easter weekend | 2016

this past Easter weekend was full of fun and celebrating with both family & friends. i'm just now realizing how much fun having a child during the holidays really is! last year you were around 2-3 months old, you mostly slept and ate; this year i chased you all over the place!!

our weekend started out with dinner at the yacht club with the Rosenblooms. we put you and Christine's highchairs next to each other, and i've never seen you eat so much in your entire life! by the time dinner ended i was scared to give you anymore food in fear you'd puke when we got home. i might have mentioned before, but C is a good eater and i think it's good for you to eat with her because it motives you. i'm beginning to think you might be a binge eater (j/k, kinda)...you will gorge yourself one day and then go a couple days eating like a bird. sometimes i wonder how you stay alive. but you could also be filling yourself up on da liquid gold every night ;) we really need to nix this habit.  Dadda said you look too big to still be nursing; i attribute your fixation to how a crackhead loves cocaine...the addiction is real. lol. we will work on it.

Saturday afternoon we went over to the Bromberg's house for an egg hunt. Christy's house is impeccably decorated, but not very child-appropriate. she had bowls beyond bowls everywhere you turned filled with jellybeans, m&ms, malted eggs. i would be 20 lbs heavier if i lived at her house. Every time i saw James, his hand was dipping into a bowl of candy :) and you, little missy, got your hands on a malted egg and was able to nibble a bite off the top before i pried it from our hands. it was a tiny bite, so i left you enjoy the wonderfulness that is the malted candy egg. 

my favorite part of the day was seeing all your little friends dressed up in their Easter outfits (of course, saving the best for the following day :)) little man and robin were in town with baby zoë. shes about 3 months older than you and C. and then there's Ann Fleming, who's about 5 months older. i cannot wait to watch all you of grow up together!!

that night we went to Joanie's. aunt meme put pictures of Facebook so you can check that out there :) and of course Joanie got you a bunch of nonsense toys, but nevertheless you enjoyed them.

i forgot to put your Easter basket out Sunday morning...#momfail. and even bigger #momfail if you read this before you know #imtheEasterBunny. but at least you little. i ended up giving you your toys that evening after bath time. plus you liked the flip-flops Joanie game you most of all. Dadda and  i got you new white summer sandals, a big pool/beach towel; a big girl cup with matching plastic straw; some socks with bunnies on them; and plastic animals toys. 

on Sunday I talked Dadda into going to church with Joanie and me. we put you in the nursery, which is your classroom for Playschool. we celebrated Jesus's life and sacrifice; which i realize will probably be hard to explain in the coming years. James didn't really get it this year; he is 3.5. but one day :) afterward Dadda and i took you to Gommy's house for a big family Easter lunch. as always it was delicious. everyone there fawned over your dress. which i do have to say was beautiful (thank you Joanie :)) you didn't nap the whole day and fell asleep that night at 6;30 pm. Dadda went to Uncle Lock's to play video games and I got to be lazy on the couch. it was close to a perfect weekend celebrating all that Jesus did for us here on earth.

love you baby girl!! I cannot wait to spend all the holidays with you. you make them so special. i love that i'm your very best friend and that you want to be with me always, preferably being held. i know one day i will miss all these "firsts" with you. you are the best thing that has ever happen to you Dadda and me!!!!

xoxo.

Mama

weekend update - march 5/6 2016

mamie, i don't have much to write about today but i had to jot this down or else i'd forget!!

we took you to the St. Augustine Seafood Festival (it was a bust) with some friends on Saturday. we ended up walking around St. George Street and going to a bar by the "beach" instead. you behaved so well!! i got a little stressed at the bar; i gave up drinking for Lent, so while everyone had their toes in the sand enjoying their Rum Runners and Painkillers (or whatever they are called) I was chasing you around and yanking you from trying to get in the ocean...luckily Daddy could tell i was stressing, so he arranged for us to go home earlier than the rest of our crew. i've really noticed he is becoming more patience with me over the small things that i freak about. anyways, you immediately passed out on the way home and we enjoyed chatting and reminiscing about the day.

lately you've been taking one morning nap and forgoing the afternoon nap. this sometimes works out well, but sometimes you turn into a little monster by 5 o'clock. yesterday, Sunday, this was the case - i could tell you were slowing getting tired and cranky, so when 5 p.m. hit i fed you medicines (antibiotics for an ear infection; zyrtec for allergies; Tylenol for any pain from ear or teething). i got your dinner ready and started you a warm bath. Daddy was playing soccer with Uncle Lock, and I had finished everything i needed to get done, so you were my main focus.

you ate a couple bites of dinner, but were quickly over your raviolis. i could tell melt-down was in full effect!! you kept throwing your hands in the air (sign for "all done") and getting super frustrated that i wasn't getting you out fast enough. you could hear the bath water running (and you love the bath) so i knew that's where you wanted to be...im noticing more and more that you're "running the show" - we are going to have to make some changes to that!! anyways, i finally get you in the bath and you call down. i'm pulling out your bath toys and i hear some bubbles...i look over to see that you've pooped!

i quickly gathered the toys that were on the opposite side of the bath. (i've already washed them in the dishwasher once this past week from you pulling this stunt). and pulled you out to drain the tub, and start the process over.

every time i drain the water from the bath, you like to look over the side and say "bye!" to the disappearing water. your favorite bath toy is the fishing pole. it has a magnetic end that you "catch" rubber fish with, but you are not coordinated enough to catch them yet. you try, but get frustrated.

after the bath drained and i gave it a good rinse, you were starting to melt-down again. i put you back in the tub and lathered you up, rinsed you off and wrapped you up in a towel. i got your diaper and p.j.s on and took you into my room to lay down. you nursed for about two minutes and then closed your eyes and were asleep...it was 6 p.m....

i was excited but knew i was probably making a mistake by letting you fall asleep that early.

low and behold at 9 p.m. you were wide awake and ready to party. but to make a looong evening story short...around 10;30 when we finally all got back in bed, as Daddy and i lay whispering back and forth about you, we had said our"good nights' and "i love yous". we thought you too were about ready to doze off, when out of know where we hear a tiny little whistle. and then another one, one after the other until neither of us could hold back our laughter. i was crying tears i found it so funny! you then laughed at Dada and i for laughing at you.

Daddy and i both agreed that you are the love of our lives! you will always be our little girl; and even though i know we have more love to give your future sibling(s) one day, i cant imaging loving anything as much as i love you.

13 months

hi sweet baby girl! i know i've written it before, but i just cant believe what a big girl you have become! when i say "big girl" i mean in the way you are beginning to interact with people; you are still so tiny. everyone comments on your petite size, however you have the biggest personality!!

i've started asking for your "help" with little tasks around the house. for example, when we feed the dogs, i'll have you carry a food dish over to the spot where we feed them. i say "two hands" and can see you watching me, like a monkey-see-monkey-do. all the time i will ask you to pick up a piece of trash and throw it away. you are becoming very good at following commands and understanding what i'm saying. when we are playing i will say, "oh no! i hear baby Lillie crying! i think she needs a baba." and you will walk over, pick up your baby doll, go find the play bottle and feed her. i love it! you are a very sweet Mama to your babies! when i first gave you the play bottles for your babies, you didn't understand it was fake and you kept tipping them up trying to get milk/juice from them and then becoming upset. Daddy and i were cracking up watching you; and i quickly went and made you a sippy cup of milk.

Daddy and i have been bringing you out with us lately; last weekend we took you to the Riverside Beer Festival and two Sundays in a row we have taken you to brunch at Mellow Mushroom. you love it! and all of our friends love seeing you!! i hope it will help you become well socialized :)

you can say quite a few words really well. you say "bye" very clearly; sometimes you say it when you are ready to leave, like you are over a situation and you're calling the shots...its quite hilarious!

you say "more" when asking for more milk. but you say it more like "mo" (long "o" - very southern sounding). you sometimes say it in your sleep; i always wonder if you are dreaming about nursing.

you also can say "Dooley and Chief" - you don't say it often, but every now and then you will blurt it out. you get the happiest look on your face because you know how proud and excited it makes Dada and me!! and we praise you and ask you to say it again; you then might faintly whisper something that sounds like the pups' names, but its like you have to think real hard to get the sounds to come out correctly.

lately every time we get into bed to read books at night time (as long as you're not too tired), you like to crawl around underneath the covers. Dada showed you how cool it was, but now you like to do it every time we get in bed!! you cry and tug at the covers until i lift them up and let you crawl under, and then you want me to crawl under too and read you books!

last night [Feb. 29, leap day/year (?)] you were so restless!! ugh, it drove me crazy!! i was exhausted from staying up late the night before watching a show with Daddy and when you started tossing and turning  knew I had a long night ahead of me. you finally settled down sometime early in the morning; probably out of sheer exhaustion. i'm praying for a better night sleep for all of us tonight.

Daddy and I finally took you to the Zoo!! i was definitely WAY more excited than you, haha! Daddy had President's Day off and so i decided to take the day off as well and we took a family outing to the Zoo. Joanie bought us a family year-pass so we can go anytime we'd like to. the zoo has not really changed since the last time i'd been there, probably my senior year of high school, but they do have a new Asia exhibit that houses a couple tigers! your favorite animal!!! i could hardly contain my excitement when we finally arrived at the exhibit! it is literally the last stop in the zoo, and also the place where i noticed kids having melt-downs left and right. Daddy pretty much high-tailed it out of park once we had seen the tigers, haha!

Something else pretty exciting, Christine is on the verge of walking!! Last Sunday at dinner she would let go of whatever she was holding onto and would take a couple steps! I cannot wait for her to start walking; oh wait, i take that back! y'all will be into everything!!

i have never seen anything cuter than when you and C are together. Christine's face literally lights up when she sees you and you both can't wait to give the other a hug!!

you continue to love pacis, however your two middle fingers on your right hand are your go-to. you also continue to be a paci stealer! this past Sunday before dinner C was sucking on her paci and when you noticed she had it, you quickly marched over and took it from her. y'all preceded to go back and forth, stealing the paci from one another, until you took it from Christine and then offered (more like stuck) you two fingers and her mouth for a try! you two are absolutely hilarious to watch, and i swear you have this weird sister/twin bond from being together since before birth!!

you continue to amazing me all the time! your little mind absorbs so much and you are learning new things daily!!

love you more than you will ever know, i promise!!

Mama

#truelife : fortune cookies

i've been meaning to post this picture for awhile, but never got around to it until now. these were fortunes from some random Chinese/Japanese meal Daddy bought us fall 2015.

can you guess who's was who?

the top one is yours; middle is mine' and bottom one is Daddy's...they are pretty true for each of us! at least hopefully true for each of us, i'm still waiting for mine to come true!!

#fingerscrossed