The Adventures of Mrs.Movie Snob

Every year comes with new experiences that I'm supposed to learn from. This year was no exception. (It was my first complete year as a mother and I became a someone's wife) The only difference was that I had a new teacher. She's about 2 1/2 feet tall and she calls me "Ma-ma." With her help, I'm a few steps closer to adulthood...hopefully. Here goes: 1. The only person a grudge really hurts is the person who's holding it. 2. You can become indifferent to smell of poop...but not puke. Blech. 3. Forgiving doesn't mean forgetting. But, I'm moving on. 4. Don't be so quick to judge the parents of a toddler throwing a tantrum. Isabel has shown me that sometimes it doesn't matter what I do. She has other plans and they don't involve being quiet. 5. Some people are never going to grow up. Age does not necessarily equal wisdom. 6. My Mother is an amazing woman. I knew this before, of course, but am constantly reminded when I see her

Has anyone else noticed that time is flying? Seriously. Every Monday I think, " This is going to be a long week. " And every Friday I find myself saying, "How the hell is it already Friday?!" What's going on?! As with everything else, I blame baby. Our day is broken into 2 hour chunks -- somehow that translates into go-go-go and once I stop to look up, it's 4:00 p.m. and the day has gotten away from me again. The good part about that is that we are closer to her bedtime. The bad news is we are also closer to my bedtime and after a brief rest, I get to do it all again. (Yes, I'm Superwoman) I always have such high expectations for the week too. As I sit with my morning coffee on Monday morning, I am mentally compiling a list of all the wonderful and productive things I'm going to do during the week -- grocery shopping, exercising daily, fixing the car, cleaning out closets and garage, mani/pedi, painting the house, scrubbing the floors.... See, I

Ok, so I sort of pride myself on not being an overly protective and fussy new parent. Isabel gets dirty, she's tasted junk food and I let her run and fall at the park. She's a kid. Being a kid is supposed to be fun, right? I hear other mom's talking about how they were so incredibly careful with the first one and all subsequent children were knife jugglers. I hope I fall somewhere in-between. Don't get me wrong, our house is totally baby-proofed. The whole kitchen is on lockdown. (giving Mommy a good lesson in patience) And once baby started walking, we turned our living/dining area into a sort of baby-corral with a strategically placed gate. It's been working great. But, as our munchkin grows (daily it seems), her play area shrinks. So, today I decided we should try something different. I took down the baby gate and said "go explore." And it was at this moment that I realized that I'm not quite as laid back as I thought. I was a nervous wreck all da

Yes, I've missed a few months. There seems to be some sort of correlation between Isabel's mobility and my spare time - the more she moves, the less I have. But, I have to admit, I really do love watching her toddle around. At last check-in, she was just shy of 11-months-old. She was able to hold herself up but walking was still pretty scary for her. Then her 1st Birthday came and went and with it a blur of a month that included a wedding, a slew of family meetings and a cross-country roadtrip. Now, the dust has settled and our little baby is now a little toddler. In fact, she toddled all over Graceland, The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and Niagara Falls. It was a blast! (And quite a crash course in baby travel for us) Not only does she walk - she runs. She spins and dances. She talks....and talks and talks. And she makes us smile all the time. We truly fall a little more in love with her everyday. I think we're still a little bit in awe of her. I look at her sometimes

Attention all brand-new Mommies and Mommies-to-be: Here's something no one told me -- Your immune system is about to be tested like it's never been tested before!! I was prepared to sterilize, sanitize and compulsively wash my hands. We spend the first year just trying to keep these little nuggets healthy. What I wasn't prepared for was that my getting sick is inevitable. If she sniffles, I'll be sniffling the next day. If she sneezes, I'm soon to follow....then, Daddy. Yep, it's a family affair. And what seems to be a mild cold in her gets amplified in our giant bodies. No fun. We've just spent the last two days in quarantine thanks to baby. And I still have no idea where it came from. Now, to disinfect.... What's going to happen when she starts school?! Maybe we'll just put her in a bubble. Save ourselves some trouble. Otherwise, I guess we have Malaria to look forward to. Have you met our daughter?

The difference between nine and ten months? Wow. There are really too many to name. Isabel is turning into one amazing little person. Of course, I never doubted her impending brilliance. (Remember, she said "Daddy" at 2-days-old) But, the only way to describe her development this month is exponential. She stands, she toddles, she talks (and SCREAMS!!!), she dances (that's my girl!) and eats real food! But my favorite development is finally, FINALLY getting to hear "Mama." Each day is one big discovery and I feel truly blessed that I get to see and hear every minute of it. Even the sassy parts. Yes, already. As expected, two sassier-than-thou parents made the ultimate sassy baby. And, boy, are we in trouble. I know that's going to grow exponentially too. Her favorite word is "yeah." As in "Isabel, I said no!" "Yeah." Sassy-pants. I can't help but smile and that makes my stern look completely ineffective. My Summer Gir

I used to love sitting still. Call me lazy if you want but sitting still in a quiet room is great .... a great memory, that is. So is sleeping in and a leisurely shower. Four weeks ago, I was very worried (maybe borderline frantic), that Isabel would never sit up on her own. She got the memo.....with a vengeance. In what seemed like a matter of days, she went from immobile to "Baby- go-go-go" . Apparently, she's got places to be. Of course I'm proud of her, however, I was really only able to enjoy this milestone briefly. Most of my time is now devoted to keeping the little munchkin from killing herself. She's like that drunk friend you had in college. She loves me but she thinks she's capable of doing everything by herself ..... and she occasionally vomits. So, next she'll be walking. This just means that all those new and shiny things she's discovered on her knees will be more accessible. Great. It really makes you look at your surroundings in a d

This past weekend, we made a family trip to the mall. In almost every store we went into, the same thing kept happening! People would smile, do a double take or even stop dead in their tracks just to get a look at our girl. She gets attention! Now, I know most Mommies are biased. And (most) rightfully so. But, this behavior just reaffirms my belief that my baby girl is one of the most beautiful babies ever born. lol Add to that  she's very quick to give you a toothy grin....let's face it, you're helpless against her powers. What's not to love? One elderly lady couldn't help herself from squeezing her cheeks. She wouldn't leave until she got a giggle. Then she walked away smiling and saying "That's my girl." Excuse me?! No, that's my girl!!

I know everyone says this.... I can't believe how fast this kid is growing up! I get it now. Where did the last 8 months go?! She'll be a year-old in 4 months. Wow. It's crazy how fast time flies when you're going non-stop for 8 months straight. No wonder I'm tired. I feel so incredibly lucky that I get to be home with her during this time. Everyday is truly an adventure. Yes, some days are better than others but for the most part, Isabel is amazing. I love seeing things through her eyes. Everything is new and awe inspiring. (the remote, the doorbell, whistling) I think we lose sight of that as adults. The world can be a wonderful place. The better to bite you with... So, this month we hit a few big milestones: She's FINALLY sitting up, she now has 3 teeth and she took her first real crawl-y steps. Oh God...she's mobile. Let the baby-proofing begin.....

Our little girl LOVES the camera!!

Our little stinker has a real tooth coming in! Yesterday, while she was gumming my knuckle, I got an unexpected surprise. Ouch! No wonder she's been a little out-of-sorts for the last couple of days....a little fussy and clingy. We thought she was just still fighting her cold. Now, that's a "first" I could've done without, Thanks. I have never felt so completely helpless in my entire life - or exhausted. Isabel usually sleeps between 7 and 10 hours a night! We were up every hour for about a week. Thank God it's over. I need my sleep. (Yes, I know I'm spoiled.) Seriously though, if that's "teething", I'll take it. It was pretty mild. Let's hope the other teeth are just as uneventful.