A walk downtown with auntie Heidi

We took the kids downtown last weekend for a walk along the harbor and auntie Heidi met up with us. I met Heidi in nursing school and we decided to leave the snowy streets and bitter cold of Cleveland behind us and move down south...a decision neither of us regret!

Auntie Heidi is too much fun!
If I haven't mentioned before...I LOVE our stroller! It's a BOB and it's amazing! It's a multi terrain stroller which is also a jogger and has a carseat attachment. The sun canopy is the largest of any stroller we've seen and it maneuvers so well that I can literally steer it with my pinky.

This was fun but more fun when auntie Heidi did it!

We stopped off at the dog park to allow Bode some time to blow off some steam

Seriously....where did your hair go??

Since this picture...she's even more bald! She probably has half of that fuzz on top.

I just can't believe what a little lady Maryn is morphing into. Every day she looks different, she smiles more, she giggles more, she sits up with better coordination, she talks more and she passes her toys from hand to hand with such precise and planned movements.

If I could just take a little bite outta her, I would!

Super Baby Food

AVOCADOS!!!

They are just so good for you that some believe you can live solely on these fruits alone...amazing nutrients and unsaturated fatty acids for brain development. Super Baby Food by Ruth Yaron is an excellent book and resource on feeding your infant if you're interested in learning more about the actual food you are putting into your child's mouth. Making baby food 'appears' easy from what I've read so we will give it a try, along with some store bought brands as well. My main concern is safe, nutritious food but an additional benefit is lower costs. The little jars of processed baby food that sit on your grocers shelf are expensive and these little boogers eat A LOT! Baby food companies are held to the utmost safety standards, or so we hope (Tylenol), so rest assured that these little jars are safe and yummy...I'm just really interested in pureeing some peas :)

The approach..
...the first taste??? what the heck? I thought these were some magical fruit?

o.k....I'm diggin' it

yup...they're good...and they stain cloth bibs...so be sure to wear one that wipes off :)

and just because....I love birthmarks!

Tylenol recall

I just wanted to make sure that this information was out there to all of you mommies, daddies, grandparents, babysitters, and parents-to-be....several lots of Children's and Infant Tylenol have been recalled due to contamination with a gram negative bacteria. Please check out this link and compare to the lot number on your bottles of Tylenol. Seeing that Maryn is teething and received her immunizations...we've given her Tylenol several times over the last couple months. Ours was safe. I was in the bathroom brushing my teeth last night and I heard Mac jump up out of bed and run into Maryn's room....I ran after him! He had just read this article online. I swear...our manufacturers need more stringent guidelines.

http://www.nowpublic.com/health/tylenol-recall-2009-list-infant-and-childrens-tylenol-recall

Daily Digs

Alright alright...so the Daily Digs isn't so daily. Here's a double dose for the delay.

Ladybug terry cloth romper: Gymboree

Rock'n leg warmers: BabyLegs

credits: mommy :)

Oh so smooth baby skin

credits: the Man upstairs

we praise Him for His perfect work

Pre photo shoot warm up

Outtakes

Once again...this is how we end our shoots

Move over Olivia Newton John
Let's get physical, physical....I wanna get physical...


"Let's go Bode....two more squats...feel the burn!"
"Squats are no laughing matter...just ask mom"

Little rose petal lips....muwah

Just showing off her new skillz

....and her new bald head

we had to put her bows away :(

Maryn challenges you all to 'get physical' today...take a walk, a run, a bike ride...but remember to do it in only your prettiest digs!

My sweet sweet friend, Anne, and her husband Rob just welcomed thier daughter (Maryn's new best friend) into this world

Hudson Posey

weighing in at 9 lb 9 oz

22 1/4 in.

(Anne is my ultimate hero for vaginally delivering this chunky monkey)

on September 15, 2009

7:52 am

Hudson...we love you and absolutely cannot wait to get our hands on each and every roll of you!!

She's soooooo beautiful.....maybe I'll get permission to post a pic???

Exercise is Overrated!!!

Thanks to the advice of my friend Lindsay...I gave into yet another piece of baby gear...the Jumperoo. I debated whether or not to pay the $80 to lose another 4 quare feet of living room space...but behold...this contraption is pure genius! She's just a little too short so we've put phone books underneath and they seem to do the trick...she jumps around like a Mexican jumping bean and giggles the entire time. She was enjoying her 'jump jump jumperooooo' while I did some laundry, put away dishes, and hosed off a dirty dog who still enjoys digging holes in my backyard, when I returned to find a very drowsy baby girl.....this little peanut cracks me up just about every other minute of every single day. PLEASE remember to pause the music at the bottom of the page or else you will miss out on one cruel mother who finds humor in torturing her babe! Enjoy :)

Maryn is 5 months old and having a 'whale of a time'!

Our sweet little poodle is 5 months old and life gets better each and every day. Every month is better than the last. She is sooo alert and nosey about everything we are doing. First it started with her obsession with Bode. She'd be nursing and catch Bode out of the corner of her eye and she'd quickly pop herself off (which doesn't feel particularly good) and look over to Bode and flash him her gummy smile and then she'd quickly come back to nurse again...only to pop herself right back off two seconds later. This was fun for her...not for me. Now, all it takes is for her to hear the jingle of his collar and the games begin. She also does this now if she hears her daddy's voice :)

Just today, she rolled over from her back to her belly for the first time...and looked completely shocked and confused! No teeth yet but she's definately been a little more irritable, grabbing at her mouth, drooling and eating Sophie.

She also does this sweet little sign of affection by wrapping her arms around our necks really tight and burying her face in our chest...oh it just warms my heart when she does this....she really does like us after all!

Her eyes are crystal blue, her cheeks are gearing up for the winter months when she'll store nuts and such, and her hair is falling out to the point where her bows don't stay in anymore!! She's cute. We put this bow in for her photo shoot and when I took it out...it took 14 hairs with it. All of that dark hair is gone and light blondish redish hair is taking it's place following male pattern baldness. She's cute. We like her.

Grandma Cummings bought her this beautiful smocked whale dress while we were on vacation with them. We LOVE it!! Thanks grandma!

Check out her new 'fuzz' on the top of her head
Oh yeah...still loves to stand


Shake what your mother gave you, Maryn!

I hope the next 5 months are as much fun as the first 5

and this is how we end our shoots...

She sits up on her own...first we started like this...

...with a little help from Boppy...

..."oh boy"...

...and now she's flying solo!!!!

She grabs for our face, she grabs for her toys while she's sitting, and she grabs for her tiny little toes. I just bought her a pair of shoes since she's walking with our help...and the lady at the store said that she's got really small feet and will probably be wearing size 1 for awhile.

And when I see this....makes my uterus flip flop...Irish twins anyone??

We love you Maryn Amelia...you are pure joy! Can't really remember my life without you.

More visitors and lots more pictures...

I think I take too many pictures of my girl?? Do you agree? Sometimes I feel like paparazzi...creepin' on my daughter. I have a disease...I'm working on it.

I do love my husband. He is just the handiest man I know which I just LOVE!! We never have to hire anyone to do anything around the house. He recently built a deck off the back of the house, with a little help from a friend, and then months went by and he just never had the time to stain it. Well, last weekend while I was napping after nightshift, he started staining. I woke up so excited that the job was finally in progress and I look out the window to see this!! He actually stained AROUND the grill!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I stood there in disbelief. Did he really just stain the deck without first removing the grill?? I was flabbergasted. I stuck my head out the window to give him a smart remark and he just looked at me and smiled. Sometimes I wonder if men lack the the 'common sense' chromosome? This was so absurd that I didn't even bother giving him a hard time because it wasn't worth my breath.

Watching the Michigan game with daddy....they won!!!


"I know Maryn...football is no fun"
"Wanna go shopping?"

I just love these eyes

What a goober

We packed up and headed to the beach last weekend and within two minutes it started to rain...we got ONE picture!

Just another day in the life of Maryn and mommy...we play all day.

This blue hippo ring is part of an adorable stacking toy that my friend Sarah gave her...she loves it! Thanks Sarah!

She has really found her tongue lately...she pushes it around her mouth and rubs her gums...she makes my heart skip a beat.

Check out Bode hanging out with his sister....he's dreaming of the day when she's big enough to run around the back yard with him.

My cousin Cory and his wife Amanda had a baby boy, Christian about 6 weeks ago. They came by for a visit.

Second cousins

G-L-A-M-O-R-O-U-S

Poppops are just so much fun!

Really...it skips a beat! I didn't know I could love someone this intensely. What a gift we were given...she belongs to the Lord but I'm honored He chose Mac and I to watch over her.

My dad's sister Carolyn and John came to visit from Rochester, NY. We had dinner at our house and then they headed to Beaufort for the week to fish, go boating and chill by the pool.

Daddy's girls

She's taking steps!! I'm in for it....she'll be walking in no time! She will literally walk across the room while we hold her arms. If she spots Bode, she'll B-line towards him...it's adorable how much she loves him! Giggles every time he walks past her.

Watching the Bills play the first Monday night football game

I got her a new teether from Discovery Toys and she loves it.

Can't seem to get enough of this!

I know these days are short lived...so I try to squeeze every ounce of wonderfulness out of each and every day.