A Very Merry First Christmas!

What a wonderful Christmas! We had such a great time this and it was so exciting to share this first holiday with Sheridan. I thought for sure she would get completely distracted by the wrapping paper and tissue but she seemed to actually enjoy her gifts (just a few).

On another note we had Sheridan's 9 month appointment last week. She is progressing beautifully and she even waved at Dr. Dek! She weighed 16 lbs 5 oz (9%) and she is 26 3/4 in length (21%). A growing girl for sure. She has also recently learned to crawl! While she isn't moving super fast with the right motivation she is on the go. She can also pull herself up. I turn my back for a second and she has either crawled across the room or is standing up at the ottoman. Baby proofing begins!

Below are some pictures from Christmas.

Ode to Garth

Today we had to say goodbye
To our favorite pup Garthman,
He spent most of his days
Circling the treat trash can.

He's been our friend for 16 years
He danced, sang and circled too,
Snuggled under the covers
Just to say I love you.

We all will miss the little man
Grandma will miss him more,
We know he's in a better place
Eating snausages, pupperoni and treats galore!

We'll miss you old man....

Christmas makes me wanna dance!

Santa, a good sport

Today we took Stallone to see Santa at Petsmart, a tradition we started with him the first Christmas we had him. I decided it would be fun to have Sheridan in the picture too. Although we had good luck with the first encounter with Santa this time she was not quite as receptive. Santa was a good sport though, he bounced Sheridan on one knee while holding Stallone's leash and sharing a holiday smile. This one's going in the scrapbook!

You Amaze Me!

So the other night, around 2:30 in the morning Sheridan woke up crying. When I went in to get her I was greeted by her sitting in the crib. It was the funniest thing, I couldn't help but smile. I picked her and up and whispered "You Amaze Me!" I couldn't help but wake up Jon and tell him the news. Everyday is something new, it truly is the simple things that amaze me. Within the last couple of weeks she has really started teething, you can see two little white teeth poking their way through. I tried to snap a photo but haven't had any luck yet.

We went to visit Santa last weekend, I was sure Sheridan would scream. She didn't! No smile, but no tears either. Santa was a little creepy looking though, I think we will find a new spot next year. We still have to take Stallone to see Santa and we will probably have Sheridan sit on his lap as well so hopefully that will be a better looking Santa. Below are some recent pictures.

Only 24 days until Christmas!

I cannot believe it is December already! We went this weekend to get our Christmas tree and put up some outdoor decorations....we were like the last house on the block to decorate. I love this time of year, I love the music, the decorations, the excitement. I cannot wait to share our first Christmas with Sheridan, I'm trying really hard not to go overboard with gifts since I know that is not what it's about but it is so hard not too.

Thanksgiving was wonderful - I always love getting together with the family. I was reminded just how lucky we are to have everything that we have. I'm so thankful every day for Sheridan and Jon and even Stallone (even though I'm pretty sure he is on the naughty list this year). Life is good....below are some pictures from Thanksgiving and of our tree.

Anticipation

Recently Sheridan has been getting so excited for bath time, as soon as we lay her down in the bathroom and turn on the water she starts kicking and smiling and chatting away about how excited she is. I captured it on video, thought it would be a fun thing to share.

A Rainbow Girl!

Today we had Sheridan baby dedicated into Rainbow. It was so cute and grandma made her a Rainbow tutu and adorable onesie to match. The photos I have don't do the outfit justice but a couple of other people took photos so hopefully they got some good shots. If not, I'm sure Sheridan would be happy to model again so we can get some good pictures. It was so fun to have so many friends and family attend to share this special day with us, I know MY grandma would have loved it. Thanks to all for your support and love today. Below are a few pictures. Sheridan has also learned how to pull herself up and today we captured it on video so a video is below as well!

A New Friend

Does everyone remember Teddy Ruxpin? A true classic that I had as a child and is still around entertaining children today, including Sheridan! My Aunt Elaine gave Sheridan a Teddy Ruxpin and we pulled it out the other night to introduce Sheridan. She was memorized, it was fun to watch her listen to him so intently. I snapped quite a few photos of the first encounter, they are below with a few more recent pics.
We dog sat Garth over Halloween weekend and I had to snap a shot of him after her fell asleep. So old, but still so sweet. Hope all is well with everyone.

The Stare Down

I recently ordered some prints of the many Sheridan photos we have taken, as I was flipping through them I couldn't help but crack up at all of the photos of the "stare down". Where Sheridan seems to get completely entranced in what she is looking at. I joke with people how she loves to have staring contests with people she doesn't know very well because she just stares at them with them with this completely blank look. It is so funny. Check out these photos:

Happy Halloween

And the winner is....

Make a Smilebox slideshow

NOT magical monkey pjs

No luck with the pjs last night....the search for a solution continues :-(

Magical Monkey Pajamas?

So, Sheridan is still not regularly sleeping through the night, for the most part she is in bed by 7:30-8:00 and usually gets up around 10:30-11:30 to eat, goes right back to sleep until around 7:15am. Not too bad, but on a few luck occasions she actually sleeps through the late night snack and when that happens boy do we try to figure out what we did for that to occur. Was it because I didn't have any caffeine, did she take good naps, did she not take naps, the house is warmer or cooler, must have been the sheet I put on the crib. Any excuse we can analyze to explain this blessed event. Which brings me to the magical monkey pjs, I swear every time she wears these pjs she sleeps through the night. Again, maybe I am over analyzing but she wore them last night and slept from 8 pm to 6 am this morning! So, you can bet she is wearing them again tonight - this will be the true test....if we make it two nights in a row I may have to make a trip to Babies R Us tomorrow to stock up on what seem to be magical monkey pajamas.

The voting is closed.

Thanks to all who participated in Sheridan's costume voting poll. Today was the photo shoot and Sheridan looked absolutely adorable and she was in such a good mood so I think we got some great smile shots. Janine said the photos would be ready in about a week, I will make sure to post the link so check back to find out which costume we went with! Below is a video of Sheridan playing with her favorite toy - a dancing monkey (go figure). Another great find at Reruns R Fun. It is a little long (about 2 1/2 minutes) so don't feel like you have to watch the whole thing....I just couldn't stop taping.

Babies, Babies, Babies

So, I just learned another one of my friends is pregnant and due next Summer! That makes 5 friends all due around the same time - there must be something in the water. All but one are expecting for the first time, how exciting. It seems like so long ago but also like yesterday that we found out we were pregnant with Sheridan - it is such a fun ride!

Thanks to all who have been voting for Sheridan's costume - keep 'em coming. We took actual pictures of Sheridan in the costumes this weekend. Yes, I already bought them both but I am holding on to the receipts and I have until the 23rd to return one of them. I'm kind of swaying towards Monkey but the votes are swaying towards Superbaby....if the photos change your mind feel free to cast a different vote.

Baby food is going well, Sheridan is just like a little birdie with an open mouth waiting for food. So far she like apples, bananas, butternut squash and sweet potatoes. Not so fond of chicken, carrots or avocados. We are going to try pears tomorrow morning.

We went to Vala's this weekend. We couldn't wait to take Sheridan to the place where daddy proposed to mommy. We, unfortunately couldn't remember the exact location but it was still fun to experience that with her. She really like the pumpkins and we had to pose with Homer Simpson because Jon always says when Sheridan gets done eating she gets this Homer look of content. Anyways, enjoy some new pics below.

The Great Costume Debate

I cannot decide what to dress Sheridan for her first halloween, I guess I just want it to be perfect. I have narrowed it down to 2 choices and I thought everyone could help me make up my mind.

Costume #1 - Superbaby. I really wanted to coordinate costumes with Stallone and I have a superman costume for him as well.

Costume #2 - Monkey. I love monkeys! Plus, I think of Sheridan as a little monkey so this seems like the right fit. And, this girl at work has a banana costume so I thought instead of Stallone she could coordinate with mommy.

I know I could do both, but I really wanted to decide on one. Plus, part of the debate is we are going to get professional pics done on the 18th. Our photographer is doing a fundraiser so for $25 we can get costume photos taken and we get a free 5x7. Anyway, share your vote on the right.....Thanks!

Shopping wears me out.

For the most part I think Sheridan likes to shop just like her mom and grandma. Sometimes we may push her limits a little too far. This week was the Reruns R Fun sale. If you don't already know about it you are missing out, this is like one huge garage sale - only the items are really good quality and low costs. Here is the link so you can watch for the spring sale: http://www.rerunsrfun.net/. So, our first visit was on Monday - I happened to be in the neighborhood and saw that the sale was going on so I called grandma to meet us - 2 1/2 hours later we were checking out! Sheridan was such a good sport and boy did we get some deals. Saturday was 50% off day so, of course, we had to go back and see what other finds we could get. Let me remind you that new items are dropped off daily so this was like a whole new pool of goods. The doors opened at 11, we should have arrived at 10:30 because when we got there the line was around the building. But we were in luck and made the first 400 in the door. Most of the clothes that I put back on Monday were still there only now they were 50% off. So, jeans and sweaters for $2.00 (from Gap!) you can't beat that. Only there an hour this time it turns out shopping wears Sheridan out - she fell asleep face forward in the baby bjorn - how cute is that?

A new age, a new adventure!

Sheridan recently turned 6-months and with that came the adventure of introducing new foods. We decided to skip cereal and go straight to the veggies...butternut squash being the first one. We started on Tuesday and Sheridan is still warming up to the whole idea. We've haven't had much luck to date but we are taking it one day at a time. We videotaped the first feeding....if you can get past Jon's wonderful camera work it is pretty fun to watch her facial expressions. If only we could remember what it was like to take our first bite of food ever. We had her 6-month appt on Tuesday also - she tops the scale at 14 lbs 1 oz. I couldn't believe it, I thought she would at least be 15 pounds by now but she is just a little peanut still. But healthy as can be. It is a busy, busy weekend - my closest friend Anne is getting married this weekend so the festivities begin tomorrow! I will try and get some pics of Sheridan and her godmother in her wedding dress!

A trip to the Zoo!

Sheridan and I went to the zoo today with Grandma and Grandpa. It was so much fun and we couldn't have asked for a more beautiful day. Sheridan really enjoyed looking at the animals and different people (probably not as much as I enjoyed watching her!) Below are some of the pictures from today....ok most of the pictures from today, I couldn't pick a favorite. I have also included some other recent pictures. A week from tomorrow we have Sheridan's 6 month check-up, where has the time gone? We will be starting solids some time next week, a new adventure I can't wait to begin. We are going to try and make our own baby food - wish us luck!

There's a what on my booty?

I love dressing a girl! Especially now that Fall is here, there have been outfits hanging in Sheridan's closet for month's and we were just waiting for the weather to turn so we could try them on. I couldn't wait for this outfit with the Unicorn on her booty and I was not disappointed - she, of course, looked adorable. Some other recent girlie purchases are showcased below. She is getting so big, it is unreal. She looks small to me in Jon's arms but everyday I look and her it gets harder and harder to remember just how tiny she was when she arrived.

Sheridan is so smiley these days and gets so excited to see people she knows, especially Grandma - which makes going to work in the afternoons bearable since I know Sheridan is having so much fun with Grandma. In fact, you'll see in one of the photos below Grandma just put a swing in the front yard - so much fun!

No beach, but still a babe

Ok, so we haven't made it to a pool yet but Sheridan had the cutest swimsuit...and since I don't think we will make it the pool anytime soon I had to capture it before she outgrew it. The suit claimed to be absorbent (no diaper needed). Talk about false advertising - you'll see a photo labeled potty below, I think that was the moment Sheridan realized what was going on. Wet swimsuit or not still pretty darn cute. Sheridan has also recently found her feet, it makes diaper changing so much fun! See below.