It's Sate Fair time!

The North Carolina State Fair is going on right now, so we took the opportunity to take E out for her first fair experience. Mostly for us older folks it's about eating- haha- but we thought E might enjoy seeing the people and animals.

Well, we went to a few barns and even watched racing pigs/ducks/goats, but E was definitely more interested in the people and lights/sounds than any smelly animals! She is usually pretty "talkative" but she barely made one or two sounds, she was so engrossed in taking in all the new stimuli. Of course she was perfect during our entire visit, but as soon as we got into the car the meltdown started :( Luckily it didn't take as long as I feared to get her to go to sleep- although she did wake a few times during the night.

Daddy got to wear her during the evening so she was nice and toasty even though the air was quite chilly.

"I haven't seen daddy in a while, where is he?"

"Oh! There you are!"

Eyes peeled for deep fried mac n' cheese!

Mommy got her mac n' cheese, daddy got his jumbo corndog and they both got some ice cream. E wants to know when SHE gets a bite!

Grocery Day!

Michael and I usually go grocery shopping together, and have done so even before little E came along. However, today we were out of some important things for the upcoming week, and Michael would not have been home from work until 6:30. This is not the first time E and I went on a major grocery trip alone, but she no longer fits in the infant cart and her car seat is too big to attach, so she rode sitting up in the cart for the first time. She is growing up so fast! She looked like such a big girl riding in the cart, and was stylish too with her Eddie Bauer shopping cart cover. And let me tell you, she LOVED it! It was a whole new perspective on things and she was just having the best time looking around- and turning sideways to grab stuff out of the cart! She is so strong and dexterous, she was able to get a yogurt cup up and over to the front and almost got ahold of a heavy pizza sauce can. Geez I am really going to have my hands full soon.
I think we are both excited for another shopping trip soon!

The Ants go Marching....

I am not saying this song is a miracle worker, but it really is quite efficient at putting my little E to sleep. She is known to fight sleep (mostly naps) but this song works probably 90% of the time. I have to say that I was a little skeptical at the thought of singing (especially me singing) helping her fall asleep. I mean I get the vacuum thing kinda, and the car seat, but singing... really??
I admit that while I am singing she also has a paci and is being rocked, but I take what I can get.

Now I just have to see if Ican get her daycare providers to do it. There are many days when I pick her up and her nap log has only one 30 to 45 minute nap on there. Sometimes the one nap might have only been 15 min! I know that it can sometimes be hard work getting her to sleep even in optimal conditions, not to mention a super bright, noisey room with tons going on, but it's almost as important as food to her wellbeing! That one short nap means that she is EXAHSTED when she gets home, and so instead of trying to spend a little time with her or try to get errands done after work, she really needs to be taken straight upstairs for a nap. Lately I have been lucky to have 2 to 3 waking hours with her in a day- and half of that is probably in the morning when I am in a rush to get everything done and get myself to work at a reasonable time.
Whew- what a whiney post! But this whole sleep thing just seems to effect every other aspect of our lives in some way. Hopefully things will work out soon.

Beautiful Weekend

As a lot of you know, the previous weekend was absolutely GORGEOUS! And we had a great time with several fun activities.

Saturday we went to a local farm to visit their pumpkin patch. We didn't end up buying a pumpkin (they were expensive for such small pumpkins) but little E was able to go on her first hay ride and hang out with Nate. Hopefully they can be buddies as they grow. Saturday she seemed a little more interested in hay or any other vegetation she could get her hands on, than playing with little boys :)

Then we had a nice time at a coffee shop with great conversation and company with other mommies and mommies to be.

Finally, Saturday evening (it was a reallllly busy day!) we went to my friend Jill's wedding. I was so excited and suprised to see so many of my old middle and highschool buddies there. E did great but was overly tired by that point, so she made a few rounds at the reception and then my parents took her home so Michael and I could enjoy ourselves a little longer.

All in all a wonderful day!

Sunday was a lot more relaxed, but we still were able to get outside and enjoy what may be the last warm weekend in a while. We toured a few Parade houses, as it is Parade of Homes time here in Wake Co. Unfortunately, we aren't able to actually BUY any of these houses, but it is a fun way to get out of the house and see some different areas around where we live.

To end this post I'll leave you with some images from this weekend :)

Baby's first hayride!

Checking out the pumpkin

The beautiful bride and some old buddies

6 Month Check-up

E had her 6 month check up yesterday and the consensus is that she is a *big girl*! She is up to 19 lbs 10 oz (from 8 lbs 14 oz at birth) and 26 3/4 inches long (born 21 inches).
Apparently being at 97% on the growth scale for weight isn't a bad thing when you are a baby. The doctor said she is doing great and seemed happy with her weight, so way to go E!
She also had 3 dreaded vaccinations. She cried, but was easily calmed down. And unless there are some latent effects, she doesn't seem to be having any reactions to them- yay! After her 4 month shots she started crying about an hour afterwards and continued all afternoon- it was heartbreaking :(
The doctor said there is no rush, but I could start feeding her some mushy fruit (or veggies) and give her a sippy cup with an ounce or two of water in it to start practicing. She is growing up sooo fast!!

Happy 6 months!

Little E is 6 months old as of Sunday! I can't believe it, half a year gone by already- truly amazing. She is such a social little girl and just getting bigger and learning to do more every day.

Here is her 6 month picture. Just check out that hairstyle! Her hair has gotten so long that it is constantly in her eyes, so we have to find something to do with it (and I'm not cutting it!)

We love you little princess!

3 videos: scooting, sitting, and superman!

The scooting video was a little over two weeks ago. I talked about it earlier. We were on the floor and E just HAD to get the remote!

This second video was the beginning of last week . She all of a sudden started sitting up so well on her own- like she has been doing it forever!

The last video was taken earlier this week. E has started this weird "pose" that looks like she is trying to take off into flight! She lays on her belly and lifts all her hands and legs off the ground- it is a really great back exersize that I have done in classes before! And most of the time she gets a look on her face like she is expecting to zoom off at any moment- she is just waiting for it to happen. So cute

Excited for Cool Weather!

This past weekend I washed all of E's fall/winter clothes that have been bought in the last couple of months. I got so excited about the new clothes that I decided to try one of the outfits on her- and O.M.G.- sooo adorable! I can't wait until it is cool enough for her to wear all these adorable things! I know I will miss the cute little sundresses eventually, but for now I am just impatient for a cool down!

I didn't have the camera with me when I used E as a model, but later when I was hanging up the clothes, I laid a few out as a sampling of the cuteness :-) Behold!

Just look at those heart shaped pockets on the white hoodie and check out the adorable magenta trench coat....sigh...I don't think that there will be any hope of keeping me away from the Carter's outlet for very long, so I can stock up even more.