times.

Okay, off to take a shower and then get to the studying. Work is 12:30 today and I have to leave a little early to pick up Abby's 9-month pictures from Sears. Yay!

Mommy Needs a Nap

I don't know why I've been so darned sleepy lately. I know I'm not pregnant, so don't even go there. I think I'm just not getting enough sleep lately. Last night Ed and I were up until 1, then we both woke up with the baby this morning since Ed had to leave for softball at 8. I should finally get a chance to sleep in on Thursday since I'm off and Abby is spending the day with Ed's mom. She wanted her, so I wasn't going to argue!

My mom came by around 9:30 this morning to pick Abby and I up to go see my grandmother. She was thrilled to get to see the baby, so that was nice. It totally threw off what little bit of a schedule Abby has though. I managed to give her breakfast around her normal time, but her morning nap is off. She fell asleep in the car on the way home but woke up when I took her out. I put her right in the crib and she didn't fuss, but now she' playing instead of sleeping. I'm going to keep her in there until she falls back asleep though. She needs her sleep or she'll be rather unhappy later.

Speaking of Abby not being happy, she has been a bit on the fussy side for the past few days. Those darned top teeth have been right at the cusp of breaking through for forever now. The doctor said that they're right there ready to go. And now it looks like one of the bottom teeth next to one of the ones she already has is getting ready to come through too. I wish they'd just break through already so she can get a little relief.

9-Month Checkup

I really hate taking Abby to the pediatrician by myself. Oh well, a mommy's gotta do what a mommy's gotta do. At at least it was only one shot this time, which she got over fairly quickly, so it wasn't too bad.

My little chunkamunk is 22 1/4 lbs and 28 3/4 inches, which is the 90th percentile for both. And that would be why my darned back hurts all the time! Her head has moved up to the 50th percentile, so yay for growing brains!

After the doctor's visit, I dropped her off at grandma's house. Grandma had a surprise for her, which was actually a gift from Becky's MIL. It was a hand-me-down Step 2 "Push Around Buggy" in pink. So cute...and Abby just loved it! My mom took her for a couple of rides in the neighborhood and she had a blast "driving" with one hand. Hehehehehe. Hopefully we'll take her out in it soon so I can get some pictures. Maybe we'll even take it to Hooper's Island with us.

Due to the morning appointment, I had to work late yesterday, which sucked. Oh well...I actually got some stuff done, so that was good. Next week I have to train someone coming into my position at the Power Plant store. That should be interesting, considering I'm one of the least organized people on the planet. I'll just have to show her the right way to do things, not my way. ;) But somehow I have an excellent reputation within the district, so there you go. I guess it helps when you've been doing the job as long as I have.

Now I have to study. Ed's on his "you have to get your insurance license" kick again. And this time there's no putting it off...he has a specific agenda in mind. Blah. I hate studying...that's why I never went for a higher degree. Hopefully I can get it done quickly and take the test in a couple of weeks. I'm on a deadline.

9 Months!

Gah! I have a 9-month old! How did this happen?

Lots of fun things this month. We can now crawl and we're trying our darndest to pull up. She has started to try little bits of regular food and loves Cheerios. She plays really well by herself now and is talking up a storm. We went swimming and swinging for the first time. Fun stuff!

Here's her official picture:

And some outtakes. These show why taking the monthday picture is a two-parent job!

Photo Dump

"Hi Mommy!"

Swimming with Grandma and Claire at Uncle Bob's house.

" I can totally stand...after someone props me up first."

How is this comfortable?

Watching fireworks with Mommy.

She was totally fascinated by them.

"What's with the gate?"

Because I'm Bored...

Abby's (supposed to be) sleeping and Ed's umpiring, so here you go:

2 of 20 survey

1. Two weird things about yourself: I can watch the same movie everyday and never get bored of it (goes for music too), my husband is the only man I've ever dated

2. Two physical attributes you like about yourself: My nose and my eyes

3. Two personal attributes you are thankful for: My patience and empathy

4. Two changes you feel could change the world: Requiring a license to have babies, finding an alternative to oil

5. Two things to be thankful for today: Abby and my family/friends

6. Two of your favorite things (not people): My house and my bed

7. Two things you detest doing: Cleaning and waking up in the morning

8. Two things you know you should do more: Exercising and eating better

9. Two things you want to do before you leave this world: Go to Europe and go on a cruise with all my family and friends

10. Two things about your house you'd like to change: Bigger and cleaner

11. Two favorite celebrities, and why: Judd Apatow and Seth Rogan because they crack me up

12. Two celebrities you don't like, and why: Oprah, way over worshipped and over paid; Brittney/Lindsey/Paris, do you really need a reason?

13. Two favorite books: Harry Potter (all of them) and The Chronicles of Narnia

14. Two cases of odd things that go together nicely: Diet Dr. Pepper/Malibu, pineapple/bread

15. Your two most "famous" scars: The huge scar across my knee from tripping on Christmas Day 2 years ago, my c-section scar

16. Two things you've accomplished today: Going back to work after being off for five days and dealing with a cranky baby

17. Two things you intend to accomplish today: Make dinner and go to sleep

18. Two favorite things about Summer: Swimming and cooking on the grill

19. Two favorite things about Winter: Christmas and snuggling up with Ed under the covers on cold mornings

20. If you had the money and time, what two things would you do in the next year: Stay at home full time and fix up the house

Busy Afternoon

Well, the PH Playgroup was a bit on the small side this time around. It was me, Abby, Meg, Conner and Paige. Tracy was supposed to join us, but apparently she wasn't as lucky as some of us with the crazy storm last night. She and Ethan were napping while we were playing. ;) We had a good time though. Abby and Paige got to swing and we were all treated to some excellent pretend gourmet food, courtesy of Conner. And as promised, we were the only ones at the playground. Good times.

After playing for awhile, Abby and I headed to the mall to get her pictures done. We walked around for about an hour and then headed to Sears. By this time, Abby was a bit on the tired side, so the photo session didn't turn out quite as well as I had hoped, but the beginning shots were cute. By the end though, it wasn't pretty. She wouldn't cooperate with the photographer and kept trying to cover herself up with the backdrop (which was funny, but didn't make for a good picture). If you're morbidly curious, you can view the pictures here. For the one-year shots, I definitely need Ed with me. He's much better at getting her to smile than I am.

For anyone who doesn't read circulars, Target has a good diaper sale this week...on Huggies AND Pampers. Score! I have Target coupons and manufacturer coupons for both, which you can combine. Yay for cheap diapers!

Thunderbolt and Lightening...

very, very frightening. We had the craziest storm last night. The thunder and lightening just seemed to go on forever...even after the rain had stopped. Every time the thunder rumbled, Ed and I would look in the monitor expecting Abby to wake up screaming, but it never happened. She's also been sleeping through a week's worth of fireworks/crackers courtesy of my rude neighbors, so I don't know why I was so worried. I used to be able to sleep through anything too...then I had a baby!

Sadly, today is the last day of my mini-vacation. But don't cry for me just yet...I'm taking a full week in a mere two weeks. :) We're going to Hooper's Island for a few days, so at least we're getting out of the house. Plus, it makes the in-laws happy. We're even going to try to get to Ocean City for a day trip. Woohoo. After that, I'll have one full week plus two loose vacation days to take before the holidays. That's one of the best things about being at my store for so long...I'm up to four weeks of vacation a year. My last full week will be the week of October 6th. That covers my anniversary and Abby's first birthday. Then we'll have her party that weekend, so I'll have the whole week to get the house in order. How perfect does that work out? :)

And She's Off

Oh yeah. We've entered a whole new world of crawling madness. If there's a place we don't want her to go, that's the first place she now heads for. It's pretty funny actually. When she really wants to get going, she puts her head down and motors. She's now trying to pull herself up too, but she can only get as far as her knees right now. I'm just waiting for the day when I look in the monitor and see her standing in her crib. It's all happening so fast! We're even getting her nine-month pictures done tomorrow since I'm off.

The 4th was fun. Had a few friends over. It was a baby-palooza. And all three babies actually watched the fireworks. They were starting to get tired and fussy, but when they saw the crazy lights in the sky, they were fascinated. Too funny. For those who requested the Pineapple Stuffing recipe but may not remember my spouting it off, I posted it on the Naptime Gourmet. Enjoy!

Besides going to the Sears portrait studio tomorrow, we're supposed to have the PH Playgroup part 2 at the park. Should be interesting. :)

One Small (Crawling) Step at a Time.

Yup, Abby finally showed off her crawling skills at home. Not too much, mind you, but enough to prove to me that my daycare provider isn't on crack after all. ;) We were playing downstairs Tuesday night, when she decided she wanted something a little bit in front of her. So, about four "crawls" later, it was in her hand. It took me a second to realize what she did. Then the light bulb went off and I was like, "Whoa! You just crawled!"

Yeah...nothing gets by Mommy! She did it a couple more times, but it was only one or two "crawls" each time. It's getting there though. I guess we're going to have to suck it up and buy baby gates soon. Sigh. We're going to have to get one of the crazy long/expensive ones for downstairs. For those who haven't been to my house, my downstairs is basically divided into two main parts forming kind of an "L" shape. The big, long part is the family room. The smaller part has the bathroom and utility room off of it. It also contains the washer and dryer (they're hidden behind folding doors) and the cat's food and litter box. We want to keep her out of the smaller part, hence the huge gate. At least it will also serve to block her from the independent heater down there (we have two-zone heating), which will be a huge baby hazard come winter.

Today is a good day...I'm on vacation! A short vacation, but it's better than nothing. This morning Abby and I went grocery shopping after her morning bottle. She was good as gold, especially considering I dragged her to three different places. She loves to go shopping because people are always smiling at/talking to her. She eats up the attention. Now I somehow have to find time to clean the house and then the early part of tomorrow will be spent cooking. Fun! The weather better cooperate so that they can have the fireworks!

Sadly, my sister won't be coming over tomorrow. She's officially on "house arrest" because of her short cervix. She really needs to be careful and take it easy or else she's going to wind up on hospital bed rest. That would really be bad. I'll be over there on Saturday to take her some leftovers. I also told her to pick out some casseroles she would like me to make, get Scott to go grocery shopping for the ingredients, and then I would come over to cook/freeze whatever she wants. If there's one thing I can do to help people out, it's cook.

If I don't have time to write tomorrow, have a safe and happy 4th, everyone! :)

My Little Fishie

Abby has definitely inherited both her parents' love of the water. We went to my aunt and uncle's house on Saturday for my cousin's high school graduation party. They have an above ground pool too, so my mom told us to bring Abby's bathing suit and a float. I let it be known that I was not going in, but my mom wanted to take Abby and Claire in herself. So we let her give it a shot.

Becky forgot Claire's inner-tube bathing suit thingie, so my mom had to hold her the whole time. Abby was in her duckie float. You would think she would be annoyed about not getting much attention. Nope, not my child. She was happy as could be kicking herself around the pool (she was seriously booking it a few times), splashing water all over. At one point, her whole face was wet from her splashing herself. Didn't phase her at all. She stayed in there a long time and would have stayed in even longer if we had let her. At least it looks like we don't have to worry about her being afraid of the water. She's my little fishie! :)

Other than that, the weekend was fairly dull. The party was what it was...a family picnic. I made the yummy pineapple stuffing that I had at the picnic I went to last week. It was a hit and I had to give the recipe to a few people who asked for it. I'm making it again for the 4th. :) Sunday was a nothing day and yesterday was back to work. Just have to get through today and tomorrow and then I'm off until next Tuesday. Hooray!

Storyville Fun

Abby and I met Ethan and Tracy at Storyville today. I'd been there with Becky and Claire, but had yet to take Abby...which is really pathetic considering I live five minutes away. I had to take a last-minute vacation day today because Ed found out yesterday that he had some things to do in Virginia this afternoon and wouldn't be able to get home in time for me to get to work for a 1:00 (or even a 2:00) shift. So, I took advantage of the free day with my baby and actually left the house. Amazing, I know!

So Storyville was cool. The baby garden is really nice and has mirrors on the floor and huge "flowers" with rings around the middle so that babies can use them to stand. Lots of books and toys too, of course. Abby and Ethan had a good time playing together, although they tended to want to same toys at the same time. Typical babies. ;)

Here's some pictures for your viewing pleasure.

Abby checking herself out in a floor mirror.

Using a flower to stand with no help from Mommy! Well...I got her to the standing, but she held it on her own. ;)

Abby and Ethan wanting the same toy. But, in their defense, it was a really cool toy!

Ethan being a cutie.

I was going to post a video of Abby and Ethan that I took at the library, but Blogger won't cooperate. Plus, I'm pretty sure nobody would find it amusing except for Tracy and me!

After Storyville, we had lunch at the Bateman's Express that's in the same shopping center as the library. My Chicken Chesapeake Sandwich was yummy, but Tracy's Buffalo Chicken Wrap was not so yummy. Oh well. The babies had fun eating Cheerios (Ethan), small pieces of Mommy's bread (Abby) and trying to suck on the rails of the dirty highchairs (both). Fun!

Abby is now passed out in her crib. I think I'll go chill in the family room and watch the random afternoon Orioles game. They're up 7-0 in the 4th. Woohoo!

Photo Dump

As promised, here are some pictures of yesterday's adventures. Enjoy!

Nap Strike!

After the half-naps of Saturday, Abby napped a total of one hour yesterday. Blah. Of all days for her to sleep in, she chooses yesterday to sleep until 8. Normally on a weekend, that would be cause for much jubilation in our house. But yesterday I was taking her to the picnic at 11, so I was hoping she would get a nap in before that. No such luck.

Feaster was quite fun though. Lots and lots of yummy food. The best being the Asian Burgers (made with ground pork and yummy seasonings) and the Pineapple Stuffing. Yum! I must have both recipes. The bourbon hotdogs and baked beans with rum were also favorites of mine. The funniest dish was the two take-out pizzas that someone brought. If you can't cook, you can always win over the masses with pizza! ;)

Abby seemed to have a good time. She good-naturedly let herself be passed around and she got to go on the swings for the first time. She loved them, but got tired of them quickly because they were out in the sun and it was a little hot out. I gave her lunch and then she was looking so tired that I took her for a quick walk in her stroller to get her to fall asleep. She did, but it only lasted for about half-an-hour. Better than nothing, I guess. We left around 2:15...well before the eventual water battle began. Good times.

I tried to get her to go down after we got home, but she wasn't having it. She just played and played and played in her crib until I finally realized that I was fighting a losing battle and got her out of there. We played for awhile and I tried again with limited success. She still played for awhile, but eventually fell asleep...but for just another half-hour. I gave her dinner and then Ed took her out to go swimming for the first time! The pool was finally ready to go, so we took advantage of the heat and let her take her first swim. At first she wasn't too sure about it, but once she got used to the water she loved it! She was kicking away and trying to splash around the little bit of water that was in her float. It was very cute. I got lots of pictures, but I haven't downloaded them yet. I'll do a photo dump later.

When we tried to put her to bed last night, she had a fit. She was overtired at that point, which is always bad news. I let her cry for a little while, but when it turned into that screechy cry that makes her cough, I went in and picked her up to rock her. She was out within 30 seconds and then stayed down when I put her back in the crib. Oy.

We had to wake her up this morning for daycare, so she started off the day sleepy. When I picked her up at 3:45, she had just fallen asleep about 15 minutes prior, so she was groggy and whiny. I tried to put her down when I got home. She was just about asleep when the darned cat decided she needed attention immediately and came into the nursery meowing as loud as can be, waking Abby up the the process. So then she was pissed and cried and cried and cried. I'm pretty sure her teeth are bothering her on top of being tired, so a fun combination that does not make. I finally got her to go down, so she's sleeping now. Hopefully she'll stay down for at least two hours and then go to bed at a decent time. Now Mommy needs a nap!

Bored...

The hubby is out at a bullroast and I'm home alone with the baby, who is now asleep. I'm bored, bored, bored. I was originally going to go to the bullroast with Ed, but his parents both have to work in the morning, so they were unavailable for over-night babysitting. My mom doesn't do overnights (at least not yet...I'm sure once the grandkids are older...and potty-trained...it will be slumber party time at Grandma's!) and I didn't want to ask her to stay here until 1am or so. Ed couldn't skip it since he was running it (it's for his softball league), so here I am alone on a Saturday night. Good times, I tell ya!

Abby and I were hoping (or at least I was hoping) to go to my friend Brooke's summer party around 4, but the baby was being poopy because she refused to take a full nap today. Usually she gets two 2 1/2 - 3 hour naps, but today she only took two 1 1/2 hour naps. So she was not her usual pleasant self. I didn't feel like testing the limits of her mood by taking her out to a party full of people she doesn't know. Plus, I didn't feel like looking for parking around Brooke's house, which is no easy feat...especially since I wouldn't have been able to get out of the house until after 4, which is when Ed left. Oh well, hopefully I'll be able to make the next one!

I will, however, leave the house tomorrow if it kills me! Some work friends are throwing a "Feaster" (a.k.a. a cookout where everyone brings food) at a local park. It starts at 11, so that should actually work out well with Abby's usual schedule. Let's just keep our fingers crossed that she doesn't deviate from it. I made my famous (in my mind) macaroni and cheese and my Jello Poke Cake. Yum! I got most of the cooking done today, so all I have to do tomorrow is put the Cool Whip on the cake and bake the mac and cheese. I hope the weather cooperates, but at least we have the pavilion at the park, so we don't have to worry about getting rained on.

Off to try to amuse myself downstairs. Maybe there's a movie on-demand that I haven't seen yet. I love on-demand. :)

Mamamamamamamama

It's still just babbling, but it's nice to hear. It was just dadadadadadadadada for a couple of months. She's also been sneaking some bababababababa's in there too. :)

She's being a good, patient girl right now. We moved her Exersaucer upstairs to where the computer is. She's playing in there right now while Mommy checks out her blogs. I haven't been online at home since Wednesday! Ed's been hogging the computer doing work stuff and by the time he's done, I'm too caught up in something else (O's game) to bother going upstairs. The baby's patience is quickly coming to an end though.

And there's the whining. Gotta run!

Grumpy Baby

Well, Abby had a low-grade fever most of the weekend (as in I didn't get a reading any higher than 100.2) and was grumpy as all get-out yesterday. It was fun, I tell you. Then this morning, I felt her gums and sure enough, the top middle gums are swollen as can be. I'm pretty sure those teeth will be breaking through within the next couple of days. Then maybe I can have my happy baby back!

Everything else is same old. Work is work, but at least I have some time off coming up. I just have to make it until July 3rd.

Oh..Erin...thanks for the baby food! Meg dropped off my half to me yesterday. That was awesome. :) It's all stuff she likes too...but that's not hard considering the little pigger likes everything (even green beans)! I don't know where she gets it from. Both Ed and I were (and are) picky eaters. I won't question it too much. I'll just be grateful and hope it lasts!

Happy Father's Day

Just in case there are any daddies out there who read my little blog. ;)

Gotta start getting ready to go over the in-laws for dinner. Yeehah!

Orioles Magic

I'm under no false delusions that my Orioles will be going to the post-season this year, but they've still been pretty darned fun to watch. :) They managed to come from behind four times tonight to win it in the ninth. Now that's fun baseball. They finally have a good mix of veterans with good attitudes and exciting young players. Give them a few years and just maybe we could be playing in October again. I'm nothing if not optimistic about my sports teams.

If anyone hasn't seen it yet, check out this video. It's the old "Orioles Magic" song "performed" by Millar along with Guthrie, Jones, Loewen, Sarfate and Sherrill. It's funny stuff...at least if you're a die-hard O's fan.

Had to work today, which wasn't too bad. The store was busy because of Father's Day tomorrow and the signing I had went well. I was apparently out of my mind when I made my June schedule. A huge signing, two smaller signings and an off-site....that's a pretty busy week in my world. I have nothing for the next several weeks though, so that will give me a break. Plus I'm taking an extended 4th of July holiday (Thursday through Monday) and I'm off the third week of July. After that, I still have a week and three days of vacation left to take before November. That's one of the advantages of working in the same place for so long, I'm up to four weeks of vacation a year. Not that we can afford to go anywhere right now, but it's nice to not have to work.

My mini-playdate with Erin and Tracy was fun yesterday. It was almost 6:00 before we knew it. I was supposed to stop at Becky's too, but that didn't happen. Had to get the Abby-doo home for dinner. But it was nice to get out of the house and visit with friends. I don't get to do that enough. Tracy took some pictures, so maybe she'll post them soon. Hint, hint. ;)

I Know You're Tired...Go To Sleep!

I'm watching Abby in the video monitor trying her best to fight taking a nap. Meanwhile, ten minutes ago, she was laying her head on my shoulder with her thumb in her mouth. She's in her crib now, crying away like I'm killing her for trying to get her to nap. Gotta love it. But the best part is that she's crying while on her tummy with her head down and the same thumb in her mouth. She's just stubborn like her mama. ;)

I want her down by 1 so that she gets a good hour and a half or so before we have to get ready to go see Miss Erin and Miss Tracy. Since I missed the PH Playgroup due to a hellish shift at work, we're going to go play for a little while today. How sad is it that Erin has yet to meet Abby since her birth? She was there for part of the labor, but didn't get to see the exciting conclusion. ;)

Abby has learned some new tricks in the past couple of days. She has finally relented her hard stance on feeding herself and will now happily put the puffs in her own mouth. Yay! And Ed went to pick her up from his mom's house yesterday and watched her get herself from a laying down position up to sitting. He made a big deal out of it and his mom said, "Oh, is that something new? She's been doing that all day!" Heh...guess we finally have to finish lowering the crib this weekend. I took a peek at her in the monitor this morning after she woke up and sure enough, there she was sitting in the corner. She'll be crawling by next weekend at the rate she's going all of a sudden! The easy baby days are just about over.

And the baby is sleeping. Yay! Now Mommy can take a shower!

Ahhhhhhhhh...

There finally seems to have been a break in the weather and we've gone from "damn hot" to just hot. It actually felt kind of nice when I walked out of the store to come home...there was a breeze and everything. This weather I can take. :)

I just worked a half day today since I'm now pulling a double tomorrow. Blah. But, I'm off on Friday, so if anyone wants to play, let me know. :)

I think this is my 6th day in a row posting. I can't remember the last time I did that. Enjoy it while it lasts! ;)

As Promised

Here's Abby's "official" 8th Monthday picture:

The most amazing thing about this picture is that she was grumpy due to lack of napping at daycare and we had to take it in a super-hurry because Ed and I had about five minutes at home together before we both had to take off again.

Here are some outtakes:

And we're good for another month. ;) For anyone who was wondering...my event rocked last night. As usual, I drove myself crazy for nothing.

8 Months!

Can you believe my Abby-doo is 8 months old today? It's crazy how quickly this year is flying by. Everyday she seems just a little bit bigger. That's why I make it a point to try to enjoy each stage of her babyhood as much as possible. I know it won't last nearly as long as I would like it to! Picture to come later...

I'm actually working late on a Monday. I have a big event with Lewis Black tonight. At least, I hope it will be big! I always have nightmares when I have "big name authors" scheduled that nobody will show up to see them. How embarrassing that would be!

I dropped Abby off at daycare at 8...mostly so I didn't throw her schedule off too much. I usually take her in around 10 on the days I work late, but when I did that last Wednesday, she was not her usually pleasant self at daycare. I'm thinking that was probably an isolated incident, but why take a chance if I don't have to? I'm still going to pick her up at 3:45, which is her usual Monday time, so we can meet Ed here, take her 8-month picture, and then get her ready to go to Ed's mom's. He has an important work meeting at 5, but his mom gets off at 3, so she said she would watch Abby for us. Since she lives 5 minutes away from his office, it was definitely the most convenient solution for us.

I think I'm going to try to sleep a little more before getting ready for work. May as well take full advantage of my baby-free morning. :)

6am is Early!

And unfortunately, it seems to be Abby's new preferred wake-up time. Blah. Every morning since Wednesday, it's been 6:00 on the dot when we first hear her talking to herself through the monitor. Luckily, she wakes up happy (for the most part...unless she's starving or doesn't feel good), so she'll pretty much just play in the crib until we get her. We usually don't make her wait too long, but some mornings we just can't get out of bed. If she gets really annoyed with waiting, she lets us know...but for the most part she's cool with it. Gotta love my easy-going kid. ;)

I remembered another Abby funny. She has discovered the joy of Puffs. She hasn't met a Puff yet that she hasn't liked. But for some reason, she won't feed them to herself. If I put some on the highchair tray for her, she'll play with them fine. She can get them into her hand and will even raise her hand to mouth level. But she refuses to try to put them in her own mouth. But as soon as you pick up the same Puff she just dropped back onto the tray, she'll open wide so you can put it in her mouth for her. She's so funny...she'll put any toy you give her into her mouth, just not what she's supposed to put in there. Oy.

It's Dang Hot!

I guess summer has officially arrived because it's hot! So much for trying not to overuse the air conditioner this early. I'm afraid to see our next BGE bill! I did manage to take the baby for a walk this morning before it got unbearable out there. I knew she was tired, but she was fighting taking her morning nap, so I decided to just put her in the stroller and go. She was out within five minutes. I just kept walking, so I actually got some exercise in today. I seriously need to start the diet again. I've gained back everything I lost since I had her. That means I'll have to suck it up and start taking lunches to work. Blah.

Abby is working on a couple of new tricks. When I clap my hands together and say "clap, clap, clap" she give me a big grin and brings her hands together. She doesn't quite get the clapping yet, but she's definitely trying. She's working on the crawling too. She actually got up on her knees at my mom's yesterday and started the rocking thing. So cute. :) She's still rolling like crazy...at daycare there's a little boy who was born either the day before or the day after she was (I can't remember which). She loves to steal his pacifier (since she doesn't have any of her own) and then start rolling away with it so he can't take it back. My little thief. ;)

She had fun over her grandma's yesterday. Val brought over Abby's friend Jordan and apparently they had quite the little playdate. Abby is in love with Jordan's hair, but then again who isn't? ;) Hopefully my mom will remember to get me a picture CD when she gets her disposable camera (I know!) developed. I'll post any cute pictures of the two of them.

Have a lovely Saturday all!

Small Photo Dump

Happy baby playing on the floor.

Watching Daddy play softball.

Spike! a.k.a. "Mommy is silly!"

Trying to clap her hands. Gotta love the purple "sneaker socks."

Boo! Hiss!

Yes, I'm flaking out of the PH Playgroup. I'm very sad about it...I was really looking forward to getting together with everyone. But, as the fates would have it, I now have an off-site event to handle at work that day. :( But Tracy and I are going to work on a second date sometime in early July, so hopefully everyone will be able to make that one. Abby and I miss our peeps!

Right now I'm just hanging around the house waiting to go to work. There's a bookfair tonight, so I need to rest up now while I can. I dropped Abby off at daycare around 10 and then went to CVS to finally take advantage of the kick-dupa Pampers sale they're having this week. Jumbos are $7.99 and if you buy $20 worth, you get $5 back in Extra Care Bucks. As a bonus, I had 4 $1.50 off coupons, so I got them for a steal. Yay for saving money!

Ed has a meeting tonight, so I have to use my lunch break today to pick Abby up from daycare and then drop her off at my mom's house. At least my mom has a crib for her there which Abby loves to sleep in. She refused to nap for me this morning, so I had to drop her off at daycare sleepy...which really isn't good considering she rarely sleeps enough while she's there. At least she should go right now once she gets to grandma's. I guess I should call Ed to see if he has any clue what time his meeting will be over so I can let mom know when he's picking her up. I'm going to pack her dinner and pj's just in case. Good times. ;)

Fun Weekend and a Dr.'s Visit

We actually just had a pretty good weekend. Saturday, Ed and I went to a wedding. Well, I went, Ed was best man. I wasn't sure what to expect because it was on a boat, but it was one of the most enjoyable weddings I've been to. It was on a river boat in Havre de Grace called the Lantern Queen. Apparently they do regular dinner cruises too. Maybe one day we can get a group together and go. It's really nice. We were a little afraid of the weather, but it cleared up just in time and it turned out to be a beautiful night.

Anyway, the wedding was about three hours long, then we actually went to a bar with a group of friends afterward. Something else we never do. But it was a lot of fun and I'm glad we went. It was novel to get a night out on the town without the baby. For those wondering, Becky and Scott got to my mom first for babysitting that night since they also had a wedding. Luckily, my in-laws were available and just kept Abby overnight. :)

Sunday we went to pick up the baby and then went to softball. It was much better this time. The weather started out nice and we got a nice shady spot on the ground under a tree. She had just gotten up from a three-hour nap, so Abby was well rested and in a good mood. We watched the first game and about half the second before the rain clouds started coming in. I got her in the car just before the first drops started to fall. For those who care, Ed's team won the first and lost the second game...but it was against a team they had never beaten before, so they were thrilled.

For the past few days, I've noticed some little rash-like spots on Abby's legs and tummy. I assumed it was eczema, but wasn't positive. When I picked her up from daycare today, it was a lot worse, so I called the doctor's office when I got home. Gotta love a large practice...there's always someone available to take you. I called at 4 and she asked if we could be there at 4:30. So, the doctor took one look and said that it was, indeed, eczema. She gave me the names of a few possible products to try and we have to use something three times a day. Fun stuff. But at least it's nothing too serious. It just doesn't look pretty.

That's all for now. Happy Monday. ;)

New Reading

My sister started a blog. :) Check out what it's like to be pregnant with twins (when you REALLY weren't expecting to be).

It's a Nephew...and a Nephew!!!

Uhhhhhhhhhhhh...yeah. When my sister breaks a streak, she REALLY breaks it. Yup...Becky is having twins. The best part is that they only saw one embryo when she had her internal ultrasound at her first doctor's appointment. I guess baby #2 was hiding behind his brother. I'm still trying to wrap my brain around this one...I can only imagine how Becky and Scott are feeling right now. But regardless, I think it's exciting (and I'm sure they will too...eventually). ;) So, congratulations Becky and Scott.

There's No Place Like Home...

As usual, I now need a vacation from my vacation. But I'm very much happy to be home. Not as happy as Abby though. She missed her crib. A lot. I guess the comfort of the Pack-n-Play just can compare to her comfy crib. Tired now...will blog more later. Hope everyone had a lovely holiday weekend. :)

Why is it...

That on the nights when I have a million things to do, Ed's not home and Abby decides to be difficult. As in, "if you even try to put me down I will cry as loudly as possible until you pick me back up!" Argh.

Photo Dump

I know, I've been a blog-slacker again. Actually, I haven't even been online at home for the past few days. Just been too busy with Abby and life to get upstairs to the computer. But, I'm off today and the baby is napping, so I can finally update. :)

Things have been same-old around here. I'm very sad that we're going to miss Jordan's birthday party. :( Back when I thought it was going to be on Saturday, we promised Ed's parents that we would go to their other house for the rest of the weekend. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to get out of it, so we'll be sending a gift with Becky. Sorry, Val! :( That also means that I have to go to Hoopers Island this weekend. Which is so not what I feel like doing...especially with a baby in tow. Blah.

Here's some pictures that I finally got around to downloading. Enjoy. :)

Abby at her first softball game. And her last until we get a Sunday that's neither cold nor wet.



How we're usually greeted when we get her after a nap.

Abby in her walker...now that's she's finally big enough for it.

Playing at Aunt Becky's house on Mother's Day.

If you look really, really close (with a magnifying glass perhaps), you can see her two teeth.

Our newly rearranged, pro-baby living room.

Checking out the Ducky Tub. No more tears during bath time. Yay!

Eating her first Biter Biscuit in one of the mesh things. She loved it. :)

Ducky Tub

I followed Krystyna's advice and looked in Walmart after I failed to find an inflatable tub in-stock at BRU (I know...something out-of-stock at BRU...shocking!). Even though I generally hate Walmart, I had to love it today because I found the ducky tub! It's seriously just too darned cute. It even quacks. Now the trick is for one of us to actually inflate it so she can take a bath tomorrow night. Good thing we have a foot pump!

In other news, we finally have a real highchair! Mealtime was getting pretty pathetic. We were still putting her in a bouncer to eat her solids (when she was in the kitchen, we had her booster seat in the sunroom...it's just now always ideal conditions to feed her out there). Becky has had one for us for awhile, but it was never a good time to pick it up or when I was over there, I had too much stuff in my car to fit it in. Ed stopped by there today on his way back from the wedding rehearsal to pick it up. Yay! :) And then he decided not to go to the other thing he was going to go to tonight. Double yay! :)

Start Practicing Your Scream!

New Kids on the Block are coming to the Verizon Center on October 2nd! Woooooooooooooooooooo!!! Tickets go on sale next month! I'm so there!

I Got My Baby Back, Baby Back, Baby Back...

It was definitely novel to be baby-free for a whole day, but I was oh-so-happy when I finally got to see her today. I missed her very, very much. And she was very happy to see me too. I got the biggest smile, giggles and happy/excited kicks. Yay. :) I'm on my own for most of the day tomorrow. Ed has a wedding rehearsal to go to during the afternoon...for a wedding that's still two weeks away. I know! Then he's supposed to go to a "reception" in the evening for one of his work peeps that got married in St. Lucia last month. Good times for him...boring times for me. At least I can play with my Abby-doodle.

Perhaps Abby and I will trek on over to BRU to get her an inflatable tub. Hopefully they carry inflatable tubs in store. I know they have them on their site, but I'm not sure if it will be there when we go. All of a sudden, Abby hates baths. She used to love them, but the past three times we've bathed her, it's been tears galore. I'm thinking maybe the baby tub is getting too small and uncomfortable for her. I'm still not ready to just plop her in the big tub yet, so we're going to try the inflatable one. Assuming I can find one I don't have to pay shipping for. I hate to pay for shipping!

And for my fellow bargain hunters, I got cheap ice cream today. Walgreens had their Ben and Jerry's on sale, buy one get one for a penny, this week (through tomorrow). If you go to Smartsource.com, there should be a coupon for $1 off 2 that you can print twice (or at least it was there last week). I got my B&J's on for about $1.75 each. Yeehah.

Happy Birthday To Me!

Yup, 31 is here. Definitely not nearly as traumatic as 30 was. Just another year closer to the next horrible milestone. ;) Thanks Val, Kathy, Meg and Becky for the birthday wishes (in one form or another). :)

The real trauma of today is the fact that we're spending our first night without Abby since she was born. :( My MIL has been chomping at the bit to get her overnight for months now, so I finally gave in so Ed and I could go out for my birthday. We had a nice dinner and he took me out for ice cream. Woohoo. Now I just miss my baby. But, it's good to get her used to spending the night without us on occasion. It will do all three of us good. We talked to his mom around 7:30 and she had just fallen to sleep. She was a good girl all day, so that makes me feel a little better. I'll be happier when I'm back with her tomorrow.

Randomness

-Stupid cable has been down, so I haven't been able to get online at home for a couple of days. Blah.
-My first Mother's Day was pretty good. Exhausting, but good. Abby and I made four stops in one day. The best was my sister's house for a mother's day cookout...yummy food and good company. Ed did good with the gift...I got a gift certificate to a spa. Woohoo!
-I was right about tooth number two being right behind the tooth number one. It popped up the next day. :)
-My birthday's in two days. I'll be old plus a year. Heh. I'm over the 30-thing now...it is what it is. You're only as old as you feel (although some days I feel pretty darned old).
-I got my driver's license renewed today. It was actually pretty painless. The new MVA express up this way is quick and easy. I could have done it by mail, but dumb me forgot about it until it was too late to mail it in. Oh well, at least now I can mail it next time instead. :)
-That's all...I'm tired and I have to load the dishwasher before I go to bed. Or else I'll be washing bottles by hand in the morning. So not going to happen!

7 Months!

And yet another month flies by. I can't believe how big my little baby is getting. I remember when I could hold her in one arm...not anymore! But she's still such a good baby. She's curious about everything and loves to play with whatever she can get her hands on. She sits up on her own like a pro and rolls all over the place. She's been babbling away and Ed and I are both trying our best to get her to say either "mamamamama" or "dadadadadada" (it depends on who's talking to her). I know we still have a little time before we get to that, but it's fun to try. ;) She's now eating solids three times a day and she's started on meat dishes at night. She's all about anything with chicken right now. And we've discovered the joy of puffs.

And for a monthday present, Abby got...her first tooth! Woohoo! She's been a little grumpy the past few evenings and now we know why. It's the one on right side (if you're looking at her) in the center bottom. That toothless grin that I love will be gone before I know it. But, she'll be eating real foods before I know it too. I have a feeling that the other bottom one will be along shortly as well.

Here's her official monthday picture:

No worries, she wasn't going around all day yesterday in bare legs. She was actually in her jammies all day because she was over grandma's house and grandma likes to keep her in the sleepers. I just liked this dress and she'll probably won't have a chance to wear it out, so I put her in it to take the picture. :) Ed keep getting her to smile, but we couldn't time the smile with the camera. This was the best one we could get. But I like it. :)

Another Half Weekend

Yup...had to work another Saturday. Blah. It wasn't too bad though...I had our spring "Teacher Open House," so that kept me busy for most of the day. Not that many teachers showed, but I only do what the company says I have to do. At least it made the day fly by.

When I got home yesterday, Ed had just put Abby down for a nap. He was watching her in the monitor and when I came and said hello to him, he saw Abby's head pop up at the sound of my voice. So I had to go get her and cuddle her for awhile (not that I minded in the least). I love getting her out of her crib...as soon as she sees me or Ed she grins from ear to ear and starts to giggle. It's the little things in life.

After she had a little snooze, we went to Kohl's and to one of the Timonium garden centers. We got some stuff for Abby and a large azalea bush for his mom for Mother's Day. I was supposed to get my mom a couple of hanging baskets for Mother's Day, but she called me today and said that she went out and bought them herself because she saw one that she loved. Grrrrrrrrrrrr. But, she gave me another idea, so I'll just have to work on that instead.

Speaking of Mother's Day, I thought I had bought all the Mother's Day cards we needed the other day, but then I realized that I forgot to get grandmother cards from me and Ed. Too many cards this year...everything is doubled because of the baby. Heaven forbid anyone doesn't get a card just from Abby. Plus, Ed still has to buy me cards (it's my first Mother's Day after all, I must insist that I get my cards). We should own stock in Hallmark.

Today was okay. Ed had softball early, so Abby and I opted to stay home and snooze instead. We went to Target to get a couple of things and then played for awhile. I even managed to get a few things done around the house. We even lowered her crib, which we've been meaning to do for awhile. It was still on the first setting. At least we don't have to cover her Ocean Wonders Aquarium with the bumper pad anymore (not that it stopped her from playing with it once she figured out how to get it out of the way...we only had it like that she she didn't hit it with her head while she slept). She's getting so big. It's a little sad, actually.

Claire and Daddy

Hehehe...cute, short video of my Claire-Bear and Scott. Listen closely...she gets a little excited at the end and misses a couple of numbers.:)

I Hate Meetings

Especially when they involve driving to and from Pikesville during rush hour. Blah. At least the meeting was semi-useful. There was an actual focus this year, which there usually isn't. That helped a lot...I didn't feel like I spend half the day there for nothing. The food wasn't bad either, so that helped put me in a better mood. :) Plus, I got to go to the good Trader Joe's afterwards. I got a few bags of shrimp and some tuna steaks. Yum.

Baby was in a foul mood this evening. It was like a perfect storm. She was hungry, sleepy, gassy and congested...all at the same time. She whined the whole time I was feed her the solids because of the other three issues. She downed her bottle though and was in a much better mood after that. She played for awhile and then went down without a problem. Hopefully she'll feel better tomorrow.

I Said Brrrrrrrrrrr...

We did wind up going to softball with Ed and it was a little chillier than it was supposed to be. So I spent most of the time keeping Abby warm. She was fine...she had on a sweat jacket with the hood up and I snuggled her to me wrapped in the extra part of the blanket I was sitting on. She seemed to have fun, until she got sleepy and didn't want to fall asleep against me. I tried to explain to her that she used to sleep that way all the time, but she didn't believe me. Eventually she did doze off, so that was good. Ed's team split the series (they play 2), which he was thrilled about since it was a team that they haven't beaten in ten years. He played really well too, thanks to me. ;)

Hey...if any of my weirdo-NASCAR-lovin' friends wants a red, 12-month onesie with the #9 car (whoever's that is) on it, let me know. My SIL gave it to me in a big bag of Kaylee's old clothes. Obviously, my child will not be wearing it. NASCAR, blah!

Working Weekends Sucks

With apologies to any of my wonderful co-workers who may be reading this who have to work a heck of a lot more weekends than I do. But, you have to admit, it does suck. I would much rather be at home with my family since Ed typically doesn't work weekends. Plus, now softball season is in full swing, which screws up my Sundays. Blah.

Besides working, I also ran to the grocery store on my way home, brought in and put away all the groceries, played with Abby, fed Abby, gave Abby a bath, and made dinner. What was Ed doing all this time? He was actually very productive today as well (despite the fact that Abby was having a nap-strike today). He mowed the lawn and did the initial set-up for his vegetable garden. That was actually a lot of work...he totally redid the whole shape of the garden, used landscaping bricks to outline it and then built it up so that he can get a garden fence to go high enough to keep the bunnies out of his beans. It took him a couple hours to finish it, but it looks really nice. Now he just has to plant everything. I think he's doing beans, kale (gag) and tomatoes. He has a pretty good green thumb. I, on the other hand, kill all plants that I come into contact with. At least I hate yard work anyway. ;)

Tomorrow Abby and I are going to go to softball with Ed. Hopefully the weather will cooperate better this week. It's supposed to be in the mid-to-upper 60's and cloudy...but no rain until the evening. Keep your fingers crossed that it stays that way. :)

Useless, but Awesome

That would be the "Pizza Tracker" feature on the Domino's website. I have long since discovered the joy of ordering my pizza via Internet, mainly because I hate the phone and talking to stupid people on said phone. So, easy-peasy Internet ordering it is. We decided to splurge a little tonight and get a pizza. The "Pizza Tracker" is a lovely little innovation on the site that gives you real-time updates on how your order is going. For example, my pizza was packaged and placed in a hot Heatwave box at 8:05 pm. Good to know. ;)

Apparently Val is completely insane and has decided to invite about 120 people to Jordan's first birthday party. Oy. I don't even think I know 120 that I would invite, much less be able to figure out how to get them in my house. Good luck with that one, Val! Hopefully we'll be able to make it. I thought it was supposed to be on that Saturday, not Sunday...so we told his parents that we would spend the rest of the weekend with them at their other house. I'll try to work it out though.

And finally, it looks like Meg and Erin are planning a group play date for when our long-lost friend Tracy is back in town from Hong Kong. Best part...it involves margaritas for the mommies. Score!

What Was I Thinking?

This being the first day of Ed's softball season, I thought I would be a good wife and go watch him. We were going to take the baby too, but the weather forecast wasn't looking too good. We dropped her off at Ed's parents' house instead. I should have just stayed there with her, but off to the game I went. It was a little chillier than I had anticipated, so I was already a little uncomfortable in the jeans and short-sleeved shirt I was wearing. Then, just before the first game started (yup, they're always double-headers), it started to drizzle. Then the thunder and lightening started. They decided to play anyway, so I tried my best to ignore the rain. About twenty minutes into it, the skies opened up and it started to pour. I gathered up my stuff and made a beeline for the car. Soaked and freezing, I decided I'd had enough of the outdoors for one day and enjoyed the rest of the games from the front seat. Good times, I tell ya!

In other news, Abby has mastered the art of rolling from her tummy to her back. At least, she's mastered it while in her crib. As in, if we put her down and she decides she's not quite ready for a nap, she'll roll onto her back to play with her feet for awhile. She'll usually start to fuss not long after that, so we have to turn her over to her tummy so she'll go to sleep. She rolls onto her tummy on the floor all the time, but won't do that in her crib. Strange child. She'll also roll onto her back once she's done sleeping and we're taking to long to rescue her from the crib. She's so proud of herself when we go in and exclaim over what she did. Too funny. Next time I change her sheets, we'll be moving the matress down a level or two.

Movin' On Up

We have officially moved up to the level 2 foods for her dinner. I had to reduce the amount of cereal I give her at that time from 3 tablespoons to 2, but after that she'll eat the entire container of veggies. Today she devoured a container of "Garden Vegetables." I think it had carrots, beans and spinach. I guess the carrot taste was strong enough to negate the bean taste. She also had a mix of squash and corn and seemed to like that too. Good thing...I was getting bored with the level 1 foods. ;) She has less than a week's worth of level 1 fruits left, so we'll be moving up in the morning soon too.

Not much else going on right now. We did a little shopping early this afternoon (I sweet talked Ed into buying me Juno) and then met my mom for lunch. Then Ed installed Abby's carseat into my mom's car, so now she can take Abby places (and pick her up from daycare for me if I'm desperate). Now she just has to figure out how to get Abby in and out of it and we're in business. ;)

Can you believe how nice the weather has gotten? I'm actually hot right now. Our house has been open for the past few days and I'm loving every minute of it. Not only does it feel great, especially at night when it cools down, but we're saving a ton off of our BGE bill. Score!

And I'll end with saying: GO O'S! They beat the poo out of the Yankees last night and they're ahead 4-0 in the 6th right now. WOOHOO! So far this season, they've been pretty fun to watch.

I Love BNL!

That's Barenaked Ladies for those not in the know. Here's a video for a song off their first kids CD coming out May 6th. Abby and I must own it! Anyway, the song and video are hysterical. Enjoy!

6-Month Checkup

Yesterday I had the fun of taking Abby to her 6-month checkup by myself. Blah. Actually, I forgot it was supposed to be yesterday. I somehow lost the appointment card and was too lazy to call the office to see when the appointment was supposed to be. They always call the day before to remind us anyway, so when I called my home machine from work on Thursday, I got the reminder. Luckily, I have the ability to be pretty flexible about my schedule at work, so I just changed my hours to 10:30 to 7 for her 9:15 appointment.

Anyway, here's the usual stats: Weight: 17 lbs 12 oz (75th percentile); Length: 27 inches (90th percentile); and once again, her head circumference is in the 25th percentile. Heh. Don't know where she got that tiny head from. Other than that, everything looks good and she's a healthy little girl. She wasn't too thrilled with the shots, but who can blame her? Actually, the first one didn't bother her. It wasn't until after the second that she noticed something was amiss and it was all over once we reached the third and fourth shots. Poor baby. But she got to go to Grandma's house right afterwards, where she got lots of love and comfort, so it was all okay.

Today I went to visit Becky, who was watching Val's baby, Jordan. My poor sister. For anyone who doesn't know, Becky is preggo once again (yay!) and is due in October (we're hoping for right around, but not on, Abby's birthday so we can combine parties). She was trying to take care of Jordan, who had taken a liking to her, but Claire was having none of it. If Becky was holding Jordan, Claire was pretty sure she was supposed to be the one being held instead. She wouldn't even go to Scott, she only wanted Becky. Naturally, Jordan wouldn't go to Scott either. Let's hope that Claire gets past this phase by October, or that she's like I was when Becky was born and decides to cling to Daddy instead once the new baby arrives. Oy.

6 Months Old!

Holy moley...I have a six-month old! She's officially half-a-year old. Crazy, I tell you! Yet, it's hard to remember life without my little bundle of joy. I couldn't be happier with my sweet baby and I'm grateful for her everyday. :)

This month she mastered solid foods, she's working on sitting up on her own, she loves to play (especially in her Exersaucer), Ed can get her to belly laugh to the point of hiccups, she's starting to hold her bottle by herself a little, she recognizes more people, and she's now a jumping bean (see video).

She's so much fun and I can't wait to see what she learns next!

Actually...

I figured out the "share" link so that none of my personal info comes up. So here you go!

Adventures in Photo-Land

So we got Abby's six-month portraits done. They turned out pretty cute...I can't wait to get the prints. I liked the Sears place, so I got the "Smile Savers" membership. If you spend over $50 (which we unfortunately did), it's only $10. We get free sittings (not that I paid this time...coupons are my friends), a free 8x10 every time you go and if you go Monday through Thursday, you get buy-one-get-ones for whatever you get. Monday through Thursday is no problem since I'll never go back on the weekend. What a pain in the dupa. We had the pictures taken yesterday and had to go back today to view them since they were under-staffed and over-booked. Working retail, I can relate, so I couldn't really get annoyed. We'll be able to pick up the pictures on the 16th. If anyone is dying to see them, let me know and I'll e-mail you the link. :)

Other than that, it's been a boring weekend. Got a couple things done around the house and went to CVS this morning to get my weekly deals. I spent a little more than I meant to because the teenage cashier missed my $9.98 Extra Care Bucks voucher. I wasn't paying attention when he rang me up, but then realized that it seemed like I had estimated it to be a lot less. So I studied my receipt and realized what he did, then had to go and get my voucher back. I'll just use it next week instead.

Tomorrow I have plans to go out for lunch with my work buddies, so that will be fun. We're supposed to go to the Chinese Buffet, but I'm almost leaning towards Chick-Fil-A. Apparently they're giving away free milkshakes with any purchase on Mondays all month. Score! I love me some Chick-Fil-A milkshakes!

C is for Cookie, That's Good Enough For Me!

Sorry, I've been listening to the Sesame Street Platinum CD that I bought for Abby. A lot. Is it wrong to admit that I like it better than she does at this point? No? Good.

Not too much exciting going on this week. We're taking Abby to get her six-month pictures done at Sears today. As much as I like Picture People, I just can't afford to go there every three months for the pictures we want to get done. Although I'm thinking of splurging for her first birthday and getting those pictures done there. In the meantime, Sears has some great deals that I couldn't pass up. I'll get out of there for about $60 with what would have cost me about $100 more at PP. I gotta go with the bargain. Hopefully the pictures will turn out cute enough. :)

I'm pretty sure the baby's in the middle of another growth spurt right now. It seems like she's a little bigger every day. It's crazy, I tell you! As far as food, we'll be trying our last level 1 flavor tomorrow morning: Prunes! Woohoo! So far, she's still liked everything but green beans. She even seemed to like the peas well enough. At least, she ate them without crying or trying to push the spoon away. They didn't seem to particularly thrill her, but at least she tolerated them. I did make a second attempt with the green beans, but got the same result. She just don't like 'em.

In other news, I got my hair chopped on Wednesday. It was getting ridiculously long and I was just sick of it. All I ever did with it was pull it back in a doubled-over ponytail at the nape of my neck so that the baby couldn't grab it. So, I went to Mastercuts at the mall during my lunch break. It ain't fancy, but at least it's not Haircuttery! Anyway, I had great timing (for once) because there was nobody there and the manager took me immediately. I was shampooed, cut, blown dry and back to work before the hour was up. Go me!

The hair is now a little above my shoulders with long layers. He cut so much off that he was able to bundle it up in a ponytail to donate to one of those charities that makes wigs for kids with cancer. So, I also did a good deed. Go me again. He must have asked me twenty times if I was sure I wanted it all cut off. I was like, "Just cut the damned hair already!" But it looks and feels much better now, so I'm happy. :)