On the Move

Cora has been keeping busy these last few weeks!

For my sister Khristina's birthday weekend, we went to Conroe, TX to visit with Adam's friend, Stephen, and his family, including sweet baby Nora! Cora was very excited to see and play with Nora. She is always so tickled to see other little kids, especially other babies her size. Nora's brother, Tinnin, was so sweet with Cora. He would just come up and hug on Cora and he even kissed her on the lips! It was so cute and funny. Khristina and I joked about how once they get older Cora will probably have a crush on Tinnin and his friends.


Cora eager to get to Nora!


Look at how happy Cora is to be with her little buddy!
We were only there one night but we had a lot of fun. Before we left, they took us out on the boat! I haven't been on a boat like that in so long. I even went tubing with Adam and Tinnin! I was scared and I ended up being so sore from holding on so tightly, haha. We brought Cora and Nora on the boat and they both wore little life vests. They both took naps on the boat, I was so surprised!


Cora not looking too happy in her life vest, haha
Cora really showed just how much she loves her dad last week. Adam had a lot of late nights last week due to work, and one night he had a work dinner so he didn't make it home until after she went to bed. Every time he came home she would snuggle up to him and hold on to him. It was so sweet! Sometimes when he would get up to go into the garage she would start crying thinking he would be gone for good. I'll admit I would feel a little jealous that she didn't cuddle me like that! But I guess she sees me all day every day so she doesn't really get a chance to miss me too much!


Cora loves Papa
The biggest news of late though is all the moving Cora has been doing! We have really been working on getting her to pull herself up, cruise, and crawl. Earlier last week we noticed that she was able to sit up from lying down! She was on her back, flipped over on her tummy, and then moved herself up into a sitting position. It was very exciting! We knew she was so close to crawling! The dogs have been lots of motivation for her, so we thought they would be the motivation she needed to crawl to us. We would hold the one or both of our dogs in our laps to try to get her to crawl. She would be excited and kind of start to crawl, but would quickly just back up to sitting position again. Then on Thursday the 29th, we decided to try something else. On our way home from Conroe, we let Cora watch the latest Muppets movie. She was getting tired of Sesame Street but thought she would still appreciate seeing some muppets on her screen. Every time Kermit the Frog popped up she would squeal in delight! So on Thursday we pulled up a picture of Kermit on our iPad to see what she would do. She was so happy to see him and started crawling! I was so excited and proud of her! Of course, I couldn't help but cry.


I watched the video afterwards and teared up over it again! What can I say, I'm an emotional mama! Haha, and to be totally honest, I still tear up watching it now!


Ha ha
Now she crawls all over the place and I have to be SUPER vigilant when she takes a nap. She still isn't in her crib, so she naps on our bed. I keep the camera monitor on at all times and basically run to the bedroom when she wakes up! She is usually already sitting up by the time I get in there. She's also doing great with pulling herself up and cruising along the couch. I am not as comfortable with her cruising. I get scared she's going to fall at any moment. I guess I need to just get over it though and let her fall if she falls. We have an ottoman instead of a coffee table, so it's not like she'll bang her head on a sharp corner or anything. I know she's going to get a little bruised up now that she's mobile, so I have to get over that fear! She's still my little baby though so it's so hard to think of her getting hurt. Also, and this is really silly, I miss her now that she's crawling! Even though we are still together and in the same room I kind of long for her now that I'm not carrying her everywhere. She's getting so independent! I guess my little baby won't be such a little baby for much longer!


Of course we bought her a Kermit the Frog doll!
As for me, I've been trying to do more things for myself lately. For whatever reason, I feel this strong sense of guilt when there are things I want to do or buy. I feel bad because I think we could be using this money for Cora instead or I could be spending my time with her. I also feel bad since I'm not bringing in any income. Adam has been great though and still tells me that I should buy or do whatever I want, so I'm not sure why I feel so guilty. I officially joined a MOMS club in my area. I'm excited to get to know other stay at home moms and to give Cora a chance to socialize. I am kind of shy though so it feels like a huge step for me to go to these events without Adam! I've only been to 2 meetings so far though, but hopefully I will start going to more as I get more comfortable.

I've also started Jazzercise! I went a few times years ago with my friend and old co-worker, Megan. She is now an instructor and told me about a Groupon they had earlier in the summer. Khristina bought the Groupon too so we have been going together. Khristina used to do Zumba, but she said she likes Jazzercise better. I think Jazzercise doesn't have a "sexy" reputation like Zumba does, but it is really fun! If you've never been before, they do jazz style dances for 45 minutes and then strength for the last 15 minutes. It's really great and I definitely break into a sweat! You can burn up to 600 calories in an hour! I really want to get a heart rate monitor now so I can see just how much I burn.

Last Friday, Khristina and I went to the Backstreet Boys concert. They are the original boy band that I fell in love with years and years ago! I was the typical teeny bopper that had their posters wall papered all over my bedroom. I bought us pit tickets and we had a great spot! We got there while their opening band was on stage and we were still able to stand right up front on the barricade! We were off to the side, but still had a great view. I was kicking myself though the rest of the weekend for not buying the VIP to meet them. I found out after the fact that Adam would have been fine with me purchasing it. I told him about it, but thought he didn't want me to do it, so I didn't push the issue when he asked me if I wanted it. It would have only been $350, which is still a lot of money but a great deal considering everything I would have received with it, and also considering how much other VIP's are! I would have gotten a one on one meet and greet with them, an individual photo with them, soundcheck, q&a, and I can't even remember what else. In comparison, a one on one with the New Kids on the Block is about $1,000! And Justin Timberlake's VIP is $2,500, and you don't even get to meet him! Oh well, maybe next time.