Friday, January 30, 2009

Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday Dad!

My Dad, 2 days old: February 1958
June 1959: 16 Months Old
August 1960: 2.5 Years Old
1965: Almost 7
Now, with his girls minus Mom. Sorry mom!

I love you!

Thursday, January 29, 2009

Happy Birthday!

Today is Isabella's 5th Birthday!
Time really flies...

Happy Birthday to you, Happy birthday to you, Happy birthday dear Bella, Happy Birthday to you!

Hope you are having a GREAT one!!

Monday, January 26, 2009

Little Steelers Fan

I turned the camera to the side not realizing that I couldn't do that...boo to me. I won't let it happen again!

Some Pictures

Head

"More"

Ear

Friday, January 23, 2009

First, Last, Now

I have been tagged by Tracy!

Fill in the following :

First
First Job- Clever Cone Corner
First Screen Name: - Bam0880
First pet- Cassie (cat)
First Credit Card- Discover Card

Last
Last Car Ride- Home from the mall on Monday (buying Jocelyn a Steelers outfit)
Last Movie Watched- You, Me and Dupree
Last Beverage Drank- Water
Last Food Consumed- Ham sandwich, cheetos, cherry yogurt and a chocolate pudding cup
Last Website Visited- Facebook

Now
Birthday- 28th on Aug 8th
Siblings- I'm an only
Hair Color- Dark Natural Blonde (at least this is what my hairdresser told me it was a month ago)
Eye Color- I don't ever know how to answer this. Green? Gray? Blue?
Shoe Size- 8 1/2
Wearing- My Steelers zip-up sweatshirt, sweatpants, fuzzy socks
Thinking about- What Jocelyn can get with the $50 Amazon gift card she just received from her great gramma Ella in the mail!

Amy, if you're reading...I'm tagging YOU!

Wednesday, January 21, 2009

Jocelyn Update

Some Jocelyn News:

She said her first word...nose. She points to her nose when she says it. She is also always saying "this" and "that" when she wants me to either do something or tell her what something is.

I am teaching her her body parts, and she's catching on really quick. She knows where her nose is, her ear, her feet. She understands much more than she can say. She will find a sock and try to put it on her foot. She will get toys or objects that I ask her for and bring them to me. She especially likes to get her brush and brush her hair (well, the little amount of hair that she has). She understands me when I tell her we are going to change her diaper, take a nap, eat, and many, many, more things.

She signs the words "more" and "all done". And I may have inadvertently taught her the wrong signs. I looked at one website and just assumed they were right, then, after she started signing them I was looking for more signs to teach her and saw babies signing "more" and "all done" differently than the way I taught Jocelyn. Oh well, I know what she means! She's pretty funny, though, because she uses the sign "more" for anything she wants. She will pull at my shirt and sign "more" if she wants to nurse. She will point at a toy that is out of reach and sign "more". This is OK with me for now. I just wanted to stop the whining she was doing whenever she wanted more food, and it seems to be working for that and for when she wants other things too! We are working on the sign for "eat", but she points to her nose instead of her mouth. I also need to teach her some sign for "read", so she can ask me to read her books without whining! She also wants all food she sees on commercials on TV. She obviously craves Eat 'n Park's breakfast special that is going on right now. Every time she sees the commercial she starts signing "more" and looking at me! She's such a weirdo!

She is cutting tooth #s 9, 10 and 11. One of these is a molar and seems to be giving her the most trouble.

She seems to be working herself down to one nap a day. I'm kind of bummed about this one because I really enjoyed having two "mommy" times a day, even if one of the mommy times was preparing dinner-it's just easier to do without a baby (well, toddler now I guess) impatiently waiting at the kitchen gate. I hope she will be a good napper for a while yet. I can't imagine not having any mommy time at all...

And nursing. She seemed to be weaning herself. We were down to 2 nursing sessions a day. One in the morning when she woke up and one at night as a part of her bedtime routine. She even started rejecting during those times the past few days, and then all the sudden yesterday she was begging to be nursed all day long. I don't know what's going on with that one...but she does fine when she is distracted. It's nice to not have to worry about nursing her all day, especially if we are out.

I think that's it for now!

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Monday, January 19, 2009

Mommy's Helper


Too Bad it's Not Summer...

...because Jocelyn loves to be without her clothes!


Sunday, January 18, 2009

Snow!

It seems like it has been snowing for days! The temperature here has been too cold to take Jocelyn outside to play in it, though. Today we were above the zero-degree mark, so we went outside. It was Jocelyn's very first time experiencing snow!
Thank you to Bert and Trish who bought Jocelyn a snow suit for her birthday! Without you, Jocelyn wouldn't have enjoyed the snow today!


All bundled up. Excuse our messy basement! I thought she would be crying, but she was just wondering what I was doing to her. Can you see that we have Ziploc sandwich bags zip tied to her feet? We didn't buy any snow boots, and now no one has any anywhere.

We took her to the untouched back yard. She tried to walk, but ended up like this! The snow was up to her knees.

Jocelyn with Mommy

She didn't think it was too bad!
Jocelyn with Daddy

"Maybe I can stand up if I hold on to this tree."

"OK, this isn't fun anymore!" "Get these mittens OFF of me!"

So we went to watch Daddy shovel the driveway and sidewalk.

Look at the big pile of snow Daddy made!

Falling...

Mad!

"I can't move my arms!"
Mommy wanted to build a snowman, but Daddy said maybe tomorrow.
:o(

Here We Go!


Go Steelers!!!!!

Wow!

Jocelyn's birthday party was great! Jocelyn had a great time, and I hope everyone who was here for it also did. The only unfortunate event that occurred was some bad weather which left Grampee unable to attend. We were so disappointed and really wanted him to be here! I guess we better get used to bad-weather-birthdays for Jocelyn. We can change her name if we really wanted to (which we don't), but we can't change her birth date. The party started at 12:30 on Saturday, January 10th. [Side note: January 10th was actually my due date with Jocelyn!] We decorated the living room and dining room, which was very exciting for me. Todd thought I was crazy when we got out the 'Happy 1st Birthday' banner and I started jumping up and down and clapping. I can't help it. I love birthday parties and I was so excited to be celebrating for Jocelyn's. So, the party theme was 1st birthday Princess. We decorated with pink, white and purple everything. Balloons, streamers, cups, plates, napkins. I think it looked really cute! Jocelyn wore a homemade tutu, a princess crown, and a princess sash! I may have gone a bit overboard, but it was fun and made for good pictures. We ate a 6-foot hoagie from Walmart (which I highly recommend~a lot of hoagie for a little price~and oh-so-yummy), Grandma's famous potato salad, chips, cake, ice cream.
Jocelyn enjoyed being the center of attention. She showed off her dance moves to the birthday song, she opened presents like a champ (she had lots of practice after Christmas), and smashed a smash cake (again).

If you are reading this and are wondering why you weren't invited, please know we wanted to invite everyone we know, but we just couldn't fit more than the 20 family and of course Jocelyn's Godfather Bert and his lovely wife Trish, in our tiny house. This birthday-in-January thing really isn't conducive to big parties. If it were Spring or Summer we could have had an outside bash and invited everyone!

It was a great time. Jocelyn, when given the choice between a future of holiness, money, or fun, chose the money after a great deal of thought and a lot of time making a decision. Hopefully, though, she will lead a good life, have fun, and make enough money to be happy. A little bit of everything seems like a better choice to me!

Neglect


I know. I've been neglectful. I haven't blogged very much lately, and I can only blame it on my much needed downtime after a hectic holiday season followed by Jocelyn's first birthday and her birthday party. I will try to do better. Starting now!

Thursday, January 8, 2009

A Wonderful Day!

Jocelyn's Birthday Dance

Happy Birthday Jocelyn!

January 8, 2008

Happy Birthday Jocelyn!
One year ago today Jocelyn changed our lives in a way that we never could have imagined it would change, and in the best way possible. In the past year Jocelyn has become the most important thing in our lives. Watching her grow and learn has been such an amazing experience. She made us parents. She changed the way we look at the world, and on her first birthday we are celebrating her and all of the wonderful things she has brought to our life.

On Jocelyn's first Birthday, I feel posting the lyrics to this song seem appropriate. I only had to change one word...

Oh, and turn on your speakers and you can actually hear the song too!

Everything
Michael Buble


You're a falling star, You're the get away car.
You're the line in the sand when I go too far.
You're the swimming pool, on an August day.
And you're the perfect thing to say.

And you play it coy, but it's kinda cute.
Ah, When you smile at me you know exactly what you do.
Baby don't pretend, that you don't know it's true.
Cause you can see it when I look at you.

[Chorus:]
And in this crazy life, and through these crazy times
It's you, it's you, You make me sing.
You're every line, you're every word, you're everything.

You're a carousel, you're a wishing well,
And you light me up, when you ring my bell.
You're a mystery, you're from outer space,
You're every minute of my everyday.

And I can't believe, uh that I'm your [Mom],
And I get to kiss you baby just because I can.
Whatever comes our way, ah we'll see it through,
And you know that's what our love can do.

[Chorus:]
And in this crazy life, and through these crazy times
It's you, it's you, You make me sing
You're every line, you're every word, you're everything.

So, La, La, La, La, La, La, La
So, La, La, La, La, La, La, La

[Chorus:]
And in this crazy life, and through these crazy times
It's you, it's you, You make me sing.
You're every line, you're every word, you're everything.
You're every song, and I sing along.
'Cause you're my everything.
Yeah, yeah

So, La, La, La, La, La, La, La
So, La, La, La, La, La, La, La, La, La, La, La

Jocelyn,

Your Daddy and I love you more than words can express. You are our biggest blessing, our happiest feeling, you truly are our everything. We love you so much. This is our favorite day. Our day to celebrate you.

Happy First Birthday Sweetie!

Love,
Mommy and Daddy

Wednesday, January 7, 2009

FYI

Before you watch the video in yesterday's post, you will need to mute the music player. Find the box with the music (it's on the right...below the pictures) and hit the pause button.

Tuesday, January 6, 2009

Saturday, January 3, 2009

Big Girl!

We got Jocelyn some bowls with suction cups on the bottom as a birthday present, and since we caved while we were at Toys R Us and bought her a couple toys too (she's SO spoiled), we gave her the bowls early. Last night she ate lasagna and green beans using a divided suction cup plate and a spoon, and this morning she had some oatmeal. She uses a spoon on her own all the time, but until now, I always put the food on the spoon for her.

She knew exactly what to do before I even showed her!

She felt like such a big girl!
She turns the spoon upside down a little too early, and a lot of the food falls off before it gets to her mouth. No worries. I'm positive she will be a pro in no time. We will have lots of messes to clean up until then, but that's ok!

Congratulations Missy & Matt!

After 10 1/2 years of dating, they finally tied the knot!
December 31, 2008


The wedding was a blast! Todd and I really had a great time ringing in the new year with some of our closest friends!

Me with the beautiful bride! Congrats Missy! You looked absolutely gorgeous!
 Baby Birthday Ticker Ticker
 Baby Birthday Ticker Ticker