Thanksgiving 2010

We had plans to visit Dick & Miriam in the Philadelphia area for Thanksgiving, but they didn't work out. Miriam (my grandfather's first cousin) fell ill and ended up in the hospital. We were disappointed not to be able to spend time with them but knew that Miriam's recovery was the most important thing.

We spent Esme's first Thanksgiving in style. We woke up early in the morning (5:30!) and made our way into the circus known as New York City for the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. It was very crowded but we enjoyed watching the giant balloons and floats go by. It isn't something we would want to do every year but we thought it was a memorable way to celebrate her first Thanksgiving. Definitely something to cross off of our bucket list! We watched the parade from 57th and 7th (across from Carnegie Hall).

Daddy and Ez on the way to the parade...it was chilly!


A few of our favorite balloons






There were some good floats, too.




After the parade ended, we made our way back to NJ for a big Thanksgiving dinner. This was my first time cooking a turkey on my own and I think it turned out pretty well. We had leftovers for days! I was also able to make turkey soup from the carcass...yum!

The table


Our little family (horrible picture of me!)


Esme eating her first Thanksgiving dinner. She LOVES turkey and mashed potatoes but not a fan of cranberry sauce!



Esme in her Thanksgiving dress


It was a quiet turkey day but it turned out beautifully. I really do have an amazing little family and lots to be thankful for!

Brenda's visit (Nov 18-23)

The same day that my mom departed, my friend Brenda arrived. I first met Brenda through my good friend Travis at mortuary school (they are from the same small town in Iowa). Years later, Brenda happened to be studying in Hull, Yorkshire for a semester when Stephen and I lived in England and we became friends. We even took a trips to Wales and Berlin together!

We did a lot of the touristy things when Brenda was here and had fun. This pregnant mama was tired at the end of day 5!

Brenda and Ez


My favorite part of NYC is central park and I was happy to hear it was the part Brenda preferred most, as well! We took a long walk on her last day and really enjoyed ourselves.

Ez in the leaves at central park



Near the end of our walk, we decided to have a seat and listen to a band that was playing in the park. I rarely get sucked in by performers in the park but this girl's voice was AMAZING! We listened for a good 20 minutes and I went straight home and bought a few songs on iTunes. Their name is Julia Haltigan and the Hooligans...check them out! The best I can describe her voice is that she has an Amy Winehouse kind of roughness to her voice with a slow country soul.




Brenda was a great guest and we look forward to seeing her in the near future! Maybe someday we will make it out to Minneapolis!

Grandma Julie's visit

My mom came to the christening and stayed for two and a half weeks. She was really excited to spend time with Esme and was amazed at how quickly she has grown!

Grandma is a big help and we love having her around. She took over bath time and enjoyed every minute of it! Here is a video of Esme splashing in the tub.



We took a trip to the park when Grandma was here. Grandma and Ez had fun on all of the toys.



We even got daddy to go down the slide!


Grandma pushed Ez on the swing (Ezzy's favorite!)


Ezzy climbed through the tunnels and grandma followed.


Ez was doing really well and was only having her bink at night. Teething changed that and we decided to let her keep it until the day after her first birthday.


A lovely picture of Ez and Grandma Julie, despite the shadow!


A sneaky video of Grandma and Esme on the slide (sideways again, sorry)


Esme LOVES music. She gets really excited when she hears any type...even a slow country song!


She loves music so much that when a new music class at our apartment complex was offered, we jumped on it. Grandma got to attend a class with Esme and even bought her the CD! Esme's friend Savannah also attends the class!

James Humphrey is the man that puts the class on and he is very good. He brings in bags of instruments (shaker eggs, tambourines, bells) that the kids can play along to the music with. He does sing some traditional children songs but also writes a lot of his own music and sings and plays guitar for the kids. Every week he brings a surprise instrument to play for the kids so that they can learn about it. He even lets them touch the instruments!




The musical instrument of the week was the trombone.



Ez and Savvy deciding which tambourine they prefer




Esme and Grandma


Ez loves riding the parachute at little gym but hates riding it a music class. Sad baby!




We had a lot of fun with Grandma and were sad to see her go. Luckily we get to see her for Christmas! xx

More firsts for Esme

A few days before her christening, Esme came down with a fever. It was preceded by three incidents of projectile vomiting (twice on daddy and once in our bed in the middle of the night) but at that stage she had no fever and was acting otherwise normally.

My mom arrived in town for the christening just in time to help! Her fever climbed to 103.7 and she wasn't feeling well at all. I knew the only thing we could do was try to break her temperature and keep it down. Two days of children's Advil and pedialyte and she was feeling much better. I called the doctor on day 3, just to be cautious and they wanted to see her. They said I made the correct decision not to call earlier (all they would have done was tell me to break the fever) but more than two days of a fever warranted a visit. By the time we saw the doctor her temperature was normal and she was in good spirits.

On November 9, 2010, Esme got her first tooth! It was her upper left lateral incisor! This was also the first tooth I got (the vampire tooth!). Stephen and I both got our first teeth fairly late as well so it is interesting to see Ez follow in our footsteps!

Babies generally get their bottom middle teeth first, but not Esme! She is a rebel. The next day (11/10/2010) she got her second tooth which was her upper left central incisor (front tooth).

This picture was taken a few weeks after the teeth made their first appearance but it is the only shot I have been able to get. She does not like people looking at or feeling her teeth!


Her teething hasn't been too horrible. She did get her first diaper rash as a result but with the help of fabulous Bordeaux's Butt Paste, it cleared in a day or so and hasn't returned.

On November 13, 2010 at 10 months and 3 weeks, Miss Esme Jean Bailey took her first steps! She took a few spills on the road to walking but is now a walking machine! She can Walk, turn, kneel down and stand up, bend over and pick things up and stand up without holding on to anything. She is an absolute terror but I am so proud of her!

These videos were taken about a week after her real first steps. She is still wobbly in these videos but you can see she made progress.

This one is a bit dark but is one of the earliest successful videos.


In this one she is getting a bit better...


This one is more recent and you can see she has made vast improvement! Sorry it is sideways!

She is an absolute pro now (12/2/2010) and walks just about everywhere. She still crawls on occasion but is getting a lot more comfortable on her feet! I will try and get an "expert" video soon!

Esme also had another first near the end of November. She got her first cat scratch. The kitties would never go after her or hurt her intentionally. She just happened to try to "pet" them while they were playing and got a scratch across her eye. She was upset for a moment but got over it and still loves the kitties. It is almost too bad she didn't have this scratch on Halloween...a perfect Chucky scar!

A picture of her scratch...food face and all.