Happy Birthday to Walden!!

the happy birthday girl

more posts and pics to come...

xoxo

For Real

How long has it been?  Two, maybe three months?  You know, time flies when you're a Real Housewife of Fairfield County.  Between living luxuriously and being fabulous, I simply haven't had the time to blog.  Let's see...where to begin?  There was the month we spent in St. Barts (pronounced sin BAAAHHTS, if you're wondering) and really, darling, preparing for a trip like that is nothing but work.  The house manager must be notified, the staff must be organized, the couture must be packed...the sort of thing that no one wants to do, but someone has to make the sacrifice! 

The next month was spent roughing it in our penthouse in the city.  I know, I know...what's rough about a Central Park view and dinner every night at Jean Georges?  Well, you try living in a mere 4,500 square feet and then tell me that you don't spend half your time in bed recovering from claustrophobia and the other half sending the house boy out for Xanax and oxygen imported from Switzerland.  It's no picnic, darling, trust me.

And well, the rest of our time has been spent attending benefits for the poverty-stricken underbelly of Greenwich (those poor souls who make less than $250k, God bless them) and coordinating the expansion of the aforementioned penthouse.  Oh, and we did make a quick jaunt over to London at the end of April for the wedding of some friends of ours (although I was terribly upset that a certain someone and I were wearing the same tiara. I know at least one stylist who is out of a job!)

So there you have it...all work and no play, as you can see.  Such is the life of a Real Housewife...

baby in sheep's clothing

superbaby

puppy in waiting

green bean facial

roly poly

Easter finery

baby, i can see your halo

jazz hand practice

clapping practice

posing for closeup practice

ready...set...

smile

 

Digital Short

I spend a lot of time documenting the goings-on of Walden's everyday life.  I take pictures, I jot down notes in her baby book, I take videos...the usual stuff parents do to remember these precious days that go by way too quickly.  I want to remember every single, little, tiny moment of her life and, consequently, I have about 2.6 million pictures stored on my computer (and that is just since Christmas).  Do I go a bit overboard?  Perhaps.  Do I really need to keep every single picture I take, even the one where her eye is closed, her foot is blurry, and her nose could use a little housekeeping?  Yes, absolutely, I do.  Because those are important moments.

But what about parents?  Who is there to document all the sweet little moments of a new parent's life?  No one, that's who.  And I'm fine with that, mostly.  Because that would mean that I'd have to apply makeup on a regular basis and wear stuff that doesn't involve elastic and really I can't keep that kind of breakneck pace for more than a day or so.  But sometimes I do wish that I had a picture of the times when James and I sneak into Walden's room while she's sleeping and stare and her and smile stupidly at each other.  Or a video of the moment when I've rocked her to sleep and she's making little sleepy noises and I can kiss on her face over and over again and she doesn't even wake up.  Moments that I just want to bottle up and save forever. Every once in a while, either James or I can grab the camera at just the right moment, like this...

snuggle bug

...but it happens very rarely, especially since our girl is constantly on the move these days.  I love pictures of moments like this because then, a long time from now, when Walden is 17 and she asks me if she can stay out past 7:30 just this once and I tell her no, that nothing good can happen at that ungodly hour, and she screams at me and runs to her room and slams the door and blasts an aged, 23 year old Justin Bieber on her iPod,  I can flip through those precious, quiet little moments and remember when she used to need me to cuddle her every once in a while.

But thanks to the advances in technology, there are ways that we can recreate other special moments in our lives as new parents so that we can cherish them forever...

  And then we realize why the show is called Teen Mom, with drama and babbydaddies and punching, and not Appropriately Aged Mom, which is pretty much a snoozefest and apparently involves James wearing a really tight green v-neck, which no one needs to see.

So let's just get back to the regularly scheduled programming and be thankful that there are no camera crews following me around...

up to no good

sweet

first food

avocado face

miss independent

mmmm

big girl

Happy New Year!

The last few weeks of 2010 were pretty eventful over here in Walden's world...

we sported legwarmers (cue theme from flashdance)

we donned our gay apparel and posed in front of the Christmas tree

we got kissed under the mistletoe

we won staring contests with jake

we were totally unimpressed with santa

we were very impressed with grandpa fenton

we got toys from santa

we got hugs from aunt jennifer

we had our first snow day

And so far in 2011...

we had another round of Christmas with grammie and boompa

we were very serious about opening presents

and also very silly

we decided that lucy is more fun than presents

see?

we were wistful (while sitting, our newest trick)

we chewed stuff (with teeth, our newest things to chew stuff with)

we bundled up

and we wore cute hats

We were a little sad to see 2010 end; after all, it was The Year of the Butterbean!  But we can't wait to see what 2011 holds.  And plus, I have a feeling that every year from here on out will be the Year of the Butterbean :)  Happy New Year, everybody!

Scams, Sleep, and Snowglobes

 If I've learned anything in almost five months of parenthood, it is this:

Babies, though cute and infinitely lovable, are not to be trusted.  Neverevernosireebobnotonebit.  Nothing but con-artists, they are.  Adorable, pudgy-faced, rosy-cheeked little con-artists.  And they're good. Oh, they're real good.  Take Walden, for instance.  One minute I'm watching her do this whole heart-melting routine where she's making eyes at me from behind a teething ring and saying things like "aahh mmmm pppfff" - really laying it on thick, you know - and next thing I know I'm in a sweaty, confused and sleepless heap on the floor with tweety birds circling over my head.

She'll spend hours buttering me up with this move...

la la la just playing with my feet because i am cute

...but behind those innocent, blue eyes, she's hatching a complex plan to wake me up at least 12 times later that night.  Or she'll turn on some Oscar-worthy waterworks during what is supposed to be sleepy time and as soon as I enter the room to soothe my distraught child, I am greeted by this...

did i wake you that is funny also i am cute

And my heart melts all over again and I am caught up in her carefully crafted web of trickery.

innocent little angel or brilliant scam artist?

Long story short, my super sleeper of yester-month has taken a few steps backward in the ol' shut-eye department.  She turned 4 months old and poof...gone are the days of six, seven and eight hour stretches at night...we're back to a mere 3 to 4 (it's only temporary, please say it's only temporary).  These are desperate times.  And this is what happens when mama gets on the internet while she is desperate...

It's Baby Merlin's Magic Sleep Suit.  I had to buy it. It had the word magic in the title.  And it really is magic.

It magically makes your baby look ridiculous.  Sleep? Not so much. Walden knows it and I know it, but still we hope.

I suppose being a parent is kind of like living in a snow globe.  Just when things get all nice and settled, something (or someone) comes along to shake things up and send us flying.  Plus, sometimes you feel like you're drowning while being hurled against rounded glass.  

But, oh, isn't it beautiful...yes, it is. 

Oh, Happy Day!

One year ago today, we found out our little butterbean was on the way!  Seems like only yesterday that James was telling me, "You know if that thing is positive, you can forget that bottle of cab you just bought" and I was telling him, "Impossible...trust me, I'll have purple lips within the hour."  

happy papa-to-be

consciousness regained. excited mama-to-be. less than enthusiastic pups.

Hard to believe it's been a whole year since this little girl started calling the shots :)

xoxo

Fall

Such a busy fall!  First...Walden's first Halloween!  The little diva had three costume changes (how very Cher of her).

costume #1: piglet

costume #2: boo! shirt with ridiculous headband

costume #3: bear (accompanied by cow with inappropriately placed udders)

 Then, we took a trip to the pumpkin patch with Grammie and Boompa where Walden made sitting on a pile of pumpkins look positively effortless.

little pumpkin

chatting with boompa

snuggling with grammie

And we also took pictures to put in our "Photos to embarrass Walden when she's a teenager" file.  I must say, though, that I have never seen anyone pull off cellulite the way Walden does. 

cutie bootie

The End ;)