Silver and Sugar

::Silver::

- Edie had her first boo boo. Got a little carried away wiggling around in Grandma Billie's dining room and I just didn't catch her before her little head knocked against the buffet. Sorry Edie Bug.

But like all great grandmothers do - E's had a remedy: A Silver Dollar

Hold it on the boo boo and it will clear it right up! Grandma Billie's sister had fallen down some attic stairs as a child and held a silver dollar to her face where she had hit - that was the only spot that didn't end up with a red mark!

Wouldn't you know it - there wasn't a mark to be a seen on Edie's face by the end of the day!

Thank you 1926! And Great Grandma Billie!



::SUGAR::

I've been meaning to share this for a while - one of my favorite things about being married to Robert, besides him of course, are my In Laws! I promise I mean this!

Both sides of his family are so warm and loving and inviting and fun and I have always felt included and like a real part of the family!

Not only did I get three more awesome parentals - but a sister and three brothers to boot!!! (I love you also - Aunts, Uncles, Cousins and Grandparents!) But along with the Sister and Brother in law - I became something that I would have never been able to accomplish on my own.

I get to be an Aunt! Not just a fun, close friend of the family Aunt (not that I don't adore being that as well, and if it wasn't for Colby I would never have been dubbed Aunt Missa :) But a real, honest to goodness Aunt!

::Our Nephew Logan!

- Lo is the coolest kid around and he's bound to be the next great musician of the family!

::Our Niece Gracie

Late in the morning on July 16th - My beautiful sister-in-law Kristen brought us a sweet little girl who I'm almost certain will be E's closest partner in crime (until we decide to give her siblings of course) :

Miss Grace Emerson Lounder! (G)

Aunt Missa & Uncle Bobby

::Other Fun Happenings!::

:: E's & G's first Astros Game in Celebration of Papa Wendel's Birthday - in a Suite no less! We knew the gals were going to be spoiled!

Gracie doing what week-old babies do best!



:: A Bucket-O-Fun. Have I mentioned that Edie can sit up on her own now, is starting crawl, eating solid foods and is holding her own bottle for real? Our little baby is becoming a little girl :)

Oh What a Beautiful Morning!

These days, most mornings are great mornings.

They typically start with my sweet smiley baby being toted around by her handsome, super helpful daddy to the tune of The Difference by The Wallflowers (the song for the month, hopefully just this month... )

The Special Ingredients that make these mornings a constant:

::Edie ALWAYS wakes up with a smile on her face. ALWAYS. Not sometimes, not just most days, EVERY SINGLE MORNING!!!

::Rob is a musician. And he perpetually has music going through his body. A song in his head, his fingers tapping out a beat, his mouth humming or singing a tune - usually all of the above going on at the same time.

Babies smiles are contagious. No matter how sore or exhaused or grumpy you might wake up thinking you are - once those big blue eyes open and those pink pouty lips break into a smile... your troubles melt away.

Edie smiles, Rob smiles, Rob sings, Edie laughs, Rob laughs... its a never ending happy cycle of happy :)

And I think its actually gotten to the point that we are even smiling before we wake her up - seeing that cute little face... that you know will be ear to ear with a smile as soon as she opens her eyes - the cycle starts again!

Good Morning from Edie

Splashy Mc- What did you call her?!

Splashy McGoo :)

Big Baby Steps!

Our little mama had some HUGE firsts this weekend!!

The tOMMY bOYS (the 90's alternative rock cover band her daddy moonlights in with Ryan Landrum and Doug Cook) had their first gig this weekend - which, thanks to our pal Crystal, was family friendly -which also means:

EDIE's FIRST CONCERT!!!
Don't worry, it was outside - her little ear drums are still fully intact!

After being passed around like a hot potato among all The Tommy Boy fans (E's grandparents and aunts and uncles and "aunts" and "uncles") and a brief costume (diaper) change - she passed out like any good little groupie would do!

Rock on little mama :)


PSA - the tommy boys can be found on facebook and heard here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BSZvXV9Ex5s

and THEN?!

After a spring cleaning lunch time break, we had a little tummy play time and Edie Bug just went ahead and ROLLED RIGHT OVER!!!




We knew it was coming any day - she's been close for about a week! And now you cant get her to stay on her tummy! She just rolls right on over! But she's not a big fan of laying on her back either - she's way more of a sit up and see whats going on type of gal. I promise she would run after Holly outside if she had the coordination to do it!

and THEN!!!

For the past month I've been saying its time to move E's bassinet to the nook and away from the bed. And I always find an excuse not to. Not any good ones though - she sleeps through the night, doesn't fuss, no problems at all - there aren't any excuses any more.

Sunday we spring cleaned. A little while after the rolling over, I get a shout from Rob: "Honey, Don't freak out" Ok, I'll take the bait, "What happened?" as I enter the bedroom. I didn't even notice that Rob was standing where E's bed usually is. Then he glanced towards the nook.



I pouted and left the room so he wouldn't see the tears. Surprisingly, we all slept just fine Sunday night... I guess she is a big girl now! Lord help me when she outgrows her bassinet and has to sleep in her nursery... ok, lets change the subject ... :)

- a little note about the nooks theme - we went with Pez! There is a pez girl tin sign on the right wall, and spaceman sign on the left wall you cant see. Her mobile is made of the fuzzy pez dispensers. The diaper stacker (made by her great grandma, grandma la and me) is made of pez print fabric (not pictured). Her Daddys obsession continues :) The painting above the nook is not pez related but was painted for me by her Aunt Amanda - However, there is a pez painting by Auntiemanda for Edie in her room :)

Stay tuned for the stories from the Skolaski Family's first Galveston Vacation (we leave Friday night)!

Life Twist Turned Upside Down!

Well Hi There!

Oh! Shhh - she's napping :)

So its been 5 months according to Blogger.

Edie Bug is 3 1/2 months old now! She's already smiling, reaching, grabbing, sitting, sleeping through the night, jabbering - and stealing hearts :)

Tomorrow morning when she wakes up we'll be getting her ready to attend her first Healthy Kids Day and Tommy Boys show!

She's already been to Chuck E Cheese, The Mall, Downtown, Brenham and Galveston to name a few.

She's been photographed no less than 1,099 times... by me alone... and that's the count from just one of the cameras.

I'd apologize for the delay in posts - but clearly its been quite a busy 5 months (don't forget those included thanksgiving, Christmas, new years and a literal birth day :)

January 4th at 7:25pm mine and Rob's lives changed forever. For the best. For the most amazing.

It isn't an exaggeration to say all three of us wake up with smiles on our faces every morning, every nap, every caught z of sleep!

I used to call us Lucky. Lucky Rob and I found each other again, Lucky we were able to get pregnant, Lucky I had an easy pregnancy, Lucky I had an easy delivery, Lucky we had a beautiful, healthy baby, Lucky she's good natured and happy, Lucky for the huge, supportive, loving family of village she'll be raised by...

A coworker mentioned to me after meeting E for the first time and hearing the word Luck come from my mouth for at least the third time - That's not Luck, that's Blessed.

Today we counted that blessing for the 103rd time!

In case you haven't had the chance to meet her yet - I happily introduce to you Miss Edith James Skolaski - our Edie Bug - E

October Birthdays!

Well, now that the month is almost over and we're all out of Birthdays to celebrate (for now) I thought I'd kill 8 birds with one stone... well ok, Celebrate 8 Awesome People with one Blog! There, that sounded way less morbid!

October 4th - HAPPY BIRTHDAY HOLLY!
Holly was lucky enough to get her own special post, but then mama got busy... but we'll go ahead and say it again!




October 12th - HAPPY BIRTHDAY GRANDMA BILLIE!
My Grandma Billie - my moms mom - is just about the sweetest, strongest person you'll ever meet! She used to tell me all the time when I was a kid "You can have whatever you want!" I mean - who doesn't love that :) Seriously though - My Grandma is the best! As also previously posted - My mom and I drug her around the Downtown Aquarium as a treat for her birthday! I think she had a good time!

Here's a nice pic of me and my gramma from the wedding :)

October 12th - HAPPY BIRTHDAY OMA!
My moms mom and my dads mom both happened to have the same birthday! Weird huh?! Though she is no longer with us, we still say Happy Birthday to this amazing woman! She was practically my second mom growing up - I spent most of my after school time at their house, especially when her and my Opa moved across the street from me and my mom! I have my Oma to thank for my good looks (I look a lot like her), all of the fun Dutch traditions, my love of Marry Poppins (taped from the TV), Jeopardy and Danny Kaye and my affinity for good music, chocolate and cheese!

Hartelijk Gefeliciteerd Oma - We love and miss you!


October 17th - HAPPY BIRTHDAY EMILY!
Emily is Rob's oldest cousin - daughter of Lise and Alice - and big sis to Beth and Katy! Emily, like most teenagers is into the whole Twilight thing (well, any literature in general), sarcasm and colorgard! She's usually good for a smile too :)

Since I don't have any recent pics of Emily - I stole this old one from Beth's facebook page! She's the one there in the middle... I wish I know what her costume was... it certainly looks like it has a good story!


October 18th - HAPPY BIRTHDAY NANA LIZ!
Nana Liz is Rob's Dad's Mom. Nana Liz makes the best desserts - including this one she made for her Birthday! Don't worry - she didn't have to make dinner too!



October 25th - HAPPY BIRTHDAY POPS!
Pops (Frank) is my mom's dad! Pops is sports loving, outdoor spending, plant growing, hilarious man! We have Pops to celebrate for my red hair (we're the only two gingers in the family), the family's obsession with turtles, our bad habits of "collecting" interesting things, and distaste for loud noises! My favorite thing about Pops these days is his sense of humor. Growing up I don't know if he wasn't funny then, or if I was too young to get the jokes, or if I just didn't notice... nowadays, I'm pretty much guaranteed a laugh every time I visit him!

This pic is actually from my Aunt Cheri's birthday (September) - but Pops is in there too and he's smiling :)

October 25th - HAPPY BRITHDAY JAYDA!
Miss Jayda celebrated her 2nd birthday this past sunday! Jayda is my cousin Bryan's daughter and specially celebrated because she is the Kelly family's first and only Great Grand Baby (until Edie gets here)! And Jayda was lucky enough to be able to share her birthday with her great grandpa Pops! Its really amazing how fast these little ones grow up! Just last year mama and daddy were unwrapping her first birthday gifts - this year, she did it all on her own, said thank you, and kissed her presents! What a cutie!

Yes, she is standing on the table and thats her Daddy there in the second one!

October 27th - HAPPY BIRTHDAY PARKER!

Parker is Rob's little step-brother. This year we celebrated Parker's 13th birthday with a nice cozy dinner at Benihana! Thank you for having a birthday Parker so a pregnant lady could get some delicious fried rice! Just kidding... but really! Parker is quite the kiddo. Full of energy, interested in just about every thing and we share a love of Haribo Happy Cola! My favorite thing about Parker is how great he is with little kids. He is always there for his little nephew Logan or his little cousin Tanner. Is always willing to help them out in any way and really enjoys spending time with them! I just know he'll be a fantastic uncle to Edie!

I wish I had the pic from Benihana Wednesday night with Logan and Tanner in it - but I don't... So instead here's a good one from Ren Fest last year... its pretty much typical Parker :)

Ok, Well that does it for October! Happy Birthday Everyone! Lots and Lots of Love!!

Cabbage Patch Kid

FINALLY!!! We've made it to the Third Trimester! :)

I am super excited, super anxious, super impatient, and super nervous!!!

I really just cant wait for Edie to be here. Through all of our recent adventures (I know, I still have some blogging to catch up on) I've wished at every one of them that Edie was already here to share in the adventures with us!

I have this feeling that she is going to come early... or maybe its just that I really really really hope that she will come early! So this month the search is on for Day Care, a Pediatrician, and birthing classes :)

Oh right - about the cabbage patch kid!

Tuesday marked 28 weeks - the official beginning of our third trimester :) Let me say that again - its so exciting - THIRD TRIMESTER!!! See that crawling baby up there - that's less than 90 days!!!

Any way - so babycenter.com compares our sweet little girl to a Chinese cabbage... again with ridiculousness... and I jumped ahead a bit and saw that at 30 weeks - she's just a plain ole cabbage... we'll just pretend that sounds cute and call her a cabbage patch kid :) Who didn't love those?!

28 weeks
30 weeks

She weighs in at about 2.25 lbs and measures 14.8 inches from head to toes. Of course this is just an estimate... November 6 (two weeks) we go in for our next ultrasound and should get a better idea of what her actual measurements are! I've still only gained about 5 lbs over all - so it will be interesting to see how much more we both end up growing over the last few weeks!

---------

I've always thought it was interesting to hear about other prego ladies and what they crave, what their biggest ailments are and how they cope... I thought it might be fun to share what my biggest 'must haves' have been through the months!




:: Chocolate Milk! - this was probably first on the list! Well, its probably always been on any list - there just isn't any thing else as satisfying or delicious or refreshing as chocolate milk. Schepps Chocolate Milk only though :) Yes, I had some this morning!





:: Zyrtec D - Walgreen's brand though. Like all Houstonians I've battled with allergy and sinus issues my whole life. I don't ever remember hearing how much pregnancy effects your sinuses. I stuck with Sudafed for a while - but it just wasn't doing the trick any more - my doc kept telling me to try Zyrtec... I could kick my own ass for how stubborn I was in not trying this sooner. The little morning sickness I did have was directly related to my sinus issues. Now I take it religiously and I'm sinus pressure, drainage, allergy and puke free :)




:: And now that I have relatively sinus-free life - I can enjoy more dairy products - like sticks of cheese (must be that dutch gene again)!!! These Colby Jack cheese sticks have been a literal every day necessity. The other night, this was my dinner... it's the only thing I'm always in the mood for! I have a bag at the house and here at work! Sargento - I love you.





:: Around the beginning of the Second Trimester the acid reflux/heartburn started attacking... with a vengeance. AM and David recommended the Maalox quick dissolve chewable tablets. It works out because I like the orange flavor, AM likes the yellow and David will eat any thing :)
Although I've gotten past the point of being picky - I just eat them. Sometimes it just doesn't matter what flavor relief comes in!



:: My guilty pleasure. I think my two biggest, most consistent cravings have been Milk and Sugar. Although chocolate milk technically satisfies this in one - I cant have chocolate milk all day long... well, I shouldn't any way. So I sneak little snacks - of my new all time favorite candy. Haribo - I love you too!




:: Last but not least - my rock. Gonna get a little cheese ball and mushy here - but its true. Robert has been my absolute everything. Talk about an absolute necessity - it's him. He is so understanding, and supportive, and sensitive and loving. He takes such good care me and the baby. He even talks to Edie and kisses her goodnight or goodbye! I have no doubt that Rob is going to be the most attentive, caring, fun, wonderful, loving father and husband ever! That is if he's not too busy crying over sappy movies - just kidding honey! I love you the most!!!