Wordless Wednesday... again

Do videos count as wordless wednesday? Lets say they do. Here are 2 videos that are too big to post on google, so click here to watch an adorable video of Sadie baby laughing with daddy and then click here to watch lil' Spud getting tickled. Damn, I'm using words. I'll stop, so you can watch.

Wordless Wednesday

(Cuz I'm too tired to write anything!)

Giggle Girl

Just had to post these videos of Sadie giggling and playing with her mommy and daddy! 

Sadie Goes To Class

Yesterday Sadie and I went with Nanette and Skylar to their first baby music class! We had so much fun and the little muffin heads loved it! The class is right down the street from the apartment, so we all strolled down there and had some fun with other mommies and babies. Turns out 2 other girls we had the birthing class with were also there, fun to run into them and see their little baby girls. Funny we all had girls! The teacher for the class is great, he loves what he does and is great with kids. He plays the guitar and we all sing with him to the babies, dance with them, play with scarves and make music with the babies with drums, maracas, etc. Sadie seemed to really like it, so last night I signed her up for the 8 week class. PS. Take a look at the picture up top- she is going to have curly hair! Look at the curl on the right side of her little baby head! 

Last weekend we introduced Sadie to her first solid food- baby rice cereal. At first she did not want much to do with it! Here is a video of her first time with solid food.

But we tried again...... and she still didn't want it the next night! I thought maybe she wasn't ready for it and was going to wait, but I tried one more time, and for some reason, she really liked it this time and ate the whole bowl! Here is a more receptive Sadie eating her cereal! Notice Owen's cameo in the video..... he was prowling around hoping to eat whatever she was getting. Such a scavenger!

Sadie's new thing is grabbing and exploring everything! Its so cute! And fun- its priceless to see her face when she touches something new. She has loved looking at the kitties and smiling at them for awhile, but now when they walk by, she tries to reach out and touch them. Especially trying to grab their tails, which I am pretty sure she is getting close to achieving! We have to teach her: Bean = good kitty, Owen = bad kitty! For those of you who don't know, Owen is nicknamed The Great White Fuzzy Shark because of his errr..... aggressive streak in him, shall we say.... and because he does kinda look like a great white shark! Owen hasn't shown any signs of aggression towards her, but better be safe than sorry! We did let her pet Bean though because she is so curious about the kitties.

Ok, so last video! I haven't blogged in awhile, so I'm cramming a lot in here! Sadie has been loving rolling over and becoming more active. Lately she does this cute "wiggle butt" thing that we had to get on video because well, she is just so adorable in it!

Random Videos

Here are two random videos. One is of Sadie in her bumbo, the other is Sadie doing her new trick, reaching out and grabbing for stuff! Enjoy!

What makes Sadie laugh?

Piggy sounds, apparently! I think parents will agree you'll do pretty much anything to get your baby to laugh and one day I just started snorting like a pig at Sadie, and voila! It produced the baby giggle I love so much! Its so funny to see what makes them laugh. Its not the stuff you would think would be funny, that's for sure. I'd say most of the time Sadie laughs is when I have no idea I am doing anything funny at all. She is definitely starting to laugh a lot more, especially at night when we're getting her pj's on, she is all happy and giggly, so cute! Anyways, here is a video of her laughing at piggy noises. 

Sadie is starting to enjoy a good game of "Peek-a-boo", and its hysterical because I guess she thinks when we hide our faces with our hands, we are no longer there, and when we remove our hands to show our faces and say "peek-a-boo", she looks completely startled to see us there when we weren't a second ago, that she'll actually jump! Her face is priceless, like she is saying "Wait a sec.... mommy wasn't here a second ago, and now she is! It's MAGIC!" And then she'll smile a big ol' Sadie grin and we'll go through the whole thing all over again. I "disappear", I "reappear", and she gets wide eyed and looks startled, then she laughs. Over and over again :)

I went into Sadie's room this morning and this is what I saw:  

How adorable is that?! She is learning to suck her thumb now, I guess! Too bad she won't do the whole "self-soothing" thing when we try to put her to sleep! Now, that's a whole other issue! She isn't crazy about going to sleep!

Oh- also this weekend- it was Bean's birthday! He's 2 now. :)  Ahhhh.... our honeymoon kitty.... Happy Birthday, Beaner Weiner!!

I'll sign off with a couple sweet photos of ... who else.... Sadie :)

Saturday Happenings

I had to put this picture up, she's so happy! She had just woken up after nursing and Sadie + a full tummy + a short nap = Happy Sadie! So this weekend has been fun so far. Sadie is definitely getting more head control, I can now pull her to a sitting position and her head stays level with her body. Yay, Sadie! Granted, its a shaky sitting position, but this is a big accomplishment for her! Here is a cute video of her sitting up.

We also took Sadie to the farm again and we picked fresh raspberries and blueberries. We hadn't been there for awhile and Sadie enjoyed it so much more. Before, I don't think she noticed much, I think she was only 2 months old at the time or so. But now, she was looking around at everything, taking it all in, and loved sitting on the grass and trying to pull it out of the ground! So cute! We handed her a raspberry to hold for a photo opportunity but she immediately squished it in her hands, ha ha ha! Instead, we opted for pictures of her NEXT to the fruit!

Sadie also had her first of many visits to the park! We went on the swings together, I think she enjoyed it, but you can't tell from this picture! She was getting hungry and a little persnickerdoodly so I don't think she appreciated the full swing experience. :) Someday, little Sadie!

The Shire

Ah.... the Shire! Roosters crowing, Zucchini festivals, meadows to frolic in, and people who are Pittsfield Proud! It was Sadie's first road trip, she did pretty darn good too. We went to visit Nana, Kelley, and Paul, since John had a wedding to go to near my mom's house. We would have all went..... but we know how it goes with the Boss! Yes, that would be Sadie. She probably wouldn't have lasted an entire wedding considering getting through a grocery trip without an incident is a big deal! It was great to be home and show Sadie the wonders of the Shire (people who are Lord of the Rings fanatics like I am will get this reference. And if you have been to the Berkshires, don't tell me you couldn't picture hobbits living happily there). She loved being walked around outside, looking at all the trees and greenery surrounding her.  And, of course, she had her entourage back. Nana loved having her granddaughter visit! I was shocked, in a good way, that Sadie slept completely through the night in her pack and play in a new place. This bodes well for future road trips. This means you, NJ Grandparents! And to top it all off- we had a visit from Maria and Maddie! Maddie is 19 months old and is quite the beauty! What an awesome little girl she is, I loved spending some time with her. Maria is due with her second little bundle in late September, so Maddie will have a sister very soon. Maria still looked like a rock star of course, definitely had that pregnancy glow about her. She is my oldest friend. You ever have a friend where you can't remember how old you were when you became friends because she has just always been there? That's Maria. Her dad used to call us the giggle twins (or was it giggle girls, Maria?) because when we got together, that's all we used to do- giggle and laugh. She lived two houses up from me and we were stuck together like glue most of the time. I hope Sadie has a friend like that. Someone to have the ever important sleepovers with, where you laugh all night long (and get told by parents to go to sleep), and someone who will help organize a kick-ass summertime lemonade stand in the hopes of raising enough money for their "hamster fund". I am laughing as I am writing this.... ah.... good times, good times! Too bad hamsters have such a short life expectancy! Anyways, it was so awesome to see her again and to walk the same roads we walked so many times as kids, except our own kids were with us. Very cool. It was a short trip, so hopefully next time we can visit longer and show Sadie more of the Shire, so one day she too, can be Pittsfield Proud!! (You have to live there to get this little joke!)

Ta-Da!!!

Look at our amazing little Sadie baby! Today she learned how to roll from her back to her tummy! She was very proud of herself! Mommy was very proud of her too. :) 

Little House on the Prairie Sadie

Sadie is a lucky little girl to be loved by so many people. This weekend both Fam's came up to visit the cute little peanut and to attend her baptism. There wasn't a shortage of willing and eager people to cuddle, hold, and kiss baby Sadie! Grandpa took her for walks around the block, Sadie loving every minute of it. Lots of hugs and walks around the apartment from both Grandma and Nana, since we all know Sadie doesn't like to sit still. And Aunts and Uncles doing everything they can think of to make her laugh and bring out the elusive baby giggle. The baby laugh is very sporadic and comes out when I least expect it, but boy, its so worth it! Sadie isn't used to a lot of people and at first was a little overwhelmed, but by Sunday, she was soaking up the attention and really seemed to love her entourage, who were at her beck and call! I don't think Mommy and Daddy are enough now! :) 

Sadie was baptised by Fr. Frank, the priest that married John and I, so it meant a lot that he was able to baptise our daughter. She wore the same outfit that my sister and brother and myself wore to our baptisms. Grandpa thought she looked like someone from Little House on the Prairie. I agree! She was a little angel throughout the ceremony. My sister, Kelley, and John's brother, Paul, are the godparents. I think we convinced Paul that he wouldn't break Sadie if he held her! Thank you, guys, for being her godparents!

Happy 4 month birthday to Sadie! She turned 4 months August 1st, and unfortunately had to get her shots that day! Poor little dear! She was brave though. Here is a 4 month old picture for y'all. She has discovered her toes!

Oh, I had a birthday too. 31 years young! I love being married to a guy who is 2 years older than me- I will always be the young one! And I'll always taunt him with that! :)

Would you like cheesecake with that?

Ummm, yes, please! Friday night was a girls night out! We had a blast and it was so good to see everyone. It had been awhile since we had all gotten together and we just had a great time at the Cheesecake Factory, drinking oh-so-yummy martini's, eating their amazing no calorie (ha ha) cheesecake, catching up and reminiscing over college memories.  Those were some good times. :) All of us had either roomed together or lived in the same dorm or close to it, all 4 years of school, so there are countless memories. The all-nighters at the art studios, stuffing our backpacks full of beer and trying to walk really carefully past our RA's to conceal the "clink, clink, clink" sound, eating platefuls of Brick Alley nachos and Awful Awfuls at Newport Creamery, nights of Malibu Rum and White Russians, and I will still run to the bathroom if I smell Southern Comfort. Oh, and we studied in between all of that. I think those are the real benefits of college. Sure, the degree is a perk of school, but the priceless memories of those 4 years, it makes Salve's insanely high tuition-- that yes, I am still paying for-- worth it. Its been 9 years since we graduated, and now look at us- Kim is engaged (congrats, Kim!), the rest of us married, and 3 of us have.... gulp.... kids! I love that we still keep in touch and when we have nights like those, its like no time has passed! 

A Visit, Memories, and More Milestones

Yesterday was awesome -- Sadie and I got a wonderful visit from Karen, Jason, Juliana and Kevin! I was very lucky to have met Karen the very first day I moved into my freshman dorm in college. What would I have done without her?!? We have been great friends from that day on and I can honestly say that Karen saved my sanity that first year at school! And of course the subsequent years, but especially that year. Anyone who lived on the 3rd floor of Miley Hall knows the drama that I speak of! But I digress..... I hadn't seen Karen and Family since she was a bridesmaid in my wedding in October '06 because we live so far apart, so its been a long time. Juliana and Kevin have grown up sooo much in that time, so good to see them again. They are the sweetest, cutest kids ever. And now to see both of our children together.... ah well, it was just pretty darn cool, to say the least. 

Thought I'd throw up a few videos of Sadie in this post as well. One is of her laughing- she is just starting to giggle, we've heard her maybe 3 or 4 times, so here is a little snippet! Its adorable! The other is of Sadie enjoying the sound of her own voice! She is loving to vocalize now!

Yay, it's Friday!

Our week has been a hot and humid one, and nothing too eventful happened, so I thought I'd just post a few pics taken this week. The last three are from our newest form of entertainment- the web cam on my Mac. I can't believe its taken me this long to remember it was there-  it's a great way to take pictures of my little peanut buttercup! 

Trekking to Target

As a general rule of thumb, it takes at least 3 times as long to do anything than it did pre-Sadie. So much preparation for even simple trips! Like to Target and Babies R Us. Only 30 minutes away, and yet.... so far! At least it is if one of your passengers happens to be an unhappy baby. So you take all measures to make sure that doesn't happen. Diapers? Check. Wipes? Check. Change of clothes? Burp Cloth? Bottle? Milk? Check, check, check and check. Well, she isn't a big fan of her car seat. Should I bring the Baby Bjorn? Ya, good idea. Throw that in a bag. But, sometimes she hates that too, so better bring the baby sling, just in case. Oh, and grab that octopus that plays music, she loves that. And the blinking firefly. Oh what the hell, grab the duckie rattle and "you are my sunshine" light up toy too. What if she doesn't take the bottle? I should bring the boppy in case I need to nurse some where. Ok, throw that in the ever growing pile. At this point, John comes in and sees the over flowing bags and his eyes grow large as he says "are we taking all this?" But of course! Always be prepared! If a neighbor should see us coming out the house with all this stuff, they would assume we're going on vacation. Not to Warwick. But this is the attitude that always makes me the one who over packs for everything! "I might need this...." and my suitcase ends up being like 80 lbs. Anyhoo.... the trip went fine... of course..... and we got some cute stuff at Target. Like this fun little onesie!

The Fam!

Its been a great couple of days with a visit from the Fam! Mom (aka Nana), Kelley, and Paul came to visit us and we had an awesome time. Needless to say, Sadie had a LOT of attention! We had a great time visiting, hanging out, playing with the little Sweet Pea (yes, another nickname), going downtown and having yummy panini's and salads at Panera, and going to the beach- and it happened to be the first time Sadie had been to the beach! It was kind of funny, we went to Second Beach, to the exact spot almost a year earlier I had told my mom and sister that I was pregnant, and now this time, we brought a 3 month old baby! Spud Monkey was probably only half a centimeter big at the time, and now look! Pretty cool, huh? Sadie seemed to really like the beach, I think she loved the sound of the ocean. We even put her feet in and she didn't mind at all! Ah.... our little beach bum. :) 

4th of July weekend

If there is one thing I have learned about having a baby, its really hard to plan things in advance for anything, you never know how a day will go with the little cutie. Like the 4th of July. Big plans to take the Spud to see her first fireworks, maybe have a picnic, or even go out for the sushi dinner we have both been craving. (Haven't had it since before I was preggo! Ya, its definitely time.) But I think Sadie was going through a growth spurt or something because there was a fair share of crankiness and she ate a ton, so a lot of cluster feeding. So..... no fireworks or sushi was to be had. All I can say is, thank god it was a Harry Potter marathon weekend on tv this weekend! I told Sadie one day she will go to Hogwarts and learn how to cast spells, play quidditch, and if she is lucky, acquire the rare but extremely useful invisibility cloak. Good thing she doesn't really understand things quite yet and believe me! But it was still a great long weekend, even without typical 4th of July festivities. Sadie had some great milestones- first off being she laughed for the first time! I swear it was the cutest thing I ever heard! She did it twice on the changing table, but try as we might, we couldn't get her to giggle again. Its now my main goal, I really want to hear her baby laugh again! Also, she slept in her crib in her room for the first time this weekend. This is huge! She has been in a bassinet by our bed but we decided to see how it would go with starting to put her in her own room. And she slept awesome! We were shocked, but really happy. John and I, however, did NOT sleep well! Ha ha, we were perched by that baby monitor all night long! I am not sure what we thought she would do in there, but all went well. This was a big step for us, and it was very nice not to have to tip toe in the bedroom and try not to wake her, or have to go to sleep when she does because the opening and closing of the door would wake her up. I curled up in bed with a book for the first time since she was born and let me tell you, it was divine! I am a book fiend and I missed that. 

And lastly, she is really starting to get stronger. Now, when she is in the swing or bouncer, she lifts her head and shoulders a bit, as if trying to get out! We even put her in the bumbo for the first time, but I don't think she is ready just yet. Head still wobbly. But I think she will love it once she has more head control. Here is a pic of her in her bumbo:

And one more photo for good measure! A cute one of John and Sadie. :)

Ha ha ha!

Our new favorite game! This cracks me up!

3 months old!

3 days old

3 months old

Our little baby turned 3 months old today! I keep saying it, but it really is unbelievable to me that 3 months have already gone by. She's not an infant anymore. Wow, time really does fly. At this time 3 months ago, I was 2 days over my due date and having contractions. I remember when John got home from work, I told him he better eat dinner now because we were probably going to the hospital tonight, and then half way through his dinner, I told him he should probably stop eating because we needed to get to the hospital, like, NOW! I remember the quickest way to get to the hospital was blocked off so we had to go a round about route and the contractions were really coming on. I remember not being able to stand through the contractions during the elevator ride to the Birthing Center. I remember being told by the nurses, that yes, I was in active labor, they were admitting me, and would I like any pain medication? Me answering no, I'd like to go without any pain meds. I would use the jacuzzi, the birthing ball, and breathing techniques as pain coping mechanisms. How bad could it be? Then an hour and a half later desperately abandoning my steadfast "no drugs please" mantra and telling John to get the nurse to PLEASE give me an epidural. Or knock me out or something. And the subsequent panic that set in when I was told it was too late for that! I do believe profanities then became part of my pain coping mechanisms. Screw the jacuzzi and birthing ball. I also remember not thinking I was going to be able to pull this off, but after 2 hours of pushing like I never pushed before, and without going into gory details......... I met the tiny baby that lived in me for 9 months! It was an amazing experience. Labor was one of the hardest things I ever did, but we walked out of the hospital with the coolest little person ever! So worth it :) I laugh now at the carefully packed hospital bag I took so much time to put together. Do you believe that I really packed Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter dvds because, oh I don't know, I thought that I would have some downtime between contractions?! Its true.

So much has happened these last three months, its hard to sum it up. We went through some big learning curves! But it feels like now we are getting rewards, with a happy, smiling, adorable little baby. She now pretty much sleeps through the night, which is huge. She gets up around 6 or 6:30 usually, and instead of crying right away, we wake up to "ooo" "ooo" and hear her kicking around and looking around. Then when you go to say good morning, she looks at you and instantly smiles- its adorable! She notices things more and more. She is starting to like toys now too, ones that light up and make noise. I found her after her nap today "talking" to her purple octopus in her crib and when I pressed the button to make the toy play music, her face lit up with a big grin. I still look at her in amazement each day, she is just so amazing! And in honor of her 3 month birthday, little Peanut had a milestone! During tummy time, she rolled over by herself to her back! Now that she knows she can get out of tummy time, she kept doing it over and over ;) Here is a cute video of her rolling over.

Chris + Coffee + Good Times

So yesterday, Chris came down to visit for the afternoon, it was so good to see him. Like old times, going for yummy Starbucks together.  Christopher and I were roommates for awhile way back when. And what a roommate he was! I could write post after post of all the pranks he pulled. One time, I came home after a long, stressful day at work and sat down on my bed and ....... the bed wasn't soft like it usually was, it felt hard. Come to discover, Chris had switched my box spring and mattress and made the bed back up. Or all the times he would steal my cell phone and set the alarm for 3 am. Or switch my cell phone to another language, making it practically impossible to do anything on it or find a way to switch it back to English. Or the time he found my password to my voicemail and changed my outgoing message to something ridiculous. And here's a good one: he switched the names on my phone list one time, so that when I thought I was calling him, I was actually calling this guy I had a crush on (don't worry, it was pre-John). I think he was in danger of bodily harm on that one. I could go on, but a lot of those stories require explaining. Like, if I started out the next example with "Chris used to pretend he was a cheetah....." it would sound just too weird, so I'll stop here! Ah yes..... Chris had what I called "boundary issues". Yes, yes, funny boy. :)  Makes for great stories now, not as funny then! Ah..... good times..... Thanks for the visit, Chris!

Ok, one more....

First of all, blogging is addicting. :) Secondly, I know some of you may think this new video is pretty similar to the other two videos of Sadie "talking". But its SO different- this time she is in her bath towel! Awwwww!!! Sorry, I can't help myself.....

Grillin' and Strawberry Pickin'

The weekend was a fun, summery one. Perfect start to the first official weekend of summer. Allison and Ed (or otherwise known as Auntie Allie and Uncle Eddie) came over Saturday to grill hot dogs and hamburgers with us- thank you Ed for doing the grilling! :) We had never used the grill or the patio downstairs and no one else was using it, so it was great. We had a fun time with them and Sadie really enjoyed being outside too. Got to eat the entire dinner and relax with some Corona's, Guinness, and some Mikes Hard Lemonade (mmmm...), and she just coo'd, smiled, and had a good time looking around at the trees over head the whole time. Grilling is something we'll have to do more of, it worked out so well with Sadie. I guess I better start watching a lot of Bobby Flay to get some tips. Or just have Ed and Al over a lot. :)

We also went to Sweet Berry Farm and pick our own strawberries. We do this every year, the strawberries are amazing. You don't realize how good fresh fruit tastes until you actually get really fresh fruit. It kicks Stop and Shops butt. And its fun to pick the berries yourself. We are going to try to go a lot this summer to pick our own berries, peaches, apples, etc. Plus they have a little market there to buy fresh veggies, homemade pies and cookies, ice cream, etc. Its addicting when you go there, you just start salivating and want to buy everything in the store. 

On a side note, the house next door is being worked on and all the yelling, hammering,  and sawing keeps waking Sadie up! grrrr....