Holiday Dinner with the Solomans!

Everyone needs a little Adam love


Presents rock

Fiona and Adam going "night night" on the bed RE made for Fiona's babies.



..OK thats it for now, I really have to get better at blogging.

FeFe

TONS to post, but for now here is a note to myself:

Fiona now calls herself "FeFe."

Random

Fiona learned how to pick her nose...which is gross of course, but now I don't have to it.
She can put two words together like a champ.

She is still the sweetest thing in the world

Updated

UGH...am always so far behind updating this thing. I probaly would be ok with that, but I have this vision of printing out this chronicle of Fiona's life and giving it to one day in nice bounded book (lets see if that happens!?!?) I will post pictures soon - but I downloaded them on my work computer and cannot access them from here.

Matt and I have really struggled under the pressure of life these last few weeks, but the Bean is always there to make things amazing. In an effort to catch up on life, we decided not to go to Missy's annual Halloween party. But as Saturday wore on, and we could not resist the urge to dress our lil bean up in her super cute costume and surprise everyone. So we hit the road for the 'burg and trick-or-treated at Missy's house.

It was great to see everyone. Missy fed Fiona a waffle, which we all know she LOVES...and then, when we were getting ready to leave, Fiona was like "bye bye Missy." LOVED that.

At one point in the eve, I said to Fiona: "Its time to change your diaper"..and she leaped onto Yaya as if to say "protect me from my evil mama" and climbed up on her. So lovely!

Unfortunetly, I showed Miss Fiona how a camera works...when we were looking at the picture from this weekend we came to one of Buhba (my bother in law) holding Kayden (Jordan's beutiful daughter) and Fiona looks at it and goes "baby," (no surprise there) and then she point at Chad (aka Buhba) and goes "buhba" and kissed the camera.

I also had a video of Adam on camera. Fiona LOVED it. So that was cute, but then I downloaded everything to my work computer, and deleted it all from my camera. Last night she saw my camera and was like "addam..adamm" and was DEVESTATED when there was no video of him.

Other things:
- Fiona had crazy diaherra last week and I missed a ton of work, so this week has been hell.
- Fiona can now put words together; Matt preteded to sleep on the couch (right before he actutally fell asleep on the couch) and Fiona went up to him and said "night night dada" and put a blanket on him and patted him to sleep.

Incedently, Fiona has been a champ at going to ni-ni lately... NOT to JINX it.

We cannot teach Fiona to say "please" for our lives...ugh...We will keep trying!

She is STILL obbessed with babies

The last two days I have picked up Fiona from daycare she has not wanted to leave (as in, she screems), it breaks my heart and I feel so awkward, but secretly, I am sooo happy she is happy at daycare.

OK..Loves to all,
Ali

Night Night

Fiona has given up sleeping. Last night I slept on her floor - holding her hand. But - she did not come into our bed.

So here is the question - Am I doing more harm than good by not letting her cry it out? UGH.

Just a note

OK..I have a ton to write about from this weekend..but think its hilarious that now - when Fiona has to wake up and she is not ready to, she reaches for her crib and cries "night night."

Fall is here

Basically, if I do not just bang these out they never get posted.
So here is the quick and dirty from the last two weeks.

Oct 3 was "wine weekend" with the girls to get psyched for Cyn's amazing wedding!
Matt and Fiona chilled in the 'burg.

Cyn's bridal party:


The vineyards were very pretty:


And, we had tons of fun



This past weekend, my parents came to town. What a nice, relaxing, lazy time (after staying up till 1am to try and do all the laundry that had accumulated in the guest room, grocery shopping, and cooking in preparation..but whatevs).

Sat night we went to Greyson's 3rd birthday with my folks. (pics to come..)
My dad made pancakes in the morning:



Yum:


Sunday we had dinner with my uncle and aunt and cousin. (did not take pics).
Then, Matt and my dad let Fiona stay up till midnight...which was awesome, because I had taken Monday off to watch her since her daycare was closed.

I now know what it would be like to have a bad baby -- good god! She was CRANKY.
Happy camper:


Some mommy-friends (Adina and Caron) took the day off to be pretend stay-at-home mommies and brought the kids to Butler Orchard (again, thanks to Adina who is all knowing when it comes to baby friendly events).

So - I checked the weather and it SAID it would be warm. It was however, NOT warm.

Avital, Adam and Fiona


Freedom:


Pumpkins are heavy:


Got it:


I'm cold


Adam is not scared of the big kids:


Fiona's favorite slide ever!

Balance

OK so typically I feel really good about being a working mom.
But every now and then that guilt settles in - and so does that overwhelmed feeling.

When you are at work, you feel guilty for not being at home.
And, when you are home, you are guilty for not being at work.
When you do house work, you feel bad for not being with the baby. And, when you are with the baby, you look around and see all that has to be done (well, for the most part you are just psyched to be with the kiddo..but you know what i mean).

How do the women who do this well, do this?
Deep down - I wonder...Do any of us actually totally rock it - or are some of us are just better at covering it up...

Now, it might sound like I am complaining, but really I am not. It's more like that saying, "an embarrassment of riches:"

I love my job (and am glad I have one), and I worship my family (and am glad I have one).

Sometimes, I guess...you just get tired, ya know? How the H do single moms do this? If i ever win the lotto my mission will be to help them.

On a sort of related note, the mom of a beautiful little baby at daycare posted this on her Facebook page (And I could not agree more)

Tell Me About It

Carolyn: My best friend has a child. Her: Exhausted, busy, no time for self, no time for me, etc. Me (no kids): Wow. Sorry. What'd you do today? Her: Park, play group . . .

OK. I've done Internet searches; I've talked to parents. I don't get it. What do stay-at-home moms do all day? Please, no lists of library, grocery store, dry cleaners. . . . I do all those things, too, and I don't do them every day.

I guess what I'm asking is: What is a typical day, and why don't moms have time for a call or e-mail?

I work and am away from home nine hours a day (plus a few late work events), and I manage to get it all done. I'm feeling like the kid is an excuse to relax and enjoy — not a bad thing at all — but if so, why won't my friend tell me the truth? Is this a contest ("My life is so much harder than yours")? What's the deal? I've got friends with and without kids, and all us child-free folks get the same story and have the same questions. — Tacoma, Wash.

● Tacoma:
Relax and enjoy. You're funny. Or you're lying about having friends with kids. Or you're taking them at their word that they actually have kids, because you haven't personally been in the same room with them.

Internet searches? I keep wavering between giving you a straight answer and giving my forehead some keyboard.

To claim you want to understand — while in the same breath implying that the only logical conclusions are that your mom friends are either lying or competing with you — is disingenuous indeed. So, since it's validation you seem to want, the real answer is what you get.

In list form. When you have young kids, your typical day is: constant attention, from getting them out of bed, fed, clean, dressed; to keeping them out of harm's way; to answering their coos, cries and questions; to having two arms and carrying one kid, one set of car keys and supplies for even the quickest trips, including the latest-to-be-declared-essential piece of molded plastic gear; to keeping them from unshelving books at the library; to enforcing rest times; to staying one step ahead of them lest they get too hungry, tired or bored, any one of which produces the kind of checkout-line screaming that gets the checkout line shaking its head. It's needing 45 minutes to do what takes others 15. It's constant vigilance, constant touch, constant use of your voice, constant relegation of your needs to the second tier. It's constant scrutiny and second-guessing from family members and friends, well-meaning and otherwise. It's resisting the constant temptation to seek short-term relief at everyone's long-term expense.

It's doing all this while concurrently teaching virtually everything — language, manners, safety, resourcefulness, discipline, curiosity, creativity, empathy. Everything. It's also a choice, yes. And a joy. But if you spent all day, every day, with this brand of joy — and then when you got your first 10 minutes to yourself, you wanted to be alone with your thoughts instead of calling a good friend — a good friend wouldn't judge you, complain about you to mutual friends or marvel at how much more productively she uses her time. Either make a sincere effort to understand, or keep your snit to yourself.
~reprinted without permission

Anyway, I should sign off and hit the sack.
Loves!

Night night sweet girl

In all Fiona's months, she has never cried as much (all together) as she has since we started making her sleep in her own bed. By steadfast, we are. I remind myself that it will confuse her and make her more upset if we waiver. So she sleeps in her crib...but we have a pretty gentle approach..we stay with her still she is out.

We alternate nights putting her down so she does not become too dependent on one of us (and then that person has to bear the burden for a lifetime).

Tonight was Matt's night and off to sleep she went. I heard her crying about an hour ago and ran upstairs to try and comfort her. I tried and tried. Then, she started crying "dada." I called Matt up and he goes "she just cries for the one that is not with her. she was crying for you when i put her down." But into the nursery he went. She let out a few "dada"s...and then silence. He is upstairs patting her back as I type...

How sweet...our girl just wanted her dada. And, now she is happy.

Weekend Update

Well it was a long weekend (as in, it started on Thursday!).

Matt and I went to the Outer Banks for Tricia and Tim's wedding!

On Thursday night we met everyone for a pig roast (sorry no pics), but Fiona LOVED the decor:

And then we had time to see the sites..which basically included the hotel room, a nail salon, and lunch at Awful Arthur's Oyster Bar. Oh well.

Then we were off to the wedding! It was so pretty..and they had a sitter for Fiona!

Back to the burg for some quailty time with Yaya and GiGi and crew! We got to meet the adorable Miss. Kayden

She is so tiny - About 5.5 lbs and so sweet. You might note the head band. That was a gift from Fiona - It was her BABY DOLL'S!

Tara and I did some shopping and might have gotten Fiona a baby doll :). We had no IDEA what a hit it would be. It was totally like watching the Discovery Channel or something. She hugged her baby, sat in the "Fiona Chair" (which is a faux leather chair for lil ones that Yaya got for Fiona to sit in when we visit). Then, Fiona rocked and fed her baby for almost AN HOUR. She shared her puffs and even put the baby to bed on the stairs - complete with back patting and all. Heres a little blib of playtime with BaBa (which I think is Baby).

Just another monday night

Dear Fiona,

Tonight, after dinner we were cleaning the kitchen and your dad turned on the PINK CD we bought you and started dancing you around the kitchen. You laughed and laughed. I joined in, and there we were having a spontaneous dance party though the house - and we were so happy.

There are little, dumb, seemingly, insignificant moments in your life that actually make up your life. And, when you are lucky, you actually notice them while they are happening.

We love you, bean.

Mama

PS Your dad is going to think this post is so lame and call me a "romantic," but I don't care, because I don't want to forget it.

Good morning

For the last two mornings, Fiona has woken herself up dreaming about waffles.

It begins with a few stretches - a bit of a whimper - and then, the sleep talking begins quietly, "waa-fuuu," a little louder and faster "waa-fuu, waa-fuuu." Eyes open, sits up, "waaa-ffffuuuuuu"

We go to the kitchen "waa-fuu," sit in the high chair, rub eyes. "waa--fffffuuu." Then the magic happens when I open the frezer and show her:

...The biggest smiles ever!

Fiona can be so easy to please.

"The best weekend ever and my mom forgot her camera..."

...Well, at least that's what I imagine Fiona would say if she knew how to form sentences and knew what a camera was.

The weekend started out well - low key night at home on Friday (well OK I cleaned and cooked all night, but whatever). We were supposed to go to the Renisance Festival in the morning, but that fell through. Thankfully Adam was around - and his mom who is a mad genius knows every kid friendly venue in the city. So, Stan, Adina, Adam, Fiona and I went to the best park!

Like, seriously? How amazing!

Adina's phone has a camera on it, so we were able to capture a few moments.

The buds on a cool sway type ride:

And of course they had swings:

And race cars:

And a Merry-Go-Round.

Adam, who is more familiar with the ride, was crazy excited when he saw it. He started crying out with joy and then cried "no no no" when it ended. Fiona, always more cautious then her playmate was a little skeptical..in fact, she was scared out of her bloddy little mind and I got sick.

Oh well.

Then it was time to go home for a nap (Fiona) and cook (me). Then, the Grindals came over. Oliva went to play tennis with the dads, while Lorianne, Greyson, Fiona and I decided to stay back, eat a block of cheese, drink a bottle of wine and play with a puzzle.

OK Fiona and Greyson really only had a few bites of cheese and basically none of the wine, and Lorianne really did most of the puzzle. But whatever.

The boys came home and BBQed and we had a great eve.

On Sunday we had no plans! WHAT!?!? You know I can't sit still. Matt decided we should invite the Salomons (Adam and fam) to go to the zoo with us.

To be honest with you, I don't really "get" the zoo. I mean its fine and all..but ...

Well this time I was impressed. We went to see the gorillas who were totally playing and eating and a baby was climbing all over her mama. Adina and I took the kids way close so they could see and they were amazed! They stared and laughed and I felt like a good mama, being able to show my little girl all of God's amazing creatures. I really thought she looked like she was enjoying it...and she was...until the she shouted "BALL BALL BALL!" And, I realized that yes...while the gorilla's were cool...My daughter was more impressed by the very large ball in their cage. Alas.

But then the weekend took a turn for the AMAZING...Adina mentioned that the pool in her community was closing for the summer..and on that very day they were letting the dogs go in for a swim.

Its like all of Fiona's life had been building up to this one magnificant moment when all that she loves would come together in a perfect melding of the fates (if only for a half hour).

Get to be outside? CHECK

Surrounded by dogs? CHECK

I can splash? CHECK

Is Adam around? YEP!

I through in a juice box for good messure and we were off.

FIONA FLIPPED OUT! She could not stop laughing and screaming. Its was "dog! dog! Wadder! dog! wadder! ball! dog! wadder! adam! dog! dog! dog!"

Here are some pics:

Off to the happiest place on earth in Adam's little car (what a good sharer):

Heaven on earth (if you are a 15-month old who happens to be in love with dogs, Adam, pools and balls).

And, yes..I let her get in. I debated it..I mean it could be pretty gross and unsanitary..but if you could have seen and heard her..you would have too (well OK maybe not), but I could not resist the oppertunity to let her little baby dreams come true..Bad Mama.

And there we have it..the perfect weekend for the Armentrout Family!

Family time, friends, food, animals and wine (well that was just me -- WHATEVER)!

Off to see the 'Burg Family tomorrow night and meet the beautiful Kayden

And go to OBX for Tricia's wedding.

Life is good.

One of those recap posts

Been a while again, so this post is more so I don't forget the little things, then actually informative.

1. Jordan is having her baby tomorrow and we are so excited for Fiona to have another little second cousin---ahh! INFANTS..YAY!
   
2. Matt is working out (and so am I, but i do it at work, Matt does it at home), and when Fiona knows he is down in the basement and not with her, she hangs on to the banister, pokes her lil head through the rails and yells "dada!' She never dares go the stairs on her own, which I love.
   
3. She invented a new word.."dama" or "mada" which she cries out with joy when she is with one of us, but misses the other
4. She says oh-wr - for flower - and says "bubbles" like she invented the word.
   
5. She amazes me with her brilliance; we went on a walk today and she found a pine cone. I told her they came from trees - and for the rest of the walk, whenever she found a pine cone laying on the ground, she tried to put it on the limb of a tree
6. Incendently, whenever she saw a leaf on the side walk she tried to move it to someone's lawn...cause she is a crazy, insane neat freak...fall might just kill her..so many many leaves out of place
   
7. She started to hate the bathtub, but with a little love and tenderness, it seems to be growning on her again
8. And, OMG - HOW IS THIS #8....She is in her own crib. EVERYONE gave us a hard time about the fact that she slept in bed with me and Matt...But one day Tara said: "Look, you said you would stop breast feeding at 12 months and you did...you say she will be in her own bed at 18 months and I totally belive you. You will do it" And.... we did it. Thanks for the confidence Tara! We did do it, and she is champ! We read about 7000 stories rocking in the chair my mom so generousliy got us when I was prego...and then we put her in her crib (again, thanks Mom and Dad). She is so sweet..she whipers and whimpers..but Matt or I will just rub and pat her back (Mom, it reminds me of my childhood when i was upset and you would sit by bed and pat my back..I love those little moments with her - remembering what a great Mom I have). Then we sit there for a few amazing, precious-- hope they will never end moments -- she'll open her eyes and then she whimpers...sees we are still there and goes fast to sleep. She is such a doll...I was so scared of leaving her in a room by herself...and she is champ..of course.
9. So, not to be whatever -- but Fiona is now in the Toddlers room (one week down), but since its new...I stay and watch her for a while. I see little kids steal her toys and watch her reaction. She gets so mad, for a second...and then walks away. Which I think is great, but secrectly hope is not breaking her little spirit.
10. I am now reading a new baby book, which i have not done in forever - but Fiona is getting bigger and i have stuff to learn.
11. Last night, she really wanted a "Waa-aul" (waffle) -- so she walked over to the frezer, hit it, and then walked to her to highchair. Only problem...we had no waa-uals...try explaing that to one 15 month old who is looking at you like you dont speak English.
12. Missed Obama's speach, because prime time also happens to be bedtime..Bummer.
    

At any rate -- things are really good in the Armentrout household ...
And, that is THAT...

Loves to all!

August Update

WOW - Its been a while since we have posted.

So here we go:

We headed to NJ (book on CD and all) to see my family. We had a great time with God-mommy and daddy. Then, Matt and I went to Journie's wedding in NJ on Aug 22. My mom and dad babysat Fee and we had a blast with Hburg crew! The wedding was simply amazing and I am still thinking about all the yummy food.

Fiona had fun with Grandma:

And grandpa:

And just being a Jersey girl

Then it was off to RI to visit my Grandpa (but those pics are on Matt's camera).

We took Fiona to the beach for the 2nd time in her life and she HATED it. She loathed the sand and thought it was "dirdy." She hated when it touched her feet or got anywhere on her.

Here are some misleading pics from our adventure -

She may be smiling:

But its only because she is running off the sand

We had much better luck with the pool:

Time to dry off:

We visited one of Newport's Mansions - The Elms

Of course the highlight was sailing (breaking news: my folks got a new boat -- this is the old one)

Safety first:

Me and Fee chillin while grandpa sails

Grandma mans the ropes:

And, sexy daddy works:

But we also had tons of time to relax and eat all the yummy food I have been missing all year - from lobster rolls to clam cakes...mmmmmm was the word of the trip! Fee says that every time she sees food and is hungry.

Then it was time to head home so I could prepare for Cyn's shower and bachelorette party!

But no kid could stand the whole drive from RI to DC (and neither could I to be honest), so we stopped and went to the Mystic Aquarium where we saw a sea lion show and learned all about the cute little buggers. Fiona was sure they were "dooos" (which means dog, but now realize applies to any animal that is not a "birrr" - or bird).

I met up with girls to cook and bake and plan the shower and party:

And, Matt took Fiona to the 'burg to hang out with Yaya, Paw Paw and the gang.

But, of course -- I do not have pics from that because (drum roll please)..they are on Matt's camera. I found this on Missy's facebook though :)

PS...thats not the outfit I picked out for her to wear to the graduation party...oh daddy!

Was sorry to miss the h'burg clan but was happy to the NJ/RI family and get time with my ladies.

Thats all for now!

Loves,

US