2012 Part 1

Click here to view this photo book larger

Visit Shutterfly.com to create your own personalized photobook.

I know that I have neglected the blog for some time now, but hopefully this will give you a quick synopsis of our year. till next time...which I hope isn't too far away!

The Year Erin Was Born

Click here to view this photo book larger

You'll love Shutterfly's award-winning photo books. Try it today.

WHAT?

My last post was March 10??? Oh.My.Gosh!

1. I can't believe I have negledted the blog that long.
2. SO MUCH has happened in the last...lets' say....almost 4 months.
3. We are getting ready to celebrate Erin's 1st Birthday!

Whew! I will make an honest effort to post some more tonight! I'll try to get everyone up to speed!

New Toys and Wonders

Erin has a little CareBear that she absolutely adores. It dawned on me the other day that I had kept a few of my old stuffed animals for the day that I could pass them on to my child. My aunt had given me a large CareBear quite a few years ago and I decided to unveil it for Erin this past weekend. Boy was it a hit. It now stays in her pack n play and is seems as though this is her friend when she is playing. I'm so happy I kept it after all of these years!

After our play time in the pack n play, we decided to set up Joe's new surprise for Erin too. He had been eyeing the big block foam floor mats that you can build with too and we decided to put those together and have some play time. Boy was that a hit...so much that we decided to have a snack and some down time too!

8 Months Old

8 Months have come and gone. No more little baby. This little girl is full of personality. She greets you with a smile every morning and after every nap. Toys and bath time are the highlight of her day. Although she can't crawl yet, she will find a way to get where she wants to go. Her boldness is definitely giving her a Type "A" personality already which only scares us of what lies ahead. Her daycare teacher says she acts like 8 months going on 2 years old. Independence is definitely her middle name. There isn't anything shy about this little gal. She will definitely let you know when she is not happy - please see picture 2 below! We are enjoying the new found wonders each and every day with her and continue to be amazed at how quickly she is changing. 

Growing Up

At the end of Erin's first week of daycare, they asked me if I was aware that Erin could hold her own Bottle. She has been trying to do so for a long time, but I guess I had never actually "let" her feed herself her bottle. That's my snuggle time with her. They said that she fights them at daycare over feeding herself and that they usually end up allowing her. I had to see for myself and this is what I got:

When did my little baby become so grown up?

Day Care Changes

Joe and I decided to make a change in Erin's Daycare a couple of weeks ago. There were a lot of factors in our decision and we couldn't be happier with Erin's new place! It's a smaller, more intimate daycare with only four infants. We are hoping that this will help her with a lot of the colds and sicknesses that she had been experiencing over the last few months. She also was not napping well and it was causing our evenings to be a little bit of a nightmare with an over tired baby.

Within the first week, we noticed a huge difference. Naps were back on schedule. Her eating habits had improved and our evening time went back to a happy, restful baby!

I got a call at the end of her first week asking if it was okay if Erin's picture and name could be in the local newspaper. Of course, we happily obliged and picked up a copy just a couple of nights ago! Proud moment for a parent when your kid's picture is in the paper! Thank you "Little Big Steps" for making our daughter happy. Happy baby = happy parents!

Play Time with Abbie

Flexibility

I had to capture in a picture how amazingly flexible babies are. It amazes me every day when she grabs her feet and shoves them in her mouth and has no problem doing so.

Bathtime

Bath time is one of Erin's favorite activities of the day. As you can see from the pictures, she has two favorite parts:

1. Her turtle that goes straight into her mouth as soon as we get into the bathtub

2. Trying to get OUT of the bathtub seems to be more fun than staying inside.

She is so mobile and keeps trying to crawl and stand but hasn't quite figured out how to do either. The next few months, I'm sure life will change once again as our ever moving child decides to move just a tad more.

Visit with the Grandparents

My parents were able to come in for a weekend. Ironically, it was a great weekend as Joe and I had plans to attend a Hockey game and it was President's Day and Erin didn't have Daycare. My parents arrived on Friday night and got to spend the entire weekend with all of us.

On Saturday, Joe and I headed to Philly to watch the Flyer's play (with an unfortunately loss) and they got to spend the entire day with her. They got to play and hang out and spend some quality time together while Joe and I had a "date" day. We even got to go to our favorite restaurant, PF Changs, for dinner. That was the first place that Joe and I had dinner together back in Seattle. It was a great day for all of us.

On Sunday, we all just got to hand out and enjoy each other's company. Monday, my parents stayed again and got to babysit Erin while Joe and I went to work. I think we all enjoyed the time we got to spend with them and I know they enjoyed the time they got to spend with their granddaughter.

Thanks again Mom and Dad for helping us out and we hope you had fun!

Happy Valentines Day

7 Months Old

Erin's 6 Month Photos

Love my little Buddha Baby and those baby toes!! I can't get enough of her!

Just Thinking

I"m sitting here doing work and it dawns on me....Erin turned 7 months old today and I haven't posted anything in AGES!!! It makes me sad when I log online and I haven't posted anything. Yes, we are super busy and Erin is changing every day, I just don't seem to think about blogging when all is said and done every day. And here I am, realizing that my child has just reached another month milestone and I didn't even remember. What kind of mother am I? Yes, that means that I will be in search of an amazing outfit for her monthly photo op tomorrow!

It has been a very busy month. I wish I could say that we have done a lot...but heck! I can't even remember what we have done.

We did have a few illnesses that really made our household fall for a few days. Erin caught a bug at daycare and let me say that it was by far something that I never want my child to experience ever again. It would seriously take paragraphs to describe to you how bad it was, but I'll try to keep it to the point. She developed a bug that gave her diarrhea. This made her have many, many dirty diapers throughout the day (at which I had sent her to daycare not realizing how bad it was!) When I picked her up, she started crying and continued until I took her upstairs only to see that she had developed a raw and blistered bottom from all of the dirty diapers. This lasted for about 5 days. Fevers.Dirty Diapers.No Sleep.No fun. Every time she had a dirty diaper, we had to get a bath because her bottom was too raw to wipe. It was horrible.

THEN...two weeks later, Joe and I came down with food poisoning and we found out Erin had another ear infection. All in the same day. We were a disaster. Thankfully, I'm hoping that February is a new month with far fewer sicknesses in our household. I guess I do have somewhat of a reason for not keeping up with everything.

So, off for now and I"ll post a few pics. Promise.

Big Girl

As I mentioned, we took a short walk to visit Aunt Marion this afternoon to show off Erin's new Steelers jersey. Well, Daddy bought Erin a new car seat (Britax convertible car seat) because she is just getting a tad too big and heavy for her infant car seat. She also has been sitting in a high chair for the last week too. I decided for our walk to just sit her in the stroller. Boy was she thrilled! She held on to the sides and talked all the way there and back. I think she is going to start to enjoy walks on a whole new level!

Let's Go Steelers

During our run with fantasy football this fall/winter, Joe and I noticed that our daughter had this unusual attachment to the Pittsburgh Steelers when they were on television. We would laugh at how attentive she got and how she would sit and literally watch the game. At first, we thought it was fluke, but week after week, she would sit and watch the Black and Gold or the "Bees" as we have nicknamed them.

Neither of us have a favorite NHL team, so we find it funny that she would pick 1. a Pennsylvania team and 2. Actually like professional football. It also just so happens to be our Aunt Marion's favorite team as well.

This past weekend, we found a Steelers Jersey while we were out shopping and thought it to be pretty fitting for our little Steeler's fan. Sure enough, she watched with intent and enjoyed her Sunday night football. (even if they did lose!) Since Aunt Marion lives in our development, we took a short walk down to visit and show off her new outfit!

Aunt Marion showing Erin how to wave the Terrible Towel

Snuggling with Uncle Billy

It's Game Time

6 months Old

Yep! I say it every month. Can you believe Erin is 6 months old already? Time is flying by and I wish I could just slow it down just a little bit!

We are moving in the fast lane. Erin is now able to roll over, sit up by herself and officially has 2 teeth. We know she has two more that are ready to come in any time now. She had developed such a personality and we are loving every minute of every day with her. It's amazing to watch her discover new things. Her laughter fills our day with Joy. (Although teething at night - I could do without!)

She has the most addicting smile and lights up to any person that will glance her way. When Joe walks in the room, she gives him the huge gummy grin and giggles in delightment to see her daddy! Erin definitely loves snuggle time with her mommy. She will do anything to get me to snuggle with her on the couch! I'm trying to enjoy this time as long as possible, because I'm sure that this will pass over time.

Overall, another month and more milestones have passed. We will have to see what this month brings.