It's about TIME

Finally, a media update. Our camera was being stupid and everytime I'd turn it on, the screen was all blurry and it would ruin pics and videos so I got frustrated and put it in a drawer. Well, I turned it on today and IT WORKED. The camera fairy must have fixed it. So first thing I did was videotape some walking action and some talking. Then I took two pictures. Not my best work, but at least it's something! Oh and Val got the cutest pics of Bug and Bear, those are at the end.

Enjoy!



Reading:


Walking:


Talking (we both do a lot of it):

out of sight, NOT out of mind

Happy September! I can't believe we are a month away from Cara's first birthday! I was sitting with her this morning and she was being her normal, weird self and I couldn't believe how far we've come. We just got back from visiting Meg, Ian and Mary in Cinci and seeing that little baby really brought back memories. Not so distant memories. Mary is SO beautiful! She was doing the little newborn grunt and I remember when Cara would do that and I would think "is this normal that my daughter sounds like a dying pug??". Meggy looked exhausted and that's a memory I'd like to forget! They made such a beautiful baby and I will update with pics ASAP, just waiting for me Mom to send me them.

I wanted to show you an insert I found on a website that tracks baby's milestones and such..

"'Out of sight, out of mind' no longer applies. If your child has ever enjoyed unrolling the toilet tissue that sits on the other side of the cabinet door, she'll remember the pleasure every time she passes the door."

When I read this, I was surprised they didn't just insert Cara's name. Cara LOVES, and I mean loves, unrolling the toilet paper. She loves getting into everything in the bathroom, which doesn't exclude the toilet, toilet bowl cleaner, trash can, and magazine stack. I have learned to keep the door closed and just this morning, Dada went to take a shower and she started throwing a fit she couldn't follow him in. So, Cara has absolutely hit the memory milestone. Why she doesn't remember her baby blocks being as fun as toilet paper, I don't know??!

I have begun party planning for her first birthday. I might possibly be the only person who feels the 1st birthday is a huge deal. Most opinions are "she won't even remember it"..but my opinion is, it's her 1st BIRTHDAY! 1st's are a big deal to me!! We will be having a small affair at Grandma Paula's house, and it will be an outdoor picnic, weather permitting. Gift ideas include: toilet paper, kid leash and rubber furniture.

walking, rashes and weddings, oh my!

Hello all. Sorry for the gap in updates, we've been a busy household. My baby is ten months old! That means in two months, she'll be 1 year. What a year!!! It's been so exciting watching her grow on a daily basis.

Cara went on her second trip to Ohio a couple of weeks ago, and we all had a blast. Ever since we've been back we've been dealing with some "bumpy" issues, but I won't completely blame Ohio, lol. Cara enjoyed all of her great-aunts and cousins! And not to mention all the new foods they let her try. Every time I turned around someone was feeding her off their plate. She was eating up all the attention, literally!

Generation picture:



These were soooo cute:

Preggers:


It was a great trip! Julie and Megan hosted a wonderful wedding shower for me! Speaking of weddings, only 1 month 11 days away. So I've been working on Cara's walking with her so that she could be walking by the wedding, and she walked 4 steps the day before she turned 10 months old! It makes me so happy to watch her try! I was talking to another Mom yesterday who has 3 girls and she was like "why do you want her to walk! when they walk, they run, you never get to sit down!" Lol. Another opinion came from a Dad who said "when they walk it's nice because then you can actually see where they're going". So we'll see. I think I'll like when she's walking, I need something to run after!

Health report: So Cara has had a nice month at the Dr's office. It started off with a bad diaper rash that showed up the way home from Cincy. It got worse and worse so I took her in, turns out she had a yeast infection. Okay, whatever, we can handle that. We start treating it, then this rash pops up on her face. Take her back to the Dr., oh it's impetigo and a bit of exscema, no big deal, put some cream on it. So I'm like okay, we can handle this. We are now treating both rashes and the yeast is fading, but the impetigo is getting worse. Take her back to the Dr. and finally they give me an antibiotic! Through this whole process, we've had to cancel two playdates and didn't get to go to open play at My Gym because parents look at my kid and take their kids and run. Instead we got to spend like 8 hours at a Dr's office with lots of whiney kids and GERMS. I hate the Doctor's office. I feel like I contract 5 diseases while sitting there. Cara's a trooper though! She hasn't seemed phased by any of it.

On a more positive note, Cara has been expressing her rhythmic side recently. When I say "dance, dance, dance" she throws her hands up and dances. Last night at dinner, there's a band and Cara's rocking in her seat watching the guy sing. It was so funny! I'm trying to get in on tape so I can upload it, but my camera isn't working too well right now. I'll find a way to get it on here though. I've got to show you her taking steps, soooo precious!

Is this cake worth $50, I need your advice:

the heat is on..

Hello all!

Cara is 9 months old now, and has this idea she doesn't have to take naps anymore. I think the morning nap is out, officially. We're enjoying our summer though....INSIDE. Every time I get Cara out of her car seat, the back of her head is soaking wet. She's hot natured which when combined with 150 degree heat, let's just say it's a sweaty mess. So anyways, I know it's been a while since the last update. I am attaching some photos from the last couple of weeks and also a video of Cara eating her favorite new food, sweet potato puffs.

Enjoy!

Kangaroo Bob's..

I read Kennesaw was voted by Parents magazine as one of the top 10 family friendly cities. This got me really excited, but after thinking about it, I wasn't quite sure how or why Kennesaw was so family friendly. The article pointed out their annual Christmas tree contest (which doesn't occur until December, and only lasts one month out of the year) and their local park, that is nice, but doesn't really have anything for kids under the age of "swing friendly". So I did some investigating, to see what this city could offer Cara and I, a mother-daughter team that is at home, searching for things to enhance our days. Alas, I found something. You know those moonwalk jumpers, that kids just go nuts over at the coolest kid in the neigborhood's birthday party?? Well there are places down here that are filled with those things, and for a charge, you get to play in them. There are two places that we tested, but after going to the second place (which charged Cara 5 bucks to slobber on blow up toys), we decided we liked the first place better. Kangaroo Bob's is the second place we tried out, and the only place I got pictures. But Monkey Joe's recognizes that she can't even walk yet so didn't charge us, and is A LOT cleaner, so I think we'll continue to go there. Cara does have fun though, and I like that when she's trying to defy gravity, there's a cushion to soften the fall. And she gets to see other kids, which she really likes for some reason. She's not big on the interacting yet, but she LOVES staring and yelling at them. It's also pretty fun for the parent interaction, cause moonwalks are awesome. So to wrap up my point from the beginning, I don't really agree that Kennesaw is this super family friendly city, but it does have it's perks.

Pictures posted for your enjoyment:

I don't know about this:




This is better:


Parent interaction (where's Cara?? hmm..)




Let Mommy get a picture..


Weeeeeeee..




Okay I'm ready to get off now..

she already loves herself..

Cara has started to explore everything she can reach (and sometimes things she can't) which has forced me to re-baby proof parts of the house. I had thought I baby proofed well, but realized very quickly that I'm easily outsmarted by a baby. So Cara's exploring her room and finds the photo boxes that made the cutest shabby chic decorations. I like to let her explore so I usually don't intervene until something starts to look potentially dangerous. Well as I'm watching her, she breaks into the photo box and starts to rummage through photographs. She finds a picture of herself that she particularly loved which inspired this post. I had to show everyone how Cara reacts to seeing her own baby picture. She's madly in love with herself, borderline obsessed. She would carry the thing around with her all day, except I'm more or less paranoid she's gonna paper cut her mouth, so I'm forced to take it back. Which leads to the second video in the posting. You'll see what I'm talking about, just watch the videos. Enjoy!



and this is what happens when you take the picture away:

Pool Days

Summer is almost here, but in Georgia it feels like it's been here. And since Cara has started to enjoy water, I decided to take her out to the pool..she LOVED it.

Pictures are attached, for proof.











So happy: