"special" aunts and uncles...

As I was sorting through my Christmas pictures, I came to realize where my sweet little girl gets the special quirks in her animated personality....

meet eclectic aunt tay (note the shoes)

the infamous "uncle" buck

uncle alex (he may look normal, but don't judge the book by his cover)

she <3's uncle benny-benny-boo-bear... ALOT (he brings normalcy to her life)

its no wonder, with so much personality in the family, that my little bug is such a character....

she is one super happy, silly, sassy little girl!

Routinely out of routine...

we were doing soooo well with naptime and bedtime routines... UNTIL the holidays! With Ryan gone away on work trips (up to 2 weeks at a time) I feel more secure having Jayme in bed with me (I think we both sleep better); however, with the busyness of our days during the holidays, slumber parties on nights when Ryan is out of town, and lots of car travel time, Jayme's sleep schedule seems to have gone berserk. Add into that teething and my overdose of coffee and holiday sweets (chocoholic!) filtering through her milk, and I have one totally out of sync baby girl. I am trying to get back on track, but it seems 10 times more difficult this go-around... any suggestions???

Promises for the new year...

I have been contemplating my "promises" for the new year for several weeks now... Ryan and I sat and watched the ball drop at midnight (not just any ball... a Snookie filled ball- we both felt lame telling anyone that we forwent the NY ball for the New Jersey ball filled with one orange and scantily-clad Snookie), and as we went to bed shortly after, I still hadn't firmed up my promises to myself for the new year. I am typically goal oriented, but the word "promise" seems to have more meaning (or oomph)... so I've decided to share them and put them in writing in an effort to hold myself accountable for my promises.
Of course a new year is a great motivation to promise or set goals for the usual lose the baby weight, get more organized, eat less junk food, watch less TV, etc.... but this year I have specifics:

1. My first one probably needs the most explanation- I WILL go to church at least one Sunday a month (as hethan as this sounds, once a month is more than we went this past year). Somehow getting to church on time (an hour away) with a baby has been one of our biggest challenges (figures the church we fall in love with is such a drive, but sooo worth it when we do make it). Basically it comes down to time management, commitment, and not making excuses even when Ryan is out of town (too often these days). If we can get to church every Sunday in a row, that would be awesome, but I am being realistic for the moment.
2. Do a MINIMUM of one charitable act or good deed a week... whether its volunteering my time to a greater purpose, or letting the little old lady/man go in front of me at the grocery store... a simple act can make all the difference, or no difference at all- but at least I will know I tried (I am a fan of paying it forward).
3. Start and finish (maybe not so much finish as it is continue) P90x with Ryan... He got it for us for Christmas (knowing I've been complaining about no more bootcamp). Obviously it will help both of us toward our objective of getting into shape (no need to look like the ripped models, but some tone isn't too much to ask for- right???), but more important is both of our desires to have more energy and stamina throughout the day. Another plus will be the together time we gain working out together.
4. Run at least one half-marathon (fingers crossed Nike Women lets me in this year with the whole lottery situation)... maybe the Disney Half also??? Time to put my BOB to good use!
5. Write more thank you notes, and be genuine about them... too many times I write them because I've been trained to do so since I can remember... this year I want to take the time to express my gratitude more promptly and more often.
6. Finally... scrapbook Jayme's first year... I have all the stuff and have yet to start ONE scrapbook about anything! I am putting an end to procrastination (well not completely... but in the area of her scrapbook- its a start ;-)

Here's to a prosperous and healthy New Year and new promises!

piggy-back baby...

my lil' bug helped me clean today (more like helped me burn extra calories by providing an extra 18lbs of weight on my back)...

 after some vacuuming, laundry, mopping, and counter detail, someone became less active... (about an hour-and-a-half into my cleaning spree) i took a look in the mirror and found this :-)

 

thank you ryan for the upgrade ergo carrier (she is too big for the bjorn i wore her in everyday)... however, i'm not so sure i want to tell him how much i got done in an hour-and-a-half while wearing her, he might expect that kind of productivity all the time now that its "more convenient" to wear her comfortably on my back.

scooting in rewind...

after an informal lesson in crawling from her friend Jeremy, my lil' bug decided she was determined to move like him... one minor difference in her method- she is scooting backwards... the cutest part is that she can't figure out why she is going the opposite direction from her reach.

"ummm mom... a little help here please"

christmas pictures...

Because we like to procrastinate, our christmas picture became quite the ordeal... originally we were going to start a picture tradition of taking jayme (and future lil white's) to the mission inn to see the lights and take out christmas card picture there; however, time got away from us and with ryan leaving for work in canada for 2 weeks, we are out of time and had to make do with our christmas tree as the backdrop... only one problem... we didn't have a photographer. not such a big deal when its adults or kids that can respond accordingly when you say "smile" when its time for the camera to snap a 10 second delay self portrait... with a 6 month old however, she had an agenda of her own. after 10 snaps and deer in-the-head-lights looks later, ryan opted to put her baby einstein on the computer in front of us, then we could time out her laughs/smiles with our picture... after 5 minutes spent putting the dvd in and getting it started, we realize its the lullabye dvd (no smiles, just yawns)... fast forward to 10 more snaps and a teething baby sucking on her dress, her fingers, our fingers, my hair, her shoes (she tried anyway)... we tried in vain for a couple more snaps (59 in total to be
exact)...
in the end (30 minutes later), we decided to go with a couple non-traditional pictures for this years card... maybe next year we can plan better and make sure we have someone behind the camera with the mission inn as the back drop???? here are the out-takes...

"had enough guys... and this bow needs to go"

 

First Santa Visit...

yay for no tears meeting santa for the first time! here are some pictures that highlight the day...

first time audrey and jayme met (people thought they were twins- even though they are 6 weeks apart)

waiting in a 20 minute line-even though there were only 3 people in front of us... at this point i am praying she is still all smiles by the time we get to santa

all smiles... wish we got the one of her playing with his beard curiously

30 minutes later and leaving santa... still smiles

annnnnnd pooped out after her exciting day of meeting audrey and santa for the first time

half a year later...

time has flown by way too fast... as cliche as it sounds, its so true that it feels like time passes in the blink of an eye! i try to remind myself every moment i can to cherish everything from the silly laughs, to the spit up in my hair, to the middle of the night crying, to the poopy diapers making us late (regularly), to the minutes where time seems to stand still as i do nothing but sit and stare at my beautiful little girl sleeping (it melts my heart when she chuckles and smiles in her sleep)... when the inevitable hurdles pop up in everyday life, i remind myself (ryan and i talk about this almost every night) how blessed we are to have this precious child in our lives... i can't wait to see her blossom into a little girl (actually i CAN wait, but you know what i mean :-)

Full day of new things...

meeting her American Girl Bitty baby (from Uncle Buck) for the first time

Uncle Buck introducing Jayme to one of her favorite places...

mmmm sand and Uncle Buck's fingers.... tasty

First footprints in the sand...

First Family Road Trip....

Thanks to Uncle Buck (i.e. Auntie Becca)  and Uncle Reed traveling with us to Santa Barbara, we managed to enjoy our time at Susannah and Marc's wedding (once we finally found it!)...
My original plan was to be out the door by 10am Saturday morning (anticipating traffic and allowing plenty of time to get ready and relax at the hotel before the wedding @ 4)... I was ready by 10:30 (typical 1/2 hour late everywhere I go with baby), yet somehow we didn't get on the road until noon! maybe its a guy thing, but ryan couldn't understand why we needed to leave so early, or why I needed  "2 hours" to get ready at the hotel.
we finally get to our hotel @ 1:45 (we made great time), I quickly unload, feed baby, and begin the hair/makeup process (which takes twice as long when you are trying to keep the baby occupied simultaneously)... my plan for leaving the hotel by 3:30 fell through as we were in the car and on the road @ 3:50! to make matters more anxiety filled, google maps (for the first time ever) got us lost in Montecito... thank you OnStar for getting us turned in the right direction and to the Four Seasons 20 minutes late- so late that we realized it was one of those weddings that you walk in from the FRONT (where everyone sees you)... determined not to be those idiots that are so late, we found the florist and asked for a backway route (through the bridal quarters, but at least we got to see the bride and wish her well ;-)
The wedding was BEAUTIFUL (I doubt the Four Seasons has ever had an ugly wedding anyway!) and the weather was amazingly perfect (Suz got lucky the rain cleared out!)
After a full night (annnd can i just say- i lasted the whole night in heels without having sore feet the next day... annnnd i danced!) we relieved becca and reed of their free-birth control (i.e. baby sitting) duties.
After a quick breakfast and goodbyes, we parted ways with our awesome sitters and headed up to Morro Bay for the afternoon... most people will never understand out fascination with such a sleepy little beach town, but Giovanni's clam chowder and the walk out to the rock is worth the drive (especially when it is crisp, clear and sunny out- only 20 days out of the year practically!)
We got home @ 8:00 and vegged for the remainder of the night, too pooped to unpack or do anything remotely productive. I put everything off for tomorrow (now today), and somehow I find myself procrastinating once again as I am writing about our family road trip weekend instead of doing my domestic duties.... i guess its time to go put on my housewife hat and get busy now!

Feeling out her first overnight bed (much bigger and softer than her crib!)

here comes the beautiful bride

college girlfriends 6 years later

the end of a night out (still in the heels!)

Giovanni's with our lil' nugget

she was awake when we started our walk...

dad had fun taking her off-roading in the stroller...

long drive + long walk = one pooped out baby!