Moving Along

Well, life is moving along..... slowly! We spent the weekend having, what is probably the biggest shopping trip we've ever had buying everything under the sun. Saturday, the restoration company brought more of our things back like Aerie's dresser and our dining room table so we are really starting to become functional again!

Basking in my own personal amusement.... I am happy to say I finally own the Bissell Pet Eraser and MAN IT ROCKS!!!! Must have for all pet owners! I took it to Artex's kitty window seat covered with fur, fur and more fur... and it cleaned right up. I'm so happy I stuck to my guns on wanting it!

I finished up class one towards my MBA this week. Organizational Behavior is officially over and hopefully I got a good grade (I think I did). This Saturday I start class 2. I wish they gave you a week in between, but alas.... no rest for the determined! I'm now in Management Information Systems (in layman's terms...... Computers in Business). It shouldn't be too bad. Eight more weeks and I'll be done for the semester, WOO HOO!

Aerie's been adapting to her new home well. Matthew called me this morning to tell me that she did something new today and that's reaction. He had her in the living room watching something on TV and apparently at one point there was an audience clapping and then she started clapping. Whether it was by sheer accident or on purpose, either way... it was pretty cool he said!

Aerie gets her booster shot on Wednesday and goes back for a check up on her pink eye. I can't believe our house burns and she gets pink eye in the same week. We'll never forget that, that's for sure!

Well, time to fly! I've got a million things to do!

Anyoe have some sanity?

Ok seriously! Does anyone have some sanity to share? If you haven't figured out by now, life is a bit crazy in our lives and hopefully it will return to normal at some point. Let's recap...... On Oct. 6, our home for the past 2+ years caught fire, leaving the house uninhabitable. Thankfully, we had insurance as many of our possession were water damaged from the fire on the two floors above us. We were forced to move in with family and frantically search for a new place to live. Miraculously, within the week we found a new home (a house all to ourselves) and moved in that weekend. Our new home is still in Washington; very close to Washington Hospital (We can actually hear life flight from our house). It’s a beautiful neighborhood with a nice mixture of families ranging from the elderly down to our age and even many with children. Our house is small compared to our apartment, but at least we don’t have to share it with anyone. We also have a beautiful fenced in back yard and garage big enough for a car and then some (Check out the pictures in the photo section I took while we were looking at it). I will post new pictures when we get things back in order (and it doesn’t look like we’re too lazy to unpack).At this point, we’ve begun to rebuild our lives. A restoration company has many of our belongings, attempting to clean and restore them to their glory; however, we lost our bedroom furniture, living room furniture, many electronics and Aerie’s playpen, swing and many toys. Thankfully, State Farm is really amazing and within a few days we had money to start replacing what was lost. Within a week we had new living room and bedroom furniture and started buying back all the things Aerie lost. It’s been a slow process because we don’t really have much and some of what we have can’t be put away yet because my shelves are with the restoration people. We’re basically living out of boxes and on the bare minimum hoping to eventually get back into a normal routine. It will come, one day …… hopefully soon. Keep coming back to the website as I redevelop it. De to changing from Verizon to Comcast, I lost our old website, but no biggie…. I’ll get everything back up soon. I think I’m going to look into buying my own webspace (more like I’ll have Matthew hunt to find me some webspace at a reasonable price) so I can do more with the website than the internet edit functions will allow me (plus have as much as much space as I want to have). Until then, this is the new website home.

Yeah! 6 Month Photos!

Aerie's six month photos were taken at Brownlee yesterday. She looked so adorable! We get to see them next Saturday..... Oh I can't wait!!!! A variety of poses were taken including putting Aerie on a bench with flowers, in a bath tub (my favorite), with rolls of toilet paper (it's adorable.... TRUST ME), and we even made her a fairy again in Aunt Barb's dress (bought months ago)! I can't wait to see them.... she's such a beautiful baby!!!!!!

Life is just as crazy as it's been! Run, Run, Run is all I do anymore. I attempt to find time to do homework and other things (like cleaning my house..... so totally not happening).... but there's only so many hours in the day and by the time I'm home from work, I'm just exhausted!

Well, that's my update for today. I have too much to do.

Insanity! That actually about sums up my life anymore. Time is something I just don't have, but I manage to get by day to day. So let's see, what's been going on over the last ten days since I posted something....

Well, last Saturday we went to the Cover Bridge Festival in Cherry Valley near where I went to high school. I wasn't overly impressed with it (I didn't really wanna go but Grandma Beatrice did). It was kind of a wasted trip since it pretty much sucked! I love festivals, but between the Indian (Cecil - this weekend - we're going - weather dependent), Apple (Hickory - Next Weekend), and Pumpkin (Oct 10-12) - they are all pretty much the same vendors in a different location honoring something... I usually pick/choose depending on my schedule.... Usually it's the Indian and the Pumpkin for the most part, but apparently Grandma Beatrice wants to go to all of them this year. UGH! I knew I wasn't getting out of the Pumpkin with the costume contest .... it just wasn't happening! Ah well, such is life!

Moving on, Sunday We all went to Oktoberfest in Canonsburg (I like this festival a lot) but this year was really disappointing! I did win a basket in the Chinese Auction though - go figure I couldn't use most of it ..... It was mostly for Matt since it had a big case of beer! He'll be happy for a while.

Our little girl is growing by leaps and bounds now. We've been flying through new foods - she's on Green Beans now. Our menu choices at this point include: Carrots, Green Beans, Sweet Potatoes, Squash, and Bananas. I think Tomorrow I'll start her on some Applesauce.

Yesterday at Grandma Martins, Aerie apparently took her first couple of steps at crawling getting both her arms and legs moving for a moment before crashing to the floor. Grandma Martin was quite impressed!

Yesterday, Aerie officially started Kindermusik in McMurray! She absolutely loved it. While at Kindermusik she took another stab at crawling and actually made it a few feed before having her strength give out. She's going to be completely mobile before we know it.... Time to hunt out the baby proofing stuff!

Kindermusik was wonderful last night. Aerie absolutely loved everything. She gets so happy and excited when we're there. She seems to really enjoy interacting with other babies her age too. For the most part, all the children are close in age. There's another girl about a week younger and two a month older and a few older/younger as well. It's nice being able to socialize her like that every week (plus I'm making cool friends). I think that's actually what's helped her figure out the crawling last night. She was watching two of the other children intently and then she did it. I was so happy!

Aerie's 2nd set of Brownlee photos are this week. I finally found her the perfect outfit at Toys R Us last weekend.... but I'm not telling just yet.... he he.... :)

Well that's about it for now. Perhaps I'll write something soon (hopefully).

Where to begin???

Where on earth do I begin?? I know it's been a while since my last post and your all probably wondering what in the world is going on in our little world. Well here's the brief (and I mean brief because I could type for hours on what's been going on) recap of the last few weeks.

Both parents have since been released from AGH. I didn't have time to post that though (I'm sorry). Mom's doing great and Dad is slowly recovering... he has a very long road to go before he's back on track with his health. Thankfully, there are enough people ready to put a foot up his rear end right now to keep him in line! I think it's safe to say he got one hell of a wake up call over the last month! Hopefully now it will stick in his damn brain that he needs to take better care of himself and not let it get to this point again, because then we'll all be ready to kick his butt!

Two weeks ago I started back at Waynesburg for my MBA (Yes, I know.... I'm nuts to add this lovely chore on top of working, parenting, and having some form of a life). I really enjoy it so far, my class rocks, the teacher rocks, and it's just really great to be back in the swing of learning again because it's such a wonderful experience.

This morning I finally set up Arabella's savings account (That I've been trying to set up since mid-August) at our credit union. A few weeks ago we emptied out her piggy bank and my parents rolled up the change while we were at work. She had a nice chunk going for her so I put it all into a savings account for her to use later in life when it will be useful (like for college or some awesome trip to Europe or something worthwhile).

Arabella's 6 month check up is coming in the next few weeks. It's hard to believe my little girl is going to be six months old next Saturday! Where on earth did the time go? Before I know it, I'll be making the preparations for her first birthday..... Yikes!

While we're thinking ahead, Arabella's six month photos at Brownlee are also coming up (October 2nd to be exact). Brownlee's is doing autumn photos outside (so cross your fingers for great weather!)

Since the 2nd is a Thursday, I plan on taking the whole day off to spend it with Aerie. After her photos, we might head into Pittsburgh since it's Radical days and certain museums are offering free admission. On Oct 2, it's Phipps and the butterfly garden is still going on so I thought it would be nice to take her out to the garden and see the flowers and the butterflies (or more like... me see the butterflies).... Then Thursday evening is our Kindermusik class so it'll be a great day for the two of us.

If you haven't checked them out yet, there's tons of new photos posted on the website of Aerie. I'm so addicted to taking pictures of her. She's such a beautiful little girl, how can I not take pictures???

So in the works, my mother is working on Arabella's Halloween costume (She started bugging me about it months ago with what I wanted to make her). I personally didn't care... so I just kinda let her roll with whatever she wanted to make....

... but we're not telling! :P At least, I'm not telling anyways..... You'll all just have to wait and see what we're going to make her (and no it's not the princess she already is!).

Well that's about all for today. I've got a million things to do, a sick boyfriend, and a desire to go home and play with my baby. I'm off!

Updates on my parents

Ok so for those that don't know yet.... life has been anything but normal! Let's go back a week....


Sunday - mom went into AGH to be regulated (blood) for surgery on Wednesday.

Wednesday - mom had surgery... went fantastic! Immediatly following she was up and moving around like she didn't even have any kind of operation!!!

Also Wednesday, my father's health (as most of you know) has gotten progressivly worse and worse and worse. Wednesday he looked horrible (partially contributed from stress from surgery on mom).

Thursday - after much yelling and screaming from a variety of family members, we finally convinced him to go to the hospital. He went to Canonsburg, was admitted and told he'd be seeing pulmonary doctors in the morning.

Friday - I went to work... mom was anticipating release so I figured I'd be closer to going to get her (seeing as how I was half way there). In the morning, Dad was moved to ICU... I stalled for about an hour at work waiting to see if mom was going to be released - she wasn't. So I went to Canonsburg.

Shortly after arriving, we were informed he was being moved to AGH because they couldn't do anything more for him there.

Basically, to make a long story short - where we stand now.......

He is in Allegheny General Hospital in MICU. Because of his size, they can not do some of the tests to determine what all is really going on. The doctors are treating it as if he has a blood clot and possibly Pneumonia. His size is also a factor in making any problem worse. He is sedated and on a respirator (sedation so he won't pull out the tubes). As of this morning, he was responsible when doctors were in - squeezing their hands in answer to questions. They also took him off sedation briefly this morning, gave him some water and then put him back under.

From what doctors have told us, this is going to be along healing process. Against our wishes, he let his health get progressivly worse and worse and now we're left trying to solve one problem at a time. We're certain he will be hospitalized for quite some time and from there who knows. There is no estimated time of recovery... it's just one day at a time. We're learning more and more each day.

Yesterday was a very long and emotional day. I haven't gone back to the hospital as of yet. They've been running tests and what not all morning so there wasn't much to be done. We're heading in shortly.

I tried to call as many people as I could to inform them of the situation but obviously our family is huge and I don't have everyone's number (and probably forgot a few people along the way). If I didn't call you, I'm sorry. I'll try to update the site as much as I can with information. Feel free to contact me anytime and I'll let you know what I know. I'll also post updates here so I can get info to the masses rather than calling a million people.

Currently, mom's still hospitalized on the 9th floor in AGH and Dad is on the 4th (I'm getting a lot of exercise, trust me). Hopefully, she will be coming home tomorrow.... I'm betting on it because then I have to contend with traffic from the Steeler game and that's my kind of luck.

Surprisingly, we're handling the situation ok. Keep us in your thoughts though and email me any time if you want a personal update (I'd post my phone number but I don't want some wacko accidently finding the website and calling me). But if you email me directly, I'll gladly give it to you. My email is hayleybykens@gmail.com and email anytime!

Thanks.

Wow I'm getting really bad about posting! It's been like 2 weeks since the last post. It's not that I don't want to post anything, it's just as usual August Kicked My Butt... thankfully the month (and insanity) is almost over for the year.

Well a brief recap (cuz that's about all the time I've got right now). Matthew, Aerie and I just returned from Baltimore on Friday night, Friday night I attended a fundraiser for my cousin Jake's friend who lost his home in a fire a while back (I won a nice spa certificate - thanks to mommy who gave me the dollar for it as a birthday gift - GO FIGURE, as well as a manicure at the Wellness Center). Saturday was our fantasy football draft (fun times), Sunday was a baby shower..... and now here I am on Tuesday working my butt off (waiting on some people right now) because we have 2 things due this week and I'm on vacation starting tomorrow (yeah!!!!).

So my goal over vacation is to get about 4 chapters in my school book read (I'll probably only accomplish 2) and do some scrapbooking and finally (and most importantly) spending wonderful times with Aerie because that's what I love to do the most!

Baltimore was ok - had some rocky issues with the hotel and what not but overall it was a fun trip. Aerie's tooth busted through while we were in the hotel Thursday and we went to the harbor on Friday. Overall it was nice, but it sucks Aerie is still so young because there's lots we could do but she wouldn't be able to really enjoy going so we opted to wait until my next trip down to take her to some of the fun places.

Life's been a buzz lately. I return to school next Saturda (oh my god did it really sneak up on me that quickly). I'm actually really excited about it too. Yeah it's a lot of work and what not - but the reward will be much greater). Plus, now I think is the best time because Aerie's still young. Too young to be involved in a variety of activities like dance, cheerleading, etc. She won't get there for a few years so I can knock out this MBA in the mean time.

Well, what I was waiting for is here so I've gotta run. I'll try to post more while I'm on vacation.

Is it really August??????

Wow! Is it really August already? My birthday only 17 days a way.... UGH! I'm getting so old! So if you haven't checked out the website recently, do so to see the new pictures of Aerie attemping to eat a bag of raisins.... it's quite amusing. Diana (Matthew's Mom) took them at her house while she was watching her one day. Quite a treat. One's included here.

We had quite a busy weekend this past weekend. Yesterday was our Mini golf Tournament (last one for the season).... I was only 4 strokes away from placing (BUMMER). Ah well, next year! I can't wait until next year when Aerie's walking and talking. We're going to have so much fun. I will be taking her golfing as much as I can because it's great for the body, mind and soul (and cheap on the wallet). Matthew thinks I'm crazy.... but who cares!

Aerie's eating cereal really well now. We've discovered she really loves the Apple flavored one and eats it like crazy. I think in a week or two we'll introduce some Oatmeal into the mix and then soon the fruits and veggies. Matthew is just waiting for the day of Banana Puddings and has already claimed giving her that jar of food! Of course I might have to hide it from him or buy him his own... I fear he may eat it all and not share with his daughter! HE HE HE

So in 17 days is it not only my birthday, But I'm on vacation until after Labor day (woo hoo five days off). I can't wait! I want to spend more time with Aerie... lots and lots and lots of time with Aerie. I also want to accomplish some scrapbooking (I'm about 2 months behind) and clean the house a bit. I believe my plan will be to have my mom come over to watch Aerie while I clean and scrapbook a little... that way she's not feeling neglected (plus I don't want to take their favorite day of the week away from them).

Surprisingly though, Life as parents hasn't been all that bad. It's a little crazy at times, but our house isn't a disaster, our daughter is happy and we're not screaming at each other 24/7 .... so I'd say we're surviving rather well!

Aerie's getting into the really fun stage of life now. She's so amazed by everything and has to touch an feel anything within our reach. She's actually started petting Artex (who loves to lay by her when we're holding her)... or my favorite time... is when I put Aerie in her bumbo seat on my desk in the backroom while I'm doing something on the computer and Artex has to naturally squeeze his big ol' butt in between my keyboard and her chair. So she reaches down and pats him while he's close to mommy and sissy. It's absolutly adorable!

So as usual, August is a nightmare on my schedule. Saturday we have a birthday party. Sunday I had thought about going to Brad Paisly but I think I'll pass and just focus on going to Martina McBride and Brooks and Dunn (maybe). Then next Wednesday we go to Baltimore for 3 days (WOW that came REALLY fast) and then Saturday is our Fantasy Football draft and Sunday a baby shower... I come back to work for 2 days and then I'm on vacation ( WOO HOO).... A much needed vacation after this insane month.

Well time to get back to insanity! Later all!

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh Jason Michael Carrolll.........................................

Wow, I'm so dragging today! Last night I went to see Jason Michael Carroll at the Rhythm House in Bridgeville. It was such an amazing show! I've been dying to see him for over a year now. Many of you might remember, Matthew was going to take me to see him in Youngstown Ohio for my birthday but about 3 days prior to the show, I discovered it was cancelled (and man was I bummed). But life goes on, he actually did play with Alan Jackson last summer being added to the bill after I bought lawn seats (Again, BUMMER!)... so I was pretty determined to see him.

A few months back, I found out he was opening for Martina so I rallied the cash together for myself to buy 4th row seats with my best friend, Leeanne. THEN three weeks ago, I find out he's playing a free Happy Hour Concert sponsored by Froggy last night.... Ok... MUCH BETTER THEN 4th row!

So now, here we are with me haulin my butt to Bridgeville knowing the place is going to be packed because he's such a huge freakin star! Thankfully, I was lucky enough to find a friend up close by the stage to hang and talk with and stay up front in the sea of madness that was the Rhythm House last night.

Ha ... ironic moment of the day. I'm listening to Froggy right now and "Livin' Our Love Song" just came on..... (His song). Ok back to my night though, seriously! So .... I've been up front at shows and I've been back stage... but for some reason that I can't explain... he's just so different. From the moment I heard "Alyssa Lies" the first time on the radio I was in love with his music. Matthew bought me his cd a short while later when it arrived in stores and for over a year now it's never left my car/cd player for very long. His music and voice is just addictive....

So, during these happy hour shows (Froggy has them about once a month), usually the artist goes on at 6 and is off around 7pm..... yea............ he went on at 6 and got off the stage at 7:45pm. Then stayed in the back room and signed autographs for everyone! (Yes I hauled my butt back there through the mob to wait for 40 minutes just to meet him..... and yes, it was soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo worth it!

Last night was probably one of the best shows I've seen in a long time. You can tell Jason is a rocker deep inside, even before he played a few covers from Aerosmith and REO Speedwagon. He's just so full of energy and fun that the night just few by (I honestly didn't realize how late it was until after he was on for over an hour). I didn't care either because I was having a blast!

Meeting him was pure joy as well. I've met a lot of people in my life, but I don't think I've ever met someone who's just so sweet and nice. He stood around for well over an hour signing autographs and taking pictures and he actually took the time to talk to each person that was there. It wasn't a sign, smile and good bye set up (like so many autograph sessions are)... he seemed to really want to talk to his fans! I just wish I could have stayed longer because I bet he was hanging out afterward drinking in the bar with the rest of the guests! He just seems like that kind of person!

So I'm tired..... still in a fantastic mood and realizing now it's Thursday. This has seriously been one of the busiest weeks I've had in ages! Matthew and I have been somewhat of hermit like since I've been preganant. It's not even an issue of not having a lot of money or not having the time or a baby sitter... it's just a realization that we have someone to take care of and spending money frivilously isn't going to get us anywhere in life.

It's surprising how much I've changed my attitute toward a lot of things. Before, by now I would have spent well over $500 on concert tickets for the year.... and I think to this point I'm up to maybe $100 and that's for Martina and Toby. I also plan to go to Brooks and Dunn and Brad Paisly provided I can find a few friends to drag along with me.... I'm sure I will... I always do!

I can't believe it's pretty much August (And I haven't been to PGP once yet). Sunday is actually the first day I'll be going to PGP this summer..... it feels so weird too! It honestly feels as though I haven't been there in years.. when it's really only been about a year. Crazy! Toby Keith is Sunday. I'm so stoked to go too! My mom's going (Because I told her so) and my friends Dana and Melissa. It's going to be a riot!

As I was saying though, this has just been one busy week between doctor appointments, last nights concert, after work Matthew is hitting the meadows with money on his card for free play (I went the last two times so I figured I'd let him go this time), Saturday I'm getting a facial I bought months ago at a nice spa in Canonsburg.

So yes, life's a little nuts this week. I don't know why... it's always AUGUST that's nuts for me... Next weekend we've got our mini golf tournament, then the following weekend is my family reunion (still not sure if I'm going... but I might) and then Aug 20 we're leaving for Baltimore and then I come back to work for 3 days and I'm off on vacation until Sept 1 (Woo Hoo off for my birthday (Planned that on purpose)....

So yea... If I'm distant, forgetting to put things up on the website, or just confused.... now you know why!


FYI - Pictures from last night WILL be posted soon on the website (probably tonight or tomorrow).... :) :)

Yeah!!!! Cereal!!!!

Horray! Aerie's 4 month check up went well! She's growing and gaining weight just where she should be, which is what we want! Our littly lady weighed in at 11 lbs and 13 oz. Just under the 12 I was guessing! She also is over 23 inches long.... just under the 2 foot tall mark! I can't believe she's getting so big!

After Aerie's appointment, we took her home and I opened the box of cereal (that I bought over a week ago impatiently awaiting her check up and the go ahead for cereal. Well, what an experience! I took about 20 minutes to feed her about a tablespoon and a half of cereal... most of which went on the table, and her chair, and HER and eventually some into her mouth!

She did so well and caught on to the act very quickly. I was proud of her. She managed to keep most of the mess to her bib and me and the chair... and surprisingly nothing in her hair (I still gave her a bath afterward though.... cuz that stuff is STICKY!

I can see she wants to be independent because all she did was try to grab the spoon from me and feed herself! I eventually just gave it to her to let her feel the cereal and play with it. She even tried to put it in her mouth. It was so cute. Of course we video taped the whole event, but the file is 17 minutes long and will be much to large to upload to our website.... so you'll just have to enjoy the many pictures I posted on the site. ENJOY! I've included my favorite photo of her taking the spoon from me on here.

Who's sick of rain? I AM I AM!

Is anyone else out there sick of rain this summer? Have we really even had more then a few days of sunshine since like MAY? UGH! I bought a stroller to take Aerie for walks and I've barely used it. BUMMER! It's either raining or it's like 90+ degrees and humid as can be.... and although I wouldn't mind sweating off a few extra pounds, I'm sure it's not good weather for my beautiful little baby.

So this week, the high chair was built for Aerie! HORRAY! Next Monday she starts on cereal after her 4 month check up. I'm so excited! I've already bought the bowls, spoons, etc for her and have the cereal as well. We have some plain and some flavored (apple and banana) cuz I like variety and I'm sure she will too!

Aerie's already getting so big... yet she still has no rear end so NOTHING FITS HER! She hasn't so much filled out as she's gotten really, really looooooooooooong. I think she's going to be tall like her Daddy.

Her eyes are still changing color so we're not quite sure what they are going to be. They don't want to make up their mind between a hazel brown and a hazel green.. and then sometimes they are steel gray. Matthew's eyes change color a lot so perhaps she'll be like her daddy with randomly changing eye color .... his change depending on his moon.... I swear!

So life's been pretty good. Aerie's pretty well set on a schedule of eating and sleeping. She sleeps so well and will sleep through anything. Last night when we had some pretty crazy storms.. my little angel was fast asleep (now if only I was too... but nooooooooooooooo). Stupid Thunder!

Next month our whole family is going to Baltimore while I'm there on work business. I have a meeting and rather than leave Aerie at home which would be somewhat troublesome with the breastfeeding..... I opted to just bring her (and daddy) with me! I'm so glad my company is so amazingly wonderful.

Well time to jet.

Kindermusik Here We Come!

Saturday I took Aerie to the Early Learning Expo at Babies R Us. I knew they were going to have a kindermusik demo and I really wanted to check it out. She absolutly LOVED it. I was amazed at how enamoured she was with the kids, the motion and the event itself. I knew I just had to sign her up in the fall for the actual classes, which I did as of yesterday!

I enrolled her in Village which is a combo class of Dream Pillow and Zoom Buggy... The class is geared for Newborns-18 months. Here's the web description of the class:

Kindermusik VillageEach week you'll dance with your baby in your arms, share songs, and celebrate the marvelous transformations of the first 18 months.

Features include:
-Musical play that stimulates your baby's physical and mental development
-Establish soothing routines
-Social interaction with other Moms and babies
-Age-appropriate instrument & prop play
-Weekly Foundation of Learning tips for Parents

Zoom Buggy! - Swoosh, vroom, and clickety-clack your way through this delightful unit. Babies and adults will dance, sing, and play instruments to the theme of being on the go. Through a variety of songs, chants, and instrumental selections you and Baby will experience the rumbling of a baby buggy, the squeaky stroller, the bumpa bumpa bumpa of the wagon, the train chugging up the track and much more.(Weeks 1-7)

Dream Pillow - Baby is the star in Dream Pillow, with each activity carefully planned to stimulate his developing brain, thereby promoting physical, social, cognitive, emotional, and language development.

But it is the parent who is watching and guiding this little star on the rise, and Dream Pillow, like all Village units, is written with the parent very much in mind.(Weeks 8-15)

At Home Materials for each of the units: Home CD, Baby's Board Book, Featured Home Instrument for music-making at home, and two Art Banners.

I'm so excited for Septemember now. Both Aerie and I start school! I hope Aerie likes the class as much as she seemed to enjoy it at the store. It'll be a fun experience for the two of us! Not to mention its time that we get to spend together ever week doing something fun with other babies her age! Plus, I'll also meet some other moms with kids her age for possible future playdates!

I've been looking for a while for a mommy and me style group so I could meet other moms but unfortunatly most of what is in this area meets during the day while I'm at work (not helpful!) so I was thrilled when I learned Kindermusik had evening classes. Sadly, the evening one is in McMurray, but at least it's not that far away. They have classes in Washington starting up as a trial and hopefully in the spring they might have some evening classes. Either way, I'm sure it's going to be a very worthwhile experience for the two of us!

Sunday, Aerie and I went to a baby shower. She met some family she hasn't met yet, but that were at my shower. I was so proud of her for being such a good baby. She didn't really fuss or scream at all! I'm so lucky!!!

This week has been pretty enteretaining thus far as well. Monday was pure insanity with a major proposal due and I ran around like a nut! Then Tuesday was such a great day. It started with a phone call from Y108 saying I was chosen as mom of the week ... but the mystery is who in the world entered me! No one wants to own up to it! Thank you to the mystery person though! I am the proud receipient of dinner for two at Texas Roadhouse, a massage at the Health Pyramid, and tickets to the Improv at the Waterfront.

That started my morning off with a smile... then it continued when I found out my raise went through today (YEAH! MORE MONEY!) So overall, it was a pretty good day for me! Now if I could just hit the powerball tonight.... man would that top it off!

If you haven't done so, check out some of the new pictures I've posted of Aerie. There's a very amusing one where she's riding Artex (thanks to Matthew for picking on my poor little kitty). He didn't seem to mind though.

Well that's about all my time for today. Until who knows when....

Vacations are nice.....

So it's Sunday and unfortunatly it's back to work tomorrow... bummer. Matthew and I have been off for 4 days and we've really done NOTHING! And to be honest, I couldn't have been happier.

Friday was Matthew's birthday (yes the 4th of July). We went to a picnic and then came home. Other then the one trip out we've done nothing but hang around the house and play with Aerie. A vacation well spent! It was just nice not to have to be anywhere, go anywhere or do anything..... just relax.

Sadly, it rained for most of our vacation or we might have ventured out to a park or something with Aerie for a picnic but by the time Saturday and Sunday rolled around we just didn't want to do anything.

I just posted some new pictures (Yea ... I'm a bit slow this week) so check them out and enjoy! Nothing really new to report other then another beautiful Sunday. Perhaps Aerie and I will go for a walk this afternoon if it's not too hot. Currently she's passed out on her gym mat after playing for the last two hours.

July Already? Where is this year going?

Wow, It's already July. We're more then 1/2 the way through the year.... can you believe it? It seems like only yesterday Aerie was born.... but it's really over 3 months ago! What a trip! Life just seems to fly by and there just isn't enough time in the day.

So if you haven't heard the news, Arabella's on a roll.... literally... we just can't keep her in one direction anymore. Once she figured out how to roll over there's no stopping her she's on the go.... this kid wants to be mobile and fast! YIKES! Time to start really looking at baby proofing because I don't think it'll be long before she's crawling.. she already pushes herself up so well... it's only going to be a matter of time.

We had a busy weekend.... Saturday we went garage sale hopping and then Sunday Aerie spent the day with Grandma Nadine Beatrice so Matthew and I could go to a mini golf tournament. It was the first time we've been out alone since Arabella was born and I must say... it felt weird! Both of us did ok in the tournament but not good enough to win. After golf, we swung by the meadows to blow through some free play slots.... nothing like free money to gamble with... I lost and Matthew won (of course).

Matthew's birthday is Friday.... I finally got his present together (well mostly together).... I have to finish up one more part of it before Friday which is no biggie since we have Thursday off anyways. Ah... nice long weekend... I can't wait!

My company picnic is also coming up on July 18th... then next month starts the craziness... why is August always such a busy month for me? Weddings, parties, festivals, you name it... I've got it in August..... plus I scheduled another mini vacation for my birthday... figured I've earned it since I was pretty miserable on my birthday last year because of morning sickness. It also was great my birthday fell on Labor Day weekend so I get an extra day off with no used vacation days.

I've got some new pictures of Aerie. I'm going to try and post them this week... probably while I'm off. I've been so busy I haven't had the time to get them off my camera and uploaded to the website but they'll be there soon, I promise!

UGH! I could seriously use as nap right about now... I'm so tired and I don't know why... I slept pretty good last night (as good as you can with a young baby). Aerie is getting on an ok schedule for the most part.... as a breastfed baby though you can only do so much because it's just not going to sit heavy like formula. But I don't mind, she's worth the lack of sleep any time!

Ah, what a busy, busy week. I'm still in recovery mode even though I was off work last Friday to have my wisdom teeth out (FUN FUN). I spent the majority of Friday sleeping off the pain which actually wasn't too terribly bad.

Saturday, Aerie went to her first series of graduation parties. It started with Miranda and then ended with my cousin Dannys. She did really well until about 20 minutes into Danny's party when she got a bit cranky and let us know it was time to go home. We didn't mind though, we spent ample time at each location.

Sunday we did nothing. I made one short trip to Toys R Us to return a few things but otherwise, we spend the day just enjoying relaxing before going back to work on Monday.

Next week is vacation time and trust me, I can't wait. We'll be celebrating Matthew's birthday as well (YEAH).... Aerie got the most wonderful present for him. I can't wait to give it to him (it needs to arrive first though).

Well, that pretty much recaps the weekend... off to insanity.

Updates Updates Updates....

Well here we are already most of the way through June. I can't believe Aerie is almost 3 months old. We've had a busy month! Aerie attended her first festival and the zoo this month! Though, she slept through both of them for the most part! A few weeks ago, she rolled over... but I believe it was truly a complete accident. I had her on the floor on her belly and one arm gave out and she just toppled over and stared at me with a confused look on her face as to why she was staring at the ceiling instead of the floor. It was kinda cute.

Every day is full of giggles and smiles! I love it. Hearing her laugh makes everything in life worthwhile. Since she's been more active and playful lately, we haven't read as much as we use to - but we still do read almost every day! Often, I sit and talk to her instead... she looooooooves to talk. She talks to me, Matthew, the grand parents and anyone that wants to sit and listen. I swear sometimes she's going to say some kind of understandable word... she tries to so hard!

For Father's Day this past weekend, Arabella and I took Matthew to the zoo for the Dragon Reniassance Festival. It was a lot of fun, but Arabella decided to sleep through the majority of it. We did wake her up while in Kids Kingdom to see a deer up close and personal. Matthew even took a picture - it was priceless! I'm sure it'll be more fun with her next year when she's a little older and can actually see things far away.

We have a few graduation parties this weekend so Aerie is going to meet more of the family. I'm sure there's some people hoping like crazy I show up just so they can see the precious angel.

If you haven't seen her pictures recently, make sure to check out the new photos... there's lots of good stuff there.

Well, I've got a million things to do.

Arabella Chasing Butterflies

By now, everyone knows my daughter's room is covered in butterflies, fairies, and unicorns! It's what I loved and I loved decorating the room with my trinkets and pictures. Even though the room is done, we're always finding little trinkets to add to the collection for her since most of the collection was actually mine. Apparently a while back, my mother's friend Rita saw a beautiful Marie Osmond Fairy doll on QVC. The doll was dressed as a fairy with butterflies on her dress and legs and a big butterfly net. She was simply beautiful.... and then we discovered her name....

Arabella Chasing Butterflies

Well once Rita told my mother about the doll, it was a no question the doll would be purchased for Granny Beatrice's beautiful granddaughter Arabella.

The doll has finally arrived and she's stunning. I didn't know anything about it until my mother brought her over last friday. She was perfect, just like our little Arabella!

The doll now sits on a shelf in my daughters room. Due to the small items on her, I put her up out of reach until Aerie's a little older. She's so precious! I'm so happy Aunt Rita found this wonderful item. THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!

Here's the picture of the doll.

Reunion Class

Ah finally Thursday. Only one more day on this week. It seems each week gets long and longer probably because all I want to do is spend time with Aerie!

So we had our child class reunion last night. Sadly, only 3 couples showed up (probably because of the Pens game). At least we got to see a few of the babies. It was really interesting listening to the other couples tell their stories. Everyone had such a different experience. Of the three of us, I was the only C-Section, one girl had a 4 hour labor... one had a 26 hour labor! What a difference. I felt bad for the one couple as they've just had an insane experience. Their baby didn't like the bottles, formula, toys, clothes, etc. They also had some crazy health problems that landed her in Children's for a week. Thankfully, she's better now.

It was kinda neat being on the other end of the class. I remember sitting there listening to the other new parents and the different stories. I loved being on the other side. It was nice sharing what we went through and of course seeing all the other babies. I just wish more people would have came to the class reunion. I was so looking forward to seeing all the other new parents.

In other news, I'm about to use my daughters adorable cuteness to my benefit this weekend. Froggy is having a photo contest for an opportunity to be Luke Bryans official photography on stage and off during the Kenny Chesney Concert. Plus you get pit tickets and a meet and greet privately with Luke... basically an all around amazing day. You have to take a photo "showing you're froggy" and my mother and I have cooked up one hell of a photograph (provided my daughter will cooperate). I will post it once it's taken. If the station people like it and it's gets selected as one of the 5 finalists, I'll be calling on my friends to vote vote vote as the most votes is going to the show. Here's hoping Aerie wins over the hearts of all the listeners and station people at Froggy!!! I think she can do it!! I know she can! But even if she doesn't, I'll love dressing her up for this photo and it will most definitely go into the scrapbook.

Ah, this day is almost over and I can head to Grandma's to pick up my daughter. I missed her so much today. I just want to hold her all the time and be with her and play with her. Everyday is just an experience and I don't want to miss anything! I know sadly, I probably will miss some things because of working full time but that just means I make every hour of every day with her precious! She is my life now!

Well time to get packing!

Is it really only Tuesday? UGH! It feels like a Monday... and I wish it were Friday. What a week... well really what a night.... how about the Penguin game??? WOW~ granted... I fell asleep for most of it.. then woke up when Matt and Debbie started screaming when they tied it up with 30 seconds left.... I stayed awake for most of the 1st OT.. then passed out watching the game on in the bedroom while Matt, Debbie and John watched in the living room. No worries though, Matt woke me up to tell me they won!

It's been kinda funny all day... so many people are dragging after watching that game .... crazy! The drive to work was empty with what I'm sure was a ton of people going in late because of the game. It was nice for me though!

In other news, Matthew and I have our baby class reunion tomorrow. I'm really excited about going as well. I can't wait to see everyone else's babies! Of course the class had to fall on the next pens game too! At least it'll be over around 8:30pm so we'll still get to come home and watch most of the game. Perhaps I'll even make it through the whole thing (I haven't as of yet.... ).

So I've determined that I'm cursed with Kenny tickets.... I'm just not meant to go to the show. I've been trying to win them every day on the radio and I've been just about every caller BUT the right one. Actually one time in one ticket giveaway I was caller 1, 5, 8, and 11.... Man was I mad! How that happened - I have no idea... but whatever! Perhaps I'm just building up to win a really good prize???

Next week is the St. Pat's festival in Canonsburg. I'm so excited. Matthew and I have enlisted my mommy to babysit so we can go down. We'd take her with us but Matthew and I want to gamble and those games don't usually start until 8/9pm and Aerie doesn't need to be out that late. It'll be the first time Matthew and I have been out together without the baby since she was born. I'm not sure I know what to do......

We've also put in the request for my mother to babysit on June 29 so Matthew and I can compete in the mini golf tournament like we do every year at Red Carpet. Perhaps we'll have to get a babysitter one Sat/Sun for a few hours so we can grab a couple of practice rounds prior to the tournament. Either way, we'll go down early that Sunday and have a ball before hand.

Has everyone looked at the new photos posted and the new organization of Aerie's photo albums. I've made it much easier to find pictures. If you haven't checked out the new pictures - make sure you do because they're great shots! You'll just love the ones with her sunglasses compliments of granny beatrice!

I think this weekend I'm going to spend some time scrapbooking. I've had some pictures piling up and I want to get them into the book. I've also got some pictures with family members that I needed to fill the blank pages in one of her albums. It's hard to believe (no not really) that I've already got four albums for the baby and one is about to be completed.

Well, it's about time for me to go pick up Aerie. I miss her so much. Everyday seems like I want to see her more and more. I just love my little girl. She's the best thing in the world!

Grandma Beatrice - get ready to scrapbook this weekend! And yes, I just had to write about you in my last blog! BECAUSE I CAN!

Ask My Mother About Changing Diapers....

So for those that see my mother on a regular basis, you should ask her about changing diapers..... because apparently 20 some odd years after I'm out of diapers... she's apparently forgotten an important rule....... The diaper goes OVER the rear end of the baby.....

and now the story...

On Fridays my mother watches Arabella at my house (cuz it's just easier then dragging the baby out to hickory).... so Matthew and I arrive home around 6 or so and she's eating ... dressed all cute (because my mother ALWAYS puts her in something cute) and today it just happened to be a little blue dress (That was Waaaaaaaay to big) ....

So after we eat and what not... my mom and I look at some new pictures I took on my computer and Aerie starts to cry.... Matthew tends to her and realized that her diaper is no where near covering her rear end.... in fact her little bum bum was hanging out all over the place...... apparently my mother forgot the the purpose of a diaper was to keep what comes out contained until changes......... whoops....

so anyone that sees my mom can ask her about changing diapers to hear the funny story about NOT covering my daughters rear end........


In other new.... the weekend flew by! It was disappointing that the pens lost. Aerie seemed quite disappointed (Yes, she watched the game with us). We actually had laid her down for a nap, grabbed the baby monitor and headed upstairs to John and Debbie's to watch the game when only moments in... she started crying... so rather then run up and down the steps all night Matt just brought her up with us... as soon as she was there she was fine sitting in the chair with me watching the game..... kinda cute! I can't wait to see if she likes football too! Actually, I think she was just lonley since it was just her and Artex in the apartment. She wanted to be with everyone where all the action was! OF COURSE!

Today, we mostly sat around the house. Our goal this weekend was a bit of cleaning and quality time with Aerie which sometimes it feels like we have no time with her because of our busy work schedules. But this weekend we did manage to get a lot of great time with her and I'm honestly thrilled about it.

Wednesday is our baby care class reunion. I can't wait. I'm excited to see what all the other parents in our class had ... should be quite intersting.

Well, my facial peel is about dry.... so it's time for me to go so I can get this facial done before Aerie wakes up to eat.