Jocelyn's First Halloween

It was a BOOtiful Halloween Day!

Daddy got me dressed in my costume when it was time to go trick-or-treating.

I had a little bag that matched my costume!

Ta-da!! Here I am, all ready to go!

On our way.

When I got back Mommy was handing out candy to other kids but I wanted some too!

I'm looking less than thrilled here. If you look closely at the top yellow part of my costume, you can see a little chocolate spot. While Mommy was holding me I got hold of a MilkyWay and was chewing on the wrapper. Luckily for me, my little teeth made a hole in the wrapper and I got to suck some chocolate out before Mommy or Daddy noticed. YUMMY!

It got a little cold and I was tired of bee-ing out side, so I watched trick-or-treaters from the glass door.

Daddy only took me to the 8 houses on our street, but look at all the stuff I got! One of our super nice neighbors had special presents for me. Two little teddy bears, and a box of baby cookies. Mommy and Daddy thought that was really nice!

Do you like the shirt my Grampee and Grandma Ka sent for me?

I love my Mummy!

I really had a lot of fun on my first Halloween!

Photo Tag

Katy tagged me...
Post the 4th picture in your 4th folder on your computer and describe it.

This is a picture Carolyn sent me of Todd when he was a baby...I don't know much more about it than that!

I tag Nancy, Tracy, Meredith, and Julie...

As Busy as a Bee

Yesterday was a VERY busy day! Todd installed Jocelyn's new carseat in the morning (FINALLY we found one that fits in our car and WORKS easily), then he ran out to help his cousin pack up a moving truck. Todd was supposed to go to the Steeler game with his dad, but unfortunately his dad's flight got cancelled and, not so unfortunately for me, I got to go to the game. I had already committed to going to a Halloween party and had an appointment to give blood while I was there, so it was rush, rush, get to the party, give blood and get out of there in time to get to the Steeler game. Well, Central Blood Bank was busy and my 2:30 appointment took longer than expected. The fun part was that Jocelyn got to dress up and have her picture taken while we were there. I took a couple snap shots as well. They aren't the greatest, but here they are.
Hopefully the professional picture turns out nicely and hopefully I get some better ones for myself on Halloween!

We left the party at about 3:45. Game time was 4:15 and our house was about 40 minutes away...we were late for the game, but made it toward the beginning of the second quarter. The Steelers lost, but it was still fun!

Oh, and the best part of the day...Jocelyn WON the baby photo contest!! The photographer called while we were at the game and left a message with Todd's mom! When I saw the pictures of the other babies I thought it would be a tough win, but our little bumble bee did it! I will repost a link when the Studio updates their blog. I hope she has pictures of the party there too!

Jocelyn's First Jack-O-Lantern

It's just a pumpkin when it doesn't have a face...

You have to scoop out the inside and carve a face

I like it...

Happy Birthday!

Today is my Aunt Jayne's Birthday!

Happy Birthday!!

On October 20th:

• 1967 - A purported bigfoot is filmed by Patterson and Gimlin.
• 1968 - Former First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy marries Greek shipping tycoon Aristotle Onassis.
• 1979 - The John F Kennedy library is opened in Boston, Massachusetts.
• 2004 - The Boston Red Sox of Major League Baseball become the first team in the history of the league to win a best-of-7 postseason series after trailing the series 3 games to 0, by defeating the New York Yankees in Game 7 the American League Championship Series.

Our Little Model

As a SAHM I am always looking for things to do with Jocelyn.

One day I happened to be looking in the 'events' section of Craig's List and saw a local baby photo contest. Participants would receive a free 5x7 photograph from the photo session, and the winner would receive a $350 gift certificate to the studio. I figured participating would at least get me a 9-month professional shot of Jocelyn, and if we were lucky we would have Christmas shots or 1st birthday shots covered too.

We drove out to the studio on Tuesday. This place must be a photographer's dream studio. It is located in an old bowling alley. The photographer has various scenes and backdrops set up all around inside what used to be where the bowling lanes were. It was huge, and Jocelyn looked so small. The photographer was great with Jocelyn, and Jocelyn was great with her. They really hit it off. She shot pictures of Jocelyn for almost an hour. I think we all had a lot of fun!

Click here to see the studio's blog post with some of the images of Jocelyn and a couple of the other babies she photographed the same day as Jocelyn.

Just tonight the photographer called me to see if I would be interested in possibly involving Jocelyn in a photo shoot for a children's boutique that has hired her to take pictures for their in-store displays. Hmmm...maybe Jocelyn has a modeling career in the horizon!

Fun in a Box

On the Move II

On the Move!

Mr. Fixit

Todd has become quite the handyman since we purchased our own house. He has experience putting up molding, painting, fixing cracks and holes, putting up ceiling fans and lights, and a lot of other things that I know I'm forgetting about. Here are some pictures of his latest feat. I think he did a d*** good job!

Before:

After:

Now we just need some paint...

BTW: This is my 100th post!!!!

Trax Farms

I couldn't pick just one picture to post.

Her Halloween Outfit

She LOVED sitting on the pumpkins...she thought it was the coolest thing ever!

John's Birthday

Happy Birthday John!!!On October 11th:

• 1582 - Because of the implementation of the Gregorian calendar, this day does not exist in this year in Italy, Poland, Portugal and Spain.
• 1929 - JC Penney opens store #1252 in Milford, Delaware, making it a nationwide company with stores in all 48 U.S. states.
• 1975 - The NBC sketch comedy/variety show Saturday Night Live debuts with George Carlin as the host and Janis Ian and Billy Preston as musical guests.
• 2000 - The 100th Space Shuttle mission (STS-92) is flown.

Tagged Again!

Katy and Tracy tagged me this time...

ABC tag
A is for your age: 28
B is for burger of choice: Whopper from Burger King
C is for the car you drive: Honda Civic, but we also have a '94 Toyota Camry
D is for your dog's name: No dogs for me!
E is for favorite kind of eggs: Dippy
F is for favorite TV show at the moment: Brothers and Sisters
G is for favorite game: Pass the Pigs--even though I NEVER win!
H is for home state: North Carolina
I is for instruments you play: None, but always wanted to learn the violin
J is for favorite juice: Grape
What happened to K?
L is for last restaurant at which you ate: Primanti Brothers
M is for your favorite Muppet: Kermit
N is for number of piercings: 4-two in each ear, but I never wear earrings
O is for overnight hospital stays: When I was born and when I had Jocelyn
P is for people you were with today: Jocelyn, Todd, HVAC guy named Steve, a bunch of people at the grocery store...yeah, that's right...the grocery store was on my list of things to do YESTERDAY...oh well, and another HVAC guy...in that exact order, mind you.
Q is for what you do with your quiet time: Read e-mail, Blog, Check Facebook, Chat with people online...I guess I sit at the computer mostly!
R is for biggest regret: Losing touch with my best friend in high school
S is for status: Married
T is for time you woke up today: 7:00am
U is for what you consider unique about yourself: My birthday is cool and easy to remember, oh yeah and my tongue can vibrate
V is for vegetable you love: Asparagus
W is for worst habit: I really don't know...maybe I should ask Todd
X is for x-rays you've had: The normal dental ones
Y is for yummy food you ate today: Adrienne's Zucchini bread...it's out of this world delicious!
Z is for your Zodiac sign: Leo

I think I have to break the tag here. I think everyone I know who has a blog has been tagged already.

Bumps, Bruises, and FUN!

Jocelyn is beat up. The poor thing has a sore leg from her flu shot, a big bruise on her forehead, and a bit tongue.

This standing and pulling-up stuff doesn't come without pain, I guess.

Yesterday Jocelyn was standing, holding onto her jumperoo when she fell forward a little bit and bit her tongue...darn teeth.

Today, Jocelyn was trying to pull herself up on the side of a doorway and she fell into the molding. She received a pretty bad bump on the head...it's swollen and bruised. It looks horrible. I think I feel even more horrible, though. I tried to apply ice the best I could, but that's not an easy feat when the patient is refusing treatment other than hugs and kisses.

The bump caused us to have a later start than anticipated for our play date, but we made it. I'm not sure if Adrienne reads my blog or not, but if you do...thank you so much for having us. It was great to catch up with you and meet Peter!! It was a lot of fun! We must do it again! Oh yeah, and your Zucchini bread is awesome!

Oh, and while we were there, Jocelyn bopped herself right below the eyebrow with a toy and she has a little swollen red spot there too...poor girl!

Does anyone know where I can get a boo-boo bunny? I know this is just the beginning...

I've Been Tagged!

Josephine tagged me! How fun!

Here's how it works:

Each player answers the question themselves. At the end of the post the player then tags 5 people and posts their names, then goes to their blog and leaves them a comment letting them know that they’ve been tagged and asking them to read your blog. Let the person that tagged you know when you’ve answered the questions on your blog.

10 years ago I was:
1. 18-years-old
2. Newly graduated from high school
3. Dating Todd for 4 months
4. Deciding I wasn't ready for college yet
5. Starting a full-time job

5 things on today’s to do list:
1. Vacuum
2. Check out mapquest to make sure I know how to get to Adrienne's house
3. Make sure Todd asked his mom if she can babysit Saturday night
4. Visit Adrienne and her son!!
5. Go tot he grocery store and remember to get pear juice

5 snacks I enjoy:
1. Icecream
2. Fruit
3. Cereal
4. Yogurt
5. Doritos

5 things I would do if I were a millionaire:
1. Pay off student loans!!!!!!
2. Start a trust for Jocelyn
3. Fix up and sell our house
4. Buy a bigger never-been-lived-in-before home (maybe one we design and build ourselves)
5. Buy a beachhouse...maybe...
**this list could go on and on and on**

5 places I have lived:
1. Charlotte, NC
2. Moon Twp., PA
3. Crafton, PA
4. Downtown Pittsburgh, PA
5. Dormont, PA

5 jobs I have had:
1. Clever Cone Corner
2. Assistant Teacher
3. Group Supervisor
4. Center Coordinator
(All at Crafton Children's Corner)
5. MOM

The rules say I have to tag 5 people. Meredith, Julie, Katy, Jessica, Kara... YOU'RE IT!!!!!!!!!!!

9 Months Old!

Jocelyn is nine-months-old today! She has been out as long as she was in! Crazy! We are celebrating by going to the doctor for her well baby check-up. Poor baby. At least she only has to get one shot today-the flu shot. No vaccinations! I can't wait to see how long she is and how much she weighs! It seems like forever since her last appointment.

In the month since Jocelyn turned 8-months, she has made some more growing-up progress. I guess that's what babies do...but it's a lot of work! She is getting closer to crawling. Yesterday she crawled for real for the first time. She took about 3 "steps" (not sure what you would call it when crawling). These were real steps, up on her knees with her tummy off of the floor. I tried to get her to do it again, but she wouldn't do it. Rather, she rolled everywhere she wanted to go. She is good at getting to places she wants to go-she just doesn't crawl to get there. She will either roll, scooch on her butt, or push herself with her legs while laying on her belly.

As you saw from the video I posted a couple days ago, she is beginning to be able to stand on her own, and she's really good at standing while holding on to things...even with only one hand! She can pull up to her knees, and on a strong day, makes it to her feet. Hopefully she will make some major strides with crawling and pulling up in her 9th month, although I'm pretty proud of her for all the hard work she has done so far!

Jocelyn is an eating machine now. She eats everything we are eating, and absolutely LOVES it. It makes me very aware of the things I eat. We just can't sit down and eat whatever we want anymore when she's around! I hope she keeps up with how she is eating now and doesn't revert to being a picky eater like I was when I was a kid!

Trenton's First Birthday!

Happy 1st Birthday Trenton!!

Hoping you have a fun-filled day!!

Standing

The "Most Hated Mom"

Did anyone watch Oprah yesterday?

When I saw the commercials indicating that all mothers should watch so that they do not make the same mistake that "the most hated mom" made, I wanted to watch. I wanted to see what this mother could have possibly done to be described in such harsh terms. I set up my TiVo just in case I forgot to watch. I didn't forget to watch.

I think I had tears in my eyes within the first two minutes of the show. I don't know how this woman could survive. I would want to die.

Of course I put myself into this woman's situation. Me being her and Jocelyn being her daughter. I don't even want to describe how imagining the death of Jocelyn at my own hand, unintentional as it may be, would make me feel. All I could do was cry. This poor little girl. I just pray that she never awoke and was not scared, sick, and wondering where her Mommy was. Even if she never did awaken in her car seat that day, the image of her awakening and then dying would still be burned into my imagination, as horrible as it is.

I don't know how I feel about this mother. Yes, I guess it could happen to anyone. I want to say that I cannot imagine that I would ever forget that Jocelyn was in the car and leave her there (especially for sooo long), BUT I'm not a working mom of two. I don't feel as stressed as this woman described herself as feeling (but still, leaving your daughter in a hot car for 7+ hours...not thinking about it once). What she did was horrible, but I do not look at her as a child killer. I can't say that it's not her fault that her baby is dead. I don't think she needs any more punishment than she is already dealing with on a day-to-day basis. I'm sure she is in a living hell. God, how do you live with yourself again after making such a deadly mistake. I'm not sure I could...

I just keep picturing that poor little girl strapped in her car seat. Heatstroke. Gone. Forever. One major mistake by the person who loved her the most.

Makes you think...