new play

i took bela to a new playground in the area, well about 2 years old, but new to us!! so wonderful. my problem with other playgrounds is that there are all ages of kids running around with no regard to the little ones. this new playground is only for ages 2-5. perfect. it is small and completely fenced in so bela was able to run around and i didnt have to worry about her making a break for it or getting trampled. i want to go there everyday! of course i didnt have a my camera with me though so i have no pics, next time.

just cuz

mama rock

i am so totally going to the arcade fire show in columbus on october 5th, no matter what. i will be there.

this is it

so we went on vacation with meghan and sebrina and had an amazing time! we spent most of the days relaxing, swimming, playing in the sand and thats about it. megs and i had a lot of quality time together and i think we really needed it! her parents were fantastic and made bela and

i feel right at home from the very first second. amazingly enough, both girls slept unbelievably well at naps and bedtime. the only trip up was that bela wanted everyone to be awake at 7am when she was. on more than one morning she knocked on meg and sebrinas door and woke them up

a but earlier than meg would have liked. i have so many great stories and memories from this trip, but alas i can not type them all two weeks after the fact. enjoy the pics instead.

same old song and dance

i know, i know... this weekend there will be a halfass vacation update followed by current events. too little too late, ive heard it all before.

i know i am a slacker... heres a sneak peak

home safely

we are home from vacation, sad but true. i will do my best to post a recap soon, but way too tired and too busy at work to do it now. i also have lots of pics.

on the road

bela and i leave this afternoon for our mini vacation! meghan (and sebrina) invited us to come along to her parents cottage in canada. we leave today and will be heading back on tuesday sometime. i am so excited and looking forward to some time to hang out with megs, baby play time and beachy type relaxation. my wonderful mom was nice enough to lend me her old camera so i will actually have new pics to post!! i promise to blog a detailed account of our trip when we return!! bye for now! xoxoxo

vacation - breaking news

bela and i are going away for a long weekend with meghan and sebrina!! details to come later.

mad skills

bela is still working hard on mastering the art of jumping. it is too funny to watch her try though, sometimes she even squats down like a frog for some extra oomph. yesterday she actually did a somersault, it was awesome and then she kept trying to perfect it. a few times she flopped over, but she did get in a few good ones.

busy week

daddy started a new job on monday and has had a very busy week, but we are hoping that it will slow down and then we can all enjoy his 9-5 hours. wow, its been forever since he worked normal hours, no weekends. we are so gonna enjoy that!!

omas monster

my mom had bela for the day and curled her hair to tame her wild curls that we all know i love....

what a peanut

the haircut dilemna

so i thought it might be a good idea to take bela for her first
haircut. just to trim it up and even it out, nothing major. then i read
an article in parents magazine that made me think twice, the writer
said that if you cut off the "baby curls" they most likely will not
grow back. now, many of you know that my one stipulation while pregnant
with this little girl was that she had to have ringlets. on more than
one occasion i pointed out what was to be my "dream baby hair". so
imagine my horror when i read that they might not stick around and more so
might not make it out of the salon. what is a mama to do? take the
risk? let her hair grow for years and years under this facade of baby
curls? hope that they are in it for the long haul?
well to further this saga, i was at the play area in the mall (aka the
pit-o-germs) and got to talking to another woman. she was the mom of a 4
year old girl with poker straight hair halfway down her back, the bottom 3
inches beautiful ringlets. the little girl told me that she was having her very first
haircut that day. mom confessed that she couldnt bear cutting it earlier because she didnt want to lose the "baby curls" at the ends.
(yes, you see where i am going with this) and once she cut them off, they wouldnt grow back because obviously the rest of her hair was straight as could be.
sooooo... what do i do? i know this is so silly and not a big deal, but i would miss the curls. imagine my delight when they showed up in the first place! what would i
do without them? i guess just be content with the baby to which they are connected. hmph.

reading

as of about the past 2 weeks, bela is finally into book and actually
lets me read to her. you all know this is just about a dream come true
in my world. she actually sits on my lap at bedtime and listens.
glorious. today while daddy played video games,bela read me a book. it was called "the shoe book" and this is how it went.

bela: oh! baby, shoes, shoes. see! see! baby shoes shoes baby. oh, see! mama, mama, daddy. shoes. buh-bye.

just pics

out

on friday night i went out to see once. holy moly, it was friggin fantastic. i highly recommend it to anyone reading this blog. unless you dont like indie flicks, or the irish, or music, or good movies. then dont bother. otherwise, see it. as soon as i got home i downloaded the soundtrack and it hast left my cd player since. wow.

to all you non believers

(yes, jen this means you) i swear i will do some good posts this weekend, not just quick pointless ones but good ones. honestly, cuz i have something in the works about bela's hair... intriguing i know... stay tuned.

i dip therefore i am

bela has becoming a dipping addict. oma created this monster. she really likes having something to dip in, whether its ketchup, ranch or whatever. last night brett was sharing some wheat thins and dip with her. when he put away the dip and left her with just the crackers she started dipping her crackers in my club soda... whatever works i guess.

they grow up so fast...

wedding weekend

this past weekend i was bela-less from thursday night through sunday afternoon. brittany and i travelled to cinci to andy and caris wedding. we had a blast and as a bonus got to hang out with my sister and fam.
we had a great time, of course great food, and the wedding was beautiful. i just love those kids and i am so happy for them!!

bela was passed around and spoiled as usual. she surprisingly did not come home with anything extra, but i suspect the evidence may have been left behind. big thanks to oma, gunka, karen and karon for all pitching in to take care of bela! i know that they all took good care of her because she was only partially excited to see me on sunday.

i am looking forward to a calm and relaxing time this upcoming weekend.

rewind

back to the fourth of july! we decided to keep bela up for fireworks and to take her to our friends party at his country club. i was unsure how she would react to them, but thought it was worth a shot since she isnt usually bothered by loud noises. we got there right around seven, which is belas bedtime. she was very well behaved and spent most of the time wandering the grounds (party was outside) while either brett or i followed after her. at about 8:30 she was tired out and let me carry her around. there were plenty of other kids there too so she had a ball. when it came time for the fireworks we sat down in the grass for the show, which i might add is one of the best i have ever seen. bela was in my lap with a bowl of goldfish crackers (her fave)and boris. to my dismay, she wasnt even phased by the fireworks, she actually didnt even really pay attention to them. she was to busy snacking and people watching. every once in a while she would look up and point at the lights, but that was it. eh, maybe next year!

my camera is broken

so you get pictures of holly and franka instead!!

this had got to be a fluke...

... and i am about to jinx it.
for about the past month off and on, bela
has been giving me the hardest time putting her to bed. we read books,
or i attempt to while she grabs at it or flips the pages. we rock, then
in the crib, then fuss. at that point i ether make multiple trips back
up to her room for soothing or i let her "cry it out",which usually lasts no longer than 10 minutes.
so why was tonight so different?
tonight we sat in the rocker and she listened intently while i read four books, she pointed at the pictures and tried to repeat the words. after a bit of rocking,
i put her in the crib. she immediately sat up and looked at me. i said
"lie down and i will cover you up" and she did, and i did. then i
left.. that was that. unbelievable.
i am not gonna make a big deal over this (oops too late), but we will just have to wait and see how tomorrow goes.

spoiled

so we spent the weekend at my parents house and bela was for sure spoiled as usual. my mom and karen bought her a ton of cute new clothes and hats.
on saturday we took her to the beach and she loved it!! she wanted to run right into the water and play, no fear that girl! then we went to coldstone and bela had cotton candy ice cream, it was blue and she loved it. i usually limit her to vanilla so she was in heaven!


saturday night i went to the grog to see the stills.. hold moly i am newly in love with them (again) and the cds have no left my player since then.

lapse

yes, i know... blah, blah, blah.
bela is spending the day being spoiled and loved to death by oma and aunt karen. lucky girl!
we are spending the weekend at my moms because brett has show tonight and tomorrow night and wont be home anyhow.
tomorrow i am going out to a show and i am so excited for some grown up mama time!
more later!

friday plans

my bela was so excited to see me yesterday when my mom brought her back to my work. and of course i was excited to see her!! i really missed her even though it was only a day and a half.
in mama news, brittany is taking me to dinner to tonight at moxie and i cant wait!! i spent a lot of time on the website yesterday looking at the menu. all i have to say is that they have a section of the menu just for cheese. hold moly. that brittany treats us all way too good. love her!

babyless night

my mom picked bela up yesterday morning and will be bringing her back to my work this afternoon around 4. thats a lot of babyless time after last week of baby filled time! i surely didnt know what to do with myself! brittany, chris and i went to the lizard for dinner and i had a beer! it was awesome.
i cant wait to see my girl today and hear all about her adventures!

back to life

so i am now back at work after a nice bela-filled vacation! i guess its a good thing that i like my job because i didnt mind having to come back. although i definitely miss my baby girl!!

final vacation day

so i skipped a day...
but in all fairness yesterday was so crazy with two babies that i barely had time to pee let alone type a blog.
the zoo trip was very eventful, for the first 20 minutes both girls were
content in the wagon we rented, but then they both wanted to just run
around and be free. at one pointsebrina was pulling the wagon and bela was pushing from behind. we were only there for about an hour and a half and then left to get ice cream. we took megs and sebrina to malleys for their first deliciousness experience. yum.
so then yesterday was two baby day. the only fought minimally and took staggered naps which was a nice break for me. all in all not too bad, but i do feel for the mothers of twins, i could never do it.
today is the final official vacation day for us. we are going to hang out with andy and go to the nature preserve in bay village. that is if the monkey baby will ever take a nap....
tonight brett and are going out for our fifth anniversary dinner, bela will be at home with a sitter. this will be her first time being put to bed by someone other than me, brett or other family.

vacation - day three

day three already! the time is going way too fast!
yesterday was a nice day because it was bretts day off, unfortunately the weather was pretty crappy. while bela napped i went to the library. it was nice to be able to browse rather than grab and go which is what i normally end up doing before bela tears the place up.
after bela woke up we ran to the bank and to a new grocery store in the area, you
know how much i love those! i was making a good dinner and was missing
a few things.
later in the day i took bela for a walk, but it was rather chilly and didnt last long.
the weather says its supposed to warm up today and then even more so tomorrow and friday. i sure hope so!
today bela slept until 7:45 again! we have plans to go to the zoo today with megs and sebrina, hope we dont freeze!!
more later and hopefully zoo pics!

vacation - day two

Yesterdays lunchdate/playdate was fantastic! bela and the other little girl played really well together and the mamas had time to drink coffee and catch up.

this morning bela slept until 7:45! wonderful start to vacation day two!

vacation - day one

this is day one of my vacation!!
today is going well already with nap success. i needed bela go down by 10:30 since we need to leave the house by 1 for our playdate/lunch
date. like a champ she was out by 10:20 and now i am just keeping
fingers crossed that she stays asleep long enough for me tovacuum, sweep the kitchen and then shower and get ready, but i am not gonna push my luck.
hopefully the weather stays nice today, i would like to take bela
to the park or the beach to run around a bit later on. I really feel
like i need to maximize my time since its not often that i get whole
days in a row with her.
i am going to do my best to keep up on
daily posting too, but i make no guarantees that they are gonna be
extensive or mind blowing. i also know that if idont there are a few of you that wont let me forget it.

more later!