G&J

Three

2012-01-25T00:11:00.000-05:00

Our little girl turned 3. Our Belle of the Ball. The big sister of the house. She spent her birthday weekend with Grandma Michelle and PopPop in town for the occasion, and we brunched with family to celebrate her big day. It was a nice, quiet few days to welcome another blessed year with our leading lady.

New Family Tradition

2011-12-14T15:32:00.000-05:00

This year marks the first time that our Christmas tree didn't emerge in three pieces from an under-the-stairs storage room in our basement. We finally ditched our artificial tree and got ourselves a real, live, needle-dropping, pine-smelling, sap-slinging tree this year. We paced around the small tree lot for quite some time before settling on the one we lugged home, and lucky for us, it went up without a problem and didn't require much trimming. It was a fun experience that is sure to become a yearly tradition, although next time I could do without the 68-degree weather. It was so warm that the farm didn't offer its usual complimentary hot chocolate.

Glamour Shots

2011-12-11T23:11:00.000-05:00

These pictures are too cute not to share. This particular day, Luciana was in a good mood, she had on an adorable outfit and the lighting was perfect. I took advantage of the ideal conditions and tried to capture the essence of Luci ... yummy baby chub, heart-melting smiles, beautiful blue eyes and dimples (actually, she just has one dimple, but it's delicious), and just the sweetest personality in one little package. This little darling completely has my heart.

Soaking it in

2011-12-07T15:23:00.000-05:00

It occurred to me today that I've been "staying at home" for three months now. No work, no emails, no meetings (and, umm, no drying my hair) for three whole months. Yet it only feels like a month has passed since saying goodbye to the professional world. Life is just flying by at an intense pace as Halloween, Thanksgiving and all of our fall birthdays (our families have so many Sept/Oct/Nov birthdays!) passed by in a fog. And now, we've got December and Christmas staring us in the face. There's no chance this month is going to be any different, so I'm just holding on for dear life as we start decorating and Christmas shopping.

As Luciana grows right before our eyes, I want to take the time to savor her newborn-ness as much as possible. I felt like with Maribelle, I was an anxious mess from the time she was born to the time she turned 1 year old. With her stressful early arrival and time in the NICU, I worried about every little thing she did and each little noise she made, wondering whether or not she was ok or secretly suffering from some sort of health issue (vision problems? hip dysplasia? heart defects? Yeah, those were just a few of the ones I considered). I freaked out about every milestone (and the fact that she never rolled or crawled) and was convinced that she would be a late walker. Obviously, everything turned out just fine (as my mom repeatedly told me it would) and I wish I would have let myself enjoy her baby days a whole lot more.

So, lesson learned, right? And now, with Luciana, I'm breathing it all in, trying to be more relaxed and keeping the anxiety at bay. It helps that she's a wonderfully sweet, yummy little girl who eats and sleeps like a dream. She's so much sturdier than Maribelle was, and just seeing her chubby little rolls and cheeks makes me happy and convinced that we're doing things right. To think that the little chunker I stare at all day long is something that I've grown and nourished, all by my lonesome. From the womb to the real-world, she's been fully dependent on my body and all that it consumes and produces. It's so gratifying, so empowering, and so reassuring that we can do this.

Two Month Stats
Weight: 12 pounds 2 ounces (83rd percentile)
Height: 22.3 inches (47th percentile)

At this point, Luciana is still eating about every two to three hours, and fairly regularly goes one stretch of four to six hours overnight between feedings. She still has her fussy period, or "witching hour" as we like to call it, anywhere from 5:30 p.m. until the time she goes to bed around 9:30 or 10 p.m. every night, where she wants to constantly nurse. It makes doing bedtime with Belle a bit of a challenge, shall I say.

Luci is such a smiley little girl, and is just on the brink of breaking out into a giggle or laugh. She makes a few baby noises here and there and is mesmerized by watching us talk to her. The doctor commented about how good her muscle tone is, which is something we've been saying for weeks because she's so good at holding up her head and keeping it steady. Oh, and, she LOVES being carried in the Baby Bjorn. It's the only way to calm her down sometimes and the only way I can get anything done.

Another point worth noting, I just had to run out last night to buy Luciana a few more sleepers in size 6 months. And she's only two months old. I never thought I'd have to buy MORE girl clothes, in addition to the countless bins of girls clothes we already have. But Belle's 3-6 month and 6-9 month clothing is all summer stuff. Soon enough we're going to need a bigger house to fit all the baby clothes we've collected.

New Routines

2011-11-05T10:00:00.001-04:00

Luciana is five-weeks-old at this point, and with Jeremy's paternity leave behind him and the last of our house guests/babysitters gone for the moment, I'm looking forward to settling in to some sort of "routine." I say that lightly because the idea of creating a routine with a newborn is laughable, but this mama and the strong-willed almost three-year-old of the house NEED routine. Because honestly, without it, we're both grumpy, sleep deprived and all sorts of out of whack, and that just does NOT make for a happy household.

Luciana's been doing a whole lot of growing and measured in with these stats at her one-month doctor's appointment.

Weight: 9 lbs 7 ounces (a gain of two pounds in two weeks!), 57th percentile
Length: 20 1/2, 26th percentile

Part of her NICU stay involved figuring out that she has silent reflux, which means she takes a hefty dose of Zantac three times a day. Based on her growth (which the doctor was extremely happy with), she's obviously doing well on the medicine, but she does have days and nights where she seems extremely uncomfortable. I don't know if it's the reflux or just her immature digestive system, but I've never seen any baby poop and pass gas as much as she does. The poor girl is always grunting, pushing and working on something, and OMG does it look uncomfortable to be a baby. Newborns are so sleepy and cute and cuddly, but man can they be strange.

She's eating about every two to three hours, and if I'm lucky, she'll sleep a stretch of about four hours at least once during the night. She has about two to three wakeful periods during the day where she's up for two hours at a time, and lucky me, she cluster feeds at night from about 7 to 10 p.m. where she eats every single hour. Right now she loves her baths (seriously, she never cries during a bath) and is starting to enjoy playing (well, laying) on her playmat. And this girl has been genuinely smiling since about two weeks old.

What's gone unmentioned here on the blog is that I left my job of eight years at the end of August to officially "stay at home." It's a major adjustment for me (and for our income ... yikes!), but one that I am excited to explore and make my own (with routines, routines and more routines).

Maribelle is undergoing a change of her own as well, as she drops down from three days of daycare a week to only one day. We have absolutely loved the home daycare that she's been attending for the past three years, and the provider has been out-of-this-world wonderful. But, the drive to and from the daycare location from our new house is insane and would mean that I'd have Luciana in the car for potentially four hours a day on daycare days. Not ideal. So for now, she'll be home with me for the majority of the week while we try to find her some sort of preschool situation for the coming year. I'm slightly terrified, because this feisty girl needs entertainment and to be socially and mentally engaged in ways that I just can't find the time for at the moment. There's been a whole lot of movie watching going on these past few weeks (she's obsessed with Disney movies at the moment), but I'm hoping that once I get my bearings with this whole "staying at home with two kids" thing, I'll be able to provide Maribelle with the stimulating experiences she needs. And some days, I know that's going to be a tall order to fill.

Our Girls

2011-10-15T15:01:00.001-04:00

Two weeks ago, we welcomed this little beauty into our family

Luciana Marie Moorhead
Born September 30, 2011 at 4:16 a.m.
7 lbs, 3 ounces; 19.5 inches long

Born at 36 weeks and 3 days, she was an early bird just like her big sister and spent 10 days in the NICU (that's a story for another time). We brought her home earlier this week, and she's been eating, sleeping, pooping and gaining weight like a pro. And we are just so in love with her sweetness.

As for the big sister of the house? She's totally smitten, too and loving her role as big helper of the house. Also? She decided to pretty much potty train herself while we were dealing with Luciana's NICU stay. With some enticement from Grandma A, she switched to big girl panties and has been staying dry ever since.

These days we are feeling extra blessed to have these two beauties in our lives. And I'm so over-the-moon happy to be able to refer to them as "our girls." There's just nothing sweeter.

Big Girl Bed

2011-09-20T14:21:00.000-04:00

That's our little "Big Girl" you see all sprawled out by her lonesome in her new big girl bed. About two weeks ago, Maribelle made the big move from a crib to a twin-size big girl bed, and she's been doing great ever since. We only had a few issues the first night with her popping in and out of bed before she feel asleep, but ever since, she's stayed put. And in fact, she still calls for us to get her out of bed in the morning like she did when she slept in her crib. I'm sure this won't last for long, but we're pretty happy with this new arrangement while it lasts.

Next on our list? That soggy diaper of hers you see fastened to her little bum. This Thursday is our hard and fast launch date for Project No More Diapers. I'm terrified, people. TERRIFIED. I have this fear of potty training and wish some magical fairy would swoop in and instantaneously teach Belle how to use the big potty and save me from all the accidents in between. I'm not looking forward to cleaning up pee and poo. I'm not looking forward to the extra laundry, and I'm not looking forward to the power struggles. But, we've gotta start sometime.

Somebody hold me.

33 weeks and Counting

2011-09-07T14:30:00.000-04:00

It's hard to believe that I'm already 33 weeks into this pregnancy, and that last time, Belle was born about two weeks from this point. The doctors have been keeping a close eye on my progress, and at my appointment this morning, I found out I'm already 1 centimeter dilated. The doc wasn't worried though, because she said it's common for second-time moms to be dilated by this point. If I can juuuust get to 37 weeks, heck even 36 weeks, I'll be one happy camper.

Here are some updated 4D ultrasound pics from a growth scan I had at 31 weeks. The baby is measuring about a week ahead and was weighing over 4 pounds at the time of the scan, which puts the baby around 8 pounds at 40 weeks. Throughout most of the ultrasound, Baby M II had his/her hands covering his/her face, but this first picture was the perfect money shot that we got right at the end of the scan. The face looks a lot like Belle when she was first born, but everyone who sees these pics still thinks we're having a boy.

So on the home front, we're in full-on "prepare for baby" mode. We've been making small advances in the nursery, and I've been slowly washing baby items like sheets, diaper rags and clothes. And yes, my hospital bag is pretty much packed, as it was by this point when I was pregnant with Belle. Thank you, Type A personality. Overall I just feel big. And round. And full. And tight. And tired. Really, really tired. Which is why these belly shots are of me in my pajamas. It's how I would like to be dressed pretty much 24 hours a day.

Nursery Rhyming with Belles

2011-09-02T09:59:00.000-04:00

We do lots of singing 'round these parts. Whether it's before naptime and bedtime, on our way to and from daycare, or just any old time of day, you'll catch Maribelle singing a tune, and we're usually right there singing along with her. While she enjoys making up her own songs about mundane things (she entertained Jeremy and me with an impromptu song about bleeding knees the other day. I'm not kidding. And? Her knees weren't even bleeding), she has quite a repertoire of nursery rhymes. At the moment she's stuck on the sequence of Yankee Doodle, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, and the Itsy Bitsy Spider as a naptime/bedtime routine. But below you can catch a performance of some of her other favorites.

And yes, sometimes we like to sing without our pants on (and by "we" I mean "she").

Nursery rhyming with Belles from Gina Moorhead on Vimeo.

Summer Recap

2011-08-25T15:13:00.000-04:00

(Warning: Loooong post ahead)

Our summer? It's been a blast, people. Full of f-u-n, FUN and pretty much jam packed with all the things that toddler dreams are made of. Trips to the neighborhood swimming pool? Check. Ample time outside on large play structures? Check. Water balloon fights, lots of ice cream and popsicles, and a sleep schedule that has gone way, way, way out of wack? Triple double check. It's been our first summer in a while sans a summer vacay, so we've been busy creating memories in other ways, and lucky for us, great family and friends have been a major part of our summer.

The summer started off with a bang, when this pretty puppy was installed (by professionals, thank the Lord) in our backyard. It's pretty much the bee's knees in Belle's eyes, who loves spending time on her swing set every evening, after the summer sun has cooled down. For the longest time, she would wake up, look out the window and say "My swingset! It's still here!" Thanks to Grandma and Grandpa A and Aunt Tina and Uncle Jim for very generously helping us buy this for our little Belle.

We also took a quick overnight jaunt to Bethany Beach to spend time with some great friends. Belle loved the ocean and sand this year, but especially liked the small inflatable pool that someone thought to bring along. Genius idea!

Something Jeremy has been wanting to do for quite some time is take Belle to her first baseball game. She got her first dose of the major leagues at an Orioles vs. Indians game, and she also got her first dose of mascot meltdown. Let's just say she was NOT thrilled that the Oriole Bird sought her out and stooped down to her level to say hi.

Another first for Maribelle this summer was that she saw her first movie at a movie theater. We decided the new Winnie the Pooh movie was the perfect speed and length for a tot her age, and Aunt Jamie and Laura accompanied us to make the occasion extra special (although, am I the only one who just does not have a soft spot for Winnie the Pooh? Talk about a snoozefest, and they're all just kind of depressing characters. I'd so rather watch Yo Gabba Gabba over that whiny bear any day). Maribelle STILL asks me if I remember when we went to see a movie, and she recalls the entire afternoon, right down to what she had for lunch afterward.

My family has spent a lot of time trekking back and forth from Ohio to Maryland this summer, especially my dad, whose been here probably five times between May and August. I've spent more extended time with my sisters this summer than I have in a really long time, and it's been great to have all the extra help on hand. Plus, Maribelle loves all the doting attention, extra playmates, and unfamiliar purses through which she can rummage and inspect the contents (seriously people, she has a thing for purses and bags. Anyone she sees with a purse, backpack or briefcase catches her curiosity, and she salivates at the idea of getting her hands on the junk inside anyone's bag. The other day she even asked us what was in some guy's pocket! It's out of control.)

On an especially beautiful day, we took an afternoon trip to Annapolis to take a boat ride and grab some lunch. It really was the perfect summer outing, although Maribelle could care less about the boat and concentrated more on what was in Tara's purse.

We've got a bit more of summer left, and a few more family members coming to visit, so we're hoping to continue our streak of awesomesauce summer outings. Because with a baby on the way, fall is sure to be a bit more challenging, but in a good way.

Sweet Land of Liberty

2011-07-04T14:43:00.000-04:00

Happy Fourth of July! We're hoping to celebrate the day with some pool time, picnic food and maybe a bit of fireworks (although Belle at the moment thinks they're scary, so we might be watching them on tv).

23 weeks

2011-06-30T14:46:00.000-04:00

I figure it's time to post a belly pic, since I really haven't given much of an update on my pregnancy with Baby M II. I'm 23 weeks today, and I actually dried my hair for the first time in probably three weeks this morning. So, that calls for a photo.

The belly is definitely bigger this time around, and I'm pretty sure it did most of its growing last week. The entire week I felt stretched and pulled, as if my skin possibly couldn't spread any more. And I have potentially 17 more weeks to go. Oy.

For the most part I'm feeling pretty good. It's such a different experience the second time around. I'm not worried about every little ache and pain, nor am I reading a massive stack of pregnancy books like I did the first time. And I actually feel like I'm sleeping better this time, but that probably has to do with how unbelievably tired I am at the end of the day. Chasing a two-year-old adds a whole new level of fatigue to this whole pregnancy thing. I'm definitely not eating as well as I did when I was pregnant with Maribelle. Fruits and veggies?

Ha.

Hahahahaha.

Ha.

Not a big part of my diet unless I come across them at the bottom of a bag of chips or Dairy Queen starts pureeing them into their ice cream or something. So sad, but it's what the baby wants these days. (FYI, I just ate a bowl of strawberries. So it's not dessert ALL the time.)

We haven't lived near a DQ in seven years, and now we have one about 10 minutes away. I'm making up for lost time and enjoying a Banana Cream Pie Mini Blizzard as often as possible. Maribelle is more of a chocolate-vanilla swirl girl.

I've been getting progesterone shots weekly to hopefully (fingers crossed) ward off the pre-term labor I experienced with Maribelle. Other than the hassle of going to the doctor's office every week, it hasn't been so bad, and I actually think the extra boost of hormones has made certain aspects of pregnancy easier.

In terms of preparing for baby, we haven't really DONE anything yet. We've had maybe one conversation about baby names (my least favorite part of the whole process, for reals. So. Much. Pressure.), we haven't done any crib or baby furniture shopping, and the baby's future bedroom and closet are filled to the brim with junk. But we've got some guests who will be crashing our pad for a few weeks in July, and I'm hoping to put them to work (ahem ... Laura and Jake). Hopefully we'll be able to make more progress soon!

Settling into our New Digs

2011-06-24T08:20:00.000-04:00

So it's time to report on our big move, which happened almost three weeks ago now. We said goodbye to our very first house, which was our first major purchase as a couple and the home we moved into as husband and wife. We had our first child there and really launched our family life within those walls. It was a good house to us for seven years, but townhouse living just wasn't for us anymore. And our family is growing, so it was time to move on.

Enter -- "Moving Day." After weeks of packing and anticipating our move to a single-family home (and OMG, the stress!!), we completed two closings and a move all by 4 p.m. in one day. We couldn't have done it without the amazing help and coordination on behalf of my dad, who managed the movers while we were away at the closings, made countless trips back and forth from the old house to the new house while lugging our junk in his "Beast"/Excursion, and who also pretty much single-handedly cleaned the old house from top to bottom before the new owners moved in. We are so grateful he was able to make the trip to help us for a few days, because I don't know what we would have done without his help. Lucky for us the closings and move went smoothly, and we spent our first night in our home surrounded by piles of boxes.

We've made great progress in comparison to the photos above and we pretty much only have boxes left in our basement (which is going to be a massive job that I'm choosing to ignore at the moment). In an ideal world where we had lots of leftover money, time, and didn't have to worry about a pregnant mama, we'd be doing some major painting, landscaping and finishing of our basement. But, such is not the case. So we're living with most of the paint colors for the moment (or the next few years) and just making our current furniture fit. We're trying to do little things on our own (like powerwashing the house and deck, re-grouting the master shower, and replacing the countless window screens that have holes in them), so fingers crossed all those projects go off without a hitch (because we are soooo not the handy type). We're loving the relaxing atmosphere of our new surroundings, and Maribelle is absolutely loving the backyard, or what she refers to as "the park."

We'll post updated pictures soon as more of our rooms are completed!

Day of the Dad

2011-06-20T11:54:00.000-04:00

This little girl and her Dad ... oh, the fun things they do together.

He plays his guitar and sings silly songs, while she dances, jumps and shakes her booty (and sings into anything that closely resembles a microphone).

They water the flowers together and play in the dirt.

She rides on his back while he gives train rides.

She loves, loves, loves to color with him: "Hey Daddy! I know what we can do ... let's color!!"

They play hard and love hard ... the perfect Daddy-Daughter combo.

Up Close and Personal with Baby M II

2011-06-13T21:26:00.000-04:00

Last week we had my 20-week ultrasound and got to check in on Baby M II. I've been telling Jeremy that this baby is much more active than Maribelle ever was at this point, and Baby M II proved my point the minute the ultrasound tech flipped on the screen. Once the shadowy image of the baby came into view, we could see that Baby M II was practicing a little thumb sucking, and was repeatedly trying to find his/her mouth. It was so amazing and adorable to watch, and I'm pretty sure I fell in love right then and there. It just blows my mind that all of that was going on right there in my belly. It truly is such a miracle.

With the stress of taking care of a two-year-old, everyday life, selling our house, moving, etc, etc, I've felt a little disconnected from this pregnancy and have found myself MANY times just plain old forgetting I'm with child (and then I walk in front of a mirror and my growing belly quickly reminds me that SOMETHING is going on in there). But the magic of the ultrasound and the amazing detail that we could see and witness just made everything sink in and seem much more real. In a few short months, we're going to be a family of four!

Lucky for us, my OB office uses 4D technology as a regular feature of the 20-week ultrasound, so we got the added benefit of seeing Baby M II in greater detail than a normal ultrasound. Take a look at this sweet face!

I know, it's slightly creepy and the umbilical cord floating there just makes me nervous, but is this not the most amazing advancement in ultrasound technology?!?! It's even more detailed during a third trimester ultrasound, but as long as my pregnancy progresses normally, we won't need any additional ultrasounds.

In terms of baby details, Baby M II's heartbeat was around 150, and he/she was measuring slightly ahead, which is great considering that I've only gained two pounds so far the entire pregnancy. My doctor has encouraged me to consume more calories, so I've been doubling up on dessert daily (probably not what she meant, but I'm taking liberties with this one). All vital organs were accounted for and measured appropriately, so all looks well in there!

The Godfather

2011-05-28T14:25:00.000-04:00

Yep, that's Jeremy -- Godfather to our niece, Gracelynn Elizabeth, who was recently baptized and met the rest of her extended family after her first plane trip from Texas to Ohio. Gracelynn was nothing but smiles during the entire ceremony and seemed to thoroughly enjoyed all of the attention. Congrats and God Bless to Josh, Misty and Baby Gracelynn!

The ABCs of Packing

2011-05-20T08:21:00.000-04:00

Amongst the chaos of boxes, bubble wrap and endless hours of packing (how did we get so much STUFF?!?), there are moments of unbelievable cuteness, thanks to our little Belle, who has grown fond of choosing the largest boxes in which to catch up on her reading, or, you know, to take a quick breather.

And then, of course, there are the impromptu serenades. Our little girl loves to sing, and one night this week before bath time, I caught her doing an energetic rendition of her ABCs. This is the first time I've ever heard her sing the entire song on her own. Usually she just chimes in at certain memorable parts of the alphabet, so I was glad to catch this on camera (lucky for me, it went on for like five minutes straight).

Belle's ABCs from Gina Moorhead on Vimeo.

Since we've been gone

2011-05-13T15:19:00.000-04:00

Soooo, I'm just gonna come right out and state the obvious. I've been neglectful. We've been missing from these parts for quite a while, and I feel kinda bad about it. However, Mama had to take a bit of a break from blogging to focus on the craziness that has been life these past few months. Peeps, we've got so much going on, it's enough to make anyone's mind spin, Poltergeist style. Finding the motivation and/or the time to blog has been quite a challenge lately, but I'm dedicated to finding my blogging mojo again. So let's play a brief game of catch up, shall we?

* We're moving, ya'll! Yes, our New Year's resolution from two years ago has finally been fulfilled. We sold our house and are preparing to move into our first single-family home in June. It's been at least a year in the making (and, ohhhh, three or four years in the "dreaming"), between completing repairs on our current home, decluttering and getting all the rest of the details arranged in order to put our house on the market. But you guys, we accepted an offer from a buyer within FIVE DAYS of listing our house on the market. FIVE DAYS! I was so glad to ditch the daily cleaning that was required of making our house spic and span for showings. Because trying to keep a house tidy with a two-year-old tornado on the loose pretty much equals mission impossible in my book. So now we're in the packing phase and it's coming along slowly but surely. We're excited to finally have a yard, a garage and a nice quiet street, and the biggest bonus?? The new house has a community pool. That's a major score during the hot and humid Maryland summers! Now we just have to get Maribelle over her aversion to swimming pools.

* School's out for summer. I finished the last class of my master's program and I only have student teaching (and a 25-page Action Research Project, and two Praxis exams, and well, one more student teaching-related class) standing between me and my master's degree in secondary education. If all goes as planned, I will be graduating with my (long overdue) master's degree this time next year. And that's only because I had to push student teaching back to Spring 2012 because our fall is going to be pretty busy. And that's because ....

* Baby M II is due to make his/her appearance in late October! Yep, ya heard. I've got a proverbial bun baking in my oven, and we're so over the moon excited to be growing our little family. I'm about 16 weeks now, and all the sickness and zombie-inducing fatigue has pretty much passed, so I'm feeling good and enjoying it while it lasts. Maribelle is happy to tell you all about being a Big Sister, but seriously, she has no idea what's going on and NO idea what's about to come her way. (The jury is still out on how to refer to our growing bean, so for right now, I'm going with Baby M II, since Maribelle is the original Baby M. Any and all suggestions are welcome.)

This very faint test confirms that a line is a line is a line. It was the lightest of double lines, but I can assure you, it was in fact a positive. I received the fortune during our Valentine's Day lunch earlier that day and decided to go home and test. Sure enough, the fortune was spot on (because, you know, those things are always so prophetic and wise).

Our 8-week-old gummy bear. Proof that I wasn't just nauseous and vomiting for nothing. Clearer pictures will come in a few weeks at the 20-week ultrasound. After a lot of back and forth, and much to the dismay of so many people we know, we're leaning toward not finding out the sex again. We just love keeping everyone in suspense, ourselves included.

Muaah-ha-ha-ha-haaaa (that's an evil-sounding pregnant lady laugh, fyi).

Spring Break with a Toddler

2011-03-11T14:38:00.000-05:00

It's a special treat when your college-age sister decides to forfeit her one precious week off from pharmacy school in order to live it up toddler style in good old Maryland. My sister Jamie spent her Spring Break mornings waking up early to the sounds of Maribelle yelling "Mommy!!!!", her afternoons napping from the exhaustion of entertaining a two-year-old, and her nights memorizing the words to the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse theme songs. A far cry from the Spring Break experiences I remember watching on MTV years ago, but definitely a week of enriching experiences. I mean just look at the fun oozing from the photos below!

Pancakes. And whipped cream. And sprinkles. And the return of Jeremy's slightly creepy mustache = instant fun on National Pancake Day. OH MY!

A trip to a science museum is on every Spring Breaker's must-do list. Carrying an egg like a penguin and "digging" for dinosaur bones provides for hours of fun and first-hand learning!

Did someone say "crafting"??? Whoot! Whoot! Party over here!! We made sure to exercise our creative noodle and made yarn wreaths and painted pottery. Fun overload.

And isn't it every Spring Breaker's dream to gain access to an exclusive club and chill with the owner like long-lost BFFs?!?!? Consider it done. In this case, Jamie scored the VIP treatment in Maribelle's clubhouse/princess castle, enjoying all the Yo Gabba Gabba one person can bear to take.

Ok, so Jamie's Spring Break was a bit more Martha Stewart-worthy than MTV-worthy, but that's what Spring Break with a toddler will do to your days. However, I don't think either of them minded one bit.

We Loved

2011-02-15T14:50:00.001-05:00

A few years after Jeremy and I met, we started the Valentine's Day tradition of making and exchanging homemade valentine's with one another. And although it's getting harder and harder to find the time to make these little works of art, the end product is always well worth the effort. And now, we have a pretty cool collection of homemade valentine's and love letters to document our time together.

But this year's valentine from Jeremy and Maribelle? One of my favorite's by far ....

So sweet and so creative! He traced his hand and Maribelle's hand, and manipulated the paper into the sign for "I love you," which is something Maribelle has been signing for a long time now. Although she can just as easily say "I love you", it's become her "thing" to flash that sweet little sign, and it just makes our heart melt everytime she does it.

My card to Jeremy wasn't as creative, but filled with just as much love nonetheless. (Hey, I get a pass! I've been working hard on school work!) The inside of the card even featured a little lift-the-flap action, as well.

Maribelle tried her hand at our tradition this year, and she made Jeremy a one-of-a-kind painted frame for one of his favorite photos.

After we exchanged gifts on Sunday morning, we headed out to lunch, where Maribelle got her first experience with chopsticks. And she was a pro! She picked the chopsticks right up and starting eating like she had done it a million times. Of course she had her own method, but she managed to get food into her mouth, and that's what counts, right?

Maribelle on Ohdeedoh

2011-02-10T13:31:00.001-05:00

It's a bit late, but we see no harm in celebrating Maribelle's birthday for an entire month. Check out Maribelle's birthday shout-out on one of my favorite design blogs devoted to all things kids, Ohdeedoh. Click on the link to follow through to the site!

Bye Bye Binkie

2011-01-26T14:54:00.001-05:00

It's been a long time coming, but we officially kicked the binkies to the curb this past weekend. Score for the Big Girl!!

We had been using Maribelle's second birthday as the start date for the launch of Operation No More Binkies, and we wasted no time in putting it into effect. In fact we started planting the idea of doing away with binkies into Maribelle's little noggin about a month or so ago. For me, the biggest hurdle was deciding just how we would get rid of her little naptime and nighttime friend. Some people suggested making gradual cuts into the binky over a period of time so that eventually there would be nothing left for Maribelle to suck on, but I knew that method wouldn't work for her, nor for me. It seems like a torturous way to draw out the inevitable act of actually taking away the binky, and I wanted the process to be as quick and painless as possible. Another suggestion I received was to take Maribelle to a store and have her pick out a new comfort item that would replace her binkie, such as a blanket, stuffed animal, etc. Same thing, that just doesn't fit her personality. She doesn't get very attached to material things and could care less about loveys, so that was also a no-go.

So what did we end up doing? Our daycare provider suggested the genius idea that we make a big deal out of passing down her binkies to her all-time favorite baby at daycare, Baby Sam. And I'm not kidding when I say he is Maribelle's favorite. We hear about Baby Sam no less than 10 times a day, and she completely dotes on him and gives him plenty of hugs and kisses. I knew right away that this method was a much better fit for Maribelle's personality and would totally reinforce the idea of binkies only being for babies, and not for big girls (which is what we had been telling her for the past month).

So we started prepping Maribelle for the big day about two weeks ago and kept reminding her that soon we were going to give all of her binkies to Baby Sam. Last Friday when I picked her up from daycare, we made a big deal out of handing over all three of her binkies to Baby Sam (well, actually his mom) in a little plastic bag, and she had no qualms about seeing them go. But the true test came that night ... and the next day at naptime, both of which went off without any crying or protesting for a binky. Honestly, this girl rationalizes and totally gets it, which is why I knew this method would work. Every time she would enter her room for naptime or nighttime over the past weekend, she would say to herself "No binkies. Binkies are for Baby Sam" and proceed to fall asleep on her own.

Our little girl is really growing up!

Birthday weekend

2011-01-17T16:09:00.001-05:00

Birthday weekend 2.0 is officially in the books, my friends! Maribelle had a colorful and fun birthday, celebrating with both friends and family alike.

Her actual birthday was spent with a few of her best play friends, doing what kids do best --- snacking and playing. I made sure the house looked "festive" for when Maribelle came downstairs on her birthday, and we provided homemade playdough and various toys and balloons to keep her birthday guests entertained. And the homemade playdough? So easy! I highly recommend checking out a recipe and giving it a try. Maribelle loved kneading the dough while we were making it and she loved mixing in tons and tons of glitter. Providing the playdough not only gave the kids something to play with, but it served as a party favor, too!

So here's the crew: Maribelle, Ruby and Brandon. Brandon's brother, Travis, was also in attendance. We loaded them up with grapes so we could snap the group shot below, but trust me, once the sugar from the cupcakes hit their veins, they turned into little tornados and put the punching balloons that we provided to good use.

A few days later, we continued the festivities with a birthday brunch, made even more special because Grandma and Grandpa Moorhead were in town to help celebrate. Jeremy made two delicious frittatas and an arugula and goat cheese salad, and I made a banana layer cake with cream cheese frosting for the birthday girl. I also got to test out one of my Christmas gifts and made a punch that I dubbed "Razzle Dazzle Birthday Punch" in our new drink dispenser (which is sure to make a regular appearance at our future birthday parties). Maribelle got some very cool and generous gifts, from people near and far, and it's weekends like these that remind us just how lucky we are for all the friends and family in our lives. Thank you to everyone for making Maribelle's day so special!

Birthday Letter to Maribelle

2011-01-12T23:47:00.000-05:00

My little bug,

It’s the eve of your second birthday, and I’ve been spending the past few hours baking cupcakes and preparing the house for a small birthday get-together tomorrow with your friends. The house is all set to celebrate the day you were born, and each member of our little family has been anticipating this day for quite some time, but all for very different reasons. You, on one hand, are excited about the prospect of eating blue cupcakes (as you requested) and singing “Happy Birthday” --- signs that you are very much embracing this whole “childhood” thing and are coming to appreciate the finer things in life. On the other hand, your Daddy and I see your birthday as a time to reflect on just how enriched our life has become now that we get to share our days with you. You won’t understand it until you one day become a parent yourself, but life’s little moments are so much more alive, important and magnified once you have children to share them with. You have breathed purpose into everything that your Daddy and I do, and all of our moments completely and utterly revolve around you. We do everything we can to keep you happy, safe and thriving, and we couldn’t feel any more blessed to bear this amazing responsibility. Your birthday is definitely cause to celebrate, my dear, because you have deepened our lives so much with your sweet, funny and bold personality.

And the journey has only just begun.

Happy 2nd birthday, my sweet!

Lots of love,

Mom

TWO soon!!

2011-01-08T14:31:00.001-05:00

We finally got some updated professional photos taken of Maribelle in anticipation of her SECOND birthday next week (is Picture People professional? I have my doubts, but whatevs.)

I'm completely in denial that our little bean is turning 2 in under a week.

Amazing! Mind blowing, I tell ya.

We're pretty happy with the pictures (the ones of the black and white background below are my fave!), although I still have dreams of one day hiring a super modern, creative, magazine-like photographer to shoot some stuff of Maribelle and our little family. I've been pining for the opportunity (and moula) to do so for, ohhhhh, two years now. However, their prices? Much different from the chump change that Picture People charges. So until we win the lotto (or uncover some "rusty gold" that's worth lots of money, like they do on my new favorite show "American Pickers"), we'll be sticking with Picture People (and now we're club members. Hooray! .... I think).

This year's birthday festivities won't be a repeat of last year's blowout of a party. On her actual birthday on Thursday, we're having playgroup at our house for her two little friends to enjoy cupcakes and playdough, and weekend celebrations will include a low-key birthday dinner with family. We're aiming for a classic birthday party this year -- no themes, just balloons, cake, ice cream and fun!

Christmas Morning

2010-12-31T17:20:00.000-05:00

Ever since I was a kid, its been a rule in our house that no one is allowed to go downstairs to see what Santa has left under the tree until everyone is awake and able to share in that moment together. So my three sisters and I would wake early in the morning, congregate at the top of the steps in our newly-christened Christmas Eve pajamas, and wait for my mom to emerge from her room so that we can all parade down the steps together. My dad has always been the one person in the house who doesn't have to abide by this rule, because he has the important job of turning on Christmas music and giving us the "thumbs up" sign for us to process down the stairs. I'm sure we have years of these moments captured on video, because he would always be there at the bottom of the steps with a camera rolling.

This year was a tad different, in that all of us girls were up and ready to parade downstairs by 8 a.m., only to be delayed by a sleeping toddler who decided to snooze until 8:45. So to pass the time, the four of us piled into one of our bedrooms, munched on M&Ms that Tara had stashed under her bed (no joke) and made a bit more noise than we usually would on any other morning that Belle decided to sleep in.

Finally, all the ladies of the house were awake, and we shared the moment together as we have for so many years. Jeremy joined the ranks of my dad this year and caught Maribelle's reaction on tape. It's pretty much adorable and melts my heart that another generation of our family is starting to enjoy the same traditions that we've experienced throughout our childhood.

Christmas Morning 2010 from Gina Moorhead on Vimeo.

Christmas Eve 2010

2010-12-31T14:27:00.000-05:00

Let's continue with a recap of the Christmas festivities so we can start the new year with a clean slate.

Christmas Eve

Manning the fish-frying stations in preparation for Christmas Eve dinner. And see those clothes that they're wearing? I can guarantee you they had to be washed at least three times to get the fried fish smell out of them.

Jamie and I tackled the baking this year and made some amazing cookie trays. Between the two of us we made Italian Wedding Cookies, Cheesecake Brownies, Peppermint Bark, Buckeyes, Seven Layer Cookies, Pitzelles, Pumpkin Spice Cookies, White Trash, Oatmeal Apricot Cookies and Chocolate-Dipped Pretzels. And of course we didn't think to take a picture of a finished cookie tray, but believe me, they were divine.

Tara and Jake -- the newest (and tallest) addition to the Christmas Eve cooking crew. As you can tell by his apron, he had the job of flouring all the slimey, sticky fish. It's the job we assign to all the beginners who hope to one day achieve the status of fry cook.

The head fry cook herself, Mom Amero.

Grandpa M. sampling the seven fishes. This year we had smelts, calimari, shrimp, baccala, clams, orange roughy and cod.

Maribelle enjoying some cookies with Grandma and Grandpa M.

All the girls ready for bed in our new Christmas Eve pj's and slippers.

Christmas in Maryland

2010-12-28T13:59:00.000-05:00

You guys, what happened to Christmas? We only celebrated, like, three or four Christmases over the past week/week and a half, but it just always goes way, way too fast. I'm sitting here at my parents' house surrounded by piles of toys (I swear every toy that Maribelle received has at least 100 pieces per toy, so we're talking major clutter right now), and we still have to get them BACK to Maryland.

And unpack them.

And find a place for them in our tiny house.

Rivaling the number of toys we've accumulated are the number of photos that we've taken over the past few days.

So let's start with Christmas in Maryland, shall we? Highlights included the consigned table and chairs that I repainted and finished for her, her first bike, and a pair of Yo Gabba Gabba shoes.

Mommy and Daddy got some cool gifts too. A new pair of boots and a pair of aquamarine and diamond earrings for Mom (which sparkle like no other!) and some new clothes and toys for Dad.

Mommy's Little Helper

2010-12-23T07:57:00.000-05:00

This past weekend, Maribelle and I spent the entire Saturday busy as little Christmas elves. We wrapped presents, we baked Christmas goodies for coworkers and neighbors and we watched various Christmas movies. It's so nice to have such a helpful little buddy around to enjoy those kind of days!

Crushing candy canes for Peppermint Bark

And of course, sampling the candy canes.

Working on stacking Rolos for Pretzel Turtles.

Decorating gingerbread men.

Going in the for the kill!

And some of the final products.

Elf on the Shelf

2010-12-21T10:59:00.000-05:00

We started a new Christmas tradition this year, thanks to my parents, who sent Maribelle the Elf on the Shelf set. As part of the set, you get your very own family elf, whom Maribelle simply named "Elf," and also a storybook that explains the basics of the tradition. The elf is supposed to serve as a middle person between your family and Santa and sends daily reports about who has been naughty and nice. He moves to a different position (or shelf) in the house every morning, and that has become Maribelle's favorite part. We decided not to use the elf as a behavior monitor, but just use it as a fun morning tradition of playing "Where's the elf?" She gets such a kick out of finding it every morning, and she loves the elf so much that she's even taken it to daycare on a few occasions.

Here's a quick video of Belle searching for the Elf on the Shelf:

Elf on the Shelf from Gina Moorhead on Vimeo.

Santa Claus came to our town

2010-12-18T21:35:00.000-05:00

There's nothing like having Santa Claus come to us, instead of us having to brave the crowds and traffic in order to visit a mall Santa. For one week every December, our local volunteer fire department visits all the neighborhoods in our city, and Mr. and Mrs. Claus are always in tow, greeting the kids and handing out candy canes. They ride around in a fire truck, with the lights glaring and sirens blaring and honking to the tune of "Jingle Bells." We had been waiting for them all week and finally started hearing the sirens in our neighborhood right as we were putting Belle down for the night. She seemed game for running out to meet Santa, so we grabbed her coat and a blanket and headed out to meet them right in front of our doorstep. Much to our surprise, Maribelle was ecstatic. She loved the noise, loved the candy canes and loved the fact that we got to take a picture with Santa. She talked about it the entire time as I put her to bed that night. Fingers crossed she has the same reaction to the Santa that will be at my work Christmas party next week.

Christmas Medley

2010-12-16T21:11:00.000-05:00

More singing, except this time it's Christmas songs. Enjoy!

Belle's Christmas Medley from Gina Moorhead on Vimeo.

Oh Christmas tree(s)

2010-12-14T21:44:00.000-05:00

One of my favorite parts about the holidays are the lights and the decorations. There's nothing like curling up on the couch at night with a mug full of hot chocolate and a super cheesy Hallmark Christmas movie while lights, candles and other various sparkly things twinkle all around you. It's so peaceful, so relaxing and just so pretty. And boy, do we have decorations. We have been blessed with some pretty spacious storage areas in our small townhouse, but I can assure you most of those spaces are packed full with Christmas decor. A great deal of it has been passed down to us by Mr. Christmas himself, my dad, who has an entire (very large) room in his basement dedicated to storing all of his holiday decor. You can say that I've inherited the decorating gene, because if it were up to me, every room in our house would have a tree, including our bathrooms. Fortunately Jeremy is a bit more moderate in his approach to Christmas decor, so he's able to reign me in. So since we put all the effort into decorating, I thought I'd share with you some photos of our Christmas trees.

Let's start in the family room, with our main tree.

What's that you say? There's an entire section of the tree that's not lit??? Hmmm, I hadn't noticed.

Actually, the truth is, our tree EATS LIGHTS. True story. We've gone through three new strands of lights this year trying to fix the problem, and we've officially thrown in the towel. The good thing? I think I've convinced Jeremy to get a real, live tree next year to avoid all these pre-lit tree problems. SCORE!

You know those trees that are color coordinated from top to bottom and look like they belong on display in a department store? That's just not my style, at least for our main tree. I love the personality of a tree with mixed ornaments that have been collected over the years. Each one recalls a memory, either of the person who gifted the ornament, or the year/time when the ornament was purchased or received. It makes decorating our tree every year a truly special occasion.

This tree is in our dining room area, and definitely has a more coordinated feel. I like to think of this as our Dr. Suess tree. I just love the colors of the bulbs and the old-school vintage tree topper.

And the tree I'm most excited about this year is the one in Maribelle's room. I grew up having my own tree in my room, and I couldn't wait to pass along the tradition. Belle's tree is pink and sparkly and ultra girly -- a far cry from the tabletop tree I had as a kid. Her tree is decorated with vintage (durable) bird ornaments, white sparkly feathers and is topped with a white dove. It has such a beautiful soft glow at night, and I just love sitting in her dark room while gazing at the tree.

Choosey chooser

2010-12-09T16:12:00.003-05:00

A few weeks ago we took Maribelle on our traditional trip to pick out a Christmas ornament at a place called Valley View Farms. Last year I wrote about how this momentous occasion resulted in her choosing a $5 box of German smoker cones, and I had fears that she would somehow be magnetically drawn to them again this year. Fortunately we DID mosey home with an actual ornament, but of course, it wasn't a quick or easy decision. In fact, it took an hour -- an hour of picking up an ornament, and then putting it back .... and then picking up an ornament, and putting it back. The task of pulling an ornament off of a display hook and carefully placing it back on was more of an attraction to her than the satisfaction of taking home one of the shiny baubles. I've said many times how I love that she's at the age where she doesn't want every single thing that she sees in the stores, but in this situation, it made for a LONG selection process.

Here's a brief reenactment:

Ohhhh, look at THESE pretty ornaments! So shiny! So breakable!

Hmmm, let's see here ... which one should I choose, which one should I choose ....

Ohhh, how about this pink and girly ballerina/princess one!

Or should I go with the fierce and tough crocodile? Chomp, chomp ....

Oh and look Mommy, what do you think of these fancy bird ornaments?? So sophisticated!

Hey guys, have you ever heard of these Silly Bands things? They might look really good on our tree. And you get like 10 in a pack!

No, no, that's just silly. Let me look around some more. Daddy, can you help me find an ornament??

And so, she eventually settled on her 2010 ornament: a pineapple-wielding weiner dog that looks as if it's heading for a retirement cruise to the bahamas. PERFECT!

We celebrated ...

2010-12-05T18:59:00.000-05:00

... Jeremy's 32nd birthday and my Aunt Tina's 50th, with brunch at our house.

... Thanksgiving, with the Amero and Bianco clans making their first-ever turkey-day treks to Maryland. We ate, we decorated and we enjoyed all the entertainment that a toddler has to offer around the holidays, like hanging a new outfit on the tree instead of an ornament.

... and finally, we celebrated my aunt and uncle's membership in the "Fifty is Nifty" club by throwing them a surprise birthday party the day after Thanksgiving. It was a total success and was made special by the fact that our entire family was there and able to celebrate together .... with large tubes of beer.

So there, I think we're all caught up now. Which is perfect, because we have plenty of Christmas happenings to report, like which ornament Maribelle picked as her 2010 tree bauble. I can assure you she actually walked away with a true, bonafide ornament this year, and not a cheery old box, like last year.

22 Months

2010-12-01T13:33:00.002-05:00

Our little girl is 22 months old, ya'll.

22 MONTHS!

And actually, I've been working on this post for two weeks now. So, she's really almost 23 MONTHS. I die.

For the most part, my mind has already sped ahead to her being a 2-year-old. Because to say she's "1" just doesn't paint an accurate picture. When I think back to the 12, 13 or even 18-month-old toddler that she was earlier in the year, her abilities pale in comparison to all that she can do now. She's been displaying all the trademarks of a 2-year-old for months — jaw-dropping tantrums, insane displays of independence, personality, personality and personality. She's like a little person now, with opinions and preferences and sass! One day she trotted into the family room and happily proclaimed to me and Jeremy "Let's color, guys!" My jaw literally dropped because A) she called us guys ..... GUYS?!?!? That's ridiculously cute and familial and casual and, B) because "no, honey, we're you're mom and DAD."

So here's my little attempt to record a snapshot of Maribelle at 22 months for safe keeping in the time capsule that is this blog.

Coloring -- I have to start with this, because it's what she wants to do all.day.long. We bought huge sketch pads for her and she just goes to town drawing circles, scribbles and generally covering the page in a matter of seconds. We go through paper (and crayons) FAST around here because she prefers blank paper over coloring books most of the time. So with her love of coloring, we've dabbled in water colors and glue as well. Yes, glue. (I know, it's very brave of me, thank you.) I try to do some sort of art/craft project with her everyday, so our fridge looks like a little art gallery. It makes me so very happy every time I walk by it and adds so much color and cheer to our kitchen.

Football -- The girl LOVES football. She's always asking to watch it and gets so excited whenever she sees it on tv. She will actually watch a good portion of a game (more than I have the patience for!) and claps, runs around and pretends to "kick!" She also proudly exclaims "Go Guckeyes!!," which of course is supposed to mean Buckeyes but sounds way cuter with a "G" at the beginning. Jeremy has even taken her to the local football fields to watch the community youth leagues, and she loves running around the field when the games are over. And although we like to think her favorite team is Ohio State, she actually prefers the Oregon Ducks. Because she likes their mascot. Awesome.

Dancing and Singing -- The girl has a knack for polka, let me tell you! For months now, she's been dancing to a German record that we bought from the thrift store called "Gluck in den Bergen," and it is the ONLY one she wants to listen to. If we try to play another record, she freaks out and insists we put on the polka music. She's always asking to "Dance? Dance?" and loves it when mommy and daddy join in. Her overall style is very interpretive, I must say. And the singing is one of my favorite little tricks of hers. We play lots of nursery rhyme songs for her, and she picks them up right away. Every night after we've read a few books, I sit in her dark room with her on my lap, and we sing songs. She makes requests and joins in when she wants to. It's one of my favorite parts of the day.

Talking -- Oh boy, the talking! It's amazing how all of a sudden she started forming sentences over night. Last week she looked at me while we were eating dinner and said "Daddy and mommy color with me." Amazing. And the sentences just keep getting longer and more complex. Other cute little phrases she's saying right now: Whenever we approach a street or parking lot she says "Careful! Beep, beep! Walk"; she asks for "a bit" when she wants to drink juice from a glass; she's constantly asking to "have it" or "hold it"; and if she had it her way, she'd have "nani and cheese" for every meal, which of course is macaroni and cheese. Oh, and her newest words this week: "gross" and "boogers." Classy.

Development -- She can recognize the basic shapes, including circle, triangle, square, heart and star; she puts on her shoes all by herself (many times on the right feet!) and her daycare provider is thoroughly impressed; she knows many of her numbers between 1 and 10 (when she's in the mood); and we're working hard on colors (pink, blue, black, white and brown seem to be the ones she notices most); she likes singing along to the ABCs and hits key stress points within the song;

Babies and Stuffed Animals -- All of a sudden, she's developed a real interest in baby dolls and stuffed animals. She's never really cared about them before, but now she's all about caring for them, hugging them, kissing them, and telling them "It's OK" (apparently they cry ALOT). Her crib is always packed with friends, especially her various Yo Gabba Gabba characters. And she notices and pleads for whichever character is missing. I've even had to run out to the car to fetch one (usually Foofa) in order for her to settle in her crib.

Sleeping -- she's still a champion sleeper and sleeps about 12 hours every night, with a two to three hour nap during the day. And I thank the Sleep Gods every single day for this.

Eating -- mehhhh, she's a typical toddler when it comes to food. When we can get her to sit still long enough, she loves to eat her carbs (pasta, crackers, bread) and is hit and miss when it comes to veggies, although she slammed a bowl of homemade onion soup last night. She loves eating peas and corn and most fruits, except melons, and will eat greens if they are chopped small enough and mixed into a soup or pasta. Thankfully Jeremy is really clever and resourceful when it comes to incorporating healthy veggies into his main dishes, and I'm telling you, she will eat ANYTHING he makes. With my food, it's a different story (And I can't say I blame her.) Some of her favorites at the moment include: "nani and cheese" (macaroni and cheese, of course), pastina, cold shrimp with cocktail sauce, plain yogurt with honey, olives (we're talking the fancy and bitter full-on garlic-and-herb flavored olives), cookies, chips and clementines.

Random obsession of the moment: the moon. She looks for it and points it out day and night. The other day while we were driving in the car, she kept yammering about the moon, even though it was the middle of the day. Jer and I didn't think anything of it until we saw a very faint outline of the moon in the sky, and decided that our little girl is well on her way to being a lunar scientist.

Or, a professional polka dancer. And we will most definitely be supportive of either career choice.

{this moment}

2010-11-12T14:01:00.000-05:00

{this moment} - A Friday ritual capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. Join in over at SouleMama.

There is so much about this photo and this moment that I love. Aside from the silly breakfast conversation that Jeremy was having with Maribelle, and the adorable "yeah"s and "yep"s she would contribute at appropriate times, so many details of this scene suggest the older, more independent girl that she's quickly becoming.

Halloween 2010

2010-11-05T23:29:00.000-04:00

Halloween rocked my socks, and I'm pretty sure Belle would say the same. She kept her little gnome hat on for more than two hours straight (score!), dutifully filled her plastic pumpkin full of candy (for mommy and daddy, of course), and just generally looked ridiculously cute with two of her little toddler friends in tow. We split time trick-or-treating up and down our area's historic Main Street and also in my aunt's neighborhood. Belle came home with quite a stash, and I'm sad to say she hasn't had a piece since Halloween! However, Jeremy and I can't say the same. We've definitely been putting all that hard-earned candy to good use.

Test drive: Halloween version 1.0

2010-10-28T14:39:00.000-04:00

We took Maribelle's Halloween costume for a test-drive today at a party thrown by a local mom's group I see regularly. We fell in love with the costume when we saw it in the store, but the success of its cuteness depends on Maribelle actually letting the little gnome's hat sit upon her head for more than 10 minutes. So, in the brief 10 minutes she actually looked like a full-fledge gnome, we snapped some pics.

We had a great time at the party, letting the kids make their own pizzas and gnosh on Halloween cupcakes. The only bad part is that Maribelle pretty much whined the entire time, either to be picked up or to go "bye-byes." This is becoming a regular thing these days when she feels uncomfortable in a room full of people she doesn't know all that well. A few days ago she full-on threw a fit to go "bye-byes" when I took her to story hour at the library. And it's not like she's never been there before; library story time is something we've done a million times with no problem. I think we're getting into some separation anxiety territory here, and it's no fun, people. No. Fun.

We've got two additional Halloween events this weekend, so I'm thinking I may run out and get a back-up costume for Belle. Maybe something without a hat, so people can actually tell what she's dressed as once she's ditched the head gear.

{this moment}

2010-10-22T22:09:00.000-04:00

{this moment} - A Friday ritual capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. Join in over at SouleMama.

Maribelle's first lollipop.

An open letter to October

2010-10-09T14:20:00.000-04:00

Ohhh, October.

One of my most favorite months of the year. With your crisp air (ok, so it's 80 degrees here today, but whatever), fall festivals, pumpkins and gourds; your apples, colored leaves and pumpkin spice lattes; your mums, your football and your tribute to Christopher Columbus (can I get a woot, woot for long weekends!). You have so much to offer, yet I have so little time to give.

So October, this is my one request to you. Aside from the relaxation, spice flavored beverages and fall-themed extravaganzas that you have to offer as one of the most awesomesauce months of the year, can you not ALSO be the bat-poo craziest time of the year when it comes to my academic and professional life?!? Because seriously, it happens every year. The internal struggles that I have over choosing to attend a fall festival with my loved ones or sitting on my couch by my lonesome (ha! that's a joke) reading 100 pages of Spenser's The Faerie Queene (shoot me now) is just too much to take every single weekend of your glorious 31 days.

So in exchange for a stress-free, easy breezy October 2011 (because really, it's too late to redeem yourself for 2010), I give you this adorable video of Maribelle singing the Barney theme and various nursery rhymes. If you don't find this droolworthy adorable, you really are the month of Satan.

Belle Sings Barney from Gina Moorhead on Vimeo.

{this moment}

2010-10-08T20:44:00.000-04:00

A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. Join in over at Soule Mama.

It was 70 degrees outside. Yet she insisted on wearing gloves.

They're creepy and they're kooky

2010-09-21T15:25:00.000-04:00

We're so lucky that the area we live in has TONS of attractions that are geared toward the little ones. Between the many parks, playgrounds, libraries, indoor entertainment areas like bounce around places and gyms, and all that the big cities of Baltimore and Washington, D.C. have to offer, we have plenty to keep us busy all year round. Last week we hit up a place called Clark's Elioak Farm, which is part petting zoo, part farm, part playground and part creepy nursery rhyme wonderland.

I know, the "creepy nursery rhyme wonderland" threw you for a loop, so let me explain.

There used to be a theme park in the area called the Enchanted Forest, and it featured all of these structural vignettes of scenes from popular nursery rhymes. There weren't any rides, just little displays you could walk through, and the entire thing was nestled in the woods. I remember visiting the Enchanted Forest as a kid during our trips to Maryland, and although it was fun and memorable, it was, well, strange and creepy, mainly because nothing moved. You would just kind of stand there, stare at these strange, overtly colorful (and sometimes distorted) storybook characters and then .... you would move along. No climax, nothing. The theme park eventually closed in 1988 after 30-some years of business, and recently, many of the structural attractions were purchased and refurbished by a local, who put them on display at Clark's Elioak Farm, the place we visited last week.

Although we had a blast and enjoyed our morning together in the beautiful late summer weather, Maribelle confirmed that yes, in fact, creepiness does withstand the test of time. She squirmed away from many of the figures and gave us lots of hesitant "What the ?!?!?!" looks the entire morning. Which explains why she's turning her head or running away in most of our photos.

Thankfully, the petting zoo offered some redemption in the form of adorable goats and free-roaming chickens.

Every princess needs a castle ...

2010-09-15T12:32:00.000-04:00

and, of course, a really good guard dog.

Ohhh, the climbing

2010-09-12T14:52:00.000-04:00

Maribelle is on some major gross motor skills bender at the moment, and wants to climb all the tallest, scariest structures at the playground -- all. by. herself. It's a whole new level of parenting for Jeremy and me, as we try to find balance between letting her climb and gain confidence, and also keeping her safe and within reasonable boundaries for her age. We're learning some big parenting lessons as we go, and at the same time, she's mastering rock climbing, going up and down stairs like a big girl, and jumping. This makes for lots and lots of trips to the local playgrounds and long, restful naptimes that Momma is totally enjoying.

Getting the sillies out at YGG Live

2010-08-31T19:26:00.000-04:00

Despite the action that we caught on video and posted in the previous post, Yo Gabba Gabba Live was a razzle dazzle success. And trust me when I say that Maribelle's crying really only lasted for the 30 seconds that we caught on camera. Once she got over the initial shock of the noise, lights and "OMG, why isn't Muno, Toodee, Brobee, Plex and Foofa in the safety of my television like they normally are at home?!?!", she was A-OK.

The performance was about an hour and 15 minutes, so it was the perfect length for the demographic and also the perfect volume. And we had great seats. About 17 rows back, dead center. Before I go into a slew of photos, let me talk for a second about the people in attendance, because there was a huge range of ages there. Naturally, there were a kajillion toddlers, which was one of the best parts about the show. Seeing all of the kids dressed in various Yo Gabba Gabba gear and bee-bopping their little toddler butts off to the music was just plain ADORABLE. It really was Yo Gabba Gabba heaven for the show's biggest fans. Now, the surprising demographic in attendance? Babies. The number of actual baby-babies shocked me. There was a couple who sat behind us and brought what I guessed to be a five-month old, and hello, they didn't have any other kids. It was just them, and a snoozing five-month old. That blew me away, and they weren't the only ones with non-walking kids in tow.

And then? There were the adults. The adults who, ummmm, didn't have any kids. Yeahhhh ... there was a bit of that going on. And we stayed far, far away.

Which brings me to the following photo. This is Jeremy at our house, pre-departure for Yo Gabba Gabba. And he has a moustache ... that looks slightly child predatorish, no???

Maybe I was being uber sensitive, or maybe it was the moustache/Plex t-shirt combo that did him in (oh yeah, did I mention I made shirts for the three of us?). Whatever it was, he wasn't striking quite the right look I was going for. Basically, I was afraid he would be arrested, for just plain looking creepy. So I felt much better once it was gone. Much better.

The following photos tell the tale of our Yo Gabba Gabba experience. It was colorful, it was crazy and it was unforgettable. There were balloons, there was confetti. Perfect for Maribelle's first concert experience!

Yo!!!! Uh-oh ....

2010-08-30T10:12:00.000-04:00

Well, this wasn't quite the reaction we were hoping for ...

Putting the Yo in Yo Gabba Gabba from Gina Moorhead on Vimeo.

She was a bit overwhelmed, to say the least.

But don't let this video fool you ... Maribelle had an amazing time, and the waterworks didn't last long. More photos and a full recap to come!

Music is AWESOME!!!

2010-08-27T22:09:00.000-04:00

My first concert experience was pretty memorable. I was 8 or 9 years old and went to a Rod Stewart concert with my parents and two of their friends. I remember not knowing what to expect and being really nervous, even more so once I overheard my mom ask my dad if he thought there was a chance that women in the audience would bare their "ta-tas" to good old Rod. Apparently that was the thing to do during Rod's prime, and my mom did not think I was ready for that.
The whole idea of going to a concert just seemed so adult. I remember thinking that even the parking lot was intimidating, with all its rowdy tailgaters and adults everywhere I turned. (Now that I think about it, I'm pretty sure I was the only kid in attendance at that concert.) Our seats were in the pavilion, and while we sat there, my parents told me about Rod's ritual of kicking soccer balls into the crowd during his first song. Although our seats were decent, being the naive kid that I was, I firmly believed in my little mind that one of those soccer balls could possibly reach us way, way, waaayyy back in our seats. And just the thought of that made my anxiety soar. Of course I was excited, but still, the anticipation was just becoming too much for me to handle

So after what seemed like forever, the overhead lights in the venue finally went dark. The crowd became insanely loud with cheering and cat-calls, and then ...... then ..... the first gut-wrenching guitar riffs of "Hot Legs" rang out loud and clear. The noise was so powerful and loud that my little 8 or 9-year-old stomach immediately dropped under the weight of all the anticipation and excitement that had been building inside of me.

And .... it all of a sudden hit me. I had to go pee.

A really, really intense "I have to go right NOWWW!" pee.

My poor dad. He had to whisk me away during his all-time favorite song, only to hear the legendary lyrics echo through the cement walls of a bathroom stall. I was such a rookie.

And I'm telling you all this because for Maribelle, the moment has arrived, at the tender age of 19 months. You guys?? Maribelle is getting her first concert experience this weekend at Yo Gabba Gabba Live! I know, she's going to completely freak her freak on. We ordered the tickets months ago and have been patiently waiting for this day ever since. Sure she won't remember a thing, and of course, it's mostly for me and Jeremy to relish in the pure delight that will no doubt wash over her little toddler face once she sees all her favorite friends on stage. But we promise to take lots of pictures so we can recall every glorious moment to her when she starts asking us questions about her first concert, just like I did to my dad earlier today as I was writing this blog post.

And if she's anything like her mom, seeing a dancing Brobee only a few feet away from her will surely lead to sensory overload for her baby bladder.

But it's totally cool. Huggies has it all covered.

Showering the girls

2010-08-19T14:24:00.000-04:00

Hey y'all ... we're gonna be an aunt and uncle! Of a Texas Baby Moorhead, that is, and we couldn't be more excited. We celebrated the mama-to-be and baby girl this past weekend at Grandpa and Grandma M's house. Baby Gracelynn Elizabeth is due in early December, and we just can't wait to welcome another girl to the family. Congrats Josh and Misty!

And how adorable is Gianna, the newest addition to the Moorhead family?!? One look at her would give anyone baby fever. So squishy and yummy and sweet!

And in hair news, Maribelle wore piggytails for the first time. Our very own Cindy Lou Who! It's a major hair milestone in this neck of the woods. Too bad I'm basically hair handicapped and can't pull together pigtails if my life depended on it. It was Grandma A's expert hand in girl hairstyles that pulled this look together. With four girls, she's had plenty of practice.

Vacay Nugget #4: Virginia Legends

2010-08-14T21:05:00.002-04:00

We introduced Maribelle to two legends while we were on vacation. Two "Virginia Legends," to be exact -- none other than Miss Ella Fitzgerald and Miss Patsy Cline. How is that possible, you ask?! (Because unlike one of my sisters, who is old enough to know better, you realize that both women in fact died years ago and do not perform on the streets of Virginia Beach in their spare time.) Lucky for us, two impersonators performed nightly across the street from our condo, and we took Maribelle to enjoy their musical throwbacks during a few of the performances. We captured a mini dance performance on behalf of the Little Miss, who was enjoying the scat singing of Ella Fitzgerald.

Untitled from Gina Moorhead on Vimeo.

Yes, these vacay nuggets have been taking way longer to report than the vacation itself. I think there is only one more to post, so hang in there and we'll return to blogging about things that didn't happen three weeks ago!

Vacay Nugget #3: I want to ride my bicycle

2010-08-06T22:14:00.000-04:00

We experienced quite the range of weather while we were on vacation. We arrived to Virginia Beach in the midst of a 100+ degree heat wave with temps reaching 105 and 109, and ended the week with a windy, breezy day that had us wearing sweatshirts by night fall. We also experienced one of the scariest tornado warnings I've ever been through, complete with a mad dash from our 10th floor condo to the 1st-floor stairwell, where we were joined by numerous other families who had small children in their party. Luckily a tornado never touched down, but it was bad enough that my stomach was nauseous with anxiety the rest of the night (bad enough to forgo ice cream for the night? Pssshhh! As if!).

On a particularly cloudy afternoon, a group of us took what ended up being a 20-mile bike ride to explore First Landing State Park. (I say that as if 20-mile bike rides are the norm around here, but for real, it's the most exercise I've had in months). The path itself was uneventful until we reached a swamp area that I believe is the nesting ground for Baby Swamp Things. I swear. We heard them croaking under the thick, murky waters.

Vacay Nugget #2: Water, water everywhere

2010-08-05T12:44:00.000-04:00

Last summer Maribelle spent all of 15 minutes at the beach during our vacation, but seemed to love the clear blue chlorinated waters of the pool, thanks to her nifty inflatable flotation device.

This year? Not so much. In fact, I'm not sure she's quite made up her mind about whether she prefers the pool or the ocean best. We spent most of our time shuffling back and forth between the two until she would say "Done!" about five minutes after we got to our destination. She lasted maybe 20 minutes in the pool if I was holding her and literally doing water aerobics around and around in circles to keep her moving. This girl does NOT like to be restrained in the least and therefore hated that she was held captive in the water (control issues? possibly). However she fared a little better at the beach and enjoyed "drawing" in the sand (always demanding "Brobee?! Brobee?!") and letting the water rush over her feet and ankles. She was definitely not a fan of sandy feet and would exclaim "Dirty!" whenever she felt the sand on her toes. Which is too bad, because I'm pretty sure that sandy baby toes are my absolute favorite part of going to the beach.

Vacay Nugget #1: Hail to the (Dairy) Queen

2010-08-03T22:03:00.015-04:00

I had all these grande visions of posting daily blog entries while we were on our little week's vacay to Virginia Beach. But when it came down to it, the last thing I wanted to do was crack open my laptop and stare at a computer screen. So instead, I present to you our vacation, in bite-size nuggets.

This summer my parents once again treated us to a getaway in Virginia Beach (thank you, thank you, thank you!), except this time we were able to stay the full week and get our fill of all that the area has to offer. We've stayed at the same condo complex for the past three years, and the feature that is my personal favorite is the fact that it's only two blocks away from a Dairy Queen. For weeks leading up to our trip, I had drool-worthy dreams of Blizzards, Mr. Misty Floats (now called something else, but still equally as delicious) and Peanut Buster Parfaits. Where we live in Maryland, DQs are hard to come by, so I have about seven years of lost time to make up for, which means I ate ice cream every single night while we were in Virginia Beach. And you know who reaped the rewards? Little Miss Belle herself. Ice cream quickly became the theme of the week, and with Daddy Warbucks Amero supporting the cause, Maribelle got her fill, and then some.

Put me in coach

2010-07-20T08:22:00.002-04:00

Jeremy has big plans for Maribelle to become a lacrosse player. Nevermind that neither of us have ever played the sport and don't know the first thing about its rules or strategy. It just sounds cool and can guarantee you a college scholarship around here if you're any good.

However if Grandpa A. has any say in the matter, Maribelle will be wielding a glove and batting cleanup. Softball runs in Amero blood, as all four of us girls have spent the greater part of our youths on the softball field. I started as a six-year-old Little League mushball player and played through my senior year, spending time behind the plate as catcher and in the field at first base. My dad has been coaching softball ever since I can remember and is going on 25 years at the helm of countless (let me repeat, COUNTLESS) softball teams. This weekend, Maribelle got her first taste of the Amero tradition as one of Grandpa's teams played a college showcase here in Maryland. And of course, it was a family affair as Aunt Tara saw action from second base, and Aunt Laura called pitches from the sidelines.

With her long legs and fiesty attitude, all bets are on Maribelle playing short-stop. Or, maybe just becoming a ballerina.

A check-up to remember .... or forget

2010-07-13T22:46:00.001-04:00

Maribelle had her 18-month checkup today, and to put it mildly, it didn't go swimmingly. In fact, I'm already feeling anxiety about future doctor's visits with Maribelle in tow. It was bad, people ... bad with a capital B-A-D.

The minute we entered the pediatrician's office, Maribelle started to lose it. She clung to my legs, wouldn't say her usual "hi!" to anyone around us, and started clutching and whining uncontrollably. Then, when they called her name and we headed to the exam room, she completely flipped her little toddler lid. Com-plete-ly. We're talking back arching, head shaking, crying so hard and uncontrollably that it sounded like she was hyperventilating, and literally CLINGING to me for dear life. And she just kept wailing "mommy, mommy, mommy!!!!!!!!!!!!" This was all before the nurse could even attempt to take her temperature! The weight and height they recorded for her are a complete joke. Maribelle wouldn't even let me place her on the scale, let alone let go of her, and pinning her down on her back for a height measurement was basically a midget wrestling match (which probably explains why she slipped from the 50th to 25th percentile in weight, and climbed from the 50th to 75th-90th percentile in height. There's no way they got an accurate reading). I, my friends? Was heartbroken, and all I wanted to do was bolt out the door and whisk away my little babe, especially knowing that the minute she calmed down, someone would be right around the corner waiting to stick her with a needle. I had never in my life seen Maribelle react that way -- so hysterical and genuinely scared.

She eventually calmed down once the nurse left the room and I whipped out some crayons and started drawing Yo Gabba Gabba characters (thank the Lord for her Brobee obsession and the fact taht he's easy to draw). The consultation with the doctor was uneventful and pretty straight forward, and when it came time for Maribelle to get her shot, it wasn't all that bad (in comparison to the hysterics she just displayed 10 minutes earlier, mind you. Not much could be worse than that). I dread the fact that our pediatrician recommended we take her to an allergist to follow up on the reaction she has to tofu (basically, vomit city for two hours after eating it) because I can just imagine how that's going to go. Blood draws? Prick tests? Sounds delightful.

After the doctor's visit from hell, the Belle and I headed straight to Target for a little retail therapy. I figured if anything was going to soothe my soul, it would be the $1 aisle at Target (cute back-to-school supplies? Yes, please!) After a snack of crackers and apple juice for Bells and some Starbucks relief for moi, we filled up our cart with stuff we really didn't need and headed home happy campers. Thankfully, the very bad, no-good, rotten morning that we had was really nothing that a new Yo Gabba Gabba book couldn't fix.

Daddy's Girl

2010-07-10T22:23:00.000-04:00

Gotta love technology. I recently ditched my ghetto and very outdated cell phone and scored a fancy BlackBerry, which keeps me entertained and connected all hours of the day (Except for when I'm in the car, of course. Because Oprah would NOT approve, thank you very much.) And now that Mama is fully connected, so is Maribelle, who receives her own personal video messages from Daddy via my phone when he's away from home. The latest message is one that I've had to play over and over and over for her these past few days. But I don't mind. Watching her kiss my phone/Jeremy each and every time I play it for her is enough to make me melt.

Road Trippin

2010-07-08T23:12:00.000-04:00

I'm not the most spontaneous of people. In fact, I hate surprises, and the idea of doing things on a whim just makes my stomach swim with anxiety. Because honestly? I need time to mentally prepare myself and to research something to death before I jump head first into it. Vacations, major purchases, even new restaurants and movies -- all need to be looked into (and a million reviews need to be read!) before I will even consider tackling them. However Jeremy? Not so much. He's so much more laid back, carefree and spur-of-the-moment than I ever will be. And actually, it's what I totally fell in love with when I first met him, and I'm so, so grateful that it's still apart of who he is. It was his sense of spontaneity that led us to have the amazing, relaxing and totally re-energizing Fourth of July weekend that we enjoyed at Deep Creek Lake in Western Maryland. Plans were made, suitcases were packed and Momma was mentally prepared all within 24 hours of arriving at the cabin. And for me? That's living on the edge.

And since we haven't posted much in the way of video lately, Jeremy whipped together a little something documenting our Deep Creek experience. And if nothing else, enjoy the song ... it's one of our summer faves at the moment.

Feelin hot, hot, hot

2010-06-25T12:51:00.001-04:00

Seriously, I can't believe summer only officially began less than a week ago. I'm already totally over it and wanting some fall-like weather. It's been balmy and steamy and down-right yuck-o in our neck of the woods for what seems like for-ev-er. And we still have two or three more months of these swamp-like conditions. With weather in the 90s the past few days and the humidity basically through the roof, I've felt like doing nothing but being L-A-Z-Y. But our beloved toddler shall have none of that these days. So here's a sampling of how I've been keeping her entertained and cool. Oh, and her new favorite activity? Full-on dumping water on her head with a toy watering can. This coming from a girl who HATES when we pour water over her head during bath time.

Summer Solstice

2010-06-21T21:08:00.002-04:00

This Father's Day, we got in touch with our German side and celebrated a little thing called Sonnwendfeier, or Summer Solstice, at one of Jeremy's favorite places, a German beer hall called Blob's Park. At Blob's, the smell of kraut and schnitzel fill the air and the house band The Rheinlanders crank out some mean polka tunes. Oh yeah, and there's beer. Lots of it.

Sundays are very family friendly at Blob's, and this day was amazingly so, as we were treated to performances by the Alt Washingtonia Bavaria Dancers. We're talking lederhosen, massive wooden horns (you know, like the ones on the Ricola cough drop commercial? Yep, those ones. Google says they are called alphorns, fyi.), women playing duets with cow bells, and a whole lot of jumping and twirling. Maribelle was thoroughly entertained and tore up the dance floor with her signature moves, which involve lots of enthusiastic swinging of her elbows.

Toward the end of the night, the festivities moved to the picturesque outdoors, where there was even more singing and dancing, followed by a bonfire. Quick history lesson -- in celebration of Sonnwendfeier, Germans light large bonfires in the mountains for good luck and good crops. And then they take a few flaming branches, place them on the ground, and all willing participants jump over the flaming bundle for various forms of good luck. Unfortunately for us, Little Miss Belle was nearing a meltdown, so there was no fire jumping for us.

And an added bonus is that we got to share the experience with my BFF Katrina, who flew in from Chicago for the weekend. Blob's is just one of those places you want everyone to know about and experience for themselves, because it truly defies any explanation.

Jeremy is such a huge fan of this place that he even shot and edited a package and wrote an online article about Blob's Park for CNN. Here's a little taste:

Happy Father's Day 2010

2010-06-20T08:06:00.000-04:00

Today we're celebrating this guy and all the amazing things he does as "Dad":

Appropriately, our celebrations are scheduled to include an old German beer hall, wienerschnitzel and polka dancing.

The Sky is a Landfill

2010-06-17T15:04:00.000-04:00

Our daddy works hard for us girls! For the past two weeks, Jeremy has been working some crazy long hours (we're talking 18+ hour days) while touring the devastation in the Gulf Coast. He's seen some amazing sights and some downright depressing sights (crying fishermen, a wrecked and ravaged ecosystem), and he's completely ready to come home. Yesterday he spent the day embedded with the U.S. Coast Guard and got to witness the process of burning oil from the surface of the water. Below is some of his awesome footage.

You know you're a mom when ...

2010-06-05T14:55:00.000-04:00

... you get down-right giddy over spending a Saturday morning at your local library doing arts and crafts with your favorite munchkin

... and when you just can't wait to rush home and put your little artist's masterpieces on the fridge for all to see. And yes, I certainly do plan on hoarding every single piece of artwork that my child makes ... even the ones I had a heavy hand in creating.

Strawberry Fields

2010-05-25T20:23:00.000-04:00

The moment I've been waiting for

2010-05-22T22:45:00.000-04:00

Forget all the major developmental milestones. There are a few things I've been itching for Maribelle to partake in, well, since the day she was born, and today, we crossed two of them off the list.

Today, a bow actually stayed put in her fine, silky locks for more than two seconds. In fact, the bow stayed perched upon her marvelous melon for probably close to two hours. It neither fell out nor was it ripped out (I kept telling her "It's pretty! It's pretty!" and I think her girl instincts are finally telling her that that's a good thing). This development (and personal milestone set by moi) now means I will be torturing her little noggin with bows, on the daily.

And also? Our little dear has entered the world of sidewalk chalk, and I couldn't be more proud (and excited!). It's the quintessential fair-weather form of entertainment for kids the world 'round (totally made that up), and I've been wanting to buy her a big old bucket now for months. I didn't think she would have much of an interest in it, but when our daycare provider told us that Maribelle took a real liking to some that she had on hand for the kids, I ran right out to buy some. And she's quite the artist!

And just so you don't think all these superficial "milestones" are the only achievements I encourage our little girl to strive for, here's a video of our little smartypants identifying a few of her favorite body parts.

How Does Your Garden Grow

2010-05-18T21:07:00.001-04:00

Jeremy definitely has the green thumb around these parts. I love houseplants, love flowers and love the idea of growing vegetables, but the dedication? That, my friends, I do not love. But luckily, Jeremy finds great pleasure in nurturing and caring for his little backyard garden, which he starts from seeds in a corner of our basement that he outfitted with a grow light. He slaves over those little guys for months as they transform from seedling to full-grown hardened plants that are resilient enough for the great outdoors. Admittedly, it drives me a bit nutty at times to have to delicately dodge the traveling seedlings as he rotates them around our house during their various stages of growth. They've not only spent time in our basement, but they've also frequented our family room window sills, been perched atop our entertainment center, spent an extended stay on a table in our master bedroom, and seen the sights of our master bathroom. While Jeremy is able to see them for all the beautiful vegetables they will one day become, all I see are needy, time-consuming little containers of dirt that take up valuable space in my house. But don't get me wrong, I'm all about chowing down on some homegrown kale, tomatoes and zucchini!

Jeremy even lent his gardening know-how to Maribelle's daycare and has been working on a little project with the kids the past few months. A while back, he showed them how to plant green beans and tomato seeds, and last week, we spent the morning in Miss Karen's backyard showing the kids how to transplant the full-grown seedlings into pots.

While it was tough to keep the attention of four toddlers, they had a blast playing in the dirt and watering (i.e. DROWNING) the happy plants. However, Jeremy has a cautionary tale to share: be careful when lifting a large bag of dirt that has been sitting in the rain for three days -- you just might pull something in your lower back and have to take a course of steroids for a week.

Just sayin'.

Best Job Ever

2010-05-11T21:04:00.000-04:00

Being a mom is the coolest thing I've done to date. It totally trumps my part-time job as a graphic designer/copy editor and doesn't even come close to jobs I've held in the past -- selling pagers? brewing coffee? covering college sporting events? working the copy desk for a newspaper? Nope. Not even close.

On Mother's Day, I just felt warm and fuzzy all day long. It's such an amazing feeling to be called a "mom," and I'm so proud to be in good company with all the "moms" that have shaped my life. We had a wonderful Mother's Day and celebrated by partaking in brunch at a fancy local restaurant. I was so anxious about how Maribelle would behave at a restaurant that doesn't even have highchairs, but she totally proved me wrong, as always, and was such a well-behaved little girl. She even flirted with the table next to us and scored an 18-month-old boyfriend (but Jeremy informed her that she's grounded). Jeremy gifted me with a stash of fun money to do some much-needed clothes shopping (thank you babe!!!), and Maribelle gave me the gift that keeps on giving, at least for a week or so: a cold.

This was her as we shopped for flowers before brunch -- not a happy camper, and pretty much how I feel right about now:

Mom. 2010

2010-05-08T22:03:00.001-04:00

It's hard to look at Maribelle and not notice an extraordinary amount of change.

It's harder to look at Gina and not notice that shes been a mom... for almost 16 months. What?!

And so, here is Gina with tons of Maribelle heads sticking out of her noggin. One for every month up until now.

Awesome.

My ode to my beautiful wife, friend and mom! To many more heads, and mothers days.

You are a great mommy... We love you so much!

Happy Mothers' Day 2010!

love, Jer

15 months

2010-04-27T16:59:00.000-04:00

I've been struggling with how to encapsulate all that is Miss Maribelle Rose these days, because now more than ever, she is such a dynamic, entertaining and complex little lady. It was so much easier to do these sort of updates when she was, say, a six-month-old, because frankly, there wasn't a whole lot to report. But as a 15-month-old, she's busy, she's opinionated (a smidge bossy, shall I say), she's silly like her daddy and always, always keeping us on our toes. And that's not even a fraction of all that is Miss B. But I'll do my best in presenting a mini snapshot of the little person she is becoming. I apologize if this gets long ... she's doing so much, and there's nowhere in her baby book to record all this stuff!

Weight: 21.8 lbs (25th percentile)

Height: 30 3/4 in. (50-75th percentile)

Head: 46 cm (50th) percentile

Wears a size 4ish shoe

Wears between a size 12 and 18 months

Wears a size 3 diaper

Here's what Maribelle's up to as a 15-month-old:

* Baby sign language rocks our socks! With the encouragement of our daycare provider, we've taught Maribelle quite a few baby signs, and let me tell you, they are an amazing, amazing communicative tool. It makes life so much easier now that she can actually tell us what she wants. Some of the signs are honest-to-goodness real sign language, and others are just made-up motions that we connected to a certain word or action. She's the master at "more," (displayed in the first photo below) which was the first sign she learned a few months ago and was a literal breakthrough. I can't tell you how useful it was for her to learn this word, and it seemed like once she realized that these silly gestures were in fact effective, she picked up on a few other signs right away. Seriously, you show this girl once and she's got it down cold. She uses "all done" (shown in the second photo below), "daddy," "hungry," "cold," "hot," "up," and "milk" on the regular all day long.

* We have a climber! Seriously, it looks like she's channeling Evil Knieval in this photo, which is who she's become in her own sort of way. All of a sudden climbing is the coolest thing since Yo Gabba Gabba, and it's been keeping us on high alert! It all started when she mastered climbing on to the couch about a week ago, and then proceeded to climb onto the dishwasher door, the doggy steps in our bedroom and the little riding toy you see here. It's actually pretty comical when she tackles this riding toy, as she scrambles on top of the seat, slowly finds her footing and raises her hands in the air like she's a regular circus side show. She also loves climbing all over her Dora couch and her other favorite apparatus: me. Don't worry, the dishwasher jungle gym is no longer open for business, and her riding toy antics are only approved under adult supervision.

* Outside. Oh my gosh, PLEASE don't mention that word in her presence, and PLEASE don't say the word "swing" either. That is, unless you want to spend at least one hour pushing her on the swing (because any less isn't good enough) and feel like wrestling a little midget to put on her shoes and/or coat before she goes outside. We've been spending lots and lots of time at our neighborhood playgrounds and area parks, because they seriously keep Maribelle entertained and me sane.

* Talking. She holds intense conversations with herself, but the problem is we have no idea what she's saying. She's awesome at saying "Hi Daddy!" and not only greets Jeremy that way, but also says the same when she sees me or the dogs. Sometimes it's debatable whether she is actually saying "Hi Doggy!" when she sees the dogs, but it's plain as day that she is in fact NOT saying "Hi Mommy!" She's awesome at saying "that" and "this" and sometimes we get a "What's that." We're doing a lot of identification of objects these days, sometimes ID-ing an object two and three and ten times in a row. We're pretty sure she also says "thank you" or something close to that, and she's been working on "baby" and "ball" as of late. And if it's animal sounds you're looking for, you're in luck, because she can imitate a dog, monkey, bird, fish, owl and cow.

Other notables worth mentioning:
* She can identify many parts of her body, including hair, ears, eyes, nose, teeth, belly, fingers and piggies (toes).

* She loves to tell the dogs "ahhh, ahh, AHHH!' when they bark, as if she is saying "no, no, NO!" And she's been known to say it to people, too (such as other kids at her daycare, whenever anyone cries. See what I mean about being a smidge bossy?)

* She's still a great sleeper, sleeping between 12 and 13 hours a night, and taking one nap a day, usually for about two hours. And unfortunately, she still sleeps with a pacifier (and I'm dreading the day we start eliminating this).

* She loves using a straw and is figuring out how to use a spoon for eating instead of playing. And if competitive baby eating was a sport, she would totally be a champion. People are always amazed at just how much food she can pack away in one sitting. Yet she's still so tiny! She hasn't met a food that she won't eat, and her faves at the moment are blackberries and mac n' cheese. She's also transitioned really well to only drinking one bottle a day (at bedtime).

The Story of Us

2010-04-17T06:58:00.000-04:00

We met while working in a coffee shop. I was a senior in high school, and he was attending art school in Pittsburgh. I had a thing for bad boys, and he had a ponytail, played guitar and regularly rocked out in the local music scene, very much looking the part of a bad boy (only to find out he's the nicest boy I'd ever meet). He made me laugh for hours every time we worked together behind the bean counter, and I started slowly growing more and more intrigued. At a casual work function, he played his guitar and entertained everyone with his silly songs. Then, that same night, he played "Everlong" by the Foo Fighters. There was something about the way he sang that song at that very moment that made me melt, and I was hooked. A month or so later, we went to my senior prom together. He forgot my corsage, and I was in awe at how nicely he cleaned up. The next day, as we were driving back from our after-prom outing, there was a moment when I looked over at him in the driver's seat and felt an overwhelming sense of calm and peace wash over me. It was in that defining moment that my heart nestled into place with the tranquility of having found my other half. I knew we were perfect for one another. I knew we would grow and change together. And I knew we would get married.

Here we are, 12 years later, celebrating our sixth wedding anniversary together. He still makes me laugh, he still entertains me with his silly songs, and he still makes me melt with the love that he exudes, especially for the little family that we've created. I know I'm amazingly lucky to have found the love of my life, and I count him as one of my greatest blessings every single day. Happy anniversary, babe!

Hippity Hoppity Happy Easter Day

2010-04-13T19:55:00.000-04:00

I realize Easter was soooo a week ago, but someone (moi) left her camera at work for a week and couldn't access the photos that documented our joyous Easter visit to Ohio. But fear not, the photos follow! And there's actually a lot to document, so I hope you can keep up.

First, let's take a short jaunt to Pittsburgh, shall we? Both sets of grandparents graciously offered to watch the Little Belle while Jer and I made an overnight visit to one of our favorite cities. Back in the days when Jeremy and I were dating, we spent a lot of time in the good old Burgh and haven't been back for quite a while. So we took in the sights, had a delicious dinner and got our fill of Italian goods at the strip district. Well, maybe we didn't get our fill, because I wouldn't dare say I could ever get enough of anything Italian.

Now on to Easter. Basically Maribelle's Easter was dominated by two major activities, which she wanted to repeat over and over and over again: sitting on a porch swing with Grandpa A, and opening the musical Easter card that Grandma and Grandpa A. gave her.

Anytime Maribelle would go by my parents' front door, she insisted, with lots and lots of pointing and whining, that someone take her outside on the porch, and usually it was Grandpa who would happily oblige.

And the Easter card ... ohhhhh, the Easter card. My parents bought a recordable card and loaded it with the song that gets Maribelle groovin' like no other: Kid Rock's "All Summer Long," or rather, the opening of the song, which is actually Warren Zevon's "Werewolves of London." It's my dad's ring tone on his phone, and yeah, she basically spins her head off whenever she hears it. A sample performance, if you will ...

Other Easter highlights included the most intense Easter egg hunt ever, in which Maribelle diligently fetched EVERY plastic egg and put it in her basket like it was her job, and an amazing Easter dinner cooked ENTIRELY by Jeremy himself. No joke, he prepared lamb, potatoes, asparagus soup, ham and other accoutrements for a dinner party of 18 and didn't even break a sweat. And everyone raved about his stellar performance. Top the holidays off with some quality family time with all of Maribelle's aunts, great aunts and uncles, cousins and grandparents, and I would say we had an epic Easter.

Field Trip

2010-04-08T21:55:00.000-04:00

I still have vivid memories of one of the very first field trips I went on as a kid. I was in first grade, and we had been learning about dinosaurs for weeks, hearing all about their eating habits, memorizing their hard-to-pronounce names and gazing at countless picture books that depicted their strange appearances. My faves? Stegosaurus and brontosaurus, hands down. It was all so intriguing to me, yet so hard to grasp. Which is why I was totally psyched the night before our first-grade class embarked on a field trip to a museum that was featuring a dinosaur exhibit. I have no idea which museum we went to, or even what city it was in, because honestly, at that age, it's so not all about the details. You know what it's all about? Who you're going to sit with on the bus and what you're going to buy at the gift shop. I remember having such a hard time falling asleep the night before the field trip because I was so consumed with a) getting to see REAL dinosaur bones, b) riding a bus and being required to "pack a bagged lunch," and c) getting to spend a few dollars in the museum gift store to buy dinosaur memorabilia. It's all very exciting stuff for a first grader.

And I kinda felt the same way last night as I prepared for today's daycare field trip to the Maryland Science Center. Except this time I was preoccupied with thoughts of a different kind ... ones that ran wild about all the germs and infectious diseases she might bring home from the fully tactile and hands-on section of the museum we would be visiting.

Needless to say, though, I let her touch things and enjoy her little field trip. Once I saw just how much she loved playing with all the contraptions, buttons, balls and water tables (her favorite!), I quickly remembered the importance of just letting kids be kids. And the importance of always having a bottle of hand sanitizer close by.

Hot on the Easter trail

2010-03-30T22:07:00.000-04:00

Someone came across her Easter basket today ... early.

I put together her basket last night and set it on a chair tucked under our dining room table, thinking it was in a corner of our house that is usually of no interest to her. But as she was dawdling around our house this morning, just "Dadadada"-ing away, she all of a sudden got really, really quiet. And this is where we found her, riffling through the contents of her Easter goodies.

Obviously we have to step up our game when it comes to these holiday shenanigans, because we have one smart cookie on our hands (either that, or she's got a knack for sniffing out a box of Peeps).

Merrily we stroll along

2010-03-28T11:53:00.000-04:00

Pardon the lapse in documentation, but I seem to have completely ignored the fact that our Baby Bean is in deed a true bonafide walker these days! I've written about the most mundane of things on this blog, but of course, I totally overlook the moment that all parents wait for, especially this Momma, who was freaking out for months because our Baby Bean never crawled. But wouldn't you know that she ends up deciding to crawl and walk within days of one another. That happened about three or four weeks ago, somewhere during her 13 month.

So without further adieu, here is a little clip of Maribelle taking a stroll. She's not the most graceful of walkers yet, but her baby legs get more and more stable with every passing day. And she is just so much happier now that she can go wherever she wants, whenever she wants. And the crawling thing? LOVES it. Although I spent large chunks of time reading articles about how crawling isn't even considered a developmental milestone, I'm so relieved to see her putting her hands and knees to good use. But this whole unlimited mobility thing has been both a blessing and a curse, because now there is no settling this little girl's desire to be free and move about. Which means diaper changes and convincing our little worm to lay on her back for 15 seconds is virtually IMPOSSIBLE these days!

Signs of Spring

2010-03-25T21:07:00.000-04:00

Little Book Worm

2010-03-19T14:21:00.001-04:00

Yes, yes, we've been hiding! I'm blaming it on a case of the Rosies ... Roseola, that is. It's a nicely-named virus that causes a not-so-nice high fever and rash and earned Maribelle the title of Miss CrankyPants 2010 for about a week. It wasn't the worst sickness she's had, but it seriously turned her into a crankpot like no other. All I could do was hold her on my hip, STANDING (because sitting was no good for our little sickie) and walk around the house while she whined and pointed at everything in site. Poor babes. At least she has encountered the bug and shouldn't get it ever again, fingers crossed. And I totally blame it on the mall play area that she visited with her daycare a few days before she got sick. Totally disgusting. Those communal play areas (and the toys at doctor offices, restaurants, book stores, etc) freak me out and cause the germaphobe in me to hyperventalate upon impact. I know that I can't deny her those play opportunities, so I'm trying to get better about it. However, coming down with Roseola probably won't help my paranoia.

But enough about germs and bacteria-infested play surfaces ... let's talk books. One of my favorite blogs has been showcasing children's books all week, and so I wanted to do a quick post about some of Maribelle's favorites. (And does anyone know of a 12-step recovery program for those addicted to buying children's books? Because I honestly can't stop buying them and have enough to open a small children's library.)

At the moment, her go-to "READ THIS TO ME NOW!" book is the classic Goodnight Moon, and she loves it a million times better when Jeremy reads it to her. It's amazing how enthralled she is by this book and its simple illustrations and language. She loves pointing out the red balloon and the little mouse, and always gets very still when it comes to the brush/mush/hush sequence in the book. And Jeremy swears that she yawns every time he finishes the last page of the book. Just the response we're looking for!

After receiving a copy of Where's Baby's Christmas Present and Where's Baby's Birthday Cake as gifts this past winter, she now loves any of Karen Katz's lift-the-flap variety of books. These were her go-to books before the Goodnight Moon obsession began, so I recently added Where's Baby's Belly Button to her collection. She has other lift-the-flap books, but there's something about this series that really keeps her attention. However, Jeremy doesn't approve of the fact that some of these books use the word "no!" a lot because, well, baby's birthday cake and/or Christmas present can't be behind every flap, so the answer is only "yes!" on the last page of the book.

I have a HUGE weakness for any book in the Little Golden Book series, especially the older, more classic stories. Maribelle has inherited my collection of Golden Books from when I was a kid, and she's received quite a few of these little gems as gifts this past year. Her favorite, however, seems to be Baby Farm Animals. It's simple and fun and really tests the reader's animal impersonating skills. And I'm pretty sure that's why she likes it best, because watching your mom and dad impersonate a donkey, duck and a guinea pig (?!) is LOADS of fun.

We have so many other great books in our personal library for little people, and I can't wait to see what her next favorite book of the moment will be. I've been gently nudging her toward a children's book of illustrated poems that was mine when I was little, but as of yet she has no interest in Frost or Wordsworth. And I can't say I blame her.

30 Days: Day 9

2010-03-10T09:29:00.000-05:00

30 Days: Day 8

2010-03-09T11:27:00.000-05:00

30 Days: Day 7

2010-03-08T08:55:00.002-05:00

We've Only Just Begun

2010-03-07T22:24:00.000-05:00

There are so many moments when I pause and stare in amazement at our little girl. Whether it be out of sheer amazement at how smart and clever she can be, out of awe at how toddler-like she all of a sudden has become, or out of pure glowing, overflowing love and thankfulness for the little blessing that she is in our lives, it's those sort of moments that just can't be captured with a camera. I try so hard to etch these perfect little scenes somewhere in my mind in an attempt to preserve this magical time that some days just seems to be careening past our very eyes. To go from a little helpless peanut of a baby to an increasingly independent and comprehending toddler in the short span of a year is no less than mind blowing, especially when we consider that we've only just begun to meet the Little Lady that she will one day become. Parenthood is truly the journey of a lifetime.

30 Days: Day 6

2010-03-07T11:19:00.000-05:00

30 Days: Day 5

2010-03-06T10:21:00.000-05:00

30 Days: Day 4

2010-03-05T08:42:00.002-05:00

VIPs

2010-03-04T16:57:00.002-05:00

As a photojournalist, Jeremy has a pretty cool job, even though he spends long hours at work, is essentially on-call for breaking news 24 hours a day and has to work Saturdays. He gets to meet famous people, travel to places near and far (don't even get him started on his jaunt to India and the "Dehli belly" he came home with) and gain access to some pretty fascinating places in Washington, D.C. One of those places is the Capitol Building, which we toured earlier this week with Jeremy's media pass. We got to see all the off-the-beaten-path places that the general public doesn't get to see, and we tried to mix in seemlessly with all the suits, ties and Senators (yeah right ... nothing like an adorable baby squealing "hi!!!!" to everyone she sees to help us blend into the background). We also spent some time in the National Botanical Gardens looking at all the gorgeous orchids and keeping Maribelle from bathing in the various streams and waterfalls. That girl is DRAWN to water, I tell ya!

30 Days: Day 3

2010-03-04T10:27:00.000-05:00

30 Days of Stitching

2010-03-03T10:23:00.000-05:00

I promise I'm not highjacking this blog and turning it into a craft blog, but in an attempt to fulfill one of my New Year's resolutions, I'm partaking in a stitchalong (are the nerd-alert sirens going off where you are? Because I can hear them loud and clear where I'm sitting). The stitchalong that I'm partaking in is linked here, and so for the next 30 days you will have to put up with a daily posting of my 1 1/2-inch stitched creation. It's a way to be creative and zone out for a bit every day (trust me, I don't need a stitchalong to zone out, but at least this gives me an excuse). I'm already two days in, so here's what I have so far.

Day 1

Day 2

If you have no idea what a stitchalong is and could care less about little embroidered hearts, woodland creatures and flowers (because I'm sure that's what will end up in most of my 30 squares) rest assured we will continue with our regularly-scheduled program of Maribelle goodness.

Thankful Thursday: Band-Aids

2010-02-25T20:50:00.000-05:00

Today I would like to thank the makers of Band-Aids, whose nifty little box of wonders made my day just a wee bit easier. Thanks to them, I was able to successfully change Maribelle's diaper without incident all day. Which is a miracle, especially since the same can't be said for yesterday, when a certain 1-year-old (who shall remain nameless) was nothing but flailing arms, fingers, legs and torso during each and every diaper change and branded me with a lovely scratch ... on my eyeball. However, I was able to wrangle said 1-year-old and keep her entertained for about 30 to 60 seconds during each changing thanks to one simple unassuming box and 80 assorted adhesives. Sure I had to play the Band-Aid version of "52 Pick Up" after each diaper change, but I didn't mind -- at least I still have my eyeballs.

National Pancake Day

2010-02-23T20:52:00.001-05:00

Any holiday that celebrates food gets an A++ in my book, so we made sure to celebrate National Pancake Day responsibly this morning by scarfing down large quantities of homemade blueberry pancakes and syrup. What? You didn't know it was National Pancake Day today!?! Yeah, neither did we, until Jeremy came across something on the Internet last night about IHOP giving away free short stacks of 'cakes today in celebration of the holiday. As tempting as that sounded, we decided to mark the occasion in our pajamas in our own kitchen. I flipping (!) love making pancakes from scratch, and Maribelle and Jeremy love eating them just as much. Here's Maribelle giving her trademark seal-of-approval "nom-nom" to this morning's batch. It's kind of like her own version of giving a thumbs up or a thumbs down. If you hear this sound, you know she's in gastro-heaven:

So in honor of National Pancake Day, I'm sharing the recipe for one of Maribelle's favorite varieties of pancakes, found here. Try them and freeze them, you won't regret it!

Light & Fluffy Pumpkin Pancakes
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ginger
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 pinch clove
1 1/4 cup low-fat milk
1/3 cup canned pumpkin puree
2 tablespoons melted butter
1 egg
Whisk flour, sugar, baking powder, spices and salt in a bowl. In a separate bowl whisk together milk, pumpkin, melted butter, and egg. Fold mixture into dry ingredients. Spray or grease a skillet and heat over medium heat: pour in 1/4 cup batter for each pancake. Cook pancakes about 3 minutes per side. This recipe makes six 6-inch pancakes.

Cool tricks, cool tricks!

2010-02-19T12:20:00.001-05:00

These videos are especially for Uncle Joshua and Aunt Misty, who requested more footage of our crazy little girl and her crazy little personality. With every new silly thing she does, she becomes more and more like Jeremy, who has a pretty unforgettable personality himself (i.e. he can be loud, hilarious, quirky and amazingly charming all at the same time). So here you go ... some videos of her latest tricks, or at least the ones we are able to catch on film.

This first clip is of Maribelle singing, which she does very loud and proud and always in the same key.

Here's Maribelle doing "sleepy baby," telling us how old she is and doing what looks like levitating but is actually one of her first attempts to stand all by herself.

These next few clips were taken just yesterday and capture her recent explosion of gross motor skills. Our typically very cautious and wary-of-doing-anything-out-of-her-comfort-zone baby is suddenly interested in standing by herself, crawling up steps and even taking a few unassisted steps of her own. Just in the past week, she's started crawling (yes! I caught our non-crawling baby CRAWLING! But unfortunately not on video), pulling up in her crib, and transitioning from her tummy to standing. Needless to say I'm extremely relieved that her gross motor skills are finally catching up, and I'm even more convinced that this little girl is insistent on instilling in me the patience that I just don't have for these sorts of things.

Taking a few unassisted steps:

Crawling up the step in our family room:

Standing by herself and just plain being silly:

Be My Valentine

2010-02-15T11:29:00.000-05:00

Normally I could care less about Valentine's Day. In the 12 years that Jeremy and I have been together, we've never done much to mark the occasion. Some years we would give each other homemade cards (my favorite!), and in other years I would cook a fancy breakfast. But there's something about the craziness of life that comes with caring for another little human that makes holidays like Valentine's Day seem so much more worth noting. So we celebrated this year, and I can't tell you how much I was looking forward to it. Like really looking forward to it. Jeremy and I have been so busy putting all our love and attention into our little babe, that, well, we've been kind of passing like ships in the night (totally cliche, but honestly, the truth). So Valentine's Day gave us an excuse to get back on track and go on a true, bonafide date -- one of the few we've been on since Maribelle was born. Thanks to my mom and dad we were actually able to go on TWO date nights, back to back. We went to see a movie on Saturday (can't tell you enough how awesome "Avatar" is in 3D ... run right now to your nearest theater and see it) and out to dinner at a French restaurant on Sunday. We bought Belle some special little gifts (blocks, socks, hair bows and coloring books), and Jeremy received a new stash of plaid shirts and a homemade Valentine from moi. I, however, was spoiled rotten by Jeremy: he surprised me with flowers at work on Friday and an entirely new head-to-toe outfit (jewelry included!) picked out by the man himself, which I wore to dinner on Sunday. It was such a great weekend, being surrounded by all my favorite valentines and spreading the love in so many different ways.

Little Dunkaroo

2010-02-13T07:49:00.000-05:00

The other day I taught Maribelle an essential life skill: how to dunk cookies in a glass of milk. I figured that 1 year old is as good a time as any for her to experience the wonderful deliciousness that is soggy graham crackers drenched in cold creamy milk. While I prefer to dip my cookies to the level where they might be considered "slightly soft with a little bit of crunch," Belle prefers to proceed directly to the level of "so soggy it's almost complete mush in my hands." There was no throwing of the milk on the floor and plenty of repeated whines/moans/pointings for "more, more, more!" so I would say she has completely embraced cookies and milk as one of life's simple pleasures. However when she started giving her entire fist a bath in the glass of milk, we quickly brought this life experience to an end .... until next time.

Baubles and Boredom

2010-02-10T23:45:00.000-05:00

You know things are bad when A) I let Maribelle play with my jewelry (only the drawer of cheapo fun jewelry. The sparkly pretties were all out of reach, because this little girl has a thing for bling), and 2) I make a chocolate cake in a mug ... in the microwave (and I do NOT recommend doing that, unless you want a stomach ache). Yep, Mama's getting some serious cabin fever, as we were dealt ANOTHER 16-20 inches today (really, whose counting at this point?). This year is going down as Maryland's snowiest winter ever, and work has been canceled the past four days. I've been trying to keep busy, and Lord knows I have a million things to do at home, but for some reason I hit a wall today and was so bored that I couldn't even function. And I think Miss Maribelle was feeling the same way. So we both just kinda moped while a full-on blizzard swirled around us, right outside our windows. I'm determined to get her out of the house tomorrow, even if its for another rumpus in the snow (or on the sidewalks ... the snow is scary deep, so no rumpusing will occur on top of the towering mounds). And I'll be keeping an eye out for these things, which are popping up EVERYWHERE as the snow continues to melt and freeze ...