Last Sunday our family was in church together. During the last hymn, I heard....something. When I turned, I realized William was singing along to the music. As he didn't know the song, he was just making it up as he went along, nice and loud. I tipped my head closer to hear him singing "Ohhhhhh baby sisterrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr...."
I looked up to find John coming to the same realization that I was. Our kid is super cute. There were more words, but they were lost in laughing. Luckily, there was a postlude directly following the song so when he continued to sing for a few moments after everyone else it wasn't a big deal. How I love that kid....
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
The Toy I Love to Hate
This toy right here. It is a ugly plastic aqurium you fasten to the side of the crib to soothe your baby to sleep. You press the button on the bottom (blue one in the center) and a light turns on, the fish swim in circles, the water bubbles and music plays. Amelia (and William also) really enjoys watching it while she falls asleep on the very few evenings she isn't almost asleep when I put her down. But, here is the problem. Amelia rolls around in her sleep like a madwoman. Every night/nap I use this, I end up regreting it when she rolls into it in her sleep and sets the [insert negative word of your choice] thing off. Usually I am already asleep and the music wakes me. I leap out of bed and dash to her room to get the [insert bad word] thing turned off before she wakes up. On the way, I may or may not trip over toys or other items in the dark. Because when it wakes her up, she is awake and ready to go. Not my idea of a good time at 2am. So, I love it when it entertains her and transports her to sleepy world, but I HATE the mad dash through the obstacle course at night.
Monday, September 21, 2009
Return to Running & and Song
Tonight we hit the gym for the first time since Amelia's arrival*. It's.....hard for me to leave my baby! But, she is going to be six months old next week and it was now or cancel the membership. It was AMAZING to hit the track again for a run. I haven't run in almost a year, so this was A Very Big Deal to me. I think I had a smile on my face the whole entire time. Oh running, how I have missed you. Tomorrow I may not be able to walk, but it was totally worth it. One hundred thousand million percent.
*I have been working out at home beginning at 5 weeks postpartum.
Patty cake William style
William sings Twinkle, Twinkle/Patty Cake/Happy Birthday (for grandma)
*I have been working out at home beginning at 5 weeks postpartum.
Patty cake William style
William sings Twinkle, Twinkle/Patty Cake/Happy Birthday (for grandma)
Saturday, September 19, 2009
Playing with My New Apple Phone*
*Please note we did not receive any payment for this. This review is a total honest review of our new Apple phone.
Friday, September 18, 2009
Do you Glow?
Every year in St Louis, there is a balloon race. The day before race, all the balloon-ers gather together in a big field and light up their balloons. Which, doesn't sound that exciting. But, when there are 30+ hot air balloons glowing in the dark night sky, it really is an amazing sight!
This is a HUGE event. I'm going to go ahead and estimate there were at least 1000 people there. Or 10,000 people. Tons and tons of people. So, right now I'm going to have to take time out and thank my wonderful husband for agreeing to this at all. He isn't a fan of crowds and certainly not with this many people in a smallish area. Add in the 2.5 year old with no fear and a whole new level of anxiety is reached.
But, I really wanted to go and he agreed. Thank you, wonderful husband.
Because it was our first time attending and because the timing of the event didn't especially work out well with the kids' schedule, we needed to be creative with our timing. So, we got there super early to get a parking space. The glow started at 7pm and we got there at roughly 4:30pm (in fact, we would have gotten there sooner, except I was running late as usual). Our game plan was to park the car somewhat far away from the actual balloon event and facing out of the park so we wouldn't maybe have to sit in so much traffic. The kids are usually tucked into their beds by 8pm and when there aren't....it isn't pretty. Playing with bedtime is like playing with fire. You just aren't sure if you are going to get screaming, crying, angry, naughty or a combination of them. But, regardless, it isn't pretty. Just picturing us sitting in a looooooooooooooooonnnnnnnnnnngggggggggg line of cars waiting to exit the park while the kids screamed/cried/etc was enough to raise my bloodpressure several notches. So, we were trying to avoid this scenario.
Because we were so early, we hit the zoo first and found....everyone was not on display or sleeping. We managed to peek at the penguins and watch a sun bear go to the bathroom (William is still talking about this - consider yourself warned: he is only capable of talking about this at one volume. THE BEAR WENT POTTY. ON THE GROUND).
After a short visit at the zoo, we wandered over to roughly where we thought the field was located. We found it super funny that about 10 different people asked us for directions. Because we looked so official and we knew where we were going. Several times it was the people in front of us asking and we had been following them. It was probably close to a two mile hike to the balloon field from the zoo. We had packed a fabulous dinner, drinks, snacks, toys, blankets, diapers, and other emergency items so the stroller was VERY heavy and I ended up pushing it up two gigantic hills in the grass. My legs were burning. Luckily, there was another woman pushing a stroller up the hill and my competitive side wouldn't allow her to reach the top before me. I crowed with delight (or groaned with the pain, maybe?) when she had to stop halfway up the hill to let her toddler get out and walk.
When we got to the field, there were people EVERYWHERE. I knew it was going to be crowded, but it was SO CROWDED even at 6pm. I couldn't even see balloons or where the event would be happening. So, we found a semi vacant spot and squeezed ourselves in to enjoy our picnic. And even though I wasn't planning on it, I quite possibly Amelia in front of the most people ever (discretely, of course).
William is so excited!
People were like this on all sides of us.
William enjoying his PB&J. I am the mother of the year people.
Daddy entertaining Mia while Mama plays with the camera - how FUN it was to play with the camera again! I didn't realize how much I missed it.
I was in heaven: my little family, an absolutely gorgeous evening (mid 70's, slight breeze, no bugs), my camera strap around my neck and beautiful balloons against the night sky. Even more exciting was when a horn sounded, all the balloons lit up at the same time. It was absolutely breath taking.
Sadly, we decided it was time to go about 8pm. I was absolutely NOT ready to leave. The glow officially goes until 8:30 when there is a fireworks display. But, we had a long walk back to the car, a longer drive back home (45ish minutes) and some tired kiddos. So, we packed up and left before everything was over. Which meant traffic was a breeze and the kiddos were tucked into their own beds by 9:30pm. They were tired, and so were we. But, it was a wonderful time - I even got John to admit he liked it and would consider going again next year! Yay!
This is a HUGE event. I'm going to go ahead and estimate there were at least 1000 people there. Or 10,000 people. Tons and tons of people. So, right now I'm going to have to take time out and thank my wonderful husband for agreeing to this at all. He isn't a fan of crowds and certainly not with this many people in a smallish area. Add in the 2.5 year old with no fear and a whole new level of anxiety is reached.
But, I really wanted to go and he agreed. Thank you, wonderful husband.
Because it was our first time attending and because the timing of the event didn't especially work out well with the kids' schedule, we needed to be creative with our timing. So, we got there super early to get a parking space. The glow started at 7pm and we got there at roughly 4:30pm (in fact, we would have gotten there sooner, except I was running late as usual). Our game plan was to park the car somewhat far away from the actual balloon event and facing out of the park so we wouldn't maybe have to sit in so much traffic. The kids are usually tucked into their beds by 8pm and when there aren't....it isn't pretty. Playing with bedtime is like playing with fire. You just aren't sure if you are going to get screaming, crying, angry, naughty or a combination of them. But, regardless, it isn't pretty. Just picturing us sitting in a looooooooooooooooonnnnnnnnnnngggggggggg line of cars waiting to exit the park while the kids screamed/cried/etc was enough to raise my bloodpressure several notches. So, we were trying to avoid this scenario.
Because we were so early, we hit the zoo first and found....everyone was not on display or sleeping. We managed to peek at the penguins and watch a sun bear go to the bathroom (William is still talking about this - consider yourself warned: he is only capable of talking about this at one volume. THE BEAR WENT POTTY. ON THE GROUND).
After a short visit at the zoo, we wandered over to roughly where we thought the field was located. We found it super funny that about 10 different people asked us for directions. Because we looked so official and we knew where we were going. Several times it was the people in front of us asking and we had been following them. It was probably close to a two mile hike to the balloon field from the zoo. We had packed a fabulous dinner, drinks, snacks, toys, blankets, diapers, and other emergency items so the stroller was VERY heavy and I ended up pushing it up two gigantic hills in the grass. My legs were burning. Luckily, there was another woman pushing a stroller up the hill and my competitive side wouldn't allow her to reach the top before me. I crowed with delight (or groaned with the pain, maybe?) when she had to stop halfway up the hill to let her toddler get out and walk.
When we got to the field, there were people EVERYWHERE. I knew it was going to be crowded, but it was SO CROWDED even at 6pm. I couldn't even see balloons or where the event would be happening. So, we found a semi vacant spot and squeezed ourselves in to enjoy our picnic. And even though I wasn't planning on it, I quite possibly Amelia in front of the most people ever (discretely, of course).
William is so excited!
People were like this on all sides of us.
William enjoying his PB&J. I am the mother of the year people.
Daddy entertaining Mia while Mama plays with the camera - how FUN it was to play with the camera again! I didn't realize how much I missed it.
I'm not sure what this is all about. Amelia's been doing this awhile. You'll be holding her and suddenly without warning she will flop herself over and smile.
Daddy and his kiddos. The woman behind John on the left was laughing at William's antics while I was trying to take this picture!
Daddy and his kiddos. The woman behind John on the left was laughing at William's antics while I was trying to take this picture!
Finally it was time to start! William was captivated!
The first balloon up from our vantage point
John and William enjoy...
I was trying to take pictures with very little light with the little Miss on my hip. She kept grabbing the camera strap and pull, pull, pulling on it to get to the camera. We finally had to swap kids so I could get some pictures. But, not before I took a picture of the little troublemaker!
The balloon lit up
The energizer bunny balloon
There are at least 6 balloons in this picture - can you see them all?
I loved how the balloons looked with their lights on....so pretty!
In the background of this picture, you can see the movie theatre popcorn balloon! (It is purple) Eight other balloons in this picture.
Suddenly, balloons started popping (not literally popping) up everywhere! It was amazing!
As the sky got darker and darker, the balloons stood out more and more. It was so beautiful, I had a hard time taking my eyes off of them!
The soda can balloon
Nine balloons in the picture by my count
So pretty!
I totally fell in love with the patchwork design balloons! They were gorgeous!
Please recycle!
Look at how funny everyone looks trying to take pictures of the balloons!
Ooohhh....patchwork balloon! I was so inspired by the balloons, I spent at least an hour looking at different quilting patterns when I got home!
The first balloon up from our vantage point
John and William enjoy...
I was trying to take pictures with very little light with the little Miss on my hip. She kept grabbing the camera strap and pull, pull, pulling on it to get to the camera. We finally had to swap kids so I could get some pictures. But, not before I took a picture of the little troublemaker!
The balloon lit up
The energizer bunny balloon
There are at least 6 balloons in this picture - can you see them all?
I loved how the balloons looked with their lights on....so pretty!
In the background of this picture, you can see the movie theatre popcorn balloon! (It is purple) Eight other balloons in this picture.
Suddenly, balloons started popping (not literally popping) up everywhere! It was amazing!
As the sky got darker and darker, the balloons stood out more and more. It was so beautiful, I had a hard time taking my eyes off of them!
The soda can balloon
Nine balloons in the picture by my count
So pretty!
I totally fell in love with the patchwork design balloons! They were gorgeous!
Please recycle!
Look at how funny everyone looks trying to take pictures of the balloons!
Ooohhh....patchwork balloon! I was so inspired by the balloons, I spent at least an hour looking at different quilting patterns when I got home!
I was in heaven: my little family, an absolutely gorgeous evening (mid 70's, slight breeze, no bugs), my camera strap around my neck and beautiful balloons against the night sky. Even more exciting was when a horn sounded, all the balloons lit up at the same time. It was absolutely breath taking.
Sadly, we decided it was time to go about 8pm. I was absolutely NOT ready to leave. The glow officially goes until 8:30 when there is a fireworks display. But, we had a long walk back to the car, a longer drive back home (45ish minutes) and some tired kiddos. So, we packed up and left before everything was over. Which meant traffic was a breeze and the kiddos were tucked into their own beds by 9:30pm. They were tired, and so were we. But, it was a wonderful time - I even got John to admit he liked it and would consider going again next year! Yay!
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Introducing...Solids!
Now that Amelia is rounding on the 6 month mark, we've decided she (and us) is ready to start working on solid foods. We've come to this decision as a result of many factors, none of which are probably interesting to you. So, I'll go ahead and tell you. Feel free to skip ahead to the messy baby eating food at the end of this post.
1) She is so interested. Everything goes into her mouth. Everything. Grass. Fuzz. Paper. Socks. If you want to get picky, she's already had her first, second, third, and fourth helping of solids.
2) Our goal was to wait for the 6 month mark. We started introducing solids at 5 month, two weeks of age. Goal achieved in my book.
3)The time between feedings was decreasing and Amelia was consistently waking up earlier in the morning. Instead of going 4 hours between feeding, we were going 2 - 2.5 hours.
4) I am loosing my hair, in part due to the demand nursing is placing on my body. I am proud to provide the sole nutrition for my daughter (since she is stubborn and refuses a bottle, I have nothing against formula) and I will continue to feed her for a long while to come. But, the almost bald patches at the front of my hair are getting hard to ignore as is the horrifying amount of hair I loose on a daily basis in the shower.*
The first day: just milk on a spoon. I wanted to know how well she would do with eating something she was already familiar with: milk.
The answer? She was wonderful. She opened her mouth and made a beeline for the spoon. She was HUNGRY and she wanted MORE. And, would you take a look at the cheeks on my baby. I love, love, love those fat cheeks.
Mmmmmmm.....
She was so focused on the spoon and getting that food into her mouth! Look at her opening her mouth like such a smart girl! Also: look at the mosquito bite on my hand. I have 3498736428769124 bites from this weekend. Everyone else total: 3 bites.
Mmmmmmmm...yummy carbs...also, if you don't find messy baby faces fun and amusing, you might want to check back here in another year. I am a HUGE fan of messy baby faces.
And, she cleans up after herself! Yay Amelia! Also note: if you want to build something indestructible, use baby cereal mixed with milk. The stuff is like cement.
Things are going so well, Daddy stepped in to take a turn feeding the baby girl during her first week of cereal!
Getting ready...Amelia requires her own spoon to use. Or, you spend to whole time trying to get your spoon back from her.
So excited! Eating up the cereal. Also, the cereal is brown because I put her vitamins in it.
The daddy and his baby girl
*This happened with William also, but not to this extent. The hair also grew back after William. It was almost the same length as the rest of my hair when Amelia was born. Just in time to fall out again.
1) She is so interested. Everything goes into her mouth. Everything. Grass. Fuzz. Paper. Socks. If you want to get picky, she's already had her first, second, third, and fourth helping of solids.
2) Our goal was to wait for the 6 month mark. We started introducing solids at 5 month, two weeks of age. Goal achieved in my book.
3)The time between feedings was decreasing and Amelia was consistently waking up earlier in the morning. Instead of going 4 hours between feeding, we were going 2 - 2.5 hours.
4) I am loosing my hair, in part due to the demand nursing is placing on my body. I am proud to provide the sole nutrition for my daughter (since she is stubborn and refuses a bottle, I have nothing against formula) and I will continue to feed her for a long while to come. But, the almost bald patches at the front of my hair are getting hard to ignore as is the horrifying amount of hair I loose on a daily basis in the shower.*
The first day: just milk on a spoon. I wanted to know how well she would do with eating something she was already familiar with: milk.
The answer? She was wonderful. She opened her mouth and made a beeline for the spoon. She was HUNGRY and she wanted MORE. And, would you take a look at the cheeks on my baby. I love, love, love those fat cheeks.
T
I was going to go ahead and keep working on just the milk, but Amelia was WAY ahead of my expectations. So, the next day we went ahead and started with the cereal (first official solid food fed by ME on purpose: 9/14/2009). As you would guess, this cereal was about 5 tablespoons of milk and 1 of cereal. Although you can't tell by this picture, Amelia really, really liked it. She laughed and giggled. She opened her mouth for more. She insisted on holding a spoon and chewing on it between bites.
Baby taste tester: tastes like chicken?
I was going to go ahead and keep working on just the milk, but Amelia was WAY ahead of my expectations. So, the next day we went ahead and started with the cereal (first official solid food fed by ME on purpose: 9/14/2009). As you would guess, this cereal was about 5 tablespoons of milk and 1 of cereal. Although you can't tell by this picture, Amelia really, really liked it. She laughed and giggled. She opened her mouth for more. She insisted on holding a spoon and chewing on it between bites.
Baby taste tester: tastes like chicken?
Mmmmmmm.....
She was so focused on the spoon and getting that food into her mouth! Look at her opening her mouth like such a smart girl! Also: look at the mosquito bite on my hand. I have 3498736428769124 bites from this weekend. Everyone else total: 3 bites.
Mmmmmmmm...yummy carbs...also, if you don't find messy baby faces fun and amusing, you might want to check back here in another year. I am a HUGE fan of messy baby faces.
And, she cleans up after herself! Yay Amelia! Also note: if you want to build something indestructible, use baby cereal mixed with milk. The stuff is like cement.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Things are going so well, Daddy stepped in to take a turn feeding the baby girl during her first week of cereal!
Getting ready...Amelia requires her own spoon to use. Or, you spend to whole time trying to get your spoon back from her.
So excited! Eating up the cereal. Also, the cereal is brown because I put her vitamins in it.
The daddy and his baby girl*This happened with William also, but not to this extent. The hair also grew back after William. It was almost the same length as the rest of my hair when Amelia was born. Just in time to fall out again.
Monday, September 14, 2009
No More Kisses
William has been a hoot, as usual. On Sunday, we ran to the store for....well, something. On our way there, I buckled him into his carseat and then kissed his cheek. Moments later, I turned to see HIM WIPING OFF MY KISS. Clearly he is an early bloomer as I thought you needed to be at least three for this behavior.
So, I kissed him again in the same spot. Twice. He looked at me very seriously and told me:
"I don't like it Mama kisses anymore. I only like Daddy kisses. No more kissing Mama."
I about died right there in the car trying not to laugh out loud. Because, you know, he was totally serious. I tried kissing him again (I was buckled in right next to him because I was too lazy to get out of the back seat and get in the front seat) a few minutes later and he again wiped off my kisses.
There are two reasons I am lucky:
1) William's baby sister might have the most kissable cheeks on the planet, so there will just have to be more kisses for her.
2) This morning I was kissing on those fat baby sister cheeks while she giggled away. William wandered over and plunked himself down next to me and demanded some kisses of his own. No recollection of the kisses ban from the previous day.
So, I kissed him again in the same spot. Twice. He looked at me very seriously and told me:
"I don't like it Mama kisses anymore. I only like Daddy kisses. No more kissing Mama."
I about died right there in the car trying not to laugh out loud. Because, you know, he was totally serious. I tried kissing him again (I was buckled in right next to him because I was too lazy to get out of the back seat and get in the front seat) a few minutes later and he again wiped off my kisses.
There are two reasons I am lucky:
1) William's baby sister might have the most kissable cheeks on the planet, so there will just have to be more kisses for her.
2) This morning I was kissing on those fat baby sister cheeks while she giggled away. William wandered over and plunked himself down next to me and demanded some kisses of his own. No recollection of the kisses ban from the previous day.
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