In the words of my sister.....

"OK! We get it - you like Jackson's....next post!!!" I know, I know - I've been ignoring my blog. I'm making it my New Years resolution to keep it more updated. I think I have a better chance of sticking to that than the "I'm going to exercise and eat healthy" - let's be honest here! HA! Dear Crazy!

I hope you all had a fantastic holiday. Our 1st Christmas with Taylor was tons of fun! She had no idea what was going on but it was entertaining to watch her play with the wrapping paper and try to eat the bags. She got lots of new toys between us and our parents! Next year Ben and I are asking for a new house so we have a place to put them all! ;0) It was also our 1st Christmas with Todd! He got to experience all of the crazy Dadiani traditions - Christmas Eve lasagna, Christmas morning fight over free Clinique/Lancome makeup, yummy brunch.....and no dinner! What!?! No dinner!? Those of you that know my parents shouldn't be surprised at all about this. We have a big brunch and then maybe pick at leftovers later on in the day. Well - that changed this year.....the rents actually made dinner! Nice work Todd! Personally - this is never a problem for me as Ben and I spend the afternoon and evening at the Bradley's so we get a 2nd meal!

The next day - Taylor and I went to lunch with Aunt Heather and our friends Leslie and Chris who were in town from Indianapolis! I hadn't seen them since the baby shower in May so it was such a treat to get some one on one time with them. We ended up being able to go out for a little while that night to see them again - Thanks Lauren!!!!

Saturday we went over to Melissa's house for Kiara's 2nd bday party! I can't believe she is 2 already. Amazing. Today is her actual bday so Melissa - give her a big hug for me!!

Speaking of "amazing" and "birthdays" - Taylor is 7 months old today! Where is the time going!?! She's getting so big and full of personality. I'll post some pics soon - just gotta get them off of my camera. One thing at a time here guys - I finally updated the blog - pictures are next!

Finally - I want to wish you all a safe and Happy New Year! See you all in 2009!!

Jacksons!

For all of you local readers - I just had to post a note about my dinner last night because it was amazing and I do believe you all need to get to Jackson's as soon as possible!! It's located at Reston Town Center - in yet another new section. It's right across the street from Big Bowl and Rio Grande and has a free parking garage right next to it. Very convenient! We got there early and didn't have to wait for a table - but when we were leaving about 2 hours later - the lobby was standing room only!

The food was nothing short of FABULOUS!! For apps we got the Spinach, Parmesan & Artichoke dip - yumm and the Deviled Eggs w/Spiced Pecans and Sugar Cured Bacon - OMG amazing! The Bacon had big pieces of sugar on them....made 'em taste like they were dipped in maple syrup. I had the Lobster Roll as my entree. I substituted fries for the potato salad and it also came with a grilled ear of corn. Now let me tell you - I can grill a good ear of corn but theirs totally killed mine!

We skipped dessert to go and sit outside on their patio to enjoy a beer.....on a December night! Perfect ending to a delicious night!

That's my PSA for a local restaurant!

Santa Baby!

We took Taylor to meet Santa on Saturday! He was at our Credit Union and it was nice to be the 2nd person in line and not have to wait but a minute for our turn! :)

She did really well! She didn't give us one of her big smiles....she was more interested in staring at Santa and tugging on his beard. The pictures are still cute though and I wouldn't have changed the experience one bit!

Later that day we headed over to Aunt Jack and Uncle Todd's house. We had Ben's company holiday dinner that night and it was less than 2 miles away from them so they graciously offered to play with Taylor while we went. Thanks guys!!! :)

Today was your average Sunday......watched the Skins lose and family trip to Super Target. I'm looking forward to tomorrow night - meeting Donna, Kathy, Sandy and Debbie for dinner at Jackson's in Reston Town Center. I haven't been there yet but I hear it's great! Really....how could it not be since it's part of the Sweetwater/Coastal Flats family! YUMM-O!!

Catching up

Well - I actually had a few things to write about this week but I felt like I got hit by a mack truck and was layed up for a few days! :( All better now - and not a moment too soon!

Last weekend Ben and I had a date!! It was so nice to go out just the two of us. We had a delicious dinner at Bonefish Grill - it was our anniversary present from his parents - we were just a few months late. ;0) Thanks Scott & Leslie....for dinner and for watching Taylor!

After dinner we went over to Jen & Josh's to hang out for a bit with everyone that was there to watch the fight. We left before the fight started as we wanted to get Taylor and get home at somewhat of a decent time. All in all - it was a great date night! :)

The next few days were the sicky days.....I won't go into details!

Wednesday night we went to Portrait Innovations to have our family picture taken and our Christmas cards made! I think they turned out GREAT!! You would never know Ben and I weren't feeling well. HA! Here are a few of the pictures that were taken that night......

We've got a big day tomorrow. Santa is coming to the Credit Union so we're taking Taylor over there to see him. I'm excited to see how she likes him. Then tomorrow night we have Ben's company Holiday dinner. Taylor is going to spend some time over at Aunt Jack's & Uncle Todd's house! She's really looking forward to it since she hasn't seen them since Thanksgiving and she can't wait to hear about their trip to Hawaii! ;0)

Happy Friday everyone - hope you have a great weekend!

Taylor's 6 month appt

We took Taylor in for her 6 month appt on Wednesday! Weight - 17/Head - 17/Height - 27! The nurse said we should play the lottery with all those 7's! HA!
All in all the appt went well.....until the doctor looked in her ear to find she had an ear infection. We were all a little surprised as she was just happy as a clam. We got another perscription for antibiotics and things seem to be fine with her. I wish I could say the same for myself - I've got a little head cold that I'm looking forward to getting rid of. :(

That's it for me! Hope you all have a great weekend!

Where has the time gone?

Wow - the saying is true - time DOES fly when you're having fun! It's been a while since my last post and I've gotten a little bit of grief for it! I promise I'll try to be more on top of things. ;0)

The last two weeks have just been a blur. It's been a lot of fun - despite work being insanly busy. The weekend before last - Ben, Taylor and I went to the rents house for a get together with my cousins. They hadn't seen Taylor since she was 4 weeks old and Denise's daughter Kendall had never met her. We finally had a day when we were all free and it worked out really well. We don't get to see Denise and Donna too often so it's always nice when we can get together. I'm hoping Denise got some good pics from that day cause I was a slacker.....hint hint!

The few days before Thanksgiving were crazy - long hours and not a lot of sleep made for some hard days so I welcomed the holiday break with open arms! Wednesday evening - Jen, Ian and Jonathan arrived for their long weekend. We were so excited to have them staying here as we always have so much fun with them.

Thanksgiving day we went to my parents house with Jac, Todd, Todd's parents from Michigan, Ben's parents and brother Billy. It was a full house and we had a great time. Great food and the whole family being together - you can't go wrong! Even TP got to enjoy some "home cooked" goodness. Grandpa John made her some carrots the night before since she has been having "solids" for a few weeks now. Apparently it wasn't as easy as he thought and it took a while to puree them to a consistancy appropriate for her but it was worth it in the end. She gobbled (no pun intended) them all up along with her banana that Aunt Jack mashed up for her. Thanks guys!!

Group Shot from Thanksgiving

Antonio and Lauren came over that night and we played a few games of Pictionary. I did not remember that game being so much fun. You put 6 competitive people together with a big dry erase board and markers - watch out. We had a lot of laughs.....just ask me about my Bill Clinton drawing! HA!!

Friday morning started EARLY with me meeting up with my mom and sister at the outlets at 6:30AM for a little Black Friday shopping. Believe it or not - they weren't too crowded. All of the other crazies went when they opened at midnight! There were lots of good deals but I mainly went to hang out with them. I wanted a little big of time with Jac since she and Todd left the next morning for their 12 day honeymoon in Hawaii! Yeah - we don't really like them right now. ;)

The rest of the weekend was pretty chill. Taylor and I had lunch with Amanda at Sweetwater on Saturday. Taylor had her fun restaurant chair and had a blast hanging out and flirting with our male server. She and I went to the mall after lunch just to walk around.....well - I wanted to walk around since she fell asleep as soon as we got in the car - she got a nice long nap and I got to see what kind of deals were there.

Yesterday was a gross day - perfect for staying inside and watching football. Too bad the Skins made it hard to enjoy. Oh well!

So today it was time to say goodbye to the Elliott's and get back to work. This week shouldn't be as crazy so I'll check in later.....Taylor goes for her 6 month check up on Wednesday! I'll let you all know how that goes.

Hope you all had a fantastic holiday!

Click Here for our November Pics

I heart 90210

Ok - so my post has nothing to do with the new 90210 but I'm watching it and I'm too tired to come up with a crafty title.

Jac's bday weekend was tons of fun!! Friday night we headed down to Arlington for our yearly trip to Clarendon Grill. A great time was had by all - even though Ben and I made it an early night! ;0) Taylor had a little night of fun of her own at my parents house. They played with her all evening and then put her to bed. Instead of waking her up and taking her home we decided that we would spend the night there as well. It worked out great for all of us! We headed home the next day to get ready for Aunt Jack and Uncle Todd to come over and hang out with Taylor. We had a nice bday dinner (my pulled pork - yumm-o) with them, Antonio and Lauren. Our friend Kamber came over later with her little guy Cooper. Unfortunately I didn't get any pictures of him but believe me when I tell you he's a CUTIE!! It was a nice relaxing night of hanging out and watching college football.

Sunday started off better than it ended. Started with a little family breakfast and ended with the Skins losing to the Cowboys. Boooooo - sad day.

Taylor and I went to dinner tonight with Donna, Kathy & Sandy. She was SO good and such a big girl. I brought her "hook on" seat to the restaurant and she sat at the table with all of us and ate her squash while we had our meal. Adorable!

Here is the link to the pics from Jac's bday weekend.......CLICK HERE!

Happy Birthday Jacqueline!!!

Happy 30th Birthday to Jacqueline! Can't wait to see ya tonight!
Love you!
~Sissy

Busy Busy

Well - it's been a busy couple of weeks for us! Here is a quick recap and a link to our "November" pics.



Taylor has started eating "real" food. We started spoon feeding her rice cereal a few weeks ago and she really seemed to enjoy it! We then moved on to oatmeal cereal a few days ago. She didn't act as if she liked it as much. I can't blame her - it smelled pretty bad. ;0) It was just as entertaining as the first day of rice cereal seeing as we have created a raspberry blowing monster. She would take a bite of cereal - give me a big smile - and then blow a raspberry at me resulting in cereal all over both of us. I tried not to laugh as I was really trying to concentrate on feeding her but it was just too funny of an experience. More so because you all know how much I LOVE a mess. hahahahaha!

Tonight we had our first family dinner. Taylor got to sit in her little chair at the table and she had some sweet potatoes while Ben and I had our own dinner. She seemed to be ok with them. I wouldn't say she loved them but she was definitely interested in the orange goo.



The past weekend was eventful as well. Taylor got her ears pierced on Saturday! She did great and they look SOOOO cute. She is such a trooper. The lady who did it said she thought it was harder on me than it was on her. True Story!



Ben and I attended Frankie & Debbie's wedding yesterday. It was a really nice (little chilly) ceremony & reception - both held at Meadowlark Gardens. Congrats to them!! Here is a pic of us with the newlyweds!

Here is the link to a few pics on Snapfish of Taylor's first rice cereal adventure, Taylor & Madison (Clinton & Alisa's daughter) and the wedding.

CLICK HERE FOR PICS

Hope everyone is doing well!!

Cutest Bunny EVER!!

Here are some pics of Taylor in her Halloween costume!

The rest of the pics are on Snapfish (Click here to view)

Hope you all had a fun Halloween!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

happy monday to me!!

Ok - so Monday mornings are normally such a drag....you know - back to work after enjoying a nice weekend knowing you have 5 more days until the next weekend.....

This was a typical Monday morning until Mike W sent me a text to let me know that Maryland is RANKED in the AP Poll!! WOOOHOOO! #25 baby! Bring on the Hokies!

GO TERPS!!!!

Congrats Sissy & Todd

They did it!! 26.2 miles! WOW!! Today was the 33rd running of the Marine Corps Marathon and Mom, Dad, TP and I headed down to Arlington to cheer on Jacqueline & Todd as they ran. Months and months of intense training paid off but I did hear Jack say that she will never do it again! ;0)



Here they are at mile 22....

It was a beautiful day and we had lots of fun cheering on all of the runners. As nice as it was - it was still too chilly for Taylor to take her jacket off. She was sad cause she really wanted to show off her new tshirt that Aunt Jack bought her......

Hahahahaha! Brilliant!

TP had a fun weekend of wearing new clothes from Aunt Jack & Uncle Todd. Today it was the running shirt and yesterday she wore her new pink Maryland Terps shirt from Todd for the Homecoming game....which we won on a last second field goal! GO TERPS!!

Hope everyone had a good weekend! :0)

Pictures from NC

Here is the link to the pictures on Snapfish from our trip to NC. They are part of the October file so you'll have to scroll down to see the new ones.

CLICK HERE for the pics.

Oh Thank Heaven....

....for Kevin! I'll explain later in the post what I mean by that. I'm going to back up to Friday and tell you all about our weekend in Charlotte, NC!

I left off on my last post on Friday afternoon after my lunch with Katie. That night Kevin and Katie came over to Jen & Ian's for dinner and we had a great time just hanging out and catching up with each other.

Saturday afternoon we were off to the Pumpkin Patch. We got there and got out of the car to find the temperature was a bit chillier than it was at the house. :( We got a few pics with Taylor but then had to wrap her up and put her back in the stroller to make sure she was nice and toasty. Here is my newest favorite picture of the family......
Despite the chilly weather we had a great time! Jonathan got to go on a Hay Ride and pick out a big pumpkin for carving. He and Ben also got to feed some of the animals in the barn which was super exciting to the little guy. There was also a Tomato Slingshot that Ben and Ian mastered. It was then that I saw the swings that looked like little horses. I LOVE swings so that was my excitement for the afternoon! Believe me - you'll see when I get the pics posted. HA!

We got home that evening and got ready for Jen and Ian's friends Kevin and Amber to come by and watch the VA Tech game! They are pregnant with their first baby - a little boy due in January! YAY for them. For those of you that watched the game - it wasn't pretty and apparently not exciting enough to keep Jen, Ian, Ben or myself awake past the 3rd quarter. Apparently Kevin and Amber found his entertaining - they will feel our pain in just a few months! ;0)

Sunday morning rolled around and we were sad knowing that our vaca was almost over since we were leaving bright and early the next day to get back on the train. Now - the thought of getting back on train made us miserable! After a lot of debating - I called Amtrak and found out that it is super easy to get a refund on your unused tickets! That is when we decided to rent a car to come home in. Yahoo!!
After that decision....Ben went to the driving range with Kevin and Jen and I drove out to the outlet mall to walk around for a little while. As we were turning onto the street with the mall I remembered that Heather had told me there was a Steak n Shake over there. I asked Jen if it was true and when she said Yes you would have thought I had won the lottery! I know most of you know about my obsession with this place (thanks Lesalie and Heather) so I was pumped to be able to get a yumm-o milkshake and shoestring fries! I would have loved to get a little burger but my pulled pork was cookin in the crockpot so I wasn't going to ruin my dinner. :)

That evening Kevin and Katie came back over to have dinner with us! While we were getting things together - Ben was calling around to find us a car to get home in. After calling at least 8 different places - there was not one car available in the Charlotte area! WHAT!?! I couldn't believe it. Our happy day turned into a sad day since we were again getting back on the train the next morning. This is where the Oh Thank Heaven for Kevin comes in.....Kevin offered to drive us home. He said that he didn't have anything going on this week and he had told some of his friends up here that he's come home for a visit soon! Happy day - turned sad - was turned happy again! WoooHooo! A thank you shout out needs to go to Katie as well since Kevin had to use her car and she is driving his big Ford F150! THANK YOU KATIE!

So all in all we had a fantastic time down in NC. Jen and Ian are fabulous hosts and it was great to spend so much time with them. Thank you so much for getting all of Jonathan's baby stuff out of storage for Taylor to use....especially that swing! :0) We are already looking forward to your trip up here at Thanksgiving! Give Jonathan a big hug and kiss for us!

It was fantastic to see Kevin and Katie again as well. Katie - it's been way too long! Thanks again for letting Kevin use your car to bring us home in! It was a great ride and so much easier than dealing with the madness of Amtrak!

I'll get my pics uploaded to Snapfish tomorrow and will post the link afterwards!

Hope you all had a great weekend!

All ABOARD!!!!

Greetings from Charlotte, NC!

So a little over a month ago Ben called one afternoon to tell me that he looked up train tickets to go to Charlotte to visit our friends Jen, Ian, Katie and Kevin. It seemed like a brilliant idea! It was fairly cheap and then we wouldn't have to worry about driving down and stopping every time Taylor needed a diaper change or a bottle. So we booked the trip and were counting down the days to our mini vaca!!

The 16th finally came!! We had an eventful day before noon even hit! Taylor woke us up @ 530 so I fed her and then went to log on to work for a little bit before I got ready. We were out of the house a little before 8 and got to Scott w/ a few min to spare. Good thing we left a few minutes early cause there was traffic everywhere we went. We got to Union Station about 1010 and we heard that it was the last call for checked baggage for our train so we went running to the counter.....thats where everything got a little crazy. We were told by the not so nice man that we couldn't check luggage b/c we were going to an unmanned station. Ben asked about his golf clubs and the guy shrugged his shoulders and said it would be up to the conductor whether we could take them on. Ben then asked him if this information was anywhere on the website and the man looked at him and said "dunno-i don't go on the website". Are you kidding?!? Rude! So we go to the gate and just wait to hear what our fate is going to be-will we be allowed on the train or will we be renting a car. We got to go to the front of the line b/c of TP! Score one for the baby! The lady standing in front of the door took one look at us and all of our stuff and I think she felt bad. We explained that we didn't know we couldn't check bags blah blah blah - she told us not to worry about it and just get on the train. YES!!! This lady is our new best friend. Not only did she not give us a hard time about our bags but she let us sit in the section reserved for parties of 3 or more even though TP doesn't count since she doesn't have a ticket. Yay!
So off we went on our little adventure. What seemed like such a good idea when we booked the tickets - little by little didn't seem like it anymore. Don't get me wrong - it was great to feed her right when she was ready and we did diaper changes with ease but it was a B-O-R-I-N-G ride. After leaving a few minutes late and having an extra long stop in Greensboro for too many reasons to go into - we finally arrived at our destination almost 10 hours later. I've never been so excited to see a car! HAHAHAHA! Dear Crazy!

It's a little bit of a dreary chilly day but that hasn't stopped us from having our fun. Ben went to play golf with Kevin and Jen, Jonathan, TP and I went to the store to get all of the fixins for our meals this weekend. After we got back and unloaded - TP and I went back out to meet Katie for lunch. We went to this yummy little pizza place up the street! Good times!

That's about it for today! Hope everyone is having a Happy Friday! More from NC to come......

It was another fun weekend! It started Thursday evening with the arrival of Jen and her son Jonathan. I was able to hang out with them for a little while before going bowling. We were having a great time catching up and I was packing Taylor up to head out when Jonathan tripped over himself and went head first into our bottom step. Insert PANIC here! There was a lot of blood - more than normal for biting his lip according to Jen and then we realized that he had bitten all the way through! OUCH! Poor little guy. He was a trooper though - as was his Mommy. I've been told to enjoy the non mobile time with TP and I then understood why. :(


Friday was a normal work day for us. Jen and Jonathan spent the day with grandma and came back to the house later that night. Antonio and Lauren stopped by as well so they could spend some time with them.


Saturday morning - Ben, Jen and Jonathan headed over to the playground by our club house to run around while Taylor was taking a morning snooze. Jonathan had a great time and apparently Ben went down the slide a few times with him. Too bad we don't have a pic of that! ;)

Later that afternoon after both kids were fed and rested we headed over to Sterling Fest. It was almost over by the time we got there but we were still able to walk around the local community booths and check out the scene. We walked over to the Fire Station and were lucky enough to run into Becca! Taylor actually woke up while we were there so we got a pic of us with our favorite volunteer firefighter!!

The fun didn't end there. After Sterling Fest we went over to Ben's parents house to see Billy who was home from VA Tech for the weekend. Taylor was so excited to see her Uncle Billy.....

We were all excited to see him. We miss you buddy! :)

Taylor was apparently pooped after the fun day because after she took her last bottle she slept from 9pm to 7:30am!!!!! YESSSSSSS!!! ;0) BUT that's actually not the most exciting part of the morning. She rolled over for the first time and Ben and I were totally taken by surprise! She has been so close for a few weeks but she hasn't been able to get over shoulder. This time I was holding her and I put her down for a second and over she went! Just like that! Big day for us! It was a great start to a long day for me. I had to work at the bar but it wasn't too bad....despite a horrible Skins game.

Only 2 more days of work for me this week. We're leaving on Thursday morning to head down to Charlotte, NC until Monday. We decided to take the train so we didn't have to worry about stopping whenever we needed to feed or change TP. Keep your fingers crossed that it goes well!

Hope you all had a great weekend!

K

TGIF!

Happy Friday everyone! It's going to be a beautiful weekend - hope you all get out to enjoy it!

We have a fun weekend planned! Jen and her little guy Jonathan planned a last minute trip up to NOVA to visit with the grandparents and they are staying with us! It's so great to see them again and such a bonus since we're going to be down at their house next week!

So Jonathan and I were just watching Sesame Street - my how's it's changed since I was a kid. Same concept - just a little more "hip". I have to say that I just heard the funniest phrase and I never would have expected it on Sesame Street......

3 of the characters (names that I will one day know when TP is watching) were reading the Action Dog book that had a motorcycle noise coming from it. When the question was asked what kind of noise is that, - one of the little guys answered "a lactose intolerant antelope that just ate a batch of cottage cheese!" I almost feel off the couch laughing! Oh the things I have to look forward to! HA! Dear Crazy!!!

The Weekend and Pictures

So it was a fun weekend for Taylor and I.....yep it was just TP and I. Ben had the opportunity to go down to VA Tech with the boys for the football game and some time with his little bro Billy so I said "GO GO GO". Friday morning rolled around and that was when I started to get a little nervous about being by myself....Friday night came around and I got over it quickly. I picked up TP from daycare and we had a nice quiet evening just the two of us.....we had dinner, went to the grocery store and then I did some stuff around the house after she went to bed. We got up Saturday morning, played for a while....did some tummy time and got even closer to rolling over. Then it was time to get ready for our visit with Amanda. She brought over lunch and we had a great time eating and catching up before we took a trip to the outlets so she could spend her hard earned gift card to COACH! TP loves going into COACH.....no - it's not cause it's full of amazing beautiful purses.....it's cause of how white and bright it is!! At least that is what we tell Ben! HA!!

Later that evening, TP and I went over to my parents for dinner and to hang out with Joan & Bob - my parents dear friends from Jersey. Now - being as they are from Jersey - they are big Eagles fans. We don't hold that against them.....anyway - they brought Taylor a few presents....a new book, a fun 1st Halloween Outfit and a bib that can't be described so I've posted the picture that I sent to Ben....

Priceless huh!?!

After dinner I took up on an offer from Tom & Angela to watch TP for a little while since one of my most favorite bands - Emmett Swimming - was playing at Ned Devine's. They very rarely play in the area anymore and the one time they do - it's the same weekend that Ben is gone. It worked out well though - I got to see the band play a set and TP got to play with Sammie and Baby Daisy (T&A's dogs) ;0)

Sunday morning we got up really early, got all bundled up and drove to downtown Herndon to get on the WO&D Trail and wait to cheer on Aunt Jack & Uncle Todd. The background for this adventure is.....Sissy & Todd are training for the Marine Corps Marathon. They have a pretty intense training schedule and this past weekend run was the longest one - 20 miles. They start near their house in Fairfax and the 1/2 way point was right smack in the middle of Herndon. When I spoke to Jac the night before, I asked her when she would be at the 10 mile mark so we could meet them and she said...."well, if we start around 6:30am then we should be there around 8:30". Honestly - I was at a loss for words when she said that! DEAR CRAZY!! So we got there around 8:15 and started walking. It wasn't long before we could see them running towards us and the next thing I know - Jac asked if she could push TP and away they went.....

Jac & Todd running with TP

TP all bundled up - it was only 60 degrees in Leesburg when we left the house! Thanks to Leslie S for the outfit she gave to us at the baby shower - it came in very handy!!

I have to say - I'm very impressed with Jac & Todd and how much time and energy they have put into the training for this marathon. We'll be there to cheer you on on the big day!

Next it was back to the rents house for breakfast and relaxation! They left to go downtown with Joan & Bob so it was NAP TIME for Taylor and I. Boy did that feel good! We woke up just in time to watch the Skins game. HAIL TO THE REDSKINS BABY!!! I love my husband but man it feels good to beat his team. ;0) Once the game was over it was time for the fun to continue and we headed over to Ben's parents house for Melissa's bday dinner. Taylor was so happy to see her Daddy! We had a nice time and a delicious dinner. Taylor laughed a real laugh for the first time when Nana (Ben's mom) was playing with her. I got some great pics - the link is below.

Hope you all had a nice weekend! :)

http://www1.snapfish.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=242410998/a=5781352_5781352/t_=5781352

It's a .....

GIRL! Congratulations to Melissa - she found out today that she will be having another little girl. She said that she is destined to only have girls as payback for when she was a kid. HA! Dear Crazy!

We're excited to meet our new niece mid/late February 2009.

And in this corner.....

....weighing in at 14 pounds 6 ozs and 25 1/4 inches tall.....Taylor Paige Killian!

We had Taylor's 4 month check up this morning. Everything went really well. She is in the 50th percentile for weight and head and the 75th percentile for height. The nurse said this puts her on the taller side. I almost laughed because you never hear the word "tall" when talking about either mine or Ben's families. ;0)

Taylor was all about showing off for the doctor when she came in. She was standing on my lap (obviously I was helping her) and then she sat with her head straight up. She followed all of our voices back & forth and added her own "comments" here and there. The doctor said we had a little social butterfly! Wonder who she gets that from!?!

She passed the visit with flying colors and it was the first one for us that we didn't get a referral to another specialist. Yahoooo! She handled her shots as we thought she would.....she was far from happy for a minute or two but she was perked up once she saw her little sun/mirror rattle! Ah - the magic mirror. (Thanks for bringing that back to me Sissy!)

That's it for this update! I'm waiting to hear from Melissa a little later this afternoon and I'll make another post after I talk to her.

:)

Happy Bday Melissa

Happy birthday to my sister-in-law Melissa!! It was supposed to be a big day for her because she is pregnant with her 2nd child and she was going to find out if it was a boy or girl this morning but she wasn't feeling well. She's scheduled to find out on Wednesday now! I know she is disappointed but this way she gets to stretch her bday out a few more days! ;0)

Taylor went for her follow up appt for her Fernulectomy. Everything looked good and the surgery was a success. Good news!

Happy Monday everyone!

Did you have your popcorn ready??

Sorry there were no updates last week. Not too much going on except work, work and more work. Blah! I'll be better this week - we have a few doctors appts that I'll let y'all know about.

The weekend was tons of tun! Friday night Antoino & Lauren came over and I somehow had convinced them that we needed to watch Sex And The City - even though I had just watched it on Wednesday for my 1st time!! Yes - that's correct. The movie that I had been waiting for YEARS to come out opened in the theaters on the same day that I was admitted to the hospital back in May so I had ended up having to wait until it came out on DVD to finally see it. It was worth the wait! I LOVED LOVED LOVED it. It was everything I was hoping it would be. The 2nd time seeing it was even better and I did cry just as hard as I did the 1st time and in the same parts. HA!

Saturday was full of football and people coming by. Sissy stopped over after her quick trip to the outlets. We had enough warning so Taylor was able to change into her new "I my Auntie" onsie which clearly Aunt Jack loved. We watched some of the Maryland game and had a quick lunch before she was on her way. TP and I remained on the couch watching what turned out to be a GREAT game and win over #20 Clemson! YESSSSSSSSS!! Big day for the Terps! Shortly after the game was over - Matty stopped by to say hi and see TP since he hadn't seen her since she was itty-bitty. Then it was Heather's turn. She was coming over for baby, dinner and then our girls night out to see Julie's band play at Bunkers around the corner. BTW - dinner was delicious. If you're ever in the mood to make fajitas let me know so I can send you the recipe for the marinade that I used. OMG was it good. Modest huh? ;0)

Anyway - Taylor went to bed and Lauren, Heather & I left to go check out Julie's new band. We had a blast - I'm sure that won't be hard to figure out from the pictures. I feel the need to explain the pink duct tape.....the band had a roll of pink duct tape that they were taking pieces of and putting on peoples arms. Well - towards the end of the night - the roll ended up on our table and.....well....they are going to need a new roll. Oh - and don't' ask me about the pink wig.... I have no idea who's it was or where it came from. Here are some pics from the night......

Me & Heather

Lauren, Me, Heather, Julie, Diana and Tyler

I told you "don't ask"

Sunday - GAME DAY!! We had a nice relaxing morning & early afternoon before the 3 of us went to Jessie's for a Redskins vs Cowboys BBQ! Taylor had on her pink Redskins onesie and looked so cute for her 1st of many of the great rivalry. It was great to see everyone and what a game! I will be the first to admit I didn't think my boys had it in them but they proved me wrong - love it when that happens. As exciting as the game was.....there is more exciting news that needs to be shared. Mackenzie and Brandon are PREGO!!!! Congratulations to them! :0)

The Mommy-To-Be & Taylor

Me & Seca

We came home as soon as the game was over since it was getting close to TP's bedtime. Ben had to log back into work when we got here so I took TP upstairs for a quick wardrobe change in honor of the Sunday Night football game. Needless to say Ben was pleased......

Cute but green really isn't her color! HA! Dear Crazy!!

Here is a link to the pics.....it's the same "September" albumn so you have to scroll down to see the new ones....

http://www1.snapfish.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=242236173/a=5781352_5781352/t_=5781352

The weekend

Our weekend started off with a relaxing night at home on Friday - just the 3 of us. :0) After TP went to bed, we got all of our stuff packed up so we could hit the road bright & early on Saturday for our trip to see Nanny!!! And that's what we did. Once TP was done eating we all jumped in the car and headed down to the Burg! She did really well. She slept until we got to our exit and then was happy to let us know we she was awake and ready to get out of her car seat.

Nanny was SUPER excited to see TP again. It had been 12 weeks since our last visit and she couldn't believe how much Taylor had grown and changed. We had a quick lunch and then Uncle Jerry came and picked up Ben for a round of golf. Nanny and I had a fantastic afternoon playing with TP and getting everything ready for dinner. Later in the evening - Aunt Kathy & Jer came over to join us for some yumm-o casserole (tucker - you know the one!!) and play time. Ben and I tried hard to stay up for the football games but we were so tired that we went to bed before 10:30! Big Saturday night for us! ;0) Sunday morning we had a great breakfast and a little bit more time with Nanny before we had to get back on the road again to get to Aunt Jack's house to watch the Skins game with her and Todd! Go Skins!! It was another fun afternoon that was capped off by Jac's pasta with homemade sauce! Good work Sissy!

Now I have to back up a few days to tell you all about the not so pleasant times. Poor TP - we think she is teething. It started Thursday night with a 3am wake up call. This isn't normal for her but we just wrote it off as everyone can wake up hungry in the middle of the night. Friday night it was the same things and then again on Saturday. Now - we really aren't complaining - it's hard to do that since for the last almost 2 months she has been sleeping from9pm til 5,6 and sometimes 7am. So Saturday night after her 4am bottle, I couldn't sleep so I went online through my phone and found that everything that had been going on recently were on the list of things that happen when a baby is teething.....uncontrollable drooling, waking at odd hours, refusing food (sometimes), rubbing her face and sticking anything and everything that she can in her mouth. If this is truly the case - we are hoping that it doesn't take too long for the teeth to break through - for her sake. She definitely has some miserable times here and there and we just feel terrible for her. So fingers crossed and we'll keep you posted!

Hope you all had a great weekend. Below is a link to some pics from Nanny's and some random ones that I had on the camera from the last couple of weeks.

http://www1.snapfish.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=242236173/a=5781352_5781352/t_=5781352

Taylor's Frenulectomy

Taylor had her Frenulectomy done this morning and everything went well.

Everything was FINALLY scheduled and taken care of yesterday afternoon - there has been a lot of confusion and rescheduling but I won't bore you with those details.

We had to be at the Loudoun Surgery center at 6:30 this morning for her 7:30 appt. The tricky part was she wasn't allowed to have anything to eat after 12:30 last night because of the anesthesia. Well - since she is such an angel and normally gets her last bottle b/t 8 & 9pm and then sleeps until 5 or 6am (or 7:30 like yesterday - YES!!!) we ended up having to wake her up around 11:45pm so she could eat in hopes of avoiding a hungry and cranky Taylor in the waiting room. For those of you that have been around during one of her cranky spells - you know it's not pretty. ;0) Anyway - it worked!! We woke her up at 6am to put her in her car seat and by the time we arrived at the surgery center she was wide awake and charming every nurse in there with her little smile. Clearly they all fell in love with her. We met with the doctor so she could explain the procedure one more time and then were sent to the waiting room after 4 nurses came to being Taylor back. They all wanted to see her and let us know that she would be in good hands. So off to the waiting room we went! I barely had enough time to be nervous as they called us back to the "chat room" to meet with the doctor not even 10 minutes later. She let us know that everything went fine and TP was still sleeping but we would be called back in a few minutes to sit with her so she would see us when she woke up. So back to the waiting room for a few minutes and then we got to go back and see her. She woke up shortly after and we braced ourselves for a screaming baby....she woke up and gave us a little smile and stuck out her tongue. How appropriate! So she is doing great! She's back asleep now so fingers crossed she wakes up somewhat happy again the next time.

Thanks to everyone for your notes/calls of encouragement. It means a lot to all of us. She's such a happy baby because she knows she is so loved!

I'll post another update later if needed.

They say you are what you eat.....

.....so call me DELICIOUS!!!

I'm going to copy sissy on this post as she lets everyone know when she's tried a new recipe and it's successful.

I made a new chili from this month's Bon Appetit magazine. If you're a chili person - I highly recommend it.

White Bean and Chicken Chili
-------------------------------
2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
1 cup chopped celery
1 cup chopped onion
1 cup chopped green bell pepper
2 Tablespoons chopped pickled jalapeno from jar (we used extra!!)
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 Tablespoons chili powder
2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 cups low-salt chicken broth
2 15-oz cans Great Northern beans, drained
1 pound cooked chicken breast, chopped
1/2 cup half and half

Heat oil in large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add celery, onion, bell pepper, and jalapeno; saute until beginning to soften, about 4 minutes. Add garlic, chili powder and cumin; saute 1 minute. Add broth and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium and simmer until vegetables are crisp-tender, about 3 minutes. Add beans, chicken and half and half. Bring to boil, reduce heat to medium, and simmer until heated through, about 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Divide among bowls and serve.

Note: I think you can leave out the jalapenos if you don't like spicy food. It shouldn't change the flavor - will just take the "lip burning" effect away. HA! Dear Crazy!

Was I dreaming??

I had to wonder yesterday....was I dreaming?? Did it really happen?? Did both my Terps and Skins both win on the same weekend!? They sure did! YEAH!
The rest of our weekend was pretty good. Saturday, Taylor and I watched Maryland take on #23 Cal. She witnessed how mommy gets really excited when her team is winning and then how mommy goes into panic mode when her team looks like they are going to blow it. :0) Afterwards we went to Ben's company picnic. It was super hot but they had lots of shade and fans so we were all pretty comfortable. We hung out with his co-workers and had a yummy dinner then headed home to watch a movie with Lauren and Antonio. We watched Diary of a Mad Black Woman - good one! It's the 1st of Tyler Perry's movies. I know I've told some of you this but his movies are fantastic and if you're looking for something to watch one night - pick any one of them. You will laugh out loud, then cry, then laugh......you get it.
I worked at the bar yesterday for the 1st set of football games. It was a good shift - not too busy (since the Skins were at home), no drama and good friends! Thanks to all that came by!
I'm looking forward to tonight's game. As I explained to Amanda yesterday - I'll be an Eagles fan. The only time I cheer for the Eagles are when they are playing the Giants or Cowboys! HA! Dear Crazy!

Friday Night Lights

I got to relive a little piece of high school last night! My adopted son Justin (Heather's son) plays for the Falls Church High School football team and last night they were playing my alma mater - South Lakes! Heather, Jessica (Heather's daughter) and I got there just in time so see our guy run in with the team. Such a proud moment - maybe more so for Heather than me but I still cheered like a maniac! ;0)
Justin hurt himself in the JV game the night before so he wasn't able to play - clearly that's why Falls Church lost. HA! Dear Crazy!

SUNDAY!!

For all the locals that read this......

I'll be working the bar on Sunday for Football. I'll be there from 11:30am through the 2nd set of games so if you don't have the NFL ticket at home and want to watch more than just the Redskins - come see me!

:0)

MD Basketball Schedule Released

http://umterps.cstv.com/sports/m-baskbl/sched/md-m-baskbl-sched.html

Ok - so I realize this may not interest most of you but the day I realize the Maryland Basketball schedule has been released is always a happy one for me. I love planning my schedule around important games months in advance!

So Mom, Tucker and Antonio......I'll be seeing you guys to watch my MD Terps take on your PUKE - Opps - I mean DUKE - Blue Devils on Saturday January 24th at Noon and then again Wednesday February 25th at 9pm!!

Sissy - we are playing UNC TWICE this year! WOO HOO! Feb 3rd and Feb 21st!

We are playing VA Tech at home on Valentines Day - maybe Ben and I will actually have to make a date this year! HA! Dear Crazy!

Happy Hump Day everyone!

Happy Anniversary Ben

Happy 2nd Anniversary to my hubby Ben. I still can't believe how fast the time has gone by. It doesn't feel like 2 years ago that he was wiping away my tears as I cried through my vows. ;0)



It's been 2 amazing years and I'm looking forward to all the ones to come. I love you Ben!

Oh What A Night

Last night was AWESOME! Brandi and Will were in town from Kentucky, Marc Taylor's band was playing and Ben's parents offered to watch Taylor for the night - yes - the WHOLE night!

So....Ben, Antonio, Lauren and I traveled out to the Ned Devine's in Centreville to meet up with Brooke, Brandi and Will. A great time was had by all. Marc's band - The Reflex (http://www.reflexlive.com/) is an 80's tribute band and they are AMAZING! I encourage all of you to check out the website for the upcoming shows and if they are playing anywhere near you - GO GO GO!!! The music is great and I promise you will all be singing along to your favorite 80's tunes. It was just like old times for Brooke, Brandi and I. We were front and center dancing cause like Brandi said - we are front row bitches! HA! Dear Crazy!

A few pics from the night below.....

Me, Brooke & Brandi

Me & Lauren

Marc!

Happy Bday Scott!

Happy Birthday to my father-in-law Scott! We hope you have a great day despite the hurricane that's traveling through. We love ya!

Holy Cow!

Thanks to Nicole and Steve for hosting a BBQ yesterday for everyone to get together and sample the 1/2 of a cow they purchased. Yes - I really did say 1/2 a cow. It's a pretty cool concept....they picked out the 1/2 they wanted and what cuts and the butcher took care of it. :) It was nice to see a lot of our friends in one place so hats off to them!
The rest of the long weekend was pretty chill. We enjoyed a lazy day on Saturday watching college football. Sad day for the Hokies - happy day for the Terps!! Taylor handled all of our screaming and cheering really well. This was just a preview for her of Ben and I for the next few months. Just wait until college basketball starts! She ain't seen nuttin from me yet! Dear Crazy!
Afterwards we hung out with Lauren and Antonio over at Tom & Angela's where they were watching Sammie and got to take advantage of the hot tub! Good Times.
Grandmama and Grandpa-John came over today to see TP (and us). Grandpa-John had a front row seat to experience Taylor's projectile spit up. He took it well and had flashbacks of when I used to do it to him. Sorry Daddy!

Congrats to Caryn and Brett who got married yesterday! Caryn is a close friend of Jacqueline's and special to the Dadiani family. :)

Hope everyone had a great weekend!

DING - Round 1 goes to Ben

So you all know what huge sports fans Ben and I are. I'm sure you also know that we pretty much can't agree on any team and our favorites just happen to be in the same conference/division. People have been asking us who Taylor is going to cheer for....Redskins or Eagles....Terps or Hokies? Well - once she is old enough to make her own decision - we will stand by and respect it (unless it's Dallas - sorry Amanda but there will be none of that in this house!!) Until then - Ben and I are going to have to fight about what outfit she will wear on a particular Sat & Sun. My solution for the time being is .....on the Saturday she wears VA Tech - she will wear Redskins on Sunday. And for the Saturday that she wears Maryland - she can wear Eagles on Sunday! Let's be honest though.....she will look better in Burgandy & Gold than in Green! Obviously!! ;)

Anyway - The fight has begun and I'm at an unfair disadvantage......Ben's parents bought Taylor a prize when they dropped off her Uncle Billy at school last week. I got home from working at the hole last night to find a few pictures strategically placed on my keyboard so I would be sure to see them.....Taylor was dressed in her new VA Tech onsie! OH NO! I'm a slacker and she doesn't have anything with Terps on it yet! Looks like she'll be a Hokie fan this weekend for the start of the college football season!
Don't fear fellow Maryland fans - our time will come. But for now.....Round 1 of this fight goes to Ben.

Thank you Scott & Leslie! As much as it hurts to say it......it's adorable! And hey - it could be worse....it could be DUKE! HA! Dear Crazy!!

Beach Trip!

Hey everyone! For those of you that don't know - Ben, Taylor and I went to Ocean City this past weekend for a quick trip with Tom & Angela and Lauren & Antonio. After a LOOOOONG week at work - I couldn't get out of the house any faster on Thursday night. :) So let's start there. Actually - let's back up a bit. I've only been to OC once.....for beach week after my Senior year of High School - 14 years ago! I'm not the biggest fan of bridges so I was never really interested in crossing the Bay Bridge just to go to the beach. Well - then we had the offer to join our friends for the weekend and I figured why not!?!

So we meet Antonio and Lauren at their house for some pizza and a bottle for Taylor. After we're all done we finish packing up the car and hit the road. BTW - traveling with a baby is insane! We had to give T&A the stroller or else that would have been the only thing we could have taken. HAHAHA! It was a pretty easy ride - no traffic at all! I texted with sissy (Jacqueline in case you didn't know) about how far away from the bridge I was so I could prepare myself. Antonio was driving and he and I made Ben and Lauren's life pretty miserable for a bit while we sang along to the Grease and Grease 2 soundtracks.....all the while - we go through a toll booth and get on the bridge and I didn't even know it. So it's all clear now - go over it in the dark with what you think is fun music and everything is A-OK! Anyway - we met up with Tom & Angela shortly afterwards and followed them the rest of the way to their condo. The first night was spent on the balcony with a couple of beers and lots of conversation! Good times!

The next morning, Angela and I went to the store to stock up the place and I made breakfast for everyone. Then the fun began! We got Taylor all ready in her new bathing suit for her 1st trip down to the beach. She was too cute for words! We covered her all up and strapped her in to the little carrier and we were off. It was just a hop, skip & a jump away. The boys set up the big tailgating tent so the sun wouldn't get anywhere near Taylor. You'll see in the pics that she had fallen asleep before we even sat down so we just layed her down and she slept peacefully for a while. After a fun & relaxing time - Ben took her up for a feeding and a nap while the girls stayed down for a little bit more fun in the sun. Then it was time to go back and get ready for our night out. We headed down to the Boardwalk to find a place to eat while taking a stroll. It was a little chilly so Taylor got a new (pink - shocker) OC jacket. After passing a million places to eat we finally decided on Shenanigan's Irish Pub. It was great! They had a meal called "The Deadliest Catch Dinner" - I had to do it because of my love for the show and the fact that we were at the beach- how could I not!?! Dinner was followed by a little bit more walking and then back to the condo to rest up for the next day.

Saturday morning started with another Kristen breakfast. The boys were off to the golf course and the girls were heading back to the beach. Taylor did great again! Just like the day before - she napped and just hung out. I decided to try putting her toes in the water to see how she liked it. She LOVES her bath so i was hoping she would like the ocean too. Well - there is a BIG difference in the temperatures and she did NOT enjoy the little dip. She let out a little scream and gave me a nasty look. So we went back to the umbrellas and she was happy again. She and I started to get a little warm - even in the shade so we headed back to the house for a bottle and to relax before we went shopping. The afternoon and evening went by quickly and after some shopping for us and 36 holes of golf for the boys - we were all pooped! Antonio made us a yumm-o sloppy joe dinner and we just hung out on the balcony again. I tried so hard to stay up to watch the gold medal basketball game that started at 2:30 in the AM. I got to see the 1st period before my eyes just wouldn't cooperate anymore. Don't worry - Ben and I got to see the replay as soon as we woke up the next morning. GO USA!!

Our last day was pretty chill. Lauren, Angela and I went to Bethany Beach to check out a couple of shops and a fun little place called Mangos. Mangoritas are fantastic!! Gotta find those somewhere around here! :)

We came back and cleaned up and headed back home. So sad to leave but the real world was expecting us back. BTW - it was dark again when we went back over the bridge - holla!!

So now that you have spent your entire lunch break reading my recap - go check out the pics! Here is the link.....

http://www1.snapfish.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=241900912/a=5781352_5781352/t_=5781352

Hope to see you all soon!
:) K

Good Luck Billy!!

So today is the big day for my bro-in-law Billy! Ben's parents are taking him down to VA Tech where he will begin his college career! I met Billy when he was 11 so the fact that he is off to college is crazy to me! We're so proud of him and know he will do great!
Billy - try to have some fun in the middle of all that studying! AHAHAHA! Miss you already!

thought of the night

So I'm sitting here watching the Olympics and just saw the end of the Women's marathon. First of all - the woman that took gold ran 26 miles in 2 hours and 26 minutes. Unbelievable!!! My thought as I watched the 2 runners that came across the line in 4th & 5th place was - I would be BITTER if just ran 26 miles and didn't win a medal! But then again - I'd never run a marathon.....just too darn lazy for that! HA! Dear Crazy!

BTW - on a different subject.....I heart Colt Brennan!

Daycare update

Thank you to everyone that has checked in on Taylor to see how she is doing with daycare. It's been so far so good. I was a little anxious on Sunday night and not looking forward to the next day. I tried to forget about it so I started going through her clothes to pick out her outfit for her first day. That ended up being harder than it needed to be so I just went to bed to watch the Olympics! HA! Dear Crazy.....

I thought Monday morning was going to be harder than it turned out to be. When I dropped her off she was happy and smiling so I knew she would be ok (as would I). The day kind of dragged on and on as I counted down the hours & minutes until I could go and pick her up. She was awake when I got there and the smile that she gave me when I picked her up just melted my heart. :) She did well again today - sleeping and eating peacefully. There is a little girl at the daycare that was so excited that there was a new baby there on Monday. Today when we were leaving she looked so sad and said "bye bye baby - bye bye baby's mommy" Adorable.

On another note - the first shift back at the bar last night went well. It was tons of fun to see all of my regulars again and to show off some pictures of Taylor. Thanks to Ben, Amanda, Tiz & Lauren for coming by. It was a nice little break but I'm super excited to be back. Can't wait to see all of you!

Weekend Recap & Picture Link

What a fun weekend! Friday my parents came over to watch the Olympic opening ceremonies. I think they were sad that I didn't have a world atlas here so they could show me where all of the different countries are as they were introduced like they did when Jacqueline and I were kids. No need for them to worry - Taylor has lots of opening ceremonies to come so I'll let them do that with her so she can think they are crazy and not me for giving her a geography lesson on a Friday night! ;0)

Later that night we had bar cleaning. Needless to say - its not the best part of the job but it has to be done. It was the 1st one without PJ - sad day! It was a long night with lots of hard work but the 'Hey Mickey' dance tradition still lives on! Leslie S - it will never be the same without you.....miss ya girl!

Saturday morning - Taylor and I headed to Fairfax to hang out with Aunt Jack. It was nice to just relax and spend time with her - especially since I was running on no sleep (literally). After a few hours of fun, yummy lunch and a quick power nap - we jumped back in the car to go to meet up with Ben at his parents house cause DA (his grandfather) was coming to town. We haven't seen him since the wedding so we were pretty excited for his visit. We had a nice dinner and good quality time catching up and introducing him to his great grand-daughter. Ben's family "generation" pic below.....

We came home - gave Taylor a bath & fed her and put her down at 9:30.....she slept until 6am!!! That's right people - our little 10 week old angel slept for 8 1/2 hours! There is a god! ;0)

Today was another day of running around. Taylor and I stopped by Glory Days to have a quick bite with Aunt Heather since she was working the day shift. Then we went to my parents house to check out their new TV. They have finally joined us in the 2000's and have a flat screen HD tv. Good job guys! Then it was back to Ben's parents for dinner and more time with DA. Melissa and Kiara were there again. Kiara looked so excited when we walked in and we thought she was excited to see the baby - we then realized she was excited to see the car seat which means there were buckles to hook and unhook. She's a hoot! We're home now watching the Olympics and I'm ready for bed. Taylor starts day care tomorrow so I need to get some rest since I'm sure I'll be a mess all day. :(

Here is a link to some more pictures. They are in the same "August album" from last week so you need to scroll down a little bit to see the new ones.

http://www1.snapfish.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=223603304/a=5781352_5781352/t_=5781352

Hope you all had a good weekend!

The Tuesday you all have been waiting for......

It's official - I'm going back to work on Tuesday nights at Glory Days - starting next week - the 12th. I know its been a long sad summer for you guys without me there (modest huh?) so come one up to visit whenever you have time! I'd love to see you all!

Pictures Posted

I finally posted some pictures on Snapfish. Here is the link.....



http://www1.snapfish.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=223603304/a=5781352_5781352/t_=5781352

Some are random - most are from dinner tonight at Ben's parents house. We had a nice family dinner - Melissa, Kiara and Buck were there. Kiara loves to play with Taylor's car seat - just buckling and unbuckling over and over. Love it!

ENT

The appt with the ENT went well. We just talked with her about the procedure that is performed to snip the membrane. I was assuming we were going to have this done while we were there but apparently Taylor is too old. The only time they do this in the office is for baby's a week or two tops - that are having problem s with feeding. Well - we're past that mark and she definitely doesn't have any problems eating. So we have to wait until she is at least 3 months old and it is an out-patient surgical procedure. The doctor explained that she will be given anesthesia and it will take 15 seconds from start to finish. Most babies feel just fine shortly afterwards. This will be scheduled for sometime after Aug 31st.

Later last night I met up with Heather, Heather, Tyler and Don to go over some promotion ideas for Football Sundays and Mondays at Glory Days. A lot of great ideas were passed around - they will be doing beer and food specials (a first for us and Football) and they will be having give-aways for the Sunday and Monday night games. The Sunday "prizes" will be something with the team logo for the teams playing on that specific night! So what I'm trying to say - GO WATCH YOUR FAVORITE TEAMS PLAY AT THE HOLE! You might even get lucky and see me working a Sunday or two ;0)
After our meeting we hung out for a little while and Heather and I learned that we are way too old (and sober) to be hanging out with those girls. We couldn't keep up even if we wanted to. HA! Dear Crazy! We still love them and I did get a good pic of the lady bartenders.........
Happy Friday everyone! :0)

What a trooper!

We took Taylor in for her 2 month check up this morning. She weighed in at 11lbs 4ozs and is now 22 3/4 inches. :) The doctor checked her out and said everything looks good.......except that she is tongue tied! Not uncommon - it's when the connecting skin (membrane) under the tongue is short or it extends too far toward the front of the tongue. She referred us to an ENT to take Taylor to see and they will decide if they need to perform the procedure of snipping the membrane to correct it. That appt is tomorrow afternoon.
Next it was time for the shots. She had fallen asleep while waiting for the nurse to come in so we had to wake her up and get her ready. I stood over her and talked to her to let her know everything was ok and then it started. Poor baby - her eyes almost popped out of her head when they gave her the 1st one. There was a total of 5 and I have to give the nurse credit - she did them quickly! Obviously - Taylor was less than thrilled but the crying did stop sooner than I thought it would. We got home and she slept for a little while. After she woke up and ate - she was in a great playful mood.....picture below ....yes - that's a sticker on her shirt. I took it from the Drs office cause it says "Don't hate me because I'm beautiful!" True Story!!
So she is a trooper! Thankfully we don't have to do the shot thing again until her 4 month check up. Fingers crossed she will handle this tongue issue as well as she did the shots today. Actually - fingers crossed that I can handle all of it as well as she did! HA! Dear Crazy!

How do you spell slacker....??

K-R-I-S-T-E-N!!



I can't believe I haven't updated my blog in a few weeks! It's not like stuff hasn't been going on - I just got a little lazy about it. So for all of you loyal readers......I'm back and will be more on top of updates!



Things are really good. Taylor is amazing and is growing every day! We are going to the pediatrician tomorrow for her 2 month appt! Can you believe it she has already passed the 8 week mark? Ben and I sure can't! The picture below is one I took today to send to her Aunt Melissa to see her in the outfit she bought way back in January when we found we were having a girl.







I'll make another post tomorrow to let you all know how the appt went.

Thursday Funny......

Taylor and I went out to meet Becca at Anita's (YUMM-O) for lunch today. Taylor was a rock star again in her new sunglasses......anyone expect anything less?? Didn't think so. ;0)
So we were sat and the little guy that took us to our table commented on how cute she was in her sunglasses. I thanked him and told him she was sleeping so she didn't even know I had put them on her. He then started questioning why she wasn't moving and I told him again that she was sleeping. After a few times of us going back and forth about it being ok that she wasn't moving he finally walked away. Becca commented on how worried he he seemed to be about her lack of movement and as much as I appreciated his concern - a sleeping baby is a happy baby! Dear Crazy!

Glory Days are here again.......

Well - the time has come for me to go back to the hole! I'm working the day shift at the bar this Saturday(the 19th) so if you are craving the food as much as I am (I can't believe I'm admitting that), don't have anything else to do or just miss seeing me in that horrible "duke blue" polo - come have lunch with me!!! It's been 2 1/2 months since I've stepped foot behind the bar and I'm looking forward to going back to my Tuesday nights hopefully sometime in August.....but you guys don't want to wait that long - I know it! hahahaha!

I wear my sunglasses at night.....

Taylor in her new sunglasses......too cute for words!

Stroller Lessons 101

True Story......

Taylor and I went out this morning to meet Becca and Nicole at Starbucks. Becca and I pulled up at the same time and I asked her opinion about either taking Taylor inside with a) the stroller so she could hang out in there or b) just the car seat and she would end up chillin on the floor since putting it on a table is a big no-no. We decided that we would take her in with the stroller.....

So we took the monster of a stroller out and got it on the ground. At this point Becca is waiting for me to open it so we can get Taylor out of the car. This is also the point at which I realize I don't know how to open the damn thing! Every time we had gone out - Ben had been with us and took care of getting this chore done - well except one time but I was with Heather and she opened it out of excitement that we were taking Taylor to the COACH outlet. After a few moments of laughing at ourselves (well - at me) I had to swallow my pride and call Ben at work. I'm not sure he found the situation as entertaining as we did but he was able to guide me through it.....his exact words were "just pull up the handle - duh". Brilliant!! We pulled up the handle - got her in and we were on our way to enjoying our gossiping over skinny cinnamon dolce lattes!

The moral of this story.....learn how to operate the stroller before your husband goes back to work. Dear Crazy!!

Trip to Nanny's

Taylor had another "first" this past weekend......her first road trip down to Williamsburg to meet the Nanny! :)

We got up EARLY on Saturday to feed Taylor then got her ready and into the car for her first big ride. We stopped in Reston to pick up Norma as clearly it wouldn't be the same without all of the girls there. For those that don't know - "all of the girls" include myself, Mom, Sissy, Nanny, Aunt Kathy, cousins Denise & Donna and now Taylor. My dad "had to work" - coincidence maybe?? HA!

We had such a nice time and Taylor did great! She LOVED meeting everyone - especially Nanny - and the feelings were mutual.

Denise took lots of pictures - here is the link to Snapfish....

http://www1.snapfish.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=235196936/a=5781352_79754185/t_=5781352

Cardiologist

We got a clean bill of health from the cardiologist today. He did hear a slight murmur but said that it was perfectly normal and then she had a sonogram which I have to admit was pretty cool. He told us that her heart was nice and strong and there was nothing to worry about and he wouldn't need to see her again! WHEW!!

What a weekend!

Wow - we had a busy weekend! Lots of firsts for Taylor!

Friday started off with her first appt with the pediatrician. She weighed in at 8lbs 10ozs! We really liked the doctor (thanks to Amanda V for the referral). She told us that she heard a small heart murmur and we now have an appt to see a cardiologist this Wednesday morning. We were told that it's not uncommon and it could be something that she just grows out of. We won't know anything else until Wed. From there we met up with Antonio to go to Sprint and get our new phones. Yes - we are dorks and were pretty pumped about them. Dear Crazy! Afterwards we went out to lunch and Taylor did great. She had a full belly so she just slept in her car seat while we ate. We came back to relax a bit and decided that we would go to Friday Night Live since our friend Julie was singing back up with the band that night. Heather and Matt were going so we met up with them and headed to downtown Herndon. We were a little nervous and wondering how Taylor would do and she ended up sleeping through it all. She got up to have her diaper changed and to have a bottle and then went right back to sleep. A few pics from the evening are below.









Saturday was a little less eventful. Everyone came to us so we had a nice day at home. It was the first day since we brought her home that we didn't have to go anywhere. Boy was that nice! Taylor got to meet Brandi and Brooke in the afternoon. Brandi brought her a new little watermelon outfit that she just can't wait to wear! Thanks B!





Later that day Heather came by and we gave Taylor a bath. Fun for us - not so much for Taylor! Who doesn't love that little bunny towel! ;0)




Shortly afterwards Lauren, Seca and Jessie came by for a BBQ. We had a great time - even though I burnt 1/2 of the hot dogs. And I mean burnt! To quote Heather "hot dogs aren't supposed to be that crunchy!!" Seriously - who let me work the grill!?! Good thing the burgers and corn came out alright!

Yesterday we were supposed to go to our family friend Petre's 90th bday party. LONG story short.....turns out the venue was changed but no one thought it necessary to tell my dad or aunt so there was 9 of us at the wrong place. We ended up at our favorite (well - not Jacqueline's) Kabob place in Arlington for a family dinner. Once again - Taylor just slept through most of it. She woke up to eat and hung out on Ben's lap for a little while before nodding off again.

Nicole stopped by this morning and then it was just the 3 of us hanging out at home which was nice as I needed a day to recover. HA!