Thursday, October 31, 2013

the scare affair

the calendar on my phone went off this morning
making sure i knew that its halloween. all day.
good to know.
 
but my little boo has been dressing the part all week.
 
 
not only does she have her pumpkin jammies
but three others as well.
ghosts, more pumpkins and candy corn.
(thanks grammy!)

 

 
 

 



and tonight?
us girls are dressing up like 50's gals.
poodle skirts and all.
dear ol' daddy was supposed to have a leather jacket
and be a greaser, but as of last night he still wasn't ready, so
i'm pretty sure he is opting out of the costume portion of the program.
loser.
 
 
ps- not only is it all hallow's eve,
but its also 5 year anniversary eve.
time to celebrate.
 
happy halloween! 

Wednesday, October 30, 2013

parents as teachers

b and i had another meeting with
parents as teachers.
i've been meaning to write about this since last time,
so now i have two sessions to cover.
 
parents as teachers is a free, volunteered-based program
through the school district that comes into your home to play
and check on your child's development.
(you can actually start the program when your pregnant,
but i waited until after brette was born.)
then they give you ideas and tools on how to help
your kiddo progress to the next level...
therefore making the parent the teacher.
get it?  :)
they also provide classes that a parent might like.
i took infant massages a couple months ago
and i'm signed up for baby sign language soon.
 
i love my volunteer.
her name is hillary and she was a kindergarten teacher,
turned stay at home mom. 
she's a couple years older than me and has two girls of her own.
and she makes me feel like i am the best mom with
the smartest little girl in the world.
 
we check brette's neck control,
her head control,
how well she is able to sit up,
reach and grasp for toys,
and follow objects with her eyes.
b is still too little to do actual activities with,
but hillary has books and toys that i don't have,
so i still think she likes it.
 
hillary comes every other month,
so she gives me activities and games i can
play for a five month old and a six month old.
i like it because it helps me track how much
brette grows and learns every month.
 
and here's a little project for mamma's with babies.
the first time  hillary came she suggested a really simple toy
to make and brette loves hers:
a picture box.
all you do is take a kleenex box and tape black and white pictures to every side.
we use ours for tummy time and the contrast of the pictures helps
with brette's vision.
plus you can roll it around to all the different pictures so
it keep brette interested.
 

free toys.  love that.



Thursday, October 24, 2013

our little pumkin

brette had her four month well-baby visit on tuesday with our pediatrician.
she weighs 13 lbs 12 oz (50th percentile)
her height is 24 inches (48th percentile)
and her head circumference is 16.5 cm (75th percentile).
 
since birth she has gained 6 lbs 12 oz and grown 4 inches.
go baby, go.
and the doctor thinks she is doing great.
no troubles so far that we should be concerned about.
 
she also got four more shots.
i hated it, but we spent the rest of the day and the day after snuggling.
she isn't really a cuddle bug so when she rests on me, i love it.
 
isn't she adorable?
 my baby pumpkin.

(thanks, gma donna for our new halloween jammies)

Wednesday, October 23, 2013

family fall day

we didn't make applebutter this year,
so it was a full day of eating lots of amazing food,
sitting around the bonfire,
losing in an apple eating contest
and going on a hay ride at dusk.
 
its one of my favorite days of the year.
and brette's first time.
last year, she was "there"
but no one knew yet and i spent the afternoon
trying not to fall down while playing football.
didn't want to hurt my girl.

isn't autumn your favorite?
 
 
 
 



 
 

 

 
 
 
 

 


 
 


 
 

 
 

Monday, October 21, 2013

dumping zone

i took pictures with ronnie's
phone over the weekend and realized
that he had some photos that i don't have on the blog,
so this makes it a good time for a photo dump.
 
keep in mind that some these date back a several months...

 
first of all.
holy hell.
me, pregnant
at home and then in seattle.
i'm so glad that is over.
 

 
 now jump to the hospital.
ronzo remembered to snap a photo of our white board
the day she was born.
i love it because now i know our room number
and my amazing nurse, annie.
 
then he had a play by play of the first couple minutes after she was born.
thank god, because i was being worked on during all of this
so i didn't get to see any of it.
 
 
 the one and only shot where i think b looks like me.
just minutes after she was born.
 
ronnie has always been obsessed with brette's toes.
he thought it was so weird how she would spread them apart.
and he was especially focused her big toe - - which led to one of her many nicknames: corntoe.
so it makes sense that he had to get a picture of her feet when she was born.
(look at her big toe in the picture above... he's kind of right.  it was long.)
 
cut to our first week home.
this is me bathing her in light to help her bilirubin score. 

 
 
 
 i honestly don't know how old she is in the next three pictures,
but they're adorable so i had to share.


 
and now we're back to present day:
these two are from last week.
 
 

  
sorry for the flashback,
but i just wanted to have all these
photos on here since, in a way,
this is her digital baby book.

 



Sunday, October 20, 2013

october roads

something about october
sends ronnie and i into the woods.
we loved going on walks.
and since a frost is in the forecast,
we don't have to worry about any bugs for very much longer.
 
we went back to the trails we went to last year on
its so weird
because now she's here
and going along for the ride.
we strapped on our little girl
and enjoyed the beautiful weather.
there is a huge field where we park and
the dogs run around like crazy animals.
they love it.
brette loved it
and she loves the bjorn.
next october, she'll be the one running around and leading the way.
life changes so fast.
 
its nice to remember to enjoy the simple days.
a sunday walk with my family.

(selfie)

(tater staying closed to his mamma)

(ronnie and leia running like crazy)

(ronnie staring at his jeep/b staring at me.)

(family shot)
 
 
and then i spent the rest of my day watching football.  go chiefs!

Thursday, October 17, 2013

there and back

brette and i hit the road again.
after a week home after nashville,
we headed back down the highway to st. louis.
marge was on her fall break at school and she had
a week off, so we went for a quick visit.
the girls scheduled a play date since i was coming in.
i finally got to meet and play with all my sorority sister's babies.
it was crazy adorable and just crazy.
ten kids, six adults and one big dog.
 
Photo: 10 kids under 2 and a half for an afternoon play date. It wasn't quiet.
 
loved it.
 
and i got to spend two uninterrupted days with cohen and crosby,
margie's two wild boys that keep brette entertained for hours.
 
 
i can literally lay her on the floor and she's good just watching them.
and marge has everything i could ever need so that made packing
super easy and light.
and i got to try b out in some big kid toys.
who knew she was ready for the play saucer?
such a big girl!
 
 
we also decided that we should walk around the mall
and stroll through h&m.
big mistake.
you can't go into h&m without ending up with an armful of clothes.
and they have a kids section.
if i hadn't just gotten a ton of clothes from madeline
i would have gotten brette a lot of new stuff.
so basically i just added to my stay-at-home-mom wardrobe.
i guess i wanted to be stylin' when i go to the post office and hy-vee.
when i got home,
ronnie was helping unload the car
and of course, that's the bag he brought in.
busted.
dang.




 
(you know you're in st. louis when the babies and the dog
 are watching the cardinal's game.) 
 
 
ps- this trip must have worn B out.
it's 10:30 and she's still asleep.