i know....i know....

i know. i havent posted her 6 month newsletter. at this rate, i'm wondering if i should even bother and just do a 6/7month one. haha. :)
things are busy! lots of changes going on! i will post some pics at the least.

a little celtic action

Last weekend, Justin, Avonlea, Sarah and a multitude of other friends and family went to the Celtic Festival in Hartford. We drank yummy beers, ate warm kettle corn, listened to diggery doos and bagpipes, and had a great day out in the brisk autumn air. The day was perfect. Here are some pics. :)

a sneaky smile

silly hat

weeeeeee

mommy's snack

i snack on delicious fingers as avonlea snacks. :)

a little family

ooooo

i <3 symmetry.

honk honk

Some random things from the past few days:

I woke up this morning at 1:30am to Justin honking my nose. In his sleep. When I wasn't laughing hysterically at him, I was really mad at him. :)

While out for an evening neighborhood stroll the other day, I finally smelled it.....Autumn. It might be one of the best smells ever. It makes me want to go back to school shopping and put on jeans and a hoody. *sigh*

I think a Sangria party is in the works for this November. I will keep you posted.

I can't wait for work-related things to slow down and work itself out. I need to make a decision already and move on!

This whole news story about the CT legislature playing solitaire is infuriating and amusing at the same time. It doesn't really make me lower my expectations any, as I realize that I really just didn't have all that much faith in them anyway.

I got furloughed tonight. Where is the respiratory virus season??? Bring it on!!

alright. goodnight.

a few more to feast your eyes

There were so many cute pictures this month...here are some of the runner ups. :)

5 month newsletter

Dear Avonlea,

Today you are five months old. You aren't that much bigger than you were a month ago, and weigh about 12 lbs. Although you don't seem that much bigger, your little feet don't need the dictionary to reach the floor while you are in your excersaucer, and so we know that you have grown. You are STILL in your 0-3 month clothing, with no sign of outgrowing them any time soon. Although, I have a feeling that one day we will wake up, and just like that, you will be in the next size.

Your apple cheeks have rounded out quite a bit, and your arms don't feel quite as thin as before. I love to see your little roundy fingers wrapped around my thumbs. I love the weight of you in my arms and cannot describe it any better than that.

One day this month, while playing with Amy and the girls, (I've found that most things seem to happen when we are with them), you rolled over from your belly onto your back. One moment, you were propped up on your elbows, and the next moment, you were flopped over on your back with a "what-the-hell-just-happened?" look on your face. I flipped you back, thinking that you had simply just fallen over, but a few minutes later, you did it again. And so, you have officially begun rolling over. :) It's about time!Adorably, you have also begun to turn your cheek to us for kisses, and quite honestly, it is one of our favorite things to do. We simply cannot hold you without covering you in them, and you giggle when Daddy's beard tickles your face. After we kiss you, you turn your face to us and slime us with your smoochy drool, and it is divine.

This past week, we have noticed that when we eat, you are very interested in our meals, diving forward to reach for our foods and even wanting to eat from me while we eat. I anticipate needing to start solids with you soon, and while that makes me a little bit sad, Daddy can't wait! But we will hold out for as long as we can. Although no teeth have officially cut through, we can see them beneath your pink gums and know that the “teething” process will begin very, very soon.

In addition to being interested in our snacks, you are also increasingly interested in the kitties, leaping forward to touch their fur, usually ending up with fistfuls of their soft hair. They tolerate you for now, as you aren't very mobile yet, but I can see the skepticism in their green eyes and they know that their time is limited....that sooner than we all know, you will be chasing them around, squealing in delight.

The end of this month has proven to be a struggle, as Daddy has gone back to work at a new school, and I am trying hard to find a schedule that works well for us as a family, and so some sacrifices will have to be made all around. But we know that it is for the best, and I can't wait to be with you on a more consistent basis. In the meantime, in our absence you are lovingly being cared for by your daddy's cousin Drina and your grammy mother. And so far, you have had wonderful play dates with them, napping when you need to, playing when you want to, and getting covered in their lovely kisses. When you come home from your play dates, you are pooped. I love how you seem to melt into my body, giving me your own little hugs as if to say "oh, i missed you mommy!". I find myself waiting for that moment all day, and when I unleash you from your car seat, my heart bursts to feel the weight of you in my arms. There may be nothing better.

As the summer comes to an end, I find myself getting excited for cool autumn walks with you in our neighborhood, and showing you the colors of the changing leaves. I can't wait for the surge of physical and emotional developmental milestones to come your way, and look forward to what you have to teach us, and not just what we have to teach you. I already can't believe that you are 5 months old....and while I have relished every day with you, I feel like we just left the hospital with you a few weeks ago. I love that we are still in awe of you, and after we have put you to bed, we stay up and frequently say "Can you BELIEVE her? Can you believe we MADE her? Can you believe how much we LOVE her?", and yet I know that I might feel that way forever. Life is good. Life. is. good.

Until next time, sweet girl...we love you.

i'll have a roll....with butter please!

So, i was just looking through some facebook pictures that i posted of avonlea and i have to say.....

she
is
DELICIOUS!

whenever i see her little arms or legs, i literally want to sneak my mouth down there and take a big nibble out of those sweet rolls!!! and her chubby fingers? i could just suck on them all day. and those cheeks....ah. i could go on forever!

i know it sounds weird, but i might eat my own child. she is so damn cute that it makes me giddy!

i never could have anticipated the way she makes me feel when she sees me for the first time in the morning, or if i havent seen her in a few hours....she just gives me this look and cheeky smile like she is sooo in love with me. and it literally melts me into a puddle on the floor. every time. without fail.

i bet she tastes like caramel and sweet cream. i mean, if i could really eat her.

that is all i have to say about that.

4 month newsletter

Avonlea,
You are now 4 months old. At your 4 month check-up, you were 11 pounds 4 ounces and 22.5 inches long, still very petite for your age. You are still in your Newborn and 0-3 month clothing, and will not outgrow them for quite some time, as most of them are still baggy on your little body. I can count 5 mini chub rolls on your legs, and I can’t wait until they get meatier and I can really take a good nibble out of them. Your eyelashes are even longer now, and “Auntie” Amy thinks that I put mascara on them before I bring you over….Maybe it’s Maybelline. This month, we can’t get you to stop talking if we tried. You are very verbal, and everyone seems to think that you are going to learn to talk very early, as you watch our mouths very closely and respond back to us with like-sounded coos. You drool like no other baby that I have ever seen, and if I had a dollar for every person that told me you were teething, I could send you to an Ivy League school! Alas, I can see the teeth beneath your pink gums, but none have cut through yet. You giggle and laugh at your Daddy and me, especially when he blows raspberries on your belly before bed, and when I tickle your neck with my fingers. Sometimes you chuckle at us for no reason at all.
Last month, you would just barely pick up your toys if we placed them in your hands, but this month you dive for them, first grabbing them with one hand, and now with two. One day this week, you woke up and realized that your two hands were connected to the same body. You clenched them together, looking at them as though you had never seen hands before, and you have used them in conjunction with each other ever since, mainly to bring toys to your drooly mouth, or pulling our faces in for slobbery kisses.
You have grown into quite the independent lady (thank god!), and we can put you down for long stretches of time. You LOVE your excersaucer, diving forward to play with the toys attached to it, and Daddy configures crazy dangling toy-setups from the arches along the top of it for you to enjoy. When we first broke out this insane little baby-entertainer, your little feet didn’t even touch the ground, but now your tippy toes can reach! You also LOVE your doorway jumper, and prefer to swing in it, swirling around and around depending on where we are in the house. More recently, you have begun to bounce, and love it! You spend most of your awake time in these toys, giving us time to get things done around here!
This month, Daddy and I went away for a night, leaving you with Auntie Sarah while we went to a wedding in NY. With two instructions in mind, 1. Feed baby every three hours and 2. Put baby down for nap after she’s been up for 1.5 hrs, we left. It was a great break for us, and Sarah had a great time with you without any problems. You watched Grease, went for walks, took lots of naps, and played until you were pooped. A week later, Daddy left for a mini-vacation to Pittsburgh where you and I had a blast visiting friends, shopping, and catching up on much needed mommy-baby time.
These mini-vacations were a much needed break from the sadness that we had all been through earlier this month. Anyone who knew our Babci knew that love was the center of her world. She had a surreal capacity for loving all things: animals, family, friends, knick-knacks and children. You were one of her favorite people on earth, and as soon as she set her blue eyes upon you, she needed to hold you and surround you in her love. She had a long and beautiful life full of just that, and left this great earth on her own terms, in her own way, sending us all off with her own advice on how to bring more and more love into our lives.
There are no words for the magnitude of how much she will be missed. But, I know that our Babci-doodle is up there, dancing with Dzidzia in her pretty blue gown and watching over us all. We promise that you will grow up surrounded in her love, as she would have wanted. We promise to always love you, a bushel and a peck….a bushel and a peck, and a hug around the neck.

We love you, baby girl!

New England Lovin...

Last weekend, Justin and I took some alone time from the baby and headed up to Poughkeepsie, New York for a Marist girl reunion and to see the amazingly gorgeous Megan get married. The wedding was fantastically fun, and getting away from the daily grind of work and baby was tremendous for our spirits. On our way home, we stopped at this little farm stand over the Connecticut border from New York, where I couldn't help but grab my camera and enjoy what this great earth has to offer. This is why I love living in New England!

I'm hoping that I will snag some pics from my Marist girls of Meg's wedding to post, as I did not bring my camera to the wedding. Congrats Meg & Nick!

sweet corn