A Personality of Her Own

I have seen some changes in my little girl recently. She has become rough and tough (just like her mommy used to be). She plays out of control (throwing everything and spiking toys over her head). She throws fits and tantrums like a pro (full on head on the ground screaming and contorting her body like the exorcist). She knows exactly what "No" means, and she gives a sly smile and does it anyway. 

Her personality is starting to shine. She is a rebel and a dare devil. She scales boxes, step stools, furniture, toys. She knows what she wants, and she is not afraid to let everyone know it. This little girl is sweet and sassy. She has such a charming smile. That tooth filled grin just melts your heart and she usually flashes it before she causes trouble! Emptying the sandwich bags all over the floor or ripping apart my pantry, Kay loves getting into everything.

This little girl is fierce, and I love every second of it. 

My Little Piggy

My little piggy loved her pasta and meatballs. She loved it so much that she was stuffing fist full after fist full of meat into her mouth. It was her first time feeding herself pasta with sauce. We took her clothes off, and she went to town. Afterwards, we took her out back and hosed her down just like we do to Lexi ;)

I make homemade meatballs with meat that was trimmed and ground by my mom. I try to use organic beef, but it is not always the case. As long as I made it, and I know what is in it, I am fine. I am finding feeding time to be stressful around my house. I want to give Kay what I believe to be best for her, but it is not always easy. I try to choose organic whenever possible. 

What are you feeding your offspring? The transition from baby food and purees to finger foods is tricky. Kay wants to eat "real" food but she still doesn't have the chompers to really be able to eat more. I am limited to soft foods, but she is becoming quite picky. She used to love things like avocado and veggies, but now she will not even open her mouth to try them. When she sees me getting something ready, and it is not something she knows she loves, she goes nuts! She cries and yells and throws a fit. She is one smart cookie. She knows something better is waiting behind door number 2. 

Hopefully, this is just a little phase, and we will get back on track soon. On a positive note, she loves her milk. I am still giving her two bottles a day, one in the morning and one before bed, but I am so close to giving them up. She drinks out of a sippy cup, and she will drink out of a real cup as long as you hold it. 

Is anyone else having some growing pains in the feeding department? Or am I just over thinking it? Since I eat everything and anything in sight, this is new territory for me! 

Apple Picking

Sunday morning, we slept in a little bit. Baby Kay must of been tired from our whirlwind of a day when Claire arrived (along with a long week of teething) because she slept in until almost 8 am! Claire and I woke up to have some coffee and chat. We were trying to decide if we should make plans before she got on the road.

I had hoped to meet Angela at Johnson's Farm the day before, but our timing was off since Claire was driving down Saturday morning. So, we decided to go apple picking Sunday before Claire drove back to good old Syracuse. It was a beautiful, perfect fall day.

We arrived at Johnson's farm around 10, and it wasn't too crowded yet, but you could see all of the excitement of fall festival time.

"Do NOT eat apple while you are picking" HA, yea right. Good one. We boarded our hayride, and we headed out to pick Empire, Red Delicious, and Golden Delicious. We wanted to pick pumpkins too, but we didn't have Daddy to carry them! So, we stuck to apples.

It was so much fun! Claire and I filled our bags. Between her 5 foot nothing self with short arms and me having my oversized 11 month old in a Baby Bjorn, we managed to get 3 pecks of perfect apples. Yes, I was that person that you looked twice at thinking "that kid has no business being in a front carrier." Hey, it worked! And Baby Kay loved it for that matter!

We decided to have a farm BBQ lunch and buy some fall decorations before we left the farm. It was such a great time. Even though it was short lived, I loved it. A perfect outing to end a perfect visit with our Auntie Claire. When it was over, we were all slobbery, toothy smiles!

A Special Visit

This weekend, we had a visit from a special friend. She is so very special to us, and we rarely get to see her. You see, she lives almost 5 hours away and with our busy, working lives, we have trouble getting together as much as we would like. That is why this weekend was so very special.

Our Aunt Claire came to visit us. She came bearing birthday presents for the baby girl, thirty-one gifts, and hugs for us all. We were able to spend time playing with Baby Kay, have girl time getting pedicures with hot stone massages, and have dinner at our favorite Mexican restaurant. We even had time for a little shopping! All in just one short day! It was so nice to just hang out.

Life has gotten so crazy that whenever we are lucky enough to see each other we have to rush around to a wedding, or bridal shower, and we can never just hang out. That is exactly what we did this weekend. We just hung out. I love the time she was able to spend with Kailyn. I am so lucky to have amazing people like Claire to be involved in Kay's life. I am not sure how we ended up living so far apart after living together for close to 5 years at college, but I do know that nothing will ever change our friendship.

I had a great weekend, and we have more plans to hang out in a few weeks. I am more than looking forward to it!

11 Months

I'm late. Very late, in fact. I was on time for 11 months, and then I fell to pieces. It is hard chasing around an 11 month for pictures. Better late than never!

Happy 11 months Kailyn Rose. You are my sweet baby girl. As each month passes, I feel more love for you than I could have ever imagined.

At 11 months...

* You are a petite little thing. A week or two ago you weighed 18 pounds 4 ounces. You are slim with a long torso and short little legs. You are wearing a mix of 6-12 month clothing and 12-18 month clothing. Mostly 6-12 still, but not so many onesies anymore. You are still in your size 3 diapers with no signs of needing to move up.

* I am proud to announce, you have your first front tooth! The big boy has finally come in after ONE LONG week of teething. You are not a good teether at all. You get it all runny nose (like a faucet), diaper rash that makes you wince in pain, slight fever, and more pain than I am sure you can handle right now. You are a champ though. Still happy as a clam. The second big boy is not far behind...I can see it. (Please cut quickly, please cut quickly, please cut quickly)

* You are my dear are a mover and a shaker. You do not sit still. You are always on the go leaving behind a serious path of destruction. You can climb stairs, open any and all cabinets, and cruise the furniture. I can't wait until you can stand on your own. I think you can, but you are hesitant to try. Occasionally, we will catch you standing for a few seconds without holding on.

* You are becoming an interesting eater. You are not as open to trying new things as you were before. You are suspicious of anything I prepare now that you are more aware. You LOVE grilled cheese and ALL fruit (except you have had enough bananas). You absolutely love feeding yourself, and you don't have as much interest in anything I feed you. I know you are done when you start sharing with Lexi. I am finding feeding time to be more and more stressful as I try to balance giving you what I think is best and what you will actually eat.

* You are now in a convertible car seat, and I can't say you like it very much. You cry almost every time I put you in. It seems very tight and restricting, and I am sure that is why you don't like it. I can't wait to turn you around so I can see your smiling face.

* You take two good naps a day for about an hour and a half, and you have an earlier bed time now that we are back to work. You go to sleep around 7:15, and you wake up between 6 and 6:30.

* You really are a happy, beautiful baby girl.

I cannot believe you are going to be turning one. I can't believe this is our last monthly post. It makes me sad, but I am so happy and blessed to know that you are a happy, healthy little girl. Every month, you hit another milestone, you grew, you changed, and you amazed me. You will always be my sweet baby girl.

9-11

I was in college at Rutgers University, about 30 miles outside of New York City. I was sitting in my 2nd period World Mythology lecture. A girl came in and walked across the front of the classroom to the Professor and whispered to him. Then, she walked out.

"Due to the events in New York City, classes are canceled." This is the only thing I was told. Everyone started asking tons of questions. I heard terrorists, attacks, World Trade Center, and I grabbed my stuff. I ran, literally ran, from Voorhees Mall straight down Hamilton Street to my off campus apartment. When I got there, the first tower had already fallen. My roommates and I huddled up on the couch, and we could not peel ourselves away from the horrific events. We tried to get in touch with everyone we knew. One of my roommates and closest friends was from Summit, NJ, and many people she knew worked in the towers or very close to them. It was a sad, sad day.

Our coach decided to still have lacrosse practice that afternoon. When we got to our fields behind the RAC on Livingston, we could see the black smoke filling the sky. It was devastating. No one could concentrate, no one could function. Being so close to what was left of the towers, it was eerie.

I will never forget that day and the days and months that followed. I experienced this horrific event as a young student. It was an overwhelming sense of devastation and fear. I couldn't believe the lives that were lost. Now as a mother and a wife, I am feeling a new sense of devastation for the families of the lives lost. As I watch the TV this weekend, I am listening to the stories of those families. It is heart wrenching to hear of all of the heroic acts, the final calls, and last "I love you's."

God Bless all of the lives that were taken, the families left behind, the heroes that responded, and the heroes that are still responding every day.

Planning

Now that summer is officially over, I have started planning a small party for my daughter for her first birthday. I decided to have a family party, but I wanted to make it special for Kailyn and for mommy of course!

The Pop Shop is one of my favorite places for lunch. It is conveniently located on the street where I grew up, and our babysitter, Grams still resides! I decided it would make the perfect location for a small, family party to celebrate my little girl turning one! I wanted to do something special, but I knew I didn't want to go overboard. I knew I wanted a party at The Pop Shop, and I think this is perfect!

The Pop Shop is the perfect party place! It is reminiscent of a 50's soda fountain and diner. With the brightest color scheme of aqua, silver, and classic black & white, it is the perfect backdrop for an Elmo party! Aqua, red, and pink! I can't wait! Here are the party details!

This little beauty was designed by Rene at Dandy Designs, Ink. She does the cutest invitations, and you can print them yourself to keep your cost low! I found this cutie in her Etsy Shop.

With the planning underway, I wanted to share some of the ideas I have been gathering on Pinterest! Have I mentioned how obsessed I am with Pinterest?!?

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Hopefully, I can make this cake for Kay's smash cake. I better get to practicing!

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Sweet outfits for the birthday girl! She would look cute in anything, but these are two frontrunners!

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Wishing my girl a happy birthday! You should see some of the inspirational photos I found. I love the internet. Look at this Elmo party from Hostess with the Mostess! Her blog is amazing!  And how could you not die for this Elmo party from Frog Prince Paperie!?! These are some talented women! Now, I am not nearly going to be throwing a party this extravagant, but it is so addicting to look at these ideas!

Look at that...

button nose...it is the cutest even when she is so serious?

sweet dimple.

I love that face!

Every End Brings a New Beginning

Tonight, I locked eyes with my baby girl in the darkened room as I rocked her to sleep for the first time since she was a tiny infant. I sang sweet, soft lullabies to her as she played with my finger. I patted her back and nuzzled her neck as I kept my nose pressed right up against her sweet smelling hair.

Tonight, I realized I am one lucky momma. Even though I don't feel lucky right now. I feel heart broken. Tomorrow, I return to work after a summer spent at home with my baby girl. I am lucky because I was able to spend 2 months with my little lady, but that does not make the pit in my stomach disappear.

As summer ends, I don't have a fabulous tan to show for it. I am not flipping through pictures of an extravagant vacation. I do not have stories from wild, spontaneous nights out with girlfriends. The bags under my eyes have not disappeared, and I am far from well rested...but none of that matters. As summer ends, I have the most important thing to any momma...memories with my daughter. I was able to watch her as she grew, learned, and changed in front of my eyes for the past two months.

She talks, yells, and babbles all day long. This is a far journey from two months ago when I was worried about her communication. She waves to everyone! Hello, Goodbye. Her sweet little wave with her outstretched arm is one of the brightest spots of my day. She stands on everything and walks around the furniture all day. I feel so thankful and beyond grateful to have had the summer with Kay. The days were the the most fulfilled days of my life. Spending time with Kay...getting her up in the morning, feeding her, dressing her, playing with her, introducing her to new things, just sitting with her ... these are all things that I feel blessed to have been given for the past two months.

With the heartache I feel, I also feel truly lucky to have a job that I love. A job that I believe is meaningful. Not only is the teaching and instruction meaningful, but the role I play in these lives is meaningful. A very close, amazing friend of mine is putting on a brave face as she heads to work while her daughter heads to her first day of school. All I can think is...there may be a parent that can't be there the first day to see their child off, but I am there. I am that child's teacher. I have 21 sons and daughters, and I want to give these kids the most amazing first day of 1st grade and a loving, caring teacher.

I want to wish all of my friends a happy and successful school year. Here's to a year full of accomplishments and learning and hours passing quickly so we can rush home to be with our own families!