Hey, Say!

Sarah, or Sayrah as we like to call her, is one of my friends that I met in grad school and lived with for a couple of years.  She got pregnant shortly after I did and came to TN to have the baby.  Luckily, we got to spend some time with her before her baby was born.  There was this picture from when Little Miss was just a wee little baby...

 

Then there was this picture taken when Say and Tater Tot had some girlie bonding time together (and Huck)...

 

And now our dear friend Sayrah is a mom herself.  She was one of my last friends to give birth which makes me realize how old my little baby is getting.  We've gotten to meet her little bundle a few times before they go back home.  The girls had some time together this weekend.  Little Miss Curious got to explore all her hair while her friend did tummy time...

 

I'm really jealous of all the hair.  However, if you ask Little Miss what she did the past two months, she'd tell you she grew hair.  And teeth.  Even though it's still pretty thin, it is coming in and starting to fill out.  It's like she has a layer of fluffy down around her head.  I'm hoping that she'll be able to have a little sprout by her first birthday.  But, I digress.

This past weekend was the last time that we'll see them for a while since they're going back after Thanksgiving.  So, we were sure to get a big hug and a family photo.  We've come a long way together.  I can't wait to see the little girls grow up together and be friends.

 

TGIF- The Christmas Card Preview Edition

Here's a glimpse of the photo shoot we did to get our Christmas card photo this year. We already have the cards ordered. In the midst of the move and heading north for Thanksgiving and all the other things we have going on, it's nice to have one thing ticked off the list. It's amazing how you can get inspiration for something online and when you go to recreate it at home, it's way more difficult than you originally thought. Thank goodness for my Mac is all I can say.

Fringe

Little Miss Motor has made her way out of the living room and is currently exploring the hallway. She really likes the fringe on the rug. She runs her fingers through it, makes shadows on it, and has done everything short of taste it (although maybe I just wasn't looking). The rug has a lot of colors and patterns for her to explore. As of yet, she hasn't gone to the end of the hallway, but she's getting closer and closer to real crawling any day now and I expect her to fully explore the house once that happens. Guess I really have to get going on the babyproofing.

The Next Step in the Evolution to Soccer Mom

So it's official- we're moving at the end of next month to this house. It neither is blue nor has a brick sidewalk, so I'm not sure what that will mean for the blog, but here's the house nonetheless. It all started a few months ago when I complained for the millionth time about how small and unworkable the kitchen was. Hubs helped in the kitchen after the baby was born and agreed with me. We met with the contractor who built our garage and when he finally ran some numbers and got back to us with how much it would be to expand the house, we took pause. Hubs took more than pause- he took the opportunity to create some models, run some numbers and started to make the argument that moving to another house was the appropriate remedy.
I resisted- hard- because when I bought this house 4 years ago, I planned that it would be my forever home. I always knew that I could expand out the back should the need for more space arise. The neighborhood is so accessible to the interstates, walking distance of downtown, and I know my neighbors and feel connected to the neighborhood. Hubs assured me that he wouldn't ask me to move unless we could find all those things in another house. I was very doubtful.
It turns out that what we were looking for couldn't be found in the city for a decent price, but could be found in the suburbs. We stumbled upon this house in a development that has the same feel as our current neighborhood, is right on a greenway, is walking distance to shopping (although they're all major chains, so not too much personality) and has access to a community pool. I never fancied myself a suburban mom, but there are a lot of things about this area that are walkable and I can't deny that it'll be safer and more fun for baby bee growing up. We'll keep our house and rent it for a few years as we expect its value to continue climbing. In the meanwhile, I'll really get a taste of the suburbs and see if that kind of living is for me.

How Early is too Early for a Shoe Fetish?

Now that she's mobile (though not full on crawling) we have to really watch what's out and about.  I've already caught her eating the dog's rawhide, my computer cord is one of her favorites to chew on, and today she was very interested in the fringe on the rug in the hall.  Yesterday I was cooking lunch and she got really quiet.  When I came in to check on her, this is what I found.

 

And then she gave me this look: What?

 

I've told hubs that he has to start putting away his shoes because she's crawled over to them, although she hasn't played with them to this extent yet.  The time to baby proof is truly upon us.

Getting Squashed

This week we introduced both yellow squash and zucchini to Little Miss Eats-a-lot. She likes them both, but yellow squash is the clear favorite. She eats and eats until there's nothing left but the skin and the seeds. They then hang from her mouth like this until she starts eating the next thing. It's really fun to watch.

A Ginkgo Carpet

Hubs' car was parked under this ginkgo tree when it decided to drop all its leaves overnight. They're so light an pillowy. It was a nice sight to come out to and something I want to remember.

Puppy's Perch

There are several things that get Huckleberry excited during the wintertime.
1. Putting on shoes and coat- he thinks he's going for a walk or out with you every time. It's sad when you tell him he has to stay- he gets such a disappointed look.
2. The heating vent by the front door- he can often be found there warming up. It's great when he comes to get cuddles because his belly is sooo warm!
3. This blue down blanket. This was a gift years ago from someone who wanted to acknowledge my love of napping. It is soft, it is warm, and it is very snuggly. Hubs and I fight over this blanket when we're watching tv at night and we use it on the bed when it's really cold. Huck also really appreciates this blanket and follows it around the house. Yesterday when I shook out the blanket to use it, Huck spotted me and ran to me to get underneath lickety split. He'll also hang out on the ottoman if it means he gets to snuggle the blanket.

TGIF- The Chomp Edition

Not bad for a kid with no teeth, huh? She loves cucumbers!

Bruce Monro Light Exhibit

Last weekend we had Uncle Daniel and Aunt Kara in town.  As usual, I failed to get pictures of them, but I was able to get some pictures of one of the cool things we went to see.  Our local botanical gardens hosted a light exhibit by the British artist Bruce Monro.  It was the final weekend and I had been meaning to go all summer, but it never quite happened.  We decided to take advantage of it and braved the cold weather to check it out.  I think it's safe to speak for hubs when I say that we were underwhelmed.  A few years ago we had a Chihuly exhibit that was gorgeous.  The first exhibit we came upon here were a bunch of plastic bottles with fiber optic wires in them so the towers could change colors.  I didn't even bother to take pictures.

Next up was an exhibit in the Japanese gardens, but hubs and I couldn't go because it wasn't stroller friendly.  There was an overlook but we couldn't see anything from there.  We heard it was okay.  There is a pond on the premises and it had teepee style lights that quickly changed colors to the different stalks.  We felt like we were in a rave.  

 

Here's the same space in the Chihuly exhibit:

 

I think the piece d'resistance was supposed to be the field in front of the main house covered in lights.  However, they were dingy and not really that fun to look at.  All I could think was how long it must've taken to install (I think they said 20,000?) lights, and what a pain it would be to pack it up.  I guess it was nice being out and about and Tater Tot is always well behaved when she's out in her stroller, but I think that missing that exhibit wouldn't have been that heartbreaking.

 

Again, the Chihuly for comparison:

 

I went to Chihuly twice- once during the day and once at night.  The daytime was beautiful, but to see the glass lit up at night was stunning.  These pictures don't do it justice.  I get that they need to have a range of exhibits to keep everyone interested, but can I please request a permanent Chihuly addition to the gardens, because things like the lights just don't cut it for me.

My Little Bunny

It's starting to get cold down here and we've been experimenting with hats and coats to keep Sugar Pop toasty warm.  I've been looking for a fleece coat and am having a really hard time.  I found this one at a consignment store and am using it, but am not thrilled with it.  But, the hats!  The hats for little girls are so adorable and make me so glad that I have a little girl to dress up.  Animal hats are all the rage- she has a lamb hat that's pretty darn adorable, but check out this bunny hat.

 

The little puff in the back gets me every time I see it.  The only problem is that the hat is a little on the large side.  It's not unusual to see the puff in the front of her head.  If that's not the case and the hat stays the right way around, it's common to discover that you've been strolling her around with the hat completely covering her eyes and coming down to the nose.  She never complains about it and we're wondering how she stays so mellow with the 'wool pulled completely over her eyes.' Daddy finally figured out that you could flip the bottom trim up and it would stay put better.  I'm hoping that we'll get to use it all of this season and maybe next.  Fingers crossed.

Oh, the Intensity

I mentioned before that Huck loves mealtime just as much as Sugar Pop. He waits (not so patiently) at her feet for her to drop something he deems worthy. Daddy captured this shot so you could get an idea of what we mean. It's amazing how well Huck blends in with the wood floors. Maybe in a future post we can post a 'Where's Huck?' edition.

Family Photo

We recently had the opportunity to get photographed as a family for my friend's portfolio. We got dressed up and went out to a beautiful park on a perfect fall day. She spent an hour with us and took lots of nice pictures. Luckily, Aunty Judy was there to help Little Miss Photogenic look towards the camera and laugh. Because this was for my friend's portfolio, we'll only get a few of the photos and we have another family session this weekend. You can never have too many family photos. On the way out we passed a paddock with horses. Aunty Judy snapped our picture next to it. It's so nice to live in an area that has this in the middle of the city.

Howdy, Uncle Mike

I mentioned that Uncle Mike and Aunty Judy came to visit a few weeks ago. Yay! This is the only picture from the trip that I got on my camera. Boo! Uncle Mike spent most of his time on the floor with Little Miss Scooter. She would scoot over to him for toys, his apple, or just to spend time with him. It was sweet.

Eat Your Greens

Little Miss Hungry loves her food.  There hasn't been anything yet that she hasn't really enjoyed.  She will show preferences if given more than one food at a time, but never fear, she eats it all.  At this seating, she went for the avocado first, then pears, and finally carrots.  The carrots are new to her so I'm wondering if that plays into her preference at all.  I've been noticing lately that many of the foods I'm giving her are green.  Often they're peeled, but they start out green at any rate.

 

You can get a glimpse here of how messy it makes the table and her bib, but i wouldn't have it any other way as she learns how this eating thing works.

It's All About Perspective

We've established that Sugar Pop loves her exersaucer.  We try to limit her time in there, but for short periods it sure is great.  We recently moved it and a piece came off the bottom.  I was fixing it one morning when I heard some rattling.  I looked over to see Little Miss Mobile had scooted her way over and was playing away with one of the toys.  Usually she has to pick it up to play with it, but this time she got to see it from a new angle.  When I was finished with the exersaucer I left it for a bit so she could enjoy.

 

I <3 Daddy!

When we were at the thrift store last month, Little Miss asked me to pick up a shirt declaring her everlasting love for her daddy.  I found this.  

 

She had to read it to make sure I got it right, but she approved.  She had a great play session with Daddy while Mommy was taking a nap and when I came down I found this.  Sweetest. thing. ever.

 

This is very definitely one little daddy's girl.

Worksite Fore(wo)man

Last weekend Aunty Judy and Uncle Mike came to visit. It was a fun and busy weekend and while Aunt Judy got tons of pictures, I forgot to get my camera out (typical). Aunt Judy is very proficient in gardening, among other things, and I asked for help while she was down here. But what to do with Little Miss while we were out cleaning up the yard and transplanting overcrowded plants? Exersaucer to the rescue! Sugar Pop was able to play happily and observe us working in the yard while we got busy. We're lucky that we have good weather while most of the mosquitos have died away. It was a nice way for everyone to get some fresh air and be productive.

Happy Halloween!

 

When we went to the pumpkin patch, we gave you a preview that our little pumpkin was going to be a pumpkin this year.  She wasn't so happy about it the first time.  However, Mamaw needed a happy picture of her dressed up, so this is take 2.  Sadly, it wasn't taken on Halloween itself, as that day was a total washout here.  Not only did it rain all day, there were heavy winds and tornado watches.  The city couldn't get trick or treating sorted out, so we decided that we would pass on giving out treats on Halloween and do it Friday with the rest of the city instead.  That was a mistake.  There were some brave trick or treaters out on Thursday who didn't get any of our candy.  When we were ready to hand it out on Friday, only one girl and her much older (too old to trick or treat) sister came to the door.  Oops.  Usually people bus into the neighborhood and we go through our candy lickety split.  This year we gave out less than 5 pieces.  Makes me feel a bit better about breaking into the Halloween candy a few weeks early!  We still had a large bag left over, but I was serious about going back to Weight Watchers so he took it to work with him.  I'm sure he's enjoying both his mid morning and mid afternoon pick-me-ups:)

Even though we didn't get to dress up and hand out candy on the porch, Little Miss still had a special treat.  Aunty Judy and Uncle Mike came to visit.  They came in the morning and spent all day with us.  There was a special treat for Mommy, too- she got a 2+ hour nap while baby was being watched downstairs.  It was bliss.  Aunty Judy was great about taking lots of pictures on her phone, but for some reason I don't have them to show now.  It's hard not to get wrapped up in having fun and remember to take pictures when family is around.  

While Little Miss was in costume, I pulled out my pumpkin costume circa 5th grade.  It was huge so it still fit (and is still huge).  Lots of people have worn this costume in the meantime, but it was fun to be able to put it back on and share with my daughter.  Here's a picture of us in the Halloween spirit.

 

Even Huckleberry was feeling it and asked me to take this picture of him saying, 'Boo!'

 

We hope you had a great Halloween and had better luck with the trick or treaters than we did!

Happy 6 Month Birthday, Sweet Potato!

The last of my pregnant friends have just had their babies. My baby just turned 6 months-old, making me one of the seasoned mommies in the group. How on earth did this happen? Each day she shows us a little more personality and each day we fall in love with her a little bit more. We had our 6 month checkup at the Dr's office and are happy to report that she's thriving. Here's this month, by the numbers.


Weight- 19 lbs 7.5 oz (94th percentile)
Height- 28 in (99th percentile)
Head circumference- 16 in (50th percentile)
Diaper Size- 3
BumGenius- 3 snaps open in the middle, middle snaps for the rise
Clothes Size- 6-9 mos.
#oz drunk/day- 30-36 oz (mix of bottles and nursing)
Foods tried- banana :), avocado:), broccoli:) :)
# pooplosions- 1, on daddy (finally)
Road trips- none, but Mamaw came to stay for a week
Favorite Things- dropping toys, going outside
Things that make her laugh- 5 little piggies, making funny faces at her, watching Huckleberry, bouncing on our knees
New Discovery- petting Huckleberry
Biggest Challenge- trying to get her to take decent naps in her crib.
Sweet Moment- Everyday when Daddy comes home she instantly brightens up. And if he doesn't come to hold her immediately, she cries. She is a daddy's girl through and through. This happens every. single. day.