to grandmother’s house we go

wow. what a difference a year makes.  this time last year, we were in the middle of painting her room; and excited about sharing the news w/ gramma & grampa at thanksgiving!  i knew it would be fun to tell them before we even decided to ever have a baby! 

we hope everyone has a wonderful thanksgiving.  we’re taking our little butterball to greenville for her first big trip.  after having a most excellent weekend visiting with aunt kippy and her kids, we’re hopeful this trip will also continue to surprise us!

The Mr. & i are thankful for a healthy baby girl with an adorable toothless grin.

enjoy your friends & family during this holiday season.

nrrd grrls

We’ve received many requests (and some threats) to post more pics.  More with Jovie.  More with Mommy and Jovie.  Less of Dad.   Ok, my feelings aren’t hurt.  My narcissistic ego is satisfied for now.

So how to respond to these requests?  I believe Abraham Lincoln said it best with: “Give ‘em mo’ pics, yo!”.

If this was any cuter, I’d puke.

Here’s Jovie and Mommy sharing a laugh. Probably at Dad’s expense.

Jovie went to a playdate and things got out of control and she partied a little too hard. Here’s Mommy nursing her back to health. I honestly didn’t think I’d be dealing with these types of things until she was a teenager.

4months

jovie turned 4mos old on sunday.  she’s 18 weeks today.  here’s what’s been goin on:

sunday- we went to stone mountain.  we wanted to do this for a few reasons:

1. this trip is about 45 minutes away. we’re about to venture out for thanksgiving- about 2 1/2 hours away.  we needed to “practice”.  not only jovie, but us.  we needed to see what we could withstand.
2. we wanted to get out of the house and enjoy the autumn-ness.
3. her baby book has a place for “first long car ride” & “first overnight visit”… i didn’t want our trip to greenville to be listed twice.

we were pleasantly surprised!  after about 15 min in the car, she did do her typical scream my guts out till somebody holds me already & i really thought The Mr. would turn around.  there was no consoling her.  but after about 10 min of that (maybe even less) she wiped herself out and quieted down.  she started to sleep some but then we were there.  she let us stroll her around for awhile.  and then we put up the stroller & carried her.  we even threw a blanket on the grass & pulled out a few toys.  for about 5min.  but it was a good time.  & she slept the whole way home, too.

sunday (still)- needless to say whatever we can consider her “schedule” was off-kilter & in the afternoon she refused to nap.  tired as she was, she fought us like in the old days.  The Mr. & i were watching football & talking, though, so when she started to fuss some more i said to wait till we were done to go get her & give up on the nap.  however when we did go get her we saw that she had rolled over.  she hasn’t done it again since, but we knew it was going to happen soon…  she’s been wanting to!

monday- woohoo! she went down for all 3 naps w/o making a single peep.  & later that afternoon, i took her to target by myself. (that’s a first).  and i put her carseat on the buggy (another first) and she was SO good the whole time while i bought her some xmas jammies & a few cheap toys.  she may not be sick of the 4 rattles she plays with, but i certainly am. 

tuesday- we went to the dr. she had 2 more vaccines & so far, so good.  but wow- how she’s grown!  she is now 26.25 inches & 16lbs, 6oz.  she totally shot up in her height!  in fact, the nurse measured her twice.  she went from 76th to 96th percentile!  clearly she favors her daddy.

dr. told me to start baby-proofing.  i’m SO not ready for her to be mobile!  stay tuned…

channeling

here’s a coupla pictures we took about 2 weeks ago.

here, i channel eddie murphy when i say:         

“she looks mighty cute in dem jeans.”      

she looks mighty cute in them jeans

(for those of you who know that line, that is the ONLY line that applies)

and, here she is channeling mike nesmith (of monkees fame)- maybe sans drool.

hey hey

and, why- yes! she is wearing the “amsterdam holland” outfit The Mr. bought while traipsing about when i was ohsopregnant with her.  it finally got cold enough (and luckily, it still fit.  those european sizes are different than ours).

happy 4month birthday to our little girl.

happy fall, y’all

The Mr. & i both love autumn.  i really hope that jovie will like this time of year as well. 

tho we’ve had a bit of a warm spell this week.  not too warm, but warm enough that we were able to put on a cute onesie outfit Gramma brought for her in the hospital.  it’s a size 6mos and she pretty much fits into it now; but now would typically be too chilly.  sorry to be a tease- but we don’t have a pic of her in it.  just trust me. she was cute yesterday.    i hate having her wear a cute outfit only once (or even nonce). 

we’ve been pretty spoiled b/c The Mr. has been working from home since last month (except fridays).  but this week he had to go in everyday but monday.  so it’s just been us girls again like in the old days.

so, to get out of the house, we took a couple of n’hood walks alone.  one was longer than the other.  but they were both pretty good this week.

she normally gets pretty testy toward the end.  so we never know where our turnaround point should be.  b/c she gets fussy w/o any warning.  one minute we think “hey! i could go all the way to carol’s house;” only to have her lose it once you get there…. then we have to come all the way back.

she didn’t lose it all the way this week, but a few distractions were needed yesterday so i wouldn’t have to pick her up and walk w/ an empty stroller (or subject the whole n’hood with the loudness that announces her displeasure).

one thing i’ve had to do is account for the change in time/sun placement. we obviously try to avoid having the sun directly in her eyes and apparently our house is due west b/c i’ve had to turn the stroller around and pull it behind me on our way home.  so she’s riding backwards.  at first that was a novel idea.  2nd time i think it confused her (which is the excuse i’ll use instead of telling all y’all she just morphed back into her normal demanding self) & she wanted to cry.  until i stopped to distract her. 

we do have another stroller that we could combat this situation b/c the canopy can move to suit your needs…but it involves her car seat and taking the stroller frame out of the trunk.  and putting it all back in b/c HEY! you never know when she’ll wanna cry  take a walk at the park.

we try to take her out as much as we can. and going to the park is a weekend ritual for us; however we never know if we can actually get out of the car once we’re there.  i bring my camera almost every time in the hopes that something cute will happen.  but i think our focus should be hoping that something involving a stroller will happen.  and when that does, we both just stroll along and hold our breath for fear that exhaling will disrupt her peacefulness. 

sometimes she forgets that she likes to be outside!

here’s to enjoying the rest of autumn!

Costume Contest

I challenged Jovie to a Halloween costume contest this year and I’m happy to announce that I won!  Contestants were judged on the following categories:

• Orignality: Tie
• Scariest: Winner – Dad
• Ugliest: Winner – Dad
• Grossest: Winner – Dad
• Costume With the Most Brains Sticking Out: Winner – Dad
• One that Most Looks Like a Stunned Pumpkin: Winner – Jovie

Overall Winner – Dad!

Granted my costume isn’t that original – it’s really just my regular grubby clothes and the same old mask I wear every year, but neither was hers! 

Strangely enough, she seemed rather indifferent to the entire contest and it’s result, which makes it hard to gloat.  But it still feels good to win!

Good luck next year Jovie.

Parenting 101: Frightening your helpless baby is fun.

After the Contest Photoshoot

Even maniacal killers like myself need some downtime.