hello from cocoa

I decided to just let the computer run for a few hours, and I managed to get a few more pics uploaded. yay!

So far, we're still just keeping things low key. We hang around the condo and relax, take Abs to the beach or the pool after her naps and work other activities around her sleeping and feeding schedules.

Today, us "kids" (kyle, his sister, and her boyfriend) all went to see a movie and stopped at Chick Fil A before hand. Mmmmm. It's so good to get our chick fil A fix. :-)

I managed to make it to the gym again this morning. I'm not doing so well keeping up with weights and such, but I'm trying to maintain the 3 days of running a week. Today is day 1 of week 2 of the running schedule I'm trying to keep. Which means, I got to increase my run and walking times a bit today. I was pleased to find that it wasn't too big of a jump and I finished fine. Hopefully Thursday will be similar.

Tomorrow, Kyra & Tony are heading back to Dallas and the rest of us are going to peruse some local outlet malls. I'm hoping to find a new pair of running shoes. I can't remember the last time I had new sneakers. Maybe 5 or 6 years ago?

Anyway. Here are a few more pictures of our first day here.

family portrait

Abby's first look at the ocean.

just being adorable. :)

Hi people!

after some pool time

I'm still loving the heat (and yes Ben, even the humidity :-) ) We got to see some great storm clouds and lightning last night. Sigh. I say it every time I visit - but I miss the thunderstorms.

Ok. Enough for now. I think a game of dominoes is brewing - and I'm being summoned.

one picture

well, it took me 45 mins to get one picture uploaded - but you gotta admit, it's kinda cute. :)

Hello from Florida!

Well, I figured out how to connect to the wifi up here so I'm taking advantage of Kyle's computer to get a quick blog fix.

Unfortunately, uploading photos is painfully slow - so we'll see how many I get uploaded here...but I've already got many to share.

So, in a nutshell, we got here fine. Abs did great on the plane and only complained a few times due to her ears bothering her (I think) Kyle pointed out that we had a great flight to test her out on - the direct flight from Boston to Orlando is stocked full of families and kids. Abby was definitely the least of anybody's worries. :)

She's adjusted now to sleeping in her pack n play - with us in the room. That took some getting used to from everyone I think. I still wake at her every noise - and Kyle's every noise - and I spend most of the night playing referee. If Kyle makes too much noise, I have to nudge him before he wakes Abby. If Abby is awake, I have to make sure we don't make enough noise for her to know that we're in the room - because then she would surely demand attention. As long as she doesn't know we're there - we're good. It's getting better, but it's been a process. I don't think I could deal with her still sleeping in our room at home - my hats off to those of you who can still do that.

We're enjoying the warmth. Oh how I've missed the warmth. I don't care if my hair looks like something more becoming on Hagrid - I've even missed the humidity. That comforting wave of heat and moisture that hits you as you leave an air conditioned space - aah. I'm soaking it up.

We introduce Abs to carrots and peaches while we've been here. Carrots are all right - she eats them fine. But peaches - oh my goodness - she's like a ravenous peach monster. We bought a mesh bag that you can put fresh food in. I cut up a peach and put it inside and she devoured it. There was hardly anything left. She ate two peaches worth that way and I think she would have kept going. So, note to others - mesh feed bag thing = big hit.

Ok, so I've been online now for over half an hour and I haven't been able to upload 1 picture. (boo!) I'll have to share all of Abby's first water and beach experiences with you another time.

Till then - hope everyone is doing well. I'll write when I get the chance.

tidbits

I haven't been in a blogging mood the last few days, sorry 'bout that.  But, here in the morning before the baby or the husband are awake and all is quiet - seems like a nice time to try on my typing fingers. 

So first, Abbykat news (is there anything else these days?)

Abigail is changing so much.  She's great.  I'm starting to feel like we have a relationship beyond the expected mother/baby bond.  Yesterday, we sat on the floor together and watched soccer with Kyle.  The whole time, she and I were just playing and she was so happy and chatty and just thrilled to have the undivided attention....and to be allowed to sit and watch bright colors on the tv of course.  I dunno, it was just fun.  She is always making me laugh.  She's making more and more new noises - and you can tell when she discovers a new one because she just makes it over and over and over and over.  Yesterday, she discovered this weird frog noise she could make with her throat while making a popping noise with her lips.  I can't describe it - but Kyle and I were both amused. 

On the eating front, we've started avocados (thanks pollsters!).  She seems to like them.  The only problem we have during dinner is that she gets pretty distracted by the things around her and has to be redirected a lot.  Last night, she managed to swipe a big spoonful of avocado from my hand that ended up on her tray.  She was Very interested in that and spent the next 10 mins or so finger painting everything she could reach green.  I'm in favor of learning experiences, so I took the little bit that she didn't finish and dumped it on the tray for her.  It didn't take long before everything was green.  

Mobility - Abby is not crawling yet, and I am in NO hurry for her to learn that skill.  :)  But, she has become a pro at spinning in circles while on her belly.  And recently, she's learned to scoot backwards.  Oh my, it can be so very entertaining to watch her try to move forward.  If you place something just out of her reach, she will reach for it, stare at it, wiggle her fingers at it (she think she knows spells), and then she will raise up her legs and arms so that she is balancing on her belly only and yell at it.  She keeps us entertained.  She is getting much better at sitting - and while I still can't let her sit on her own yet - her balance is much better and she doesn't use me for balance as much as she used to.  Standing is her new favorite thing in the world.  She would prefer, I believe, for her knees to be perpetually locked.  

Play - We got Abs this baby einstein jumper.  It took her a little while to figure it out, but now she loves it.  Everytime she manages to hit the William Tell Overture key - she goes nuts with the bouncing - its her favorite by far.  Well, her second favorite, her first favorite thing is the Tag on the jumper.  I didn't think she could even reach the cardboard tag that I never remembered to take off.  It took me two days to solve the mystery of why she would suddenly have a face and hands covered in what looked like blue glitter and paint chips (trust me, I was a little concerned)  I vacuumed everything, searched everywhere she'd been - couldn't find a thing.  Until I noticed yesterday that the tag had no more edges - was soaked and falling apart with baby slobber.  Ok, so no more tag.  But that brings me to another question - what is it with tags in general?  She loves loves loves them.  It doesn't matter what toy I give her, if it has a tag, that's all she wants to explore.  Maybe she'll grow up to be a famous designer, maybe she wants to know where everything is from.  I dunno.  But I can certainly see why all those taggie toys are so popular.  Babies love tags. At least mine does. 

Tomorrow, we leave for Florida.  I'm not sure what my internet options will be while I'm there, but I'm sure I'll be "around" I am excited about being done with school finally (Friday is our last day) and I am excited about the beach vacation.  I just can't wait to introduce Abby to all the new things that await her - and take pictures - LOTS of pictures.  :)  

And last, but certainly not least, a big GOOD LUCK to my buddy Billie Jo who is testing today at the ATA World Championships in Little Rock for her 4th degree black belt!  I know she's going to be AWESOME and I only wish I could be there (I don't think I've missed a World Championships since I started taekwondo)  We're all sending a lot of hugs, clapping, and cheering her way.  So Good Luck Billie Jo!  I miss you!

I cannot believe that it is now 7:30 am and both the baby and the husband are still sleeping.  Amazing. 

Have a great day, peoples. 

Father's Day (part 2)

I'm terrible with snail mail.  Nothing ever gets anywhere on time.  And holidays and birthdays are the worst.  And so, until I get my act together and mail out my dad's Father's Day bundle - I'm hoping this little video will tie him over.  

I love you Dad!  Thank you for being such a wonderful person in my life.  xoxo

Father's Day (part 1)

What should I make for Daddy today?

Yep, that looks just about perfect.

Now I just have to fold it up!


Oooh, a blank canvas -I know what I'll write!


Whatcha think mom?  Think he'll like it?

 
Abby - I know he'll love it ;-)

possum.

We put Abby to bed late last night - which is fine, we had good reason, but it usually means she doesn't sleep well. She is such a schedule-loving child.

So, as expected, she woke up a few times. 10:30, 4:15, and 4:50. I went in each time to put her paci back and let her cry a bit until she fell asleep again.

When I went in at 4:50, however, as soon as the little stinker saw me, she picked up her paci, put it in her mouth, turned her head to the side and closed her eyes.

Faker.

I suppressed my laughter and of course as soon as I left the room she started whimpering again.

But, other than being awake from 4-6 this morning, it was a pretty funny moment - and I just wanted to remember it.

Babies are smarter than we give them credit for.

Bunker Hill Day etc.

Boston has a lot of holidays. Yesterday was one of them.

I'm not usually one to argue with a free day off school - but when that day falls on the last week of classes - it does seem a little silly. Nevertheless, I got to stay home yesterday and chill with the girl child.

Abs and I decided to take a stroll after her morning nap. I thought that she might enjoy sitting in her stroller instead of the car seat. We've never tried to sit her in the stroller before, so it was all new. Of course it was big on her - but after a little adjusting, she seemed secure enough not to fall out. :) The day was beautiful. Sunny, clear, 72 degrees. It was great. We took a 45 min walk around the neighborhood and the reservoir. Abs was in the zone. Every so often I would stop and check to see if she was asleep or not. She was always awake, but with this glazed over staring-into-the-abyss type look on her face. She would eventually snap out of it and give me a little half smile before we kept going. All in all, I think it went well.

When I mentioned to Kyle that I was thinking about putting her in the stroller, he didn't say anything at first. He was quiet for a long time and I went about doing whatever I was doing. Several minutes later I asked him what he was thinking about and he said "she's not supposed to be big enough for the stroller yet" It's bittersweet watching them get bigger.

So, we had a good day, relaxing. I made it to the gym in the evening, we had a nice fish & veggie dinner and watched more HGTV shows. ...That makes me laugh.

Speaking of the gym. My friend Billie Jo inspired me to try to learn to run. So, I've been trying. I'm not very good at it. At all. I can run half a mile before I putter out. I know it's a building process, but I can be impatient. I am proud of myself that I've managed to spend at least a mile to a mile and a half on the treadmill once or twice a day every day this week. It doesn't help that my earbuds broke so I don't have any music to listen to. I keep telling myself that once I have music -I'll magically be able to run farther. How the music is supposed to cure that punctured lung feeling I get about 6 mins in? I'm not sure, but I just know it will. ;o)

I have been eating really really well this week. I've been proud of that. I have a daily & weekly calorie allotment - and with the exercising, I'm nearly 1000 calories under my weekly budget as of Wednesday. In other news, I've got some Px90 action heading my way - we'll see if I can find the time I need to commit over the summer.

Tomorrow is the last day of school for students. The whole next week is just cleaning and packing up and getting things squared away for the summer. I am NOT a fan of this late june school year. I would MUCH rather start in August and get out in May. As it is, We start 2/3 weeks later than everybody else (in the south at least) and get out 4-6 weeks later. No fun. But, c'est la vie, and I've only got a few more days left.

And with that - I need to get back to this report - my last report of the year! Have a great Thursday people. ;)

flower girl

Abigail and I decided to have a little photo shoot this afternoon.  It's been a long time since we've done one, but I think we both had fun.  

At one point though, she was practicing sitting on the changing table and toppled over and bumped her little head on the rail.  Poor baby.  She had a big purple knot on the back of her head.  She was ok a few minutes later of course, but mommy felt bad.

We also gave sweet potatoes another chance tonight.  She ate almost all of them, which is great - but everytime she would take a bite of sweet potatoes (I was alternating bites with oatmeal) she would shiver.  It was pretty hilarious.  She would take a bite, clamp her lips, hunch her shoulders and shiver.  At least she ate them - without tears. :)

Anyway, here are some of the ones I liked from our shoot today.  

pictures galore.

Here are some pictures of our week with my parents! 

We all went to the Isabella S. Gardner Museum - this is a pretty cool place of one woman's art collection.  She was eclectic and wealthy and the combo makes for a great collection of cool things all housed in her old house...mansion.  Nothing has been moved since she lived there and there is a 4 story atrium & courtyard in the middle that is fantastic to visit on a rainy boston day.  Unfortunately, no pictures allowed on the inside. 


mom and dad in the park by the museum.  :)


I let Abs hold the museum map...and then I forgot that I gave it to her....


by the time I remembered, this is what was left.  She had green paper all over her tongue.  Oops.  Sweet Potatoes: 0, Paper brochures: 1. 


pretty picture of Abby with her Granny


We introduced my parents to the wii.  Here is dad's "mii" having a blast rockin' out on a drum set.


Abby loved dad's beard...a little too much.  It was thinner when he left than when he got here, but Abby had a blast!


the four of us at castle island


Abby throwin' deuces 


playing with grandpa


happy parents (on the one sunny day we had while they were here!)

6 month update

Obviously, this is late.  On Friday, Abigail turned 6 months old.  On one hand, it seems like time has flown and that just yesterday I was waddling around with my belly leading the way; on the other hand, we have enjoyed every moment along the way and already have so many wonderful memories. 

So, first, let me go over her 6 month check up.  Our little bird weighed in at 13 lbs 6 oz!  She is, not only back on the charts, she is up to the 10th %tile.  She's definitely getting bigger.  You can see it in her face and in her chubby little baby thighs.  Needless to say, Kyle and I are both pleased with her weight gain.  It's funny how the 10th %tile seems so big to us.

Abby's growth chart

Besides being weighed, Abs got her next round of shots.  She did pretty well with the first one, but she let the nurse have it on the second one.  The doc said she looks healthy all around and said all of our travel plans should be fine as long as we bring sunscreen. :)

As previously blogged, Abs had her first real food and it didn't go so well.  We actually haven't tried again yet just because we keep running out of time in our day (gotta figure out a better schedule).  

At 6 months old, Abigail is happy and engaging.  She smiles all the time and is super ticklish - which is fun.  She loves to be flown around in the air and really loves to hang upside down.  She's really just a lot of fun.  

She's getting much closer to sitting on her own.  We practice everyday.  She can sit for a few seconds at a time unassisted and is starting to understand the idea of tripod-ing. 


In other 6-month party celebrations, we spent some time this weekend at castle island with my parents.  It's not actually an island, but a nice park on the harbor.  I'll post more pictures from that trip later, but I had to include this one of my dear husband and his mini-me. 


After the park, we eventually made our way home and after a nice nap, we decided to take Abby swimming for the first time.  We're planning on being in Florida in a few weeks, so we thought we should introduce Abby to the wonder that is swimming.  Well, of course because we live in Boston, it's never hot.  Add to that the late time of day and the shade covered pool - and it suffices to say that the water was a little chilly. 
We let Abby dip her feet in with me a few times to test it out.  She was interested.  The cold didn't seem to bother her too much.  I dipped her in a little further up to her knees and she seemed to like it.  So, we decided to try out her new swim floaty.  Kyle, being the awesome dad that he is, was the brave one to get in the pool with her.  It was pretty chilly - and he let me know it.  :)  
Abby, however, took it like a man.  She was happy being pulled around and playing with the toys on the floaty.  All in all, it went well.  We didn't spend very long in the water, obviously, but I'm glad her first experience with it didn't end in tears or anything.  

looking at the water


woah


having fun

Sorry that this update is a few days late.  It seems like I have more to write about than time to do it in.  We're all looking forward to the months ahead - many new adventures await our little girl.

food vid

so sad, poor baby. ;-)

First Food!

It seems like sometimes I go days and days with nothing to blog about, and then all of a sudden, I have so many things I want to document - that I don't know if I'll get them all in.

Today is Abby's 6 month birthday!  But I'm going to save all of that glory for another post later today (I hope) 

Right now, I want to share Abby's first experience with "real" food last night.  She's been on oatmeal for a few weeks now and has loved it from the very first bite.  We decided that we would give her sweet potatoes as her first food.  We're making her food and trying to buy organically for her.  So, we went and picked up the goods and yesterday afternoon I tried out the new babycook food maker.  

I knew I would like it, but I'm really excited about it now.  It's really easy to use and it's fast and its easy to clean and...I'm glad I got it.  The potatoes came out wonderfully.  One potato was enough to give us 7 meals worth of baby food.  That rocks.  

So, we got Abby ready, grandparents standing by with their camera phones, Kyle with the video camera and me with the spoon full of beautiful orange goodness.  

Change is hard.  She took her first bite and then she looked at me.  Her eyes got big, her mouth fell open and we had instant tears and crying.  It was adorably sad. I had considered that she might not like the potatoes, but I never really thought they would make her cry.  We tried a few more bites (while taking tons of pictures of course) and then gave it a rest.  She did. not. like them. 

We made her some oatmeal as a reprieve and eventually mixed tiny bits of sweet potato with the oatmeal - which she didn't like, but grudgingly swallowed.  If there was too much sweet potato on the spoon, she would try to spit it out or gag.  Sigh.  

So, anyway, we have 7 meals worth - so she will be getting them for the rest of this week.  They say it can take up to 10 times for babies to like a food - so hopefully we'll get it in 7.  Enjoy the pictures. :)

somebody, save me.

idon'tlikeitidon'tlikeit

please mama, no...

hmm, this end seems safe

 

here dad, you try it.

Happy Birthday Grandpa!

This is a day late - but I wanted to say a bloggy Happy Birthday to my dad!  

This birthday was extra great because he got to spend it with us in Boston.  I think we had a pretty good day.  Dad got to sleep in and catch up on some much needed rest while Kyle and I were at work.  Of course, Abby insisted that we decorate with balloons and streamers the night before, so when he did wake up he was greeted with appropriate birthday decor.  

After work, we all went out for a nice seafood dinner.  Yum!  I think dad had been craving seafood since he visited Boston 2 years ago, so he was pleased to get to splurge on some fish from a coastal state.  Dad's on a diet right now that won't allow for birthday cake - but he got birthday oysters instead, and I think he may have enjoyed that even more. :)

I'm so happy to have both of my parents visiting us this week.  I know they've enjoyed soaking up Abby time while we work during the day.  Dad said his beard is somewhat thinner thanks to Abby's super human baby grip.  Abby, in turn, thinks mom and dad are the coolest thing since oatmeal.  She just grins at them all day and makes lots of cute noises for them.  

I'm at work right now, and unfortunately, don't have tons of time to write - but I wanted to take a moment to wish my dad a happy birthday and to let everyone know that he is the most amazing person ever and I love him so much!  Happy Birthday dad!

Here are a few pictures from dinner.

birthday boy

we tried to let Abs sip some water from a glass.  She thought the condensation was more interesting though. :)

happy parents!

"bottoms up, dad"

us

soapbox of rainbows

As a department, we have great professional development trainings here in Boston.  At least I think so.  I might also be a super nerd, but I enjoy learning new things and such.  We've been lucky to have several big presenters come to talk to us about various topics.

Last week, we had a few groups come in to talk to us about LGBT issues.  Part of the presentation was a panel of individuals who gave their own personal testimonies about being gay or having gay children.  Obviously, it's a sensitive issue for a lot of people, and I thought that the presenters did an excellent job of being factual and respectful to all of the feedback and opinions.  

Regardless of your personal beliefs on the matter - as professionals, we are called to serve all populations, and being able to counsel or consult with an LGBT should not be something you're unwilling to do.  Now, having said that, if you feel that your advice would be overly tainted by your personal beliefs, of course you should be able to refer them to others - but I've heard of a few people who refuse to meet with these students at all.  I don't really get that.  Do you refuse to meet with Down Syndrome kids or students with missing limbs?

Religion plays a big role in people's beliefs about the LGBT community - as does culture.  A friend of mine recently said that she didn't think that faith and tolerance should be exclusive of each other.  And I agree.  Even if you disagree with the political side of issues, there is no reason to speak hatefully or condescendingly towards these people.  They ARE people - y'know, with real feelings and everything.  The point was made the other day, that LGBT individuals are usually the last ones that want to be so.  It's not a choice, people.  There's medical research to back that up.  

Anyway.  As for me, I got to help out with an issue at school today that allowed me to pull out all of my new LGBT resources and I was happy to feel like I helped the situation.  I'm making a mental note: must teach Abigail tolerance.  I'm thinking about getting more involved in the school GSA (gay straight alliance) just as a support person who will be available for anybody who wants to talk.  I want them to know that in a climate that is sometimes very difficult to exist in, that they've got somebody in their corner too.  

one of the promo postcards for a Boston LGBT organization.  I thought it was kinda funny.

macro test

Yesterday, mom and I took the new camera for a test drive down macro lane.  

We took a gander around the reservoir and took lots of pictures of things.  Since I was testing out the macro functions, focusing and distancing - we took lots and lots of pictures of flowers and such.  I loved the camera and how it did everything I wanted it to do.  It was very intuitive to use and I'm very happy with both the zoom and the macro functions.  I had a great time taking pictures of everything under the sun.  Just trying things out.

picture taking aside - it was a really nice day and it was nice to get out and walk.  We walked for about an hour and enjoyed the scenery.  

So, here are a few shots from our nature walk.  I think they turned out all right, and so I'm still perfectly happy with the new camera.  For the record, we didn't edit the pictures at all, so the colors and textures and everything else are just how the camera captured things...fyi. 

I have no idea what these flowers are - but they were iiiitsy bitsy, and shaped like stars, so I had to like them!

gotta love daisies. 

I really like this one for absolutely no reason. 

pretty color, no?

This is the same kind of flower as the previous one, but it was dying.  I kind of thought it had that intentional distressed wood look to it, and I think I may like it even more than the full bloom one.  

next up - people!