10 months old

10 months little bird! I can't believe it. Secretly I wish I could forever keep you this little and as much as I dislike how fast you seem to be growing; I have to admit, it is awful fun watching you become your own little person. You are always so full of joy, your sweet smile brings a smile to everyone we encounter - no matter where we may be, you always seem to draw people in with your smile ... and your eyes! Ooooh those eyes of yours; I don't think I have ever not heard someone mention how big and beautiful your eyes are. Even from the moment you were born, your eyes seemed to capture the attention of others! There is definitely something very special about you little girl and the heartwarming gentleness in your eyes seems to say it all. Mommy loves you to the moon and back. 

At 10 months old, Blaykleigh ... 

• weighs 19.4 lbs and is 27.5 inches in length
• has 5, almost 6 teeth
• has had two horrible double ear infections within one month (wondering if this means ear tubes are in our near future?)
• pants like a dog when you ask her what a monkey says - quite comical
• claps her hands when you tell her to "pat-pat"
• blows kisses aka putting her hand over her mouth while making the "wah-wah" sound like a little Indian Princess
• still plays the "so big" game but now only raises one arm above her head
• is still doing the army crawl although sometimes it looks more like the wounded solider crawl because at time she will drag her left leg only using her toes to push off with - kind of hard to explain, I need to get it on video
• loves our kitty cats ... pretty sure she tries to say "kitty cat" because she will point at them and say the same two syllable gibberish just about every time
• is into pointing and "ooo-ing" at everything these days, very interested in the world around her
• has entered the stage of intentionally dropping food off of her tray onto the floor ... good thing we have two vacuum dogs in this house
• is fascinated by remotes, cell phones, laptops etc. ... tech savvy little girl 
• absolutely loves looking at picture of herself, starts laughing every time she sees herself in a picture or the mirror for that matter

.....annnd off she goes!

welcome to our garden ...

Well -- there you have it folks! Our gardening escapade from start to finish. Won't be long until we have ourselves some homegrown, organic veggies to gobble up.   

** if you click on the pictures, you should be taken to a screen that will enlarge the image making the descriptions easier to read. **

Thanks for visiting! 

Insta-Friday

Bits of life over the past week!

After our hard man/wo-man labor on Friday moving waaay too much dirt from the driveway to the garden beds in the backyard came Saturday, where we spent the day planting our plants!!! This is our tomato plant -- the first one in the ground.

B was quite the trooper while we were busy planting to our hearts desire. She just hung out in her walker, waving to us from time to time! ... Isn't she just lovely?! 

Sunday morning rolled around and our sweet baby girl woke up with massive amounts of pus oozing from her eyes. This picture doesn't even begin to show how much pus there was & it kept coming! I felt horrible for her, she was beyond miserable. So her and I headed off to the urgent care clinic and spent a good 5 hours there before heading back home. Diagnosis -- her first double ear infection, which was so bad that the infection had nowhere else to go so it started draining through her eyes. My poor sweet baby girl, can't stand seeing her sick and in pain.  

By Monday there were two more doctor visits; one for daddy and one for me! The Mr. had tonsillitis and me, upper respiratory infection along with a massive hay fever attack. It's safe to say that our house was pretty pathetic most of this week ... all of us battling some type of illness. We spent a fortune at CVS in prescriptions, over-the-counter meds and boxes of Kleenex. 

Just enjoying some scrambled eggs!

I promise you, she has a smile on her face about 95% of the time -- such a happy girl. 

Taking some time to read up on gardening ... just like mommy and daddy!

She loves to stand up in the bathtub (even though this is a big "no, no") and drop her toys for you to pick up. Testing her limits, that one is already!

It's a baby squash!!!

I.LOVE.GARDENING. 

Spring has come

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Yesterday was the first official day of Spring!!! Spring and all its beautifulness are in bloom, the birds are chirping, the days are longer and the Springtime sniffles have sprung (at least for this household)! Besides the horrible Spring allergies, I really do enjoy this time of year and there are so many exciting things I am looking forward to this season! Blaykleigh will get to experience her first Easter; even though she is still a tad too young to grasp the importance of it, I am still excited to celebrate it with her. In a few years I plan on doing something like this - Count down to Easter but for now, we will read her this My Little Easter Book and fill a cute little basket with some goodies suitable for an almost one year old girl! Then comes the month of May and our darling Blaykleigh will be turning one -- an event that will definitely be bittersweet. My Mom will be coming out to celebrate her first year of life just as she did her first day of life, that will definitely help take my mind off the fact that my little girl is growing up way too fast. There are officially 7 weeks left of this semester which means I am that much closer to completing my degree!!! Can I get a "hooray"? Then there is our little vegetable & herb garden (a garden post soon to follow). Last weekend we slaved for an entire day filling our raised garden beds full of dirt and then planted the little darlings. Super excited to watch them grow and produce some homegrown goodness! And with the arrival of Spring I am planning on a lot of family fun time outdoors; picnics at the park, walks along the sandy beaches, bbq's with friends, getting Blaykleigh a little patio splash pool ... I think you get the picture! 

Insta-Friday

Had a great week off of school this past week, come Monday ... back to the academic grind! 

"Hey everybody, how was your week?"

Shoe shopping for the little miss. 

Tried a new food this week! Veggies and whole wheat pasta. 

A little friendly game of turtle dominos.

<<Side note: isn't that Swan gorgeous? I just love birds. >>

I took Blaykleigh to the park for the first time this past week. We fed ducks (ooor more like Blayleigh ate the bread) and she even got to swing on the swings! It was a nice afternoon for us two girls.

Caleb came over for a play-date. 

The above is a nightly occurrence -- while B takes a bath, Mannie sits on the side of the tub in desperate attempt to fish out as many bath toys as possible.  

Here we are getting our gardening on! Soooo super excited for my raised garden. Tomorrow we shall plant our little darlings & watch them grow. 

"Alright guys, that's a wrap ... have a fantastic weekend!"

no. 1 -- new york

i love new york 

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i spent an entire summer here in 2005. by far one of the best summers i have ever had. i fell completely head over heels for this city and it's magic. 

i would love to go there again with jason and blaykleigh; thus i am creating a vacation bucket list. number one on the list -- new york city.  

while we are there, we must:

eat at cafe napoli 

this is where i was introduced to gnocchi, gnocchi alla napolitana to be exact ... by far the best i have ever had.

enjoy a frozen hot chocolate at serendipity.

one word: heavenly

take blaykleigh to fao schwarz on 5th avenue. every little kids dream.

an evening in time square -- need i say more?

a day spent in central park -

afternoon picnic

horse-drawn carriage ride

& a trip to the central park zoo

statue of liberty & ellis island boat tour.  

definitely squeeze a broadway show in there. 

spend an early morning bargain shopping on canal street before all the crazies arrive, something i did frequently while there.

get in plenty of crazy cab rides and subway time!!!

a visit to hoboken, nj.

a day at the park for two

I took Blaykleigh to the park for the first time today

and what a grand time it was! 

She had the time of her little life on the swings. 

Oooo my precious, precious baby girl 

...

my love for you is far beyond words. 

and a sweet little video to wrap it up!

i'm gonna

let you 

shine 

9 months old

At this very moment in time, as I write this post you, my precious 'bitty bird are peacefully sleeping on my chest. I am doing all I can to absorb moments like this while you are still little ... while you still fit perfectly on my chest. I love feeling, hearing every breath you take. I love being so close to you that I can smell your sweet scent. I love the look of sleep on your tiny, angelic face. I love the little noises you make as you are far off in dreamland. I love that I have been blessed beyond belief to be living this life with you. Happy nine months precious girl of mine!

At 9 months old, Blaykleigh ...

• weighs an exact 19.0 lbs and is 27 inches in length 
• has not two, not three but four adorable pearly whites amongst a mouth full of gums 
• suffers from an extreme case of the "don't leave my side or I will scream blood curdling cries until you come get me" and has quite the face to match
• is getting on a better sleep schedule; it only took 9 months but whatev 
• serenades the t.v. whenever someone else is on the t.v. singing, rather comical actually
• is pulling up on just about everything possible, won't be long and I think she will be walking
• overall has such a sweet temper, I love when she lays her head on my shoulder -- she wins daddy over each time she lays her sweet little head on top of his shoulder 
• had her first nasty cold that has lasted nearly an entire month, my poor baby girl
• loves playing the 'so big' game and daddy even taught her "good for another wildcat ... touchdown" as she holds both arms straight above her head (brainwashed so soon -- I know)
• chases the cats and the dogs around the house, she has mastered the army crawl at quite the exceptional speed I might add
• is the friendliest baby, absolutely loves any kind attention from each person we encounter and is a litter flirt with the men these days ... hope this isn't a glimpse into a boy crazy future for us (yikes!)
• is horrible at staying still for diaper changes, I must always have some sort of distraction ready so that I can get her to stay still for the mere thirty seconds it takes to change a diaper 
• love love loves when we sing itsy bitsy spider or when I sing to her bushel and a peck
• makes herself laugh when she shakes her head 'no' ... not sure what that is about 

the simple moments in life

Her hands! The innocence of her touch. It's amazing, watching her explore the world around her. As we approached the brightly colored yellow daisies she seemed bashful, turning into me, afraid to touch them. Then I myself reached out and touched the flowers, showing her that it's okay, that there is nothing to be afraid of. Cautiously she stretched her arm out and with her tiny little pointer finger, ever so gently poked at the petals -- before long she opened her hand and batted at the flowers, giggling in amusement. 

... 

It's little moments like this that I hope always stay fresh in my memory. 

Insta-Friday

Oh boy! Oh boy! ... It's Friday. Definitely looking forward to the weekend even if the majority of it consists of me and my text books. 

Cutest little Easter Bunny around. 

Chubby, chubby cheeks. 

Trying out some 'big girl' car seats. Still have a few more pounds to gain before the big switch-a-roo though. 

Caleb and Blaykleigh enjoying story time at the library Tuesday morning ...

... then playing blocks and meeting new friends. 

Can't believe how fast this little girl of ours is growing!

Blaykleigh got a special package in the mail this week from a not so little girl whom I started babying sitting when she was Blaykleigh's age. Crazy to think that if we were in Colorado I would be calling her to babysit Blaykleigh. She is trying to brainwash Jason into moving back to Denver ... good move Linds, good move!

Someone must have been a tad sleepy!

Blaykleigh was looking for books on how to Feng Shui her nursery.

Blaykleigh and daddy at Barnes & Noble getting their smarts on. 

Our Barnes & Noble s.w.a.g. - 2 for Jase, 3 for moi. OH and if any of you are in the healthcare field or looking at going into the healthcare field OR just interested in human anatomy, Gray's Anatomy is legit! I have had this ginormous book for less than 24 hrs and am throughly enjoying all the wonderful, wonderful fun facts on all of our physical parts and how they work ... this book is superb.