Rice Cereal

The Duchess will be 5 months next week. Her pediatrician advised that we could start to give her Rice Cereal as an alternative to formula. This way she can learn to eat with utensils.   THIS IS SO EXCITING! I get to FEED her? With a spoon?? YESSSS!  This was the result:

Is that not the cutest thing you've EVER seen? I mean... seriously, she's adorable. But, I'm biased.  If you're wondering, I am not sure she actually swallowed any of the cereal. But, we will keep working on it.

(SN: she HATES her crib. Talk about stressful...)

(FYI: She is wearing her THE Ohio State University onesie. GO BUCKS!! BEAT THAT TEAM FROM UP NORTH!)

Turkey and Football

OH MAN! OH MAN! OH MAN! I LOVE THANKSGIVING!

My sister doesn't care much for it. She isn't really a fan of Turkey. But since her family moved into their new home - she gets to be the honorary host for Thanksgiving and Christmas and with it being The Duchess' first holidays, well, we can't miss them.  Also, my (little) brother is moving off on to bigger things in Nash-vegas, so I would like to be there to wish him luck and see him off.

I cannot remember the last time I ate Thanksgiving Dinner with my parents and my siblings.  Living 12 hrs away makes holidays more of a pick-one-or-the-other kind of thing.  And so, Thanksgiving is normally not on the list of Holidays I choose to travel. But, my Grandmother has gone back to work at Wally-World and will be unavailable.  So, off we go! 

Duchess and I are going to attempt to fly. And of course, a massive Nor'easter is heading toward the East Coast. THANK GOD WE ARE NOT DRIVING. We would have never gotten there. 

Anyways, If you're reading this MOM & SISTER - green bean casserole better be on the menu... And the Lions game and the Parade on TV! This is so exciting! Food and football and family. 

I could get used to this. 

Cant wait to see you all! XOXO

Musically Inclined

I have always had a passion for music. My sister, brother and I were started young reciting music trivia in the car to 104.7 WIOT (a CLASSIC, classic rock station).  We have young parents. I love Led Zeppelin, GNR, and Queen. I could sing the words to nearly every classic rock song that comes on the radio.  My first concert was Seven Mary Three at the timeless (and now extinct) Party in the Park, Downtown Toledo when I was 12.  Mister Big's Just to Be With You stands out as one all four of us used to belt out while driving to the Helminski's to go out tubing on the Maumee River.  Classic rock, a boat, and the river just go together. That was my childhood. 

Ah, the 90's. Grunge and stoner-hippy-esque jam bands. I will always love Pearl Jam and Nirvana. My era. A bucket list item of mine is to see Dave Matthews Band with my Sister and my Mom, outside somewhere in the Summertime. 

Thanks to my Mom, her awesome taste in music (80's hair bands were her era) and her stay-young attitude have stuck with me (with all three of us).  My brother started a band with some of his best buddies back when he was in high school.  They played lots of shows and had a great following. He's now moving off to Nashville, the Music City, to try his hand at bar ownership.  

My sister and I are not living in The Music City or doing anything musically related, but it shows out in who we are as people. We were brought up to be strong and have fun first and not take shit from people. We never turn down the opportunity to go to a concert really of any kind.  

I was thinking today, how lucky I am to have been given the best gift - siblings. I cannot think what my life would be like without them. They are truly, my best friends.  We have the same dumb sense of humor. The same no-bullshit way of dealing with people. And a love of music (and sports) that is not comparable to anything I have ever known in anyone else.  

So, thanks Mom. Really, thank-you. 

4 Months

Yesterday, The Duchess turned a whooping 4 months old. It sure did fly right by. I start to tear up just discussing this so, I will make today's blog post quick...

She gets funnier everyday. She, in the past two weeks, started to laugh and the most funny part is that they almost sound stuck sometimes - more of a chuckle.  I have learned that once a baby starts laughing, grown men will dance around the house flapping their arms about and making the goofiest of faces as much as possible - just to make it happen again. 

I have realized how fast babies really do grow out of clothing. I've already filled one whole Tupperware Bin with just NB and 0-3 outfits. And now I will have to start filling up one with 3-6 months.

We have now had our first real holiday, Halloween.  We just passed out candy but I dressed her in a glow-in-the-dark skeleton shirt and she of course wore my favorite bow on her head. Starting traditions with an infant is kind of silly, but I am determined to have family traditions that we make lasting memories out of. My friend invited us to a little Halloween Parade that I hope will become a yearly tradition and since she has a baby boy who is only a month younger than Duchess, we can watch them grow up and be friends too.

This week, I will be preparing the house and The Duchess to start sleeping in her own room. Frankly, I have been dragging my feet to get started.  Mainly because I nurse her at night still and I'm so tired that its basically laziness on my part. Let's be honest, to have to walk another 5 steps to her room at 3 a.m. seems like a lot of work...

My friend says "REPEAT:  I LOVE BEING A MOM."  Its our joke for whenever motherhood seems to be getting us down.  Like the thought of putting on a bathing suit next year after looking at myself in the mirror currently... Let's face it, the girls aint looking like they used to. Its a hard pill to swallow.  The lack of sleep makes for some truly awesome dark bags under my eyes.  But on the bright-side I was lucky enough to lose all my baby weight very fast.  Good genes, I guess. Thanks, Mom and Dad.  I suppose I should relish the fact that I can fit in my size 4 skinny's again because if there is ever another munchkin in the future - I can probably kiss them good-bye.  A small price to pay, I guess. 

Its really hard to fathom that in just 4 more months The Duchess will probably be scooting around and crawling, trying to say her first words and eating Cheerios.  I will try to take in as much of the now, as I can. I don't ever want to forget what that first laugh sounded like.