but i have pictures!

Sorry it's been so long since the last update. I'm terrible, I know. But I have pictures!! *laugh* seriously, I have been updating the pictures, I'm hoping some of you noticed. Her birthday party pictures have been up since a few days after her party. I just didn't post on this. *smile*

And I really don't have too much to say this time. I've been super busy - I'm taking 4 online classes this semester trying to get a move-on with my degree. It's looking like December of 2007 is when I'll be able to graduate. *frown* But four classes is definately a push in the right direction.
I am still volunteering with Guardian Ad Litem (CASA), so that's keeping me busy as well.

Zoë is doing good! She FINALLY got her crib. I say finally, for those of you who don't know, because we went through two online companies and three cribs before we were finally able to put one together. Point being - it's up now. And she had no problems transitioning from her pack-n-play (the only thing she's ever slept in) to her crib. Even if it is ten times the size of her pack-n-play! *laugh* Other than that, she's working on building her food repitoire, she's working on communication skills with mommy and daddy, and she's apparently working on breaking MORE teeth! I don't know which teeth she could possibly be breaking now, she's already got all of her one-year molars, but I guess she'll just keep teething until she's done. *shrug* She's also really close to walking. She took two unassisted steps a few days ago (it was more like a "fall" towards the couch), but daddy is "still not satisfied". He wants to see her walking around all the time without holding on before he leaves. So we're working on it.

And that's about it. We seem to be very busy and trying to make time to slow down...*heh* Aren't we all?

Love and kisses to everyone.

birthday party drama

the closer her birthday gets, the closer i get to running away, screaming. *haha*

seriously, a few weeks ago, i was the supermomma trying to make lists and buy things early. i got her presents, and that's it. everything else will, of course, be last minute.
this last minute business includes a change in venue, which happens to be on base, meaning get all the non-mililtary people a visitors pass for the day. *augh* alan is our godsend.

there's going to be a barbeque, which involves getting the food, the sides, the garnishes, the paper plates, napkins, trashbags, plasicware, cake, icecream?, oh! and don't forget to bake the cake!

and i've been spending days googling "eco-friendly birthday party" and "eco-healthy party ideas" just to figure out if there really are people out there who are brave enough to bring plastic plates and cloth napkins for that many people. honestly, i would love to...i really want to...but i don't even live in the town we're hosting this party in...like i told r - it would be a logistical, dishwashing nightmare. although i've seriously considered calling gail, who i *know* would be on my side about this...but she lost her cloth napkins and i only have four. *frown*


*sigh* the point of all this rambling: next year, zoë will get to pick her guests, her location, and her theme. i'm figuring, a two year old mind won't fathom thinking as big as this party is going to be...so i'll be in luck. *smile* and maybe she'll only pick four people, so i can use my cloth napkins...*grin*



on the upside: she's finally allowing us to help her learn how to walk. she gets very excited when she can take steps, although she purposely uses our hands as leaning tools. she leans so far forward it looks like she expects the air to hold her up! it's really funny, but at least she's getting practice moving her feet.
she's got about 10 teeth now. for the past few weeks, she's been on a teething kick. one tooth after another. and she hates my fingers in her mouth, so it's very difficult for me to check on them. but there are several she's trying to break still. and she's just learned how to bite. it came by way of her trying to find something to chew on, and finding daddy's toes first. then the next day she discovered mommy's kneecap. *ouch* she thinks it's funny, so we all have a quick laugh about it, but i've already started my "scolding"..."r, tell her 'ouch', don't let her bite you!" *haha*

she has also finally learned how to clap for herself. she used to grab our hands and show us how to clap, but she's discovered how to do this on her own. so when we see her we do the typical "yay!" and she laughs and grins and continues clapping. it's fun. now i've just gotta teach her how to play patty-cake. she already *loves* when i use her feet or hands to sing "the itsy-bitsy spider"...so we're on a roll...

but most of you will see this on saturday for her birthday party. can't wait to see everyone!

new pics to look at, too. *yay* (everyone clap their hands!)

the new ads.

i know, i know...what is the world coming to when i add advertisements to my blog?!! seriously, though, for everytime you click on those links, i make money.

so do my the favor...it won't hurt you...go on! click on something. then come back here and click again! *smile*


thankyouverymuch.

we're still alive...

and doing well, actually.

zoë is doing great. she'll be one in 17 days! *frown* i can't believe how time flies!! i think when she was only weeks old i knew i'd say that again.

she's working on breaking her 8th tooth. she's very close to walking...holding on to tables and couches, letting go and standing alone for a few seconds...but she refuses to walk while holding our hands. stubborn little thing. wonder who she gets that from? *smile*

robbie got a new job offer a few weeks ago. he's working on all the paperwork before he gets to start there, but they are looking forward to him just as much as he is looking forward to starting. so that's always a good sign. he's currently taking three classes online through devry university, and although he learns from the material, he's having difficulties with the financial aid office and has mentioned maybe choosing another school. he's making progress towards his degree, which is what is ultimately important.

i'm making progress as well, although i share in his grief of not being pleased with my school. both my financial aid office and my overall experience so far. i've also considered picking a new school, but i have yet to hear of an online school offering a BA in sociology. or any humanities degree, for that matter. if anyone knows of one - let me know!!!

i've been sworn in by the local judge to be a CASA volunteer but i haven't received a case yet. so i'm eagerly waiting for that...should be quite an experience.

let's see...at the end of may, we took a family trip to washington dc for memorial day weekend. we enjoyed the festivities there, and we spent that monday at arlington national cemetery under a shaded tree paying our respects to veterans.

in june we went down to florida to spend the weekend at robbie's dad's house for the ferriol family reunion - lots of fun! zoë and i met lots of family we'd never met before.

in july, my high school girlfriend got married - congratulations mr. and mrs. tran-ozuna! i was fortunate enough to be one of the witnesses at a very intimate beach wedding. this was on the fourth of july, so robbie, zoë, and i ended up just staying around the house. robbie and i snuck out to the porch when we started hearing fireworks at ten o'clock at night, just to say we did...*smile*

also, for the month of july (even though it was just this past weekend) robbie went on a camping trip with lots of old friends of his. it got cut short due to weather in clemson, sc, but the one night he did spend there sounds like it was lots of fun.
and while he went there, zoë and i went back to sumter to help out and celebrate with my friends tiffany and jeff who just had their second child; wesley paul was born on the 27th at 7lbs, 7ozs...congratulations to them...and to wesley's big sister lilly for being so brave! *smile*

and now we're planning zoë's first birthday party. it's going to be a great family reunion for both mine and robbie's families. we're both very excited to spend the day with family members we haven't seen in years. our extended families will finally get to meet each other, and many of them will get to meet zoë for the first time. nothing like a grandchild to bring the families together!


of course i'm sure the majority of you reading this are really here for the pictures, so...let the viewing commence! *smile* i've changed servers, yet again. google just seems to have the best of everything internet, so i switched to "picasa online" which is still being tested, but gets two thumbs up from me. the link is on the right...

to the ferriol's: i'm sorry these took me so long to post!! =)

home

just when i was getting good at taking self-portraits of zoë and i, he makes it home! *heh*

he made it back "in one piece" like i requested...*hehe* safe and sound and fairly glad to be home. glad to see his beautiful daughter, that's for sure. of course they have to go through the initial comfort stage again, but they're both adapting very quickly and well.

the apartment is slowly being put together - the new television, the new couch, the new room for zoë! we're striving for it to all be cleaned and in order by the end of the week. *fingerscrossed*

robbie will be back to work this coming monday, and we'll be taking a road trip to clemson for uncle kendy's graduation soon...but other than that, we'll be sticking around here for a while...relaxing in "our home" has a nice ring to it.

easter went well! zoë and i went to auntie ashleigh's parents' house then to grandma gail's ("mumsy") house for the dinner and egg hunt. we won again! *hehe* papa skip always hides money in the eggs, and uncle kendy, uncle hayes, uncle justin, and zoë and i raced to find the most money. we found the fewest eggs, but the most money!! *woohoo* two years ago, robbie and i found the most, and now uncle kendy and uncle hayes want us to play "every person for himself"...sore losers. *laugh* it was a great time, though. the only thing is was missing was daddy. we were all wishing that robbie could have been there. next year though...it's on! *smile*
there are lots of cute pictures of this day posted on the picture blog. just fyi, you can order your own copies of the pictures through the dotphoto website. it's very easy and very cheap. sent right to your house, even. in case anyone was interested...

so...we're all living together again. our happy little family.
at least i don't have to take self-portraits anymore! *smile*



edit: there are two new folders on the photo blog. one is easter, the other is called "8 months" and it's pictures from this past weekend before robbie got home...zoë and i went to the botanical gardens during a festival to hang out.

slow down on the growing up!

i take back everything i've said about being excited for her to grow up and change!!! *pout*

zoë is almost crawling...she gets into position, revs up her butt, and tries to take off...but she just can't figure out how to move her hands in sync with her legs! *laugh* too cute. but i don't want her to crawl!!! i want her to stay put. her mobility is my insanity!! seriously.

she had a head cold a few weeks back, her fever wasn't too high, but she had it for three days, so i took her in to see the doc. nothing serious, her fever broke the next day. but she was weighed while we were there...20 pounds, 8 ounces!! like i tell r - she's a heffer!
i just switched out her wardrobe to 12 months sizes, but even those only fit up to 22 pounds! she won't be able to wear them for very long...
and she'll only be 8 months old in 4 days!!! *eek*

easter is sunday. i wouldn't have even remembered except that skip made sure i cleared my schedule...gail will be in town along with kendy and hayes! (zoë's paternal grandmother and two uncles) so that's exciting. they haven't seen her since christmas. i'm sure they'll all be shocked at how much she's grown. and i'm really looking forward to getting recent pictures of all of them with her. i'm trying to keep up with that...
she's got the cutest easter dress. daddy got it for her for christmas and she has yet to find the occasion to wear it. *smile* white with pink and blue stripes...and i just got her a pink pail to match it for a "basket". not that she'll get too much "hunting" done, but i'm sure it will make for the cutest "my first easter" pictures. and i'm sure her uncles will have no qualms about helping her find all the eggs. *heh*

soooo. r comes home in about two weeks!!!!! *grin* can't you hear my excitement?!! i can't wait to see the look on his face when he hears her say "hiya dada" in person...(and of course i'm looking forward to seeing him myself! *smile*)

i'm still substitute teaching. still loving it...for the most part. if you haven't heard this before, lemme make it clear to you - substituting is more difficult than being the permanent teacher, and teaching is a very difficult job!! *sigh* but it has opened some doors for me, and i think i'm going to be pursuing a license to teach special education when i'm done with my degree. alas, i want to be a teacher. *heh*
speaking of degree...i just found out i was accepted to FSU. so i'll be a 'bronco' starting in august when i move in with r. *woohoo* and i was just advised yesterday - they'll be taking all of my credits!!! *yay* so it looks like i'll finally be joining the 'educated elite' in december of 2007. (roughly...sooner if i push it) but i'm excited. i'm ready to get that degree done and behind me. move on to better things. like more education! *heh* maybe grad school...the license to teach...more work, more work, more work.

alright. i've posted more pictures. just so everyone knows, when you look at the pictures on dotphoto, you can also order your own copies. have them sent to your house and everything. i know i just sent some out to family, but these are newer and much cuter. they're my favorites so far...
and the ones i take for easter will be added shortly too.

don't forget:
username: urbanmomma
password: zoesofia

work, school, sleep, repeat.

she has four teeth now!! *eek*
she broke her top two front teeth on her 7 month birthday (march 18th). because of that, she has (thankfully) stopped drooling as much. still drool, obviously, but not 2 or 3 bibs worth! *laugh*

she's becoming more mobile everyday. she's not crawling yet, but she has learned how to go from sitting up to laying on her stomach. she'll simply reach for the toy of choice, then throw her legs out behind her. she gets very giddy from this! *so cute*

i'm convinced that she knows her daddy's voice. when he calls and she's awake, i put him on speakerphone and they chat it up. she's most talkative when she hears him on the other end of the phone. her face lights up, and as of a few days ago, daddy gets to hear a "hiya dada"! it's the best thing in the world for me, so i can imagine how his heart flutters. *smile* when he's not on the phone, she's learned how to say "dadadada" but never "dada" unless it's talking to him. and i've tried putting other people on the phone with her, and she doesn't have the same face-lighting reaction to it, so i'm convinced. we've got a smart cookie! and one that very much misses her daddy. she loves to watch him on tv, too. she'll sometimes fall asleep to the music he put on her dvd.
so now i'm pushing for the "mama" but...no expectations. just hopes. *smile*
i am thankful that she knows her daddy and will recognize him when he returns. so no complaints here. "dada" is fine for now. :)

she seems to like her daycare. she still isn't eating her bottles, but she'll eat jarfood while she's there, so that's something. every week i tell myself "this is the week she'll start eating". i even go early to the center and feed her breakfast while we're there, so she'll know that eating a bottle there is okay. i'm hoping that will eventually help. she likes the toddlers that share the room with her, and i think it's helped her adjust to the change. she's not too sure about other babies her age, but when a toddler comes over and says hi to her, she squeels with excitement. so at least she has that. and she seems to like her caretakers too. they love her, that's for sure!

i'm back in school now. taking one class at night. and i work pretty much everyday still. substitute teaching is requires lots of energy! *sigh* but it's very rewarding, so i don't mind it.
this semester ends at the end of april, which luckily enough is the same time robert comes home. so zoë and i will be spending the entire month of may here in NC!! *yay* we're planning to do a little light traveling. see some parts of the US that we haven't seen before. boston, maybe? *shrug* i'm just looking forward to all of us spending time together.

so that's it. work, school, and our 7 month old growing up WAY too fast. *laugh*
hope everyone is doing good...

another 2 months...

it's been two months since my last post! sorry everyone. time slips away quickly...




zoë is doing great. she had a well baby checkup this past friday. officially: she weighs 19 pounds and 4 ounces and she's now 26 inches long! *eek* she's getting SO big. she wears bigger 6-9 months size clothes and smaller 9-12 months size. before long she'll be wearing toddler sizes! *laugh*
a friend of mine had a death in the family, so zoe wore a dress for the first time last week. pictures have been posted...she's cute as a button. but when isn't she? *smile*

she's teething like crazy right now, trying to break her top two teeth. i tell her all the time that she's a running faucet. she literally goes through 2 or 3 bibs a day!

she started daycare last week. my friend was watching her while i worked, but she's about 6 months pregnant now, so it was getting to be too much to watch zoë and her own 4 year old daughter. but the new daycare is quite nice (for a daycare). they are the only daycare in sumter county to have a national certification (the same kind that the base CDC is required to have) so that's always a plus. it's a small place...zoë is the 5th baby in the room, and they won't be getting anymore. only five they say. so i also like that. there are also toddlers in the room which makes zoë more comfortable because she was around lilly (the 4 year old) all the time. so...so far so good. and it's only for about 8 weeks anyway. when robbie gets back she'll be going to spend the summer with him in north carolina.

she's about to start crawling. anyday now, really. she can get herself up on hands and knees and rock back and forth. it's SO cute! *laugh* i put toys in front of her, just out of her reach, so she'll throw herself forward at them until she figures out how to move her limbs in unison. she's so funny. but she gets so excited when she figures out how to do something new. she's learning all sorts of noises with her mouth lately. her favorite, oddly enough my least favorite, is a shriek. she's just learned this one. if she's excited, mad, or just wants to get my attention, she'll shriek as loud as humanly possible. *ouch* but she can make other (cuter!) noises too. she smacks her tongue on the top of her mouth (it sounds like a kissing noise) so sometimes when i kiss her she'll copy me and smack her tongue. that's my favorite one. if we're alone, (when she's not shy) we'll have "smack conversations" which are always lots of fun...

she's learning all sorts of different things to do with her toys and her hands. i'm trying to teach her to put the rings on the stick, but so far she's only mastered taking them off. and she hates when they're on the stick! she'll turn the whole tower upside down to get them all off at once. and she'll dump her bucket of blocks out just to get them all out of the bucket, too. but she hasn't figured out how to put them back in. (or she just doesn't want to *shrug*) so playtime is getting more interesting everyday - for both of us! *laugh*

she eats lots of different babyfoods now. obviously fruits are her favorite, but she also likes the vegetables. she'll eat meat, too, but only if it's mixed with something that tastes better. *heh*

i'm only able to post pictures when i'm in north carolina (better computer) so i do as much as possible...sorry it takes me so long to update. i'll try to be better at it.

love you all.
now go check out the cute pictures!

remember:
username is "urbanmomma"
password is "zoesofia"

new magazine

just a little side note...i "stumbled upon" (by way of gail - thanks gail!) this magazine called "brain, child"...it's a mommy mag, but on a totally different level than the others. anyway. i love it. i bought it. and i added their link to my page. so check 'em out...

here's a little something from the issue i've got:

"there once was a baby brand new
who awoke for a feeding at two.
mom left her warm bed
for the third time and said,
'how i wish that men lactated too!'"
~m.byerly, orange, ca

i also added a link to "daddy's blog", and a link to the mothers movement online. both very interesting...

happy 2006!

look at me! i'm posting again before three more months pass us by...

speaking of three months...that's how long zoë's daddy with be away from us while he "visits" iraq. yep. he'll be leaving next week! *eek* so keep him in your thoughts for the next few months.

christmas and new years went well.
zoë broke her two front teeth right before christmas, and of course she now chews on everything she can get in her little fists...but it's helping her teeth come in and relieves her pain, if only for a brief moment, so i'm not complaining.

my grandma keyser was in town for a bit over christmas. her and zoë got along great! *smile* they just love each other to pieces...although i was greedy at times, i did my best to let them spend some QT together. and that they did.
we made time to get our "four generation" pictures taken at a studio (zoë, me, my mom, and her mom; aka grandma keyser)...thinking that 9am would be perfect since zoe is such a morning person. i didn't expect her to wake up at 7:30a and be ready for her first nap right when we got to the studio!! so those pictures didn't turn out nearly as well as we had all hoped. we got a few cute ones, but they seemed cute only by comparing them to the ones where zoë was actually wailing! *laugh* alright, it wasn't that bad...but i was really upset about it. i wanted to cry. studio pictures are once-in-a-lifetime chances...but my lesson is learned. plan better for her naptimes! plus it's a funny memory for her first experience at professional pictures.

me, mom, and grandma k. also found time to skim through our geneology book that aunt chris made for mom. learning all sorts of personal details about that side of my family was very interesting for me. appreciating heritage is definately something i want to teach zoë someday. apparently, on that side, we are french-canadian. i knew i was french on my father's mother's side as well, so i thought that was pretty cool...grandma told me lots of little memories that i would never find if i did research. those memories are the best part of talking about families and where we come from...

as for zoë's daddy's side of the family, she got to spend lots of fun times with her uncle hayes, uncle kendy, and uncle justin, and well as her great grandma "nana", her "mumsy" (grandma gail), and her papa skip. her daddy got lots of great pictures for her scrapbook of her and uncle kendy playing together...something tells me he's one of her favorites. but she's got 6 uncles all togther, so he's got lots of competition! *laugh*
she also met her grandpa ferriol a few weeks back. there are pictures of that, but grandpa has all of them. so if you're reading this - send us some!! =) it was really great. he has the same mannerisms as her daddy, so she was right at home. they hit it off right away. he was actually really stoked about the huge grin he got the first time he spoke to her. and i think he's madly in love with his granddaughter!

anyway. so all in all, we had a great holiday. zoë was scared of wrapping paper (the ripping noise) and she loves her new things. (all things she can chew, of course!) she didn't get nearly as many clothes as i was expecting (thank god!!) but she did get a substantial amount of toys. she's set for the next year! *laugh* she got a bouncer, a walker, several small teething toys, lots and lots of books (yay!!), three "my first christmas" ornaments, a gift certificate for a real crib, another pack-n-play crib for her mumsy's house, and a few stuffed animals. oh! and a new play gym from her auntie ashleigh. so she's learning cause and effect from kicking now instead of just her hands.

as of december 20th, she weighed a whopping 14lbs 12ozs, and measured in at 23inches. i gave up for the time being on the rice cereal...she was NOT a fan. but i tried out the oatmeal for babies and she seems to like that a little better. i thinned it out more so she could pretty much drink it, and she did okay with it.

of course she was sleeping as the ball dropped to ring in 2006, but we both gave her a kiss for good luck. i hope she has a happy year filled with lots of excitement and new adventures.

happy 2006 to all of you from me and zoë!

and don't forget to click on the photoblog link to the right. it's also been updated! *woohoo*
(i'm on a roll...maybe it will be a new year resolution...)

post script

ps. i'm currently updating the photo blog...click the link on the right.

three months later...

wow, time flies.
zoe turned four months old on sunday and, bless her heart, broke her first tooth the same day. she chews on anything that comes within grabbing range of her flailing fists, and she drools at all times - even in her sleep! *laugh*

it's her first christmas, and she's facinated by all the different christmas trees she has already seen...something about the lights and the ornaments - she just can't get enough.

she talks to mommy and daddy all the time, and grins just as much.
she's been introduced to rice cereal, although i'm not sure if the faces she makes are because of the new texture or pure disgust...daddy thinks it's because she hasn't figured out how to close her mouth and swallow...

daddy bought her a toy for the car rides. she's never been a fan of her car seat, and she always seemed so bored sitting back there, facing away from me, and having nothing to do or look at. so he bought her a mirror that lights up and plays music. now everytime she gets in the car i get to see her beautiful grin and sometimes i'm lucky enough to hear a giggle. she carries on conversation with the cute baby in the mirror, and sometimes she'll talk to the moving lights.
of course this is all while she's chewing both fists at the same time. =)

she's about to grow out of her 3-6months size clothes, and i should be finding out later this afternoon exactly how much she weighs...she's my chunky-monkey, that's for sure!

alright. pictures pictures pictures.
(sorry it's been too long between updates...)