Raina at 11 weeks

Today Raina discovered Sam the Wonder Dog. (She stared at her for a long while. When mommy started to play fetch with Sam, Raina "talked" about it.) She also decided to have a "conversation" about her new dolly.

What the Fay?!?!

Soooo... when the hell is Fay getting on out of here anyway? I just looked outside to see about going for a run and here comes another friggin wave of Fay storms! I've decided that Tropical Storms, Hurricanes, etc. totally suck. Why, well, I'll tell ya. When you get a nice big snow storm up north, like in Baltimore, at least when you don't have school, you can go play in the snow. And you still have electricity. Granted, we didn't actually lose electricity for more than like a half an hour during Fay, but still. So what do you get after a big storm or hurricane? A big mess! Okay, I'm done ranting. --Pam

Raina at 10 Weeks!

Yesterday we decided to brave Tropical Storm Fay and head to a mall. Raina was fussing a lot, so we figured a ride would be good. (We couldn't go for a walk at our normal outdoor mall because of the weather of course.) We went to the "Mall of the Americas." Most of the signage was in Spanish! The mall was pretty empty of customers but it was indoors. Of course we ended up spending money. Although we got some good deals on items from Marshall's and another discount store.

Today Raina is 10 weeks old! She is getting pretty good at holding her head

Our friends from upstairs came by for some blueberry pancakes that are my (Pam's) specialty. The storm is still going on. School was cancelled again today. We are wondering about tomorrow. We have a lot of wind and rain that comes in waves. Still, we are considering a trip to Target.

Above are a couple of cute photos from this morning of Raina in this green outfit I got at a garage sale for $2! She is also able to sit pretty well in the Bumbo. (These are all from my iPhone, so the resolution is a bit low.)

Baby Talk

Raina is becoming more interactive every day. (Though one of these pictures of Raina asleep after a bath.) Here's a series of smile photos. And below is a video of Steve singing to her. She started to "talk" a bit as well. 

Liz and Reina meet Raina

Liz and Reina came to visit today and we even cleaned up the house! There was a big rainstorm and I found a frog out front that was smaller than my thumbnail. Check it out.

Orlando trip

We decided to escape the horrible construction noise here at our condo. The foundation is being "restored" and the tile on all the walkways is being replaced. The job was supposed to take half the time it has already taken - and they still aren't finished.  (This reminds Steve and I about the hotels.com commercial where the couple cannot carry on a conversation due to construction noise.)

The noise from the foundation drilling was so loud that you couldn't carry on a conversation. So on Tuesday morning, we took off for Orlando. 

The trip turned out to be okay. We got into Animal Kingdom for free. We did the safari, which we liked. Unfortunately, it was VERY hot. Since we also had Raina with us, we walked around a bit more and then headed back to our hotel. We did really appreciate the free admission though.

We also checked out Louisa Lake State Park. There are many lakes there and Steve tried a bit of fishing.

Well, I'll have to finish this post later, I hear Raina about to fuss.....

The trials and tribulations of new parenthood.

If you're reading this and you have never had children, I won't lie to you - it is REALLY HARD! Steve and I are surviving despite not getting a lot of help. Our neighbors upstairs (James and Kristin) have been extremely helpful. They have helped take care of Raina a lot. Also, it is nice to have someone give reassuring advice - e.g. "Yes, you are doing the right thing." OR "Don't worry, this is normal."(referring to some freak out Pam is having about Raina).

The other day, Pam and Kristin hung out at Starbucks for a while and Kristin snapped this photo on Pam's iPhone. 

Yesterday, we went to Sawgrass Mills Mall. We happened upon one of those photography franchise places. Thinking that we were only buying a $9.95 package of one pose, we ended up getting a bit more. Pam felt bad because there were a lot of great shots of Raina. We bought one of the $9.95 sets and then one 8X10 each of two other photos. It is too bad we couldn't afford more, but that is the way it goes. We ended up spending $62. Of course the people there kind of make you feel stupid for

 not spending like $500 on photos. When Raina is older, we will get more photos taken I suppose. We are hoping we will be able to scan the 8X10's and make prints of our own.

Steve takes Raina out for walks a lot. Here is a photo of Raina smiling. She started smiling a few weeks ago!