Saturday, August 30, 2008

"I Shtuck."

I had been wondering how she was able to get underneath the gate the other day. She has been trying to get under there for a good year now, but had been previously unsuccessful. Well – the pictures below demonstrate how she did it this time. In the past, the gate was low enough to prevent her from crawling under because she had not figured out how to flatten herself on her belly and slither. We seem to have slithering down pat.

She tried again this morning – but she got herself stuck in the process!!




Friday, August 29, 2008

Fun Pictures

Rosie laughs hysterically at Monsters, Inc...our movie of the week...


Minutes later, she is completely engrossed again...sprawled out amongst her raisins...


"Get out of my way Mom! I'm watching Sully and Mike Wysowski!"

Thursday, August 28, 2008

Rosie and the Pussycat

There was a point in time when everything that Rosie did absolutely amazed me and astounded me. Like when she tried to get out of her crib for the first time…on the same day she started to crawl…at the ripe old age of 7 ½ months… I was shocked and caught completely by surprise. Totally unprepared. These days, with nearly 21 months of experience under my belt – there isn’t much that she comes up with that surprises me.

This morning, however, my little angel had me beyond flabbergasted. I was on the phone with Kim, my boss, discussing a quote that we want to send out today. Rosie had played in my office with me for a little while, but then settled herself on her chair to watch Big Bird’s Dance Party (her new favorite video). Kim and I hammered out the pieces of our proposal and she hung up to get other work done – and I to play with my toddler until lunch time. My warning bells went off immediately upon entering my family room.

I look around the family room – no Rosie. Poke my head in the laundry room – no Rosie. Kitchen…Sunroom – nothing. Now I’m starting to panic. Where could she be? From my office through the kitchen and sunroom is pretty much childproofed, gated in and a safe play space for Rosie. What could she possibly have gotten herself into?

It was then that I heard it…a sound coming from my dining room. Dining room? The dining room is gated! Not gated enough for my little explorer! We leave room between the bottom of the gate and the floor for our cat, Messier, to fit through. Not only is her food in there – but we want her to have an easy escape from Rosie when she just doesn’t feel like dealing with a toddler. Usually, the gate is just high enough for Messier to fit through – but not big enough for Rosie’s head to fit through. The gate had been moved last week during the Fantasy Football Draft party that was held at our house. When it was put back on, it was not low enough to prevent a nearly-two year old from finding her way underneath it.

So – Rosie figured out that she could squirm under the gate to the pot of gold on the other side – the cat food. When I saw her, she looked up at me with a mouth full of Iams and said “Hi Mommy. Cat food yummy!” Blech. After I had finished gagging, I picked her up, put her in the kitchen, put the gate back up – lower this time, and explained to her that no – Cat Food is not Yummy…Cat food is gross.

Once I had her sitting and drinking milk (Iams and Milk…what a faboo combo…), I took a minute to pee. I can see pretty much the entire family room when I leave the door open, so I can keep my eye on her and she can easily find me.

Well – she sat for about 10 seconds then was up and running in the direction of the dining room. Confident that I had lowered the gate enough to prevent her from getting through, I took my time washing, drying and applying lotion to my hands. When I walked into the kitchen, she wasn’t where I expected her to be…she wasn’t in the room at all. I made a beeline for the gate to the dining room.

Somehow – she managed to fit under the gate again. Instead of eating cat food this time, she was on all fours, drinking out of the cat’s bowl. When I said her name, she picked up her head and said “Good wady, Mommy.” At least is was fresh wady, Rosie…
Messier...Rosie's favorite dining companion. Rosie actually took this picture with our camera - which is why Mess is so fuzzy and out of focus.

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Chewing Gum

I’m not entirely sure where Rosie’s fascination with gum chewing got its start. Rich & I are not huge gum chewers – and she isn’t around anyone who chews gum on a regular basis. But – in true-to-toddler form, Rosie has picked up this habit in the best way that she knows how.

A few weeks ago, I noticed her chewing on something intently and not swallowing. Upon sneaking my fingers past her sharp little teeth, I found a wad of paper towel wedged in between her molars and her gums. I removed the wad and tossed it immediately. I did not know that this was the start of an ongoing habit.

Rosie is now on a mission – a mission to find any tissue, paper towel, cotton ball, q-tip or piece of paper accidentally left around the house. She bites off a piece of whatever she can find and starts chewing. When you ask her if she has something in her mouth – she proudly tells you “I chewin’ gum!”

Here’s the best part – she’ll spit out whatever is in her mouth without a problem…only if you hold out your hand and say “can I have your gum, please?” If you try to take it out – you will get bitten – so save your fingers and ask her nicely to spit out her gum!

Tuesday, August 26, 2008

God Besh You, Mommy

One of my biggest goals with Rosie has been teaching her appropriate responses to the things that happen in every day life. Please…thank you…you’re welcome. Things like that. Daddy taught her how to fake burp…when I realized that for a toddler, fake burping is fun, I taught her to say excuse me (shoo-me) after all fake and real burps. All of these things sound adorable when coming out of a toddler’s mouth – even the burps. My favorite, however, is Rosie’s “God Bless You.”

Whenever she sneezes, I follow it immediately with a “God bless you, Rosie” and then I remind her to say “Thank you,” hoping that it will one day sink in. Tonight – I got some proof that my work is paying off.

I was putting her down to bed, and I’ve had a little bit of a sniffle and a cough for the past day or so. As I’m snuggling up to her, I cough. She takes her binkie out and says “God besh you, Mommy” and pops the binkie right back in. I am surprised to hear this – but respond with “Thank you, Rosie.” Binkie comes out again so that Rosie can say “you welcome, Mommy.”

Experiment successful! She is learning manners! Unfortunately, this went on for about 20 minutes. Every minute or so I would clear my through or cough and Rosie would start our little routine. I had to quiet myself down and stifle any sounds to actually get her to sleep. I wonder if she will keep this up?

Sunday, August 24, 2008

More Maryland State Fair Pictures

Rosie pets some other animal...lamb...sheep...not sure which. It smelled.


We couldn't get close enough to touch the miniature horses - but they were fun to look at!


The most disturbing part of our trip for me. Wanted - Dead or Alive! This piece of paper was posted above the turkeys in the "poultry" section of the fair. "For your freezer or as a pet!" Seriously? That scares me...

The 11 Best Days of Summer

Cows and Pigs and Chickens, Oh My!

The “11 Best Days of Summer” is the local lingo in reference to the Maryland State Fair. After listening to weeks of radio announcers talking up the “11 Best Days of Summer” – I had the brilliant idea that we should take Rosie. After all – they have animals and she loves animals. Could be a match made in heaven, right? Wrong. Once again, it is confirmed that I am indeed a city girl – and farm livin’ is NOT the life for me.

We drive up to the Fairgrounds and there are tons of people just everywhere. We load Rosie into her umbrella stroller and start walking (er…waddling for some of us) through the crowds and in the heat towards the entrance. Parking cost us $8. Which wasn’t terrible until we realized that admission was going to cost us $8 each as well. Not a big deal – but had I thought this plan up two days earlier, Rich could have gotten free tickets from work. Free is better than $16 any day!

So we walk through the entrance gingerly…trying to avoid the various piles of poo from the cows and horses that have gone before us. I am almost immediately cranky. It is hot. There are a lot of very rude people pushing and shoving. It is stinky…and I am feeling very pregnant and not up for this adventure. But – I want Rosie to see the cows, so we carry on.

We follow our noses to the cow building. Cows, flies and cow poop everywhere. Unfortunately, they are packing many of the cows up for the night and others are heading over to a cow-judging contest – so we wander through trying to find a cow that Rosie can see close-up. We finally find said cow, and not only do we get close to her…but Rosie got to pet her too! Oy – the germ-a-phobe in me is going wild. I resist the urge to hose her off – but I do get her shuttled over to a hand washing station ASAP so I can scrub her down before she puts her hands in her mouth.

All told – we spend just over an hour at the fair. The highlight of my trip is getting up close and personal to the “2008 Lamb and Wool Queen” (pictured below) – a woman who was just BEYOND happy to be pinning ribbons on lambs…We decided that we can pretty much skip the Maryland State Fair for the next decade or so until Rosie is old enough to ride some of the rides.

To top off our experience, I started having some Braxton-Hicks contractions while we were walking around. Now – that just ads some fun to the whole experience. We were all happy to get home, showered and disinfected! I can think of 11 better days from this summer!
Rosie pets the cow...
Rosie sees a lamb...

The Happiest woman at the fair..."2008 Lamb and Wool Queen."

Saturday, August 23, 2008

Happy Birthday, Kimmie

Although her actual birthday isn’t until tomorrow, we drove up to Stewartstown today to help my good friend and boss, Kim Carl, celebrate her 40th birthday in style.

A good time was had by all, as you can see! Posted pictures are just of Rosie – but let’s just say that I am fairly confident in my job’s security after the pictures I took of Kim! (o:

Rosie, wearing a yellow hula skirt on her head as a wig (my hair, Mommy...), drains every last drop from Daddy's beer...


"Cuttin' a rug" with Daddy!

Friday, August 22, 2008

Fun with “Stee-kas!”

There isn’t much of a story behind these pictures – they are just really cute and I wanted to share. Rich had his fantasy football draft at our house yesterday – and there are a ton of labels leftover from the draft selections. Rosie has been having fun with the labels all day long. After Rich got home, I locked myself in my office to catch up on some work – and when I opened the door, this is what I found:




Thursday, August 21, 2008

The Pediatric Ophthalmologist

The Pediatric Ophthalmologist
August 21, 2008

My girl and her gorgeous eyes...



Back in May, a bubble popped on Rosie’s eye. In true Rosie fashion – we have heard the story over and over and over again. This week, however, something strange happened. She was at the park on Monday night with Aunt Renee, Patrick and Elisa. When she came home and I put her in the bath, she put both hands over her one eye and started screaming her little head off. Next day – I call the pediatrician who wants us in right away.

Dr. Terry is awesome – not just with Rosie, but with me as well. She has a way of addressing my concerns without making me feel like a crazy, over-protective Mom. Fortunately, level-headed Rich was also able to go with me – so it was a family trip. Good thing, too – because he got to hold Rosie down while Dr. Terry put drops in her eyes.

Initially, Dr. Terry told me to watch her for a few days and then call back if symptoms persisted. Well – the next day she called and told me to take Rosie to a pediatric ophthalmologist. Dr. Jensen, here we come.

Dr. Jensen’s partner operated on Patrick when he was just 17 months old – and Renee had told me some very nice things about the office. I could see why from the time I walked in the door. They were all wonderful. They were good to me, good to Rosie – just great, all the way around.

Rosie, of course, did phenomenally and we determined that she is indeed just telling and retelling the story of the bubble that popped in her eye. We have a follow up appointment in December, just to be on the safe side – but Dr. Jenson is confident that this story will eventually be outgrown.

As a side note – the nurses thought it was just awesome that I didn’t know the gender of Baby Zoe. They did some sort of hanger test n me and determined that it was a boy. I told them I would let them know when I saw them in December!

Wednesday, August 20, 2008

So – we have to wait for October



So - we have to wait for October
August 20, 2008


We made another attempt for a 3D ultrasound today. Nothing doing. Baby Zoe was facing my spine – so all we saw was the back of his/her head, an ear and a bunch of hair. So – stay turned for October. We’ll get our first really good glimpse then!

Monday, August 18, 2008

It was Easier Last Year…


It was Easier Last Year…
August 18, 2008



Rosie's picture...unfortunately, I can't get the picture of all three of them to work. Will try again later...




Renee and I started a tradition last year of getting the kids picture taken. Initially, the plan was to do 4th of July pictures – but between all of our schedules, they ended up being “middle of August” pictures. No biggie – the goal is to have all 3 kids together in coordinating outfits for an annual picture. A few weeks ago we made a pilgrimage to the Children’s Place and picked out outfits for the girls. Khaki pants…hot pink shirts. Patrick was to wear neutral colors – Khaki and cream – so that he could coordinate with the girls.

We make our appointment, we show up, we wait for the Picture People to be ready for us. We wait and we wait and we wait. Finally – it is our turn.

For those of you who have never had the displeasure of taking a toddler to have her picture taken, I do not recommend it at all. Toddlers do not sit still. They do not pose. They do not smile. They do not cooperate with photographers. And, most annoyingly, they cannot be distracted by their favorite toys like they used to be. Mr. Monster and a variety of other toys have helped us get many perfect pictures in the past.

At the end of the day – we got the picture. Not as many good ones as we had hoped – but enough. Better yet – we had coupons, so I didn’t have to pay for one of the two prints that I took home. They are adorable kids…and they take a cute picture. It was just a lot easier last year, when Rosie couldn’t walk!

Sunday, August 17, 2008

I Love you, Rosie!

I Love you, Rosie!
August 17, 2008


Picture it – Rosedale, dinner time. A husband and wife stand in the kitchen talking about the latest Mets game. Their toddler plays by herself quietly just feet away from both of them. Suddenly, the toddler jumps up, runs across the room to her mother, wraps her arms around Mommy’s knees and says “I love you, Mommy,” before going back to her toys.

That Mommy/wife was me…that toddler was Rosie…August 17th is one of the best days of my life.

Saturday, August 16, 2008

Everybody Toots, Part II

Everybody Toots, Part II
August 16, 2008


I’m driving today and Rosie was making a ruckus in my back seat. Screaming, yelling, crying…the works. She was just very unhappy about being in the car. So, even though we weren’t that far from home, I ended up driving with one arm in the backseat, holding her hand. Thanks to the physical contortion, I drifted slightly into the right hand shoulder, running over the rumble strip. The crying and whining stops immediately.

Suddenly, I hear her little “maniacal” laugh. “He. He. Road tooted.”

If I wasn’t securely buckled in, I might have fallen out of my chair. For the rest of the trip home, every few minutes I would deliberately hit the rumble strip just to keep her happy and hear Rosie scream “Road tooted!”

I suppose I looked a little like a drunk driver that afternoon – but I fortunately didn’t get pulled over. “Sorry, officer…I was making the road toot…”

Friday, August 15, 2008

Oh No, What Happen?

Oh No, What Happen?
August 15, 2008




When “The Cousins” come down from Boston, they come with a suitcase full of clothes and three filled with food – and this visit was no exception. When they flew down to Baltimore in February, Nunce had frozen lobster sauce flat in freezer bags and packed them…and a whole ham…in one of her checked pieces of luggage. This time, The Cousins came by car, so there wasn’t a need to freeze everything. In fact – they didn’t even cook everything. They came down with two boxes of living, breathing lobsters.

Well – the Box O’ Crustaceans was a big hit with my toddler! She was on the floor petting the lobster, talking to the lobster…waving to the lobster from across the room. She loved every minute of it. Eventually, the lobster had to go in the pot, so I whisked Rosie off to the bathroom to scrub any residual lobster slim from her hands and arms. Once they were all cooked, every feasted on the little critters who, less than an hour earlier, were Rosie’s new friends.

Rosie thoroughly enjoyed both the lobster and the lobster sauce (Nunce’s lobster sauce is beyond good – it is exquisite). The highlight of the day, however, came after the meal had been served. Rosie looked at the big bowl of empty lobster shells, pointed to it and said “Oh no! What happen? The Yobsta!”

Are they Pigtails or Horns?

Are they Pigtails or Horns?
August 15, 2008





So – as you might have noticed in the last blog, Isabella was sporting some pigtails – which I just thought were the cutest things, ever. So – I decided to give it a try with Rosie. First, I tried to comb her hair into the proper position to see if it would work and if we had enough hair to actual pull a set of pigtails off. We did – so off to CVS I went to find some sort of hair apparatus that she wouldn’t be able to pull out on her own. I found such a hair apparatus in Scunci’s mini bands – tiny little colored pieces of plastic that barely fit around my pinky.

With the help of some distraction from Uncle Bill, we got her hair back into the pig tails. It took multiple attempts and several adjustments over the course of the day, but they stayed in from morning until bath time – and as long as you didn’t mention them out loud, she forgot they were there and left them alone.

However – with the pigtails seemed to come an unforeseen side effect – Rosie was suddenly two. Stomping her feet, shouting now, throwing herself into temper tantrums on the floor…So, my question is this – is she really jumping into the “Terrible Twos” a little early, or did she just confuse her pigtails for horns?

Saturday, August 9, 2008

Play date for Rosie


Play date for Rosie

August 9, 2008




Rosie & I took a trip up to Elmwood Park yesterday and spent Friday night in Uncle Jared’s room. In addition to playing with family, we also had a special play date with Isabella Panagia.

Rosie & Isabella started out playing in the front yard in the inflatable bounce castle (complete with ball pit and inflatable swords). At first – the two girls pretty much ignored each other. Rosie would make a move for Isabella every now and again – but she was honestly more interested in Isabella’s Mommy’s diaper bag and what was inside that she could take!

However – it wasn’t long before the girls warmed up to each other and started to play…a little. We took turns in the ball-pit-castle and on the slide. We shared some chocolate chip cookies and chocolate covered strawberries…and eventually, we made our way inside to change into our “baby chutes” (bathing suits) for a swim in the pool.

Isabella is just four months older than Rosie – and it was neat to see the two girls together. They got along just fine – although they didn’t “play” a lot, but worked on “co-existing” more. It will just be a matter of time before they have something else in common, aside from their age and just being girls – they will also both be big sisters! (Congratulations to John & Jennifer Panagia!)

Tuesday, August 5, 2008

Less than 76 Naps Remaining

Less than 76 Naps Remaining
August 5, 2008

Rosie waits for her "froggies" to fall from the ceiling...a new favorite game!




It’s a little after 3 in the afternoon. About an hour ago, I put Rosie down for her nap. Since the introduction of the Big Girl Bed, nap time and bed time routines have adjusted somewhat. She’s not quite ready to lay down in the bed by herself and just go to sleep. She needs a little cuddle time with Mommy or Daddy first. So it’s all Mommy during naps. Although I usually have a million things to do, I am grateful for this change in routine. It gives me a few minutes of precious quiet time just to stare at my beautiful angel and remember just how blessed I am to have her in my life.

Today, as I put her down for a late nap, I realized that I have so very few of these precious moments remaining. There are just 77 days left until my scheduled C-section. With today’s nap in progress, that means only 76 more naps with just me and Rosie…and that is assuming I am with her for her nap every single day between now and D-Day. (Delivery Day) Of course, I came to this realization while I was cuddled up next to her on her big girl bed…and of course, since this is me, I cried. So – I had to not only sneak off of her bed silently (not an easy thing to do when the bed rails are up and you are pregnant) – but I also had to stifle my sniffles until I could get myself out of her room.

I am so very excited about this new baby. I can’t wait to meet him/her. I can’t wait to know this baby. I am, however, going to miss all this time that I have with just Rosie. I am so going to miss our quiet times when there is no one else around. In just 77 days, our dynamic duo is going to turn into a terrific trio. I will always treasure the time that Rosie and I got to have – just the two of us.

Saturday, August 2, 2008

The Seventh Annual Triple B

The Seventh Annual Triple B
August 2, 2008

We held our 7th Annual Birthday Beer Pong Bonanza today. Although it’s no longer my birthday party – it is still a good time filled with the best of friends, beer, fun times and the inevitable smack talk.

Congratulations to this year’s championship team – Shane & Erik Ball. The Ball Brothers drove in from Ohio to participate in the tomfoolery and shenanigans, and we are glad they did!

As always, this event remains one of my favorite days of the year…even when I can’t participate in the festivities myself! Next year – JUICE PONG for our guests under 10… (o:

Erik & Shane Ball with their much-deserved trophy.


Shane Ball - 2008 MVP


Friday, August 1, 2008

Some Pictures




My last few posts have been picture-less...so here are a few of my favorites to finish out the month...