Baby Jade

Jade's 1st Birthday Bash!

It's 4 pm and your guests are all arriving right on time! The pink & green "mod monkey" theme party decorations are all up, balloons and streamers too and I have you dressed in a pink cupcake dress your cousin Kristin sent you from Las Vegas. It is the perfect birthday dress!

Everyone took turns coming up to greet you. You especially liked meeting the little girls at the party, like Madison, Avery and Olivia. You had your binky in your mouth for a while because you were a little overwhelmed and were making this whiny noise...I could tell you were nervous. I took you into the bedroom a few times to give you a moment alone, and then you wanted back out! haha...too much excitement and you had to be in the center of it!

Three huge casserole dishes of baked rigatoni hot out of the oven, garlic buttered breadsticks and salad were served right away and everyone seemed to enjoy the dinner! Shortly after, I started to gather the kids for a game of pin the tail on the donkey. Everyone took a turn, even you Jade! Sam, Olivia and Avery were our big winners and they got to pick out a prize!

Then off to the big event...we all went outside in the sunroom area and your daddy rigged the "monkey" pinata. Seems the old pinata game is still a party favorite for kids! All the adults seemed to be having a pretty good time cheering for the kids too! Little Avery sure took this game serious...she's got some muscle power! Mason (who I still count as a kid, but is in now in highschool!) did the honors and in one swoop with the short plastic bat, the pinata broke open and all sorts of candy & pinata "stuff" flew everywhere! I ran into the house to grab little bags so the kids could save their loot.

Grammy & Grampy were here for your party and they took turns helping me hold you. I looked up a few times for you and you were safely in Barry's arms tugging on his ear with your binky in your mouth. Too funny and too cute.

Grammy helped me with the food during the party and she baked you the yummiest carrot cake cupcakes with cream cheese frosting for the big moment. We gathered in the dining room and I put your monkey party hat on your head with the elastic placed gently under your chin. I put you in your high chair with your cupcake and a pink #1 Candle on top of the frosting (not lit) and we all began to sign HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU. You were enamoured by this. You let us sing to you and you had this little smile on your face while you waited for us to be done and then you looked at your cake and I gave you the go ahead to eat it all up! You ate two whole cakes and you really enjoyed them with your birthday hat on, perfectly in place. No more whiny noise...you seem to be over it now and deeply involved in your birthday cake!

The party is winding down now, and everyone is slowly leaving. We opened a couple of your gifts before the last guests left. You loved the paper and Avery helped you open her gift before she left. She was really excited to have you open her gift because she picked out a bunch of cute outfits...and a hardbound classic childrens stories book that is really nice. Tony and Laurel had us open Misty's gift...My Pal Scout! This is one of your favorite toys. Laurel gave you the cutest Osh Kosh overalls with beautiful long sleeve onesie for underneath and flowered pants outfit with a hoodie...just adorable.

There was a football game on so about the time the game ended, the last of your guests left the party. We did it! We had your first birthday party and everyone seemed to have a good time. Yay!

Mommy was relieved, I had a rocky start to the day trying to put up your decorations and cook all the food in time for the party. But all is well now and you are now officially no longer an infant. You are my little girl.

Happy Birthday little Jade!

Love Mommy and Daddy

 

Dear Baby Jade...The Big Day!

Dear baby jade,

My baby girl, you turned 1 year old today! It has been quite a year and we did our best to try to capture many moments of you on film and with photos. Everyone said the year would go by so fast, and although the day is here, I feel like we savoured every moment with you so that every day was a long and memorable one.

This morning you woke up happy as always, singing and smiling. We had the grandparents babysit you this morning while mommy and daddy finished cleaning house for your birthday party tomorrow. At 1:08 pm mommy and daddy had Jade withdrawals and panicked as we weren't with you for the big moment. We realized we had to get the house work done and only had an hour of time left before we picked you up anyways, so we would be with you shortly.

Around 3:00 or so we had you home and the grandparents followed us home with your surprise birthday gift! It was a pink Neiman Marcus grand piano with stool. You immediately smiled and we sat you on the stool. You played your heart out and had so much fun! We were all amazed at your sudden taking to playing a piano! You sang and danced too.

Soon after, Joe & Karen Sinko came over for a visit. Karen was sad she couldn't attend your party, so they decided to come over on the day of your birthday before they went on their trip (Beaver's game via Bandon Dunes catered shuttle bus... no one could pass that up!). Karen brought you a pretty red dress with lady bugs and flowers on it. You seemed to like it a lot because you picked it up by the hanger and smiled big for us. Thank you Karen & Joe! We enjoyed your visit!

That night we went back to the grandparents house and had penne pasta dinner. We didn't stay too late so we could get you to bed early enough to rest up for your big party! 

I am cooking baked rigatoni, salad and bread sticks for your party tomorrow and Grammy is baking your birthday carrot cake cupcakes with cream cheese frosting! I have a monkey party theme that is so cute.  It will be so much fun! I even invited all the cute boys in Bandon to be at your 1st party...one day you will thank me for this! LOL

Love you honey pie! Sweet dreams before your party.

Dear Baby Jade...you are 10 months old today!

Dear baby jade,

After work I called daddy and said, let's take Jade to Old Town Pizza! It's October 4th, 2011 and you are 11 months old today!

We had so much fun tonight at the pizza place. We ordered you cheese ravioli's with artichoke and black olives. While we waited for our food, I took you into the arcade and played the race car video game. You sat on my lap and spun the steering wheel and shifted the gears just like a pro.

When our food was ready, we let you feed yourself until you were a mess! Then we took over and gave you some more bites so we were sure they made into your mouth and not on your lap. You really had a great time Jade, and so did mommy and daddy!

 

Picking Dandelions

Another georgeous day in September. I put your hair up in a pony tail and we headed out with our beach blanket to play in the back yard. You didn't stay on your blanket for long. You wanted to explore in the grass and pick the dandelions... you quickly learned they are more fun to pick and not to eat!

Just Us Girls...you are 10 months old!

Dear baby jade,

It's just us girls this labor day weekend. Daddy went on a big trip to West Virginia near Washington DC to visit his friend Maurice. This is his first time away from us since you were born! You have been wondering where daddy is, I can tell. But all is well in the house and mommy is taking good care of you. We have been busy taking little outings to the grandparents cottage for swing rides and stopping at the grocery store and we even went to my office and had lunch in the afternoon yesterday, followed by a long walk around the cranberry bogs with the dogs.

Today is September 4th...it is your grammy Cindy's 60th birthday and your 10 months birthday too! We had breakfast and naptime this morning and finally I surrendered the day to stay at home rather than going out. Later in the afternoon, Christina came over to pick blueberries and we took you for a stroll along with the dogs along the cranberry bogs.

At the the end of the day I snapped a few more pictures of you during bathtime. I soaped you up and took some smiley pictures of you playing with your rubber duckie and other toys.

This last month you have been standing at the coffee table in your  living room play area practicing your balance. You like to watch your shows "Blues Clues" and  "YoGabbaGabba". You are dancing to music now too. You love Fresh Beat Band. One day you were on the couch and I caught a few minutes of you on video dancing! It was so cute I posted it on UTube so I could share easily with your grandparents...

 

You are babbling all the time and you are saying dadada and mamama. You are starting to figure out who mama and dada are.  You have cried out "mama mama" a few times and I am pretty sure you knew you were calling me!  

Just a few days ago you were wearing a size 3 diaper and now we are on to a size 4! 

Thank you for being such a good girl for mommy while daddy was away. I felt we had a special 4 days together, just Us Girls.

XOXO Love Mommy

 

Dear Baby Jade...you turned 9 months old today!

Oh my baby jade, you are 9 months old today! This morning I dressed you up in one of my favorite outfits and decided to put your hair up in pig tails. I knew all the grandparents would go crazy to see you in pigtails! And I was right! Your hair is getting so long and beautiful and I think it is officially strawberry blonde in color! Here you are on the sunporch with daddy holding you. Long gone are the days where I could prop you up on the bed for a photo session! You are a crawling, moving machine now  :)

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

How CUTE you are! These are some of the best photos of you and daddy together.

You have been crawling for only two weeks, but it feels like so much longer. You are so good at it. We have to watch you like a hawk, because even in your play pen, you are pulling yourself into a standing position. You think that is so funny!

We have all your toys on your play mat in the living room and in the bedroom too. Most of the time, you throw them to the side and just crawl somewhere dangerous like under the coffee table or to the TV cords. Don't worry grandparents...we don't let her get to them!

You are starting to graduate from pureed foods to finger foods too, like diced up plum and monterey jack cheese and even spaghetti! You like to feed yourself, but mommy has to help you still or a lot of it ends up in your lap. For breakfast, you usually have fresh peach pureed with rice cereal and sometimes I cook you scrambled eggs with tomato!

Now that you are 9 months old, you like to flip yourself over on your belly when we change your diaper! Now that's a little inconvenient. I have to give you a toy to distract you, but even that doesn't work. There have been a few occasions I have had to put your diaper on with you in full motion, chasing you and backwards. Again, don't worry grandparents...I am the queen of diaper changing now and Jeff is king :)

Now that you are older, mommy has been going to work during the afternoons and daddy takes care of you while I am away. Most days, daddy takes you out for a walk in your stroller around the neighbors cranberry bogs. I have taken you there too. It's such a nice relaxing walk. Daddy showed me that you like to go look at the irrigation ponds. The dogs come with you  too! Here are some photos of you getting ready to go out for your cranberry bog walk!

 
 
 

 Happy 9 Months Birthday Jade! We love you so much it hurts! :)

Love,

Mommy & Daddy

XOXO

Mommy and Jade

A special moment with mommy and Jade...

 

Jade is Crawling!

Today was your first full day of crawling!

Last night you crawled slowly, but effortlessly from one end of the bed to the other. You thought you were pretty smart trying to climb over the foot of the bed. I had to pull you back three or four times before you went to sleep!

So today, I knew you would be a professional crawler. We stopped at Adam & Christina's on our way home to see daddy. He was finishing up with his training class. You had just woken up from a nap and were ready to get out of the car. Perfect timing all the way around. We sat you on the giant gym mat and you were free to crawl! It was awesome! You were so smiley and crawled from one end to the other! We took a video and will see if i can post it here soon.

 
 

 
 

8 Months Old on the Fourth of July

It is the fourth of July and its your 8 months birthday! I was so excited to take you to your first parade! I dressed you in your patriotic American flag t-shirt and a jean jumper dress. You looked so cute!  Daddy stayed behind this time while mommy took you to Old Town for the parade. Here is you playing before we headed out...

 
 
 

We drove down Riverside Drive to a gravel parking lot and I struggled a little to get your stroller together (usually Jeff does this part) and off we went. We headed over to Inn at Old Town to see Ruby and Misty.  Laurel, Roxanne and Mary Berry were there too! We just missed Reef & Race, they jumped on a float with their gramps Tony.

You were really interested in watching the parade. You looked so serious and couldn't take your eyes off it! A clown even came over to see you and I almost expected you to be a little frightened, but you weren't. Not my little girl, you are so brave.

 
 

 
 

Afterwards I took you for a stroll through Old Town and we visited the toy store. I bought you magnetic dress up dolls for when you are a little older...I couldn't resist. I also bought you a little wooden rattle. And back to the parking lot we went. It was very windy by this time. Then mommy had to put your stroller in the car and it took me forever to break it down...I even had to call your dad to help me over the phone. Oh boy. You were crying and everything! But finally I got it together and off we went.

Later, we sat in the back yard and you played with your toys in the grass. You were so beautiful in the sunlight. I captured some adorable photos of you for your 8 month birthday. I was glad because I didn't get many of you during the parade.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Now that you are 8 months old...

You are learning how to crawl. You are super close. Last week Grama and Grampa Stubbs were here and they had you on the mat every day. Now that we moved to the Spring Creek house, you have carpet in your bedroom and have been able to scoot around more too.

Lately you have been really cranky when we change your diaper. I have to give you a toy to get you to relax and smile because the moment I lay you on your changing table you start crying and sometimes you throw your head back. Boy oh boy. But we stay calm and talk to you and tickle you to make you laugh. It doesn't take much to distract you :)

You love to play with your yellow bus. I fill it with toys and you work at taking everything out of it! When you play in your room, you pick up all your toys at least once and move them out of the way to get to the next one. You look so busy when you are doing it!

You eat Cheerios now, like a pro and we give you juice and water every day. You love your sippy cup. You lift it up high so you can drink all by yourself.

Your favorite tv show is YO Gabba Gabba! You are mesmorized when that show comes on. You can't take your eyes off of it and you smile and giggle! You also like Puzzle Time with Moose A. and Zee.

You only take a couple naps a day, and usually you nap in our arms. Lately, we are working hard at laying you in your crib for nap time because it has become hard for you to sleep without us.

You still wear a size 3 diaper, but I think you are ready for size 4 any time now. You are ready for new sleepers too. You are growing our of your 9-12 month size now and are moving on quickly to 18 month clothes! You are so still so tiny, but these baby clothes shrink a lot so we have to buy them large.

Now that we have moved, we spend more time in the yard. I lay out a beach blanket and I read to you and you play in the grass. You just love it! It is warmer here than the Ocean Drive house and not as windy. I think this is a nicer house for us as a family. There is nothing more important than you, Jade. We love you and here is to another wonderful day of life with you :)

Love,

Mommy & Daddy

Summertime Barbeque

It's a summer time barbeque with Grammy and Grampy Stubbs. We are in the backyard at their Bandon cottage having a glass of pinot, cheese & crackers, and of course, baby biscuits!