Whoa…..egh…eh..eh LOOK SHES WALKING 11 Months….

Clover’s 11 month of life started off with a wobble and a bob and then that ceremonial first step followed by another than another until before we knew it she was running around! It is amazing to watch the transition from infant to toddler. She is becoming more of a little girl everyday!



This month we spent a lot of time at the park since Clover is now walking it’s much more enjoyable for all of us! That and, there have been a few cooler evenings here that we have been able to enjoy. Now when I say cooler in Florida during September I mean mid 80’s at 7:30 in the evening with 70% humidity! Haha!



We also went to the beach with our good friends and Clover had a great time playing in the sand and water. She still puts everything in her mouth so that keeps me busy especially at the beach!





We also went to Clover’s first party! It was a dress up party for her friend Desiree and she had a wonderful time getting to play with all the kids!

Month 10 Flying high……

This past month Clover and I had a big adventure we flew to Arkansas to visit my sister. It was a wonderful trip. Our first flight out of Fort Myers was a little ruff because Clover was cranky from waiting for our plane and not getting a nap. She screamed and was generally grumpy and finally fell asleep when we landed in Atlanta. Our second flight was much smoother; she slept most of the plane ride! During our 4 days in Arkansas we did a lot of shopping which Clover enjoyed! We also swam and went to many restaurants. I even got pampered on the trip got a new hair cut and my nails done! Clover was a joy and seemed to have a good time in the new environment. My sister and her son loved having Clover around. The flights home were wonderful both ways we had empty seats next to us. Carl missed us greatly and was eager to see us when we got off the plane. He insists that Clover got a tan while she was gone! Haha!






Other than our great adventure Clover and I have spend most of this month at home due to are multitude of car problems. Clover is now eating 3 REAL meals a day and loves her green beans; they seem to be her favorite food. She is also really picking up the sign language, saying hungry, more, and all done. We are continuing to increase her vocabulary but those seem to be the ones she understands. She went to the doctor this month for a check-up and weighs 16 pounds and 15 ounces. This is even after a horrible bout with a stomach flu. She is now pointing at things and is taking more of an interest in her toys and environment. She still is not fully walking just short trips from object to object. She got two more teeth this month giving her a total of 6! I love watching her change and become more of a person.

Standing into 9 Months!

Today Clover is 9 months old!



This past month I have seen a big change in her language development. She now is trying to emulate words that we say. She says Dada and Mama sometimes. More Dada especially when he comes home! She tries to say all done and it actually sounds pretty close, she can now sign all done though. That is pretty exciting!! I want to continue to work on sign language with Clover. They say that kids can understand words before they can physically say them so signing allows them to tell you what they want with physical movements.



Clover has also started climbing on everything!! We went to the play area at the mall and she climbed up the little slide all on her own. Then last night she climbed over the barricade I have to keep her in the living room. We’re going to have to figure out a new way to keep her corralled. She also has been trying to stand. In the evenings she will practice her standing skills all on her own. It is so much fun to watch her change. She also has been laying down on the floor and playing with toys. It is odd because I have not seen her lay down since she started crawling, unless she is sleeping! Haha! It won’t be long before she is walking around.



This month has been a busy one filled with bowling trips, swimming adventures, movies, and play dates. We have gone bowling a few times with our friends and Clover enjoys all the excitement and commotion. I also took Clover to a free movie this month to try it out and she sat through 30 minutes of the movie before she got restless! She seemed to enjoy it a lot! Her favorite movie is Bolt she recorded it on our DVR all on her own and now I play it for her and she actually sits and watches it. I love it because Maddy also likes the movie so I will find the two of them sitting watching the TV.

8 months and the adventure continues.....

Clover has changed so much in the past month. She is almost 8 months old and is such a little person. She can now crawl like a PRO! And she can sit up on her own and pull herself up on anything that she can touch. I will not be surprised if she up and walks soon! She amazes me with the things that she does now. I love watching her thought process. She also is babbling and if you ask her to say Mama sometimes she will try it’s so cute. She also is giving kisses…. Well she will give me kisses. She has gotten better about Carl watching her so that is good. She gets so excited when he comes home she bounces up and down. I know that makes his day! Clover is also learning how to feed herself; she had tiny pasta stars this week and enjoyed rubbing them in her hair!



Clover and I have been busy the last couple weeks, we have made some good friends and have enjoyed spending time with them. Clover went bowling for the first time this month. She likes watching all the commotion and touching the colorful balls. We walked at one of Florida’s many nature trails with our new friends and saw an alligator in the swamp. I tore the bumper off of the Volvo on a palm tree stump… It was a skilled move. Carl seems to always be working that we don’t get to see him too much which sucks but we need money so not much we can do about it. I think that is about it for the latest news.

Hop Hoping into week 26

We celebrated Clover’s first Easter this weekend. We dyed eggs, decorated a bunny house, and made cards. It was a really nice spending time with my little family. Even though Clover could not participate too much we had a good time. The Easter bunny came Easter morning and left an Easter basket for Maddy and Clover. They were both excited that the bunny left them fun things! Then we all searched the house for Easter eggs. That evening we went to Grandma and Grandpa’s house for dinner. It was really nice to see the whole family and share in the holiday. Unfortunately Clover is at the clingy stage and won’t let anyone hold her for more than two seconds. It is frustrating because I welcome the break but she won’t give me one!!



In other news Clover has been sitting up much better. She still has not sat up on her own from the floor but, I can set her down and she keeps her balance pretty well. She also has been trying to get up on her knees. It is fun to watch her constantly growing and exploring the world around her. She also has been walking a lot more with help of course. She really likes to get her little legs going so fast so she runs across the house with me holding her hands. It is so funny because she cracks up when she does it. It reminds me of the Flintstones. Clover is also 6 months old now. I cannot believe it has already been half a year since she was born. Time sure has flown! I think what makes it go by so fast is because she is constantly changing. From blog to little person, I can’t wait to see how the next 6 months unfold.

Growth in week 25

Clover has become the mobile little sprite! Everyone kept telling me that I was going to miss the days when she just laid in one spot, and I always rolled my eyes and thought yea right… Well it is more of a pin since I cannot just set her somewhere and know she will stay, but she has become so much more fun! She is really getting a personality. She is still being the biggest Mommy’s girl but the doctor told me to enjoy it because before I know it she will want nothing to do with me. Which I am realizing will be just around the corner. It amazes me how much she has changed and all the things that she can do now. I can’t wait to see what she will do next!!




She got her first solid food on Saturday (well rice mush but still it counts haha). I was so excited and had it all planned out and then it turned out to be very uneventful. She did not really like it and most of it got mashed out of her mouth. However today she finally seemed to like the mush and ate her whole bowl. I can’t wait to start giving her new foods. However, it will probably be like the mush not that cool haha!







Clover and I have spent a lot of time out side on our patio the past week since the weather has been so nice. I wish it was always like that here but I know it won’t last…. We have gone to another Mom’s group meet up and that was really nice. Its good to meet some people who are in the same situation as I am. I hope to make some good friends since my hopes of moving anytime soon are just that hopes haha! I need to embrace my life here in Florida instead of fighting it. The beaches are amazing and there are wonderful parks and things to do so I need to just enjoy those things. We took Clover to the Imaginarim this Sunday, she had a lot of fun. It is exciting that she enjoys those types of things!




My plants are starting to grow really well! I am so proud of myself for getting things to grow! I have little tiny green beans growing. It will be nice to have fresh veggies to eat. I got some zucchini from the tiny farmers market in fishermen’s village. They were so good; I think I am getting old because I love vegetables. Well that is about it……..

Britneying out in week 23.....

So I have officially had my Britney Spears mommy moment. It could have been much worse…. So here is what was going through my mind…





So I was vacuuming the floor for the 3rd time this week!! Looking at all the dog hair! Clover had gotten hair in her eye and it is just a mess. So I was thinking I will just shave her…. Yea that way there will be less hair! Brilliant! It can’t be too hard to clip her hair off. I know it’s bad to shave a dogs coat because it cools her but she is never outside much so that should not be an issue. Since I am the ice queen and all… and she won’t get sun burnt since we’re always indoors too. This is a good idea!!!




So I got out the clippers and buzz went to work on her back. From the first cut I knew this was not going to work out as magically as I thought. I had put one of those attachments on the clippers but it was not working the hair was all stuck. So I took it off that is when things got ugly! It was so uneven!! I thought well I will just smooth it our buzz there went another inch now this side is lower than that side… shit…. This is so not working…. But did I stop no…. Buzz….buzzz…..It was getting hot. I was covered in dog hair Maddy kept moving and I could not get it smooth. I decided I had done enough brought her in the house and gasped!!





I had butchered my poor dog’s hair, She looked terrible! Oh man oh man what am I going to do… I decided I had to call Carl he was going to flip when he got home. So I called him and told him what I had done! He wanted to know what I was thinking??? I told him and he was in shock could not believe I could do that to her. Then I got the lecture dogs hair keeps them cool… you just need to brush her…. Blah…blah… I can’t….blah… So now I felt really bad. I kept thinking I had ruined my dog! She won’t be able to keep cool it’s going to take months to grow back can’t let her in the sun at all…..what was I thinking?!?



Well might as well rinse her off! So we got in the shower and the water was cold and she whined… Maddy never whines in the shower!! So then I was worried that she was going to be all sensitive without her hair! So I had to call my sister she would have a solution to my problem. After telling me that I was a dork but know how I felt about the dog hair her suggestion was a coat and scarf! Great while it’s hot?? My poor dog is going to be a laughing stock of the neighborhood and just when she met a new friend…




So then I decided to hop on the computer and make sure I did not cause irreversible damage to my dog. Now whenever there is absolutely nothing you can do about something don’t look it up on the computer it just makes things worse. So I type in shaved dog and a site comes up talking about all the reasons not to shave your dog!! There was a dog that had been shaved and they nicked its nipples and elbows and they go infected…. Great… Luckily I did not cut her. Then there was the news that made me cry it said that it took 6 months for the gods hair to grow back….. I looked over at Maddy and just cried! I was having a massive guilt attack!



So the moral of the story when you’re a new Mom and you get the urge to cut anyone’s hair think of Britney Spears then check with someone else who is not riddled with hormones and see what they think first……..