Finally...A Post!

Sorry...it's been wacky around here between the holiday and work. Plus, our computer was crazy slow for a few days. But anyway, I hope everyone had a super Thanksgiving. Ours was lovely. I cooked and Ed's family and my mom came over. I was exhausted by the end of it, but everyone had a good time and the food was yummy...so it was a success.

Unfortunately, work is now in full crap mode. But, it's only for a month. I'll make it through. Hopefully my child doesn't forget me between this week and next when I work late 8 out of 14 days. Blah.

Speaking of my Abby-doodle...apparently she woke up on Sunday and thought to herself, "I think I'm ready to learn how to walk." Heh...she's been all about the walking ever since. She's taken several single steps on her own and is cruising around the furniture with only one hand. She also wants us to walk with her around and around the house. Usually she'll go about halfway across the room and then decide that she's done and will refuse to move another inch. But now we putter out before she does. She'll be off and running before we know it...and then we're really in trouble!

Okay, I've officially updated. Now I have to go finish getting ready for work.

Don't Wanna Go to Work!

Especially since tonight is the night of our craziest bookfair of the year. I'm exhausted just thinking about it. Last year was so wonderful when I was at home on maternity leave and enjoyed every moment of not working. Maybe in a couple years I can time it that well again. ;)

Yesterday was a nice day. It was my turn to sleep in and once I got up I made pancakes (which Abby loved). Then my mom called to see if Abby and I wanted to go visit my grandmother with her. We were there for an hour and a half or so, then we went home and watched the awesome Ravens game. Yay Ravens! Unfortunately Abby's nap schedule got all out of whack, so she took it very late and I had to wake her up for dinner. Then she was cranky for the rest of the night until we put her down for the night at 7:15.

Today Abby let me sleep in until 7:45. We played for awhile and then I took her to daycare. I got a couple errands done and now I'm killing time until I have to go to work. As usual, I say blah!

Slacker Friend

Belated "Happy Birthday!"'s to Kathy and Val. It was a crazy week and I barely got to get on the computer at home. But I thought about you on your birthdays, if that's any consolation. Poor Val didn't have a very fun birthday, but at least Pheonix seeems to be doing better.

So, obviously I had an exhausting week. I worked late Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. I was so thrown off that when my alarm went off yesterday morning, I listened to it for ten minutes thinking "is Ed ever going to get up?" before I realized that it was for me. Right now I'm enjoying my last Saturday off until after Christmas. Probably until after the New Year. This week won't be too bad. I work late Monday for a bookfair, but then I open Tuesday, I'm off Wednesday and Thursday and then open Friday and Saturday. But the first two weeks of December are going to suck again. Remind me why I work retail...

Getting Things Done

Wow...it's only 11:00 am and I've managed to get a lot (well, for me it's a lot) done today. Go me! Abby woke up around 7 and we hung out here until 9ish. Then I got her ready for daycare and off we went. It was funny actually...since the weather has finally gotten colder, I put her in her hat and mittens this morning. She spent half of the car ride staring at her hands trying to figure out what the heck she had on them and then spent the second half trying to figure out how to get them off. She cracks me up.

After I dropped her off, I went to Toys R Us to try to buy an Elmo Laptop for the second time. I bought one at Target last month as a Christmas gift for my niece Kaylee. It went upstairs with the rest of the presents I've bought so far. While I was at work on Saturday, Ed decided to open one of the birthday toys that we put away for later for Abby. Guess what he decided to open. Yup, Kaylee's laptop. I could have killed him. Of course, when we went back to Target, they no longer had any. But then I got a 15% off any item coupon in an e-mail for TRU, so I decided to give them a try. They had it, but for $5 more than I bought it for at Target. At least with the coupon it evened out. If anybody didn't get that coupon and would like a copy, let me know and I'll e-mail it to you. It's good through the 20th.

After TRU I went to a clothing store in the area and got a sweater that was half price for me. Then I tried the new Aldi (spelling?) grocery store that opened up in Golden Ring. Interesting place. They have some name brand stuff, but it's mostly off-brands. I was told that their milk prices were good, so I really went to get a gallon of whole milk for Abby. I picked up a few other things as well. The prices are definitely low, so that's a plus. The sucky things about it are that they don't accept credit cards and they don't bag for you. But, if it's saving me money, I'll suck it up.

Now I'm killing time until I leave for work in an hour. Blah for work!

Christmas is Here!

Or at least it is for me since I'm one of those fools working in retail this holiday season. The Avenue had their annual tree lighting on Friday night and the Holiday Parade on Saturday. I was off on Friday, so I can't comment on how the tree lighting went (although they brought Santa out on a dog sled, which I thought was rather cool). I can tell you that the parade was pretty lame. Of course, it was rainy and yucky out, so I'm sure that didn't help. But even the parade itself didn't measure up to years past. Oh well.

This week is one of my four bookfair weeks. Good times. Tonight's was a good warm up for the big ones that are coming up. Last night we had our all-store holiday meeting, which was actually a lot of fun. We made it different this year and kept it light and entertaining. It seemed to work too because a lot of booksellers were commenting today that it was the best holiday meeting they've ever been too. We even did a potluck and there was plenty of leftover goodies for today, so that was a bonus.

In Abby news, she's still not walking although she's been balancing herself more and more. I'm not worried about it though. When she's ready, she'll go for it. We're just late walkers in my family. Today she fed herself with a fork for the first time. Although Ed said that she got annoyed that the food wasn't getting to her mouth fast enough, so she would supplement forkfuls with handfuls. Whatever works. She's had a little cold since last week. She's doing better but the nose is still running off and on. Hopefully she'll shake the last of it soon. And she's really, really into books now. Yay! She's forever picking them up and handing them to us to read to her. Hooray for books!

Abby McCrankypants

Abby finally managed to catch the cold that's been going around. I thought she'd get it sooner, since Becky and her family got it last week and then my mom had it when she babysat Abby on Thursday. She was fine until Saturday night when she was restless all night and actually woke up for almost an hour around midnight. Good times. She slept fine on Sunday, but then was a very unpleasant baby at daycare yesterday. She had another rough night last night, so we decided to just keep her home today. I have an event tonight, so I wasn't going in until 1 anyway, so I just took a half sick day and will go in around 4. That way Ed can keep the couple appointments he had today and then take over for the evening shift.

This weekend was nice. Ed's birthday was Friday, so the three of us went out to dinner at Damon's. Abby loved it...she had grilled cheese and apple sauce and had the best time looking around at everything and everyone. Saturday morning Abby and I made the spur of the moment decision to go to Arundel Mills so that Ed could sleep in. We got there an hour before the mall even opened, so we did a lap around the place, had breakfast and then did a little shopping. I got a Christmas gift for my youngest cousin and got Abby a couple of Christmas sleepers that were half-price at the Carters store. We didn't inherit much holiday-themed clothing this year and I have a thing for putting her in Christmas apparel. I picked up a couple of really cute Christmas shirts at Old Navy last week that were on sale 2 for $10 (usually $10.50 each), so that was exciting for me. It's the little things in life.

Ed managed to get a lot done around the house over the weekend. We got some hand-me-down gates from our friends Dave and Deb, so we no longer have to rely on a cardboard box full of Aflac brochures to keep Abby off of the staircase going up to the top floor. He also finally put together the playset that my mom bought her for her birthday. It's really cute. It has a ball pit, a slide and a swing. She loves the ball pit and the swing, but her absolute favorite thing to do is to try to climb up the slide. Oy.

Sunday was my day to sleep in, so Ed and Abby played downstairs all morning. Then we watched the awesome Ravens game and just bummed around all day. Fun!

Hopefully Abby will feel better tomorrow. Our schedules are insane right now, so Abby is actually spending tomorrow night at Ed's parent's house. I have to work late tomorrow and Thursday, and Ed has a late meeting tomorrow, so it was the best solution. At least I'm off on Friday, so we'll get the day together then. Is it January yet?

The Election is Over!

Praise the Lord. I voted in the afternoon and was in and out of my polling place in five minutes. Go me. And that's all I have to say about all of that.

Right now it's another night alone for me. Ed had a late enrollment, but should be home soon. I had to work late for a school bookfair, so Grandma came over to babysit. Abby was starting to get upset when she realized that I was leaving, but then Grandma opened a pack of Gerber fruit snacks and she forgot all about me. Have I ever mentioned how much my child loves to eat?

Tomorrow and Friday are normal, but then next week really starts my month and a half from hell. I'm pretty much working late three to four days every week (except for Thanksgiving week) until the third week of December. It's mostly bookfairs with a few booksignings thrown in there for good measure. I hate this time of year. Maybe I should just try to get knocked up again in the February/March time period so I can skip it again next year. Or not. Maybe the following February/March...

Ahhhh Boo!!!

All of a sudden Abby's become a little parrot. It's very funny. My mom was almost getting her to say "I see you" yesterday. Then today we were playing a peek-a-boo game and I kept saying "ahhhh boo!" and she started trying to say it back. Then Ed got her to say "up" a little after that. She's so much fun. :)

Halloween was pretty uneventful. We decided to put off the trick-or-treating for one more year. It's not like she's eating the candy yet and it's the last thing that Ed and I need. Plus, we're not the most social people in the neighborhood, so it's not like I was dying to go to the neighbors' houses to show her off. Maybe next year we can mooch off of someone else's neighborhood and go trick-or-treating with a friend (or cousin).

My mom did take her to the elementary school yesterday afternoon to see the Halloween parade. She dressed Abby in her kitty cat costume and walked her over in the stroller. She said that Abby had a ball looking at all the kids in their costumes, doing a two-handed wave at everyone and saying "Hi!" constantly. I'm glad she got to have some Halloween fun. :)

Here's the kitty cat pictures:

She was very cute in the costume. I was shocked she kept the hood on without a fight. For the longest time she wouldn't let me put anything on her head and then in the past couple weeks, she all of a sudden doesn't mind. Maybe she realized that it was keeping her head warm in the cold weather. Or maybe she's just a fickle one-year-old. ;)

Blah

This weather is getting to me. Work is getting to me. Ed's schedule is getting to me. Thank goodness for my Abby-doo because everything else is sucking right now. But, this too shall pass. That is all.

I Accomplished Something!

Yay me! I actually wrote all of Abby's birthday thank you's. Now I just have to get envelopes and stamps so I can actually send them off. The invitations I used came with thank you postcards, but I want to send her one-year photos with the cards, so I have to put them in envelopes. I guess I'll run to Staples at some point tomorrow. And Tracy, could you please e-mail me your address? I wrote one for you and I need to send it somewhere!

Today will be fun. I'm taking my mom to see Beauty and the Beast at the Dundalk Community Theater for her birthday (which is tomorrow). We're also meeting my friend Carrie there. My friend Sam is in it (he's the cheese grater...hehe!) and my other friend Rob is the stage manager. It should be fun. I'm taking her out to dinner afterwards, so it will be a lovely evening all around.

She's Got her Daddy's Veins

It's a good thing too because mine suck! The blood draw is over and done with. Hooray! It wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be. We got there about seven minutes after the place opened and there were already three people ahead of us! Thank goodness we got there when we did. We only had to wait about ten minutes, so that wasn't too bad. At least Abby was in a good mood. When we went in, Ed sat in the chair and held her, while I held her other hand and tried to distract her. She was fine, even when the nurse put the band on her arm, until she grabbed her arm to hold it out. She didn't struggle at all, just cried. It was very sad, but at least the nurse found a vein on the first try and filled both tubes up very quickly. Abby was done crying by the time we got to the car. So, not nearly as traumatic as it could have been. She was happy as can be by the time we got to daycare, which is where she is now. I have a bookfair tonight, so I have to get ready to leave soon. Yeehaw!

Yay for Bathtime!

Praise the Lord...bathtime is fun again! I don't know if her problem was the diaper rash or what, but all of a sudden the tub is no longer a battle zone. I've just been dumping all of her bath toys in there with her and she's happy to sit and play while I wash her. It's nice to have a clean baby again. ;)

Yesterday was crazy busy. I took Abby to her friend Carter's birthday party for a little while where she had fun eating pizza and watching all the other kids run around. Then we had to run back home to grab some stuff and head out to my MIL's for a birthday dinner for my SIL and Ed's grandmother. Good times. Abby had a blast playing with her Pop, trying to keep up with her cousin Kaylee and eating everything on the table. She had beef, potatoes, some vegetable medley (carrots, peas, corn and beans), broccoli, most of a roll, and almost a whole piece of strawberry jello stuff. And then she still went after Kaylee's crackers. Sheesh!

Today was just a Monday. Back to work, Abby back to daycare. Blah. Tomorrow we're going to try again to get her blood drawn. Wish us luck!

Piggie Girl

Abby must be going through a growth spurt or something because girlfriend is eating like crazy right now. Last night was the funniest. She had a late lunch, so we figured that she wouldn't want dinner until after 6. Not so much. By 5:30 she was whining because she was hungry. So, she ate some cheese, a level 3 dinner and some diced peaches. Ed and I decided to order pizza for dinner and it got here about 6:30. We ate it downstairs while Abby was playing. As soon as she saw we were eating she came right over and pretty much let it be known that she needed to have what we were eating. So, she wound up eating an entire Pizza Hut cheesy breadstick. That kept her busy for awhile, but she finished it before I finished my pizza. So, I figured I would give her a mushroom, thinking she wouldn't like it and would decide to go back to playing. Uhhhh...yeah. Apparently my one-year-old loves mushrooms. She had about three off of my pizza before I finished. She just cracks me up!

Turning to the Dark Side

Yes, I did. I finally made a Facebook page. Becky succumbed first and found some interesting people, so I finally gave in. I still refuse to even consider a MySpace. I'm an adult, dammit!

So, my mom and I attempted to get Abby to LabCorp to get her blood drawn, but when we got there the waiting room was completely full. It would have been at least an hour wait and I know that my child would not stand for that. I'm going to try again when they open one day this week. Hopefully they'll be less crowded then.

Abby and I went to see Becky and the kiddies this afternoon. The boys are getting big...relatively speaking. They're still little peanuts, but at least they're bigger peanuts then they were a month ago. Speaking of which, Happy Monthday Ryan and Isaac!

Tomorrow I have to go to work for a half day. I did a half today to make up the difference. That way I can at least stop by Paige's birthday party for a couple of minutes before I have to hit the road to get to work. We have a children's author coming in for a reading and signing. He's a pretty good author, so I'm praying for a half-decent crowd. But, seeing as how it's on a Saturday evening at The Avenue, I'm really not sure what to expect. I better get at least a handful of people!

Okay, off to bed. I'm exhausted. It sucks to get old!

12-Month Checkup

Gah...that was fun. Actually, it was fine for the most part. Her appointment was for 8:45, so we got right in without having to wait, which rocked. The traffic getting there sucked, but I think it was a fair trade-off. My little chunkamunk is 25 lbs 7oz, which is the 95th percentile, and she's 31 inches, which is also the 95th percentile. Abby is most definitely "so big!"

Everything else looked good. We were a little concerned about her feet since Ed and I both had to wear a bar between our feet when we were toddlers because we were both pigeon toed. The doctor said that hers look good right now. There's still a lot of flexibility in there, but we should take care to make sure she doesn't sit with her legs under her because that could effect the way they turn. We also asked him about eggs and the flu shot. Ed, his dad and his grandmother all have egg sensitivities. We haven't been brave enough yet to feed her any. The doctor said to just go ahead and give her a scrambled egg and monitor her for any reaction. If she's okay, we should call to set up a time to bring her in to get the flu vaccine.

Speaking of shots, there were three yesterday. The first two were fine, but that third one was a doozy. I even heard it go in. Ouch. Her face got bright red, her whole body stiffened, she tried to yank her leg away and then she started wailing. Oy. She would not stop until we got her out of the examining room and she finally felt like she was safe again. Then we got the paperwork to take her to get blood drawn for the lead test. That should be fun. I think my mom and I are going to take her on Friday after I get off of work.

I have my annual teacher's open house at work today, so that should be another joyous experience. Work is not fun this time of year. As much as I don't want another fall baby, at least my maternity leave last time was my get-out-of-jail-free card for October and November craziness at work. Perhaps I should reconsider the preferred timing of baby two. Not that we thinking anytime soon. But, eventually. :)

Birthday Party Photo Dump

Abby's Baby Elmo cake, which turned out very cute.

The zoo that was my living room.

Abby and Paige admiring one of Abby's Elmo gifts.

Taking a quick juice break as everyone else plays with her new toys.

Enjoying another cake.

Yay for cake!

So Sleepy

Our schedules are so messed up right now, it's not even funny. But, I'm back to work now, so things should be getting somewhat back to normal. Abby's party on Saturday turned out well. I thought I was going to lose my mind because of all the people in my little house! My living room was overrun with babies and their mommies. It was crazy! But Abby got a lot of fun gifts (she got about five different Elmo toys!) and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves. The only bummer was that I promised Ed that we would save the cake-cutting until his mom got there...which wasn't until 2 1/2 hours after the party started. So, by the time we got around to it a good chunk of our guests had left. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr. So, we have a lot of leftover cake. Oh well. I'll post pictures as soon as I remember to bring the camera up here to download them.

I don't know if it was because she didn't get a real dinner on Saturday or what, but Abby woke up at 1:00 am that night and basically didn't go back to sleep until after 3. Oy. We just totally gave up at one point and let her crawl around her room. Finally, we put batteries in her Ocean Wonders Aquarium, which we had just been keeping on the crib so she could play with the rolly toys on the bottom, and she was fascinated enough by it that she didn't even notice when we left the room. She fell asleep soon after it stopped. We were hoping it was just a one time deal, but she woke up again last night. This time, I went in to change her diaper (she has a terrible diaper rash due to a brief bout of diarrhea) and rocked her for a little bit, then put her back down and let her cry it out until she fell asleep. Keep your fingers crossed that she sleeps through the night tonight.

In other fussy baby news, she has also decided that bathtime is evil. I think it's because I decided that she had outgrown the duckie tub and was ready for the real thing. Ever since, she's acted like I was killing her when I put her in the tub. She won't sit, just stands, sobs, and hangs onto me for dear life as I try my best to wash her. Not fun at all. I think I might just blow the duckie tub back up for another couple of months and then try again.

Tomorrow we take her in for her one-year checkup. That should be fun. At least Ed is able to go with us, so that will make it a little less stressful for me. Hopefully I'll have time to post her stats tomorrow.

Abby's First Year!

And here's her birthday video. I'm warning you ahead of time that it's five minutes long. I had a hard enough time keeping it to five pictures per month, I don't know how I could have made it any shorter. But, I love it and I tear up each time I watch it. Enjoy!

Abby's 1st Birthday!

***The link toward the bottom should work now!***

My little baby is a year old! How did that happen? It seems like only yesterday I was in the hospital enduring all measures of discomfort and indignity. But, the end result was definitely worth it. :)

Today was very busy. We went to the farm and saw some very cool animals. Seriously, who knew that all that was behind the little shop at Chapel Hill Farm? It was very cool and even though she didn't quite know what to make of it, Abby seemed to enjoy herself.

Checking out the bunnies and goats as well as she could from the confines of her stroller.

"Uh...Mommy? Aren't you going to try to keep this crazy thing from trying to eat me?"

After the farm, we went to the park and she had fun swinging with Grandma and watching Claire play.

Wondering if anyone was ever going to give her a push.

Grandma is funny.

After the park, we came home and ate a little bit and then took a (way too short) nap. Then we had lunch and opened the presents from Mommy and Daddy.

Checking out her card and babydoll.

Opening her basketball game. We also gave her the Fisher Price piano. It's awesome.

Then we went to Sears to get her portrait done. Unfortunately, they were over-booked and under-staffed, so we had to wait about 35 minutes before we got to go back. By that point, all Abby's patience had pretty much run out, so we didn't have the best session ever. But we did get a couple of really cute shots, so that's the important thing. If you would like to see those pictures, here you go! If you're wondering about the too-short bangs, it's not my fault. My MIL took it upon herself to cut them when Abby was over there earlier in the week. :(

Grandma made an encore appearance for dinner around 6 and then we gave Abby her cake. It would surprise nobody that she rather enjoyed it. She was very tired by that point, so she didn't put on much of a "show," but hopefully she'll be ready to rip into it on Saturday.

"What the heck is this?"

"You people have totally been holding back on me!"

Silly Mommy and Daddy waited until the end of the day to take the official monthday shot. So, this is the best we could get.

Oh well!

All-in-all, it was a good (but exhausting) 1st birthday. Yay, Abby! :)

Here, There and Everywhere!

Just spent the morning running errands. And the vacation fun just doesn't end! I dropped Abby off at daycare, returned a book-on-CD to the library, returned a DVD to Blockbuster (Forgetting Sarah Marshal...hysterical!), stopped by the store to get a mileage check cashed and to pick up a couple things, went to AC Moore to use my 55% off any item coupon to get a picture frame so we can finally hang up Abby's 9-month portrait, went the bank, went to CVS to take advantage of their good ExtraCare Bucks deals for the week, and finally to the dollar store to get some wrapping paper and extra plates for Saturday. And I'm ready to go back to sleep!

But, alas, it's not meant to be. Back to cleaning for me! Today I'm working on the living room, kitchen and downstairs. Tomorrow Ed's going to do the sunroom and his bathroom while I'm out and about with Abby. We're meeting my mom, Becky and Claire at Chapel Hill Farm around 9:30. I figured it's free, closer and probably a better choice for Abby right now. We'll go to Weber's next year. I'm hoping to be home by 11 so she can go down for her nap in order to be nice and fresh for her portrait appointment (Sears!) at 3:30. My mom's coming over at 6 for dinner and to watch Abby have her first cake experience. I can't wait for that. As much as my child loves to eat, she will be in heaven. I'll definitely post pictures. :)

Yum!

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm...steak! Too bad we're poor and can only eat at someplace like Ruth's Chris when we have a gift card, but I guess that just makes us appreciate the rare treat even more. Dinner was yummy...especially since we discovered that Ed's $100 gift card was actually a $200 gift card, so we could spend without thinking about prices at all. We got the calamari (best I've ever had), and we each got a salad and a fillet. We split two sides and then they gave us a free dessert since it was our anniversary. Even with tax and tip, we still have about $50 left on the card. Don't know when we'll ever spend it, but at least it's there. And I'm still stuffed!

And thanks to everyone for the anniversary well wishes. :) We're definitely getting old though. After dinner we decided we just didn't feel like doing anything else and we went home and watched our shows. Gotta love it.

Today I'm cleaning a little more. I did Abby's room since she isn't home. She's still over her Gram's house. My MIL actually took Abby to the mall where they met Ed so she could buy Abby shoes for (part of?) her birthday present. Ed said that Abby was hilarious trying to figure out what the heck was on her feet. Her foot size is a 4 1/2 and she's in the stage 2 shoes, whatever that means. She's not walking yet, but she does need the shoes to at least keep her feet warm when she's outside. She's not a sock fan either and will take them off as soon as I get her in her carseat. Oh how I miss the days of the BundleMe.

Just two more days until Abby's birthday! My mom and I were going to take her to Weber's Farm, but apparently they did away with all the cool stuff that she would have enjoyed. Now we're thinking of just taking her to Chapel Hill Farm to see the animals and pumpkins and such. I'll have to think about it a little more. Then she has her picture appointment at 3:30 at Sears and then my mom is coming over for dinner and to see Abby's first cake experience. I want her to be prepared to put on a good show on Saturday. ;)

Break time over. Off to clean some more. Yeehaw!

7 Years!

That's how long Ed and I have managed to be married without killing each other! Just kidding, we're still very much in love...just a little stressed. But, that's life. Right now I'm spending our anniversary cleaning. Fun! I did a total scrub-down of my bathroom and now I'm mentally preparing myself to get to our bedroom. I have two hours and then I need to start getting ready to go out tonight. We're going to pick Abby up from daycare, drop her off at my in-laws and then head to Annapolis to have a yummy dinner at Ruth's Chris. Yay for us! :)

"Hi!"

That's what we decided Abby's official first word is. "Hi!" She says mama and dada, but it still seems more like babble than actual communication. The "Hi!" she means. Sometimes you can even get her to say it on cue. When I'm on the phone with Ed or Grandma, if I hold it up to her and tell her to say it, she usually will. She also tries to say "kitty cat" and "brush," but they're not quite understandable yet. But we know what she's talking about. ;)

We're still not walking yet. She's not even that into trying to practice. She'll do it a little, but then she wants to crawl instead. I'm not worried or anything, she'll do it when she ready. Plus, I have enough trouble keeping up with the crawling. I can wait a little longer for the walking!

Everything else is same old. I've been crazy busy at work and am exhausted by the time I get home. We have a bookfair tonight, which is why I'm home right now. I have to leave in about ten minutes though. Ed's on baby duty for the rest of the day, or at least until he drops her off at his mom's house so he can play softball tonight. Actually, I'm happy that she's going there tonight. Our anniversary is next Monday and his mom offered to watch Abby overnight. It's been a couple of weeks since she's watched her, so at least tonight will give Abby a chance to get used to it over there again before next week.

We're actually going out to a nice dinner for our anniversary. Ed earned a $100 Ruth's Chris gift card from work, so we're going to get some really good steak. Woohoo! We may or may not catch a movie afterwards, depending on how we feel and what's playing. It will be nice to have a night out with just the two of us, although I'll miss my baby like crazy!

Okay, I have to go find some black socks and get to work. Have a super day!

I Finally Saw the Boys!


Yay! It was very exciting, I tell you! I was going to go alone, but then Ed announced that he would like to see Ryan and Isaac too, so the three of us went together. Luckily, Grandma was also there, so she got to play with the girls while I cooed over the boys and Ed talked to Scott about sports. It was so weird to pick up Isaac for the first time. After lugging around 26 (or so) pounds of Abby on a regular basis, to hold a 5 pound infant was like holding a ragdoll. My mom had the opposite problem when she tried to pick up Abby after holding Ryan for awhile. But both boys are very cute and tiny and sweet. :)


Unfortunately, I remembered to bring my camera, but neglected to actually use it. You'll just have to keep depending on Becky to provide the pictures. Claire was in rare form. Usually she doesn't want to have much to do with Abby, but she actually got excited to see her and played with her very nicely. I guess the baby brothers made her more receptive to other kids. It was nice to see the two of them together. Just wait until next year once Abby is able to keep up with her. That should be fun.


Other than that, it's been a lovely, non-eventful weekend. We didn't even leave the house at all yesterday. Who wants to go out in the yucky rain? Abby was thrilled to have a day at home with both Mommy and Daddy. She hasn't gotten too much time with the both of us together recently. It's only going to get worse, but at least it's just temporary. Things will go back to normal in January.

Wacky Week

And the worst is yet to come! All I wanna do is go visit my sister and Ryan, but just haven't had a chance yet. Boo! Oh how I wish I could be a stay-at-home mommy. Tomorrow I work late because of the first bookfair of the season and then Friday I have a huge lunch-time event. I've barely seen Ed all week. He umpired the late games on Monday, he umpired the early games yesterday and then had a 10pm enrollment, then tonight he's umpiring again and will have to go to bed almost as soon as he gets home because he has to get up at 4am. Blah. My mom is watching Abby tomorrow afternoon and then Ed will pick her up when he's done for the day.

I guess it's good preparation for the upcoming months. November and December are going to be hellish around here. It's the busy season for both of us. I'll be working late almost every weeknight starting in the middle of November until the second Tuesday in December. Then I'll be working most weekend days. I have no idea when I'll get to spend any time with Abby. I guess I'll just keep her here in the mornings and then take her to daycare around 11 so I can have enough time to get ready for work. We're going to have to depend on my mom an awful lot...she'll just have to take Abby with her when she goes to Becky's house to help her out. Is it January yet?

Blahness

Have I ever mentioned how much I hate Mondays? Cause I hate them a lot. We didn't even have our usual Monday Morning Manager's Meeting because my manager came in late. That really sucked because not only did I get there at 7:00 for no real reason, but it made the day seem much longer. At least I took my shower last night, so that was an extra half-hour I got to sleep. Woohoo.

So, Becky and Ryan are home. Yay! Read all about it on Becky's blog. Hopefully Isaac won't be too far behind. I would like to be able to come visit this week, but that depends on how everybody's schedule works out. Between taking care of Claire and Ryan and getting to the hospital to see Isaac, Becky's days are pretty full. I have to work around my work schedule and Abby's schedule. Plus, Ed has a crazy schedule this week between enrollments and umpiring, so he's not much help in the Abby department. But, I will try. I'm dying to see my nephews! :)

Tonight is the beginning of the television season! Hooray! Heroes and How I Met Your Mother, two of my favorite shows, start tonight. If you don't watch HIMYM, you must start! It's one of the funniest shows on tv and way underrated. That's my television plug for the day. Prison Break and CSI Miami, two more of my shows, are also on tonight. Our DVR definitely works overtime on Mondays.

Off to try to get a little rest while Abby takes her post-daycare nap. Have I mentioned how much I hate Mondays?

A Little More Baby News

Well, the good news is that Ryan will move in with Becky later today. Yay! :) She's actually staying until Sunday, so he'll be going home with her then. The not-as-good news is that Isaac will still have to stay for another two or three weeks. Poor little guy. Even once his breathing is acceptable enough for him to leave, he still has to learn how to suck and whatnot. Right now he's being fed through a tube, so he's got a lot to learn. I'm sure he'll figure it out quickly.

Everything else here is same old, same old. Apparently my daughter thinks she's a cat, as evidenced by her attempt at eating a handful of catfood at my mom's house. My mom's pretty sure she got most of it out of her mouth, but she may have swallowed a piece or two. If nothing else, at least it will be a good story to torment her with in six or seven years! As long as she doesn't start meowing, it's all good.

Does anybody else watch America's Got Talent? I love, love, love Nuttin' But Strings! Having played the violin (very poorly) from the 5th grade until I graduated from high school, I know how difficult an instrument it is to play. These guys play their violins beautifully, while playing their own compositions, while infusing hip-hop with the classical, while dancing and stomping around the stage. It's crazy and awesome. And that's my plug for everyone to vote for them. ;)

More Baby Talk

Sorry, still no pictures, but Scott has been just a little distracted. The babies are doing about the same. Ryan is still strong and may be out of NICU in a couple days. Isaac spent most of the day in a "baby house" to help keep him warm and to minimize any outside stimulation. He just needs to chill right now. The x-ray they did of him this morning was looking better than yesterday's, so that very good news. They should keep getting better every day.

Becky actually did get to go up to see them last night. Apparently the night nurse was more accommodating than the earlier one. She's seen them on and off all day today and actually got to nurse Ryan and hold Isaac. She's still trying to wrap her head around the fact that both babies are hers. Physically, she's in a lot of pain from the c-section. She's mad at me for telling her that the c-section wasn't that bad. I never said it was a day at the park, but I really didn't think it was too horrible. But they did have to pull two babies out of her, so that can't help matters too much.

Since I was actually off today, I was able to go visit again. I didn't see the babies because Scott was home with Claire and it's not that easy for Becky to get up to NICU. In order to see a baby in NICU, one of the parents has to accompany you. The grandparents are allowed up by themselves, but they can't bring anybody else with them. It's all good, I know I'll be seeing them plenty at home before we know it. :)

Becky is scheduled to come home on Saturday. Not sure about the boys yet, but we'll all keep our fingers crossed that they'll both be able to come home soon.

The Boys are Here!

My adorable nephews Ryan and Isaac, that is! Go to Becky's blog for full details!

Photo Dump

New pictures! Yay! Enjoy these because I didn't get to do the cool photo birthday party invitations that I was hoping to do. Ran out of time and decided I didn't want to spend the money. Generic Sesame Street invites it is! Speaking of her birthday, I went to Toys R Us today to get her birthday presents. Their Fisher Price baby toys are 30% off, so I got her a couple of cool new things. One more thing I can check off my to-do list.

Okay, now the pictures for real.

Trying to get her Cheerios out of the Snacktrap. If you don't have one, I highly recommend it!

Cheese, glorious cheese!

Cruising in her hot ride.

Saying "Hi" to Daddy after her nap. We keep moving her crib further and further away from the wall because she keeps trying to grab the video monitor wire.

Playing with her very cool house, thanks to our friends Dave and Deb.

Well, that's one way to deliver the mail!

Yeah, we're in trouble already.

Yet Another Busy Weekend

Someday I'll be able to just relax on the weekend. Yesterday we went to a 4th birthday party. The weather was horribly hot and humid, so sitting outside was not particularly comfortable, but we made do. Abby finally got over her anti-crawling-in-the-grass stance and starting crawling all over the place. Oh well, so much for being able to keep her contained outside. She had fun with her friend Paige, eating Mommy's mac and cheese and Daddy's ice cream, and swinging in the baby swing. Mommy was happy when we finally went inside. I hate hot.

Today we invaded Becky's house for a girl's-day brunch/mini shower. Becky got some very cute clothes to add the boys' closet (which is huge by the way...I wish my closet was half as large!). The nursery was finished by the grandmothers and Scott yesterday and is cute, cute, cute! Planes and trains as far as the eye can see. Anyway, good food, good conversation, no kids (besides Claire). It was a very nice change of pace. Hopefully we kept Becky's mind off her discomfort for at least a little while.

Now to order invitations for Abby's party. I need to get them out ASAP. I'm such a slacker!

Sickie-Poo Baby

Poor Abby is not feeling good today at all. She sounded a bit congested last night and this morning, but apparently it got worse while she was at daycare. By the time I picked her up, her poor little nose was running like a faucet. She felt warm too, so I took her temperature and it was a little high. She didn't want to take a nap when she got home, so I just tried to keep her occupied so she would forget that she didn't feel well.

One thing's for sure, being sick doesn't diminish her appetite. She still had a full dinner (a handful of Cheerios, a whole level 3 dinner and half a jar of carrot dices) plus 4 ounces of a bottle before she went down for the night. I made the mistake of trying to clear out her nose with the bulb before I put her down and she cried like I was killing her. Oy. I finally got her calmed down enough to put her in the crib, which just got her started again. I cuddled her a little more and then put her down for good. She cried for a couple of minutes, but then went down. I can tell she's still congested, but at least she's sleeping. She's at Ed's mom's tomorrow and my mom's on Friday, so at least she'll get plenty of love and attention while she doesn't feel well.

Hopefully it will be a quick thing because we're supposed to go to a birthday party on Saturday. It's for our friends' 4-year-old son. I always look forward to their parties because, much like mine, the food is always good. ;) I'll have to remember to take a blanket for Abby and I to hang out on, since it's probably going to be outside (if the weather cooperates) and she won't stand for just being held by us the whole time. She doesn't walk yet and she is very much opposed to being in the grass, so a blanket it is! Their backyard is pretty big, so it shouldn't be a problem, but I guess I'll e-mail Deb just in case.

Sunday is our get-together, mini-shower for Becky, but with her now being on bedrest, who knows what is going to happen with that. Hopefully her hospital appointment on Friday will go well, so we can still have it (at her house). I'm sick of looking at the huge baby bag of boy clothes that's been sitting in my room for over a week now. It was kind of novel to shop for boy stuff, but girl clothes are still much more fun! Anyway, happy thoughts for my sister please! Let the boys cook for just a little longer and let her be able to stay home until they're ready to join the world!

11 Months Old!

Wow, where has the time gone? In just a month I will have a full-fledged one-year-old! So weird!
Anyway, our biggest accomplishment this month was the mastering of the pulling up. She's so good at it now that she can even use a wall to pull up on. She gets into everything and makes us laugh all the time. She's getting much more independent and will let you know exactly what she thinks at all times. She understands the word "no," but mostly thinks it's funny when we use it. She's a fighter at daycare and doesn't let the other kids push her around. Her favorite things are laughing and eating...and I mean eating! She hasn't met a food she doesn't like...including the fruit dices that she had a questionable first experience with. Now she loves them too. She is the most amazing little person and I couldn't love her anymore if I tried. :)

Official monthday picture (complete with top teeth):

Yay for Baby Sales!

Target and BRU both have some rocking sales starting tomorrow. Target has lots of baby stuff on sales, including clothes, Gerber 2-packs (I think they're 89 cents each) and diapers. Their Luv's boxes are $15, if you buy 2 you get a $5 gift card. Go here to print out 2 $2 off a Luv's box Target coupons and then combine those with any manufacturer's coupons you have and you can get a pretty good deal. I'm going to go early tomorrow before they sell out of the size 4 boxes. Saving money is fun!

So, how 'bout that rain today? It actually wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be...but it was still a lot of rain. Now it's just windy as heck. At least tomorrow is supposed to be nice for the Raven's opener. Not expecting much from them this year, but much like the Orioles, I still like to root for the home team. At some point tomorrow we're also planning on dropping by Becky's to drop off some baby stuff she needs back. I went through all the clothes I had to pull out as much gender-neutral stuff as I could. At least she should be okay on onesies and sleepers, if you count the gifts she's received/will receive. But with two babies, who knows how much is actually enough.

Abby is now up from her late nap. Time for dinner!

Wacky Day

I had to go to a work meeting downtown at 5. Have I ever mentioned how much I hate to drive downtown? I'm not a big fan of driving period, but it's even worse down there. I get confused and flustered and nervous and it's just bad. Unfortunately, due to baby-related timing, I had to go by myself so I was forced to drive. Luckily it was at the Holiday Inn, so it wasn't too hard to find...but still. Blah.

The meeting was okay. A little dull, but at least I was being paid for it. I had to be out of there as soon as it was over because Ed had to umpire the late games tonight, so I had to get home to take over baby-duty. I had been wondering earlier whether or not the garage there took credit cards, because I never have cash on me. In my rush to get the heck out of there though, I forgot to check. Naturally, as I get to the booth, I notice the sign that said "No Credit Cards."

Argh! Who doesn't take cards in this day and age? Luckily for me, my work peeps happened to amble along at this time, having made a pit stop before heading out to their cars. One of them was awesome enough to lend me some cash so I could get out of there. I have no idea what I would have done otherwise. Stupid, dumb non-credit-card-taking Holiday Inn garage!

Anyway, when I got home I was dismayed to discover that Ed thought it appropriate to let the baby take a **very** late nap. I had to wake her up at 7:40. Good times. She was a little perturbed to be woken up like that, but got over it once I put her in her highchair and put some cheese shreds in front of her. She had cheese, a level 2 "Pineapple Glazed Ham" jar AND an entire Gerber "Mashed Sweet Potatoes with Glazed Carrots" side. That child loves to eat! She ate all that and even drank 3 ounces of formula an hour later before I put her down for the night.

Monday at her Gram's house, she tried zucchini and raw tomato for the first time. She loved both things. The only food that she's tried so far that she hasn't loved are those Gerber fruit dices. I'm pretty sure that's just a texture thing though. She actually got so upset when I put one of those in her mouth that she made herself throw up. Not cool. Sunday was hilarious. I made my famous (in my "circle" anyway) mac and cheese. I took a plate of it outside where we were sitting on a blanket with Meg and Paige and Kathy. I was feeding Abby some of it one noodle at a time. Needless to say, she loved it. After my plate was gone, Meg somehow wound up with Conner's uneaten plate of it, so she started to feed some to Paige. My shameless child sees this, double-time crawls over to Meg and proceeds to perch herself next to Paige on Meg's leg with her mouth wide open. It was absolutely hysterical. And very, very sad at the same time. Oy.

Busy Weekend

Abby and I will be running all over the place this weekend. Just as long as she gets her naps, it should be fine. I'm just relieved that we didn't go to Hooper's Island this year...the traffic on the Bay Bridge is a nightmare right now thanks to the decisionmakers in Annapolis who decided to shut down part of the bridge for repairs....on Labor Day weekend. Oy.

Anyway, this morning Abby and I went to the grocery store to pick up the weekly sale items and to get the ingredients for the mac and cheese and sausage cheese puffs I'm making for Claire's party tomorrow. Yum! Later we have to run to Ms. Erin's house to drop a couple things off and then we're running to BRU so I can take advantage of their rocking Labor Day sales and get Isaac and Ryan some gifts. At some point, I also need to find time to actually make the mac & cheese and sausage puff mixture.

Tomorrow we're going to Becky's for the par-tay. Hopefully the weather will cooperate since it's supposed to be outside. Then Monday we're going to the in-laws' house for my MIL's birthday. Actually, that reminds me of the other thing I have to do sometime in the next two days...pick up her card and gift. Oh, did I mention that Ed's playing in a softball tournament for most of today and tomorrow? Hopefully his first game won't be until later tomorrow morning so I can sleep in a little. Sleeping in makes me happy!

New Abbyisms

• We found a new favorite food...Mashed Potatoes. Yummy! I actually made dinner early tonight because Ed had an 8:00 softball game. She had already had her dinner, but we kept her in the highchair while we ate. I thought I would give her a little bite of my mashed potatoes to see if she would like it. Uhhhhh...yeah. She definitely liked it. When she wasn't eating them, she would look from me to my plate to me to my plate until I would give her another little bite. She's definitely her father's child!
• Today she discovered how to climb. She was having a "Daddy Day" and he called me at work to tell me that she managed to climb on top of her little Fisher Price table. He said he saw her put one leg up and before he knew it, she was in a crawling position on top of the thing. He tried to get a picture, but she decided to get down before he could. She is also working on climbing stairs. She can't really do it at home because we have the staircases blocked, but she's done it at daycare and at Aunt Becky's house. At daycare she'll actually knock the gate down, climb over top of it and get about three steps up before starting to cry because she can't figure out how to get back down. Gotta love it.
• Apparently she needs to work on her sharing skills. My daycare provider calls her "The Attacker" because if another child has the audacity to try to play with a toy, my daughter automatically has to have it. Oy. This also goes for pacifiers.
• The other day she decided to crawl to her nursery. The door was only halfway open, so she crawled in, sat in the doorway, looked right at us, gave us a big grin and proceeded to throw the door shut. Heh.
• Ed discovered that Abby has two new teeth! The ones on either side of her top teeth are just coming in. We were surprised because she's been in a really good mood for the past week. The only time she was unusually fussy was when she woke up crying at 6am on Monday. But other than that she's been a pleasant as can be...we weren't even looking for new teeth. Ed just happened to see them when he was giving her her bottle this morning.
• The funniest new thing that she does is to carry things around in her mouth. She figured out that if she keeps a toy or her sippy cup in her mouth, she can crawl around and still have it when she gets to the other side of the room. She'll also keep it in her mouth while she's standing. See exhibits A and B below:

Never a dull moment, I tell you! :)

So Much to Think About

Can you believe that it's almost September already? Crazy, I tell you! And thus begins the season of craziness around here. Between the end of August and the beginning of November, we have 12 major birthdays to deal with (if you count the yet-to-be-born twins). In order of date, there's Claire, my MIL, my BIL, Abby, my SIL, Ed's grandmother, my mom, Becky, Ed and my FIL. And that's just the family. If you throw friends' kids in the mix, there's also Meg's daughter Paige in October and our friends Dave and Deb's son Jeremy in a couple of weeks. And right after all that madness, it's the holidays. No wonder we're always extra broke that time of year!

Since fall is officially sneaking up on me, I'm really starting to think about Abby's birthday party. I'm going with the Sesame Street first birthday theme because she loves Elmo. S.S. is pretty much the only tv she watches...and she really only pays attention when Elmo is on screen...or when there's singing. I found a really cute Elmo "It's My First Birthday" shirt up for bid on E-bay, which I'm hoping to win for cheap. Don't anybody go bidding against me now! ;) I got some cool S.S. party favors for free from work, but now I can't remember what I did with them. Hopefully I'll figure it out soon!

At least her birthday is in the beginning of fall, when it's cool out, but not cold. That way we can still have people outside for the party, which helps when your house is as small as mine is. I just have to decide whether to do the cookout food (burgers and hot dogs) or not. I think I'm leaning towards doing it that way just because it's cheaper and easier to coordinate. I only have so many crockpots to prep stuff ahead of time, and it's a pain to do lots of things that need to go in the oven. Of course, I'll still do other non-grill things. I'm still deciding on the menu though...and I'm always open to suggestions/demands. :)

I'm hoping that Ed's friend Eric's wife will make Abby's birthday cake. She does beautiful work. Check out the wedding cake and groom's cake she made for her own wedding:

Hopefully we can afford her. She's actually met that Ace of Cakes guy and is on his short-list of go-to bakers to recommend to the customers he has to turn away. Pretty cool, huh? I'm probably just going to do the smash cake myself. AC Moore has small, 5-inch cake pans for fairly cheap (especially with a coupon). That way I can just decorate it with plain, white icing so I don't have to worry about dye getting all over her. I think about these things!

Okay, my head is spinning. I have to stop thinking for a little while.

Don't Wanna Go To Work!

It feels weird to still be home at 11:40 am on a Monday, but I have an event tonight, so I don't go in until 12:30 today. Which is awesome and sucks all at the same time. I usually hate Mondays because I have to be there at 7:00 for our Monday Morning Managers Meeting, but I skipped it today. I thought that meant I would get to sleep in a little this morning, but Little Miss Abby had other ideas, which I discovered when she started crying at 6:00. Not fun at all. I was planning on taking her to daycare at 8:45 and run a few errands, but that didn't happen. She started getting cranky again around 8, so I put her down for a nap and called daycare to tell them that we would be there even later than planned today. At least she got a couple extra hours of sleep (and so did I).

This weekend was fun. Saturday I worked (which actually wasn't all that much fun), but then I went straight to Becky's for Claire's family birthday party. Ed and Abby got there before me and had fun with the kiddie pool. Apparently Abby went under water by accident, but she wasn't phased at all. She just held her breath and then looked around once Ed got her up while everyone was fussing like, "What's wrong with you people?" She's a natural born swimmer, I tell you!

By the time I got there, she was very much ready for a nap, so we set up her pack-n-play and put her down. At least Ed and I got to eat without having to do the baby switch-off, so that was nice. Claire got lots of presents and was more than a little over-whelmed. All of her older cousins wound up opening the gifts for her. She just wanted to play with the opened toys in front of her. Can't really blame her there. :)

Yesterday was a nothing day. Abby and I ran to Target for a couple of things and then didn't leave the house again for the whole day. After all the running around we've been doing since late last week, she was very happy about that. Today, she was thrilled to be back at daycare with all her friends. And now I have to get ready for work. Happy Monday everyone! ;)

Fish Face!


Usually when I make the fish face at her she just laughs at me. Today she decided to try to mimic me. She's so funny!

TV Addict Moment

Did anyone else watch Project Runway last night? It was awesome. They had to design for drag queens. It was classic, I tell you. How many times on that show is the goal to be as over-the-top as possible?

In baby bargain news, there is a printable Target coupon available online right now for $1 off any Luv's jumbo. They're on sale right now for $6.99. Go to www.babycheapskate.blogspot.com to get the coupon. Personally, I love Luv's. They're nice and stretchy and I've never had any problem with them. I'm going to stock up! :)

Oh, and Superfresh is tripling coupons next week (actually, starting tomorrow) for coupons up to 99 cents. Plus they have lots of good sales coming up. I'm going to have to strategically plan my grocery shopping tonight so Abby and I can go after her morning bottle tomorrow. Yay for saving money!

So Sleepy

But I'm afraid to try to go to sleep until I know I can't keep my eyelids open another minute. Ed has to wake up at the butt-crack of dawn tomorrow, so he's been asleep for a couple of hours now. Since I won't get to fall asleep to the sounds of the television like I normally do, I'm just playing on the computer until I'm sure I need to go to bed. I'm just about there.

In happy news, I'm off for the next two days! Yay me! I had to work on Sunday and I work on Saturday, so I get two weekdays off. I was supposed to be off today and my mom was going to babysit as usual on Friday, but she did something to her knee (too much crawling around on the floor with the grandchildren) and was afraid that she wouldn't be able to handle Abby. So, I switched my schedule around (thank goodness my position allows me that power) so I could be off on Friday instead. Abby wasn't supposed to go to daycare today, but my daycare provider is awesome and was more than happy to take her anyway. So, it all worked out.

Since I'm off, tomorrow I'm going shopping with my mom (who's feeling better) and Abby sometime after her morning nap. Abby's nap, not my mom's. Then Friday Abby and I are going to visit Aunt Becky and Claire Bear so I can prep a couple dishes for Claire's family birthday party on Saturday. I work until 4 the day of the party, so I'll only be an hour or so late. Ed and Abby are going to meet me there so I don't have to waste time going home first. Should be fun and informal...Becky is ordering pizza since she can't really cook at the moment. I'm going to make my Garlic Salad Dressing of Death (aka Chiparelli's Salad) and garlic bites to go with it. Yum!

Okay, I think the final stages of exhaustion have set in. Good night!

Mommy, Look What I Can Do!

Now that Abby has discovered the joys of pulling herself up, she's doing it constantly. She finally figured out how to stand herself up in her crib yesterday. Good times. Hopefully she won't figure out how to climb out of there anytime soon.

To add to the crib fun, twice in the past three mornings she has woken up completely soaked. Apparently she is just a pee-pee machine. The first time we thought it was because we are still trying to squeeze her into size 3 diapers (up to 28 lbs my dupa), so we put her into a size 4 last night. She woke up this morning soaked again. Nothing like having to change crib sheets at 5:30 on a Monday morning. Blah.

Heh...as I was typing all that, I started to hear frogs croaking. Wondering how we could have gotten a sudden infestation of frogs in the attic, I went to investigate. Apparently the cat, who loves to try to sleep in the baby cradle we've been keeping up here, managed to step on the "soothing sounds" button on the side of said cradle and turned on the nature sounds. Silly kitty.

Must He Do That Now?

My darned next-door neighbor is doing some really loud yard work at the moment. Normally, I'm all for his lawn not looking like a jungle, but it's Abby's naptime and her room is on the main level of the house right next to where the neighbor is running his very loud yard equipment. As an added bonus, her window is open (gotta save on that BGE bill where we can). Luckily she hasn't woken up yet, but I'm just waiting for it. I guess it's a good thing we would keep the television on while she was sleeping when she was really young and in our room. She can usually sleep through just about anything, but even she has her limits. Hopefully he'll be done with the loudness soon.

Did anybody see Phelps' race last night? Holy crap, that was exciting! Hopefully his final race tonight won't make me loose another couple of years off of my life since last night's did enough damage. Whether you like him or not, you gotta admit that the man is amazing!

This and That

-I'm so mad that I fell asleep watching the Olympics last night. I totally missed all of the gymnastics. The women's all-around is one of my favorite things to watch too...and we kicked major butt. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr...stupid 11:30 pm events.

-Speaking of things that pissed me off today...I found out that Warner Brothers has decided to push back the release of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince to next July! I would boycott it if I didn't want to see it so bad! Stupid Warner Brothers...

-In the category of things that don't piss me off, Abby has officially gotten the hang of pulling herself up. Yay Abby! Now she's working on moving and standing at the same time. If only I could talk her out of trying to eat the couch every time she pulls up on it...

-Abby and I are going to go to Superfresh in the morning. They have some rocking sales this week. I love sales!

-We would also like to visit Aunt Kathy's new house, if she's available for tours tomorrow afternoon. Ed is going to a friend's house for a (stupid) fantasy football draft around 2, so we're free anytime after that. Let me know! Uhhh...I'll e-mail you as well just in case you don't check my blog as obsessively as some other people I know.

-My sister has reached the 30-week milestone in her scary pregnancy. Yay Isaac and Ryan! Keep on swimming!

-Speaking of swimming, I really need to blow up Abby's baby pool. How sad is it that it's the middle of August and I still haven't done it? We don't have a pump to speak of, so I'll just have to do it the old-fashioned way. I'll just do it in shifts. At least after it's too cold to swim in it, we can put balls in there and she can play in it downstairs. Anyone want to claim balls as a birthday present? ;)

-Speaking of Abby's birthday, her party is officially on Saturday, October 11th. Be there or be square! I'll be on vacation all that week, so I'll keep her in daycare Monday through Wednesday, so I can get the house in shape. I want to take her to Weber's Farm on that Thursday, which is her actual birthday. I think she'll get a kick out of that. Then my mom can babysit as usual that Friday so I can cook, cook, cook. Woohoo.

-I'm too tired to think of anything else. I think I'll go watch my DVR'ed Project Runway and chill until Ed gets home from umpiring. Buh bye!

The Olympics are Killing Me!

It's cool that the perfect 12-hour time difference between here and China means that we can watch some of the more exciting events live at night, but they typically don't start until 10 and then last until around 12:30. And me being me, I'm compelled to watch until the end. There's just something about seeing it live rather than find out who won the next morning and watching it already knowing how it turns out. This week is especially bad since it's swimming and gymnastics. Hopefully next week won't be as exciting because I need some sleep!

In baby news, Abby is really starting to pull herself up more. Yay! She still needs some work, but it's definitely getting there. So far, I'm her favorite thing to pull herself up on. Go figure.

Photo Dump

As promised!

We've pretty much got the sippy cup down...she just occasionally needs all four limbs to accomplish the task.

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm...cookie.

Camera straps are fascinating. Ignore my pasty leg.

Catching a glimpse of the outside world.

And a short video of the clapping genius!

10 Months Old (a couple days late)

Yes, my little Abby-doo turned 10 months old on Saturday. Would have posted sooner, but I never even got on the computer all weekend. We celebrated in grand style by going to Target and visiting Aunt Becky. And, of course, taking her monthday picture. Here it is (in all it's cuteness):

This month was all about exploring. She is getting into everything now. Ed and I have learned to keep the doors to the upstairs bathroom and our bedroom closed when she's playing in the living room. As soon as she hears one of those doors open, she off and crawling to try to get in before it's shut again. She is getting quite fast with the crawling too...and she's getting fearless. She all about climbing over the two of us to try to get to where she wants to go. We're still working on the standing, but she will do it every so often...usually when she's trying to get to something.

As for food, she is now an expert at chewing the tender pieces of the level three foods. We've been giving her little bits of regular food and she loves bananas and cheese the best. That child would eat nothing but cheese every day if I let her. We really need to try to give her a bigger variety of real foods, but we're slackers. For some reason, she doesn't like the Gerber fruit dices at all. I don't get it, she loves the fruit, but just doesn't like it in that form. I guess she just needs to get used to it.

She's clapping and babbling away. Her favorite word now is mamamamama, which just makes me smile every time. Especially when she keeps moving her mouth like she saying it after she's done with the talking. So her mouth makes that funny popping sound. It's very funny when she does it. She had my mom and I rolling on Friday.

That's all for now. Maybe I'll do a photo dump a little later. :)

Just One Word

Heh...skipping the 7-layer thing and doing this one that I stole from my friend Carrie. :) You can only use one word for each.

1. Where is your cell phone? Purse
2. Where is your significant other? Driving
3. Your hair? Brown
4. Your mother? Generous
5. Your father? Heaven
6. Your favorite thing? Abby
7. Your dream last night? Weird
8. Your dream/goal? Security
9. The room you're in? Office
10. Your fear? Loss
11. Where do you want to be in 6 MONTHS? Home
13. What you're not? Rich
14. Muffins? Chocolate
15. One of your wish list items? Money
16. Where you grew up? Baltimore
17. The last thing you did? e-mail
18. What are you wearing? Outfit
19. Your TV? Off
20. Your pet(s)? Cat
21. Your computer? Laptop
22. Your life? Content
23. Your mood? Sleepy
24. Missing someone? Always
25. Your car/truck? Honda
26. Something you're not wearing? Shoes
27. Your summer? Hot
28. Love someone? Yes
29. Your favorite color? Purple
30. When is the last time you laughed? Work
31. Last time you cried? Saturday
32. Who will copy this? Becky

Weekend of Blah

Man, I feel so old! Didn't get home from the midnight release party until 2am, and it's taken me all weekend to catch up. Of course, when I was younger and up that late all the time, I didn't have a baby waking me up at 7 am or so the next morning. At least Ed decided to play the role of the good husband and took care of Abby yesterday morning so I could sleep in. He did bring her into the bedroom to see me before he put her down for her morning nap and she gave the biggest squeal when she saw me. That definitely made my day. Other than that, yesterday was pretty boring. I never even got around to getting on the computer at all. Weird.

Today was a little better. Ed's softball tournament was today, so I started out bored. Then around 3 I couldn't take being in the house anymore, so Abby and I went for a ride. We were hoping to be able to drop by to check out Kathy's new house, but she and her dad were just leaving for Ikea. So I decided to just go to the softball field early (I was planning on getting there around 5). His team wasn't playing for a couple of games, so Abby got to hang out with her daddy for awhile. He had fun showing her off to everyone since just about everyone in the league was there watching the games. As a bonus, she got to swing at the playground, which she seriously loved today. She finally started to get cranky around 5:30, so we went home.

I really don't want to go back to work tomorrow, but I gotta do what I gotta do. We aren't having our usual 7 am Monday Manager's Meeting, but I'll still show at 7 so I don't mess up our daycare schedule. Hopefully Abby will be happy and not-too-sleepy when I pick her up from daycare so we can try to see Kathy then, but I won't hold my breath. The daycare sleeping still just isn't happening. My daughter just doesn't like to sleep when there are others in the room with her. She would much rather play. I hope we can work it out so she never has to share a room, but with our small house she may have to suck it up one day. But that's still pretty far in the future.