Ho ho ho!

I had my 4 month check up on Tuesday. I have my big ultrasound on January 2--can't wait to find out the sex of the baby! Yesterday we went to the Parenting Center and B played with Georgia. She played hard for 2 hours, but she didn't take a nap until late in the afternoon. B is going to sleep now at 8 instead of 7 and all week she has gotten up between 630 and 7---what a dream! Yesterday afternoon we went to playgroup at Jane's and B was fascinated with Josie's Tickle Me Elmo and kept saying "La la" over and over. Grandpa and Peter worked on the downstairs bathroom (tiling) Wed. night and they finished last night. They rule!

Today we went to the Park then to lunch with Jenn C. then to the Zoo with Ev and Georgia. I'm tired, but B is apparently not. I'm trying to get her to rest for a little while before Papa Vic picks her up in an hour.

B's tricks: blowing on each bite of food because she has seen me do it; she pulls her bows out (she's always done this) and says "bow;" she says apple; she sniffs the Christmasmas tree because we have a Christmas scratch and sniff book that has a tree in it that we smell; she says blue a lot; she says hat and touches her hand; B's new fave song is "Little Drummer Boy" and when I play it she says "bum, bum, bum;" and when you ask her what Santa says or show her a picture of Santa she says "Ho ho ho!"

We Missed Our Baby

After enjoying a wonderful Thanksgiving meal in Vacherie we left without our precious B. She spent 2 days in Vacherie and had an absolute ball. I thought I would be super tough, but when Peter's parents offered to keep B till Sunday instead of Saturday I realized that I already missed her--and it was only Friday morning. I definitely couldn't wait until Sunday. When she came back she was happy as can be and seemed taller, her hair seemed longer, and her two teeth looked bigger. Peter and I got a lot of things done around the house and bought a tree and rented movies and had a great time, but I surely did miss my girl.

Betsy is walking and talking a bunch. She has a few new words: hat, eye, 'brella, Bet--ee (Betsy). She is also saying "ho ho ho" whenever she sees a picture of Santa. We're going to take her to see Santa on Sunday morning; I hope she enjoys it.

Peter's parents have been such a huge help getting our downstairs ready. Peter and his parents painted all day yesterday and today---today it was a genuine paint-a-thon with Papa Vic, Bee, and Beau added to the crew. Thanks so much to everyone for their help!!! They were able to get the downstairs completely painted and lots of other projects done.

Last night we put up our tree and decorated it. B pointed at it for a while and tried to reach the ornaments. I'm so excited about Christmas this year with our baby girl and next year we'll have B's baby brother or sister and B's cousin to share it with!

Here are some pics from our marathon photo session in Vacherie--we were trying to get the perfect Christmas pic!

Happy Birthday, Peter!

Peter's birthday is on Thanksgiving this year. Here's to a wonderful husband, father, and friend! I love you.

Betsy did the cutest thing ever yesterday. We went to lunch with Jack at Zea and B was so good--I think it was because she napped in the car. After lunch B and I went into the Mall so she could see Santa. I've been talking about Santa constantly and telling her how he says "Ho ho ho!" Well, we walked up to where he was sitting and I pointed at him and said, "Betsy, there's Santa!" She pointed at him and opened her mouth wide and said "Oh oh oh!" and then started smiling and waving at him. We stood there for a few minutes and Santa waved back to her. Hopefully this is a sign that she'll like having her picture taken with Santa--last year she slept through the whole thing.

Happy Early Thanksgiving

Betsy is walking a lot these days. Today she has walked more than ever and when she's not walking she's standing up and dancing. Today she even climbed onto the sofa and sat next to me. I'm really going to have to keep my eye on her! Earlier she tried to climb into her big toy storage basket. She's becoming obsessed with Elmo and seems to find something Elmo related wherever we go. Today we went to the grocery store and within a minute of entering the store she said "La la, la la!" I looked up and saw a gigantic Elmo balloon. She now has an Elmo doll and about 5 Elmo books.

Last week we watched Lauren and Ryan while Kris went to work--it was tough watching a 4 month old, a 14 month old, and a 20 month old. Luckily Katherine and Evelyn stopped by and gave me a hand. B was intrigued by Baby Ryan and she kept wanting to touch his nose. She loves pointing to her nose and to other kids' noses. She's just starting to point to her eyes, her mouth, and her teeth. On Thursday we had playgroup at Evelyn's and the kids are really starting to play together instead of just next to each other. The sheetrock crew finished up on Friday and Peter and his Dad started priming yesterday. On Saturday we bought our paint and picked out our carpet. It's almost done!

On Friday night we went to a delicious dinner at Bee's. On Saturday I went with the sisters and Mary to Maspero's and shopping. I bought B the cutest black wool coat--it looks so adorable on her. Last night we went to dinner with Dad, Bee, Taddy, Dad's friend Larry M. and the sisters and their boys.

B has one top tooth and one bottom tooth--she's catching up with her pals!

I Did It

The title of this entry is Betsy's favorite phrase--although she wouldn't say it for Aunt Attie or Aunt Katie. Whenever she does anything I say "you did it" so on Saturday I started telling her that when she does something she can say "I did it." For the whole weekend she said "I did it!" when she would eat a bite of food, stand up, make her toy lion roar, take off her shoes, etc. It really seems like she understands what it means. She's really talking up a storm. I told her to tell her toy Christmas puppy "night, night" and she hugged it then patted its head and said "night, night." She's also learning to say "no" and wave her finger. Yikes! One more cute thing--when she's doing a puzzle and she gets the puzzle in the right spot she claps and looks at me and smiles. She's really growing up.

Here's a rundown of what we've been up to. Last Thursday we went to Danneel Park with playgroup. It was gorgeous outside and the kids had fun swinging, sliding, and playing in the dirt. On Friday B and I went to Babies R Us and I bought her her own Elmo doll--when I ask her his name she says "La la la" (in an attempt to sing the Elmo's World Theme Song). After Babies R Us we went to Lakeside and bought her Christmas pajamas and ate beignets. On Saturday Grandpa and Peter worked on the basement and B, Krista, and I went to the hospital to visit Jessica and her new baby boy, Travis. He is absolutely precious. On Sunday Momma Lady and Grandpa came over and ML watched B while I did some projects around the house and Grandpa and Peter worked downstairs again. I want to give a big thank you to both Momma Lady and Grandpa for all of their help!!! Grandpa has been over for the past 5 or so days working really hard and we appreciate it so much. Yesterday we went to Music class and B was a huge ham and sat in Miss Trish's lap while she taught the class. After she was done Trish asked for a round of applause for B and B clapped along then seemed to take a bow--it wasn't just me who noticed so I know I wasn't imagining it! Today we went to WalMart for a big grocery run and in the afternoon we went to Audubon Park with Evelyn & Georgia to feed the ducks. B loves being in the grass and playing with leaves and digging in the dirt.

I'll try to be better about blogging. I'm usually in bed by now!!!

Walking Girl

On Monday we went to the Parenting Center for the Music class since our Kindermusik session is now over. Betsy really liked it, although she was a bit distracted by all of the toys. Yesterday we went to the Park in the morning then to the Parenting Center again to play then had lunch with Evelyn & Georgia at St. James Cheese Company-yummmm! This morning we went to have B's pictures taken--she did so well and smiled for every single one. After her pictures she started crawling then stood up and took about 10 or 12 steps--she was so good! This afternoon we went to Krista's to play. Jess and Reed came over too--Jess is having a C-section on Friday--so excited!

Weekend Roundup

On Friday we went to the Mall with Evelyn and Georgia. We just walked around then we had lunch at Bravo. The girls split a cheese pizza and B ate a bunch of bread. In the car on the way home I kept asking B if she liked her pizza pie and then she started saying "pizza pie" and she even said it for her Dad and for Marme and Aunt Katie.

On Saturday we went to Josie's birthday party at Gelato Pazzo Cafe. B woke up at 5 so by the time 10:30 rolled around she was exhausted and she slept during most of the party. B and I split a cup of chocolate mint gelato--it was so good. After the party we went to Aunt Attie's house then to walk around Magazine Street. B was not in the best mood so we had to head home early. Grandpa came in town to help P work on the basement--it'll be done soon enough! P brought B to Attie & Beau's at 330 to watch the LSU game. I was by myself in the house for 4 hours--crazy. I had big plans to do some laundry and other stuff around the house, but I ended up taking a nap and catching up on some DVR'd shows. It was a nice break. Papa Vic and Bee picked B up from Attie's and B spent the night at Bee's.

Yesterday I woke up at 6:30 (so it was really 5:30 to me). I was so aggravated--I had visions of sleeping till 10. Peter got up not too long after me. Papa Vic brought B home at 10. She had a good time. When I saw her I felt like I hadn't seen her in days. I got big hugs and kisses. Yesterday Grandpa came in town again to help P with downstairs. I got a bunch of cleaning done before B got home. B took a huge nap from 1130 until 2 and I watched the Saints game. B visited Marme and Aunt Katie.

B woke up today at 4:30 and fussed off and on until I got up with her at 550. I don't get it; she gets up at that time whether she goes to bed at 7 or 830.

B stopped taking a bottle last week and she hasn't been upset about it. B has one little tooth poking up and the one next to it is almost there too. B is starting to stand up and clap or dance without holding on to anything. She's just not ready to walk yet. When B and I are sharing a snack I'll hold my empty hands out when we're done and say "all gone." Now she's starting to say "all gone" when I hold out my hands. She's also starting to wave her hands and say "aaaaaall done" when she's finished eating in her highchair. B is big into kissing these days. We'll pick her up and she'll kiss P then me then P then me then she'll push our faces together so we kiss. The whole time she says "mmmmmmmwah" so that we know she wants some kissing to take place!

Happy (Day After) Halloween!

B's first Halloween was lots of fun. She was in good spirits despite the fact that she woke up yesterday at 4:15 and only took an hour nap all day.

On Monday we went to our last Kindermusik class then to PJs. On Tuesday I had my first ultrasound. It was a loooong morning (my Dr's office moved my appt. to another office and didn't tell me so we rushed from Ochsner to the office in Metairie, 2 of the 3 elevators were broken so we had to climb 7 flights of stairs), but once I had the ultrasound it was all better. At first Peter and Dr. M's assistant had strange expressions on their faces and I couldn't see the monitor so I asked them what was going on. No one said anything for a minute, then Dr. M told me that at first it looked like twins, but it was just one. The baby was moving all around and we heard the heartbeat. B wasn't too impressed--she was busy eating cheerios. Afterwards we all went to lunch. B is starting to get sort of impatient at restaurants and wants to get down from the highchair. She used to love sitting in her highchair and trying new foods. Now she's over it. Yesterday we had our last Walkers to Talkers class. In the afternoon we made cupcakes to bring to Attie & Beau's house. We went trick or treating in their neighborhood and B was such a trooper and even held her pumpkin for a while. She was really tired and fell asleep a couple of times while P was holding her. Marme made delicious vegetable soup and the cupcakes were a hit.

B woke up today at 6:20--2 hours later than she has gotten up for the past two days. It was awesome. We went to the Park earlier to feed the ducks--they are really aggressive and I had to toss the last couple of pieces of bread and make a run for it!