How big is Tobi?

SOOO BIIIG!!

Tobi turned 10 yesterday...months that is. This last month has been pretty exciting as far as new developments are concerned. Tobi is officially mobile. She has been rolling and scooting for a few weeks now, but she officially crossed the line and became a full fledged crawler this past week.


And as you can see she enjoys playing ball...with herself.


And she also likes to groove to the music...


Some of her other monumental accomplishments are saying mama, dada and ball, getting from her stomach to sitting and back again, clapping her hands, singing, signing and meowing at the cat. It's been a busy month around here!

Memorial Day Fun

Lawn games...
Burgers & Dogs...
Picnicking...
Dessert...


Family...
Red, White and Blue...
Kisses...

Fireworks...
Tractor rides....

Fire....
What a lovely day!

Beach Baby

90 degrees? or more? There's only one solution....the BEACH! Tobi and I took a spur of the moment trip to Ogunquit yesterday. It was great! Still warm but somehow the beach makes the heat bearable. For the most part Tobi had a good time...but she didn't care for the sand or the water that much...hmm...looks like we have some work to do. She REALLY did not like the bathrooms (who can blame her?). The constant sound of automatic flushers, sinks and hand dyers was TOOOOO much!

As you can see from Tobi's expression, there was a little wind...

Did I mention it was windy?
Who needs a Wonder Wheeler when you have the Super Stroller? This stoller came in very handy (although I'm sure Ben isn't that happy that I brought it down onto the sand). As you can see I was able to carry all my earthly belongings and still take the Tobster for a walk.Here she is, ridin' in style...
A day at the beach is exhausting (especially after all the bathroom trauma!).

Not Me Monday

This week I definitely did not go on a hair clip shopping spree for my hairless hair-challenged 9 month old daughter. Our friend Liz brought over the cutest little crocheted hat for Tobi (that she found on Etsy).
Thus, I was reminded of these crocheted hair clips from briar.claire (also on Etsy)that I have wanted to check out after seeing them in this little cutie's hair. But I definitely would not have bought any of these cute little clips while daydreaming of pigtails and cute wispy locks of hair. What would I even do with them for the next year or so?

I also most definitely did not, while rushing to finish getting ready to get to my Moms group, watch helplessly as my daughter clunked her forehead into the edge of the bathroom vanity. And it's a good thing I did not let that happen on the morning of her 9 month check-up. And I certainly would not have been a little glad when the doctor didn't seem to notice the red mark on her head (that of course wasn't there..and certainly didn't seem as big and bright as Rudloph's nose to me) until the Dr. herself asked "I didn't do that, did I?"...and I never would have considered saying "YES!...you did that...NOT ME!"

Well, I guess I better finish this post and see about the child that is most definitely not trying to get my attention as I sit here and type. I wouldn't ignore her...never..and definitely not for something as trivial as a blog post! Not me!

( This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.)

My First Mother's Day

We had a great weekend visiting with our families and celebrating motherhood (Flickr pics). I did get a mother's day card last year since I already was taking care of our little one while she was camping out in my belly...but this year is extra special! I love being a mommy to this little one!
There are so many things you "know" are true about what it means to be a mom, but there is a whole new depth of appreciation this year in me now that I am experiencing it from this side of things. As I spend the day taking care of Tobi, I find myself thinking so often of my own mom and all that she did for me...all the feeding, changing, caring, loving, singing, crying, laughing, cooking, cleaning, playing, doting, teaching, listening, kissing, hugging, consoling, encouraging, inspiring, modeling, mentoring, praying ( and the list goes on and on....). It is so real..this bond mother to child...so immediate and deep. I am so completely devoted to the well being of this little one...I look at the world differently now. I see the world through the eyes of a mom...how will any of this and all this matter or affect my child? There is hardly a decision I make in my day that she is not a consideration in it...and although there are certain sacrifices to be made because of that, I can't think of anything that I have given up that compares to the joy I receive from her. I am so thankful this day that I too am among those who call themselves moms.

Tobi's Big Girl Shopping Trip

I am eeking every last use out of the car seat/carrier we have. Tobi has her next well-baby check up next week. Last time we were there she was pushing the 20lb. mark and the chair is only supposed to be used up to 22lbs. I'm expecting we may have to graduate to the big girl (well bigger girl at least) chair. I realized that Tobi has only been in the grocery store in the carrier. I figured it was time to prepare for the next phase. (This trip actually happened last week because neither Tobi nor I actually went outside, much less to the grocery store this week...we both had nasty colds!)

Here we are ready to go. Honestly I thought she'd be a little more excited...but she was tolerant...and that was enough :)

She did great (with a little cracker bribe down ever other aisle or so). By the end she was missing her "bucket", as we like to call it. Shopping is exhausting!
She seriously stayed in this position all the way through the last few aisles, checkout and out to the car. As soon as I put her in her seat in the car she snuggled in and fell asleep immediately! Oh the comforts of the familiar...I hear you, girl!

Not Me Monday and Adventures in Laundry

(Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.)

I often go through my day thinking in Facebook status update form, even though I hardly update my status. I never feel like what I'm doing is worthy of an actual update. I just like to keep track in my mind. "Shauna is ...washing the floor" (ok, that does not usually happen..bad example). "Shauna is... sitting on the couch" (hmm...more realistic). "Shauna is ...thinking she should get her butt off the couch and wash the floor." "Shauna is...just going to take a little nap....theeeen wash the floor... "... etc.

Since I have become a MckFamily blog stalker reader...I happened to read a few Not Me! Monday posts and now I find myself very often thinking in Not Me! blog post language during my day even though I have never actually written a Not Me! Monday post. The funny thing is that I "post" in real time as I am "NOT" doing the things I would post about if I ever did. One such example might go something like this... "I am definitely not putting this dirty bib on my child and watching her pick off the old Cheerios and eat them... and if I was, I am not actually glad they are there because she has stopped whining for a moment...that would be gross and...wrong!" Not that that ever happened, of course. And certainly not more than once!

So now that I have become completely entangled in the lives of people I do not know, and because Not Me! Monday is back, AND because I had very Not Me! experience... I think I will now actually post this one for real (as opposed to just composing it in my head).

Well, last week it didn't take me three days to the laundry for our family of 3...especially because I would never have fed our daughter on the newly washed blanket we use to cover our couch, because any one would know that, no matter how careful I am, we have yet to have a spill-free meal and a 9 month old child should always be fed in their high chair. Good thing I didn't do that because I would've had to wash that blanket twice.

I did buy toilet paper last week. I did split up the package...5 rolls for upstairs and 4 for downstairs. I did wonder when I brought the rolls upstairs why I could only locate 4 of the 5 rolls. And I did think perhaps I was very bad at counting and leave it at that.

Back to the laundry...of course I always check all the pockets of every pair of pants I put in the laundry. I wouldn't leave that kind of thing up to chance. Not me! So when I pulled out my black sweat pants I most certainly would not have found tiny pieces of paper all over said pants. Or more paper on my black tank top...and the next article of clothing...and so on. If I had I might have begun to to wonder how big this piece of paper was that someone may or may not have left in their pocket. And it would be downright silly if I had then reached my hand into the washer and pulled out a big wad of paper... I mean a BIG WAD of paper...wet and matted to the side of the washer. But if I had done that it might have explained what happened to that mysteriously absent 5th roll of toilet paper meant for the upstairs bathroom!




Oh and I definitely did not pull this out of the trash just to take a picture for this post...NOT ME!