These boots are made for walking!

V turned 11 months old last week.  And to the day of her 11 month birthday, she did this... 



V's walking debut.  She doesn't skip a beat and is already texting.

Here are V's pics from her 11 month shoot with Mr. Bear.   One more month to go before she's officially a big girl!

Give me hugs Mr. Bear!  You're my pal!

She's walking better and better every day and it's so fun to see her gain this independence.  I love you monkey!

Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's day to the best Daddy in the whole wide world. V and I love you so much!

V made Daddy a gift all by herself!  She was very proud.  She did ask me to help her with the card though.  The whole spelling thing was a bit of an issue for her so of course, I obliged.

Exterior of the card.

I love you Daddy-O!

Spaghetti, Remote Controls, and a Girl's Night Out

I've been trying to introduce more table foods to V.  The jar baby food is bland as all get out and if V is anything like her Mama, she likes herself some flavorful foods.  So, our first big girl meal was some whole wheat pasta that Mama made with ground turkey, onions, red bell peppers, and Newman's Own Sockarooni sauce.  I think she was a fan...

Oh boy oh boy oh boy!

Happy girl!

I love spaghetti!!

Storing up meat in her cheeks for winter.  I found pieces of said meat in her cheeks hours later.

My mom came over with my grandma over the weekend.  V showed off all her skills, the most important of which is working the remote.  She's figured out that we've given her a faux remote and now in our attempts to keep her from the real deal, we have to make the TV do fun tricks when she points her remote on it so she thinks she's doing it.  Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.  The girl may be too smart for her own good.

Check out my loot Mommy!

I'm queen of the remote!

Here's V with her Grandma M and Mimi.  Four generations of women.

Say Ahhhhh!

And here's V tickled pink when Daddy came home.  She LOVES her Daddy!

Hi Daddy! I love you so!

On Saturday night I went out with a couple of my very good girlfriends to see S&TC 2.  S&TC was a huge generational show for me when I was in college and so many of my friends lived and breathed through Carrie Bradshaw.  That, however, was a decade ago.  One of the greatest things about Seinfeld is he left the show while he was still on top.  I thought S&TC also did that, but then the first movie came out.  Out of loyalty for the franchise, I got dressed up to go see the movie with my martini in hand.  It was okay.  I laughed some, I even shed a tear and overall, still had a warm fuzzy feeling for one of my fave shows when it was over.  Sadly, that is not the case with the second installment.  The producers, actors, directors, everyone involved would have been well-advised to stop while they were ahead.  The acting was bad, the story line was bad, the whole thing just left a bad taste in my mouth and there are no puns or references to Samantha's over-the-top libido intended.  I literally started to fall asleep at one point of the movie and over two hours later, because that's how long this film dragged on, could not wait to just go home and crawl into bed and wake up hoping it was all a dream nightmare.  If you're a S&TC fan and want to remember Carrie, Miranda, Charlotte, and Samantha as strong confident women and not spoiled immature girls, in my humble opinion, save yourself the $10 and whatever warm sentiments you still have for the franchise.  Or see this movie.

 

V's not a fan either.

Staycation - It's not your mama's vacation

This weekend we packed up V and pawned her off on my parents.  It was the first time we've been away from her for more than just school or a night out.  It was her first overnight trip away from home base and I must admit it wasn't easy (for mommy).

Friday morning I worked from home and then we packed her up and drove the 40 minute (1+ hour with traffic) drive to my parents' house.  That V is not a light traveler that's for sure.  Granted she didn't pack herself quite yet, but man she's got a lot of junk necessities.  Our car SUV was stuffed to the brim with toys galore, books, a stroller, a pack and play, a duck bath, a bin full of diapers, and an array of clothes so my mother could have "options" when she dressed her.  The plan was to undertake this trip during V's afternoon nap and we did succeed in this feat.  When we arrived, she was bright eyed and bushy tailed ready to play with Mimi and Papa.  Once settled in, V, Daddy, Papa, and I went over to my parents neighborhood pool to splash around.  Here's V with Papa enjoying the water.  She loves water and was so funny as she was looking over the fence to the big kids pool as she wanted to go socialize with them. 

Yay! Pool time!

Wait a minute.. What's over there??

Let me walk over and see.  Can I go play with the big kids?

And I'm done here.

The rest of the evening was uneventful and after putting V down for the night, E and I left to start our weekend sans baby.  The night started out very promising and as we had just ordered our second round of drinks at a local neighborhood spot, my phone rings... It's the alarm company.  I answer and the lady tells me that our front glass break just went off.  Crap!  The ONE night we're out, our house is getting broken into.  Or so we thought..  We close out and rush home at lightning fast speed to try to catch our intruders in the act.   Turns out our "intruder" was Miss Mattie howling to a siren and setting off the glass break.  Good to know our alarm is so "sensitive".  So, to cap the evening off, we sat in our courtyard and enjoyed some wine and great conversation.  With just each other.  And it was perfect! 

Saturday I still was up at the crack of dawn b/c let's face it, I'm a mom, and whether or not my baby is with me, I still am on her schedule and still worry and have to make sure she's okay, etc etc etc.  So, I called my mom at 7:30 to see how the night had gone.  She reported that all was well.  V slept great and was feeling right at home.  So, upon this news, I went back to sleep and slept till 10:30!  MUCH needed!  Then we spent the rest of the day doing stuff we used to do pre-baby.  Like going to breakfast, running errands, watching a movie during the day, and going out to dinner.  All without any schedules, bottles, feedings, and diapers.  Now, I have to say here that I am well aware to be careful about the words that come out of my mouth, and to be sans baby is not the life I want by far.  I want and love my life of feedings, diapers, bottles, schedules, etc.  I want my V, but it was nice to just get a small break to re-charge with E.  We had a great date night Saturday night at a sushi restaurant (both of ours favorite food) and I was in bed by 10:30 with a glass of wine watching Saturday Night Live.  Perfect!

Sunday, we picked up V after Church and I spent the rest of the day making baby food and being mom again.  I sure did miss her and it was so great to give her a big ole hug today and lots and lots of kisses.  My mom had her all dolled up for us when we arrived and man my heart melted upon seeing her chubby little cheeks. 

As I've been noting over the last several weeks, V's been on the verge of walking.  This weekend, she did it.  She took her first official first steps.  E and I actually may have missed the first ones as I think she did it on Saturday, but she walked back and forth between my mom and I today as she showed off her newfound skills to me!  She's almost 11 months old and I can't believe it.  Where does the time go?

So, overall, it was a great weekend for all.  V had a great time at her grandparents' house and mommy and daddy had a great time with each other re-charging. 

And, to end this here post, here's a gem of a picture I took from my inspection for work on Thursday.  It's a chicken in the road.  I don't see anything wrong with this picture.  At least the cops are monitoring the "situation" and have it under control. 

Update:  My mom sent me some additional pics from this weekend.  These are my faves from the new batch.

Maybe my cute hat will distract from my pudge belly.

Must. Move. Chair. Out. Of. My. Way.  I'm queen of the living room!

 

V with her Uncle John.  Hi Uncle John.  I love you!