Hunter: 9 Months

This month's picture is a little different because we were on vacation.  More on that later.

Happy 9 months Bubbers!

Your collection of teeth is growing.  You have had your bottom two teeth for a couple months now, but your top two are starting to poke through as well!

You went on your first nature hike..

..and did your old man proud by picking up a cute chick in a hot car

I introduced you to new foods this month including broccoli, mango, zucchini and avacado. You aren't thrilled with the zucchini, but everything else you chow down on.

You are right on the cusp of so many things.  You haven't started crawling yet, but you can push yourself up from your belly into a sitting position.  You can also kind of feed yourself- as long as I hand the food to you. The 'pincher grip' hasn't quite come to you yet.


 We took you to your first trip to the beach in preparation for our upcoming vacation to OBX.  I was worried how you were going to do in the car, but youslept most of the ride.  When you did wake up, you didn't cry or fuss.  We heard you softly babbling, so we used a cellphone to see if you were indeed awake.

You were totally cool.

We walked up to the beach and you seemed a little hesitant about the waves

so we decided to the bay beach instead, and you friggin LOVED it.  We set you up in a float with a toy and you were happier then a pig in poop.

You also discovered sand...

what is this stuff?

..it feels weird..

..and it sticks to my hand!

 You seemed a little skeptical about it at first, but by the time we left, you were practically covered in the stuff

During our trip to the shore, Hunter woke up screaming in the middle of the night.  We thought he might be hungry, but he wouldn't take a bottle or the breast.  He wouldn't chew on a teething ring either, so we had no idea what was wrong.  After over an hour of trying to calm him down, he finally went back to sleep.  The next day he was a little fussier then normal, so I decided to call the pediatrician just in case.  Two hours later I was getting the diagnosis that he had an ear infection.  My poor baby!  We got him a prescription of antibiotics and within the week it was all cleared up.

Little dude, you continue to be the sweetest, most amazing thing in our lives.  We love you so much.

Always & forever,
   Mommy.

Color My World: Toast the Couple

My nails are a damn mess.  

I let them grow too long and a bunch broke.  So I decided to just start over by cutting them down.  But I cut them too short and I didn't want to bring attention to my man-like hands.

Clearly the logical answer would have been not to wear nail polish, but let's be honest, that's not going to happen.  I have an image to uphold.  

I found the perfect don't-look-at-me color while they regrow in Orly's Toast the Couple.  It's a nude color without being too sheer 

...and what better way to divert attention from my nails then to take a picture and post it on the internet.  Good plan Lizzie, good plan.

I was a bridesmaid in a wedding over the weekend, and since my nails were too short for a french manicure, this was the perfect stand in for both my fingers and my toes.  I was able to truly 'toast the couple' with style!

Always & Forever,
  ME

It's Conniepalooza!

My best friend is getting married.  Tomorrow.  

This is epic news because Connie has said she never wanted to get married.  Then, in December, she and her boyfriend of 12 years, Joey, announced their engagement.  She asked me to be a bridesmaid, and of course I accepted.  After all, she was my maid of honor.

Two of the other bridesmaids, Erin and Jamie and I got started planning her bridal shower.  After much searching (and fighting with the owner), we got a fantastic deal at the Brick Hotel in Newtown, PA.

 (before I continue, I need to mention that I forgot my camera.  All of the bridal shower pictures are 100% stolen from Jamie's facebook page)

When it came time to plan the details, I knew I wanted to make things pretty:  soft peaches, pinks and yellows.  I figured if I could make this look like a Pinterest board, pin-happy Connie would be pleased.

Our dear friend, Erin, flew in from Atlanta and helped us with the plans

For favors, we went with cake pops.  Everyone loves an edible favor, and they looked like fun to make.  And believe me, after killing three bottles of moscato between the three of us, they were a lot of fun to make.

Beside the favors we had a scrap booking area.  Connie loves to scrap book, so we felt it was appropriate for everyone to write down a memory of Connie or Joe.  We provided stickers, markers and other crafty accessories

We played three games:  The first was a simple game of as the guest arrived, we had the write down their birthdays and wedding anniversaries.  The guests with the date closest to Connie's birthday, Joey's birthday and their impending wedding date one a prize.  The second game was a He Said/She Said that I blatantly stole from here.  The top two guest with the most correct answers got prizes.  The third game everyone was given a clothes pin, and if you said the word "wedding" "groom" or "bride", some was allowed to steal your clothes pin.  The final prize was awarded to Erin's mom, who was mighty cut throat with this game.

In an attempt to save money, I ransacked my mason jar collection and made two different prizes.  The jars marked "Love Yourself" included miniature hand lotions, body sprays, nail file, nail polish and cozy socks.  The "Grow Love" jars had gardening gloves, a packet of flower seeds and some top soil to start.

Our centerpieces were smaller mason jars wrapped in twine filled with fresh cut flowers.  A game card was set at each chair, along with pencils in a baby food jar wrapped in twine.

Joe's family celebrates with cocktails

the excited bride enters

 All in all the shower was a great success and Connie was  showered with lovely gifts and wonderful company

 ...and Jamie and I celebrated that we pulled the whole thing off.   

For the bachelorette party, I hosted a small cocktail party before we headed out to Woody's in Philadelphia.

damn the fuzzy picture!

 Went with a theme of fabulousity by pairing turquoise and gold.  I set out a light fare of roasted red pepper hummus, bake brie and chicken bites with a merlot ranch dipping sauce.

 I set up a martini bar with all the fixings and included the recipes for three popular martinis:  dirty, cosmo and apple martini.

 Among our group of friends, we don't really do all the bachelorette paraphernalia;  no lighted penis earrings, or shot glasses, or t shirts with check lists.  We do, however, require a penis cake.

 Everyone mingled and got to know each other for about an hour or so, and then Connie preformed the penis cake bris

Not gonna lie, that was damn good cake.  Funfetti for the win.

The rest of the night was filled with  drunken debauchery.  There are pictures floating around, but I don't need the world to see.  Just know that there was dancing, vodka and a very sexy shot guy I kept calling Clark Kent walking around in his skivvies.  It was a good night.


So here we are Ms. Chung, it's the night before you wedding.  A day that I never thought I would see, and I am still getting used to the fact it is happening.  I am so excited for tomorrow to see all your planning come to fruition.

Many happy years to you and Joey,

xoxo
  Amerbutt.

Hunter: 8 Months

I'm not even going to lie, May whizzed by so fast, I can't remember what happened this past month.

Bubbers, you have become so much fun.  Now that you are getting older, we are feeling more comfortable to play a little rough with you.    And you love it.

Anything that is in your reach automatically goes into your mouth.  You have become more and more curious about things and trying to keep you limited to just your toys is becoming difficult.  

Your favorite toys are your stacking cups and and your Little Einstein Roller Pillar Balls.  They are awesome because you can pick them up, bang them together and gnaw on them.  I won't leave the house without one or the other.

                         

You've become a champion sitter and able to occupy yourself.  I am feeling more comfortable sitting on the ground with a toy while I flip the laundry or run to the bathroom.  

While you aren't crawling yet, you kind of scoot yourself across the floor-- and by 'across the floor' I actually mean 'directly towards the electrical cables and TV stand'.  

This month you also learned how to clap.  It is probably the cutest thing ever, and you love it when Daddy says "babybabybabybabybaby" over and over again.  

We spent Memorial Day with your future wife, Jenna.  You took this opportunity to cop a feel.

Later, we plopped you love birds in the swimming pool where I captured the best picture ever:

 One of the things I love the most, is sitting and watching Hunter play.  Creepy, I know, but I am completely fascinated in watching him learn.  He'll pick up an object, turn it around to inspect it, give it a good shake and then shove it in his mouth.  I just can't get enough of it.

Bubskidubs, we love you so much.

Always & Forever,
  ME

Our Son Can Now Go to Heaven. He'll Thank Us Later.

Everytime I sat down to write this post, I kept thinking of the baptism scene from My Big Fat Greek Wedding.  You know the scene where Gus is all "itsa your lucky day:  you get to be baptized in the Greek Church!"

We decided to have Hunter baptized this past spring.  JEGs and I are not super religious, but I figured that if the Mayans are right and the world ends in December, I wanted to give my kid a fighting chance.

JEGs was raised Ukrainian Orthodox and I was raised Methodist.  Since we were married by a Methodist priest, I really really really wanted to have Hunter baptized at my mother-in-law's church.  I knew it would be very special to her.  However, there were a couple stipulations that made it not possible, so we had him baptized at the church I went to as a child (and my parents are still very active members) Bensalem United Methodist in Bensalem, PA.

(There are two spelling errors on that invitation that I did fix before they went out.  Since my hard drive is dead, this was the only copy I could find in an e-mail.)

I know a lot of mothers use the train from their wedding dress to make a baptismal outfit for their children, but  loved that dress so much I don't want anyone going anywhere near it with a pair of scissors.  If you do, I will cut you. Not even joking.   I was kind of stumped as to what to get him,until my mother-in-law, Momma G, mentioned she still had JEGs' suit.  It was the cutest little button down shirt with overalls and a matching jacket.   The jacket was a teeny bit big, but otherwise, everything fit perfectly.

with jacket

sans jacket and serious face added.  

To honor his Uki background, Momma G purchased his baptismal cross.

The ceremony is pretty simple, and Hunter took the sprinkling of the holy water over his head like a champ.  

He held out for most of the service, but started to get a little fussy towards the end.

JEGs and I chose my eldest brother Russell to be Hunter's godfather and my cousin Tara came from Pittsburgh to be his godmother.  Although Tara is my cousin, I consider her one of my dearest friends as well (she was a bridesmaid in our wedding).  She stayed with us for the weekend, and it was awesome to spend time with her since I don't get to see her that often.  And I'll be honest, she was super helpful too, so it was kind of nice to have a personal assistant for a couple of days.  When I make it big, I'm hiring Tara.  We'll be like Britney and Fe.   But without the KFed.  

Anyway, since the church was a solid 40 minutes from our house, my parents were kind enough to host a luncheon at their house.  We did a picnic-style menu, complete with sandwiches, pasta salads and my sister-in-law Angie's famous deviled eggs.

I wasn't going to have a lot of time for decorating between the church service and the start of the luncheon, so I went simple with decor.  I strung a paper banner across the window, and added little monogram cupcake toppers.  Cause I can't NOT decorate.  

In the Ukrainian ceremony, the godparents are more involved and have candles that are lit during the service.  Since the godparents basically just nod their head and smile in our service, we  used the candles from JEGs' baptism as a centerpiece for the table

Get your grub on!

The weather was absolutely perfect, and many people took the opportunity to dine alfresco

You may remember Wyatt as the ring bearer at our wedding.  Here he is with JEGs' grandmother, "BaBa"

My niece Skylar is the cutest little thing.  Tara was on a mission to be her BFF by the end of the day.  Mission:  Accomplished.

The kids from both sides of the family got along so well together!

Huntface did so well the entire day, and finally passed out on JEGs' chest before we left.  You may now collectively go "awwwwwwww".

Always & Forever,
  ME