51 Weeks Young!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yikes!!!!!  How is my baby almost one year old already?!?!?!?!

51 weeks young.  Technically, since I'm late in posting this, she's actually 51.5 weeks!  Just a few more days until the big O-N-E.  Eeeeeeep!

She crawls, she walks, she dances, and as of the past week she is a non-stop babbler too!

Emily started her 51st week making “ga-ga” noises all day.  She then moved on to “Dada”  {woohoo!!  milestone photo op!}  and in case there was any doubt in my mind from earlier in the week, she definitely said “oof oof” when we saw a dog -- so that’s also an official word now!

Walking and talking.  My newborn infant has turned into a toddler and I simply don't understand where the time has gone!!!  ;)

We've been blessed with some really nice spring weather, so we've been spending more time outside.  Emily is getting slightly more warmed-up to the grass, even venturing to touch it voluntarily!

The weekend was fun-filled with firsts!  Emily visited Long Island {where I grew up!} for the first time, and attended her first birthday party!  A childhood friend of mine had a baby boy just 3 weeks before I gave birth to Emily, so we went out to meet the adorable little Trevor and help celebrate his birthday!  We also got to see some of my extended family members after the party, and then celebrated our first Mother's Day as a family together the following day at home!

On Monday, I took Emily to a waddler gym class for the first time, where she experienced a ball pit, tunnel crawl, swinging rings, a balance beam, a trampoline, and a bunch of exercises and other activities.  She wasn't very impressed with the ball pit or tunnel crawl, though she did finally go through one little tunnel after a lot of prompting by me.  :)

   

She looooooved the rings -- it probably felt to her like she was a human swing!  The smile on her face was just pure joy.

Emily's appetite for solid foods is improving, and she is getting very good at feeding herself some finger foods!  She used to gag when presented with "chunky" foods, but this week she scarfed down an entire 6 oz jar of chicken with pasta stars PLUS 2 clementines for dinner in one night!  The following night she ate an entire banana following her 4 oz jar of puree!  She's a growing girl, for sure!  Here's a little video of Emily eating some grapes:

The way she moves her little fingers to her mouth, and purses her lips when she chews just cracks me up.  I love watching her feeding skills improve over time -- it's been such a remarkable difference in a relatively short amount of time!

Well, that's about it for Week 51!  We have one B-I-G birthday milestone coming up in just a few days!!!!!!!!!!!!

Mother's Day

Today was my first Mother's Day as a mommy!  After a delicious homemade brunch cooked by my hubby, I opened some very sweet gifts and then the three of us spent the afternoon at the park.  Emily went on the swings and then insisted on rolling around in the dirt a little bit, luckily after Shep snapped this photo of us.

It's a little hard to see from the photo, but we're wearing matching shirts.  Yes, I'm that mom.  The shirts were a Christmas gift from a friend and I've been dying for warm enough weather to wear them -- I thought today was the perfect day!

My first Mother's Day, and almost a full year of being Mommy.  Wow.  So many memories already, so many learnings, so much love, and so little sleep.  ;)   I wouldn't trade any of it!  How lucky am I that I get to spend my life loving this sweet little girl.  Emily, you'll always be my sunshine!  Thank you for filling my days with laughter, joy, love, and silliness.  Becoming your mommy has been more wonderful, difficult and fulfilling than I'd ever imagined possible, and motherhood is the best gift I've ever been given.  You fill my world with light, and make me happy when skies are gray.  I love you more than words can say, and am so honored to be your mommy.

I remember watching this video last year when it first aired.  Back then, I was still trying to imagine exactly what it would be like to "be a mom".  I have a lot of great mom role models in my life, and I tried to picture myself in their shoes, doing their job.  It's funny -- all of the expectations I had about motherhood were sort of right but also sort of wrong.

This is the most challenging ("There are no breaks!"; "No time to sleep!"), high stakes, high energy ("chaotic environment"), entertaining and most rewarding job I'll ever have.  Not every day is a "successful" one, but I love every minute of watching Emily grow.  I wouldn't trade my job as Mommy for all the money in the world, and I'd take this job over and over and over again, without a second thought.

*****

Happy Mother's Day to all the wonderful, amazing, loving, special moms out there!!!  Thank you so much for all that you do!  It is a tough job, but someone's gotta do it!

And to my Mom..... I love you!  Thanks for everything.  :)  xoxo

Happy Mother's Day!

To all the mothers, grandmothers, godmothers, aunts, cousins, sisters, friends and neighbors out there who have made a difference in the life of someone who depends on you...

Source

On this special day, and in honor of all the many good mothers out there, I wanted to share a post I recently came across:  http://www.scarymommy.com/good-mothers/.  There is no one right or wrong way to be a mother.  The only requirement that's absolute is love.

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!!!

As for me, I'm enjoying this beautifully sunny day with my hubby, prepping for baby to arrive any week now and looking forward to spending next Mother's Day with my little one!