September and October

It's been a while and we have been busy!!!  In September we went back to Columbus, Ohio for the first time since we moved away four years ago.  Not much has changed, and it was fun to see where we used to live and hang out.  We also saw my mom's side of the family since the reason for going back was my cousin's wedding. 

 

Our old house looks the same!

 

 

 

 This was the entrance we used for our old apartment in German Village 

 

 

The front of our German Village Apartment

 

 

 No trip to Columbus would be complete without eating at Schmidt's!  Everything tasted just as good as it did in the past!

In October we celebrated Halloween!  It has become nearly impossible to get good pictures of Elizabeth because she doesn't stop moving.  On Halloween morning Elizabeth and I went with our friends to a little parade in the neighborhood...it was so cute to see everyone dressed up!  Later on that day, we went back out with our friends and our husbands met us in downtown Jersey City for a Halloween festival.  There were booths set up for the kids to trick or treat at, and it was perfect for their age.  Elizabeth dressed up as a cabbage patch kid, and she LOVED the candy! 

 

 November was a VERY busy month for us too, and I promise to blog about it sooner rather than later:)

The Jersey Shore

(I'm finally back! I have been motivating myself to turn on my slooooooooooowwwwwwww  computer and update my blog.  I have had this post saved as a draft for over a month now!)

Well not exactly...but technically we did go to the Jersey Shore in July.  We met my family in Cape May, all the way at the end of the Jersey Shore....and I completely understand why people from NJ get annoyed about the reputation that the show gave the state.  Cape May was NOTHING like the shore portrayed on MTV.  It's such a quaint, cute, little beach town.  We had a great time.  The weather was perfect, not too hot and not too cold, with only one rainy day.  Besides swimming, playing in the sand, shopping, and eating too much, we visited a vineyard and a brewery.  As usual, Elizabeth got no attention ;) and she loved the beach!  Looking back at pictures, it amazes me how much she has changed since we were there.  She was only taking a few steps at the beach!  I have a ton of pictures, but let's be honest, beach pics usually involve bathing suits, and I don't feel the need to plaster those on the Internet;)

Happy 1st Birthday!!!

On August 4th, we celebrated Elizabeth's first birthday!  This year has flown by, and I can't believe this time last year we were getting used to having a little newbie in our family.  I can genuinely say I have enjoyed every day - a friend told me when I was pregnant never to wish away the newborn days because your baby will never be that little again.  She was so right, and I thought about that often over the past year. 

 



Here's what Elizabeth has been up to:

~Walking EVERYWHERE!!!  Crawling is a thing of the past!
~Eating has changed quite a bit too!  Elizabeth eats 3 meals a day and 2 snacks, I feel like we spend most of our day eating!  She had no problem switching to cows milk and bottles are slowly being phased out.  Cheese and carbs are still a favorite.
~Swinging, "running" in the grass, and just being outside are a few of Elizabeth's favorite things.
~"baby" is a new favorite word
~Sleeping is still good- 2 naps a day (I am no rush to change that!), and usually in bed by 7/7:30pm and sleeps until 6/6:30am
~10 teeth!
~Very outgoing- Elizabeth will make friends with anyone!

Elizabeth's 12 month measurements:
Weight- 19lbs. 13oz.  (25th percentile)
Length - 28 inches (25th-50th percentile)
Head - 46 cm.  (75th-90th percentile)

To celebrate, David took vacation the day of Elizabeth's birthday, and we spent the day in the city.  We debated having a party, but in the end, we decided to plan a special day with just the 3 of us. 

As soon as we woke up, the celebration started!



 

 

 

Our first stop was the New York Public Library at Bryant Park.  We went to see an exhibit on children's books which was EXCELLENT!  While there, we happened upon a baby group, so Elizabeth went to that as well.  She LOVED it, they sang songs, read books, and did a puppet show.

 

(original Winnie the Pooh)

(she LOVES pushing the stroller)

After the library, we rode the carousel in Bryant Park.  Elizabeth loved it!



The next stop was the American Girl store.  For some reason, and I don't understand why, David said this stop was more for me than Elizabeth;)!  I LOVED my American Girl dolls, and every since Elizabeth was born, I was so excited to get her a doll.  We got her a bitty baby for her birthday, and when she's older, she will get one of the "older" dolls. 

Lastly, we had lunch reservations at Landmarc.  But, by the time we made it there, we were exhausted and decided to cancel our reservations and have lunch at the bar in Whole Foods - beer and flatbread- because we're classy like that;) 

By 3:30 we were home and Elizabeth was EXHAUSTED!  She enjoyed her chocolate smash cake, and David and I enjoyed a piece of the other cake.  David spent the weekend perfecting both her cakes!

I can't believe my sweet baby is 1!!!!  Elizabeth- we love you SO much and you have brought so much joy to our entire family.  You are always smiling, and love to do just about anything.  We feel so very lucky to wake up to your smiling face each and every day.  You are a true blessing!



5 Year Anniversary

David and I celebrated our 5 year anniversary on July 11th!  It's been a wonderful 5 years, but this year has been by far the most exciting year yet!  We celebrated with dinner at Decoy in the West Village. http://www.decoynyc.com/  I was a little nervous about taking Elizabeth, but David insisted.  I am going to be an annoying parent and brag about my child for a minute.  She was PERFECT.  The restaurant is tiny, they have one long communal table in the middle, and a teeny tiny 2 person table by the door.  We were able to get the two person table, but there was no room for  a high chair, so we had to take turns holding Elizabeth.  She hung out and smiled the entire time, in fact, at the end of the dinner, more than one person came over to us to compliment us on how adorable and well behaved Elizabeth was the entire time (and yes, I do realize I probably just jinxed myself by typing that and she will never be that good again when we go out to eat;)). 

We had the pastrami spring rolls and stuffed peppers for appetizers, then the duck and rice for our entrée.  We also had very good, but VERY strong, cocktails.  The food and atmosphere were excellent.

And go figure, we forgot to get a picture of the two of us together on our anniversary...

11 Months and First 4th of July

Elizabeth's 11 month birthday was also the same day as her first 4th of July!!!!  We had plans to meet friends at Liberty State Park for a festival, but we headed out and the rain started coming down, so we turned around and spent the day inside.  I continued on with my annual tradition of watching the hot dog eating contest in Coney Island on tv (I'm classy like that).  The fireworks were at Liberty State Park this year, which meant all we had to do was step foot outside the back door of our building.  Since Elizabeth was asleep, David volunteered to stay inside, so I headed outside solo.

 Elizabeth got her 4th of July outfit when she went shopping with her nanny and granddad.

Here are some 11 month highlights:
~Elizabeth officially took her first step!!  She is still wobbly, but is starting to walk more and more.
~She is still lacking in the hair department but excelling in the teeth department with 8 teeth.
~While Elizabeth is eating more, she still prefers carbs, give the girl bread or a cracker and it's like she hasn't eaten in months! - oh and loves her cookies and teddy grahams
~Still LOVING the water and bath time!!
~Elizabeth is talking all the time, when we take walks she goes on and on and on and on......
~She is waving hello and goodbye and can actually say "hi" and "byebye" (goodbye)
~NEVER STOPS!!  Unless she is sleeping, our girl is on the move all.the.time.
~David can make Elizabeth giggle like no one else can
~Still taking two naps a day (in fact, we are at the 3 hour mark right now for an afternoon nap, which is why I can get this typed;))
Generally, Elizabeth is super easy going.  She goes with the flow and is usually up for anything.