Ice Cream Social!

Since I'm only home for the summer I am trying to have Nola do as much socializing as possible with other kids. The Parsippany mom's club has been fantastic so far and we are meeting a lot of nice moms and kids. Today we went to an ice cream social. Unfortunately most of the kids were older, but Nola & Sydney had lots of fun feeding goldfish to the dog and they even got to eat some vanilla ice cream.

Sydney with her goldfish...the dog just jumped up and stole one!

Some of the other kids enjoying their sundaes.

"What is THAT? I've never seen it before."

"Mmmmmm!"
Her new favorite word for everything!
Look at the dog trying to make his move!

Lunch with the Girls followed by a Playdate!

Aunt Peppy called and said since everyone was home (Aunt Heather teaches and Grandma played hookie)...let's do lunch! Nola & I never turn down a lunch invitation so we were in.

"OK, I'm Ready! I know where Elmo is..."

"Why is our food taking so long? I'll just read to occupy some time."

"Ooh a pickle! This feels GREAT on my new teeth!"

"I'm just checking to see how much is left."


After lunch Nola & I headed to Sydney & Carlye's for a playdate. Nola LOVES going there because they have lots of cool toys. Why does every kid want what the other kid has??

Caryle & Nola playing dress up. Don't you love the headband!!

Playing nicely!

"Hold on....I'm looking for my fanny pack!"

This girl can't go without her sunglasses these days!

Thanks Atwells for such a fun time. You'll have to come swimming soon!

12 month checkup!

We were a few weeks late for our 12 month checkup, but it gave Dr. Kahn a chance to see how well Nola is walking. She is an on the go baby and always wants to be down now! This is what I've been waiting for so I can burn some extra calories. HAHA! She is also saying a few words, Hi, Bye (with an accent), Mama (finally) and up. She is really trying to mimic what Jay and I are doing and saying. This is a really FUN stage!

Dr. Kahn said Nola is doing great. She is a little over 20lbs. which is 30-35 %, her height is 29-1/2 in. which is 65% (we are surprised with this one and are taking bets to see when she'll fall below average..she's got no chance to be tall but miracle do happen!) and her head circumference is 18 1/2 in. which is 95% (cause her brain is sooo big :).

Nola got 3 shots (chicken pox, pneumococcus, and Hep A). She was a trooper! At 15 months she is supposed to get her MMR shot which is the controversal one regarding a connection to autism. We are thinking about pushing it back or possibly even getting them separately. Let us know if you have any advice or suggestions.

Hanging out on Sunday!

Uncle Matt & Aunt Kate invited us over today to eat and hang out. Aunt Kate had a fun time running after Nola. THANKS!

Matt & Jay are clearly having a deep conversation...about XBOX...and y'all are how old?

"Dad!!!! I really need you to pay attention to me..RIGHT NOW!!!"
"Not now Bird, Daddy's busy!"
"But Mom said, you are supposed to spend quality time with me!"
"Oh, we are Bird, this is how Mommy & I spend quality time together all the time!"

Runnin' Runnin' Runnin'

Nola & I made it back safely to NJ and we went to my in-laws for dinner. Everyone really missed Nola & we missed everyone too. When we got to our house, Nola & I were both looking around awkwardly because were gone for so long. When Nola got to her room she smiled and went right over to pull out all of her books..it was cute!

Saturday we were up and at it early. We had a big day ahead. Nola, Jay & I went to Aunt Caitlin's baby shower. Nola was running all over the place and entertaining all of the guests. We had a great time!

Caitlin did a display shower which I thought was really neat...no presents were wrapped so Caitlin could spend more time with her guests and you save sooooo much paper!

Loved the onesies on the clothes line!

Nola the entertainer...Ole'

We definitely think Caitlin is having a girl!

After Cailtlin's shower we were off to Jeff and Lisa's for a BBQ. Look how cute little Jeffery is!

Lisa & her little man

Nola & Jeff's nephew, Kevin. He's a character!

This was after he shoved his eighth deviled egg in his mouth...OMG...glad he wasn't coming home with me...HAHA!

"Yoo Hoo Girls!!! I'm playing beer pong right now!"

Jeff's Grandma playing beer pong...sorry the picture sucks!

Only 30% chance of Rain!

It was our last full day in NO and we still had lots on our TO DO list. We headed across the lake to visit Aunt Barbara one last time, then headed to Home Depot for carpet for Mike's new house and that's where all the trouble began. They said we had to go to a different branch so we decided to go to the carousel in city park.
Last time Nola was on the carousel she LOVED it, but this time she was a little hesitant. She is starting to get scared of things that look real. I guess it is just a stage.

After the carousel we got in line to ride the train, but the conductor said he was out of service right when it was our turn. We decided to kill time by walking through story land.

Nola on Little Miss Muffet's Spider

The Little Mermaid

Not sure of this story but Nola wouldn't get close to the guy.

She was afraid of the lamb until she realized that he wasn't real. Then she was petting him.

The future teacher in the school house! Look how comfortable she looks!


The story continues....The clouds suddenly rolled in and we RAN for cover while I was freaking out because I thought we were going to get electrocuted. After 30 minutes we decided to run to the car and head over to the zoo to meet Carrie and Conner cause they said it wasn't raining there. After running to the other Home Depot, Carried called and said it was storming there. We decided to cancel since we are all soaked and dirty. So, we went to lunch at Superior Grill and headed back to Covington for one last FANTASTIC seafood dish...BOILED CRABS! Mike, Brandi, Nanny, Paran & G-Momma all came over to hang out on our last night.

What a day! We really thought it was going to be the best day for our outings (only 30% chance of rain...that's a definite in New Orleans!) but I guess we will wait till Christmas. It will be cooler anyway!!!

Round and Round and Round we Geaux!

All of a sudden it seems that Nola's walking has taken off. All she wants to do is walk now. She is like the Energizer Bunny! She walks from the den to the the kitchen to press the ABC button, claps her hands, walks back to the den and then does it all over again. FUNNY! And she is getting into everything. She has found the spot where my dad keeps his cokes and keeps pulling them out one by one and putting them on the floor. Nola is also fascinated with my mom's windows. She walks to the window and tries to peak under the blinds. I wish y'all could see it. I think I'm going to have my hands full!

Baby McKenzie is coming soon...but not quite yet!

Today my mom, Nola & I rode/walked over to my cousin Tracey's house. She is due with a baby girl, McKenzie Anne, in just a few days! We went to check out her new house and nursery. We are still hoping she has the baby by Friday but I doubt it!

Tracey and Tim decided to do a Nemo theme for the baby. Nola wanted to touch the mobile. That's funny because she was never really into her own.

Tracey & Nola

McKenzie's new clothes

Nola was trying out all of her new toys. She was dancing to the music!

GOOD LUCK TRACEY & TIM and it really IS worth every bit of the pain!

FIRST VACATION AT THE BEACH!

The night before we left for Destin, Jay & I met up with Heath, Erica, & Lola in a Wendy's parking lot in Hammond. They were on their way to their new house in Canton, MS. It was really nice seeing them and we wish them the best of luck. They also gave Nola her first LSU cheerleading outfit. It's a little big but we LOVE it!!! Thanks guys!

Tuesday afternoon we were off to Destin. We stopped along the way at Mellow Mushroom in Alabama. Yum! Yum! Nola loved everything even the lemon!

Right when we got there we got our bathing suits on and went swimming. Nola absolutely loved the pool. Wednesday morning we went to the beach really early so it wouldn't be too hot. Nola was funny looking at the sand at first. She looked confused but then started crawling around. When we took her by the gulf she really didn't like it. I think she was scared of the waves. A previous storm brought seaweed and jellyfish so we didn't really go in the gulf, we stayed by the pool.

Nola & Big Daddy


Thursday I took a ride with my mom to pick up Dave, Christy & Tripp from the airport. Once we finally made it back (after shopping) we took the kids to the beach. Since it was in the afternoon we put them in their sunblock sunsuits. These are great inventions! They had a great time playing together.

Of course after getting sand all over them, we put them both in the tub. Tripp bit into the soap which was pretty funny.

Then, almost simultaneously the kids seemed to get fever and were cranky. Poor Tripp was worse than Nola, but we had one bad night where Nola was screaming and Jay & I had to take her for a ride in the car to get her to fall asleep. We were both kind of freaking out because she doesn't usually act that way, but when we woke up Friday morning we saw that Nola had a tiny piece of one tooth popping through on top and a little while later Aunt Christy found a bottom tooth coming through as well. Jay said he hoped they were ALL coming in because she was screaming so much! We think Tripp is getting his one year molars but nothing yet!

Who cares if Nola isn't feeling 100%, her dad still likes to torture her. Poor Baby! Mom came to the rescue!

Nola hanging out with Aunt Elizabeth. The Giambrones always come for a good time. We played cards and Rock Band. That was really fun and I'm really glad I didn't break your drums.

Family pic!

Tripp & Nola celebrating their 1st birthday together. Someone bought trick candles. Real funny!

Grammie & Pipaw came to spend time with all of us, but especially the babies :)

Fr. Adam came for the trip and it was really nice hanging out with him and getting some extra blessings for the kids. He said mass at our condo on Saturday. Very convenient!

Nola & Tripp

Nola & G-Momma

We really had such a good time. We swam, we ate, we laughed, we fought, we tallked, we walked on the beach, we rented scooters and a car to sightsee (okay go to the store), we tanned, and we shopped! It was nice to hang out with my family and both of my brothers for the weekend. We haven't all been together since Mardi Gras and yet when we are together it feels like we were never apart. Thanks to everyone for such a GREAT TIME! We took a big family picture but I need to get it from Christy! I hope we do this again next year!

On the way home we stopped for snowballs because it was on our To-Do list for this trip. Nola & I shared strawberry-cheesecake. She loved it but I was scared to give her too much! Yes, I'm still a little paranoid!

There were way too many pics to upload them all here so I have uploaded to shutterfly and I need to get Christy's, Nanny's & my mom's pics. I will have them add to the album.

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