Too Cute for Words

After a cold stretch here in PA where the temperatures had averaged anywhere from the mid-50's to the upper-60's, I decided that it was time to start searching for a fall coat for Abigail. Since it's still fairly early in the season, I had some trouble trying to locate something I liked for a reasonable price.

Then, I found this:



It's original retail price was $59 at Gymboree, but thanks to their current Baby Sale, I snagged it for only $25! Unfortunately, my local Gymboree store only had it in one size so I had to order it from their website. Not a problem - I just stocked up on some other fall clothing for Abbey that was also on sale.

Not only is it adorable, but it's very warm. Abbey should be able to get away with wearing it through December here and even longer if we have a mild winter. The inner lining is fleece and I love that even the hood is lined.

Now I just have to cross my fingers that it will fit her for longer than a month....(note to Abigail: please stop growing out of your clothes faster than I can buy them).

A Hodgepodge of Sorts

Lately, it appears that I've been snapping more pictures of Abigail than I've been posting.

Today, I've decided to rectify that issue. While random, these are all pictures that I've taken of her over the last week or so.

Here she is folks!

She Stands (gasp)!

The other morning, I woke up to the sound of Abigail playing in her crib like she so often does. When I glanced at the monitor to see that she was okay (we have a video monitor), I couldn't see her anywhere. What the heck?

I wander over to her bedroom and open the door to her room only to find her standing, half bent over the crib railing. I just about had a heart attack! I had never seen her pull herself to stand before - not once. I quickly pulled her out of the crib and proceeded to hyperventillate for awhile. I then called Mike at work to tell him we were dropping her crib mattress ASAP.

Now that her mattress has been lowered and I've had some time to adjust to my little baby being able to stand (holy crap!), I took a few pictures of her doing just that:





Not only has she started to stand in her crib, but she's been pulling up on anything and everything she can find. While it's adorable, I can't help but find it terrifying that she went from crawling to standing in only a matter of a few weeks. I won't lie - I'm so not ready for this.

The Best Time of the Year

Fall is officially in the air.

The weather has turned colder. The leaves are just beginning to change. Pumpkin farms are popping up everywhere. Apple cider is being sold once again in grocery stores. I'm buring pumpkin spice candles in the house.

I simply love this time of year. Fall, for me, serves as the kickoff of the holiday season. We go from Halloween (my favorite holiday, by the way), to Thanksgiving, to Christmas, to New Year's Day, and now to Abigail's birthday. It's a time for celebrating with family and enjoying each other's friendship. What's not to love?

I'm already looking foward to the holiday craft fairs and putting up the remainder of my fall decorations in the house. This year, I'm also really looking foward to taking Abbey to the pumpkin farms and the Zoo Boo celebration that our local zoo hosts, for the first time. We also plan to take her Trick-or-Treating, in a sense, in that we plan to take her around to our relatives homes so that they can see her all dressed up in her monkey costume. Having Abigail to celebrate Halloween with this year is making me feel like a kid again myself!

What are you most looking foward to in the upcoming season?

Eight Months Old!

As a follow-up from last month's post, I've finally figured out how to get a now very mobile baby to sit still for pictures - supply food. There was no crawling off the glider and no standing over the armrest this time around. I just wish I would have thought of this sooner!

On another note, can you believe that I've already started planning Abigail's 1st Birthday party? I simply can't come to terms with the fact that it's only a few months away. I think I really want to go with a cute owl theme, but I guess we'll see. I've already got some ideas in the works...

Aside from that, I'm mentally preparing myself for Abbey to start walking. It seems as if she went from crawling to standing within just 2 short weeks. I have a feeling it won't be much longer until she starts cruising. Unreal. I'm already chasing her throughout the house so that won't be much of an adjustment for me, but seeing her on two feet rather than on all fours is going to force me to realize that we're going to have a toddler on our hands very soon.

Here's what Abbey's been up to over the past month:

• She's been growing like a weed - she now wears all 6 month clothing and is still in size 3 diapers (size 4 to sleep).
• She's started finger foods! We've done puffs, yogurt melts, and tiny bits of organic string cheese thus far.
• She's eaten just about every fruit and veggie imaginable (eggplant, avocado, pears, peaches, apples, carrots, bananas, broccoli, sweet potatoes, summer squash, butternut squash, zucchini, and mango to name a few).
• She's crawling like a pro and is now into everything.
• She can pull herself to stand in her crib and PNP. We've had to baby-proof the entire house and remove all nightlights since she apparantly loves those.
• She's become quite the gabber. She's even added the word "dadda" to her gibberish.
• She's just about grown out of her infant carseat height-wise, so we've recently purchased her "big girl" convertible seat. I'll probably switch her over to the new seat in a few weeks.

(This is totally her, "Mom, I'm not amused", face.)

And like I said, thank goodness for puffs!

Tag - You're It!

I've been tagged with a survey by Stephanie at Confessions of a Trophy Wife!

So, here it goes....

1. What's your favorite dessert? (Feel free to provide the receipe!) A chocolate chip cheese ball - yum! The best part is that it's extremely easy to make.

Here's the receipe:
1 pkg. 8 oz. cream cheese
1/2 cup butter
1/4 tsp. vanilla
2 tbs. brown sugar
3/4 cup confectioners sugar
3/4 cup mini chocolate chips
3/4 cup finely chopped pecans
chocolate graham crackers

Beat softened cream cheese, butter, and vanilla until creamy. Slowly add sugars until blended. Stir in chocolate chips. Place mixture onto a piece of plastic wrap and form into a ball. Refrigerate for 1 hour. Roll ball in pecans. Serve with graham crackers.

2. Coffee or tea? Coffee, hands down. I can't make it through the day without it! I do love the occasional cup of tea during the winter months, however.

3. What's your favorite movie? The Notebook. I sob like a baby every time I watch it.

4. What did you want to be when you grew up? Or, what do you want to be when you grow up? I originally wanted to be an anesthesiologist, however, after my second year of college, I decided it wasn't for me. I then switched my major to finance. I'd love to work in investment banking but, sadly, that isn't going to happen in my city. Now, I'm not sure what I ultimately want to be when I grow up. I guess I'll just wait and see what happens.

5. Do you have any special holiday traditions? Not really. I guess the only "traditional" part of our holiday celebrations is whose house we celebrate them at. That hasn't changed in many, many years. I'll be taking over hosting Christmas Day starting this year though (gulp!). My mom is officially hanging up her apron.

6. If you had the time to plan the menu for the last meal of your life, what would it be? I'd just want to pull a chair up to the world's largest dessert buffet. Oh, and of course there would be champagne to accompany the dessert!

7. What's your favorite book? The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak

8. Do you have a hidden talent? I wouldn't consider it hidden, but I previously danced for 16 years and actually used to be a dance teacher. I studied tap, jazz, ballet, and acrobatics. I miss it with a passion.

And now it's my turn to ask the questions. I'm tagging:

Julie @ Ross Family Adventures

Stephanie @ All because two people fell in love

Stef @ Happily Ever After

Sara @ In a NUTshell

Mama Dew @ Life After I "Dew"

Mrs. B @ Messily ever after

My questions are:

1. If you could travel to anywhere in the world, where would you go?

2. Which do you like better, cooking or baking?

3. What type of music do you listen to?

4. What's your favorite holiday?

5. Are you an introvert or an extrovert?

6. Are you excited for fall? If so, what do you love most about the season?

7. What websites do you frequent most often?

8. What is your favorite childhood memory?

Have fun!

Finger Foods

Since solids have been going extremely well in our home, we've decided to start Abigail on some finger foods to see how she would do. To be honest, I was originally planning to hold off on finger foods until she was about 9 months or so, but she surprised me by mastering her pincer grasp a bit early.

Anyway, as we've had her on an all organic diet thus far and I don't plan to deviate from that diet anytime soon, I decided to start her on the Happy Baby organic brand products. For some variety, I purchased both the puffs and the yogurt melts (as an aside, I wish my little gummy bear would grow some teeth already so that we could move on to "real" finger foods). We've been feeding her organic Greek yogurt mixed with fruit for breakfast occasionally and she's loved it, so I already knew that the yogurt melts would be a hit. I wasn't positive how she would take to the puffs.

She's been doing pretty well with both. They're great to take along as a quick snack while I'm running errands and they're quick to keep her occupied temporarily when she starts to get fussy while we're out. The yogurt melts tend to get a bit messy as they melt very quickly and if Abbey's hands are the slightest bit wet, they get sticky immediately. The puffs are wonderful - even the dog likes the ones that Abigail has dropped on the floor for him. My only complaint with them is that the lid to the containter doesn't seal well and has fallen off in the diaper bag spilling puffs everywhere. It's much easier to just dump them in a baggy when taking them on the road.

I've also recently started adding tofu to Abbey's diet to increase her protein intake. I've found that small cubes of tofu make excellent finger food as well. It's soft enough where she can gum on it until she can swallow it and it somewhat disintegrates once she's gotten it in her mouth. As tofu can get somewhat messy, this snack works best when she's in her highchair with a bib on.

We're one step closer to entirely self-feeding!

Sometimes, I Wonder...

WTH is wrong with my child.

Seriously.

This is what she was doing this afternoon while I cooked dinner.





Oh, and yes, I did get this on video!

We've Got a Crawler!

Look at her GO!

What was she crawling after? Hmm...apparantly she wanted a piece of mail that I had dropped on the floor. Obviously, it didn't taste as good as she was anticipating...