Feel the burn

This morning Taylor and I met up with Chele, Paige & Elliot and LeAnn & Rell for a wonderfully long walk. We have all been committing ourselves to this stroller-club twice a week for the past two months, and as hard as it is to leave the house some mornings, I have enjoyed every second of our walks. Even the hills. And whether it be that I’m now in my 30s or that I’m always within an arm’s reach of peanut butter, my last 10 baby-pounds have been extremely hard to shake. So not only are our bi-weekly adventures good for the soul, they are also good for diminishing the muffin-top reaction between me and my jeans.

Taylor seems to really enjoy the walks as well. I know she’ll have more fun once she’s stable enough for a real stroller, but for now she’s stuck watching me huff-and-puff my way up the hills. It would be interesting to know what she, Elliot and Rell think of stroller-club. Hopefully all of the gossip, sweat and tears won’t do any permanent damage.

Our ten-year plan

Taylor is transitioning into Ruby’s daily routine of napping, eating, playing. Napping, eating, playing. It’s wonderful. It has allowed me to map out my days in order to start doing some work from home - Thank you, Kimmel! I’m now able to devote a few hours each day to using my brain for other things than folding burp-clothes and watching TLC.

Play-time is becoming more and more fun with the munchkin because she’s smiling, giggling and interacting with us. The cuteness is almost too much to handle at times. It’s also a big ego boost for Chris and I because she thinks we’re hilarious. She smiles so big that sometimes we stop and think, Hey, let’s quit our jobs. Pack-up and tour the country as stand-up comedians. If SHE thinks we’re this funny, we’ve definitely got something going on.

Whooped

The annual CCA Member-Guest tournament was this weekend, which meant that Chris logged roughly 40-hours in three days at the Club. When he got home from work today, he eagerly grabbed Taylor and I eagerly took a baby-break. And after my much needed shower, I found the two of them curled up on the couch. I couldn’t find a good place to squeeze in and join them, so I snapped a picture and then read a magazine from front to back. Ah, Sundays.

Welcome to the jungle

Not only did Taylor get spoiled with hugs and kisses while her Grandma and Grandpa were in town, she also got a bunch of toys. Here she is in her new kiddie-gym thing that only took Chris 15 minutes to put together. We now realize that every holiday and birthday from here out will require an assortment of batteries and a bit of patience.

The reason I’m typing with one hand

We were lucky to have Chris’s parents visit us from Texas this weekend. Taylor had a lot of fun with her Grandma and Grandpa and, needless to say, they were thrilled with her. The last time they were here she was under the bili-lights trying to kick the jaundice out of her system, and was unable to be held or hugged except to eat. Well, I would say that her Grandma made up for any lost cuddle-time, as Taylor was held for about 38 of the 48 hours they were here. So today I’ve had her snuggled up in her fuzzy blanket and attached to me for the majority of the day, not wanting to unhinge her. It has been lovely in that she’s such a nuzzler, but it does makes it difficult to do normal things like eat and brush my teeth.

Taylor was an absolute dream while Greg and Sue were here. We went to church, out to eat and passed through the whole weekend without any major come-aparts. She was very generous with the smiles, and every time she would giggle at them you could actually see their hearts melting.

Yea for dads

A very happy first-ever Father’s Day to Chris. I always knew you would be a fantastic dad, and you already exceeded all expectations in the mere two-months you’ve held the title. It’s no surprise, you learned it all from your Dad.

Also sending lots of love to my Dad today. Thanks for loving, supporting, guiding and tolerating me for the past 30 years… I know those teenage years were hot-cold. And I promise to call you the day Taylor throws a temper-tantrum because her hair won’t “go” so you can laugh and tell me, See. See how ridiculous that was.

Here we are now, entertain us

A few nights ago, while we were TRYING to eat dinner, Chris plucked a crying Taylor out of her swing and placed her next to him in the bouncy-chair. The big difference between the swing and the chair is an attachment-piece of rattles and plastic thingamabobs. Taylor loved them up, staring at the toys, giggling and cooing each time Chris flicked the rattle and bounced the chair. After inhaling the rest of our vegan entrée - I’ll explain that another time - we decided that the swing was out, the bouncy chair is the latest and greatest. Our little newborn that had once been content just staring at the mobile, is now a two-month old baby that needs a little more entertainment.

So now, as a warning to any guests that grace the Amys house, we will be in a constant flurry of rattling, singing, dancing and making extremely strange squealing noises that our daughter seems to think are hilarious. It has been almost a week and the bouncy seat is still number one, and every time I flip the rattle-man around the bar, her eyes get huge and she looks at him like, Dance, rattle-man, dance.