christmas [in photos]

dressed in our Christmas best for Jeff & Rebecca's church service.

photo shoot with red santa hat and big brown dog.

Christmas Eve at Grammy's:

big E delivering presents and little E giving her new baby doll a kiss.

baby yoga

sibling love

reading 'Twas the Night Before Christmas with daddy.

Christmas morning: the face says it all. Elmo rocks!

7 months

the 7-month milestone was greeted with Emma's first ear infection. luckily we caught it early and she recovered within a day or two. 

the big news however is baby girl is crawling... backwards! she gets so excited to go, and then can only move backwards.

she also just started some solids.  she's had pot roast, carrots (a favorite), blueberries, peaches, cheerios (also a fave).. all kinds of good food! apparently teeth are not a requirement for solids. we're still waiting on the first one to pop through. this also means she has lost interest in that pureed stuff. glad i didn't invest in the baby bullet! 

favorite toys are a pop-up disney toy, her rattle, and the jumperoo! we have been trying baby signs, but so far the only one she has mastered is slamming her hand on the table for "more". another first is bathtime in the big bath tub with big brother. she thought this was the funnest thing ever (notice the huge waves)! 

time is slipping by too quickly, but we're loving every minute!

it's time.

- holidays are almost over.

- emma is sleeping through the night. (hurray!)

- i have a little extra cash flow thanks to car getting paid off.  (HURRAY!)

- title boxing just opened nearby (and christmas came early in the form of a one-year membership from my own personal santa!)

- my hair is now long enough to fit into a ponytail.

sounds like the stars are aligning for me to get my butt in gear and drop this baby weight.

i know very well what a difference a year can make. my goal is to drop 30 lbs by this time next year.

(do they make a diet wine? well they should.)

this is the best "before" pic i could find (from Nov):

let's do this.

dear santa

thanksgiving [in photos]

this year i'm thankful for...

pinterest-inspired chocolate acorns. and my mom pronouncing them "akerns".

colorful hand turkeys,

my little redneck (and an understanding teacher),

breathtaking thanksgiving sunsets,

and the obvious... love, laughter, my family. we are truly blessed.

6 months [11.11.11]

Wow - a half a year has gone by since my baby girl was born.  It's safe to say that she is the happiest baby on the block.  She smiles at everyone she sees and has a hearty belly laugh if you really get her going. It must feel funny on her gums to stick out her tongue because it's always hanging out. Our favorite evenings are dance parties with big brother dancing to Beyoncé and little sis laughing until she can't laugh anymore. 

Just this past week she starting sleeping through the night more times than not.  This is such a wonderful thing for ol' mom and dad.  She also eats her pureés really well.  Meat isn't her favorite thing, but she loves most of the other fruits and veggies. I'd say butternut squash is in the lead for fave food.

She doesn't seem to have any interest in rolling over or being on her belly long enough to crawl, but she loves to sit and play with her rattles. She still loves bathtime and has so many chubby leg rolls. You can't help but squish 'em. The jeans in the pic above didn't last long.  Gotta have stretchy pants for those thighs!

Big brother (now 5 1/2) couldn't be any better. He's wonderful at watching out for his sis and keeping her entertained. He loves her to pieces and so do we.

P.S. hooray for the best fall ever! We've had the most gorgeous weather since the beginning of September. Not looking forward to the cold and ice, but i'll admit i'm getting a little excited for the Christmas season!

october 25

every season, every holiday, every annual event reminds me of molly.

new years eve luau party, 4th of july in the cul-de-sac, halloween parties in college, wearing black for valentine's day, fall wine and cheese party, st patrick's day at too talls, christmas around our mini tree, ash wednesday at the vatican, kenny chesney concerts, homecoming parades and football games, spring breaks in chicago, new orleans and south padre island. 

birthdays.

today molly would have turned 34. 

she loved this time of year - especially halloween.  one year we dressed up as m&ms.  another year she was buffy and i was a vampire. mustard, dominatrix, mail-order bride.. the list goes on. i really need to scan some old pictures in.

i want to talk to her about so many things. the things no one else would understand. (tom had a baby!) but i'm sure she's seeing it all from above. i've had a lot of lessons in biting my tongue, but this is the hardest.

happy birthday, friend. wish you were here to celebrate with us. here's to making it count.

5 months old

baby girl is five months old!

her low gurgely growl has turned into a high pitched squeal. and she loves it. she'll squeal and holler and then throw her legs up in the air and laugh. she's pretty much the cutest thing ever. she loves to watch and laugh at her big brother acting like his crazy 5-year-old self. she sits up unassisted for a minute or two before falling over. her favorite toys are her linking rings, her zebra and her sophie.  she loves songs, reflections (especially her own) and texture books.

on a not-so-exciting note, we found out that she had bronchitis.  she had been congested since the beginning of September, but never had a fever or acted like she felt bad.  at least we were able to get meds so she is better now. she weighed 18 lbs 5 oz at the doc's office!

homemade baby food!

I did it! I made baby food for the first time. And it was SO easy!

While cutting up veggies for the world's most amazing pot roast*, i threw some in baby girl's very own special crockpot. (the potatoes were just overflow - i didn't include those in her puree. however next time she's getting some roast!) I added some water and let it cook on low while I went off to work.



Nine and a half years ago I got a food processor for a wedding present.  And it finally made its debut tonight.  After figuring out how the thing all goes together (instructions are long gone), I scooped out the carrots and green beans and plopped them in the processor.

Why have I never used this thing before?! I am now officially in love with my food processor! I apologize for all the years of neglect, dear food processor.

I added in some of the cooking water to smooth it out. After reserving some in a bowl for tonight, I filled an ice cube tray with the remaining mixture.

Ta-Da! Baby girl's dinner is ready!

It's a hit! Yum! And yes, she eats sans clothes. She does not have any table manners yet.

All gone!

Now that's one happy baby with a full tummy!



Tomorrow I'll put the carrot-bean cubes in a freezer bag to have on hand. Next up: butternut squash from the farmer's market!

Homemade baby food - what a wonderful thing!  Sorry to big brother for never trying this before. Back then I was "cooking" when I warmed up a frozen skillet meal! 

*the pot roast really was the best I've ever had.  this time I put cream of mushroom soup on top instead of french onion soup mix. and luke picked out the roast. i'm still a bad meat-picker-outer.

thoughts from the working mom

to go to work or to stay at home with the kids.

it's an internal debate of head versus heart made by millions of working moms nearly every day. it's a difficult choice with many factors coming into play, mainly finances and mom-guilt. but you must make your choice and be happy with it.

my choice is to work. i do this so my family can have a more secure financial future. there are other benefits too, like socializing my naturally reserved offspring, getting a jumpstart on their education and getting my own grown-up time with friends and coworkers.

with this choice, i must focus on quality time with my babies versus quantity. some things are currently being sacrificed, such as working out and couple time. but family time is priority. my mom worked my whole life and i always felt very close to her - and still am. i never felt second to her job or activities.

life is all about balance. this post speaks to the working mom's soul.

Please note: i am by no means judging stay-at-home moms or moms who work from home. i think it's a wonderful thing to be able to do that. we're all just doing the best we can so let's not judge each other.

kindergarten take 2

Fall kindergarten is way better than summer school kindergarten. After summer school, I was a little worried this summer that E would be super bored with learning shapes and colors and letters again.

It turns out they move at quite a speedy pace in "real" kindergarten. He is learning a letter a day Mon-Thurs and then they review on Friday. They use a method called Animated Literacy where there is a character, movement, song and sound with each letter. They started putting words together the first week using the letters they covered. He is very excited about learning to read a BOOK! They rotate through P.E., library, art and music each week. The favorite? P.E. of course! He likes to play on the "horizontal ladder". Is it not PC anymore to say monkey bars?? Maybe we offended the monkeys somewhere along the way. His teacher really is wonderful. She is expecting a baby in November, so I hope she comes back!

I think he is making friends with his classmates, although it took a week or two for him to break out of his shell. He gets to see Noah, his friend from day care, at recess. The first couple of weeks he was so exhausted from no naps, but now that he is in his groove he is in much better moods in the evenings.

The hardest part for me is not seeing his teacher and his environment every day. You have to trust that he is being nice to his classmates, eating all of this lunch, etc. He got a yellow card one day for talking, but has stayed on green since. This kindergarten thing may work out after all.

4 months!

Emma is four months old! And what a happy baby she is! She is all smiles all day. She "talks" a lot, sounding something like a growl with some squeals thrown in. She has a hearty belly laugh too! She loves to play on the floor mat, holler at her mobile, and have people talk and sing to her.

Her checkup at the doctor weighed her in at 16 lbs 4 oz - 25th percentile in weight and 95th in height. Doc says she'll make a great downhill skier with her "muscular" thighs! Her hair is pretty short on top, but starting to grow in a little thicker. She still has some of her original baby hair in the back.

Emma made her first trip to Illinois over Labor Day Weekend. She did great in the car, only crying the last 10 minutes of the 5-hour trip there. She enjoyed getting to spend time with her uncles, grandma, granddad and great-grandma! She is a very loved little girl.

watch dog catcher

It sounds like a Wheel of Forturne "before and after" phrase, but it's also what I label my conversation with big E yesterday on the way home from school.

Last night E and daddy were heading back to school for the Watch D.O.G.S. program orientation. It's a program where dads sign up to hang out a school for the day to help out and to have the dad presence known.

E and I were discussing the evening plans, and our convo went a little like this:

Uncle George is a watch dog.

I had to think for a second.

Oh, no honey, Uncle George is a dog catcher.

Why is daddy going to be a dog catcher?

No hon, dad is going to be a Watch D.O.G. It's just a name for dads who hang out at school for the day. There aren't any dogs actually envolved.

I'm trying my best not to laugh because he gets upset now when you laugh at him.

Well maybe he'll look for cats.

No. No, I don't think there will be animals of any kind. It's kind of like a mascot, like how you're a Shark.

Or he can catch snakes. Mrs. B had a snake in her house once...

And on he went. Sometimes there is no changing his mind once he gets rolling.

Love that kid.

back to work [3 months]

it's amazing how fast 12 weeks can fly. 12 weeks ago yesterday my baby girl was born. I was able to spend an amazing 11 1/2 weeks at home with her, but now i'm back at work just living for the weekend.

she's doing great at day care. there's a trio of may-baby girls there: emma, emily, and elsa who starts in a couple weeks. how cute is that?

the first couple of days emma didn't sleep much and only took a few catnaps. by the time we got home she just wanted to eat and go to sleep. and she slept from 7pm to 7am that first night - waking up once at 4am just long enough to eat! yesterday she got some longer naps in, but she was still in bed by 7:30. i'm looking forward to longer evenings as she gets a little bigger.

her teacher ms. gail says she loves book time and gets along great during the day. i miss her so much though. i mean, look at this face!!

two months

weighing in at 12 lbs and measuring 22 1/2 inches, miss emma is cuter than ever! her smiles make mommy & daddy melt. :)

smoke and fireworks

the fourth of july. around here, it's all about the attitude...

emma didn't mind the fireworks much, until the neighborhood gang all came up with the big artillery. then it was time for her and mama to head indoors. here's her first time in the bumbo:

we had a fun night with some good friends, but i'm always relieved the next morning when the house is still standing.

little sack of sugar

We've made it to six weeks! Nighttime is going well. The past two nights she has slept until 1:30 and then up once or twice more before morning. She's in ther bassinet full time, but I think we'll move her to her crib soon.


Her favorite toy is her mobile. She doesn't really watch it much, but loves to listen to the music. She'll chill in her crib for 30 minutes listening to it.


When the weather's nice, we have a great little routine of taking a morning walk after we take Ethan to the bus stop. She loves our walks.

I wish my dad was here to see her. I know he's looking down on her, but I would like to hear him brag about her to everyone he sees. Mom says he would call her "Little JJ". She's right on.

Here's baby girl at 5 weeks:


And 6 weeks:





my little sack of sugar weights 9 lbs 12 oz and is 21 inches long. dr. lively says her head is shaped beautifully.

one month down...

it's hard to believe baby Emma is four weeks old today! she is looking bigger and a little chubbier, although she's still wearing newborn size clothes. she is starting to turn her head when she hears a familiar voice, and she can raise one eyebrow just like her mama. her legs and arms are really strong and she can push and almost launch herself over your shoulder.

sleep is progressing. she's spending about 5 hours in her bassinet (3 hrs then 2 hrs) before getting restless. usually by then it's around 4am so i've been bringing her to bed with me just so we can get in a couple more hours of sleep.

since her umbilical cord came off, she's had a couple baths in her tub. she loves bathtime!

she also had a quick dip in grammy's pool on sunday!

we also enjoyed a visit from aunt jane and great-grandma mary.

the first month went by so quickly! i feel so lucky to be able to spend the summer with my little girl.

catching the bus

my big kindergartener!

since i'm on leave, ethan's been catching the bus for summer school. he was so excited on the first day and says now it's his favorite part of school.

he's way braver than his momma. i totally had that first-day-of-school nervous tummy. his little blond head looked so small riding away in that big old bus. tear.

my graduate

i am the proud parent of a graduate! my big boy graduated pre-k on May 19.

i'll blame it on the post-partum hormones (even though i know they had nothing to do with it), but I couldn't help but cry when he walked out on stage in his little red cap and gown. his pre-k class sang quite a few songs before they each got their diploma. when ethan when to get his diploma, ms. jill announced that ethan wanted to be a fireman like his uncle george used to be and a construction worker like his dad used to be. then they all danced around and celebrated on stage!

we just got ethan's kindergarten teacher's name in the mail for summer school. he'll start summer school in a little over a week! since i'm on maternity leave, he'll be able to catch the school bus from the house each day. better stock up on kleenex now!

emma's arrival

weighing in at 6 lbs and 10 oz and measuring 19 inches long, Emma Jane arrived healthy and ready to eat on May 11, 2011. she had little suck marks on her forearm from sucking inside the womb. the nurses said she has good muscle tone on her legs and arms. her little feet curve in to look like they are praying. she has lots of dark hair just like her brother did (before it fell out and grew in blond). Her eyelashes are really light which makes me think she will ultimately be blond too.

the first thing i thought when i saw her is that she looks exactly like me! she has my furrowed brow, my square jawline, and the stoffle lips and nose. i think this picture taken at the hospital looks just like one of my baby pics.

little Emma immediately wanted to nurse, and latched on like a pro. it took a little while for my milk to come in, and so we supplemented about 2-3 oz a day for a week or so. thanks to my expert latcher, many glasses of mother's milk tea and a week and a half later, i feel like we're doing much better now.

it was a cool and cloudy day when we brought her home - just like the day we brought Ethan home. we started tummy time right away and she is able to lift her head a few times and look around before wearing out. her big brother loves her so much and always wants to kiss her on the forehead and hold her hand. i look forward to watching their bond grow. if you ask him what his job is as her big brother, he'll tell you "protect her and keep her safe".

she is a very chill baby, hardly even startling when there's a loud noise. she's a great sleeper too (of course better during the day than at night). i think she just likes the sound of background noise. Emma makes so many funny faces in her sleep, appearing to cycle through emotions. my favorite are the involuntary smiles. it makes me excited to see the real thing soon.

i love my little girl. i'm doing my best to soak it all in since it goes by so fast.