Baby trying to figure out water...

Tonight, Baby was in her bath. Husband turned on the water to rinse her off. He turned on the water in the tub, and Baby was fascinated. Then, she wanted to grab it. She tried to grab the water and didn't understand why her grabnabbers didn't grab or nab it! Check out the video:

Happy Ninth Month birthday, Baby! I know I don't do this every month, but 9 months seems so big! Soon, I won't be calling her Baby anymore. *sniff* Don't worry, I will have a new nickname which I will unleash at the big first birthday blog. She seems so big lately, too. She takes up half the crib and wants to walk so bad. She's not there yet, but you can see she wants to.

Weekend Update

On Friday, I had a conference in the city. On the way home, I met Husband at his office and got to see where he works all day. Then, I worked the remainder of the day from home. Because I have an exciting life, I went to bed super early.

On Saturday, Baby had her first overnight with Mom and Dad. First, we went to the pool which she tolerated. She was a little fussy. Then, she had some food and, while she napped, I slipped out. We mostly took advantage of the free house by sleeping.

On Sunday, I picked Baby up from her grandparents' house and brought her home. She was very happy to see us both. It's nice to see the big smiles. Then, I went to Generous George for pizza with a friend. It hit the spot. I really wanted pizza. This is good because I have leftovers for lunch today. Then, the two of us met Brother-in-Law and Sister-in-Law at the movies and saw The Dark Knight. It was excellent. I'm so glad I got to see it in the theater. It was definitely dark and violent at times. I don't think you should bring the little ones though there were a lot of little ones in the theater. Sunday night was quiet. I read a book and saw who won The Next Food Network Star.

So, it was a good weekend.

A ~ Z Reading Challenge

I found this challenge at my friend Shoshana's site. It looked like a lot of fun! I have a feeling, at the end of the year, I'll be looking to read a book just to fill in some blanks! I'm not as good as graphics and presentation as she is, but here it goes!

Title
A:
B: Betting on Santa – Debra Salonen
C: Change of Heart – Jodi Picoult
D: Darkly Dreaming Dexter - Jeff Lindsay
E:
F: Flashpoint - Jill Shalvis
G:
H: Hard to Handle – Lori Foster
I: Into the Fire - Suzanne Brockmann
J: Just a Taste – Deirdre Martin
K: Kiss of the Night - Sherrilyn Kenyon
L: The Lost Duke of Wyndham – Julia Quinn
M: The Marriage Spell – Mary Jo Putney
N: New Moon – Stephenie Meyer
O: One Moonlit Night - Samantha James
P: Pride & Pregnancy – Karen Templeton
Q:
R:
S: Snowfall at Willow Lake – Susan Wiggs
T: Twilight – Stephenie Meyer
U: Undead and Uneasy - MaryJanice Davidson
V:
W:
X:
Y: Yours, Mine… Ours? – Karen Templeton
Z:

Author
A: Anderson, Evangeline – Dangerous Cravings
B: Butcher, Shannon K. – No Regrets
C:
D:
E:
F:
G: Gerritsen, Tess - The Keepsake
H: Hannah, Kristin – Firefly Lane
I:
J: James, Samantha – The Perfect Bride
K: Kenyon, Sherrilyn - Fantasy Lover
L: Lindsay, Jeff - Darkly Dreaming Dexter
M: McCarthy, Erin - My Immortal
N: Novak, Brenda – A Husband of Her Own
O:
P: Patterson, James – 1st to Die
Q: Quinn, Tara Taylor – The Baby Gamble
R: Robb, J.D. – Strangers in Death
S: Shalvis, Jill – Strong and Sexy
T: Templeton, Karen – Dear Santa
U:
V: Valdez, Lisa - Passion
W: Ward, J.R. – Lover Enshrined
X:
Y:
Z:

I started this list with the books I've read from January 2008 until present day. I'll update throughout the year. How fun!

Weekend Update

Last weekend was a good, relaxing weekend. On Friday, I stayed home and read. On Saturday, Baby and I met Sister and Nephew for lunch. Baby showed off her crawling skills. Then, the four of us went to lunch to California Pizza Kitchen and then hit Barnes & Noble where Nephew played with the the Thomas the Tank Engine set. Afterwards, we went to Linens 'N' Things where I picked up some pink crates to help block Baby from getting at things and to hold her toys. Then, we went home. It was like a zillion degrees last weekend. I was more than hot and ready to go home. It was so hot that I gave Baby a cool bath when we got home because she missed out on pool time.

On Sunday, I got to sleep a bit which was glorious. Then, Husband watched Baby while I met friends for lunch at TGIFriday's. I've been obsessed with its sweet potato fries. Then, we went to see Mamma Mia!. I liked the movie. I thought it was good overall. There were some inconsistencies and some things I would have done differently, but I'm glad I went. I left singing the songs and have been listening to the soundtrack ever since. I think it helps to see the musical and it definitely helps if you like Abba.

So, that brought to a close another weekend.

Can you tell me how to get...

how to get to Sesame Street

Fun with You Tube.

The Beetles with Letter B:



James Blunt with My Triangle:



Why I love Madeline Kahn:



Yay!



One of my all-time favorites!



Harry Belafonte:

My New Purse

I mentioned that my friend, Sanna, sews. She has a few samples of items on her blog, and you can see the rest at her shop. However, in the meantime, you can see the cute purse I bought. Husband took the photo so it looks like I'm a thousand miles away. I had to edit it so you can see the purse. Plus, I had to wait until I had an outfit on that matched the purse. It's such a great size and really carries everything without being bulky. Thanks, Sanna!

Happy Anniversary to my parents!

The parents have been married for 35 years today! As I told my mom, that's like forever! So, happy anniversary, Parents! Thanks for getting married and then winning the adoption lottery and getting me!

Weekend Update - Summer Fun

Last weekend was fun. On Saturday, the boys all went golfing while the girls hung out at the pool all day. Baby loved the pool. As a matter of fact, she would only sleep in the pool. She'd splash and giggle. Then, she went to In-laws' house while we all went to the comedy club.

In the evening, the three couples went to Arlington Cinema N Drafthouse to see Gary Gulman. It was a lot of fun and made me wonder why I hadn't gone before! Then, we ran some errands after the comedy show and went home.

On Sunday, I hung out with friends and we played Scene It and ate and chatted all afternoon. It was a lot of fun. Then, another weekend came to a close. I can't believe the summer is half over already!

Baby is crawling!

Baby actually started crawling a week or so ago with little fits and starts. There were a lot of face plants. This weekend, she just sort of got how it all worked. She's been crawling all over the place. So far, she mostly just crawls to things that will get her into trouble so she's a little frustrated. I took a few seconds of video. Enjoy!

P.S. I'll mention that she doesn't fall or break the camera. It only seems that way at the end of the clip. No babies were harmed in the making of the film.

In the kitchen with Baby...

I was cooking dinner while Husband went to the driving range. Baby was getting fussy in her play saucer so I put her in the back carrier. It converts to a front carrier, but I don't really have the shoulders to carry that off. So, I have her on my back while I clean the shrimp for dinner. She starts to fuss a little so I start swaying back and forth and sing ("100 Bottles of Beer on the Wall" - hey, it made her stop fussing). I notice that she stopped fussing. I go into the bathroom to take a peek at her because she's still on my back and I can't see what's going on. This is what I saw:

Weekend Update - Fourth of July

First, I should mention that the Christmas tree is a tree my mother keeps up all year round. She changes the decorations to match the current or upcoming holiday. If you click on the photo itself, it will enlarge it. You can see that the tree is decorated all red, white, and blue with red, white and blue garland shaped in little stars. Just wait until Halloween. The decorations are easier to see.

Last Thursday, we got out of work and headed to Maryland to spend time with my family. We met my parents, Sister, and Nephew there. We left on Thursday so we could be there in time for the parade on Friday. As soon as we hit the county, it started to pour which was a sign of the weekend to come. It rained all Thursday and looked pretty grey on Friday. Luckily, the parade went on. We found a bakery with a covered area from which to watch the parade. So, most of us stayed dry. The rest of Friday was kind of a wash... literally. The fireworks were postponed. We mostly just went to Walmart and most hung out around the house.

On Saturday, it rained most of the morning, but it cleared up in the afternoon so we went on the neighbors' boat. It turned out to be beautiful. Nephew wanted to go in the lake so Sister had to go in with him. The water was cold, but once they were in, they enjoyed themselves. Plus, they had a big inflatable hot dog connected to the back of the boat, and Sister and Nephew loved being pulled along.

On Saturday evening, we all trekked down the mountain to see the fireworks despite overcast skies, and the fireworks went off without a hitch. Baby loved the fireworks. She stared at them, and the noise didn't bother her at all. She was a great trooper.

On Sunday, the kids went into an inflatable pool in the backyard. Because we were in the country, Baby wore her camo bikini. They had a blast. Then, we took them in the hot tub (on summer mode which means it was cooler than my average bubble bath). Both kids enjoyed that as well. Then, it was time to pack up and travel home. Baby was definitely overtired and extremely tired of being buckled into the car, but she was a good girl. She seems to be back to normal today so good weekend had by all.

Every mother thinks her child is the cutest...

...but I swear mine really is. Plus, combined with Nephew, it's just cute squared. I can hardly stand it.

I'm just running out of people who will listen to me tell them how cute the kids are. I mean, come on! Look at those little faces! The little bare feet! I just want to eat them up.

Plus, they were both so good that day. There was minimal bribing with some snacks. There were a couple of tears in the beginning, but it all worked out.

We took a lot of photos. I'm still amazed I didn't buy all of them (though the 90 day period to reorder isn't over so I may still buy more). Plus, Baby just started sitting up right before we took the portraits so that was great luck.

I also really think the photographers who take pictures of children deserve a medal. They're so patient and really willing to try anything to get a smile or a giggle. They're patient with the repositioning and the bribing and the changing of diapers. I can't imagine what happens when they get a subject who won't cooperate. Our kids were amazing, but they were still all roly poly and needed some time and attention between photos.

I'm like the weirdest, too. I love sharing photos of the kids. I have all my photo albums updated and dated with a little description of all the photos. However, I don't carry many around with me. I did order many photos from this day and will be better so I can turn into the obnoxious parent who takes out photos to everyone. It's bad enough I showed the nail salon even though they didn't ask.