Hello World

Reese's 2nd Easter

2014-04-28T20:13:00.003-04:00

Toddler Easter Basket Contents:

-Puzzle

-Dora Stickers

-Hello Kitty Toothbrush

-Chocolate Surprise Egg (one of Reese's favorite things)

- Bracelets

-Egg sippy cup

-Minnie Flashlight

-Minnie nightlight

-Minne sunglasses

-Sesame street flashcards (Reese loves these at school)

-Dora socks

-Doc McStuffins socks

Easter Brunch

2014-04-28T20:07:00.003-04:00

We celebrated Easter on Saturday with my brother and sister. Here are some pictures from the day.

Kids Table

Easter Egg Hunting

My nephew feeding his sister a donut

Popping Tags/Toddler Style

2014-04-28T19:57:00.002-04:00

We went thrift shopping over the weekend. The anticipation of finding great deals was so exciting that I nearly jumped out of the car before Ryan parked. We went to 2 places. 1 consignment shop and 1 thrift shop and got a ton of stuff for Reese for about $50 dollars. The orange ombre gap shirt dress was picked up by my mother in law from another consignment shop.

From the top left: Baby Gap dress, Cherokee shirt and baby gap shorts, cherokee dress, hartstrings denim, cherokee shirt, Osh Gosh sweater, cherokee shirt

Circo sweatshirt, Baby Gap dress, Crew Cuts shirt, polo romper, Cherokee dress, Old Navy Dress

We got all of these clothes (minus the baby gap ombre dress) and 5 pairs of shoes (which I threw in the washing machine) for about $50. If you haven't been thrift shopping, I highly recommend it!

Easter Egg Hunt

2014-04-12T20:27:00.003-04:00

Reese loves watching YouTube videos of random people opening surprise eggs so she's always very excited about finding Easter eggs around the house. For the past 2 weeks, Ryan and I have been hiding at least one egg a day for her to find. It's usually when she gets up in the morning that we have one waiting for her.

This weekend, on Friday night, we had a glow in the dark egg hunt. We put mini glow sticks in her eggs and shut off the lights. She would find them, and then we'd hide them again. We even let her take the eggs in the bath.

Today, we hit about 25 eggs outside. I bought a bunch of small things from PartyCity so they would fit in the eggs: mini elephant, tiger, lion, stamps, stickers, rubber ducks, etc. I skipped the stuff that was a major choking hazard. Reese didn't really understand that you are supposed to collect all the eggs, and then open them after you've found them all. Instead, she opened them as she found them, dropped the contents on the ground, and then ran to the next.

We had so much fun watching her run around the yard! We get to do it all again when my niece and nephew come over next weekend!

How to get your toddler to take medicine

2014-04-07T20:02:00.001-04:00

Reese has had more than 10 ear infections, and every time we have to get her to take antibiotics, it's torture for all of us! Unfortunately, she always has to take the grossest option: Augmentin. The other antibiotics just don't treat her infections. This means more volume per dose and more doses. It's torture to try to get 20 doses of the medicine in over 10 days, and I would dread it every morning and every evening. And since she hates juice and milk, it's tough to mix into a liquid.

We tried everything to get her to take it: Mixing it in an ice cream milkshake, making her a fruit smoothie to drink with a straw, hiding it in applesauce, etc, etc. Only recently did we come up with another method, and it involves a little bit of trickery. And I don't even feel bad.

Reese always wants a bite of whatever I am eating, so I mixed one pouch of a Gogurt (any flavored yogurt would work) in a Squeez'Ems reusable food pouch. I then proceeded to pretend like I was eating the best thing ever and would exaggerate that "Daddy and Reese couldn't have any." Of course, Reese begged for a bite and would eat the entire thing. So every morning and every evening, Ryan and I would use our best acting skills (we were ridiculous) and always pretended like it was "mommy's yogurt." Daddy would beg for a bite and so Reese would too. It also worked well, because the antibiotic is supposed to be taken with food.

My only other suggestion would be to try to talk to your child's doctor about an appropriate antibiotic that has less doses and less volume. The less there is to swallow, the easier to mix and mask in something else. In my opinion, anything more than 3ml is too much and Reese would always spit it out when administered with a syringe. Luckily, the above trick worked for our 20 month old daughter.

The sippy sure medicine cup also gets reviews, but Reese only drinks water (hates juice and milk) so it wouldn't work for us.

Easter Bunny Pancakes

2014-04-06T21:10:00.000-04:00

...takes about 2 minutes to make and makes you feel like the funnest mom ever! (I used frozen blueberry pancakes)

DIY Todder Picture Book

2014-04-05T20:55:00.003-04:00

Last week, one of Reese's daycare teachers mentioned that Reese has been crying for me and Ryan during the day. Then her teacher basically ripped my heart out when she said, "...and she carries this picture around and kisses it." Here's the picture she was talking about. Reese and daddy.

Are you trying to kill me? The picture is folded and faded and scotch taped together. Clearly, my child carries it around a lot. I wanted to run home with her, quit my job, and never look back.

Reese usually loves being at school. She loves all of her friends and especially loves her teachers. I think she either really got used to the extra snuggle time we had recently when we went to the Cape, or she just hasn't been feeling well because she is just getting over an ear infection. Or maybe she's going through a new phase. I hope it's not a phase. I'm happy that her teachers have been telling us what's going on, and I know they comfort Reese during the day, but I still feel terrible. They did say that she had a better day yesterday, so I'm hoping it's the ear infection and not a new, every day thing.

So after the whole picture ordeal, I decided that I was going to make Reese a laminated picture book to keep in her daycare cubby. I spent last night taping pictures onto half sheets of 8.5x11 scrapbook paper.

Today, I went to staples to have the book laminated and bound. There are 3 levels of thickness for laminating. I chose the middle thickness so it was a little more expensive. The cost of the 12 page book (not including the cost of printing the pictures and the price of the scrapbook paper that I already had was $15.50). I could have made a fancier book on Blurb or Snapfish, but I like that the book is laminated and will not be easily destroyed by my toddler.

I love how the book turned out, and Reese loves it too. I'm crossing my fingers that she has a good day at daycare on Monday.

Practical Guest Bathroom Decoration

2014-04-04T18:55:00.000-04:00

I have a tendency to collect a bunch of the travel size toiletries from all the hotels where we stay. I am not a hoarder, I swear. When I saw a giant ball mason jar at The Christmas Tree Shop for $1.99, I knew it would be a perfect storage container for all of these toiletries. The only problem is that I should have gotten two, because it's already filled and we have more travelling planned for this summer!

You can put the container in your guest bathroom, and if you ~~are a hoarder~~ keep stuff like me, your guests will have a bunch of options!

Family hands project

2014-04-03T18:16:00.000-04:00

Walmart sells these sheets of Burlap (3 pack) for $2.99)

Here's what we did with one sheet and 3 different colors of paint (still needs framing):

You have to make sure that each handprint dries completely before putting another one on top.

Toddler Headband Holder

2014-04-02T20:46:00.001-04:00

I've seen a few pins on Pinterest about how to make a headband holder from an oatmeal container. Since Reese has a ton of headbands, this project has been on my list of things to do for a while. When I ran out protein powder recently, I realized that the container was the perfect size for this project.

I already had the mod podge, so all I needed was 2 pieces of scrapbook paper. The stand was something I saw on clearance at Michael's. It's not necessary, but I decided to glue the protein container to it. You could also use a candlestick if you wanted to.

Basically, all I did was cut the EAS lining off of the container, apply mod podge, and stick the scrapbook paper to the container. Finally, I hot glued the container to the pedestal and hot glued a decorative ruffle on the top. The top actually unscrews. I could store elastics or something inside.

The total cost was less than $6 to make. Here's the final result:

Toddler St.Patrick's Day

2014-03-17T23:05:00.000-04:00

Happy St. Patrick's Day

2014

2013

Love,

Reese

Toddler Afternoon at the Children's Library

2014-03-15T21:44:00.007-04:00

I used to frequent the library weekly back before Reese was born. I loved borrowing cooking and fitness, and home decorating magazines. That, of course, was back before Pinterest was around.

I've been meaning to take Reese to the children's library for a while now, and this afternoon, we finally got around to it! We stayed for about an hour. Reese was more interested in playing with blocks, sitting in the chairs, and watching older kids play.

We picked up a bunch of board books for her.

We also got a few CDs that have her favorite songs on them (Wheels on the Bus, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, BINGO, Old MacDonald). She loved listening to her music on the way home.

I got a few magazines for myself and one of the only Nicholas Sparks books that I haven't read, The Best of Me. I'm hoping that I find the time to read them! Instead, I'll probably read the other books I got: Toilet Training in less than a Day, Games to Play with Toddlers, and Positive Discipline.

I was unaware of the $25 overdue fine that was growing since the last time I was there (more than a year ago)! So I'm counting on Ryan to return everything on time.

Family Time on Cape Cod

2014-03-14T23:18:00.002-04:00

Last summer, we took Reese to North Conway, NH and she had a blast at the Kahuna Laguna indoor water park. Since she loved the water so much, I was very excited to learn that The Cape Codder Resort in Hyannis, MA has a similar indoor water park. We loved North Conway, but I'd much rather drive the 30 minutes to Hyannis than the three hours to New Hampshire, so a couple months back we booked a 2 night getaway for our little family. The location of the Cape Codder isn't ideal if you want to be on the beach, but once you're inside, it's great. We totally forgot that we were on a main road that I have traveled a million times on my way to my old job. Reese got a kick out of watching mommy and daddy take turns coming down the water slides.

Two nights was the perfect amount of time to spend at the Cape Codder, and we were lucky to get a room 2 doors away from the indoor wave pool. The hotel itself is pretty big, and we walked around the first floor a couple times with Reese during the trip. There are two restaurants within the hotel as well as a year round outdoor pool and jacuzzi. I would have loved to go to the outdoor pool, especially on the first night we were there, but I didn't want to bring Reese out in the cold. There's also a game room, a gym, and a gift shop that sells really cute stuff.

The indoor water area also has an adults only jacuzzi and a sauna, both of which I got to enjoy while Reese and Ryan napped.

Our room was facing one of the parking lots, which I didn't think I would like. A courtyard room seemed so much more appealing, until I realized the convenience of having our car just a couple steps away from the door!

The only downside of the trip was that the King rooms don't have a refrigerator (only the queen rooms have one). The rooms was nice and big though!

We did a lot of swimming, napping, walking, and snuggling over the 2 days that we were there. The best part about being away from home is that there is no housework to distract me from spending time with my little love.

Low carb pizza

2014-03-12T21:47:00.002-04:00

There are tons of different recipes out there for cauliflower pizza. I tried one recipe a couple years ago, and when it didn't come out great, I thought that was the end of this low carb option for me. I'm so happy that I tried it again, because it worked well this time and tasted great.

After putting 1/2 of a cauliflower in the food processor, I cook the riced cauliflower for 5 minutes in the microwave. While it cooks, I preheat the oven to 375. When it's done in the microwave, you can use a cheese cloth to get out the excess moisture. Lately, I haven't been doing that. Here's what the riced cauliflower looks like:

Next, I mix in 2 egg whites, some italian seasoning, and a little minced garlic. You an also add mozzarella cheese to the "dough" if you want. I left that part out.

Put the mixture on a greased cookie sheet or parchment paper and cook for 30 minutes.

Next, carefully flip it over, add your tomato sauce, cheese, and toppings and cook for another 10 minutes. Then it's done.

Easy and Quick Toddler Meal

2014-03-04T21:09:00.001-05:00

Reese absolutely loves pizza. And since she barely drinks any milk, I am always trying to find ways to get some calcium in her growing body. One of the ways I do that is with cheese! Over the weekend, I picked up a container of crescent rolls, and tonight I made pizza crescents for her. Of course, my camera battery was dead when I wanted to take a picture of the prep. I charged it while the crescents were in the oven and snapped this picture when they were done.

It took about 15 minutes total to prepare and cook. Here's what you do:

-Preheat the oven to 375

-Pull apart the dough into the perforated triangles

- Place the triangles on a greased cookie sheet

-Spoon on some pizza sauce

-Sprinkle on some cheese

-Bake in the oven for 10-12 minutes

The canister made 8 crescent pizzas. Reese had one for dinner with some peas and carrots, and we packed one for her to eat at daycare for lunch tomorrow. The rest (minus 2 that Ryan ate) went into the freezer. They came out so good that I could have eaten all of them myself. I am curious to see if Reese will eat the cold one in her lunch tomorrow. Try them out, and if your kid doesn't like them, I'm sure you will!

DIY Earrings

2014-03-02T20:37:00.001-05:00

My sister-in-law, Julie, has a pair of earrings that I love. I always forget to ask her where she got them so I could buy a pair. I've been looking for something similar for weeks, and when I couldn't find anything (or anything reasonably priced), I decided I would get some stones at the craft store and make some. Last weekend, I spent a total of $12 at Michael's on 5 different kinds of stones. I already had the earring hooks and posts.

Since I no longer have a craft room (it turned into a play room several months back), I threw them in the guest room. Last night, I spent about an hour making 4 different pairs of earrings. I was too lazy to haul all the stuff downstairs to our dining room table, so I made them while standing at the ironing board in the guest room. Don't all busy, tired moms do that!?

I didn't take the time to take any organized pictures of my supplies, so instead I snapped a picture of the crafty chaos.

I didn't even take the time to move the iron while I made them! Am I really that busy? Ok, yes.

Here's what I ended up making in under an hour:

The pair on the far left are similar to the earrings that my sister-in-law has. The two pairs farthest to the right cost a total of $4 to make.

Here's Julie wearing the "inspiration earrings " (and holding my beautiful baby girl). So Jule, where did you get the earrings?

Ikea Latt Makeover

2014-02-22T20:44:00.001-05:00

Ikea sells an unfinished kid's table and chairs for $20.00. Since Ikea is about an hour away, I decided to order the Latt table online. With delivery, the table was still only $35.00. I had all of my supplies that I needed except for 2 pieces of scrapbook paper that I used for the chair tops.

Here's the stock photo of the table assembled out of the box:

Here's the table after my makeover:

It was easier to paint the table and chairs before assembly. I also mod podged the seat of the chair before Ryan assembled it.

The seat top is white on one side and this beige color on the other. I stuck the scrapbook paper to the beige color so that in the future, we can always change it back to white by flipping over the chair top. I traced the chair top onto the scrapbook paper, cut it out, and then glue it onto the chair top with mod podge. I put 2 coats of mod podge on top, letting the first coat dry completely before adding the second. I wouldn't recommend adding any more than 2 coats, because if you do, it will be more difficult to assemble the chair. It's probably a good idea to paint a clear top coat so that the paint will not come off if you clean the table and chairs frequently. We didn't do this though.

We ended up putting the thrifted chair along with table. Reese loves the table and chairs so far and has already had her first tea party! If we weren't planning to use it as a table where Reese will eat, I would have painted the top part with chalkboard paint.

Thrift Store Kid's Chair Makeover

2014-02-22T20:23:00.003-05:00

A couple of weeks ago, I picked up a kid's chair at Savers for $2.99. We were going to have Reese use it until our Ikea Latt table and chairs arrived. I ended up cleaning it and painting it pink (Actual color: Sherwin Williams Party Time). I am so happy with how it came out, and Reese love it too. Since we already had the paint in our basement, it was a really cheap project!

BEFORE

AFTER

Valentines Day Fun

2014-02-19T20:52:00.000-05:00

Reese's Daycare Valentines

I saw a bunch of cute ideas for DIY Valentines on Pinterest and decided to make my own version. I ended up editing a picture at picmonkey.com and printing it at 1 hour photo. I printed enough for all the kids in Reese's class. Then I used a razor to cut 2 slits into the picture and inserted the heart straw (from the dollar store). I loved how they came out! Here's a better shot of the picture.

I also made some heart shaped rice crispy treat heart pops for Reese to bring to daycare for the class party. These took twice as long to create than I originally anticipated, but it's mostly because I got a little crazy with decorating them. The kids loved them and I liked how they came out. One thing I would do differently next time is make sure the treats are thick enough so that they don't crumble when inserting the stick. I decorated them with cookie icing (made by wilton). I bought it in white and used red food coloring to mix other shades of pink and red.

Here's some valentine art made by my sweet valentine.

Pretty In Pink First Birthday Party

2013-08-06T21:18:00.002-04:00

Reese's first birthday party was nearly 1 month ago, and I've been meaning to write this post for a while. The day was one of the hottest and most humid days of the summer. I was very disappointed with the weather, because her party was supposed to be outside in a party tent. Ryan and his cousin assembled the tent in under 2 hours on Saturday and the next morning, I woke up to decorate the tent. Even at 8am, it only took 5 minutes before I felt like I was melting in the heat. I knew it was going to be tough to have everyone outside. We ended up buying a party tent online because I couldn't see spending money to rent one when we could buy one for a little more than the cost of renting. I'm glad we had the tent, but we ended up spending a good chunk of time indoors with the air conditioner.

The theme for her party was Pretty In Pink and it came out much like I envisioned. We got 3 dozen pink and hot pink balloons from iParty. The other decorations were from Walmart and iParty: pink and hot pink streamers, tissue balls, pink tablecloths. I also had a cake smash photo of Reese printed and hung it with her "I am 1 banner." that I made out of scrapbook paper.

Here are some pictures of the tent

More cake smashing

And finally, the back of Reese's birthday bloomers that I made for her!

DIY First Birthday Cake Smash

2013-07-20T21:32:00.002-04:00

I let Reese smash her cake 11 days before her actual birthday, because I wanted to be able to take unlimited pictures of her without having to worry about disrupting her birthday party.

The night before the cake smash, after Reese went to bed, I worked on setting up the area for the smash. Initially, I had planned on using a tablecloth as a solid backdrop (my alternative was wrapping paper). I thought that the solid backdrop was have a more professional feel and also contain the cash smash mess. But after taking a few (more like 120) test pictures of it, I decided that I liked how things looked without it. Turns out, I didn't like that the folds in the disposable table cloth were visible. I also thought it was too pink. So I took down the pink backdrop, taped the banner to my dining room wall and took a ton more test shots moving the cake stand forward and back to determine the best placement for the next day. My husband actually asked if I was losing my mind.

I also set it up the night before so I could figure out how high to hang the paper "I'm One" banner. Had I waited until the morning when Reese was awake, I never would have gotten anything done! I'm glad I set it up prior to the actual shoot and left time to take some trial pictures. In hindsight, had I left the cloth on the floor, when Reese crawled to the cake, she probably would have torn the entire backdrop off the wall.

I got her cake from the local grocery store and put it on a plastic cake stand. I didn't want to have to worry about her getting hurt with a glass cake stand. The other option was to just sit the cake on a charger on the floor. I thought she was going to tear into the cake way more than she did. I guess you never know what will happen. The funniest part was when she left a cake trail of handprints throughout the kitchen because she kept crawling away from the cake. I chose to do the cake smash after she woke up from her nap, because that is usually when she is in the best mood and has more patience for my taking lots of pictures.

Tips:

If possible, set up the photo shoot area the night before. This will allow your baby not to get bored and irritable before the cake smash even starts.
Take the cake out of the fridge about 15 minutes before you are ready to start. I found that Reese didn't really like the feeling of cold cake, it was a little more difficult to smash because the cake was more firm.
If you're using any kind of backdrop or pictures, take a few test shots to make sure that your banner will be visible once the baby is in the picture.
Wear scrubby clothes during the shoot. You don't want to ruin anything nice when you pick up your frosting-covered baby afterwards.
Have a bath ready for after the shoot. Cake and frosting are impossible to clean with baby wipes!
The cake smash happens fast so don't worry as much about zooming in and zooming out with your lens. You can always take a farther away shot and crop it later.
If possible, try to time the cake smash for when baby is both rested and hungry.

Must Take Pictures:

Cake before
Cake after
Baby first observing cake
Baby first tearing into cake
Close up of cake covered face

1 Year Old

2013-07-16T18:30:00.000-04:00

Dear Reese,

On warm summer nights and early mornings when it's drizzling outside, I always think of the night that I went into labor. It was just before midnight on the night before your birthday. I have never felt such excitement and anticipation. Riding in the car toward the Cape on route 3 that night, I couldn't wait to finally see your face and hold you in my arms. I made the same trip hundreds of times on my way to work, but on this night, the 30 minute drive seemed to take forever. I kept thinking about how it was the last trip onto the Cape that I would take before meeting you.

I knew that I would love being a mom, but nothing in the world is better than being YOUR mom. I am so proud that you are mine.You are my baby, my girl, my daughter, my world. I was your mom for the 40 weeks before you were born, but when I finally got to see your sweet face, you changed me forever. I will never be the same now that I know what a mother's love feels like. Every day, you get bigger and smarter, but you will always be my baby girl. On July 16, 2012 at 12:46pm, the world was blessed with your arrival and my heart grew double in size. Happy First Birthday my sweet, giggly,beautiful, smart girl. Thank you for the best year of my life.

Love,
mama

A letter from Daddy written on July 11, 2013:

Dear Reese,

In five days you will be turning one. What that means to me is that for the last 12 months of my life I have been the happiest I have ever been. You coming into my life has opened my eyes to feelings that i did not know existed. Your mommy and I talk about you all day and when we are not with you we tell each other how much we miss you.

The day you were born...in fact the minute you were born my life changed. There is no better feeling in the world than looking at your face while you sleep. Most nights when you are sleeping your mommy tries to get me to let her go pick you up and bring you in bed with us. We want you to sleep well but we just want to hold you close to us.

There will come a day when you will want your space from daddy and mommy but for now you always want to be held. There really is nothing more that I want than to hold you close to me. Some mornings either right after you wake up or during your morning nap that we cuddle in the recliner and fall asleep. Those moments are what make me smile all throughout the day.

You are so enthusiastic when you learn new things and you will do them constantly. Eventually you get bored with something and you move on to the next new exciting thing and I cannot help but smile to know that your little brain is growing.

You like to eat everyone's sandals. I don't know why but you do. You will seek them out and try to eat them. Hopefully by now you have learned against that.

Your mommy and I have had so many great memories since the day you were born. The best part of all of this is that they just keep getting better. Every day I feel something new and it is all because of you.

Love Daddy

LIKES:
Eating flip flops and shoes
Your baby doll
Pushing your baby carriage
Books
Climbing stairs
Being held
Balloons
Looking at pictures

DISLIKES:
The vacuum
Getting dressed

First WORDS:
Dada
Mama
Hi Baby
Nice
Bubba
Hey hey hey
Nah

NEW THINGS YOU'VE LEARNED THIS PAST MONTH:
Walking
Pointing to daddy's nose
Giving hugs

Reese's First Birthday Outfit

2013-07-05T20:49:00.001-04:00

I was so tempted to buy a $50 cake smash outfit on Etsy for Reese's first birthday, but my husband was oddly able to talk me out of it. If I didn't find this super cute Birthday girl shirt at Kohls for $12 (but on sale), then I probably would have just got her a similar 3-piece outfit on Etsy. I ended up making the bloomers. They originally came with a dress that Reese wore on Easter. I found the iron on ONE at Michaels for $2 (with 40% coupon). I bought the polka dot ribbon at Jo Ann Fabris and hot glued it on. The hat is from IParty. The entire outfit cost about $15 so I ended up getting Reese a hot pink lace romper on Etsy too---you know, in case I change my mind about what I want her to wear. Reese looks so cute in the lace romper, but she isn't really impressed with the fabric. When I tried it on her, she kept pulling it away from her body. Good thing I have the cute, comfy outfit above. I can't wait to see her in it on her birthday!

Reese's Personalized First Birthday Chair

2013-07-05T20:32:00.002-04:00

Will birthdays ever be the same since the arrival of Pinterest? Pinterest came out before my daughter was born, so I guess I am both lucky and cursed at the same time. I'm lucky to have all sorts of creative ideas but cursed because I feel like I have to live up to all the creativity that is out there!

I have been seeing so many cute pins of both personalized chairs and birthday banners. I ended up buying this mini adirondack chair above from Walmart for $4.97. The chair lists that it's for 1 1/2 years + and up to 42 lbs. I also bought 2 oz bottle of white acrylic paint. I already had a mini paintbrush. It took me less than 10 minutes to paint her name on the chair, and I'm happy with the result for the $7 I spent.

I probably could have just bought a banner on Etsy, but I was pinspired, so I dug out some scrapbooking supplies that I had in my craft room and made the banner above. The ribbon and tulle are actually scraps from other projects. Because I had all the stuff already, the banner cost my pretty much nothing. So there you have it--a cute little photo prop, chair, and decorative banner that I can use for Reese's Pretty in Pink first birthday party. Not bad for $7, right?

11 Months

2013-06-16T21:34:00.001-04:00

Dear Reesie pants,

Today you are 11 months old. It's Daddy's first father's day and we just got back from your first trip. We went to North Conway, NH and stayed at the Red Jacket Mountain View Resort. We shopped at the outlets, went to Storyland, and Kahuna Laguna indoor water park. You loved swimming inside and outside, and you really loved the carousel at Storyland.

You haven't taken any steps on your own, but you have been walking with your baby doll carriage and shopping cart. We brought your baby carriage walker to New Hampshire and let you walk around the hotel with it. It was so cute! You do a few other new things now too including sharing food with me and daddy. You even feed us. You carry your baby everywhere. You're the best mini mommy. You also pretend that everything is a phone and you put it up to your ear and say, "hi". You've used mommy's scarf, a bag of cookies, a facecloth, and even just your hand as a phone. It makes mee laugh every time. You giggle a lot especially when someone looks at you really fast. You also turn your head fast and do it back. You shake your head 'no' when you don't want something, such as food. The best news this month is that you finally sleep through the night. It took. You until you we're almost 10 1/2 months old, but now it's the best.

Mommy got a new job so this week will be the first Wednesday that we won't spend together all day. I'm going to miss you SO much. My heart hurts already.

Every month we get to see more of your personality and we love you so so much. Next month, you will be ONE! So big. Time is flying by, unlike when you were growing in my belly and I was waiting to meet you. I can't believe the amount of joy you give to me. I love being your mommy! Happy 11 months my happy, silly baby girl!

Love,
Mama