Saturday, November 24, 2012

Thanksgiving Weekend

Thanksgiving has come and gone and hopefully everyone had a great time with friends and family.  I know we sure did!
It was unseasonable warm here on the east coast on Thanksgiving Day - in the 60s!  Since Babycakes hadn't been outside to play in the leaves, I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to play for a bit while waiting for our dinner to digest.

At first she wasn't sure what to make of them...

Since leaves are more fun in big piles I went and got the fan rake and pushed all of the leaves into a big pile. Since Babycakes is really into copying everything we do, she decided she wanted to rake all of the leaves in a big pile too (with Grammy's help, of course!).



Then our neighbor came over for a quick visit with her little dog, Molly.  So Babycakes got slightly sidetracked.  Here she is watching Molly go home.  She is so in love with animals!


Grammy took this picture of me and Babycakes.   Not a great picture, but at least I can prove I was there!

I saved the best for last.  I love this picture of Babycakes walking through the leaves with her Grammy.  She LOVED the sound of the leaves swishing under her feet! 

Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving!


Sunday, November 18, 2012

1st Haircut!

I have been putting off getting Babycakes a haircut.  I just couldn't bring myself to have her sweet baby hair cut  trimmed.  But finally I had to give in and take her to get it cleaned up.  She was starting to look like she had a mullet!  So I called my mom and asked her to come along for Baby's first haircut and she happily obliged!
Since we went to Hair Cuttery (I always get my hair cut here.  They do a great job and you can't beat the price!) And no, they didn't pay me to say this.  We had a bit of a wait (my least favorite part about my favorite place to get a cut) so Babycakes had some time to check the place out.

I was able to get a "before" shot of the back of her hair.
 And yes, that's a double crown.  That will be fun in a couple of years!  


See how sweet she looks and why I drug my feet to get her hair cut?

But I digress,  she did a great job sitting in the chair (don't have photos uploaded for that yet!) and got a lollipop for being a such a good girl.


The new 'do...

 

So she would have time to eat her lollipop we went next door to the pet store where she made a new friend.




On Sunday we traveled north to visit my Grandmother.  While we were there, I saw this cute little card holder on the door of one of the residents...


It looks pretty easy to make if I can find the time...

But before we left, I was able to get a multi-generational photo of me, Babycakes, my Dad, and my Grandma.  There are somethings more precious than gold!



 Before I end this post I wanted to share a couple of (unrelated) pictures.  One of the things I love about Babycakes growing and developing is her new interest in books.  She now sits long enought for me to read her a (short) story.  This was taken one night this week.  It's one of her favorite books.


 Finally, I wanted to post a picture of my furry "baby," Cleo.  She found this plastic shoebox to be just the right perch to watch the comings and goings in the house.

Hope you all have a great week!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!


Saturday, November 17, 2012

Catch-Up!


With all of the illnesses Babycakes has been through this fall it has been really difficult for me to update my blog on a regular basis.  So I thought I would use this time that she is napping to catch everyone up on what we've been up to the past few weeks months...

At the end of September, we headed to my hometown to celebrate my "baby" brother's 35th birthday.  I really don't know how that's possible since I'm "only" 21. (wink! wink!)
We met at a great local Italian place with the whole family.  As you can see, the little one was not shy AT ALL about her spaghetti.  Ole girl can EAT!!! And spaghetti?  Loves it!


The remnants of her dinner...




After dinner we went back to my brother's house for cake and ice cream.  I mean, what's a birthday without cake???  Anyway, I wanted to get a photo of Babycakes with her Uncle and I did...sort of...

In early October we took a family trip to see my best friend and her family.  They live about two and a half hours away which I HATE but always love seeing them and catching up.  She is Babycakes' Godmother and I am Godmother to her 2 beautiful babies.  It was her youngest baby's 5th birthday and we went to celebrate.  Here is a picture of me and the little one.  Love the picture - just wish she was looking at the camera!



While Babycakes wouldn't go to her Aunt Chrissy, she did enjoy all of the attention...

she was definitely worn out by the end of the day's activities.


Not long after out trip we had to take Babycakes to the doctor (this was to be one of the first of many so far).  This was when she had roseola and it wasn't until she broke out in a rash that the pediatrician determined what it was.  Thankfully, it wasn't something more serious.  And yes, we did take her to the doctor in her pjs.  While she doesn't look it in this picture she was a sick little girl.

In late October, Babycakes got dressed up for a date with her Uncle.  See the cute bow in her hair?  It lasted about 10 minutes.  When she saw her reflection in the glass of the front door she realized she had something on her head and had to remove it.  Immediately. Despite the bow removal she and Uncle had a good time.


At the end of October we were a part of the millions of folks impacted on the east coast by Frankenstorm/Hurrican Sandy.  The hubs and I were off work for two days because of the storm (not that I'm complaining!) but we were also dealing with a sick little one (again!)  What started out as the common cold grew into an ear infection and upper respiratory infection.  Here is my sick baby sleeping through the storm...


The morning after the storm we awoke to assess the damage.  Fortunately this was all we found...

This is a pear tree in our front yard.  We (used to) have railroad ties around the base of the tree.  You can see one of the three ties in the distance near the railroad tracks.  I'm not sure how much one of those things weighs but I know they aren't light!

Fortunately, this fall hasn't been all about freak storms and sick babies (although it feels like the sick baby part may be a little bit true).  We have found time to find joy in the ordinary.

Like doing laundry,
 
 creating a masterpiece with crayons,
 
 
discovering belly buttons (my personal favorite!),


or just playing toys with Daddy.

While we are not rich in money, I believe we are rich in the things that matter.  We have each other, a relationship with Christ, and so many things that can't be bought.  And while Babycakes has had a rough couple of months for illnesses, they are so minor in comparison to what other families are facing.  So in this season of Thanksgiving, I am truly thankful for all that I have been provided.

Wednesday, November 14, 2012

Sometimes Life Happens

So I really didn't mean for so much time to pass between posts but somehow, life just happened.

For instance, the week my mom went on vacation (she watches Babycakes 3 days a week) Babycakes came down with an ear infection and an upper respiratory infection.  So instead of going to daycare as planned me and the Hubs had to take turns taking off work to care for our sick little one.  Not long after that WE got sick. :-(  Mommy and Daddy are not allowed to get sick at the same time ever again!

I am in the process of writing my dissertation precis so I can turn it in November 30th.  I met with my academic adviser on Halloween and told her I really needed a deadline so I could stop procrastinating.  While I'm still (sort of) procrastinating, I know I need to get myself together and get the blooming thing written and turned in so that I can start my proposal in the spring semester.  I NEED to get this completed!

Well, duty calls - sick baby is awake again. :-(

Will try and post more again soon!