Saturday morning at last

March has been a busy month and April will only be busier.

We woke up on Saturday morning happy to not have to rush to get ready and be somewhere. After a few weeks of Bridget waking at night once, sometimes twice, and even three times-she is finally back on track.

She woke up early but happy this morning. First thing first...milk! She roamed around the house with her milk while Todd and I got the breakfast and coffee ready. She enjoyed her Cheerios and cinnamon rolls and then it was off to her book basket. We read all her favorites and then went for walk before it warmed up.

We're enjoying this simple morning especially since Todd and I will be gone for the next three weekends. First we're off to DC for a wedding and then we're leaving for our exciting trip to Paris and Barcelona! We're looking forward to both trips so much, but not looking forward to the time away from Bridget. Luckily she'll be at her home away from home with her grandparents who she loves so much!


Milk-her morning pick-me-up




Breakfast is her favorite meal of the day



Reading like a big girl



Ready for a walk!

Celebrate

Lots to celebrate this weekend and it's all thanks to Todd. He turned 29 on Friday and last Monday he received a well-deserved promotion at work.

On Friday the three of us went out for dinner and ice cream. We walked around Coconut Point and came across an outdoor patio with lots of people, music and dancing. All the excitement kept Bridget still while she people watched. She made her way to the dance floor, but wasn't brave enough to get out there herself.



She met a little boy named Jace who was 5 days older than Bridget. They showed off their tricks to one another...Bridget blew him a kiss and Jace showed her his muscles...they high-fived each other...then Jace came in for a big kiss on the lips...and then kept coming back for more. Very cute!


Saturday afternoon we celebrated Sierra's 5th birthday at Todd and Samantha's house. Bridget ran around the backyard with all the big kids never wanting to be left out.
Sierra's big birthday surprise was ponies...ponies dressed up as unicorns actually! All the kids had their turn, but when it came time for Bridget she didn't want to do it. Little Miss Daredevil Bridget was afraid-unbelievable!

But we tried again and sort of forced her little legs on the saddle and as soon as the pony started walking she perked right up, smiled, then turned back to the crowd to make sure they were all watching her!


Keeping up with the big kid games



Her first pony ride!


Saturday night we went out for pizza and beer with some great friends...Johnny and Erin, Nicole and Jeff and Joe and Keri. Thanks for celebrating with us!





One last celebration Sunday at home...


Harley got the first piece of cake...bad, bad dog!



Just the 3 of us

Happy Birthday Todd! Bridget and I are two very lucky ladies!

3 things

3 things she loves these days...

Sunglasses, hairbows and Mommy's shoes.




I love having a little girl!

Harley-Bear

Lots of things change when you have a baby.

You sleep less, you learn how to eat really fast, you have kiddie songs stuck in your head all day, and you truly believe that your child is the cutest and smartest one around. And if you have a pet...you know what happens. That "baby" is no longer the baby. Even though you swore nothing could ever take the place of your pet, your baby does.

I used to say, "Harley will always be my #1 girl", "I'll never love anything as much as I love Harley", "Harley will NOT take a backseat when the new baby comes!" Poor Harley has lost a lot of attention in the past 17 months. We don't love her any less, we just have something else to love more.

Harley was a last minute maybe-we-should-get-a-dog-today kind of thing. My good friend, Courtney, told me she had a neighbor with a 1 year old dachshund that she needed to find a new home for. On Saturday we went to meet Harley and take her home for the weekend to see how it would work out. It worked out-really well. We fell in love with her like I never, ever thought I would love an animal. I officially became a "dog person."

She slept in our bed, went places with us and could basically do no wrong. We thought it was so cute when she jumped up on the kitchen table to steal food when we weren't looking. We taught her to sit, paw, and roll over. Anything and everything that had a dachshund on it, I had to buy it. Our camera was filled with pictures of Harley.



We couldn't wait to bring Bridget home from the hospital to meet Harley.


I was never worried that Harley would be aggressive or jealous towards Bridget-and she wasn't-ever. Bridget loves Harley and now she giggles at all the same things that made us laugh when we first got her. We love ya, Har-and you were our first baby!

Back for more

On Saturday we headed back to the beach for a sunset playdate with our good friends, Joey, Carrie and Livi. It was a beautiful night and Bridget couldn't have been happier as we chased her in and out of the water! Livi is about 5 months older than Bridget and watching them play together was a real treat. Bridget's personality really shines through when she's side by side with a playmate. Both girls were as good as gold, but so, so different from one another. Livi preferred the sand to the water and was happy to stay by her mommy and daddy's side. Bridget splashed and spun in the water and tried to escape the grip we had on her many, many times. The faster we chased her, the more she laughed. She would trick us into thinking that she wanted to leave the water and play on the sand and just when we would let her go she raced back towards the water. I'm starting to think the traits I see in her now are very likely the traits she'll have forever...playful, wild, adventurous, stubborn...her teenage years should be fun, huh?!?!?


Spinning Mommy around and around


Her little tounge is always hanging out when she plays hard


A brief break from the water


Bridget can't get out of the chair quick enough


Back to Livi's house for some bathtime fun

Beach pictures

I'm still without a camera, but I was able to retrieve the pictures from our beach trip last weekend. Friday afternoon we had professional pictures taken. I got a sneak peek of a few of them and they are spectacular! Hopefully I will be able to share them soon. Bridget has spent the week pefecting her head nod. She is actually nodding "yes" and "no" quite appropriately...
Do you want to go outside and play? Yep
Do you want to get in the highchair and eat dinner? Nope
Do you want to watch Yo Gabba Gabba? Yep

Bridget will have even more fun at Grandma's this week since Caroline is home for Spring Break. Yay!


Checking out the beach crowd



She couldn't decide if she liked the sand or not



Just being ridiculously cute and playful

Something New Everyday

It seems like everyday Bridget picks up on something new. She waves, blows kisses, gives big wet sloppy kisses, claps, dances, and as of a few days ago she High 5's. It's really cute! And much to Mommy's approval she can't enough of shoes, jewelry and purses these days. Whenever she is in my closet she starts ripping the shoes out until she finds "the one". She slips one on and loudly clip-clops along the bathroom floor.

We took Bridget to the beach a few months ago and were so happy to find out that she loved it. It certainly wasn't like the pre-baby beach days that Todd and I used to enjoy so much. There was no laying out or drinking beer that day. Instead we took turns taking pictures of Bridget getting her feet wet in the freezing cold water and pulling her back from jumping right in! We wondered how much older she would need to get before she would have fun playing in the sand with pails and shovels. Fast forward about 3 months and we were there! We went back yesterday and couldn't believe the difference! She still loved the water, but instead of trying to dive in she stayed right at the shoreline and giggled everytime the water splashed up on her. She sat in the sand and picked it up and made an "Ewwww" face as it trickled through her fingers. She chased the birds and even sat down long enought to eat a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for lunch. The waves started crashing and rolling in a little higher up and it made the most perfect baby pool. She splashed and spun and fell down many times in that little pool. I don't think there was a person who walked by her that didn't stop and smile and say, "Oh what a cute baby!"
Pictures of this would be great, right?? I took a ton, but somewhere between the beach and home my camera broke. It had been acting weird, so I wasn't surprised. It's under warranty and hopefully I will have it back very, very soon. I asked the Geek Squad Guy if I could get a loaner camera while mine was being fixed. No such luck. I can't post without pictures though...what would be the point? Here are some recent cute ones until I have new ones to share.