"duck!"

When we play with Chappell's toys, I usually try to repeat the name of the toy/animal she is playing with several times in hopes that she is absorbing some of the information.

Well, this morning we hit the jack pot!

Scene:

Chappell is playing with Señor Duck (yes, all of our toys have names).


I, half asleep, am mumbling "duck, duck, duck."


Chappell looks right at me, and says:


"DUCK!"
Clear as day.

And then I peed in my pants.

She hasn't said it again since.
Hmmmm...
Kids are funny, right?

Trunk or Treat

Tonight we went to Trunk or Treat.
I'd never heard of it before, but apparently it's a new thing where people decorate the trunks of their cars... and kids Trick or Treat down the line.
We didn't stay long- we felt too bad for the Chapster... she was a wee bit hot in her costume. She didn't complain. I think she had a good time.
Who woulda thought... 80 degrees at the end of October?
That's FL for ya!

She looks like a real ladybug here...

Trunk or Treat below...

Ready to leave :(

Tooth Numero Tres & a shot

We've got an upper tooooof!
We think she cut it today. Top, middle, on the left... I'll get the official name from dentite Dad.

This morning I ended up driving to Pensacola.
Usually, I meet my mom half way.

However, I learned last night (I've been checking almost daily) that the Escambia County Health Department had the H1N1 vaccine (for babies) in stock... and after confirming this morning, I decided to head on over.
We still don't have the vaccine here in Walton County.
I'm hoping they get it soon.
If you live in Florida, click here for more information.

Be proactive. Call around and find the shot.

Get vaccinated!

For now

Reed and I just got back from Birmingham a couple of hours ago.
We had a mini-vacay of sorts - got a stellar hotel room (details later) and went to the BAMA game.
Roll Tide my friends.

Chappell stayed in Pensacola with my parents.
We got home past her bed time, so I decided to pick her up in the morning. I wish she was upstairs... snoozing away in her crib.
I miss my ChaCha!
But, I know she is perfectly content chillin' with her MiMi and Nanny-Claus.
For proof, see pic below:

*Note
Chappy is modeling my first home made dress.
Although it lacks style, is poorly constructed, and is composed of cheap Wal-Mart fabric... I am still quite proud of it.
And Chappy likes it too.

Phew! We made it.

I'm home.
I'm currently steering clear of countless bags that need to be unpacked. Not now. I can't.
In terms of this post... I don't really know where to start. This was a big week for me and my little Chappellina.

Last Wednesday, we headed over to Pensacola. The next morning, we were forced to get up far too early to drive over to Brewton, AL for a 9 am appointment. I had to wake my poor child from a deep sleep about an hour before she normally wakes... something I will never do again (unless I absolutely have to).
Somehow we managed to get everyone dressed & ready and arrive on time.
My sweet cousin was kind enough to watch my 10 month old and her own 18 month old while we were at the meeting - a brave soul, indeed.
When the meeting was over, I was horrified to learn that my baby refused her lunch and wasn't exactly in the best mood. Perhaps from being woken up, or an impending illness (more on that later) - I don't know... but you never want your kid to give someone else a hard time! It's just embarrassing.
I owe you a humongous favor, Meredith!

On the way out of Brewton, we hit up the local Huddle House and ran into my friend Allison's grand-parents-in-law. (Is that a word?)
You gotta love a small town. Everyone knows everyone, and you can't go anywhere without seeing someone.

I am proud to report that, once again, Chappellina was a champion on the car ride up to Georgia. We actually made pretty good time. We were cruising along until we dove head first into a monsoon around Opelika, AL. We pulled over to ride it out and I was almost charred alive after exiting a gas station.
I've never seen/heard/felt lightening like that in my life. Uber scary.

We eventually arrived in Atlanta. Sister Smith and Ferrill (Chappellina's fairy Godmother) picked me up from the hotel and off to dinner we went. Tacos and a margarita never tasted so good.

Friday was Day 1 of the Apparel Mart. The day before (Thursday), Smith and her sales associate, Collier set up the booth. It looked pretty dern good if I say so myself.
...
It's been such a cool experience to see my sister's creative vision become a (successful) reality.
I have to admit, when she first told me of her plans to start a clothing line, I was skeptical.
I thought...
"now?"
"in this economy?"
"right out of school?"
and
"how in the Hell are you going to do this??"

But the girl knows what she wants, and she's making it work... it's pretty impressive.

Over and over, people approached the booth to compliment my sister on her talent and product.

The point of my blabbering, is: Smitten by Smith had an awesome market. We added many new stores and met some exceptional people. New stores & info will be posted here.


Here are a few pics that I stole from Grant...

{Floors and floors of apparel MADNESS}

{The hilarious and awesome Smitten by Smith team! I love these peeps. L to R: Collier, Grant, Smitty and myself}

{Cell phone pic of Smitten by Smith booth # 439}

{Apparel Mart Fashion Show... models wearing Smitten by Smith... I missed it due to a migraine... }

{Me & my Chappy at dinner}

{Happy as a lil' ole clam eating some bread. She stole a piece from the kind neighbors behind her}

Changing gears:
Chappell had an interesting trip to the big ATL. We certainly had a few ups and downs...

I am happy to report that our trip to Atlanta cleared Chappell's case of stranger anxiety right up. I think a big city was just what the doctor ordered.
One trip to Lenox mall and the kid was cured.
This is half joke/half theory.
I don't really know what happened, but she's been pleasant, smiley & even flirty with strangers ever since.
--------
It was bound to happen.
Lord knows I've been trying hard to prevent it (furiously wiping any and all surfaces w/ Clorox & Purelling like a feign), but my little baby finally got sick.
Like, "for real" sick. It was as scary as I imagined.
And,
of course,
it happened while we were out of town.
Crammed in a hotel room.
With our pediatrician hundreds of miles away.

We took Chapps to a pediatrician in Atlanta. They discovered that her throat was red and inflamed. She tested negative for Strep and (I suppose) through process of elimination, her illness was deemed a throat virus.
Chappy is now on the mend and all that really lingers is a nasty cough.
Poor little booger. She was pitiful.

I mean... look at her!

Chappellina is very happy to be home, and even happier to be back w/ her beloved "dada."

Well, I need to get to unpacking. More to come later.

On the Road Again... {yes, sing it like W. Nelson}

So I should be packing.
And since I should be packing, of course, I am blogging.
I must say, packing for baby + me isn't that hard anymore. I know exactly what I need, double it, then throw it in a bag. More like 3 bags. Easy enough.

Tomorrow we leave for Pensacola. I have an appointment in the afternoon, and since we will be leaving around 7:30 am on Thursday... it seems like a wise decision.
Thursday we will make a pit stop in Brewton, AL, and then we will continue on to Atlanta, GA.
Thursday evening, the plan is to go to America's Mart ("market") and set up Smitty's booth... on the Premiere Floor (2)... booth 439 FYI!
It's going to be r*a*d. I can't give away any of our secrets now, but I will take pictures and post later.
I won't be home until next Wednesday... and I'm sure the blog will go untouched until then.

- - - - - - - - -

Moving on.
Yesterday, I learned a lil' lesson.
One of our parenting books (the big, thick & famous one, dubbed as the "Bible" for new parents) said something about letting your child experiment with different kinds of cups. It said that you shouldn't always use spill-proof cups because they function like bottles, requiring suction to work.
Being a sucker for parenting mumbo jumbo, I pulled out the little insert (that prevents spillage) in one of her sippy cups, and watched her go.
This is what happened.

The picture doesn't really do it much justice. She was soaked, and water was everywhere.
She was having so much fun, I couldn't intervene.
And then I gave her a mohawk.

Lesson learned:

Always use a spill proof cup, unless, it is raining.

- - - - - - - - -

I forgot to mention, we got Chappell a "big girl" carseat!

Reed installed it on Saturday.

If any of you fellow parents are curious, we went with the Britax Advocate. It's the newest model from Britax and has incredible ratings... and side impact protection.

SOLD!

I love it so far. She's still rear facing, so it feels like she's in an infant seat.

However, the Britax is much safer than her infant seat, so I wanted to go ahead and make the switch.

*The Britax Advocate (and several other models) are on sale at Diapers.com right now!

Relaxin' Weekend at Home

Since I'm not in the mood to write, I figured I'd put up a few pictures to tell the story of our weekend.
Friday night, I made a TON of sushi for me and ReeRee...

Saturday, we went to lunch with Nicola at Shades. Chappell loved hanging out with you... once we went outside anyways-- hah!

Saturday afternoon we watched the game at home and ate some BBQ for dinner. Actually a "boston butt." That name grosses me out like no other... but it was pretty tasty.

Sunday we went over to Bay Point to hang out w/ the Williams.

Emily gave me another smocking lesson, and helped me figure out how to finish the design on the never-ending blue dress. After about an hour or two last night... I think I am almost done!

Emily, thank you so much for your help!

Where We Are

I owe it to Chappell and the online Baby Book (AKA the blog) to list what she's doing at 9 months and 30 days of age.
Tomorrow (or tonight at 1:07 am), Chappell will be 10 months old... and I can't believe everything that has changed in such a short amount of time.
Infant no more.
This initial stage of parenthood has officially come and gone... in the blink of an eye.
Only months ago, my baby was the fragile little one that people "oooohed" and "ahhhed" over, and now, new babies have been born and I'm constantly frazzled chasing the Chapster all over the place. {Run on sentence? Think so.}

In the past few days, I've noticed some changes around here.
Although Chappell has been physically able to pull up for a while (and would, on occasion), she never seemed interested until now.
I haven't exactly encouraged it.
I should feel bad, I suppose, for purposely inhibiting my child's physical development.
But I don't. I knew it would happen at some point.
...
I guess nature finally won. The kid wants to walk. What can I do?
So in only a few days, we have gone from super crawler to captain cruiser. She's pulling up on everything.
For all of you normal, kid-free folks out there, cruising is when a baby (toddler/child?) stands while holding on to a piece of furniture. They move their teeny-tiny feet around to get to a desirable destination... or object on the table/ottoman/whatever.

Moving on.

I make a conscious effort to keep Chappellina on an organic diet. I really do.
However, if any of you remember the formula debacle... the only formula Chappell can/will drink is Enfamil Lacto-Free Lipil... and it's not organic.
So, one could say that I bend here and there.
But why not try to keep your precious baybay away from preservatives, hormones, antibiotics and pesticides? Like I said, I try.
Tonight we made an exception. Did any of you grow up gnawing on Gerber Vienna sausage?
I think we called them meat sticks. Well I snuck them into the grocery cart until I was far too old... I think around 9 or 10... and I LOVED them!
I would/could never deprive my child of such goodness... even if it's made from the worst parts of a pig.
Anywho, she loved them. Hooray for protein.

Stranger Anxiety.
Not cool.
And it's set in. This started a week or so ago and it's pretty embarrassing. I am really hoping this is a short lil' phase, because, to be honest-- it makes me uncomfortable.
I don't want her to be scared of people! It's so sad!
It seems to come and go. Luckily it's not all the time.
I've noticed that she is more uncomfortable around male strangers than female. Our pediatrician said that this is perfectly normal for her age, and that it happens to most babies. My mom assured me that I was the same way... and it means that she's smart.
Gotta love mom advice, huh??

Chappell is waving, giving high fives, clapping when she is excited/proud and saying "mama," "dada," & "baba" discriminently (with intent).
Still only two teeth...
Wearing size 4 diapers...
Nutrition: four bottles & four solid meals each day...

That's all I can think of for now.
Reed's grillin' up some chicken. Yumbo.
Peace Out.

Still busy

But I wanted to write this down before I forget.
Chappell's been waving, but last night it got even better.
Since Reed puts her to bed, every night I give her a kiss, tell her goodnight and start waving bye-bye as Reed takes her up the stairs.

Last night, she waved and said "bu ba" back, right on cue-- so adorable!

It's been busy...

I haven't blogged in a while. Oops.
Real life has taken over... and consequently, the blog's fallen to the wayside.

So what's been goin' on?

A birthday party, a baby shower, the Seaside Garage Sale, crashed a girls night, learning to sew, and last but not least, my house has been turned into a Smitten by Smith sweatshop.

Smith came in town Friday and we've been pretty busy throughout her stay.

Since she's been here, I've made one dress and two pillow cases. I'm glad to say I can finally (barely) use a sewing machine. It's taken a little practice, but I think I'm getting there.

Today Smith and Collier (Smith's partner in crime and Sales Rep) have been at my house getting a lot of work done... we have a lot to do before Market in Atlanta next week.

Needless to say, Chappell's been watching a bit more of Sesame Street today than usual.

On Saturday, Smith and I went over to Seaside for the town garage sale. I found some great remnants of upholstery fabric for... get this... ONE DOLLAR each! I recovered two pillows this weekend for about 50 cents. Let me tell you... that felt good... damnnnnnnn good.

Here are my pillows... and first dress...

Please excuse the cell phone pictures. I will replace later.

Back to work!