Party Prep Day 2

Making another batch of poundcake cupcakes to freeze and still building the cupcake stand!

Party Prep!

Lunch "hour"ish... ;)

And cleaned back up again! :)

I need to do some Yoga!

It's been a while since I've sat down to catch up with everyone. Sorry for that! It's the same old story...busy busy - even when you're not technically "busy" with events, with a 10 1/2 month old you're busy nonetheless! I'm sure you other moms can certainly relate. I truly admire these moms that seem to be able to do it all and pull it off with ease. Sometimes I feel like I'm going to have a breakdown just living day-to-day with nothing extraordinary going on to drive me to the point of tears...just living! Anyway, I'm not trying to bring anyone down. I'm just in a funk lately and there are many contributing factors: the economy, Virginia's development (she's not taking the sippy cup and I find that very stressful for some reason), just Virginia in general, my job (of course that is linked to the economy, but there is an awful lot of work to be done there that just seems overwhelming at the moment), but mainly being worried about my mom, who is about to undergo major back surgery tomorrow. She's been in so much pain for years and after trying to treat the pain with steroid shots and pain pills for so long, she has finally made the difficult decision to give surgery a try. Please say a prayer for her that this is going to truly help and relieve her from all the discomfort she has endured. I'm so worried about her. Thank goodness my job is in Durham and her surgery is at Duke, otherwise I'd be even more of a wreck than I am. At least I'll be close and can visit with her frequently. It's just going to be so hard to see her like that. Anyone that knows my mom knows that she is a hard worker, a real busy bee - not one to be down and out. This recovery is not going to be easy for her and I'm scared that she'll be so frustrated that she'll try to do something strenuous before she is supposed to and will end up hurting herself. So please say another prayer that she recovers quickly! Thank you!
Anyway, I do have more happy news and pictures to share but I have to finish uploading the latest and I promise my next post will be a little more upbeat! :)

Second Bike Ride MUCH better than the First!

The weather this past weekend was absolutely beautiful and just perfect for some outdoor fun! After Virginia told me that she did not care to nap Saturday morning (she stood up for 30 minutes in her crib staring at the door waiting for me to come back and get her), I decided that maybe it was time to try another bike ride. I know, I know...if you read the blog entry from her first bike ride you'd ask yourself - why in the world would dare to take a tired baby on a bike ride? Well she wasn't "crabby" tired, she just didn't want to nap, and it was so pretty outdoors so I decided I'd take the risk and I'm so glad that I did! Wouldn't you know it that this time she just absolutely LOVED the ride? She sat in her seat with a beaming smile for the whole ride. I'm so happy she had such a good time. It was a stark contrast to the previous ride where I found myself apologizing to every person we past on the way home while she screamed as though her mother was sticking daggers in her. This time she felt so relaxed that at one point she actually fell asleep while we were going up a hill! Her head started to dip forward and I looked down at her and she was nodding off. I had to hold her head up and steer the bike with one hand...not an easy feat going up a hill and wanting to shift to a lower gear! ;) Anyway, the ride was a success and I think we'll be riding a lot more in the future. Now if we could only get daddy to go with us....he's just about done with "the great wall" project so maybe he'll have more time to do stuff with us now.
Speaking of the wall project, I'll have to take a picture and post it on the blog. I'm so proud of him and his work. It's nice to have the room opened up -everything is much more accessible now and I know we're going to enjoy the new space. He really did a fantastic job and I can't wait to show you all!

Virginia's 9 Month Photo Session

Wow - I just went through the disk to find a couple of good shots to post on the blog and I simply couldn't narrow it down to just a few! They posted in opposite order of the shoot - that's why she's down to her rumpers in the top. She was clothed when we started. :) You can click on the picture to enlarge it.

For Dad

I hope you enjoy this video!

Baby Virginia's TV Debut

We just got back from our annual beach trip hosted by my parents in the Outer Banks. We really had an enjoyable week and it is deserving of a separate post...so stay tuned for it....I just wanted to go ahead and get this out there.

While we were in the OBX, Hurricane Hanna was quickly approaching the Carolina's Coast. We wanted to go down to the beach to check out the wave action and snap a few photos. As we approached the beach entrance we saw the local news van from WRAL. I was like, please don't let them come talk to us. I hadn't showered in like 2 days and had no makeup....so, of course, they came straight to us! Who can resist the lure of Beautiful Baby V?!! So, without further adieu....here's Baby V's TV debut! http://www.wral.com/weather/video/3493037/

Baby Dinner Theatre

Just a quick little post here....last night Jim went out to ride his jetski and V and I had the most enjoyable time together. After Virginia and I played up on the bonus room (she can pass the ball back and forth with me now!) I put her in her highchair and while I was getting her dinner ready I started to act out the very animated version of Sandra Boyton's "Bard Yard Dance" for her. She LOVED it!!! I thought to myself, well, here's some Baby Dinner Theatre for you little V! :)

Then after she ate her dinner, I started to make dinner for Jim and myself so after I got it all going I took Virginia out of her exersaucer and let her crawl around the kitchen to explore. We started playing peek-a-boo over the island. She was on one side and I would peek over the top, of course she got excited every time - it's amazing how that doesn't get old to babies! Then I realized I could see her reflection in the door of the oven and she was anticipating my coming over the top of the island so I totally "got" her by sneaking up on her around the side! That was really funny to us both. Then we ensued into a game of hide and seek. She's getting pretty fast and is definitely a smart cookie. Oh, I just love my daughter and we had the most fun together last night!

My Child's "Latest Trick"

Well, it's not really her latest trick, this video was taken on August 30th before we even left for the beach but I'm still catching up with my photo/video organizing! :) I just thought this was worthy of posting. I wish I could cut off the volume because I really don't care to hear myself on here, but you can just mute me out.

She used to employ this new communication skill only when it came to eating, but she has since learned that it is effective for a variety of situations. :)

PS - Mommy has since learned to stop laughing and encouraging the use of "no" in every conversation; we're working on expanding her communication skills!

Sickly Baby V and Daddy's Revelation

This past week has been a rough one! I came home last Tuesday night to a blazing hot baby. She had a temperature of 102.3, which may not seem like much to a lot of moms out there but I just wasn't used to that! Virginia was acting a little fussy, but not overly so. I gave her some tylenol and her temp went down a bit and she slept through the night just fine. Wednesday morning her fever had gone up to 103.5. This really worried me and I took her to the doctor. He diagnosed an ear infection in her right ear and prescribed some "pink stuff" (ammoxicillin). I thought she was on the road to recovery Thursday morning, but apparently not because I ended up having to go get her from Linda's house around noon. She was just miserable. Thursday evening she stopped eating her solids and started with the vomitting. Luckily she no longer had a fever but she couldn't seem to keep anything down. Friday her daddy stayed home from work with her. Other than not eating, she seemed to be doing OK but Friday night the vomitting started again and lasted all throughout the night. Not realizing that she had developed a stomach virus in addition to the ear infection, I blamed the vomitting on the fact that I had purchased BJ's brand formula instead of her usual Similac. BJ's was out of Similac and I thought that since she'd been introduced to so many different types of food at this point that she wouldn't mind trying a different formula. But in the middle of the night when your baby is vomitting up everything you give her, and you don't realize she has a stomach bug, you tend to blame whatever is different. I was like, "This stinking cheap formula!". So being the good daddy that he is, Jim ran up to the Harris Teeter at 12:30 to buy a can of Similac so we could verify that BJ's formula was making her sick.

This brings me to Daddy's Revelation. Jim came back and he said that he knows that life has changed when he goes up to Harris Teeter at 12:30 on a Friday night and he is surrounded by people trying to get in their last beer run and he's there buying a can of formula! Yes, things have definitely changed!! :)

Anyway, it wasn't the formula. We pretty much had the same results with the Similac and so after 3 hours of sleep, I took Miss V up to the doctor again on Saturday. She diagnosed Virginia with a stomach virus, in addition to the ear infection, and said we'd pretty much just have to wait this one out. You can imagine what a fun weekend we all had! :) Saturday afternoon Virginia broke out with a spotted rash all over her torso and by Sunday it had spread to her head. She was just miserable with stomach cramps and ear pain - I felt so badly for her! Luckily she went back to sleeping Saturday night and by Sunday morning she seemed to be doing better but I realized that I wouldn't be able to take her to Linda's with this rash all over her. My mom came up to do some shopping and she was gracious enough to offer to stay home with Virginia on Monday. Thank goodness for Grandmas!

Little V is all better now and looking more like she did in the picture above (pre-sickness). She's back at Linda's and I told her she'd have a lot of "unspoiling" to do since she's pretty much been held for a week now! Thank goodness for Miss Linda too!! :)

First Bike Ride....it'll be a while before the Second!

Ha - I suppose we could give it another shot for good measure. It was Mommy's fault for deciding to take Virginia 4-something miles on her first ride. Let's just say we should have started with a spin around the block first! :) The cry that could have been heard 'round the world started about 2/3 into the ride and we simply couldn't get home fast enough! I was apologizing to every person we past on the way home. But as soon as we were home, V was back to her same happy self! It could have been that the ride overlapped with her naptime, or that she was hungry or hot, or that my knees knocking into her every time I peddled (I moved the seat forward and inch after the ride), but perhaps it was just a bit much for her first time!

Guess How Much I Love You

It's been such a NICE relaxing weekend....I think we left the house 1 time and that was this evening when we went over to Sterling and Caryn's for BS (Beer Sunday) for some Bojangle's Chicken (yum!!! and not on WW - Weight Watchers - at all....I digress.....).

Anyway, earlier today I suggested that Jim read V a book since they were snuggling in bed together when she got up from her nap. The sight of her gazing up at her father so adoringly was too much not to capture so I tossed him a book and went downstairs to get the camera. As I walked back down the hall I overheard him reading to her..." 'I love you as high as I can reach' said Big Brown Nut Hair" - I nearly fell out in the floor. You see, the book I had tossed him was "Guess How Much I Love You" where Little Nutbrown Hare and Big Nutbrown Hare debate over who loves whom the most. Apparently Daddy suffered from a little dyslexia this afternoon! He didn't make this mistatement just once, I really don't think it was intentional! Oh MY! Poor Virginia - we'll not suggest Daddy read that book to her again! ;)