Aquarium Adventures

My husband is on vacation this week.  And we were trying to think of what to do with all this family togetherness.  So today we made a last minute decision to take Julia to Adventure Aquarium in Camden, NJ.  There is a ton of stuff to do around us, but it hit over 100 degrees today, and we needed something fun and indoors.  We had seen this aquarium featured on TV several times, and have heard a lot of positive things about it.

And.... Julia LOVED it!  It was surprisingly crowded on a Tuesday afternoon.  Maybe everyone else decided to take the week off of work as well.  But nonetheless, it was fun.  Julia gazed at all the fishies and even laughed at some of them.  Her favorite part: the shark tunnel!  She probably could have sat in there for hours.  

So I'm pretty sure she had fun!!  I love these family moments.  We'll have them forever!

10 Months

I can't believe she's in the double digits already!  And only two months away from being a ONE YEAR OLD!!  Whoa....that's crazy.

So, since I only have two months to plan her 1st birthday party, I've been trying to figure out a theme.  And struggling.  Haha.  We've talked about Minnie Mouse and Princess and stuff like that.  But I kind of want to do something a little more unique.  The last couple of days, I've been thinking ladybugs.  I found some cute little ladybug theme birthday supplies online.  But I don't know if I really have my heart set on the ladybug theme.  I don't know.  I'm stumped.  I mean, it's her 1st Birthday.  And I know it's more for us than her, she's not going to remember it....she'll just have a ton of pictures to look back on some day.  But it's a BIG DEAL!  I want it to be perfect.

I neeeeed to figure out this theme thing, because in about a month, we're going to Carlos Bakery (yes, that's the Cake Boss from the TLC show) and ordering her birthday cake.  It has to be with the theme.  So if anyone has any cute ideas that they don't mind sharing, I would love to hear them!!!

Happy 10 months, my beautiful baby girl!  You are my world, I love you so much!  <3

Dinner Disaster

Usually when we go out to dinner with Julia, she behaves very well and we get compliments ALL THE TIME about how well behaved she is.  But, she decided she would rather be quite the diva lately, and...well...no more Miss. NiceBabyEveryoneIsJealousOf.

After having quite the cranky last several days, which I blame on the budding top right tooth viciously trying to break through her sensitive little gums, we decided to go to Olive Garden for dinner.  Many of you can already see this was a bad idea.  But I figured she was cranky all day, and now daddy's home (which usually does help, damn it!), a change of environment would be good, and she would be tired from all the effort it took to be cranky all day.  What was I thinking???  I'm a new mom, I'm still learning...

We sat down in an area in the restaurant with not a lot of people.  Which made me feel good.  Then about 2 minutes later, an elderly couple gets seated right next to us.  Red flag!  I knew at that point, we were no longer safe.  10 minutes later...half way through appetizers, and the all important salad and breadsticks, she starts getting fussy.  Then the screaming happened.  And there was no end in sight.  After looking around and seeing EVERYONE staring at us, we decided to find our waiter, ask to get our order that we had already placed boxed up to go, and to give us our bill as quickly as possible.  It was quite the spectacle.  And of course once we're outside and finally in the car, she's as happy as can be.

So now we really need to find a babysitter.  Something I have been dreading since I found out we would have to move here and away from my parents.  I loved having them close by.  Because honestly, I'm never going to trust ANYONE with Julia as much as I trust my own mother.  That's just a fact, and I'm sure other moms who are close to their own mothers can agree with that.  But now we're 9 hours away from her, and Tim and I still need to be able to go out alone without our lil cranks every now and then.  It's time we need for us.  Sigh, so now I'm on the hunt for the best, most experienced with babies Julia's age, most loved by all (lol) babysitter in our area.  Good luck to me!!

What is the going rate for babysitters these days anyway?  I'm sure it's way different than it was when I was a babysitter myself.  Oy vey...

Happy Memorial Day!

Today Julia experienced the pool for the very first time!!  I was afraid once her toes hit the cold pool water that she'd cry and hate it (I'm always thinking the worst...)  But she LOVED it!  She was fascinated and just splashed her little heart out.  We got her one of those baby floaters that she can just sit in and play while in the pool.  Big hit!

It was such a wonderful relaxing day.  Can't wait to go back to the pool soon and have Julia wear another one of her many swim suits!  


Also, new poll up for Poll Day Monday!  Don't forget to vote ;)  

Baby's First Haircut

Yikes! Is my baby girl who I just brought home from the hospital already getting her first haircut? For real? It was exciting, scary, and very necessary since we could hardly see her pretty little eyes, and bows don't stay in her hair very well. Which is really sad because I love little baby bows.

We took her to this awesome place called Sharkey's Cuts For Kids. They did an amazing job, and it really was a fun little place for kids. They had TV's in front of every hair cutting station. They can either watch a DVD or play a video game while they get their hair cut. Julia watched Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and it held her attention perfectly. Thankfully she was the epitome of excellent behavior (and cuteness).

A Word On Baby-proofing

Where to start?  Just that now that my child crawls everywhere and pulls herself up on things and will be walking before I know it scares the crap outta me.  That doesn't even cover it!

They do not make enough baby proofing items to make a first time mama feel comfortable.  But honestly, I won't be comfortable until my house looks like a rubber room.  And she's no dummy.  She's already trying to figure it all out!

I admit, I was anxious and excited for her to start doing all of this stuff.  And yes, it is cute.  But WHAT WAS I THINKING???!!  Everyone warned me.  And everyone was right.  It is cute the first week or so.  Well, it's still cute.  Just the scariest thing ever watching your daughter go head first for sharp furniture and wall knives corners.

Regardless, it is pretty awesome to watch her explore the world and her surroundings.  Just stop getting into every little thing, baby girl!  The refrigerator full of yummy food is not interesting, I promise ;)

Poll Day Monday!

I have decided that every Monday I will put up a new poll.  Just for fun.  Now I've got to think of some good poll questions.  If anyone has a poll question they want to suggest, I will use it in future Poll Days!

In case you haven't heard, Julia took a nasty spill on our wood floor yesterday morning.  It was very traumatic for all of us.  She decided she wanted to use an almost empty cardboard box as a tool to help her stand.  I'm sure you can guess what happened next... she fell back and slammed the back of her head on the floor.  It made the worst noise I have ever heard and it will haunt me for a while.  She cried for a couple of minutes and then fell asleep in my arms.  Being a very worried mama, I called the doctor.  Of course it was Sunday and they weren't in the office (this thought didn't even enter my head until I heard their out of office message over the phone).  Thankfully they had a number to call for an after hours nurse at the children's hospital.  As long as she was due for a nap (which she was) it was okay to let her sleep. So that made me feel a little better.  Also I had to watch for vomiting and dizziness, neither of which happened.  I held an ice pack on her head while she slept.  When she woke up, she seemed ok and was playing with her toys and crawling around as normal.   A little cranky, but if you hit the back of your head on a hard floor, wouldn't you be cranky too, and with a major headache I'm sure?  All day and all night I was looking for signs of something terrible.  I even went in to check on her in the middle of the night to make sure she was still breathing (hey, I'm a first time mom, remember?!  This was her first, and probably not her last, major fall).  I felt horrible the whole day.  I should have been there to keep her off that box.  Actually, that box shouldn't even have been where she could get to it!  She was fine.  Do they make little pillows that attach to their heads to cushion falls??!!  LOL.  We did end up putting up a retractable gate there so she can't even get to the wood floors anymore.

So, that was our Sunday.  Not a relaxing day, to say the least.  But surprisingly, today seems to be going very well so far!  Got some cleaning done, Julia is keeping herself entertained with toys and our favorite, Yo Gabba Gabba (strangest show ever!).

So, take my weekly Monday poll (it's to the left and down a bit)!  I know it's a lame question.  Just wanted to test out the whole poll thing and couldn't think of anything clever.  Next weeks will be better, I promise!

Also, I need some subscribers!  Come on, you know you want to ;)

Nine months

Where does the time go? Seriously, time needs to slow it down just a little. It took nine months to grow this amazing baby in my belly. That seemed to take FOREVER. And now she's nine months old and I don't even know where months 3-7 went. Were they even in there?

At nine months, Julia is crawling all over the place. It makes mommy nervous, but I just love watching her explore. I think once babies start to crawl and eventually walk, this is when mommies loose all of the baby weight once and for all. I am up chasing her around all day, I hardly sit down anymore. I cherish nap time way more than I ever used to. And weekends when Tim is home...BLISS!

Baby girl, you make me the happiest lady alive! I totally understand the love my mom has for me now that I have a daughter of my own and can feel that kind of love for myself. The rough pregnancy, the sleepless first couple of months, the constant worrying. It's all totally worth it because at the end of the day I have the most beautiful and perfect little girl who gives me the biggest smiles that melt my heart, looks to me for everything and loves me every second (even if she hasn't said mama yet...we're working on it). Happy 9 months my little sweet pea!

"How wonderful life is, now you're in the world." -Elton John