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!

5 months...

I can't believe how 5 months has flown by! Actually I can... as I sit here procrastinating on folding my umpteenth load of laundry, I feel as though my days all blur together. I'm still not sure where the 18 hours just went since I dropped Ben (Stacey's BF) off at the airport this morning... Somehow I ran out of time and have yet to take that nap I've been craving ALLLLLL day! Enough about my pity party of "where'd the me time go?!" ... My little Jayme bug is officially 5 months new to the world! I hope and pray everyday that I am a decent parent who will provide the right substance and nurturing for her to absorb like a sponge. It is truly amazing to watch her grow (sometimes I swear right before my eyes!) and learn every moment of every day. I know I sound like a cliche sap of a proud mom, but until you experience parenthood for yourself, you can't imagine how proud my little girl makes me! She has such a sassy personality, and I swear she has learned how to work the baby blues God blessed her with... especially with her daddy... she has him wrapped around her finger (as I knew she would, even though Ryan swore he wouldn't be "that bad"). I feel so blessed and can't imagine a day without her in my life!

First Pumpkin Patch...

My girlfriend and I finally got around to taking our little bugs down to the Tanaka Farms Pumpkin Patch (nothing like waiting till the week of Halloween when the pumpkins are all picked through and beginning to decompose)! This year we mainly went for the Kodak moments... we already planned out how awesome it will be next year...  1) the girls will be more into it (not babies anymore), B) we will go earlier in the season before the patch is picked through and pumpkins begin to decompose, 3) our Kodak moments on the pile o' pumpkins will be better choreographed with the sun not directly in the girls' eyes, 4) our Kodak moments will include costumes, and E) petting zoo and wagon ride!
Even though the girls are too young to remember or appreciate the mommy & me field trip, we thought it was worth it...

Next year we know to park closer, but the long walk was good for us

Kristi & Riley

It was too bright for her to look up in every picture (bummer!)

Feeling playful...

"Ooooo that headband looks mighty tempting"...

"Maybe if I just grab it...."

Jayme- "Had enough moooommmm!!!!"

annnnnnnnd we're done!

new do...

6 months and a baby later... i finally got my hair done! i probably would have let my 5 inch roots and scraggly ends grow another 10 inches if it wasn't for our 10 year reunion and an upcoming wedding to motivate some pampering. annnnnnd the results......

Before

After