Patience is a virtue

I can only imagine how frustrating it must be to not be able to get your own shoes on. BUT she did figure it out all on her own! :)

Talking on the phone

It starts early these days!

Bubbles are awesome

Playing bubbles with Daddy and Ramsey!

baby dancing!

We can thank the Toddler Tunes channel on digital cable for the killer dance moves!

The poor man's scrapbook

So I have very high aspirations of scrapbooking Jenna's life, but am also realistic that I simply do not have the time to create pretty pages in a formal book.

Rather, I have been updating a Word doc I have saved on the laptop every few days with little tid bits of info about Jenna..things she is saying, doing, little things that happen. All those things I think I will remember but somehow find a way to forget about.

Just looking back at entries from the past couple months there are already things I had an "oh yea! I remember that" moment.

So, while there are no ribbons or stencils involved, I am so glad I have started this.

Now I need to back the info on the laptop to the external hard drive so I do not lose it!

Thank you early mall hours

Today we got up and dropped my car off for service...as usual we had an early start to the day and as usual wer etrying to decide how we would be spending the day aka entertaining Miss Jenna. Jeff had the brilliant idea to take Jenns to the mall sicne it opened early and not many other kids would be there.

We had so much fun. She played in the play areas a bit but mostly enjoyed walking through the mall like a big girl. She walks / runs with such a purpose! At one point she reached up, took my hand with her right hand and grabbed Jeff's with her left and we walked through the mall like that. She would look up at us and smile. It was so cute and one of those moments I will remember when she is all grown up and wants nothing to do with us :)

What a difference a year makes!

I made this online - CRAZY how much she has changed :)

Been awhile since we pulled an all nighter

Last night was one of those nights where you earn your stripes as a parent. Jenna has had a crackly chest cough for a couple days, the sneezing and runny nose started yesterday and then last night the fever started and her inability to sleep (i am guessing ear infection).

It had been a LONG time since we pulled an all nighter. We were up with her watching Nick Jr, trying to get her to drink water and pushing Motrin and Benadryl. So long as she was upright she was better. Sigh. Meanwhile my eyes are burning and I just want to lie in bed.

I see pictures on Facebook of friends' babies napping on the couch, etc. Jenna will not sleep anywhere but where she is supposed to (crib, pack n play or her cot at school). I guess we did TOO good of a job "not letting her" sleep on our bed etc. Last night I would have paid for her to sit upright on the couch and fall asleep.

Im taking her to the oed at 11.30. Not that I hope she has an infection, but I bet he will say "Its a bad virus plus teething. Go home." At least I will know I got her checked out.

The things I get excited about now

Today Jenna was pooping in her diaper...she tries to "hide" now when she goes. After she was done, we asked her "Did you poo poo in your diaper?

She just stared at us.

We then say "Do you want your diaper changed?"

She immediately hauled ass to her room, laid down on the floor (where we change her diaper now) and put her feet up in the air. It was insane! Very cool and we were so proud that she understood and is starting to notice potty related events. Potty training will be awesome - can not wait to get rid of diapers!

My how the thing I get excited about have changed...!

Music & Pizza

Video of Jenna enjoying 2 of her favorite things - music (on a commercial on TV) and pizza.



I love seeing her dance!

Jumping!

Jenna is a crazy woman and likes to go fast and be jostled around / rough housed - good thing Jeff likes theme parks bc I can't hang. Today Jeff was jumping with her and she was signing more and ramdonly started saying "Jump!"

3 weeks from today...

We will be in the car with a toddler starting our trek to NC for Christmas! I am excited and so nervous all at the same time. I feel like it is a rite of passage of sorts to make a road trip with a baby so here we go!

Of course, tips for car travel are always welcomed.

I CANNOT believe Christmas is 3 weeks from friday. I cannot wait to get home, see our families, meet my parents' new puppy, go to Kan Pai for Jeannie's bday dinner, eat good food and even enjoy the cooler weather.

:-)

My friend had a baby today

A former co-worker of mine delivered her first child today. As I heard the news, I of course was so happy for her and glad to hear that mom and baby were both well, but I also had this thought of "She has no clue how much her life is about to change. In. Every. Way."

People say that to you when you re pregnant or a new Mom..."You have no clue....Wait for this...Wait for that." And it is true there is no way to prepare someone for what parenthood brings - the good, the bad and the ugly.

I remember my Mom saying to me after Jenna was born, "Now you have a true idea as to how much I love you." Indeed and about how much she "gave up" or changed in her life to do so.

I try to give advice and insight to friends that are expecting and I tend to be an open book and very honest. So, I do not paint it all as sunshine and roses, because it just isn't. Life does not work that way. Yes, there are moments when I think "what have I done!?"

But so many more of the moments are looking at our daughter, not believing that she grew in my stomach and I delivered her and that she is now this walking, talking, laughing, happy, healthy, beautiful little girl that I am SO proud of and could cry just looking at.

So much development lately

I had read that the 15th month is a big one in terms of cognitive development and man do I see it!

Jenna is starting to really "get" things...we tell her to sit on her chair, she goes and sits down. We ask her if she wants something she says "no" , not just shaking her head. She is saying SO many more words and will say things like "Ribbit" when she sees a frog. I know I can thank Primrose for a lot of that - they work with the kids alot with reading, flashcards, etc.

It is so much fun to see her learn and grow. I also CAN see the tantrums starting though and the frustration from not being able to tell us exactly what is going on in her little head. But, the signing does help and a lot of patience for mom and dad.

So, yeah, the terrible 2s do not wait for that 2nd Bday...

So glad we put the tree up

I had seriously considered not putting a Christmas tree up this year. I had heard horror stories from other moms about how their babies had torn them down, hurt themsleves, made things stressful etc.

Jenna LOVES the tree. She actually tried to plug it in herself when we get home so she can see the lights. We have told her to touch things "nicely." She puts her hands behind her back when she is trying so hard not to touch! See below...

Do not get me wrong, we have had a few broken ornaments after a moment of her yelling "BALL" and smacking one (I forgot how tall she is!). :)

The time has come

I knew it was on it's way - the time when we could no longer take Jenna out to nicer restaurants. McDs? Sure. Local pizza joint? OK. But a sit down seafood joint with friends? Not so much.

I was THAT Mom - chasing her around tables and following her around the place while the rest of my party ate (of course Jeff took a couple turns too.)

It was either that or listen to her scream while being confined to a highchair. So, I opted for walking around. Oh, and once she realized that people in the palce actually LIKED her coming over, it was on.

It's not that she is being bad - she is just being a normal toddler.

So, it is babysitter or qucik and easy dining for awhile :)

Working on Daddy's laptop

Jenna letting us know it is time to eat!

Jenna LOVES to eat. She now not only signs it to us but walks into the kitchen and attacks her high chair!

Jenna playing with Ramsey!

We are so proud of our 2 babies playing well together :)

Jenna LOVES the ocean

My travel tips with a Toddler

Toddler Travel Tips (by Plane)

I also posted this to Facebook :)

We have made 2 trips by plane with Jenna so far and many are asking me for tips. Here is what I’ve got so far! Jenna will NOT sleep on a plane no matter how tired she is, so we do not have that to count on.

· Make sure baby is rested / has had a nap before the flight (not all babies zonk out on a plane – mine included)
· I give Tylenol before the flight to help any ear / teeth pain
· Benadryl does not make Jenna sleepy but it does help calm some babies (test this at home before the flight though b/c it CAN have the opposite effect and make some kids hyper)
· Take lots of plastic baggies/ Ziploc baggies for trash and for keeping stuff together
· Let baby crawl / run around a lot before boarding. They are about to be made to sit still for a long time.
· Change diaper close to boarding time.
· Get on the plane last (this is the most crucial one on my opinion)
· Take your big / decent stroller to the airport. It helps hold drinks, bags, etc. Gate check is free so it is worth it to wheel it down there.
· Make sure to have extra pacifiers available in case she drops one
· Have a bottle made and ready if she still takes one

Things that kept Jenna occupied:
· Stickers – seriously 15 minutes of sticking them to herself, me, Jeff, the tray, etc.
· Lollipop (Ring Pop). Although she got mad when we would not let her hold it herself and she cried then
· Books (new and old)
· TV shows downloaded to my laptop (although I’m not sure if she watched it long enough to warrant me lugging that thing around)
· Napkins (ripping up)
· Cups (stacking)
· Sugar packs (taking in and out of the cup)
· Crayons and paper
· Playing cards! I bought cute cards at Target from the $1 bin with animals on them for “matching” but she loved it when I dealt them to her and she made a little pile. She also liked watching me shuffle the cards.
· A rubber stamper and some paper
· SNACKS – lots of them. I took Puffs, Cherrios, yogurt melts, cereal bars, graham crackers, you name it

3 new videos below!

1. Jenna playing in the pots and pans - a new fav
2. A video of Jenna in her crib after she has woken up in the a.m. She stands up and waits for us. It is super cute.
3. DVDs are a new favorite pass time as well...

no bottles today!

Jenna has been down to 1 bottle for quite some time now...just at night. I do not think she can take in enough milk with her sippies during the day so I made sure she drank a bottle of milk at night. I started to not give it to her right before bed ...maybe 15 - 30 minutes so she was at least not associating it with sleep. That worked well.

Tonight, she got tired really early...was rubbing her eyes and saying "ni ni ni ni" (aka night night) by 6:30. She had had quite a bit of milk with her dinner so I decided to try no bottle.

So far so good! She is snoozing away.

I am not planning to take the bottle totally away for awhile but this is a good test run.

Our little girl is growing up!

No News Is Good News

This is my Dad's mantra and I have to agree. The older we get, the more you appreciate "boring." No real news means no drama. I'll take it any day. A "boring" day means no one is sick, no one is having work issues, the house is in good shape, Ramsey is doing OK, etc.

I thoroughly now enjoy the days where we all wake up, feel good, have breakfast, get ready and off we go - Jeff and I to work and Jenna to school. A day where I do not get a phone call from Primrose that jenna is breaking out in a rash or has a fever.

Random post I know - but it is interesting the changes I see in myself now that I am "older" (31) and a Mom. :)

YUM

Penicillin Allergy is Official

Thanks Grandmom Sykes...for the penicillin allergy!!

My Health Update

Well the news isn't in yet but I am ready to know what and if anything is going on with me. After being sick for 2 weeks with 2 separate bouts of fever and aches like I have never known and a trip to Urgent Care, I got blood drawn yesterday and am having an ultrasound tomorrow. Possible gall stones or pancreatitis. Neither sounds good but we shall see.

This stronger antibiotic seems to be helping a lot and the pain now only appears if I walk far and fast.

I have a feeling everything will come back clean which will be good but annoying bc it means I am having mystery pains and it could just happen again. Sigh!

Having bad days really doe smake me appreciate the good ones though and like my Dad says "No news is good news" and "As you get older, you learn to like boring."

So so true.

Our eating machine

Jenna LOVES to eat. We all know this. The child demands Cheerios be in her stroller when we go for walks. She needs to eat every 2 hours and she lives for snack time and lunch time at school. I'm not sure of a day that I have looked at her Primrose Report card and not seen "I ate all" checked next to her feedings.

Below are 2 videos of her chomping. When there is cheese involved, do not get in the woman's way. After the first video, when she pauses to point and grunt at something, I hand her the Baby Mum Mum (a rice cake essentially) and continue taping her.

Now that she has 8 teeth - 4 on top and 4 on bottom - she can actually take bites and it cracks me up to hear her chewing.

Mundane video yes, but the grandparetns should love it :)

Videos below...

Getting caught up on my video uploads...below is a new video of Jenna walking...I would say she is officially walking now (as of Sept. 1st really). She is up and about more than crawling. Her new thing is that she HAS to be carrying something while she is walking - which is cute but dangerous as she is still rather wobbly at times.

Also our little Iron Woman trying to play with Mommy's dumbbells. She tried forever and pick those weights up!

Shoes!

Jenna LOVES to play in our closet and try ALL of our shoes on :)

The Big 3-1

It is true that the older we get, the less exciting b-days are...but it is nice nonetheless to be recognized for making it another year :)

This b-day unfortuneately I am sick and Jeff also has the sniffles. Oh well! I am not even hungry so we are just warming up leftovers...and it will be an early night for me again. At least I made it longer than 7:30 p.m. like last night.

All is well here. We are just trying to stay healthy. Work is good. Jeff is super busy.

Jenna is pointing at everything and saying "DAT!" (aka, what's that?"). She is mimicking us alot. Today she said "Good Girl" after I said it to her while putting her shoes on. She also tried to say "I love you" after we say it to her. Melts my heart.

An ode to fried donuts (Chinese food style)

So Jeff and I frequently order Chinese food. it is just good stuff and it is cheap and usually leaves us with leftovers. We have a small problem though - we are now obsessed with the sweet friend donuts you can order. They come in a pack of 10 and we kill the pack in minutes every time. We literally cannot order Chinese food without getting the donuts.

Oh, and Jenna seems to have my sweet tooth. We have not offered her much in the way of sweets ( i will not even let her have juice!), but one day we offered her a piece of the cinnamon twists from Taco Bell and she went NUTs. Even pointed to them and screamed when we were no longer sharing. We also made the mistake of sharing an Auntie Annie's soft pretzel (cinnamon sugar again) and again with the "I need more NOW" screams in the middle of the mall!

I will NOT share the Chinese donuts or she will never eat normally again :)

Stay at Home Mom for the day

Jenna's day care was closed today (teacher work day before Hillsborough County schools start back tomorrow) so I took off work and stayed home with her. Doing this reminds me again of how much respect I have for SAHMs. Following a kid around all day is hard work and is just utterly exhausting!





Jenna is a GOOD baby and she is not even full-on walking yet, but man, it makes for a long day when I am with her 24-7. It makes me feel bad to say that b/c I know there are women out there who LOVE being home with their babies and other women who wish they could be home with their little ones. And those women that have multiple kids and stay home...wow. MUCH respect. Both of our moms stayed home with us and yes, we appreciate that more and more each day.





Anyway, we had a great day. We played, met daddy for lunch, visited my co-workers for a bit and ran some errands. We took a walk and she went to bed a little after 7. But I am TIRED!





How can you ever really get mad at this face anyway??

Jenna may be our little athlete?

I'm sure all parents think this...but I am wondering if we might have a little athlete on our hands. Jenna picks skills up very quickly...like playing ball. In days, she has gone from rolling the ball to one of us to picking it up, holding it above her head and throwing it perfectly to us...knowing when to release it, etc. It is so cute! I put video below but she has gotten much better even since I took that.

She also LOVES the little riding Zebra Aunt Kim got her. She has learned how to get on and off by herself after Daddy showed her once.

Plus she is fearless...good and bad but definitely scary. She thinks it is funny when Jeff roughhouses with her...puts her on his shoulders and falls backwards onto the couch, you name it. We shall see, but Daddy is an athlete (Mommy not so much!)

She WILL need to learn how to walk first though :)

I hate listening to her cry

I do not know what is going on with Jenna these past few nights but she just is not sleeping soundly. She had been sleeping through from 7 pm to 7 am, with the exception of nights where she was sick or teething badly.

She definitely has a bit of a cold now too, and it feels like teething will be an ongoing battle for months to come, but I do not know why she is not able to sleep for more than one hour at a time without waking and crying. Last night she cried so long and hard that she lost her voice :( I HATE it but I do not want to start bad habits (going to her every time she cries when I know she is fed and safe, etc.)

We are really trying to stop the middle of the night bottle habits too. That option is a surefire way to calm her down and get her back to sleep in just minutes but we HAVE to stop it so I am doing it cold turkey. She still gets one bottle of milk at night beofre bed bc that is how I know she is getting enough milk in. She takes sippy cups now but does not drikn enough out of them to allow me to ditch the bottles 100% quite yet. The ped assured us that if she is eating 3 meals, 2 snacks and getting water thoughout the day and 12-16 oz of milk a day, she does not NEED to eat overnight.

Regardless, it is hard to listen to your baby cry and just leave her in there...sigh...

I feel so domestic tonight

Jeff has been putting in some crazy hours at work -- being at Enrollment meetings by 6.30 a.m. and tomorrow night he is hosting people at the Tampa Bay Rays baseball game too. I am so lucky in that Jeff does most of the cooking in our house. It just kind of worked out that way after Jenns came along and to be honest he is a much better cook than I am...he can improvise in the kitchen too whereas I am a slave to recipes are cooking 101. Sigh.

Anyway tonight I came home from work, got Jenna at school and was able to bake teriyaki chicken and made some noodles and corn for him as a surpise (he had thought he was going to grill for us). So, when he came home dinner was almost ready! It has been a LONG time since I could say that.

It was cool too b/c Jenna was in the kitchen with me feeding herself her dinner (Gerber ravioli) and it was just really fun to be able to cook and have her with me. I felt like for a moment I could do it all :)

Now off to walk the dog...

A good Sunday

Today is a great day. Jenna slept through the night (looks like we have another tooth now so that explains the couple restless nights). She slept until 8 am too!

We all got up and had breakfast, then went for a walk and stopped at the park to play. Then we came home and played with some toys before she went down for her morning nap. Now, Jeff and I are both on our laptops and catching up on DVR shows. Later, we plan to go to Best Buy and Walgreens and grill out for dinner. Our favorite show True Blood is on tonight too. Just a great day.

Tomorrow we are back to the grind - work and day care.Luckily, Jeff and I both like our jobs and Jenna is doing so grat at school..she really is thriving there.

Jenna’s 1 – year photos

I finally got the CD today! There were lots of images to choose from but these are a few of my favs

 

Testing 1 2 3

I’m testing this post from a new software program. “Would you like a wood chip?” Jenna shares very well :)

Jenna's 1 year check up

We had jenna's 1-year check up today...it went really well.

• She is 22 lbs 14 oz and 30 inches long - 80% for both.
• Her development in right on track and she is actually "advanced" in terms of how many words she is saying.
• She says: mama, dada, baba, dog, up, ball, thank you, uh oh
• she is shaking her head yes and no
• She dances to music when she hears it
• If you ask where Ramsey is, she looks at the dog (same thing for her boyfriend Tommy!)
• She got 3 shots...Hep A, the pneumonia shot and chicken pox. Hopefully she will tolerate them OK.
• Dr. B said she is doing great...Our goals now will be to have her totally off the bottle by 15 months and ideally the paci them too...but I do not feel as strongly about the paci thing until age 2.

That about sums it up :)

I...Have...A...LAPTOP!

I am typing this post on my brand-new Dell laptop that I got for my B-day!! Jeff gave it to me early (12 days early to be exact) so I would have plenty of time to play with it. I have had it on for about 25 minutes and am already so excited!

Now I have fewer excuses to not update more...!

No hands!

Jenna likes her new sippies but also thinks it is funny to use it with no hands and shake it and then spill milk so the dog can lick it up!

My 2 loves taking a nap

Jeff was giving Jenna her nighttime bottle last night when things got suddenly quiet...

Pantry = lots of fun

Trying on Mommy's shoes

This is one of my new favorite pictures of Jenna. She crawled over to my shoes and actually tried to put her foot in it several times!

"Uh Oh!"

She is learning to say "Uh Oh". I am not sure how or where but it is super cute. If anything falls, "Uh oh." If she touches my watch "Uh Oh." Once she gets tired of saying it, she just kind of grunts to the tune of Uh Oh....

Below is a video where you can KIND of hear her doing it. She was eating and watching Sponge Bob at the same time but you can get the idea maybe...

Jenna discovers stairs

Living in a one-story house, Jenna has never been exposed to stairs. Well, we went to TJ and Nicole's for the 4th of July and she decided to venture on up...video below.

Cheese face

Jenna cracked us up once again by hastily feeding herself and not even realizing she had a huge chunk of cheese on her nose :)

Our new landscape curbing

We decided to get our landscape curbing re-done after talking about it for years. We always thought you could go buy the heavy, designed rounded stuff at Lowe's or Home Depot...but not so much! So, we hired a company to do it. Here are the rough before and afters. It is not sealed yet (rain) and we have not re-mulched but so far I really like it!

Figuring this video thing out

OK I just discovered that I can load videos directly from Photobucket so this is good! However, I cannot add my own descriptions, etc. if I use that tool.

So... Below are 2 videos. One is of Jenna with her walker I found at a baby consignment shop. The other is a close up shot of her babbling, playing on the couch, trying to get the camera!

Trying to blog again!

Hello family and friends! I am trying to start a new blog now that Miss Jenna is almost 1 and is doing all kinds of cute things we are capturnig on video.

I know it is a little overwhelming between this, the Snapfish photos I send out, Facebook, etc., but this way I know everyonw can access the site.
Let's see...life is so good. Jeff and I are both really liking our jobs (imagine that), Jenna is doing great...learning new things every day and is just so much fun. Ramsey is hanging in there too!

Off to post some more videos :)

Jenna taking over Ramsey's toys!

Jenna likes to push EVERYTHING including the bin of dog toys :)