My 'Oops' Story

Since some of you were kind enough to share some of your horror stories with me about forgetting an extra change of clothes for your baby, I'll share my story {this is for you Campbell!}

When Little M was tiny I took her over to my parent's house for a little visit. I brought a diaper bag with diapers, wipes, and whatnot, but did not think to bring an extra set of clothes since she had already pooped before we left. I also wasn't concerned since my parents live 4 blocks away from us.

Anyways, we were hanging out there for a while, having a great time, and then I heard it. When Little M was tiny, her bowel movements were LOUD..there was definitely no mistaking what was going on {sorry M, I promise never to show this post to your future boyfriends}. And after I heard it, I saw it...poop leaking out of her diaper and all up and down her clothes. My mom and I quick rushed her upstairs and stripped her down. We cleaned her up and put her in a fresh diaper. Then my mom asked where the extra clothes were. Yeah that was my 'bad Mommy' moment when I had to admit I didn't bring any...or even a blanket to wrap her in since it was THE DEAD OF WINTER.

However, my mom had a soft blanket she wrapped around my little girl and I was able to quickly run home and get some more clothes {I actually brought back THREE extra outfits just in case, haha}. Thankfully we were so close and Little M didn't have to freeze in her carseat as I drove her home to change. I went anywhere without extra clothes again!

*Mom Tip*

*Always make sure to bring an extra outfit for the baby with you wherever you go. Because the one time you don't the baby will poop, and it will get all over his/her clothes*

Nine Months

Happy 9 month birthday Little M {a day late}!! I cannot believe my tiny baby is so big...crawling, standing, and eating real food. I have loved every single day with her {even the ones she cried all the time}. Every stage has brought new feelings of love, excitement, confusion, and amazement. I cannot wait to see what each next stage with bring. I love you baby girl.

{Oh, and can we talk about how quickly these 9 months of Little M's life have just flown by, but the 9 months of pregnancy draaaaaagged by?!?!}

All the Single Ladies

I am a terrible, terrible influence on my daughter. Since she was a tiny baby, I watch the Today Show every morning...specifically the fourth hour with Kathie Lee and Hoda. They crack me up and add some humor to my day. A few months ago the two of them were obsessed with the Beyonce song "Single Ladies". They were constantly playing it on the show and dancing to it. Every time it would come on, I would dance around the room with Little M, telling her it was her song since she was single, haha. I would blast it in the car as well, whenever it came on the radio.

Well the other day Little M and I were in the car coming back from running errands. "Single Ladies" {which we haven't heard in a long time} came on the radio. I turned it up and wouldn't you know that Little M started clapping her hands and 'singing' along. I just started cracking up. Looks like I'm going to have to start watching what songs I play for Little M, or my luck she'll start singing 'Love Game' by Lady Gaga in the middle of church.

Casey's Giveaway

Casey over at Mine All Mine is hosting a fabulous giveaway! It is all sorts of goodies for the fall. Head on over there and check it out!

*Mom Tip*

Okay, so I really meant to make these 'Mom Tip' posts a pretty regular thing as I thought of different tips I would have found helpful as a new mom. But so far I only wrote one...and it was months ago. So sorry! But from now on I will really try and keep up with these.

*Babyproof your house earlier than you think you need to. Little M went from not crawling to zooming around in just one day. Thankfully I was prepared!*

Not So Creepy Crawler

Since Little M figured out she could get around by crawling, she has not stopped! I've managed to figure out how to contain her in our family room and she zooms around from one side to the next. I've baby-proofed every square inch, but nothing is 100% safe. Several times she has pulled herself up to the kneeling position and today pulled herself to standing once! I am constantly on the go, chasing her around and making sure she doesn't hurt herself/get into anything she shouldn't.

One of her favorite things to do now is crawl over to the puppies and play around with them. Shiba just sits there and lets Little M do whatever she wants to her. Mr. B on the other hand loves to play around with her and lick her face. I definitely have to pay even closer attention when she is playing with him. He is such a gentle guy but at 50lbs he could definitely knock her right over.

I cannot believe that my tiny little baby can crawl! It's so funny to see her moving all around. Her little knees are getting all red and rough from the carpets, but she doesn't seem to mind on bit. She even practices crawling around in her crib in the mornings. I'm sure it won't be long now before she is taking her first steps. Watch out world, Little M is will be unstoppable!

08.24.03

Six years ago today my best friend Kat invited me over her house to hang out in her backyard. It was a gorgeous summer evening and she and her boyfriend were having a few friends over. I had just finished my summer job as a camp counselor and was looking forward to a week off before heading back to University in Connecticut for my junior year. I was definitely not looking for a boyfriend.

My friend casually mentioned that a Marine was going to be there {I already sort of had this

huge thing for military guys}. I just thought that it would be someone I could talk to. Little did I know that this whole evening had already been planned out. Skip was best friend with Kat's boyfriend. Skip had been in their kitchen a few nights before. He was lamenting that he was looking for a girlfriend and proceeded to describe his 'perfect' girl. Kat jumped up and exclaimed, 'I know her!' He had apparently described me to a T. They then set the ball in motion for us to meet.

Anyways, I got to Kat's house and ended up sitting next to Skip on the wooden picnic table. We talked all night until he had to leave {he was in the police academy at the time, oh yea and was bald because of it!} I had a great time and told Kat I would definitely hang out with him again.

We hung out again four days later and the night after that went out on our first date. After that night I was done, I never looked at another boy after that. I was 20 years old and had just found the man of my dreams.

The past six year have been the best of my life, since I have had Skip by my side. We have been through so many happy, wonderful, sad, trying, amazing times together. Here's a little rundown of what we have been through:

- long distance

- college

- Police Academy

- Marines

- deployment

- engagement

- wedding

- death of a friend

- hospital visits

- pesky neighbors

- parties

- jobs

- buying a condo

- selling a condo

- buying a house

- two dogs

- tons of fish

- and a beautiful baby girl

There is no one I would rather go through life with than Skip. He is my rock and so much more than I ever dreamed of in a husband. I love you baby. Here's to many more years and memories together!

A picture of Skip and I the night we 'officially' became boyfriend/girlfriend. We looked like such babies!

I'm a Featured Blogger!!

If you didn't notice, there is a little something new on my sidebar under the "You Can Also Find Me Here" section. It is a button announcing that I am now a featured blogger on Bizymoms.com. I was asked to be a part of this website and am super excited about it! Click on the button and check out my blog on their site and vote for me. All votes are greatly appreciated!!

Missing a Newborn

I've heard of parents getting sad as their children grow up and out of the newborn stage. However, my Little M has decided she's said that she is no longer a tiny little baby and so has reverted to being a newborn. She has been waking up every few hours during the night {even though she never woke up this much when she was *actually* a newborn!}. It is making for a very tired mommy, let me tell you. Hence the lack of blogging much recently.

I'm not exactly sure what is causing it; I think it's really a combination of things. Some times she's hungry and wants another bottle. Some times she is gassy. Some times she's practicing her new sitting up, crawling, pulling up skills. Some times we leave the A/C on too long and she gets a little cold. And some times it is purely separation anxiety and she just wants her mom.

Skip and I are just trying to take it in stride for right now, and nap when she naps as much as possible. We're at a total loss as to how to help her sleep better. She's on a great feeding and napping schedule. We do the same bedtime routine every night. What else is there?? I'm just keeping my fingers crossed that she grows out of this stage *very* soon. I feel like I'm in a fog most of the day and I'm really only able to get things done when Skip is off. Veteran mommies, please tell me this is normal and she will eventually start sleeping nice and regularly!

PS...I finally caved and joined Twitter. Come follow me! My name is mommusings

Think Before You Predict

Dear Mr. Weather Man,

If you insist on predicting the weather every day, could you please attempt to get it right?? Don't tell me that there are going to be crazy thunderstorms rolling into my area for the next few days. Because when you tell me things like that, I will feel the need to prepare my outside patio/yard for the rain onslaught. I'll roll down the umbrella, stack the chairs in the corner, make sure all the garbage can lids are on tight, and pour out all the water from the baby pool and store it in the garage. Yes the same baby pool that took me forever to set up and fill only a few days ago. The one I would love to have set up today since it is going to be sunny and around 90* {pretty much the opposite of what you predicted} The one that I just don't have the energy to set up and fill again today. But don't apologize to me. It's this little face you have disappointed:

Sincerely,

A tired, cranky Mommy

PS....I know what you're going to respond to me: 'Well Mommy, there *was* tons of lightening last night...how were we to think anything else other than huge storms??' Yeah, it was heat lightening buddy...even I know that!

New Cuisine

It amazes me every day the ways in which Little M is growing. Crawling, exploring and attempting to get into anything and everything are her main priorities these days. But even her eating habits have changed so much over the past few months. Let's do a comparison from when she was first born to now, only 8 1/2 months later.

Newborn Little M:

- Nursing every 3 hours

Eight Month Little M {today's menu}:

- Four bottles of formula {6 oz each} every day

- when she wakes up

- 10:00 am

- 3:00 pm

- right before bed

- Breakfast

- 1/2 waffle broken up into little pieces

- mashed up banana

-Lunch

- 1 piece of whole grain bread broken up into little pieces

- entire container of Yo Baby yogurt

-Snack

- 2 rice crackers

-Dinner

- Gerber strained macaroni and cheese with beef and vegetables

Dessert

- Gerber vanilla pudding with bananas

What a difference!! I just love getting to introduce her to new and more advanced food and seeing her reaction to them! I also can't wait until our little family is all sitting down to the same meal together!

My Baby is Mobile!

Aquatic Training

I have about a million blog post thoughts running through my mind right now and am having trouble figuring out how to organize them. I guess I'll start with my day today with Little M.

One of the things on my list of 100 things I wanted to accomplish was to play with Little M in the baby pool we got her back in May. Skip wanted to be there the first time we put her in it, but it's already the middle of August and we haven't found time to do it when we were both home yet {it didn't help that it rained pretty much EVERY DAY in June}. So anyways, Skip said it was fine that I play with her in the pool as soon as possible, even if he wasn't around. I figured today was perfect since it was extremely humid and almost 90*.

I set up Little M in her playpen outside this morning and opened up the garage to take out the pool {we had blown it up back in May and it was just sitting there waiting to be filled}. I dragged it out and found a perfect spot for it on the grass before I noticed the huge hole in it and heard the air continually draining out. I couldn't believe it!! I knew it wouldn't last forever, but I thought I would get at least ONE use out of it! I was furious...but I was also not going to let this prevent me from getting Little M in the pool! I loaded her up in the car and headed over to Walgreens. I found a great little pool on sale for only $8.00 {it was much smaller and no where near as nice as our original one, but it would do the job}.

Once we got home I pulled it out of the box and *attempted* to set it up. It did not need to be blown up as it just had a plastic bottom and vinyl sides. But since it had been folded up inside the tiny box, it refused to stand up straight. I know it would stand up once I filled it with water, but I couldn't fill it until it stood up {of course}. My solution was slightly unorthodox, but did the trick. I went down to the basement and brought up five huge juice jugs we have from BJ's. I positioned them inside around the rim and they kept the sides up enough for me to fill it up. It took about 1/2 hour to fill and then I let it sit for about two more hours to sit and hopefully warm up a bit {it didn't}. Then it was time to play!

I got Little M and I dressed in our bathing suits, grabbed some water-proof toys and her floating ring, and we headed outside. I was worried that since the water was still pretty cold, Little M would refuse to go in. Boy was I wrong! She absolutely loved it! She was so happy just floating around, kicking her feet, and splashing. I was sad that Skip wasn't there to see her in it the first time...but we really wanted to get *some* use out of it before the summer ended. And it's going to be over 90* for the next few days so he'll definitely get to see her in it soon. I'll post some of the pictures I took of her in it soon! {I have been sooo bad about uploading them recently!}

Edit: This post was actually written on Sunday, but I just completely forgot to post it! Skip has yet to see M in her pool {hopefully later today} but she loved splashing around again yesterday!!

Vacation Pics

Here they are...the long wait is over! Here are a few pictures from our vacation {okay to be honest they are just from the first time we were down the shore...I haven't yet uploaded the ones from last week}. Enjoy!!

Dunna Na Na Dunna Na Na Elmo's World

My 8 month old daughter is obsessed with Sesame Street, Elmo specifically. I know that as a mom I am not supposed to let any children under the age of 2 watch TV but I just don't care, haha. Anyways she's only allowed to watch that one show, so it can't be all bad. And if you could see the look on her face any time Elmo is on, there's no way you could deny her either. She just sits next to me the whole hour watching intently, taking in every moment, laughing and clapping her hands. It is the only thing that can calm her down when she is having a serious meltdown. My husband and I are constantly wandering around the house with her singing various "Elmo" songs. {and occasionally singing them even after she's gone to sleep} I leave you with a picture of her watching Elmo, with her Elmo! What are the shows your children can't get enough of??

Mommy Lesson

We learned an important lesson as parents about Little M the other night. Now that she's bigger and able to sit up in restaurant high chairs now, we've been taking her out with us more recently. So the other night was Skip's grandmother's 90th birthday, and the family was all getting together for dinner out at a nearby restaurant. The dinner was at 6 so we decided to keep M up a little later that night and take her with us. She was absolutely wonderful the first 45 minutes and then started to get really cranky. I took her outside for about 15 minutes and walked around with her. Skip came and got me when our food was served. I came back in and ate exactly two bites of food before she started crying again, so I took her back out. Skip came and got me about 10 minutes later when he had finished eating. He said he would stay out there and I could go eat. I didn't think it was fair for us to spend the rest of the party rotating outside, so we just made the decision to leave. They wrapped up my dinner and we headed out. Little M fell asleep as soon as we put her in the car and went right to bed when we got home. So no more dinners out for the M. At least not for a long time.

I know people have made comments about how we refused to take M out in the past, saying we were just being ridiculous and people take their kids out all the time. I know this is true, but I also know that I have had many meals ruined because people have dragged their crying, cranking, running around children out with them. I don't think it's fair to the kids or to the people around them. It also can't be {and isn't as I learned the other night} fun for the parents when they are up and down trying to make sure their kids are under control. {Although I have also seem many parents who just sit there and seem oblivious. Those are the people that aggravate me the most.} However, now everyone got to see that there is a reason we are keeping her home. I did feel terrible though, having to leave in the middle of dinner. But we had made a choice to bring her and then had to make the sacrifice to take her home and do what's best for her. Now we know and can plan accordingly for the future!

Busy, Busy, Busy

Okay, so I know that I really should be posting a "Wordless Wednesday" post filled with all the pictures from our beach vacation last week, but I completely neglected to upload them onto my computer. Oh, and we came down the shore again yesterday until Saturday, so there will be even *more* pictures I need to upload! I promise I will catch up eventually, it's just that this summer has just been so darn busy!!

Little M is moving all over the place now! No real crawling yet but it's coming any day now. She does manage to move herself around though! Oh and we think we've figured out what her first word is probably going to be. Of course my daughter has to be different and it isn't going to be anything traditional like 'Mama' or 'Dada'. It's going to be 'Braddock'. That is the name of our bulldog Mr. B. All day M keeps saying 'Braa, Braa' so it's only a matter of time before 'Braddock' comes out, haha.

We are enjoying our second week down the shore. I got to lay on the beach for a few hours with my sister yesterday while Skip watched the baby. It was so relaxing. Today was all rainy and stormy, but as my sister says, 'A bad day at the beach is better than any day at home!' So true. I love being here, but it will be nice to get back home again and back into a routine. I feel like we've been vacationing, day tripping, and going to parties like *crazy* the past few weeks. It's been wonderful, but also exhausting. I will miss the husband when he's back at work on his regular rotating schedule again though. I will also miss sleeping in, because he has been so wonderful about getting up with the baby almost every day he's been off. It's been fabulous let me tell you!!

Is Anyone Else Having This Problem?

All afternoon, everytime I sign into Blogger and go to my dashboard it says I'm not currently following any blogs and shows no updates. But when I look at my blog, it lists the currently updated ones along the side still. Anyone know how to fix this problem?

08-08-04

I totally meant to post this on Saturday, but as many of you know, life with a baby can often be unpredictable! And I've just had no time to sit down and write. Saturday marked the five year anniversary of when Skip and I got engaged. Here's a little background on what led up to our engagement.

Skip was a Marine Reservist when I met him. He got activated May 1, 2004. He was in Pennsylvania for two weeks and then got to come home for the weekend. It was on that leave that he gave me a beautiful diamond promise ring. It was a promise he was coming home safe, and a promise we would one day get married. Because he had done this, I did not expect that we would get engaged before he deployed.

After Pennsylvania, he went to California for more training. I flew out there for the Fourth of the July weekend to say goodbye. I thought it was going to be the last time I was going to see him before he went to Iraq. Little did I know Skip had some plans in the works!

Skip's unit had been told that they would get a few days of liberty before they left to fly home and see their families. Skip kept this a secret from me until I cam home from camp Friday August 6th and he was standing in my bedroom. I screamed and could not believe he was standing right in front of me!!! He was staying until Wednesday and I was so excited to spend a few days with him.

We were inseparable for the first two days. Then on Sunday he wanted to spend a few hours alone with his sister {totally understandably}. I was going to be at my Grandma's house, since my *entire* family was gathered there for the day celebrating my cousin's recent return from his own deployment to Iraq. My husband said he would meet me there, and would only be gone a few hours, not the whole day.

So we were all at my Grandma's, hanging out and the hours ticked by. Of course my cell service wasn't great there either, so anytime I did manage to get Skip on the phone to find out his eta, the connection would get lost. Finally around FOUR O'CLOCK {remember this was not supposed to take all day} I called him from my Grandma's land line. He said he was on his way home and he asked if I could come pick him at his house, and then bring him back to my Grandma's. I said okay, but then I was crying to him saying that I didn't think he even wanted to see me at all that day, since he was only just on his way back to his house now and HE STARTED LAUGHING!!!!!! I managed to choke out that I was just going to leave and get him and hung up on him. I was *furious*!!!!

I ran home to my house to drop my sisters off. My dad had been at home the entire time and I told him about how angry I was with Skip. He told me it would all be okay and to just go get him {little did I know that Skip had *just* been at my parent's house asking my dad for his blessing so he could propose to me!!!}.

I drove up to Skip's house and he met me in the driveway {something he never did, so I should have thought it was weird} He took my hand and led me into the backyard next to his mother's St. Francis statue. Here's the conversation that ensued:

Skip: I'm so sorry you were mad at me today. But I've just been trying to figure out all day how I was going to ask you to marry me. {He ended this with an open ring box in his hand, which held the most *gorgeous* diamond/platinum ring I have ever seen}

Me: OMG, OMG, OMG!!!! {I kiss him}

Skip: So is that a yes??

Me: OF COURSE IT'S YES!!!! {more kissing}

We then went inside and celebrated with his family, before heading over to my Grandma's to celebrate with my family. He later explained that he had been ring shopping all day with his sister and it just took longer than he thought. And the reason he laughed on the phone was because it was so comical to him that I was crying thinking he didn't want to see me and here he was ready to propose. I sure know how to ruin things!

Sorry, I totally didn't realize this post was going to be so long. I leave you with the first picture taken of Skip and I after we got engaged. How young do we look?!?!?! {please excuse my crazy red eyes!}

Lovely Blog Award

If you happen to glance along the right side of my blog, you will notice I have a new little something over there. And it looks a little something like this:

I was super excited to receive my second blog award by Jess over at Waiting for Baby Paramore. I am a new follower to her blog and absolutely adore it! She is so honest and real. Head on over and check her out!!

The rules of the 'One Lovely Blog Award' are: Accept the award, post it on your blog together with the name of the person who has granted the award and her blog link. Pass the award to other blogs that you've newly discovered. Remember to contact the bloggers to let them know they have been chosen for this award.

Here are the lovely ladies that I am bestowing this blog onto!

Mrs. Fuzz at The Police Wife

Rebekah at Heart Cries

Erin at Hoping for Our Own Peanut

Kim at Life As I Know It

Dianne at Praying for Our Little One to Come

Check out these fabulous blogs when you have a minute!!

My Growing Girl

I promise that sometime this week I will finally load all my vacation pics onto the computer and upload some up here! I've just been too busy watching Shark Week, cleaning, unpacking, and getting ready to go back to the beach again next Tuesday for another week {totally not complaining though...sooo lucky to be able to take two, one week vacations at the beach with my family!}.

Little M is growing by leaps and bounds recently. She and I went to the doctor yesterday for her 8 month visit. She is 26 inches and 17.6 lbs. That puts her in the 50th percentile for her age. She had to get two more shots:( but thankfully she had no reaction to either of them.

She is perfecting her clapping ability and I'm working on teaching her to wave hello and goodbye. On Monday morning before we left the beach, I popped her in her crib down there so I could finish packing up her room. I turned my back for a minute, and when I looked back at her, she had pulled herself up to standing! So as soon as we got home I took out the bumpers in her crib and Skip and I lowered her crib mattress down to the lowest level. She is getting to just be such a big girl! She is so close to crawling and I'm scrambling to make sure everything is baby-proofed.

She is still pretty much on her 5:30 am wake-up, so I just need to adjust my own sleeping patterns to hers. I was lucky last week because Skip got up with her every morning and let me sleep in until 8! It was glorious! It has been hard on him going back to work, missing out on the daily routine with Little M. It makes me sad for him, but also makes me appreciate more everyday how lucky I am to be with her all the time. It can be exhausting and tiring, but I am so lucky that we can afford for me to be able to stay home!

Don't Go in the Water

If you know me at all personally, you know what I am doing all this week. I'm parked in front of my TV watching the Discovery Channel's annual SHARK WEEK!!!! I'm absolutely obsessed, as are many of my other friends. What's weird is that I hate the Jaws movies, but love hearing everything else about sharks. I also love that the first recorded death of a human by a shark took place in Beach Haven, Long Beach Island, NJ in 1916. Yes that's the SAME EXACT BEACH I WAS SWIMMING IN LAST WEEK!! Freaky. Anyways, must get back to the shows. Tune in and check it out!

Everybody Clap Your Hands

For the first time today Little M clapper her hands together all by herself! She is still not quite good at it, but practiced several times. I was so happy that both Skip and I were there to see it. She's getting to be such a big girl!!!

Water Bug

Sorry I have been slacking on blogging about what's been going on during our vacation here, but 1, I've been busy working on my tan and relaxing with the family, and 2, I forgot my cord to upload pictures to my computer from the camera. And I'd hate to blog without giving you a little visual!

But today we went to a pool party at my sister's place and she took some awesome pictures! It was Little M's first time in a pool. We had taken her in the ocean a few days ago and she was not really thrilled with it, but we were hopeful the warm, calm waters of the pool would be better.

We took her in as soon as she got there, and her response was pretty much the same as she had about the ocean. She was okay being in the pool as long as someone was holding her tight and preventing any part of her body from touching the water.

We then took a break to feed her and ourselves before giving it another go. This time she *loved* it!!! She was so happy to bounce up and down, splash with her hands and kick her little legs. It was great to see all her smiles and giggles! We are going to a huge pool party next weekend that one of the guys Skip works with is throwing, so hopefully it'll be as good an experience. I leave you with some of the pictures and promise to get back into regular blogging mode when we come home on Monday!

Splashing with Mommy

Two water bugs

My loves...could I be any luckier??

Checking out the other babies at the pool

Laughing at Daddy

Relaxing

Loving her first pool party!