The Holiday Season!

Yes, we're in the thick of it and I love it! Tree is illuminated, two cookie parties down, work party complete and the count down to our trip to Texas is now in the single digits. I still have plenty of shopping to do, still need to get a photo of Shelby with Santa and still need to get us family Christmas stockings, but I have faith it will all get done - it always does!

I picked up a cute little "My First Christmas" outfit for Shelby. It's tough to find this stuff in 12 month sizes (for obvious reasons), so I had to scoop up what I could find. We did a sweet little photo shoot in front of our tree. It took her a week or so to really notice the tree, which surprised me, but once she took note, there have been many ooohhhs and ahhhhs since. The holidays really are so much more fun with Shelby - I can't wait for her to meet all her fun little (actually big!) cousins in Texas. Sad I can't be with my side too, but that's just the way it goes.....another excuse for us to all get together down the road.

Here's my little Christmas angel. Seriously, look at those lips!

Her school also celebrated the holidays with a "Christmas Pageant." I was tempted to skip since it started right about the time Shelby normally passes out, but I decided we should go to 1) be involved parents 2) make her teacher happy (she would ask EVERY day if we were coming) and 3) see what the heck they plan to do with a bunch of infants and toddlers on stage. Well - wonder no more. This is what a Christmas performance for a 7.5 month baby looks like. Can you find Shelby?

They tried to put Shelby is one of those little boxes in the ground, but she wanted no part of it. And despite there being way too many people packed in a very small space, she was going to wear her red holiday coat no matter what!

The next morning her teacher sent me this, a photo of Shelby and her classmate TJ "practicing" for their big performance at school. Too funny.

Too Much

....just too much cuteness for words. This is Jack and Shelby on a Saturday morning :)

Mum Mums

So Day Care is not all bad. I often feel guilty because my time with her is limited during the day, but the experience of the ladies who run the nursery does come in handy sometimes.  They have been a huge help with solids and getting her acclimated to eating with a spoon. They have also helped her a great deal with learning to use the bottle and improving her tummy time skills.

Recently Miss Ethel suggested I get her some Mum Mums. Mum Mums? I have never heard of such a thing. Essentially, they are little rice snacks that dissolve in the baby’s mouth. She said Shelby is  really interested in everyone else’s food and these are a nice first step toward eating food. Of course I was a little bit of a chicken and was hesitant to buy them, but finally gave in and bought some. Well – she loves them and they’re perfect  little pastime for her.

Introducing the Mum Mum:

Daddy's Girl

Let's

Go

Cowboys!

7 Months!

Good grief! My baby girl is 7 months old! We are the downhill to her first birthday, it's just amazing.  She has brought of 7 months of joy, smiles, diapers, laughs, milk, mishaps, discoveries, learning, and sleeplessness - or in a nutshell, the best 7 months of my life. Amazing how something, someone so small can pop on into your world and shake it all up!

 Our peanut, affectionately known around here as Shelby Pie, is full of curiosity. Here are some updates....

• ·         She loves all types of foods thus far! We have tried quite a few flavors, fruits, veggies, meats and combos and so far, she has enjoyed them all.
• ·         She sits like a champ and I can see her balance improving almost daily. She used to topple over if she reached for something, but now she can recover
• ·         She chews on everything. Less drool at the moment, but LOTS of chewing
• ·         She makes all kinds of sounds, but Maamamamam, dadada and hi are regulars
• ·         She loves making "raspberries." She often does them on my shoulder, but Jack caught her doing them on her own arm this morning. Hee hee
• ·         She gets very interested in buttons on clothing
• ·         If something has a tag, she finds it - clothes, blankets - you name it, she'll find it.
• ·         She can't keep her eyes off Dad when he enters the room
• ·         She is trying hard to sit up, but can't quite make it there. It is coming soon, I'm sure.
• ·         We have caught her on all fours, but we think she is still a little ways from crawling
• ·         She is still getting the real-deal milk. I have yet to send her to school with anything else, but I have tried Enfamil at home a handful of times. She seems to do fine with it.
• ·         She still goes to bed at 6:30/7 and wakes up 12 hours later at about the same time (with one feeding around 3)

I was a couple of days late in snapping pics and she was still waking up in some of them. We love you Shelby Clare! Here's to the next seven months!

Easy Like Sunday Morning

Sunday morning play time with mom!

The Gift Giving Season

Each fall every PR person with clients who boasts any kind of product/service is busy pitching "gift guide opportunities." What better way to showcase your item for sale than in a gift guide, right?

Well one of my clients, Kidville, sells many wonderful children's gifts, including Sophie le Giraffe - which I have blogged about previously. With that, I reached out to the editor of Las Vegas Woman Magazine, suggested she include this item in her gift guide and included a small thumbnail photo of Shelby and her giraffes in addition to the high resolution photo provided by the toy company. Now, this particular editor I know on a personal basis, otherwise I would never send a personal photo. I did it as proof kids really love it!

Several days later she replied that she loved the idea, but needed a bigger photo. I was so confused. The manufacture image that I sent was HUGE. After exchanging several confusing emails back and forth, I realized that she wanted a bigger version of the photo of Shelby for inclusion in the magazine. Ha! I wasn't even thinking about Shelby being included. Of course I jumped right on it and now, you can find my pumpkin gracing pg 87 of the Las Vegas Woman gift guide issue.

Wa-la!