happy birthday, grandma!!

I just had a conversation in my head of what is going on in Heaven today:


Dad: Happy Birthday, Mary!

Mom: Thanks, Phil. The roses are beautiful.

Dad: Well, I thought you could use something pretty to keep your mind off the fact that you’re getting old. You’re 65 now – so you’re eligible for Social Security, senior citizen discounts, etc.

Mom: Three things for you, old man. First of all, I think getting money sent to me up here in Heaven just really isn’t going to happen. And next, you will always be older than me. Heck, I’m immortally aged 48 anyway since that’s how old I was in 1993. But you were much older than me when you died. So pipe down.

Dad: I thought you said there were 3 things.

Mom: Yes, you forgot my birthday one year. So technically I’m only 64…

Dad: Good Lord, you’re never going to let that one go, are you?

Mom: Nope. It was a pretty big miss there.

Dad: Can’t argue with that. Well OK then. Happy 64th-ish birthday. What would you like to do today?

Mom: Let’s go peek in on that beautiful granddaughter of ours.

Dad: Beautiful granddaughter? We just have that redheaded one. We can look in on her instead.

(CRUNCH!!!!!)

(That’s Mom smacking Dad across the head)

 
Sounds about right. Happy Birthday, Mom!

yum yum yum

The only thing Mary Beth may like as much as walking right now is eating. Boy does she like to eat! Her favorites? Avocado. Ham. Black beans. Banana yogurt. Peaches. And graham crackers. As you can see from the photo above, we had spaghetti tonight. Apparently she has some of her grandma's Italian blood in her and has now added that to her list of favorites.

She's a HUGE fan of the kids meal at Chipotle - cheese quesadilla and black beans. As you can see from the two videos below, she enjoyed her dinner both nights. And I promise, she ate the avocado right after we stopped taping. Yes, she ate avocado and spaghetti at the same time. What, you don't?

Easter and walking like crazy...

Mary Beth sat still for about three minutes on Sunday -- just long enough for us to put on the Easter dress that Kim bought for her birthday. Even during Mass, she simply did not want to sit still. Both Bob and I took her to the back of the church so she could walk laps. Literally. And while she was delicately walking in her cute, plaid dress, she was smiling and waiving at everyone. She met more people at church in one morning than Bob and I have. But then again, she is a lot cute than us.

We  came back home and tried to take some photos, but she was plum tuckered out from her new excercise regimen. So we just got a few.

It's close to impossible to get Mary Beth on video walking right now because she's so darn quick that she's already out of the room by the time you get the camera. But here's a quick attempt on a short video for you:

three nights of freak-sleepin'

She's cute, but she sleeps in the weirdest positions. Just look at the last three nights!

Thursday night

Friday night

Saturday night

This last one is my favorite. She's even wearing her new Big Girl pjs that Auntie Kim gave her. She loves sleeping along the bumpers, but just a bit too big now.

**OOPS! THE PJ'S WERE PICKED OUT BY UNCY MATT!!! THANKS UNCY MATT!!!**

dear uncle rob,

dear uncle rob,

when i woke up this morning, mommy moved my new chair in front of the window so i could see the snow. there wasn't as much as last time, and i didn't get to make any snow angels. but it was still pretty to look at. mommy said that where you live it snows more. sounds cold. i think i'll just stay here in my chair and look out at it.

come visit soon.

love, mary beth

she's walking!!!!

See, there's just something magical about St. Patrick's Day. Especially if you're a 100%, pure bred redhead like Mary Beth. So we dressed up in our green, and then practiced walking after our days at work and daycare. Of course she took 4 or 5 steps when we weren't taping. So we tried again. And again. We even gave up for a bit and just tickled and giggled. Then after her bath (hence the wardrobe change - there's still green on her!), she was a little cranky because she wanted her bottle but she still walked to mama. Atta girl. Geimps would be proud.

There are a few videos and pics here - the walk and a few cute outtakes.

who's one year old?

Mary Beth had quite a birthday weekend. She started her birthday with a visit to Dr. Z for her one-year Well Check. She checked well. :-)  All good on the height and weight front, and everyone agreed that Princess Mary Beth, who visited the office with her crown, is the cutest redhead ever. Saturday Auntie Kim flew into town and was greeted by MB and an awesome sign. A bunch of people came over to the house for an informal gathering/party where MB giggled, laughed and had cupcake icing for the first time. Sunday we went to the park to swing, and then played soccer in the back yard. That's right, MB is ready for her Rowdiettes jersey and soccer cleats. There's a TON of photos, so have fun!!

a night of firsts...

...first cup of juice...

...first taste of black beans...

...first cheese quesadilla...

Chipotle rocks. Mary Beth agrees.

 

seriously...

...do you think anyone could say no to her if she was selling cookies? I think not.

11 months!!

(As most new parents will understand, we've been swamped these last few days with the snow and haven't posted this. She turned 11 months on the 12th, so we're just 2 days late!)

Dear Mary Beth,

How is it possible that you're 11 months old?? A year ago today my friends/coworkers at Regent threw us a shower and we received some great presents for you. You even still use some of them today - like your blankets, bottles and steamer. The next day we were packing up our home in Florida and moving to Texas. Well, the packers were packing. I was working and your dad was supervising. We then spent the night at the Westin Diplomat and your dad kissed me Happy Valentine's Day at 430 in the morning and took off for the drive to Texas. You and I spent our first Valentine's Day together - me feeling quite fat and lonely, and you enjoying the chocolate and raspberry sorbet dessert I had.

In this past month, you've really started trucking along on the walking front. You LOVE your little car/walker that my boss Andy gave you. And you walk along the tables, couch, mirror -- anything you can as long as you can hold on to something. Speaking of the mirror, boy do you love the mirror! We learned that a long time ago, but we bought a huge mirror for the entry way and it's not even worth trying to clean your fingerprints off.

You old daycare is closing down at the end of the month, so we were forced to find you a  new one. Actually, we were looking for a new one anyway because we felt you needed something more as you got closer to "toddler status." You've been at the new one for just a week, and you're doing well. You're not a fan of when we leave you in the morning, but they say you're making friends, practicing your walking and even trying new foods. You're fearless.

You also enjoyed your first snowstorm. It snowed in early December but it didn't really stick to the ground. And then we had already gone to San Antonio when the Christmas Eve snowstorm hit. But this was a HUGE storm. Record-setting for the amount of snow in 24 hours here in the DFW area. So we made your first baby snow angels, and you had your first taste of snow. Literally. You loved it. But don't get used to it...

Last, you're getting cuter every day, which I'm not sure how that is possible. But it is. You love to smile, laugh, and now you're talking, saying "Ah-tah" to us. We have to repeat it back and forth a few times or you get mad at us. Very cute.

We love you, Baby Love

Love,

Mom and Dad

winter wonderland

Well, we missed the Christmas Eve snowstorm here in Dallas since we had already gone to San Antonio. So today when we woke up to a few inches of snow (and more coming), we had to take advantage of it. I'll post the pictures of her making her first baby snow angel later, but here is a video of her doing what she does best -- putting anything and everything in her mouth. She said snow is quite tasty...

best ten bucks ever spent at target...

...and trust me, I've spent a lot of money at Target. But this dancing frog was irresistable, and Mary Beth LOVES to dance. So three videos for you... two frog dances, and one where Caddyshack Gopher made an appearance. He was feeling left out. Mary Beth can groove...

monkey

her best dustin hoffman imitation...

...and that would be from Midnight Cowboy, not Tootsie or Meet the Fockers. Little Mary Beth said "I'M WALKING HERE! I'M WALKING HERE!" Well, with the help if her walker/car, but still damn cute! Two videos because it was twice the fun!

what's up?

No reason for the post, except to show the cutest little redhead EVER! :-)

all the mothers cry...

Dear Mary Beth,

I don't think it's just the mothers. I think anyone with a heart has felt the tears starting to swell this past week. A horrific, unimaginable earthquake shattered the already poverty-stricken Haiti. When we lived in Florida, we knew a lot of people either originally from Haiti or that had family members there. People who went through their own horrors to get to the United States so they could work and send money back to their family so they could eat, drink and have shelter. But that shelter has failed when the earth opened up last Tuesday.

I'm a news junkie and can't stop watching the news or reading it on the computer. But I've also spent a lot of time walking away from it lately because it truly is heartbreaking. In a country that already was the poorest in the western hemisphere, and had an outrageous number of orphans, the photos of torn families are unspeakable.

So if you actually can remember your tenth month and wonder why you suddenly were showered with even more hugs and kisses, it's because of this tragedy. I just don't want to let you go. I'm even typing this while watching you sleep on the monitor. And in the morning I'll race to your room to watch you smile and stand up in your crib.

I've never been one to hide my emotions, and a tragedy of this magnitude would always affect me. But now that I'm a mom I think it's different. To see other moms crying in pain because their children are gone, or babies in orphanages or hospitals while their parents didn't make it... it's just unbearable. So don't roll your eyes at me when I sneak in your room later tonight to give you your 498th kiss of the day. Just keep sleeping soundly and dream of a time when all is right in the world again.

Love, Mom

purple people eaters

It was a dangerous day here in Texas. There was this adorably cute, redheaded 10 month old girl who was continuing her late Grandpa's love and desire for the Vikings to win a SuperBowl. So she was dressed in all purple (sorry Rob, no helmet) and she cheered whenever Brett scored a touchdown. Well, she missed the first few since she was napping, but still...  And then once the nap was over and the score was quite favorable for Grandpa's team, much to the dismay of her father, this adorable little munchkin did the most blasphemous thing.

SHE WENT OUT IN PUBLIC IN THE DALLAS METROPLEX WITH HER PURPLE ON!!!

The nerve. But seeing as how it was to Target, whose headquarters is in Minnesota, her mom thought it was safe.

And she'll be wearing purple again next weekend.  :-)

happy 10 months!

Dear Mary Beth,

Ten months? Really? Wow.

So lately you have taken up "speed crawling" and can make it across the room in 3.4 seconds. Or something close to that. And you also like to pull yourself up. On tables, chairs, pant legs, etc. You name it, you'll climb it. And you like to push buttons on the computer too, making interesting emails go out early sometimes!

You're teething like crazy, too. The doc said "any day now," but that was a month ago. Oh well. Eventually you'll get one! Until then you'll just keep drooling on and biting down on everything imaginable.

So happy 10 months! We love you!

Love, Mom and Dad

giggle monster

Mary Beth and I had most of the day alone together. And you know what happens when girls get together... someone always gets tickled!!!

happy 2010

Dear Mary Beth,

You're SO unconscious right now, enjoying your little baby girl dreams of milk bottles, shiny mirrors and visiting grandparents. You entertained us earlier tonight as "Princess Mary Beth," jumping up and down and laughing with your crown on. I'll make you a better one next time.

It's officially a new year, and I promise to make it unforgettable. Well, you probably won't remember it seeing as how you're an infant, but hopefully you'll have a blast. You'll learn to walk, eat new foods, say mama and dada (and actually mean it as a name for us) and so much more. The world is out there for you to explore, and your dad and I will love showing it to you.

For your first video of the year, here's you enjoying the Care Bear book that Nana gave you for Christmas. I've never seen you attack one of your toys like this before, and it was too good to pass up. So thanks, Nana!

Love, Mom