Stand Tall, Stand Proud

Look at me Mommy!

I can look out the window now!

That is Orlaith's motto these days! That's right! My sweet girl pulled up to standing for the first time ever on Saturday night! I bought her one of those activity tables to encourage her to pull up, and it worked! She has been sitting down and reaching up to activate the noises/music. She LOVES music and likes to dance every chance she gets. Saturday night, she pulled herself up to her knees (for the 1st time too) and then she just stood up out of nowhere! It was super duper cute. She had a huge grin on her face. She was SO proud! We were proud of her too. Since then, she pulls herself to standing whenever she gets the chance. It has been a busy week, crawling and standing all within 3 days of each other. I better brace myself for walking. I know I don't have long!

Bump 2 Baby Event

There is a huge giveaway event coming up!!! Visit Minnesota Mamas Must Haves for your chance to win great baby products all during the month of September! Head over before 8/31 so you can snag your extra entries!

Fun Follow Friday

I just found out about Fun Follow Friday. There are two host blogs Simply Stacy and My Wee View. If you have a blog, you can go link up your blog on both sites to get more followers through Google Friend Connect. The directions are listed on the FFF pages on both host blogs. What a great idea! Thanks ladies!

8 Months

Orlaith crawling for the 1st time!

My sweet baby girl!

So yesterday Orlaith was 8 months and 1 week old. We had pictures taken that were delayed from last week due to her Roseola rash. Right in the middle of the photo shoot, she crawled for the first time!!! We got a great picture too. I am so glad that I was there to see it. She has had the belly crawl down for a while now, but this was full on hands & knees crawling!

She has also learned to clap. If you say "yay" and clap your hands, she will clap her hands too. She is starting to mimic a lot, which is super cute. Hopefully she will pick up some of the baby sign language we have been using with her. She has mimicked the sign for "milk" so far. So exciting!

Weekend Update with Orlaith Markey

We had a very busy weekend! Friday night we went to a going away party at the in-home daycare Orlaith attends. One of the little girls had gone there for 4 years (since she was born) and was leaving for school. There was a blow up water slide, food, smores and some karaoke to Hannah Montana. Good times!

Hanging out by the water slide

Saturday morning we got up early, and had breakfast tacos before heading to the grocery store. Orlaith loves going grocery shopping. She sits up big and tall in the cart, and plays with the balloon we tie to the cart for her. I have to be careful not to park the cart too close to anything, because she will reach and grab for just about everything. Her nickname when she does this is 'Grabby McGrabberson'. She always gets tons of attention, which she eats up!

That afternoon, we had Marlie's 1st birthday party to attend. It was so much fun! There was yummy grilled pizza, a teddy bear cake and Mother Goose entertained the kiddos too! Orlaith was super-duper tired when we got done with that, and she crashed hard! She woke up just in time for us to meet our friends Brooke, Greg and Georgia for dinner. Orlaith and Georgia are 3 days apart and it is so fun to get them together. After dinner, we hung out at our place and let the girls play. After that Brian and I watched the documentary Babies. I loved it!

Chasing bubbles at Marlie's party

Orlaith and Georgia

Sunday morning I made breakfast. Then while O was taking her morning nap, I made up four batches of baby food. New on the menu this week is figs, kiwi, green rice (sauteed onion, garlic, spinach and lemon zest pureed and mixed with jasmine rice) and a lentil/veggie mixture (onion, carrots and celery cooked with green lentils and vegetable broth). I love cooking for Orlaith. It is so fun to try new recipes and watch her adorable face as she tastes them for the first time. I am so proud of my good eater! She hasn't met a vegetable she doesn't like!

Sunday afternoon O and I went to mommy/baby yoga which is always a blast. This time we had friends join us for class - Ann & Ody and Veronica & Violet. We were all in a birthing class together last year and the babies are very close in age. It is always a fun time when we can get them together.

Once we got home it was time to get everything ready for the work week and day care. Whew! It was so nice to sit still... finally. Brian and I settled in to watch our Sunday night TV - True Blood! Have I mentioned before how much I LOVE that show? It is so brilliant! I slept great last night, with my sweet O baby snuggled up next to me. It is always the best way to start my day by waking up to her cute baby noises and the sweet, gummy grin!

My Baby Clothes Boutique

There is only one word to describe this boutique, and that word is unique! I love clothes shopping for my 8 month old daughter. So when I find a place that has adorable clothes at a great price, I am all over it! I first heard about My Baby Clothes Boutique from Teresha at Marlie and Me. She was coveting an adorable outfit for Marlie's 1st birthday. I was at Marlie's party this past Saturday, and I saw first hand how perfect her outfit was!

Now, it is my turn to covet... Orlaith's birthday will be here before I know it. She will turn one December 18th. That is less than four months away... eek! If you know me, you know what a planner I am. When I heard that Marlie and Me was hosting a giveaway for a $25 gift card to the boutique, I immediately had to enter. I also picked out the perfect birthday outfit for Orlaith. I LOVE this outfit and have never seen anything like it! I WANT IT! I also want these adorable shoes to go with it. How cute would my little cupcake be in that outfit???

So you can go enter the giveaway here. If you don't, that just gives me a better chance of winning! Keep your fingers and toes crossed for me! I want this win badly...

Big Things, Coming Soon!

I am going to be a guest blogger on Go Graham Go!!! I have written two posts for Felicia. One is all about cloth diapering, and the other is about making your own baby food. They should be up next month. I will post a link once they are published.

Also, I am so happy to announce that I am going to start hosting giveaways soon! I have two of them planned to coincide with my guest posts on GGG. I will be giving away a copy of Blender Baby Food (provided by me) and I will be giving away a cloth diaper sponsored by Christine at Sew Natural Diaper Company!

Roseola

Orlaith came down with a VERY high fever Sunday night. I took her temperature and it was 103.9! I thought the thermometer was broken, so I took it again with a different one and it was the same. I immediately called her pediatrician's office and left a message for the doctor on call. She called back within 5 minutes and instructed me to alternate generic Tylenol and generic Motrin (due to the recalls). Her fever finally broke 3 hours later. The next day, she was not interested in food at all. She was in pretty good spirits as long as I kept her fever down. She still ran a low grade fever all day though. About 2 she was fussy and wanted to be held. By 2:20 I noticed red spots all over her torso. I called the doctor's office and made an appointment to take her in. On the 20 minute drive there, the rash had spread to her face, arms, hands, legs and feet. My poor baby! The doctor confirmed that she had Roseola, and the rash was even on her throat. Luckily she seemed to be moving through the infection must faster than most babies since her fever only lasted one day instead of three.I kept her home again yesterday. We had no more issues with the fever, but she wasn't very hungry and just wanted Mommy to hold her. Her 8 month pictures are postponed until next week when the rash should be all cleared up. Here she is now, 8 months old today, splotches and all.

Balloon Love

Yesterday was my day off with Orlaith. We met my cousin and Aunt for lunch at a tearoom. She got lots of love and kisses from them both! I went grocery shopping after that where O sat in the cart like a big girl. I got her a balloon (they are free when you walk in). She was mesmerized by it! It was definitely a big hit. She played with it all day yesterday, and actually did not pop it. I was totally banking on the fact that she would pop it by digging her razor sharp nails into it. I was ready to be on call for the scary "pop", and the ensuing crying. I am glad that didn't happen, although I am sure it will one day soon.



Orlaith fought nap time, BIG TIME! She fell asleep an hour and 15 minutes later than usual and then only slept 1 hour instead of 2. Plus, the past couple of nights she has been fighting bedtime too, and she has been waking up early in the mornings. I am kind of worried that she is not getting enough sleep. I think I will mention this to her pediatrician next time we are in the office if she keeps this up.

Last night I made Orlaith a tutu for her 8 month pictures next week. It turned out really cute. I am VERY proud of myself!!!




I won a pair of ShooShoos from Go Graham Go. I picked out these.
http://shooshoosusa.com/product_info.php?products_id=694
I am getting them bigger so that I will have shoes when O is walking.

I Win!

I have been having a bit of a dry spell lately, but I finally won something! I won a Best Bottoms diaper cover and 3 inserts from Dirty Diaper Laundry! I can't wait to get it in the mail and try it out.

I have used the Rockin' Green detergent (I won this a bit ago from another blog) for the past 3 times I have washed diapers. It works really well, and the diapers are super clean! It has even managed to remove a few stains from the diapers.