Happy 3 months

Today is officially Eily's 3 month birthday. For fear of sounding trite, I have to ask: Where did the time go? It seems like just yesterday we brought her home. Somehow, between the diaper changes, feedings, and naps, she's grown up. Okay, not exactly grown up. But while she napped today, I cleaned out all of her 0-3 month clothing (*sniffle*) and washed all of her 3-6 month gear. Since we really only plan on having one baby, I was a bit sad seeing these things getting packed away. On the plus side, however, it's like she has a whole new wardrobe. Thank goodness for living vicariously through her for the time being. After all, the last thing I want to do is buy a new wardrobe until I have lost all of the baby weight (12 more pounds to go!).

In honor of this day, I'd like to take a minute to bring everyone up to speed with Eily's developments thus far:

- She hates tummy time. This means no rolling over from belly to back at this point. Not really a development, I guess, but it may be important for future reference when you all start asking if she's crawling yet and I say no. Don't ask me why not. Just accept the fact that my child hates laying on her stomach (which makes me question if she's really mine at all - it's the only way I can sleep).

- Neck control is a no-brainer. This girl has been holding that noggin up since day one. She can even hold it up while on her tummy. But wait. Why do that when burying her face and crying as if she's enduring some sort of extreme torture is so much more fun? Here's a rare pic of her smiling on her tummy, taken today:

- Standing is her pass-time of choice. My guns are proof. This is how we spend a good portion of the day.

- She's started giggling, but she's a tough audience. Want to really get her going? Stick me in a room full of dust so I start sneezing. She thinks that's pretty darn funny. The bigger the sneeze, the longer and harder she laughs. Don't try to fake her out, though. My kid is no dummy. She can tell a fake sneeze from the real deal any day.

- She's most "talkative" just before she falls asleep. I have a hard time stifling my laughter as she babbles and grunts with a big grin behind her paci and drooping eyelids.

- Rollng onto her side is her latest trick, but she's not really in any rush to go any further (see the "tummy time" item).

Those are all I can think of at the moment. I must admit, my brain is a bit fuzzy as I fight some severely allergy-induced blocked sinuses. I've probably forgot something here, but to make up for it I'll leave you with her birthday pictures from her first three months:

Month 1:

I'll admit, we almost forgot to take a pic that day. This was just before going to sleep that night.

Month 2:

Hanging out on the front porch.

Month 3:

Taken tonight during tubby time - her favorite time of the day!

Tradition!

Once again, another September has arrived after an all-too fleeting summer. Crisp mornings are a sign of things to come - the changing leaves, the short-lived sunlight, the first drops of snow. Well I say to Nature, "Hold up already, we have far too many things to do first!"

That's right, it is officially fall, and that means a chance to actually enjoy the outdoors without sweating out every ounce of water I drank for the day. (And let me tell you, when you're breastfeeding that is a lot of water!) More importantly, though, are the traditions fall brings along for its windy ride. And in true Jesse and Jessa fashion, we kicked this season off right by attending the Irish 2000 festival (aka Celtic festival nerd heaven) in upstate NY. Longtime friends and family will understand, but for those who don't know: This event is the reason Jesse and I ever even met in the first place. Let's return to that fateful day five years ago for a little walk down memory lane, shall we?

(Cue dreamy harp music and fog machine.)

September, 2004. I was living back in CT after leaving the Albany area, but I returned for a weekend visit to attend Irish 2000, or i2K as the regulars call it. Early in the day, I saw this guy dancing during one of the sets. He looked very familiar, but I just couldn't place where I knew him from. Seeing a girl with him and really not knowing where I knew him from, I opted not to approach him. Flash forward several weeks to the beginning of October. Having decided I missed the Capital Region far too much, I had returned for good and resumed my part time job at Professor Java's. Imagine my surprise when the same young man I had seen at the festival showed up for coffee one day! Here's where things get fun.

His version: Jessa said "Hi, I saw you at Irish fest didn't I?" Therefore, she was totally hitting on me.

My version: I finally realized why he had looked so familiar at the festival - he was a regular at the cafe. I mentioned that I had seen him there and introduced myself. Before he left, he totally hit on me and said (this is VERBATIM because I will never forget how corny it was), "If you see me at another show, you should save me a dance."

But I digress. My point is, if I hadn't seen him out of context at the festival, I probably wouldn't have initiated much of a conversation with him at the cafe weeks later. Every time he came in after that, we chatted about our favorite Celtic bands. He eventually convinced me to go to a Black 47 show with him in November, and the rest is history.

(Dreamy harp music and wavy image transporting us back to the present.)

Here we are, five years later and we haven't missed an i2K yet! Even having a new baby can't stop us. In fact, she enjoyed the festival as much as we did. Of course, being the uber cool yet responsible parents that we are, we made sure her little ears were protected from the noise of acts like Hair of the Dog and Enter the Haggis.















Here are a few more pics of the fun we had with some of our favorite people:



























































Of course, being the dynamic duo trio that we are, we didn't stop there. We followed up the festival with a trip down to CT for my grandmother's 80th birthday! It was a marathon weekend for sure, but Eily did great. Good thing, too. With parents like us, life is going to be one adventure after another!

Finally!

Well, our little Eily-bell was officially 12 weeks old on Tuesday, and I thought it would be a good time to get this blog started! I'm probably going to end up spending the next few days trying to "pimp" out the look of the blog before I really get rolling with the posts. In the meantime, let's get cracking with the videos. I'll leave you with the very first from the minutes following Eily's birth. (Don't worry, it's G-rated. I said "following", not during!)