SNEAK PEEK!!!

"My man hard at work!"

"Living room color for accent wall!"

Ok, so Jay has been working really really hard on the kitchen and my job, besides cleaning, was to pick out colors. I have finally did it! I went COLORFUL! I know some of y'all aren't going to like it but I love color and I went for it. Here is just a preview so far.

Thanks to Dawn & Brian for all of their help & support! We love y'all!

GIRLS NIGHT!

"Where's the kids' menu, please?"

"Mmmmmm!"

"This is AWESOME!"

"The Girls!"

Dad went to the annual beerfest...so we had a GIRLS NIGHT! We went out with Aunt Caitlin & Aunt Lisa for dinner. Nola was so well behaved...as usual... until she showed us her magic trick and pulled the napkin right out of the bread basket....unfortunately she needs more practice...bread went flying everywhere...it was so funny I almost peed my pants!

Gymboree

"Mom & Me"

"What is this bouncy thing?"

"Mom watch me shake my shakers!"

"This is Brett who reminded me of Tripp...He was so cute!"

"Don't worry mom...they wash these first!"

"Mom can you put this in your purse for me?"

Yeah! We finally made Grymboree. I have to be honest that I was a little afraid because I thought God didn't want us to go since we kept having to reschedule due to a mom with no sense of direction, ER visit, and the SUPER bug which managed to attack everyone Nola came into contact with.

Despite all of that, we went anyway. There were 4 girls and 2 boys from 6-10 months, everyone with their moms. Right away Nola started squealing to see other kids and when I put her down she went right over to the other kids to hug them....a little aggressively...one started to cry. I started talking to a few of the moms, one of which lives in my neighborhood that I didn't know ..all who LOVED Gymboree. They really made me feel comfortable...even though I screamed NEWBIE right away when I walked in with my camera. We sat in a circle with a young bubbly teacher singing tons of songs and stating the objectives for each activity. Nola kept crawling after one boy who reminded me of Tripp. He was crawling all over the place...I guess that's why his mom was so skinny.

Overall, Nola seamed to love Gymboree. I started to panic however, when COMPETITIVE MOM kicked in and I felt sad that all of the other kids new exactly what to do and they were clapping and laughing the whole time and Nola was kind of like what is going on here. All of the other moms knew all of the songs and the moves and I didn't. I can definitely see Nola flourishing in this atmosphere, but of course I feel guilty that I can't take her during the week and I can't justify spending $70 a month for 4 times. I definitely think we are going to sign up for the summer and I want to try one more place before then. So, we'll keep you posted!

Crazy Weekend!

"Oh No! I crushed my house!"

"Who says you can't be happy when you're sick."

"Sneak Peek!"

"I thought a teething cookie might make me feel better...but NOPE...came right out!"

"Who's that big STUD?!"

"I am the happiest girl in the world when I want to be!"

"Daddy....I want it NOW!"

That says it all! We got a lot accomplished on the house. Saturday, Jay & I raked and picked up leaves in the yard. Keith came over and he and Jay knocked down the side fence in our backyard and it really opened up the yard. Then, they took out all the old tiles on the pool. I cleaned and pressure washed the sun house. It came out really nice.

Nola on the other hand, woke up Saturday and threw up and then had diarrea all weekend. It was so sad :(

Sunday, Jeff came over to help put lights up in the kitchen. I was playing with Nola and all of a sudden I didn't feel well and Jay said he didn't either. WE WERE ALL SICK! Poor Jeff just came to help and we were all throwing up. Sorry Jeff!

Monday, I felt like we were in Willy Wonka (I was Grandma Josephine and Jay was Grandpa Joe. HAHA!) Nola was so cuddly and would crawl right up and put her head on mine as if to say, "You're okay Mom!" It was so sweet! Luckily, Jay & I feel better today, but poor Nola is still working it out. And she's gone through about 100 outfits over the last few days. Poor Baby!

We are wishing Kelly Fleniken Riley a fast and healthy delivery. She is being induced tonight so we will put pics up when we get them.

First Trip To The ER :(

"Nola & Dad in the ER...my pacifier will conceal my wounds"

" They gave me this cool bracelet and they gave me mail to play with to pass the time."

"Our little ray of sunshine showing off her fat lip...we took off her
jacket cause there was so much blood."

"Still smiling despite all the drama!"

Well we have reached another first, unfortunately it is not one we wanted to happen. Saturday afternoon I was changing Nola on her changing table and I reached down to open the diaper genie and she came tumbling down. I caught her before she hit the ground but she hit her face on the diaper genie. She was bleeding A LOT so I grabbed her boo boo bunny out of the freezer, her diaper bag and told Jay we had to go to the hospital. I thought he was going to pass out. When we got to the ER the bleeding had slowed, Nola was still crying, but there was this really nice couple sitting next to us and they kept saying, "Accidents happen all the time and she's going to be fine." It was like God put them there on purpose and I felt a tiny bit of comfort until the nurse said, "What happened?" and I completely lost it. I couldn't talk at all. She said, "She's your first right?" Everyone was so comforting. The doctor came in and told us she tore her frenulum (the skin in between her top gums and lip). He said they actually cut this when kids have spacing in their teeth. A doctor from dental came and checked her and made sure her gums were all good, I was scared she was going to have rotten teeth. Then a plastic surgeon came and at first told us she needed stiches then quickly changed his mind when he cleaned her up. When we left, 3 1/2 hours later, all the nurses were going crazy saying how cute Nola was and she was definitely eating it up and put on her usual show.

All in all, it could have been much worse. We are very lucky, Thank God! I cried for 2 days but Nola seems much better. I took her for a check up today and she is healing well. Now, I am changing her on the floor! Hopefully we will never need to go back there!

Party at John's House!

We had a great day at Aunt Siobhan's today visiting with Aunt Melissa, John, and Liam. Nola hung out with John, playing with all of his toys and then we went outside to play some more. Nola LOVES kids but we don't have too many around us. John really wiped her out because she fell asleep before we even pulled out of the driveway. Thanks for having us!

"John, Can you show me what cool toys you have?"

" Nola, I have trucks....any kind you want, bulldozers,
dump truck,back hoe, pickup truck, you just let me know!"

" I think I like your train set!"

"Oh man! You have SOOOO many toys to choose from!"

" Hi Liam, HELLO!"

"Hi Mom! Can you get me one of these slides for my birthday?"

9 Month Dr. Visit

Once again we can't believe our little girl has grown a month older. We watch her do new things every day and we are thrilled, yet we look at old pictures with wonder and amazement as to how she has changed so much right before our eyes. As I waited to be called at the dr.'s two brand-new newborns came in and I just couldn't believe that Nola had once been that small. I find myself now thinking those annoying words, "Enjoy every minute. It goes by sooooo fast."

At her appt. Nola weighed 17lbs. 14 oz. (30%), height 28 1/2 in (75%), and head circumference 17 3/4 in. (80%). Dr. Kahn said he isn't worried about the weight and that she should catch up by her 1 year visit. Nola got 2 shots: her last polio and last Hep B. Yeah that it was only 2 compared to the usual 5, but Nola has still been cranky today. We put her down a little early.

I am enjoying my 3 day spring break. Tomorrow we go to Aunt Siobhan's so both Mommy & Nola can have a play date and Friday we go to Mommy & Me Gymboree. Stay tuned for updates. We are very jealous that Uncle David & Tripp are in New Orleans. We wish we were there. Miss y'all LOTS and can't wait to see you in May!

To try to appease her, we let her play with the mail. This is what happened!

Uncle Jeff & Little Jeff!

Saturday night we went to Uncle Jeff & Aunt Lisa's because Uncle Jeff got sworn in as a Parsippany policeman. We're so happy he's going to be in our neck of the woods. Congrats!

Guess who's got 2 teeth now??

"PLEASE...Somebody HELP!"

"I can't stay mad too long..I love to smile too much!"

Nola's two bottom teeth have now sprouted. They are so cute and she loves to brush her teeth every day. Let's hope this continues! Sorry if the pictures aren't too good...you try holding a 9 month old's mouth open when she's trying to eat.

Nola has her 9 month checkup on Wednesday morning so we'll keep y'all posted!

PLAY DATE!

"Nola & Peter...He's a little shy!"

" Nola & Lily...soooo cute!"

Today after school Nola & I went to the track meet at the high school where we met up with Mr. James, Ms. Clare, Ms. Marlene, Peter & Lily. It was a little colder than we expected but the kids had a fun time anyway. Nola shared her puffs with Peter and Lily said she will come over to teach Nola some new tricks.

TGIF tomorrow! It's been a CRAZY week!

P.S. Nola's second tooth has come through but I waiting for them to grow a little before we try to get a tooth shot. Maybe this weekend!

FIrst Greens!

Nola had broccoli and brown rice tonight and she really loved it. It is fun to watch her dig in but I can't believe how messy she gets. I found broccoli in her pockets at bath time.HAHA