Happy Birthday Grammy!

7 Month Pictures

Mommy updated my 7 month picture folder, if you're interested.

Bath Time

I love bath time...it's a time for me to play with all of my rubber duckies. I have a family of ducks that light up. Kaitlyn gave those to my mommy before I was born...they're really cool. I also have some rubber duckies that my Uncle David gave to me. I play with them in my playroom.

Here are some bathtime pictures. Enjoy.

My First Baby Gate

Tonight, my daddy put up the first of 3 baby gates. This one is at the top of the stairs so I don't go tumbling down. Here are some pictures...notice that I was helping him with the level. I'm going to be like mommy, a stickler for the details. :-)

It's Snowing

I thought I saw snow flurries on my drive home from work. I'm sitting in the office/playroom and all of a sudden...lots of snow flurries.

Congratulations Steve, Amy and Mia

Baby Chloe joined her family on Monday, January 14 at 8:04 am. She weighed 8 lbs 6 oz.

Congratulations!!

A look into the future....

Driving With Dad

Nutz, who worked away from home all week, always made a special effort with his family on the weekends. Every Sunday morning he would take his 7-year old daughter out for a drive in the car for some bonding time.

One particular Sunday however, he had a bad cold and he really didn't feel like being up at all. Luckily, his wife came to the rescue and said that she would take their daughter out for some Krispy Kreams. When they returned, the little girl anxiously ran upstairs to see her father.

"Well," the father asked, "did you enjoy your ride and dough nutz with mommy?"

"Oh yes, Daddy" the girl replied, "and do you know what? We didn't see a single dumb bastard or lousy shit head!"

It's Official...

CC can crawl. Yes, you read right. CC crawled today. While Nutz was at work, CC and I were hanging out in the "new room". She was playing on her mat and I was doing some work on the computer. Before I knew it, she was next to me under the desk (see picture). I know...we'll need to do something about all the wires...I'll get right to it.

Once Nutz got home, I wanted to make sure it wasn't a fluke. NOPE, she crawled for him also. Granted, she was crawling towards the jewelry (his wedding ring). Nonetheless, she's now crawling. Where are the gates?

Life as we once knew it is GONE! :-)

CAUTION: The video is PG-13...Nutz says a bad word.

New Addition Pictures

Yes, I'm a slacker. Several of you have asked me to post pictures of our new room...here they are. Click on the slideshow to see larger images.

Welcome to the world Austin Michael!

Congratulations Mike, Annette and Dylan! Austin Michael joined his family on January 3rd at 12:23 pm. He weighed 8 lbs and was 20 1/2 inches.

Do they teach spelling at Ohio State?

Click on the picture to see what I mean...

You Won't Believe This...

but there is such a thing as the Whitetrash Mom Blog. I had a good laugh reading some of the blog posts. I particularly liked the post about "Moobs" or Man Boobs at White Trash Mom's House.

If you're not whitetrash but just plain Jane, go to the Plain Jane Mom Blog.

Just remember, there's a website for everyone. :-)

Our New Chair

Our chair finally arrived and it sure is comfortable. If you're interested, we ordered it from USA Baby. They have lots of styles and materials to choose from. Mommy had fun!

Watch me grow!

Happy 7 Month Birthday, CC!

Nutz and I still can't believe that CC has been here for 7 months. It seems like she's always been part of our family. Last night, as CC and I were playing on the floor downstairs, I caught her crawling to the tv stand. Yes, you read right! CC crawled to the tv stand to touch all of the lighted objects. However, when I tried to get her to do it for her daddy, no such luck! So, as far as Nutz goes, she still hasn't crawled.

I'll take some pictures today and post them so you can see how big she's gotten.

Happy 7 month birthday, little missy!

Free Online Courses through iVillage

I've always been interested in photography but now that I have this nice camera, I decided to take a class. I ran across these free online courses through iVillage. Right now, I"m taking Beyond Point and Shoot: Digital Photography Techniques. They have several other classes related to photography but they also have courses for other topics.

Summer 2007 Babies

Yes, it's been a busy summer here in VA. Nutz captured four of the new babies from the summer. Click on the picture to read the captions.

Happy 7th Birthday Devin!

Tummy to Butt

I wanted to make sure it wasn't just a fluke....CC is now able to go from her stomach to her butt with no problems. She's definitely interested in everything around her. She's been trying to pull herself up on whatever is near her...toys, table, etc. Yep, it's time to by some safety gates.

Sleeping Through the Night

Cross your fingers...CC has been sleeping through the night since last Thursday. She typically goes to bed at 7 pm and has been waking between 5 and 7 am. She's such a big girl!!

Funny Story!

For those of you who don't remember, at our 4th of July party, mommy was the laugh of the party after Uncle Todd told her that her "boobies were geysering". Well, today was payback time. Uncle Todd decided to warm up some mashed potatoes in the microwave on a 2008 paper plate. Yep, he started a fire. The plate he used had metal in it...guess he didn't read the back of the plate. :-) In case you can't read it, the warning says, "Plate is flammable...do not place plate in microwave"

Michigan Wins...Daddy Happy -- Mommy Sad

It was a sad day for mommy but a happy day for Daddy! At least it was an exciting game! Final Score...41-35.

We had a few friends over to watch the game...good food (chili, black-eyed peas, and other snacks).

Daddy thinks I'm going to be confused....FL outfit and MI hat/socks. I'll probably be a VA Tech fan. :-)

Happy New Year!

Wow! I celebrated my first New Year's Eve last night at my Aunt Chandy and Uncle Keith's house. It was a great time! I got in a couple hours of sleep but made a point to wake up at 11:30 pm so I could enjoy the festivities...

Home from FL!

Yes, I was without cell phone and Internet for most of our trip. It was actually kind of nice. As soon as I get ALL of the pictures downloaded from the camera, I'll put some updates on the blog.

Hope everyone had a Merry Christmas!

Crackerz

Hanging out at the huntin' camp!

On our way home, we made a pit-stop at grammy and papa's hunting camp. It was fun!!

Christmas at Charmie's

We spent Christmas Eve and Christmas day at Charmie's house with my uncle David, Charmie and Mimi. Charmies' friend, Dave, and his family came over for Christmas dinner that daddy cooked. It was DELICIOUS! Thanks for the great gifts!

Christmas at Grammy and Papa's

Christmas at Grammy and Papa's house took place the morning of December 23. Everyone showed up in their pjs...sure beats getting ready. We opened presents and then my daddy cooked breakfast! It was so much fun! Thanks everyone for all of my great gifts! I love them.

Christmas at Granny and PaPa's

On Sunday, December 23, we celebrated Christmas at my granny and PaPa's house. Almost the entire family was present. The only person missing was Barbi and her family. As always, the food was YUMMY!

Day Two - Christmas Trip (and Mommy's birthday)

Happy Birthday, mommy! I won't tell anyone how old she is.

We woke the next morning (early as usual) and I had some cereal and fruit for breakfast. Briana, my friend, woke up and we both were so excited to see each other. Not too long afterwards, the rest of the family woke up (Aunt Brenda, Uncle Brian and Bradley). Oh yeah, daddy was going through the kitchen finding "goodies" so he could fix breakfast. We had coffee, waffles, bacon, eggs and grapefruit...yummy! Since it was mommy's birthday, daddy made her plate first. Isn't he sweet?

While daddy was finishing up breakfast, I opened my presents. I received a beautiful Lenox Christmas ornament and Webkinz. Thank you so much, I love my gifts!

After breakfast, we showered and dressed to finish our trek south to my grammy and papa's house. It took us about 4-4 1/2 hours to finish the drive. I slept and played most of the way. We only had to make one stop to feed me and by then we were only an hour away.

We arrived at my grammy and papa's house to find it empty. Everyone was still in town finishing up their last minute shopping, mostly groceries. Daddy unloaded the car and we hung out by the pool until the family arrived.

I sure was glad to see my grammy, papa, Cayleb and Devin. I think they were happy to see me, also.

My granny and PaPa (great grandparents) live down the road so we took a trip to see them. I hadn't seen PaPa in a couple of months and I sure have grown since then.

Day One - 2007 Christmas Trip

The trip started on Friday, December 21 around 2:00 pm. Our bags were packed and we headed south. I fell asleep almost immediately after the trip started. So, my parents agreed not to stop until I woke up. I slept a good two hours and boy was I hungry when I woke up. We stopped at a Hardee's in North Carolina...a good resting place (diaper change, dinner, potty break). After about a 30 minute stop, we were back on the road. Our next stop was to change me into my night clothes...my parents were trying to stick to my "routine". After the nightclothes were on, I "crashed" and slept until we made our last stop for the night in Jacksonville around 12:30. Uncle Brian invited us to stay with them on our way down. We did and it sure was great seeing everyone! Yes, we stayed up to visit and finally got back to sleep around 1:30 am. Mommy and Daddy were tired...I felt fine. :-)

Pitstop at Uncle Brian's House

Countdown to Track Santa

Click on the picture above to track Santa on Christmas Eve! It's really neat! You will need Google Earth on your computer!

CC Boogie

Get your own at Gizmoz.com

Cool and FREE Websites

At work today, I learned about some really neat websites. They are:

www.elfyourself.com
www.meez.com
www.gizmoz.com
www.careerbuilder.com/monk-e-mail/
www.trunkmonkey.com

Have fun!

I love the camera!

I just love this picture of CC! Yes, that's her personal keyboard in the background. This is the only way I can get work done is to give her a keyboard of her own to "type".

Aunt Chris and Uncle Larry

Tonight, my Aunt Chris and Uncle Larry came over for dinner. Daddy made a yummy dinner and dessert. For dinner, we had Vodka Chicken Penne and for dessert we had Mocha Mousse and an espresso. I sure hope mommy isn't up all night.

Be sure to check out the WIKI for all the recipes!

Dinosaur Play "Thingy"

My grandma and grandpa from MI sent me this really cool dinosaur "thingy". I'm sure it has an official name but I'm not sure what it is. As you can see from the pictures, I really like it a lot. Thanks grandma and grandpa!

New Pictures in the 6 Month Album

Mommy's gone crazy with her new camera. She's learning about all the features and is using me as her test subject.

Gift Wrapping

This afternoon, mommy and daddy decided to wrap some gifts. Look what my daddy did to me...

Brushing My Teeth

Mommy's already teaching me how to brush my two teeth.

Let's hope...

we're on to a new sleeping pattern. CC slept from 7:30 pm until 6:15 am this morning! At 4:30 I checked on her and at 6:00 her daddy checked on her. We'll see...

Mommy's New Camera

My daddy and I decided to give mommy her birthday/Christmas present early. We thought she might like a week to practice with it before the big parties. Oh yeah! We gave her an Olympus E-410 digital camera...it's nice and she really, really likes it!

Gift Exchange with Bella

Bella and her mommy came over for lunch today. While they were here, Bella and I exchanged gifts. She gave me this great Hawaiian monkey, puppet book and a hat and mittens. For some reason, Bella thought I was really funny and giggled a lot! I guess I'm going to be like my daddy...a cut up! As always, mommy was there to snap up LOTS of pictures.

Auntie Anne's Christmas

Today I gave Auntie Anne her Christmas gifts...I sure hope she liked them. Mommy took these pictures to capture the moment. I REALLY like the wrapping paper.

Follow-up to previous post..

As mentioned in the previous post, my things are everywhere. To keep from having to carry my exersaucer up and down the stairs, mommy ordered this Baby Einstein exersaucer...it's great!

Toys, books and more toys and more books...

Daddy commented to mommy last night that we don't have any rooms left without CC "stuff". Yes, that is true. My things are everywhere! I love this picture of me on the living room floor with all of my goodies.

Smokey Bones

After our pictures last Saturday, we had a late lunch/early dinner at Smokey Bones. Yes, I am sitting in a highchair now.

Dewey Guys

As you know, last weekend we had our pictures made (and they sure were good). We took a few pictures beforehand. Check out this one of my grandpa, daddy and me! They are handsome fellows!

I'm going to be a chef!

One of my favorite places to be is in the kitchen with my mommy and daddy! Okay...so daddy does most of the cooking.

Here are just a couple of pictures of me in the kitchen...

Don't hold your breath...

but CC slept from 7:30 pm until 5:00 am with NO interruptions. As any good parent would, I woke up in a panic around 3:30 am because I hadn't heard from her. She was snoozing away! However, mommy couldn't go back to sleep so I hung out in bed until 4:30 and then got up...had some Christmas "stuff" to work on.

Stay tuned to see if we get a repeat tonight! Keep your fingers crossed.

6 Month Checkup

Today I had my 6 month checkup. I weighed 17 1/2 lbs and was 27 3/4 inches long...I think the nurse wrote down the wrong length last checkup. According to the records, I've shrunk.

In good family tradition, we went out to dinner afterwards...we had Mexican. After dinner, we went shopping at the NEX and then to the Botanical Gardens to see the Christmas lights. Even thought it was getting close to my bedtime, I was a good girl...I even fell asleep in the car.

Mommy went crazy taking pictures so enjoy!

Miss Amy's Christmas Present to Me

I opened my present from Miss Amy today. She gave me a new book, Grandma and Me, and a subscription to Babybug. Here are some pictures (and a video).

Frustrated!!

Yes, I'm going to use this forum to vent my frustration! There are some days when I feel like I can't get ANYTHING done. Exercise? What's that? I guess I could sleep from 7-midnight, wake up, work (I feel like I'm so far behind that I'll never catch up), and go to the gym during the "work day". Oh yeah! I still have a baby who nurses (hence the reason for the mother to be around in the am, lunchtime, dinnertime and bedtime). I love being a mom but anyone who tells you that being a working mother is easy, is LYING!!!!

Yes, I have the type of job that allows me to work from home, if needed, and with flexible hours. However, today for example, I had someone who needed me to help them with a problem. Yeah right! That's going to happen with a crying baby in the background (she was tired but wouldn't take a nap). So, I asked the person to call me back after 4...Nutz would be home by then...or so I thought.

Oh well! I know I'm not the first working mother to feel this way but for someone who is a focused worker, it's very stressful. It's really hard to try to finish a project with many interruptions. I'm used to sitting down and not getting up until my task is complete. You should see my to-do list; I never get anything marked off.

Thanks, Amy, for taking such good care of CC so I can go to the office for a couple of hours a day. I can actually get some work done when I'm there.

Vent over...

Working Moms

How many of you working moms have experienced this?

Granny and Grammy Visit from FL

This past week, my grammy (mommy's mom) and granny (mommy's grandmother) came to visit. We had a nice visit! I think my granny is so funny! Remind me to tell you the "sweet tea" story about my grammy...okay, I might have mommy post it here later.

CC and Ben Video

Hanging out with Ben!

Today, Ben's mommy and daddy went horseback riding to celebrate their anniversary. So, Ben spent the afternoon with me. We had a great time. My mommy and daddy got a "taste" of what it would be like to have twins. As always, mommy took lots of pictures.

6 Months

Today is my 6 month birthday. As a treat, we had our pictures made. Lucky for me, I had several grandparents and a great grandparent visiting...check out the pictures.

Watch me grow!

Mommy added my 6 month pictures to the slideshow...check me out!

Cool Site!

While we were visiting my family in MI, Aunt Stephanie showed my mommy this cool website. Here are just a couple of things you can do with your pictures on the site.