Wordless Wednesday

Here are a collection of pictures from Giant's Draft Day!





Our little family

Dancing

On the field with Mommy

So sad this stadium is getting torn down:(

Warmth+Sunshine+Family=Best Days

I could probably talk for days about how much I LOVE this weather.  I am definitely not a cold-weather girl.  I hate the cold, (as I am ALWAYS cold) having to bundle up in sweaters and thick boots, and I absolutely LOATHE snow and all the hassle that comes with it.  Don't get me wrong, I do enjoy a sparkling white Christmas, but after January 1st I firmly believe the weather should turn sharply to at least 60*.  I am never happier than when my channel 12 weather man tells me it is going to be in the 70's...even better the 80's.  There is nothing I love more than spending the whole summer outside, wearing shorts, a tank top, and a golden tan (yes, I am fully aware of the dangers of the sun and getting a dark tan, and I'm sure I will get skin cancer one day, but the lure of the sun is too strong for me)  So yesterday morning I awoke with a huge smile on my face knowing that it was going to be just GORGEOUS the next few days.  And the husband was off of work Friday and Saturday, which made it just perfect!  

Friday was spent as a family just having a simple, fun day.  We took Little M and Mr. B (the bulldog) to the dog park.  M LOVES watching all the puppies running around together and it's great exercise for Mr. B.  We then walked around the park just enjoying being outside.  When we got home, the husband remembered that had had his old badminton set in the basement and went to set it up.  We put Little M in her little entertainment center under the shade of the umbrella to watch her mommy and daddy play.  I don't think I've played since I was about 10, but I held my own.  My husband was annoyed that I told all of my friends and family I beat him, when it was really a tie, and has promised a re-match we will invite every to witness. (so now I will need to secretly practice while he is at work!)  Then after dinner we took a long family walk to drink in as much of the fresh air as possible.  Then it was an early bedtime for all to rest up for today!

Today was one of my favorite days all year...Draft Day!  While I am OBSESSED with football (specifically the Giants) I don't actually follow the actual draft.  I don't really care for college football, so I never know who the draftees are.  However, I love today because every year the Giants hold a Draft Day party down at the stadium.  There are players, current and alumni, signing autographs, you can go on the field, in the locker room, up in the press box, and can even have a fake picture taken of yourself as the #1 draft pick!  It is just an awesome day!  This was my fifth year going and was very excited to have Little M share in the day with us!

Bringing a baby to such an event in 80*, almost 90* weather did pose some problems.  I wanted her to stay as cool as possible, but since she is still too young for sun screen, she also needed to be covered up from the sun (I may be a sun-goddess but I'm definitely not passing that on to my daughter!)  Layers was what was decided upon and we went onto the field to get autographs first since that would be the most direct sunlight we would be getting.  M was very good the whole hour wait, only getting fussy right towards the end.  But then she turned on the charm when we got up to the table.  George Martin, Howard Cross, and one other alumni (whose name I have already forgotten and cannot decipher on my autograph sheet) all LOVED her.  I was a very proud momma as they each ooohed and aaaahed over her, reaching out to hold her tiny hand.  It was adorable!  After that we went to get some food in the shade of the practice bubble, and M got her first taste of cold water in her bottle.  After that we went through the locker room.  It is always fun to see what personal belongings and pictures the players leave in their lockers.  After that the husband, M, and I took our mock-draft pic, pretending Little M had been the Giant's #1 pick!  It was getting on in the day and we had seen all we needed to, so we packed up then and headed home.  

It has just been a perfect few days of warmth and some great quality family time.  I am sad that the husband has to go back to work tomorrow but happy that this GORGEOUS weather will continue a few days longer!  Now I just have to figure out how to get a little color while keeping M cook and in the shade!

ps.  I will post some pics of the past few days tomorrow!

Wordless Wednesday

Meredith's expression when Mr. B (the bulldog) was racing towards her...her face totally says "Trouble is coming!!"

Irony

There is currently an ENORMOUS thunderstorm going on outside.  I mean buckets of rain, strong winds, lightning so bright it looks like the sun, and thunder that is shaking my whole house.  My 50 lb, tough-looking, Marine Corps mascot bulldog is cowering in my lap.  My tiny 4 1/2 month old baby?  sleeping soundly in her bed.  Go figure!

Thankful Thursday

Today I am thankful for:
- The GORGEOUS weather we are going to be having the next few days...can't wait to get out in the sunshine!
- True friends who always stand by me and don't judge me
- Having a house and money to pay all our bills, even during these tough economic times
- My parents living so close to me and always available to help me
- My husband's and my relationship growing stronger and stronger every day
- Baby smiles and giggles

Wordless Wednesday

Here is a compilation of pictures of my English Bulldog, Braddock...more commonly known as "Mr. B" He will be a year old on May 24th. He is just a great big fat smelly mess, and I love him so much! Look how much he's grown!

Some Days You Gotta Let Go

Today was a wonderful day...I didn't think it would be too great because Skip took on an extra shift at work.  This meant he was working from 7 am till 11 pm....yes that's 16 hours straight!  That also meant that I was going to be alone with the baby the entire day.  I have done this plenty of times before, but those days are always the toughest, and always the ones where she is the crankiest!  I decided to try and stay positive though.

Little M started our day by waking up at 6 am.  This is not that early, but it is an hour earlier than her normal wake-up time.  I fed her and thought that maybe since it was still dark outside I would trick her into thinking it was the middle of the night and she would go back to bed...shockingly it worked!  I went back to bed when she went down and woke up to her cries at 8:30!  Pretty nice little nap.  Once we got up I  changed her and fed her again.  Then I popped her into her exersaucer and got myself ready.  Since she is better able to grab onto things, she now loves playing in this little seat, grabbing at all her toys around her.  This enabled me to not only wash my face and throw on some clothes, but also put on some make-up and straighten my hair! (complete luxuries when you have a baby let me tell you)  

Once we were all ready we came downstairs and I had to feed Little M her solids.  She gets rice cereal and today she got to try peaches!  She has already tried bananas and applesauce and I'm happy to announce she LOVED the peaches and can add them to her new foods.  Now we just have to stick with them a few more days to make sure she's not allergic to them.  After breakfast we watched the fourth hour of the Today show with Kathie Lee and Hoda (my new guilty pleasure!)  and played with the puppies.  

A little before 12 Little M fell asleep and I put her up in her crib for a nap.  Instead of rushing around trying to wash some dishes or work through the five loads of laundry waiting for me in the basement, I decided to treat myself and have some lunch.  This may not seem like any sort of treat, and I didn't eat anything fancy, but normally I eat lunch standing up, with a baby in one hand, fending off the dogs with the other.  But today I actually sat down at the dining room table and ate my lunch WHILE READING A BOOK!!!  This is also a luxury for me.  I never have any free time to read anymore (as evidenced by the huge stack of magazines just waiting to be read)  But Skip picked up the Jon and Kate Plus 8 book at the library for me yesterday and I thought I should at least attempt to try and read it.  It was so nice to just relax and enjoy my meal!

Little M work up just as I was finishing up and it was time for her to eat again.  After I fed her and played just for a little while, she fell asleep on my shoulder for 2 1/2 hours!  I contemplated putting her down and again attempting to tackle the mounds of laundry, but she has just been growing so much recently, and I know she will only be tiny for a little bit longer.  So I instead just relaxed in our black rocking lounger chair and held her, while reading my book.  I was even able to finish it!  It was just such a lovely way to spend the afternoon with my little girl.

Once she woke up we spent the rest of the day playing and just hanging out together.  She went down to sleep a little before 7:30 and has been out ever since! (she used to always sleep though the night but has been waking up a bit in the early nighttime recently)  I was going to try and fit in a workout (but who are we kidding, haha) and have been spending the night blogging, watching The Biggest Loser, and waiting to see the husband for a few minutes before bed.  Yes there are a pile of dishes in my sink, the dishwasher needs to be emptied, those mounds of dirty clothes are STILL in the basement, and I really should vacuum upstairs, but none of that matters.  What matters is that I was lucky enough to have a wonderful day with my daughter and enjoy her sweet smelling warm body on my shoulder.  I will miss these days when she is bigger!

First Post-Pregnancy Jeans

I am a firm believer in the power of suggestion. So after reading an extremely funny story by fellow blogger Ashley Paige about the difficulty of searching for the perfect pair of jeans, I should have assumed that I would soon be in a similar situation. Two days ago the knee of my absolutely favorite jeans wore through. I was so sad as the entire time I was pregnant all I kept dreaming about was fitting back into this pair. I had a second favorite pair that was still good though, so I was not in a hurry to replace them (considering all our extra cash goes towards the baby these days!) And yet last night I sat on the couch to curl up with my sleeping bulldog, the back seam of my #2 jeans split open! So not a good thing for a new mom who is still getting used to my post-pregnancy body. I was way more upset than I should have been, considering its insignificance in the grand scheme of life. But it is so hard for me to find pants...especially jeans! And now that I'm home all the time, they are pretty much the only thing I wear besides sweatpants. Skip was very understand of my upsetment when he got home from work and offered to watch the baby in the morning so I could go out in search of a new pair.

I got up at 7 this morning with the baby, as everyday, and instead of trading off naps with the husband like we do most mornings, I got right up and proceeded to get ready to go out. As much as I loath trying to find the perfect pair of jeans, I love shopping and it's always nice to get out once and awhile without the baby. My first hurdle was decided where to shop. I normally have the most luck buying clothes at Kohl's. But that requires a 20 minute drive each way up the highway. The mall is much closer and I figured if I didn't have any luck in one store, there would be plenty others to check out. So with much debating back and forth, I chose the latter and was ready to go. Pretty soon I was off to the bank and then pulling into the mall parking lot at 9:00am. This was the second hurdle. Since when does the mall not open until 10:00?!??!?! For years I was under the impression that all the shops were open by 9:00. Maybe it was just that I was sleeping in so late at the time that 10:00 seemed much earlier to me! Rather than sit around and wait for an hour, or go back home and come back later, I ditched the mall idea and ended up heading to Kohl's afterall, kicking myself for not choosing to go there in the first place.

They always have fabulous sales at Kohl's and I hit up the clearance racks as soon as I walked in. (very important when your family increased by one member but decreased to one salary) It took forever to dig through all the racks but finally made my way over to the dressing room, my arms filled with way more pairs of jeans than you're supposed to bring in with you. Before I go any further, I should probably explain that all of this was happening in the Juniors Department. Yes, I have been married for almost 4 years and have a beautiful baby girl, and I still shop with all the teeny boppers. It's just that I'm on the tiny side and find it very hard to find jeans small enough in the women's sections.  This makes the whole process a little more difficult though...just because I need the same size as teenagers, does not mean I also want to wear the same style.  I already own two pairs of skinny jeans, so I didn't need anymore of those.  And I seriously don't know who wears super flares anymore.  I just wanted a darker wash straight leg pair without all those rips and holes!  But finally, after about an hour of running back and forth between the racks and the dressing room I managed to find not one, but TWO new pairs of jeans!  They are plain, dark wash, straight leg, perfect length!  And I was very excited that they were in my pre-pregnancy size!!!  Even better.... I got both for only $20.00!!!  I even had time to go pick up the CUTEST bright deep pick cotton dress for Little Meredith to wear this Sunday for Easter!  With her little cardigan sweater of course, since it's only going to bed in the 40's this weekend!!!  But I digress.  All in all it was a pleasant shopping experience and I am currently wearing one of my two new favorite pairs of jeans:)  I promise to blog more later about all the new things Little M has been up to!!

My Sweet Baby

My daughter's giggly laugh is the best sounds I have ever heard in my life.  There is nothing I love more than playing with her, tickling her, and spending hours just smiling at her.  Life doesn't get any better than this.

Wordless Wednesday

Family's first trip to the beach!

Rolling Over and Mommy TIme!

This has been such a big week for my little Meredith. It all started about a week and a half ago. My husband was home sick with bronchitis (yeah totally awesome...try having to take care of him and the baby, and the two dogs and the house, all while keeping him as far away from me and the baby as possible so we wouldn't get sick as well!) The only thing that worked out was that he was home to see Meredith roll over for the first time! I was worried she wouldn't do this for some time, because she has always HATED "tummy time". However since she is getting a little bigger I thought I'd give it another shot. She was able to push herself up at a 90* angle and happily laid there for quite some time. And then she just rolled right over from her belly to her back! It was very exciting and I was so happy Skip was home to see it. Of course we also made her do it again so we could get it on video:) That was big milestone #1.

The second exciting event was taking Meredith up to the school where I used to teach. It was so much fun to introduce her to the teachers and all my old students. She was a huge hit and loved looking at all the new faces! It was also the longest trip I have taken her on by myself! I wasn't too worried about the 25 minute drive up the highway though, after our latest purchase. I finally bought one of those mirrors to put on the seat behind her so I can see her in my review mirror, or with a quick glance in the back. It has made me feel so much better because now I can see her and check to make sure she's ok!

Another Mommy/Meredith first this week was taking her to church by myself. Normally I go with either my husband or my mom, but this week Skip was working and my mom was down the shore, so we were on our own! Thankfully our church has a "crying room" which makes the whole process a lot less stressful. The crying room is an enclosed room above the rest of the church. It is sound proof so the baby can cry as much as possible and no one else will be disturbed (hence the name) It is also outfitted with giant windows and speakers, so we still feel like we're part of the celebration. Only one other person was up there with us so it was very quiet and peaceful. And Meredith slept through the entire thing which was another big help!

It is getting very late though, so I will end this blog now and continue tomorrow with Meredith's other new milestones!