Cousin Fionn's Christening / Trip to Alexandria, VA

A few weeks ago Brian got a phone call from his cousin MaryBeth in Virginia asking that he be the godfather of her newest baby son. Of course he was so excited and very honored so a car trip was to be planned. We drove down to Alexandria, Virginia and back this past weekend to meet little Fionn (it's pronounced Finn but spelled the Gaelic way - cool huh?) He is know to his immeadiate family as the "Finster".... What an adorable little man... so strong and such a good little boy. He slept most of the time at the church and woke up for a few pictures. Here are photos from the Christening as well as from our trip.

Ten Months... What a busy summer!

Can you believe how fast this summer is going by? Good thing I don't go to school yet or else I would get sad that the summer is almost over! It's been a very hot summer too... we have been spending a lot of time at the pool or at friends pools!

As you saw a few weeks ago, I am officially walking now! About 9 steps is the most I have done so far all by myself - without help from someone or the furniture. I seem to do best when I am not paying attention though. I "fall" really well too (at least that is what my folks say)... once I am down its back to the speed crawling. It may be a little while longer before I am walking all the time. I think I am thinning out a bit as well... which I am sure Mommy is happy about b/c then we don't need to buy anymore clothes for a little while. Still wearing 12-18 month outfits... depending on the fit.

As to not completely jinx our household, I will announce that for the most part I am completely sleeping thru the night. I talk in my sleep sometimes and its pretty loud or I have a bad dream and call for Daddy... otherwise I am getting about 11-12 hours straight of good sleep. Plus I still need about 2 hours during the day but everyday is different... Most days I still take my 9am nap and then maybe another snoozer in the afternoon depending on what we are doing that day. I think its all my moving around that is tiring me out. I guess I am also getting better at working thru the sleeping when I have trouble - on my own.

I am ok with eating on the spoon again... although I need to be able to eat stuff at every meal with my own fingers and hands. I love being independent! Not the hugest fan of chicken nuggets but I love meatballs, lasagna, pizza and french fries! Zucchini is still my favorite veggie but now mommy cuts it up for me and lets me pick it up... and of course we can't forget BLUEBERRIES!!! Watermelon is the close 2nd in the fruit category. Now I have 7 teeth completely showing and the 8th one broke thru but is very slow moving. I only want to use a sippy cup with a straw and still take 3 bottles a day.

Favorties right now.... Anything that is the color blue, her pocket book, the Fisher Price Farm (borrowed from her friend Katelyn Metcalfe), I don't like my diaper changes anymore so I always try to wiggle away, I want to help mommy in the kitchen but she gives me my own pot and spoon now to pretend, her water table and the pool, the dvd player in the car for car trips and it has to play the "Incredibles", pulling things that I can reach off the table, trying to get the safety plugs out of the outlets, ther bathroom (although they keep those doors closed all the time), trying to get into the pantry at any cost!

Ok well thanks for keeping up with me... This month we go on our 1st family vacation down the Jersey Shore... so expect lots of bathing suit and beach photos next update!

Sharing a ball with my friend Madison

Swimming with Katelyn, Sarah & Emily at their house!

My "borrowed" farm... from Katelyn.... She loves walking around with the eggs!

Visiting with my grandpa....

Playing with Emily Sempier at her baby sisters shower

Chilling with Daddy at the pool

Trying to reach things on the table... HELP!

Hey everybody... this was only 3 days before she walked!

Happy July 4th!

Dinner at Uncle Robert's house! He is such a good cook!

See ya Pooh Bear.... this photo ended our 10th month

Pooh photo session as Kayla walks away!

Excited to hear that Daddy is coming home early!

Anything to get a little closer to the tv...

Getting closer to walking....

Playing "peek-a-boo" behind the couch

Enjoying a little playtime

Fun & Games

Just a day of fun and games... Enjoy! I love playing peek-a-boo!

Water Table Fun

After going to dinner at the Costello's and having Kayla completely enamored by their water table, I decided it was something we should get to put on the balcony for those hot afternoons when its too late to go to the pool but yet we need a change and Kayla needs to cool off a bit! She thoroughly enjoyed her new water table...

Parenting 101:Teething

It's so funn how you will never hear a pediatrician tell you that any symptoms your child is having are relative to teething.... but no joke, our kid has run the gammit of symptoms: Horrible runny nose, increased snoring, increased biting on everything (although that has always been the case), crying in her sleep, decreased in take of the bottle at times or refusal to eat off the spoon. Rarely has she run a fever though. Another thing she has tended to do is tug on her ears... which always makes me nervous b/c I am worried that she has an ear infection. Although there was the one infection where there was fluid in the ears, that was the only time. I really think that since she is a belly sleeper, the mucos or fluid drains out the front and does not have the chance to sit in the eustation tubes. I have been surprised at how much mucos comes as a result of the teething! The worst was her top two teeth... those goobers were the size of bouncy balls! I just can't wait until she gets more teeth, because this means more variety in food and less pain in the evening.

Ok finally got her taking a few steps!

KAYLA WALKS!!!

No videos or photos to show yet but I had to share the amazing news! 9 months, 2 wks and 5 days old!!! Kayla took her 1st steps after breakfast while playing and watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse~ Stay Tuned!

On another note... 13 straight nights of sleep.... is this just another phase?

Hanging with my peeps!

Lots of playdates this wkened... for me and my mom & dad...
Although who wants to take pictures of them?

Lunch date with Matthew at Jose Tejas w. Mommy & Amber

"So big"... come on Matty!


Hey Sofia, look at the camera!


Kayla is SOOOO excited to be able to play with Sofia

We are both on the move and sharing toys!

Hanging out with the Costello twins... Emma & Aiden

Love this water table... Mommy, can you get me one of these?

Up Up and Away....

Someone decided to crawl to the stairs and climb them this week...

Some of the replay caught on camera...

Ok that was fun, back to my toys!

Parenting 101: Sleep

In retrospect, I never truly understood how important sleep was before I became a parent. When you are expecting, you hear SO many people say "get your sleep now" and then it becomes "sleep when the baby sleeps"... but for me, while I can take literally anywhere... getting 20 minutes of sleep here and there just sucks and broken sleep for me makes life worse for those around me.

When you are nearing the end of your pregnancy, sleeping becomes a more difficult thing anyway b/c you can't sleep on your back or belly... you are limited to one side or the other. Then a C section complicates matters since your incision is very sore and you have limited use of your stomache muscles for a few weeks. Then once you don't have the physical limitations, your baby begins to stay awake for more hours of the day / night.

Finally by 5 months of age, Kayla really started having more specific sleeping patterns. We were still feeding her in the middle of the night. But a few days before she turned 9 months old, we decided that we would stop getting up to give her that bottle. She started sleeping 12 hours thru the night... and although she still talks up a storm, we let her work it out. This has given us the opportunity to really get more sleep. Now my body needs a good 8 hours....

Our home runs so much better when we all get sleep. I am just looking forward to the day that Kayla stays up a little bit later so Brian can see her when he gets home and maybe we can sleep in on the wkends.

Happy Independance Day!

We had so much to do for 4th of July weekend. Hope you and your family had as much fun as I did with mine!

Having a snack at the pool.

This is how I avoid crawling on the grass... don't like the way it feels on my legs!

My mommy & daddy playing with me in the pool

They almost let me go in without swimmies!

In the car on our way to a BBQ...

Happy 4th to you and yours!

I am very happy... got 2 more teeth today!