Musician in the Making

It must be guilt from leaving my girl all weekend, but I felt like getting her some fun new toys today. I made an executive decision and took Tuesday off. Yes, I'm supposed to have Tuesdays off, but that hasn't been happening lately. Man, this girl is a ball of fire from sun up to sun down. She was definitely in need of some toys that require more energy output....and since she is having such a good time practicing her "pulling up" skills, I thought she needed a musical play table to stand up at. She LOVES it!!

"Life's goooood!"

I also took some advice from Jennifer and picked out a xylophone for the busy girl. She loved playing with this toy in the nursery and she seemed thrilled to have her own at home today! I fully expect her to be bored with these toys in about two days (like all the others) but maybe, just maybe they won't end up in the ignored toy pile. For now, she is busy brushing up on her music skills....

"La la, la la, la la, la la, laaaaa"

Big D and the Adventures of Mr. Mom

This past weekend was a first for me since mommyhood began in July. I left my girl for an entire weekend. It was easier than I imagined it would be...and every bit as relaxing and refreshing as I thought it would be. I will share my weekend with you intertwined with tales of a single dad. Enjoy....(I know I did)

The 3 amigas

My girls. Ashley and Heather. I enjoyed every second with them this past weekend. Even though we don't all get together nearly as often as we'd like, we always seem to pick back up where we left off. We made our way to Dallas to go to Market to do some shopping for my friend Heather's shoe business and made it a point to fit in as much fun and relaxation as possible. I left Thursday evening and was reluctant to say goodbye to Hallie. For a couple of reasons...for one, I didn't know how the weekend would turn out with just her and Riley. In the end it turned out perfect...and hilarious!! You will see what I mean. I spent Thursday night in Enid and spent some quality "non-baby" time with my dad, sister, Spencer, and Aunt Alta. Heather and I were off to Tulsa first thing Friday morning to hop on a quick flight to Dallas. We met our third amiga at the airport and had plenty to catch up on during the dreaded plane ride. Oh my, how I hate flying. That's putting it mildly. I am pretty sure I ruined the peaceful plane ride for anyone in earshot of me. Every movement means that we are going to take a nosedive into oblivian...in my mind anyway. :) Although I have a way to calm my fears a little though...I figure as long as I'm that high up in the air, I'm just a little bit closer to my mom. <3

We spent a gorgeous 85 degree Friday afternoon making our way around West Village. After lunch at Taco Diner (yum), gelato, and some much needed shopping, we treated ourselves to a pedicure and made our way back to the hotel to get ready for dinner.

Next stop was Hibiscus. Best food ever!!! Just don't ask Heather, I think she would have to disagree considering she only ate chocolate cake. After ordering their famous mac 'n cheese she cancelled her order and ate dessert instead. We vowed to let her pick Saturday night's meal! :)

Meanwhile back at home Hallie was giving Riley a run for his money. While mommy enjoyed relaxation time and some to-die-for chocolate cake, daddy was dealing with something the same color as chocolate....

"This is how I feel about mom leaving us"

"Miss me yet momma?"

"Did someone poop in the tub Dad?"

I have to say that pooping in the tub is a first for our little stinker...my theory is that she was acting out. I won't show you the aftermath but Riley was sure to send me a pic of it. Let's just say good thing I wasn't eating when I looked at it. Hallie was well-dressed just as I had expected. Ok, I am being totally sarcastic here...he messaged me a picture of her outfit on Friday, so in turn I messaged Nanny to make sure she changed clothes. Nanny responded with "I had her changed before Riley was out of the driveway. I have no idea how he fit her into that!" I think we have a color blind man on our hands. He would argue "what?! bright red, baby pink, black and brown don't go together??"

"I make bad baby fashion look good"

Although Hallie spent part of the weekend acting out, I am confident that she enjoyed it at the same time. I think she realized what a dud I am compared to her daddy!

"This is too cool! Mom never lets me feed myself"

Riley survived day one. Not that I had any doubt. But it would have been nice to hear him say "man, this is tough work, how do you do this nonstop." Lol, a girl can dream. :)

Saturday morning came and we were beyond excited to get the day started. I decided to be a good girl and fit in a quick workout that morning before breakfast. We were soon on our way to Market. Oh Market, how glorious you are....

We spent the majority of the morning at Steve Madden and BCBG picking out shoes for spring and fall...I now want to buy each and every pair that Heather ordered! This was Ashley and I's second trip to Market but our first trip with all three of us together. I think we made a pretty awesome shopping team! After the serious business shopping we made our way to the cash 'n carry floor to snag some amazing deals on jewelry. Talk about accessory heaven!!!! About this time was when I realized what a horrible shoe selection I made for the day. Anything with a heel was a " no no" considering we walked the good majority of eight straight hours. My feet were already barking at me by noon. We thought we would try our luck with the public transit...not such a good idea. Let's just say it took us about 90 minutes to get to our destination as opposed to a ten minute cab ride. But it was an adventure....

Our mission was to make it to Northpark Mall for some shopping at the brand new H&M. We were pretty pumped up about this, not gonna lie. So you can imagine our despair when we arrived after our crazy transit experience to find that the store would be "coming soon." So we settled for some shopping at their oversized Forever 21 until I realized that shopping when you are fat is pretty miserable. So what do you shop for when you can't bare to buy the size that you need to....jewerly of course!!!

My eyes spotted an H&M bag hanging on a random man's arm. We ran over to him to question him about this mystery bag...come to find out the store is there...it's just a midget H&M...a tiny version preview store. Slight disappointment, but a little less than it would have been considering I had already decided shopping for clothes was a little too depressing. So what else do you shop for when clothes aren't an option? Why sunglasses of course.....

Hallie's shades

While us girls were having a perfectly lovely day, Riley was having a not so lovely perfect day. Not only did she treat him to a tub full of surprises the day before, she kept him running all day long on Saturday! After my old man went to his Kiwanis meeting in the a.m. he spent the rest of the day chasing around a crazy baby and organizing/cleaning the house. I received some very entertaining messages from my two loves back home....

"Good thing her dad doesn't walk around a hospital all day long...oh wait"

"Get the jaws of life in here!"

I got another message after the chaos that said "perfect timing." It was this picture.....

"Gman's HERE!!!"

Gman and Great Aunt Lana stopped by to visit their favorite great neice and grandbaby. Riley very much appreciated this short break...my dad mentioned that Riley looked a bit worn out. At this point I have a feeling Riley was wanting to tell me how hard of a job is was but no such luck....YET. 

Back down south we made our way back to West Village for some PinkBerry! Delish! We were too full to eat dinner at Campisi's like we'd planned so we went back to the hotel and hit up the gym again to burn off the Mexican food and ice cream from the day....as if the hiking all day in heels didn't do the trick, I had to make sure. :) We stayed up chatting about husbands, jobs, and life and finally we were too worn out to keep our eyes open. Alas, it was Sunday morning and time to come home. I was so ready to see my baby again! She'd kept me laughing all weekend and I couldn't wait to see her smile!

Riley made sure to keep me updated on Sunday morning's happening. They included......

Backwards dressing

&

Getting peed on

Talk about a coincidence. This little gal has never pooped on me nor peed on me (excluding when she was two days old). I think she was trying to break her daddy in good! I guess she was too much too handle so Riley sent her out to live on the streets.....

Shopping cart bag lady

Ok, maybe he let her stay in the nice warm house, but she did resemble more of a homeless baby than a warm cuddly one as they made their way out of Walmart that afternoon.  Mr. Mom was busy gathering some essentials for the week with the help of his lil lady. Now anytime I need a good laugh I just look at this hot mess of a picture! I parted ways with mi tres amigas and made my way home to my loves. Not only did that smile brighten my life, but the spotless, organized house also lit it up about 2,000 more watts!! Mr. Mom gets an A+ and bonus points for being so thoughtful.

I am so thankful for the girl time, shopping, the beautiful weather, and the relaxation! Rejuvination!!! Already looking forward to our next trip!!!

CRAZY EIGHT

Dear crazy child of mine,

It just takes one word to describe this past month: EVERYWHERE. That is where you are! You are everywhere and into everything. Since your new found mobility has been the theme of this month I'll start with that. It's hard to believe that you used to be a gentle little girl who enjoyed sitting in one spot and playing with your toys. You still love to play...except now you try to find objects that aren't toys and you sure don't stay in one stop. You are progressing at an alarming rate it seems...and by progressing I mean that you are now able to make even bigger messes and get into even more stuff. If it's something that you shouldn't have, well, you will find a way to get your hands on it. For example, dinner time.

"It's dinnertime? Oh, I thought you said it was finger-painting time...sorry"

You crawl at the speed of light and get from point A to point B faster than I can run! I must say that it is rather humorous that you just discovered that there is more to this place than just the carpeted living room area.....yes, my little lady, there are many more places to explore. But I don't need to tell you that...you frequent them daily. The bathroom is by far your favorite room to inspect. Must be because bath time is your favorite time of day. You also love to make sneaky trips to the dog food bowl. One would think that a child's attention span would increase with time...however, I've found that your ability to focus on anything is hindered by your love for exploration. You are easily distracted by any object that catches your eye. You are now able to crawl up on all 4s and you have left your belly crawl in the dust. Maybe you are taking after your friend Grizzo, but you have taken up the art of bear crawling. This is one of our favorites to sit back and laugh at! You are able to transition from crawling back to sitting now. You enjoy stretching both of your legs up so that you can munch on both feet at once. Looks uncomfortable, but whatever works for ya baby! I have had to bust out the stroller straps as of late because you have figured out the art of flipping over in your stroller and crawling up the back. Last week on our daily walk, I noticed a hand poking out of the top of the stroller...well hello little lady. You just earned yourself a couple of straps to hold you in tight. Precious cargo!

We have been practicing walking by having you hold onto our fingers and waddling along. This is not the prettiest form of locomotion so we have gone back to the basics...pulling up. You are still getting the hang of this. The other day I found you pulled up on the outside of the tub waiting on me to get out of the shower. You just looked up at a surprised momma like "what's the big deal?" I about had a heart attack baby girl! What a wonderful accomplishment. I hope someday you know how much I delight in your accomplishments both big and small. You are my sunshine...and you seem to cover as many miles as the sun. ;)

Itty bitty toothies!!!You started cutting your first tooth about two weeks ago. You has been a trooper through this teething process....thanks to random objects to chew on. For instance, as I'm typing this you have crawled over and are gnawing on the leg of the table. I wish I had a picture of your mini teeth but I think I would have to put you in a baby straight jacket and tie you down and even then it would be tough. Teething gel and Tylenol seem to do the trick when you are in pain. Usually you make it easy to tell what is wrong...I find you eating your finger off and you have a "my teeth hurt" cry. I secretly love feeling your teeth everyday to find that they have popped up a little bit more. Can't wait for that toothy smile to appear!

Babysitter carousel. We have approximately five babysitters at the moment. Nanny, Linda, Cari, Mary and Jennifer. I really, really, really wish we could downsize to two babysitters like we used to have, but for now it seems as though we will just keep going with the flow until something good happens. Jennifer is the church nursery director and she is a Godsend. She absolutely adores you sweet girl...and it goes without saying that she was thrilled to watch you last week while Nanny was on vacation. She kept me supplied with pics of you throughout the day and made sure to keep you busy so that you would be nice and tired by the end of the day...

Toy Heaven

"Are you my new friend?"

I am working hard at convincing Jennifer to babysit you on Mondays and Wednesdays. If you continue to look this cute at church on Sundays, maybe we can convince her together....

"Pweeeeease!!!???"

You took your very first trip to the zoo this month. You didn't necessarily get to indulge in what the zoo has to offer but there will be many more trips to come as a family...

Mini-therapist in training. You are destined to be a therapist. Just as I used to go to work with Grammy, you have been going to work with me on occasion. I think you will have your Masters before long. So far you have learned about a lot of stuff..... 

Oxygen management....

Walker safety.....

And paperwork......

Storytime. We are kicking reading into high gear. You have loved your books all along...loved eating them to be exact. All of the edges of your books are chewed off and worn. You will crawl over anything to get to your book box....

"This puggle is no match for my strong leg muscles"

Surprisingly you are sometimes able to sit and read a book with me. I absolutely cherish these moments where you sit and look at your silly books instead of eating them. Right now we are enjoying two new books courtesy of Aunt Lisa....one of them has big wobbly puppy eyes on the front that you seem to love. Emmi must have been listening to the words to because she gathered around for some story time about doggies...

"Did someone say something about my kin, the Beagle?"

Little piggy. You are scarfing down three to four jars of baby food a day. Although you love to reach for people's food in their hands or on their plates you don't enjoy giving it a taste. So far you have tried some potato, strawberry, bread, and banana. Most of them you will actually let me put on your tongue. Banana is a different story....

"No thank you, I prefer it in a jar!"

Just some fun random facts about you. You are a goofball! You laugh at everything your dad does. It's still that hoarse, raspy laugh but it has become your trademark! Your smile is as big as the day is long and it has been known to turn around any bad day in a heartbeat. You are wearing clothes that range from 3 months to 12 months.  Although you still fit into some 3 month pjs, that does not mean you by any means a little girl. You continue to get daily comments on your sweet little arm and leg rolls. I love to tickle you and see your smile and hear your baby giggle. You are a chatterbox! Your dad has been gloating lately, and for good reason, because you are muttering the word "dada." I am pretty sure you have no idea what the word means because everyone and everything seems to be "dadadadadada" these days. ;) It took you nearly eight months to figure out how to bounce in your bouncer....

Month seven was BY FAR the most fun and most rewarding time we have had with you thus far! Your dad and I are amazed at what you do daily and we often sit and dream about the things you will do in the future. I daydream about seeing you walk for the first time, hearing your first word, and believe it or not I have already started planning your first birthday party...it's only four short months away!

I love you sweet baby girl. You brighten our lives. Keep on shining!