For Papa Kenny

Happy Halloween from a Little Stinker!

Also...check out the rest of our Halloween photos on our Shutterfly site.

Lions & Tigers & Bears

Stella loved the trip to the zoo this morning! She roared like a tiger over and over and over again.
Stella is actually saying "Elephant!"

Above Stella is imitating a monkey she is hearing in the background.

Many thanks again to Mamaw & Pops for the wagon for Stella's b-day. It was perfect for the zoo. Look at how full it is...where do you put kid #2??

Book Lover

Stella definitely takes after her momma, grandma, and mamaw...BOOK LOVER! Books are a nightly ritual. And she is remembering her favorites more and more. She often chimes in with a word here or there before we even get a chance to read it!

Gone Shoppin'

"New" toy in the house tonight. I bought this grocery cart awhile back at a garage sale and forgot it was in the basement. Stella found it the other night (while accompanying daddy to the basement on a beer run - an evening ritual in our house when he comes home) and is now tall enough to push it around. So tonight I brought it upstairs and she pushed her Baby Stella (seriously, that's the doll's name http://store.manhattantoy.com and search "baby stella") around the kitchen while I made dinner. She was a very serious shopper - putting all of her fruits and veggies in and out of the basket.

Aunt Kay Was Right

When I sent out weekly photos to family last year after Stella's arrival, my Aunt Kay commented on how she loved the pictures. She also warned me...not to expect Stella to always pose so nicely. The above were taken a year ago. We no longer strive for weekly photos, but I always try to get a picture on the 25th of the month - her "birth" day. Below are this month's. Aunt Kay was right!

Stella was uncooperative and very irritated!

What a Weekend!

Stella woke up Saturday morning with a large lump on her neck in the EXACT same spot that resulted in our 1-week stay at Children's Hospital in January. It looked the same, felt the same, and she acted the same (normal, she didn't seem sick). Andy and I had an awful flashback. We called her pediatrician who wanted to see her right away. We were never so excited to hear she had strep throat this time!So it was a low-key Saturday at our house over the weekend. We played and played and played all afternoon. She didn't let strep get in her way.

Sunday she acted normal again and so we kept our plans of going to Callie's 4th B-day costume party (with the pediatrician's permission). Everyone had a lot of fun! However, Stella would NOT wear her skunk costume.
Julie, Callie, Andy, Stella & Sam.

Bob the Builder and Wendy AKA Pops and Mamaw. They look amazingly close:

Laugh

Definitely NOT the best video...but you get to hear Stella laugh. Of course she was doing it uncontrollably BEFORE I turned the camera on. She's no longer a fan of being in the spotlight. She's much more interested in playing with the camera than being recorded.

Peace and Quiet

Every parent yearns for a little peace and quiet. Sometimes you have to create it yourself...even if it's as a Halloween Costume (for couples). I am babysitting Leah, Porter, and Josie tonight so that Krista & Howie could go to a Halloween party. You can barely see her peace necklace and earrings in the picture, but she was a good peace-loving hippie...and we'll just see how quiet Howie was able to be all evening!

Little Stinker

Stella had fun tonight at her daycare's Fall Festival. Although she wouldn't wear the hat part of the skunk costume, everyone thought she was too cute.

"ME!"

Not much happening at our house tonight as we are all exhausted from being apart for 5 days. So here's a quick video for you. One of Stella's favorite books right now is "Goodnight Kisses". Each page asks "Who likes (insert type) kisses?" and then inserts a certain type of kiss (fluffy, crinkly, squeaky, shiny) that relates to the "touch and feel" part of the book. You will see that Stella loves to answer, "ME!" to the question on each page. I dread the day her loud, excited "ME!" turns into "MINE!"

Old Favorites

When Andy and I travel, we always try to go to new places and try new things. We are not the type of people to go on vacation to the same location year after year. However, there is also great satisfaction with going back somewhere and revisiting old favorites. That was what I got to do with my recent trip to Atlanta. There are a few things I desperately miss about living in Birmingham. Jim 'n Nicks BBQ is one of them. Being pregnant (and therefore, having cravings that aren't always sensible) the thought did cross my mind that B'ham was ONLY 2 1/2 hours from Atlanta. However, Susan informed me that there was now a Jim 'n Nicks about 12 miles from downtown Atlanta. So Sunday night, my craving was fulfilled...CHEDDAR BISCUITS and a BBQ Pig in the Potato Patch.

Mellow Mushroom was a favorite of ours in Nashville. Even when we lived in Birmingham, it was the one positive thing about the long drive to/from Cincinnati during Christmas...we always stopped for lunch at Mellow Mushroom in Nashville. Susan and I had lunch there on Sunday while shopping in Decatur. Still as yummy as I remember.

Some who know of Ross Dress for Less may say "You miss THAT?" Yep. Only TJ Maxx-like place that sells dirt cheap maternity clothes and my Nine Wests and Bandolinos for only $29.99. I will even admit that I visited 4 of them during my trip! Two made great Rest Stops today during the long drive home.

The best damn grocery store ever. Ours both in Nashville and Birmingham were very nice and brand new. If you've only experienced one in a touristy place in Florida...that's like visiting the Kroger on Vine compared to the Kroger in Indian Hill.

Hook and Ladder fully involved and a LARGE Sweet Tea. Final treat of my trip while driving through Knoxville today at lunch time.

The Upsell

Starbucks owes my dear friend Colby a lot of money. See, he is responsible for my upsell. A few years ago I was just a black tea drinker. I've never been a coffee drinker. Even when I went to Starbucks, my order was boring...one black tea. Hot water and a tea bag - no fancy process to making it. During a trip for work to Columbus, GA when I worked at the bank, that all changed. Colby lived in Columbus and was my work buddy. One morning he stopped at Starbucks and bought me a drink - he knew I only drank tea, but assumed it wasn't a boring tea. He brought me a chai tea latte. And unfortunately for my wallet, it was HEAVENLY. So I was upsold. And now my trips to Starbucks cost double. Thank goodness they are not very frequent since I limit my caffeine. But today I'm gearing up for Day Two of the conference...need to stay awake. Thanks Colby...thinking of ya!

The Other Side

Today I sat through Day One of the conference I'm attending in Atlanta. They always say that facilitators make the worst participants. I agree. I will completely admit that as a participant, I am extremely critical (always thinking - yikes, wouldn't do it this way and then replaying in my head how to make it more interactive, etc.) and it's hard to keep my attention. I'm not rude, disruptive, or anything like that. I play along and participate, but I'm usually bored, reading ahead and ready for the day to end. It's rare that I'm WOWED (but I have been). Today dragged on and on. I definitely belong on the other side - in front of the room.

Pit Stops

It was a great day in Atlanta today. My friend Susan and I stayed overnight in Buckhead last night and went to the Coca-Cola Museum this morning and then out to Decatur for shopping this afternoon. I also got to visit a LOT of restrooms. That's the norm with a pregnancy. During my first pregnancy I just couldn't believe how out of control your bladder gets - especially with an active baby bouncing all around in there. However, I never realized that it would be worse the second time. Well, we have another active child and since I also continue to drink a lot of water, the trips were very frequent today. So I had a lot of pit stops and Susan had a lot of waiting (thanks). I'm just thankful that the public toilets here are not pay toilets like Europe - I'd be BROKE!

Alone Time

I'm headed to Atlanta today for a Girl's 1/2 weekend and a work conference Monday and Tuesday. Although Andy and I have left Stella multiple times overnight and Andy has taken work trips...this is my first time away alone and for 4 nights! It's bittersweet. The blog may be put on hold, but I'll definitely be back on Wednesday.

Playdate

It's tough work being a 16-month old girl like Stella and Josie...choosing which baby to push around and which toys to share. Playdates are fun!

Krista - Thanks for the free hour to myself at Kroger!!! So glad your house is on the way there!!!

A Love-Hate Relationship

This is the TriHealth Pavilion - home of the prenatal "Fit for Two" program. My water aerobics classes on Thursdays and Saturdays are a part of this program. I love this program, but I hate this program.

What I love about it: alone time, exercising, it's close to home, alone time, chatting (while gasping for air) with the other pregnant women, you can pay on a monthly basis, alone time, the HOT showers afterwards, alone time, the great instructors that KICK MY ASS, alone time, the first-time moms who think they have their labor, delivery and child-rearing all figured out, and alone time.

What I hate about it: going there after work instead of straight home, going there in the middle of the day on Saturday (Who schedules a pregnancy class at NOON?? Pregnant women are hungry at that hour!!!), the first step into the pool, missing out on Stella time, missing out on Andy time, having to eat dinner/lunch late, how gasping for air reminds me how out of shape I am, the great instructors that KICK MY ASS and the cold walk from the pool to the shower.

However, in the end...Love wins this battle because I keep going back for more and really do enjoy the time I'm there. I'm headed to bed early...my ass was kicked once again this evening and I'm EXHAUSTED. (Thanks Aunt Deb!!)

Tremblin' Toads

What's it like at our house every night? Go here and click "See them tremble" on the right hand side of the page:
http://www.hallmark.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/article%7C10001%7C10051%7C/HallmarkSite/GoldCrownStores/GCS_GIFTS_TOP%7Cstores

Now watch it again about 100 times in a row. That's a night at our house. Thanks Mamaw and Pops Wade! We LOVE that song...

Lovin' Like Linus

Meaning we are lovin' the "lovey". Stella is a blankie child. And I must admit, she gets it honest. I'm probably one of the few 32-year olds that keeps my childhood blanket (shown above) close by for those "I need MY mommy" moments - like wrapping up in it when I'm sick. Andy doesn't get it, but knew when he proposed 8 years ago that the blanket came as part of the package. (And if he wanted to raise a stink, I have a few questions about some items in his childhood box!!) And now our child is addicted to blankets. But not just a particular one. She sleeps with two specific blankets - one of which is her "duck-duck" blanket. The other happens to be another one of my childhood blankets - also yellow. However, they never leave the crib.
Around the house, she'll use anything as a substitute - usually another baby blanket laying around or a cloth diaper. Occasionally I've found her carrying around a kitchen towel if she can't find anything else. No matter if it's a blanket or towel, it's always a sign that sleep is needed!
Stella and the "duck-duck" taken a few minutes ago. At least one person understands us...Thanks Linus!

http://www.comics.com/comics/peanuts/meet_the_gang/meet_linus.html

Monkey See, Monkey Do

Stella is definitely a Daddy's girl. I think she counts down the minutes until he gets home. Tonight we had all of the windows open in the house. Every time we heard a car come down the street Stella looked at me and said, "Da-da?" She also mimics him which is quite cute. Andy got down on the kitchen floor to play with her when he got home. She saw him sit, so she stopped in her tracks and sat as well. So much for Andy being at eye-level.

She's Just Not Right...

...handed. Stella seems to be headed towards being left-handed. She definitely favors using that hand for most things - eating, picking up things, throwing things, etc. Pops (aka Andy's Dad) will be excited to have a left-handed buddy.

And don't be fooled...she doesn't know how to use the spoon 100%. She can't get the scooping part yet. So after every bite, she hands the spoon back to us to reload.