Thank You Friends and Family

To my family and friends, i couldn't have made it through a year without you. I wanted to thank everyone for helping me and bri since katie has been born, there is no way we could have done this without the love and support from our family and friends. Lets start with first and foremost my FAMILY!!! Actually lets come back to them, but for anyone and everyone reading this, they are and have always been the most helpful in any time of day or night although if we are speaking about time of day, there are plenty of you out there that have gotten many late night phone calls from me frantically not knowing what to do! So lets move on to,

All my breastfeeding mammas... thank you so much to Jennifer especially for helping me through thick and thin when it comes to the ins and outs of breastfeeding. I couldn't have done it without your support that's for sure. Like my friend says, breastfeeding for a whole year has been the biggest thing I have ever done besides graduate from college, and it is so true it has been a huge sacrifice but worth every day. Mandy, your encouragement, humor, and strength and personal experience has made me stick to it also. Thanks.

My late night specialty, Kristen.... who is one of my new friends since being a mommy and poor girl, I bet she didn't know I was going to hang around when April30th happened. I assume she thought it was just another day at the office, but nope, on April 30th, she became a part of Bri and my life. She was our night nurse at the hospital from the first night we were there until the last day we left and luckily she gave me her information and we have kept in touch. From every time my sleep deprived bri followed you out of the hospital room without me knowing to ask if you would come home with us, to the lat night calls about katie not wanting to eat, or eating too much, from day one you have been a great support system and fountain of information. Thank you!

My new mommy Friends... everyone knows becoming a mommy creates a whole new way of thinking, and people tell ya that before you have a baby but no one really knows what its like until you hold that precious little baby on her birthday. No one understands what i went through besides other mommas. Now i knew a few mommas before katie but the ones i have met since she was born have been top notch! Lyndsay, you have gone through everything with me down to the week it seemed because our girls have done such similar things, and laughed and cried with me as we have gone through it. Liz, while you are no older than I am, you are an old soul, and having izzy a few weeks before me, has helped me look to you for exciting new things to look for in katie's life, as well as "humm... did izzy do this weird thing?" To, Jennifer, Meg, Erika, Kassia, Mirami, Kristen, Jen, Molly, and Ashley and all my other new mommy friends, whether i met you a typical way like through a mommy group sharing a common experience, or walked up to you in a store asking to be friends in desperation for some adult contact, you all have been my resources, my sanity, my saviors in some situations. Thank you!

To Aunt Kady, and Aunt Jennie... my two oldest and dearest friends and two people i couldn't have thought better to make katieie's godmommyies!. katie is so lucky to have you both in her life. you are both equally important in her life, and both for different reasons which i love! she has the best of both worlds when it comes to you two and i couldn't' be any happier with my decision. Bri and I truly love you both (and T and Jeff of course) and are so lucky you are in Katie's life!

To Katie... one of my only friends who was a mommy prior to having katie. while i did just meet you a few months into my pregnancy, i am so lucky that you lived just a few blocks from me and i believe fate brought us together because you have helped me through everything from my pregnancy, to my c section, dinners, and even late night phone calls when katie or bri are making me crazy! i hope when baby number two comes around for you, i am there for you the way you have been there for me. and to your baby boy jack, tell him he is first in line when katie turns 20 and i let her go on a date! HAHA

To Connie, well to Andy and connie but i'm talking about my friends for the time being. Connie, you have helped me stay grounded. I call you when i'm feeling crazy, and you tell me "yes u are being crazy!" and sort of slap me with some reality. I am so glad we have become such close friends and Katie loves you like she sees you every day! I am really going to miss you and your sweet boys when you move away. Great excuse for a road trip though! Thank You

To Corina, my cleaning lady.. well despite the obvious reasons that you have helped me keep my home looking decent for the past year, (thank god for you) but you have also become part of our family and katie adores you. she loves seeing you every week, and you are as much a friend as anyone else to her. We love you corina, and i have even left katie with you while running to the store, and for anyone who knows me they know that is a BIG deal! ( I don't leave Katie with anyone!!!)

To all my facebook friends... new mommies in particular,, i love posting things about katie and reading all the responses of friends with babies whose kids are doing the same thing, you have been just as much a part of my resources as any of my daily contacts. everything from a toy review to a baby recall announcement, thanks for all the info, input, and funny stories and videos of your kids. they make my day better !

To Danielle.. bri's boss, but more importantly a wonderful friend and mother who has helped us through this year with tons of advice and funny stories about her own kids that make me get through the hard days. I can't wait for you to see Katie again, she has changed so much since you last saw her! Thank You

To my extended family, Betsy, Becky, and Great Grandma Bea, Thanks for keeping up with Katie's life via email, blog, and facebook. I know you all have only gotten to meet Katie once, I know you as much as I feel like you know her so well because of our constant communication. To Aunt Eleanor and Uncle Edward, we will make a trip down south one of these days to introduce you to Katie, but Thank you for being a part of her life, even if from a distance. Thank you to all for the cards, wonderful letters, and gifts when a special occasion arise. Thank You

Now... most importantly my Family!
Uncle Bill, well, u gave her her favorite christmas gift out of everything she got this year for her first christmas and she still plays with it daily. i am so excited you will be around more to watch her grow up and so she can get to know you more. we love you and hope you can come over more to play!

Cici, Katie constantly surprises me when you come over. she has no hesitation and loves you so much despite you not living here all the time she always remembers you when you come walking through the door. I love your creativity, and hope all the fun things and games you invented for me and bill spur of the moment you will continue to do with katie (like bringing over the hat for you and katie to watch the royal wedding. only you would think of that) Thank you for listening to me cry, and scream, and get worked up, and giggle and laugh all about katie. Thank you for loving me even though I make mistakes when it comes to Katie, and thanks for being easy on me when I do and taking my feelings into consideration and knowing how sensitive and protective I am over Katie. I will lighten up sooner or later! Thank you for loving Katie and helping when you and dad are home. Katie really loves you and so do me and Bri. Thank you

Gramps, Thank you for listening to me when I have no one else to talk to. When Katie is making me crazy. I so enjoy our daily phone calls about what Katie is doing and I love that you read my blog and keep up with Katie's life. Thanks for taking that trip with me up to your moms house in CT and putting up with me Lysol-ing the seats on the train, and everything else for that matter. Thanks for putting up with my craziness about Katie and how protective I am with her. Thanks for carrying that car seat all the way to CT and back! Thanks for visiting as often as you have done this year since Katie has been born, she loves seeing you and the more she sees you the more she remembers the secret mannerisms you two have between each other. Thanks for watching the videos and looking at the photos I obsessively post of katie daily and thanks for laughing WITH me about how I may have a problem! Thanks for being a great Grandpa to Katie. Thank You.

Nana, Well, to start, we couldn't have gotten though the first 2 months after katie was born without you. I mean literally I don't know that we could have survived! You fixed us dinner daily and helped us do everything around the house. Thank you for making it so easy for us as we learned the ins and outs of parenthood. The early stages is no picnic thats for sure. Thank you for being patient with me; for helping me learn thing (or for letting me learn them on my own rather), and for watching from afar when I was crazy protective about Katie at the start and still am sometimes. Thanks for washing your hands a billion times when she was an infant. Thanks for watching katie as she has gotten older, babysitting is really starting to help out more and more now that i'm beginning to let go a little more. Thank you for all the gifts you have showered us with over the past year. We love each and every one of them even if i have a hard time showing it at the moment. Thank you for being a wonderful Nana to Katie and for being her for her every move this first year. Thank You

Poppie, you are a work horse if I ever saw one. You have been so helpful not only inside our house but especially outside! our yard looks impeccable, the gardens, the house, everything looks amazing. You are always good for a delicious tray of brownies or cookies and now that katie is starting to eat more people food I'm sure she will love having your expertise (along with Nana's) in the kitchen. Thank you for sunday dinners. Whether they are here or at your house, each and every one has a memory attached to it. You have been more than helpful to us and we thank you for all that you do. Thank You

I know i have forgotten some other people and I'm sorry, thank you to everyone of my friends. whether a little or big relationship to me and katie, you have impacted our lives somehow and we thank you for that! Cheers to a wonderful year full of life, love and laughter!

It's crunch time!

Alright.. its friday and we have to get everything done for the party tomorrow!!! We have been doing things all week but today bri was outside most of the day while i got my hair done (cici was watching katie) mowing and blowing the patio, making everything look great outside! oh pray for nice weather!!! Poppie was here this morning mowing the lawn and bri was in charge of getting the patio nice and cleared up for our guests tomorrow!
OH and did i mention, today was Kate and Prince William's wedding so when cici came to babysit she brought over a hat for katie to wear while watching the wedding footage. the two of them are too cute

i of course stayed up late putting up decorations. here is a sneak peak of what i have done so far!

2 days!!!

I can hardly stand it! i can't believe Katie's birthday is in 2 days! I have been working on it and planning it for quite some time so i'm hoping when tomorrow happens there won't be TOO much to do, but there always seems like there is. I have lists galore full of things to do (something about lists makes me feel good about finishing something and scratching it off the list) I'm down to about 5 times and i can't do them till tomorrow. we still have to mow the lawn, and get outside looking pretty and i'm getting my hair colored tomorrow so i'm really not going to have much time to do other things so today we spent a lot of the day cleaning up and organizing! We of course found time to put a few of katie's gifts together, paint our new Adirondack chairs and swing of course!!!

Poppie working on Katie's wagon. wait until you see the finished product. its the Mercedes of wagons!!!

Daddy and Poppie did these window boxes just for KAtie

Swing Break!!!

Back to work!

Getting excited about her party. I know she knows whats going on!!!

only 3 days!

YES thats a big old bump katie got this morning. just in time for her party. who knows maybe the bruise will go away by sat. it's only wed!

BIG red ball for an early birthday present!

3 days till Katie's birthday! I can't believe it and today is bri's third day of vacation. he told me last night it was getting kinda weird to still be home. he was kinda feeling like the weekend is over and its time to go back to work. lol i told him get used to vacation... at least for the time being cus u have a whole other week after katie's birthday!!!!! he sort of looked at me like... oh lord i dunno if i can handle it! HA
Since it's katie's birthday week we thought we would do fun stuff, like monday we went and got ice cream and yesterday was delayed with the construction in our yard but today daddy went out and got katie a swing!!!!! we have been looking and trying to get a swing set for the back yard but decided next year would be more age appropriate so bri went and got katie a swing to hang in the front yard from a tree so it is nice and shady. our back yard get pretty hot and until she can tell me she is hot i don't want her out there sweating up a storm and not knowing how hot she can get. so we compromised on next year for the swing set and this year for a tree swing so to speak and katie loves it!!!DAddy working hard to get the swing up!

She loved it.

on no... not our yard!!!!

Some morning playtime before the commotion started
Oh its just so fun having daddy home with me!

Today was Bri's second day home from work! This morning we were supposed to play and go to the park, and do some fun things as a family but unfortunately today was the day our gas pipes in our neighborhood were being replaced. they have been working on them up and down our street since last week and today was our day. so this morning bri and i went walking down the street to look at the damage they were doing at the end of our street and just said holy cow i hope they don't have to dig up our yard. and when i called last week to ask why in gods name are they spray painting my lawn cus they better not be digging next week cus i have to throw a party on sat for katie's birthday, they assured me there would be no digging IN our yard, just some digging maybe down by the sidewalk, at most a little hole down by the curb. i thought. OK just get it done today please cus i don't have time or patience for something to go wrong in the process and they have to come back a few days later to fix it or start or finish it on friday and then have to dig up the yard... oh lordy a whole bunch of things could go wrong, i mean its something underground, its not like we have complete control over it. anyway as the afternoon approached, we saw the crews finish up at the end of the street and start making their way up towards us. Now let me tell ya, there were TONS of people, mostly just standing around for the majority of the day but really there were 8 cars and trucks each with a few people in it i would say, it was a huge production!!!

This was the first hole they dug, it looks like its on the sidewalk but its not... its on our front yard. you can see how happy bri was about this but they assured us this would be the only hole unless for some unexpected reason they had a problem.

Katie and I decided to go inside and play instead of watch them tear up our yard. it was more fun anyway!

Then they told us there was a problem and they had to cut another hole up in our yard, right by our walkway as a matter of fact, just so everyone could look at a big brown spot on sat as they came for katie's party. ugh

Bri was NOT HAPPY!!!!!


but all in all, they guys patched up out holes pretty well they did what they could to save the tops of the holes, so they just placed the piece of grass they scraped up back down on the lawn. we'll see how they hold up. as of right now its still green and looks fine but who knows if its gonna die by Saturday. oh poor daddy, he spends all this time, money, and effort on making his grass look nice and then the stupid guys come along and dig up some holes in our yard! sheesh. well it was still fun having him home today! better than work i reminded him!

Bri's first day off!

Today is Bri's first of 10 days he has off from work. Oh the weather was perfect this Monday morning and just right for a new adventure for the three of us. I told bri i wanted to take an edventure every day he was home, ya know do something new as a family but he told me, HA this is my vacation.. i wanna fish, garden, sleep in, and just relax! I guess I look at his vacation as time to play with us, rather than time to relax. O well there will be plenty of time for adventures when we go to the beach in july with his folks and again in august with mine, and I have a pretty good feeling I'm gonna sneak in a few new adventures during this break no matter what he says ;)

The morning started with a little garden lesson for katie from her daddy about the new sprouted tulips in our front yard. (bri and i went on a walk with katie in the bjorn because katie the past few days has been going through a no carseat, no stroller, no high chair phase. so we have resorted to wearing her if we wanna go anywhere or face a fit to get her strapped into anything over the past 2 days) After Katie's garden lesson we decided to go to National Harbor which is a new place that we hadn't been with katie. It takes about a half hour to get there so katie took a little snooze on the way, the only thing was that it was SO hot! What happened to Spring?? All of a sudden it's 90 degrees. sheesh. Well we put katie in a cute little summer outfit with a summer hat and we were off!


She looks so cute in her little hat!


Daddy got a new pair of sunglasses and katie helped pick them out ;)


She was exhausted when we got back. she fell asleep in the car!

I think Bri's first day home was a great success with a family trip to national harbor, topped off with some early evening FISHING

daddy time!

Bri left his old job and is starting his new job on May 9th but before that he gets 2 weeks off to play with his girls!!!! He couldn't have taken a better two weeks! The weather is just starting to be lovely, the garden is perfect for messing with (bri's favorite thing in the whole world to do!) Easter is this weekend, and Katie's birthday the next weekend... it really is a perfect time! I can't wait for Monday, bri's first of 10 work days he gets to spend doing fun things, like going to the zoo, a farm to see the baby animals that have all been born, go fishing, work in the garden and most importantly rest up for his new job!
just a cute photo of katie and bri. he just got her this big bird puppet and she hasn't put it down in 2 days!

Katie's 1 year photos!

Just a few of my favorite ones. I can't believe she is almost ONE!!!!!

Easter

We had a wonderful first easter this year. it was so late in the month that now that easter is over the clock has started ticking for katie's birthday just a few days away which hardly seems like enough time!!! we started off our day with breakfast and katie opening her eater basket in her PJ's, then we got dressed up and proceeded to go downtown! We had a wonderful family brunch (minus by little brother... sorry u couldn't be there bill) downtown at the Metropolitan club with both sets of grandparents and bri and myself of course toting katie with us! The food was delicious, the company fantastic, and opening baskets following brunch was a perfect ending to a perfect holiday. I of course took about 1000 photos (not really but a bunch) and had to sort through them but anyway here are a few of my favorites from the day!















we are so excited. tomorrow starts the first day of bri's 10 workday vacation while he switches jobs! how lucky we are and what a perfect time to take time off!!!! the spring time, katie's birthday, prime gardening season... couldn't have worked it out better if ya ask me!!!

Cici and Gramps are home!

I'm so excited my parents are home from Florida! I miss them terribly when they are so far away even though i make an effort to call them once a day to catch them up on katie's life but its still not the same as them seeing her! They are up here for easter and Katie's birthday! Katie was so happy to see them!


we picked up my mom from the airport and she was nice and tan and looking Florida in that short! we couldn't miss her when picking her up. Katie was so excited, we had a little play time before the boys came home the next day with the pup. so glad to have everyone home!

some fun stuff

Katie is starting to try new foods again, she went through a time where she wasn't eating so much when she was sick and then stopped trying new things but she is back at it and today we had chicken nuggets. she is so cute, she watches me cut them up and then blow on the pieces and so she picks them up off her tray and blows on them. smart cookie, copying me! she has stopped wearing bibs for the time being. she doesn't like them around her neck so she pulls them off before i even get food on the tray. now occasionally i trick her and have her start without a bib and then sneak one on her mid-meal before the sippy cup because frankly thats what makes the most mess! We tried green beans and katie ate almost a whole small can of them. she really liked them, but the only trick is you have to give them to her alone. she can't have anything else on her tray or she won't eat them so the past few days i gave her beans first and when she was done i would give her whatever else i had for her. she had half a can of green beans the other day and then had 2 scrambled eggs. now i know katie wastes a lot accidentally by throwing it on the floor but 2 whole eggs, thats a lot!

she has been talking up a storm lately in her high chair, she isn't eating as much as i would like cus she sits there and plays with her food and talk, talk, talk! its really cute and i tried to catch some on video the other day but ended up just making her excited when she saw that camera.


this was katie a few days ago, we had finished dinner and i cleaned her tray all up but then i went to take the tray down and she had all this food stored up on her lap! this photo was actually after i picked up a bunch already, but the sippy cup water on her pants just made me laugh and her expression like... mommy look at my pants! so we ended up just stripping her down before even lifting her out of the chair.

Laundry is getting tricky cus i don't do it after every meal but i almost need to cus she spills so much food and it gets stuck on the clothes and i just take them off and put them in the basket, or throw them down to the laundry room however food caked onto clothes... i don't care how much u wash it if it dries on there, its not coming off! so we have started to permanently stain some clothes which makes me crazy but it all comes with a 1 year old! a ONE year old!!! wow! I can't believe Katie will be one next weekend. How did time time go so fast. I am already starting to decorate, and i totally stole the idea of a photo banner hanging in the window from my girlfriend Mandy, who did it for her twins' 1 year birthday and ever since i saw it I just HAD to have it. Since I take an obscene amount of photos, i couldn't choose one from each month like she did, so i just printed out a bunch and ended up making two banners, one in front of each of our big windows!
That along with the decorations i have already gotten that match like the table cloth, Happy Birthday Katie banner to match, napkins, plates, and even a yard sign announcing Katie's birthday are all coming out of the basement this week to set up and get ready! I can't believe it's almost here! Well we have to get through Easter first on Sunday and then I have to scramble to put away all the easter stuff and get out all katie's birthday stuff in a matter of 5 days. I have the food ordered, catered sandwiches and sweets from Bittersweet, who did Katie's baptism back in August, the cake all picked out and special ordered from the pastry shop down the street (complete with a smash cake full of tons of butter creme for katie to smear around) and her gifts all put together, we just need to assemble a few of them before next weekend. Oh I'm getting so excited!!!!

Easter Egg Hunt

Well, we had our neighborhood easter egg hunt and once again katie LOVED the easter bunny. this time it was just a neighbor dressed up as a rabbit rather than someone at the mall, so the costume wasn't that great and it kinda freaked me out but katie loved her, here are a few cute shots from the hunt. of course katie didn't really hunt any eggs, just sat there and picked up a few. she did crawl around a little but it was really for the photos and plus it was kinda cold so we only stayed a second cus i had her in a short sleeve jumper. it was so cute!

Easter bunny

We were supposed to have an easter egg hunt on Saturday in our neighborhood but it got rained out till sunday so we decided to take katie to the mall. we haven't been to the mall with her since she was teeny tiny so i thought it would be fun for her to see a new place, plus she hadn't napped and the mall was just far enough that she could sleep in the car and when she woke up we could be somewhere she hadn't seen before which i try to do loften. new experiences at this age i feel like katie just sucks it all in! She did fal asleep in the car which was good and in fact i even transferred her to the stroller and bri and i got to walk around the mall for an hour with her asleep in the stroller. when she got up we were leaving a department store and sitting outside in the mall was the easter bunny. you know the one where you can get your photo taken.
when she saw the bunny she reached out of her stroller and wanted him. i put her in his lap and she started laughing. i think she thought it was a big stuffed animal. it was so cute. and I'm so glad she wasn't afraid of the rabbit. I feel like an idiot cus i didn't have her dressed up in an easter dress but we really weren't planning on having her see the bunny because our neighborhood easter egg hunt was sunday so i thought we could dress her up and take photos there. o well. she was wearing pastel colors so i think it looked festive enough and besides she was holding that huge Peep stuffed chick in front of her so you wouldn't have been able to see the dress anyway!

a few more treasures

today was the last day of the church consignment sale where i made out so great earlier this week and it was half price day so i just had to go back! we went back to get books and i ended up getting 14 books and of course a few extras. a seersucker sailor dress, a denim watermelon dress, and a pink smocked jumper dress. but of course i have photos to show ya. each dress was less than 4 bucks. how could i say no! spent 15 bucks today and katie's favorite things are books so i think it was money well spent! a few of the books had never been read and in perfect condition. maybe a little addition to katie's first easter basket i have started working on!

talking up a storm

The past few days Katie hasn't wanted her pacifier as often because she is chatting so much. It is precious. Some of her new sayings are...
Att-tah, Att-tah, Att-tah
Boy-ya, Boy-ya, Boy-ya Her favorite this morning
Bud- duh, Bud-duh, Bud-duh
Boo-dah, Boo-dah, Boo-dah
Dah-buh, Dah-buh, Dah-buh and
Brrr, Brrrr, Brrrrr which is so cute. just a new noise!

Yesterday was a beautiful day and I saw some easter photo shoots of my friend's twins and though i could do this! so once again i tried to get creative and dressed katie up and brought her chair outside to get to color of the grass contrasting with her easter dress and started snapping away! Here are some of my favorites!