Zoo, Sprinkler, "Cookie" and Ow-ee

Again, I am without a cohesive post this week.  Life seems to pass by so quickly that I have difficulty blogging about daily events.  It seems to work best to lump all the week's events into one post each weekend.  Hence, my new approach.....

Lexi petting a goat at the zoo last weekend.  She seemed to like the goat but got very agitated when any other child came over to pet the same goat as she.  It was like she owned the place. 

Auntie Rachel and Uncle Bryan came over for a visit a few days ago.  As always, Lexi showed off like the best of them.  She decided during their visit that she wanted to play in the sprinkler. She in fact demanded it.  So...her daddy set the sprinkler up on the back deck and despite the cool temperature outside she dove right in.

Lexi is now completely IN LOVE with otter pops, but the funny thing is that she calls them "cookies".  No one can figure out why she calls them that or how the association was born.  It's just one of those things.  She points at the freezer and yells "Coooo-keeee" at which time daddy runs (not walks) to the freezer to fetch her one.  Naww, she doesn't have him wrapped around her finger.  :-)   But look at how happy she is when she gets one.

Lexi got her first knee scrapes a few days ago.  She was wearing her cute pink clogs down the path by our house and fell a total of three times.  The clogs are adorable but she's not all that stable in them.  Another example of fashion over function.  Anyhow, Lexi has spent the past two days pointing at her knees and saying "ow-ee".  She seems more fascinated by the scrapes than she does bothered by the discomfort.

Lexi Update

It's been a while since I've posted. Nothing too terribly exciting has happened in the past couple of weeks but Lexi has reached some new milestones....of course. She's now answering "yes" and "no" to questions in the proper context, which is wonderful. She's also very proud of herself when she accomplishes something and claps her hands and says "yay" with a big smile on her face. It's very cute. She's also very much into hats right now, which makes me VERY happy. I can't wait to dress her up in adorable head pieces this coming winter. How fun will that be??? Having a little girl is the best!!! Here are some cute photos of her taken over the past week and a half.

Lexi's great auntie Laurie came out from New Jersey for a visit last week and they shared some special moments.Lexi cuddling with her beloved froggie whom she has named "Big". She and Big are inseparable.

The past few weeks I've been experimenting with different headbands. She used to not let me put headbands in her hair but now she tolerates them and I think they look adorable on her.

And here's one of her cute hats. Like I said, I can hardly wait for the weather to change. :-)

More headband action.....our fifties baby.

She's loving crayons these days too. A budding artist perhaps???

Can a Working Mother Have it All?

Today I was thinking about the question "can a working mother have it all?" And you know what? I say, the answer is yes. It is indeed possible to succeed in both worlds, as long as you are willing to change your definition of "having it all.” I believe I'm a better mother because I work. Lexi is exposed to new and interesting things when I’m away and when we are together I do my best to make every minute count. My view is it’s about quality, not quantity, of minutes. By working I strive to show Lexi what women can accomplish and that she can do anything she puts her mind to. My biggest accomplishment since becoming a mom is coming to the realization that I can't be the best at everything I do, and being able to walk away and say 'I'm OK with that.' Instead, I’ve decided to focus my time and efforts on things that matter and give a little in areas that don’t matter all that much (in the grand scheme of things) such as keeping a clean home and preparing gourmet meals. I know that I’ll always have weeds in my garden, my bed will rarely be made, my clean clothes will sit in laundry baskets for weeks at a time and my meals will be simple, but you know what? That's OK!

Lexi's First Haircut!!!

Lexi officially graduated from baby to little girl today with the commencement of her first haircut. Her hair was getting really BIG and when worn down covered her eyes like Cousin It on the Adam's Family. It was time to take action.

She didn't have much cut off because ultimately it is our goal to grow her hair long. The hairstylist just cut her some side bangs and cleaned things up in the back. But even so...she looks so much different to us. I'm not sure why, but the whole experience brought tears to my eyes. I just can't believe how fast the time has gone.

Daddy memorialized the event by capturing the entire cut on tape. Ahhh....how sweet that will be to watch someday.



I was really worried that Lexi would NOT do well so I made a point to plan ahead. I made the appt for 11am, a time which Lexi is usually in a really good mood. We woke up early and made breakfast....complete with scrambled eggs and french toast. It was important that she had a full tummy. Then I gave her a bath, conditioned and combed out her hair and brought her to the salon with her hair already wet. I knew she would have a melt down if she had to have her tangles pulled on by the hairstylist. She normally HATES to have anyone touching her hair.

To my complete surprise she did GREAT!!!! She didn't mind the cut AT ALL. I think she was appropriately distracted by all the toys and fun stuff to look at. We were so proud of her. She was such a good girl! Here are some shots of her and her hairstylist, Alyssa.

The salon is called Little Clippers. I've never been in a place like that before. It was adorable. The place looked like an indoor playground. There were kids playing everywhere and all the cutting stations had TV's and VCR's. What a great idea! Lexi got to watch Elmo during her cut. As you can see in the below photo, each chair was a different kind of child's seat. So precious!After all was said and done, Lexi was awarded with a balloon and a sticker...two of Lexi's favorite things. Here are some photos of daddy giving her her sticker....so cute.And to make it truly official, Lexi got a 'Congratulations Certificate' complete with a lock of her hair.
Here's the finished product!It's experiences like these that make life great!

Concert in the Park

Tonight (at the suggestion of Nana) we took Lexi to her first Classical Summer Concert in the Park. It was held at the Cathedral Park underneath the St. John's bridge and the setting was gorgeous. Here is the view from where we were sitting.
I thought it was so random that this huge weeping willow tree was growing in between the supports of the bridge. It was quite beautiful though.

Lexi was highly entertained by all the people and dogs who were there and insisted on petting all the canines within our 20 foot radius. She also enjoyed getting in and out of the lawn chairs that Nancy and Rick brought as well as rolling herself up in her pretty rainbow blanket.


Nana brought a delicious picnic which we all enjoyed....especially Lexi. Lexi is now quite insistent on feeding herself and as you can imagine got nearly as much food on her clothing as she did in her mouth. This necessitated "a full wardrobe change" as one onlooker described it. Thankfully I try to plan ahead (the operative word is "try").

About half way through the concert Grandpa took Lexi for a walk down towards the stage and she stopped to say "Hi-ee" to almost everyone she passed. Here they are coming back from one of their walks.

Lexi is very much into sunglasses these days. Each time she sees grandpa's pair she pulls them off his head and tries to put them on hers. I took MANY photos of her taking them off and then putting them on again. Here are three which I think capture the moment nicely.

Lexi was a big hit today and she was SUCH a good girl (which was a huge relief as she's not done well recently in public settings). It was a very nice night. We'll certainly have to do more of these types of things with Lexi throughout the remainder of the summer. Thanks so much for the suggestion Nana!