christmas 2008...

let it snow, let it snow, let is snow...

karys ate snow today. yellow snow...

30 and rockin'...

my baby sister will turn 30 in a few days. to celebrate we went rock climbing. the theme was 30 and rockin'! we had a great time. even k got to climb. happy birthday LB! you are one rockin' woman...

-ty

she says what's on her mind...

i was in the other room at my parents house and i heard k say "leave me alone". i wasn't sure i heard her correctly but i asked my sister. and sure enough she said "leave me alone". she wasn't talking to me (she was talking to kanaiya) but the girl says what's on her mind. i can only imagine what the teen years will be like...

-ty

yes we did...

yes we did! we made history. take a look at the headlines...






as the CNN headline say "a victory long in the making..."

(photo from CNN.com)

-ty

viva las vegas...

dill had a conference in vegas. so karys, grandma elmore and i decided to tag along. we enjoyed the warm weather, visited one of dill's former colleagues and her family, did a lot or walking and k, dill and i even went to see the cirque de soleil show mystere. as usual, k had a wonderful time. she juggled with the performers at the venetian, clapped throughout mystere, danced with the temptations cover band during dinner, did a lot of walking and people watching and enjoyed the attention she got by wearing her halloween costume (a ladybug) in the airport. she really has fun where ever she goes. it's so fun to see the excitement in her eyes when she see experiences things for the first time.

here are a few photos...

trying on a pink cowgirl hat outside the rain forest cafe (which we had to leave early b/c K was afraid of the animals)

with grandma elmore at the luxorin the venetian

-ty

vote for k...

karys is in a contest that a local photographer is having. it's an amazing eyes contest. please go to melissa macdonald's blog (http://melissamacdonald.com/blog) and vote for k! (she's letter "V" in case you don't recognize her ;)

-t

the girl can talk...

karys surprises me with her vocabulary. the girl can talk. besides the basic
mama and dada she can also say:

eat

up

stop

amen

please

all done

thank you

apple

and a few more i can't remember right now. she also know a few simple sentences "what you doing?" and "what that?" love this kid...

found one...

i found a photo of k and her daddy (and kanaiya) at the apple orchard. guess i had enough battery power for one photo. so look dill, you made the blog ;)


-ty

app, app, app...

today dill and i took karys (and kanaiya) apple picking. my mom though it was silly to take a one year old apple picking b/c in her words "she's not really going to enjoy it". but she did. karys (and kanaiya) had a blast. they picked apples (and ate them) and went on a hay ride (with well it was actually just a ride b/c there was no hay). when we got back to my parents house karys told mom-mom that she picked "apps" (her way of saying apple). see mom-mom, told you she would have fun. don't underestimate K!

of couse i didn't charge my camera when we went so there are no photos from karys' first apple picking trip but i took her apple picking again with my friend michele and her two cuties and here are a few photos from that excursion...






-ty

the notorious KARYS read to turn one...

this time last year...

this time last year i was (not so) patiently waiting for k to arrive. today, i am running around the house watching her bang on doors, take ALL of her toys out of the toy baskets, pour food on the floor, crawl under the table and high chair to get her sippy cut that she dropped, and open and close cabinets (open, close, open, close, open, close...) and this is all before 9am. this kid has energy! if i would have known then what i know now i would have enjoyed the extra day of (uninterrupted) sleep.

-ty

first birthday photo shoot...

goodys...

one of K's ad's came out today. it's a goody's sale paper . check it out...

you can also see it at http://www.shopgoodys.com/etabs/091108-092108/10.html

-ty

p.s. happy birthday cleo!

(a bunch of) photos

since i haven't posted pictures in while here are (a bunch of) photos:

with "pop-pop"
at the children's museum of manhatten
at the parkat mom-mom & pop-pop's housethe elmores we bemore photos to come...

-ty

our little baby model...

k has been doing some modeling. it's funny that my baby is a model. well, not really funny but it seems strange/odd/unreal to see her in "print". for awhile people have suggested that we "get her into modeling" but i never really thought anything of it. of course dill and i think she's cute (and photogenic) but she's our baby and we're supposed to think that. but one day (when i was supposed to be writing my dissertation--i'm such a procrastinator--but that's another story...) i googled child modeling agencies and found the names/address of a few reputable agencies. so i sent in a few of k's photos to four agencies. within a week two agencies called us in for an "interview". we went to the first one and i really liked them so we "signed" with them. since then k has done 8 jobs. most of the stuff is for the winter/christmas holiday season so it hasn't been printed yet. but i just got a copy of a earnshaw's magazine which she was in (it's a trade magazine so it's not available on newsstands). she was up for the cover but didn't make it :( but she still got photo inside the magazine so i'm still a very proud mama. here are the out takes from the shoot...

dill and i joke about how she's been working since she was 7 months old (and we both thought we started working early). dill's other joke is "maybe now she can afford to send herself to a private college"...

-ty

11 months...

another cloth diaper giveaway...

i didn't win the last cloth diaper giveaway. but here's another one maybe i'll win this time. as they say, "if first you don't succeed..." green acre diapers are adorable so wish me luck...
-ty

10 months...

thinking about cloth diapering...

i'm thinking about using cloth diapers (even though i said i didn't think i ever would--guess this may be another "my plan vs. reality" switch). baby cheapskate is offering a cloth diaper give-away contest. check it out (b.t.w. baby cheapskate is a great site). if i win it will make my decision to change to cloth diapers easy. i hope i win...

10 steps...

k took 10 steps today. my mom kept telling her how i walked when i was 8 1/2 month old. so i think she was trying to step it up (pun intended) and at least walk before her 10 month birthday. so she's not a proficient "walker" ( and she still prefers to crawl) but "technically" she can walk...

walk to daddy...

K can walk! she has been standing (on her own) for a little while. the past couple of days (while we were in jersey and dill was in ny) she's been standing for longer and longer periods of time. when dill came down to meet us i told K to walk to daddy. and she did. well actually she only took two steps but it's a start. go baby go. walking to her daddy...

-ty

more, more, more

k has been watching the signing time DVDs for the last two months or so. originally i didn't really want her to watch TV but i caved. i usually let her watch it while i take a shower. well about two weeks ago i thought she was doing the sign for milk (dill wasn't so convinced). and yesterday when i was feeding her i asked if she wanted some more and she actually did the sign for more! yay baby...

-ty

crusin'...

k is crusin (walking while holding on to stuff). my little girl is growing up so fast...

she can stand...

k stood on her own for the first time today...

9 months old...

martha's vineyard...

the (big apple) circus...

100 days (part 2)...

i logged into one of my "mommy" websites and noticed the banner that read:

"There are 100 days until your child's birthday!"

wow! only 100 days left until K's 1st birthday. i know i keep saying this but "where does the time go?" i can still remember writing the original 100 days post when there were 100 days left until my DUE DATE. and in a little over three months she'll be one. of course this means we about to start planning her party--and by "we" i mean l-boogie and me (someday soon we'll launch our event planning business...)

-ty

first (official) father's day...

it was dill''s 1st official father's day! last year we celebrated but it this year it was the three of us. it was low key. breakfast, church then out to dinner (dill's mother also sent a yummy fruit bouquet from edible arrangements). here are a photo of k & her daddy.

happy 1st father's day dill...

-ty (& karys)

the crib (part 3)...

k sleeps in her crib (and has been for awhile now). she usually sleeps until between 6 or 7am. this morning when i went in to get her i found her standing in the crib holding on to the side. it looked like she was about to climb out (my mom tells stories of how i used to climb out of my crib--but i don't think i was as young a k). anyway, i decided it was time to lower the mattress. dill said he's do it tonight...

-ty

we have a (real) crawler...

karys starting crawling today. it's a real crawl and (unlike her army crawl) she was up on all fours (with her belly off the ground). i've been trying to get her to crawl to me for a little while but of course she didn't crawl to me. instead, miss k decided to crawl to play with something she shouldn't play with (the fireplace tools). now that's she's really mobile i've been saying no (and redirecting her/moving her away from stuff she shouldn't have) ALL day. guess it's really time to really baby proof the house...

-ty

barack obama makes history (and my little obamite is proud)...

it's official. barack obama is the democratic presidential nominee. dill, i and our little obamite couldn't be more excited (ok, maybe it's just me and dill who are excited). anyway, here are the headlines from NY newspapers (photos are from http://www.newseum.org)...





i've been saying i want to buy k so obama gear. i've been eyeing these onesies:



the last one says "obama baby...it's time for a change--get it :) now i'm certainly going to order (at least one of) them. obama '08...

-ty

the army crawl...

k has learned to move forward. she does an army crawl (mix between a scoot and a crawl). she looks so cute but gets so frustrated because she's not getting where she wants to fast enough. i keep hearing "once she starts crawling/walking you'll wonder why you wanted her to because she'll get into EVERYTHING." guess i'm a glutton for punishment (remember i'm in a Ph.D. program) but i can't wait for her to crawl/walk...

-ty

type A...

Today lashona said “you there are a couple things I know about your daughter”

1. she has a type A personality. There are characteristics of type A:

8 months old...

k is 8 months old. as usual she took a photo in her monthsie...

memorial day...

our friends patty & tony came to visit us for memorial day. dill grilled and we enjoyed good food and good company...




-ty