that child of mine.

just a few of examples of how my child brightens my world on a daily basis:

+ when i picked her up from daycare today, she gave me that 1,000-watt smile of hers (and so did her cutie-pie classmate, which made me feel even more special!); as i went over to Ms. T (one of the daycare workers), she basically jumped into my arms, then turned around, looked at Ms. T, and waved bye-bye!! Ms. T and i looked at each other and burst out laughing. little miss Gee made it known that she KNEW it was time to go! SMH with a smile :)

+ while waiting for dinner to be ready, i let Gee play in the laundry basket. she entertained herself for a good long while, pulling up, standing, taking clothes out of the basket, chewing on pillowcases, etc. as i watched her play (and took pictures, of course!), i noticed that her diaper was looking kinda full. and it seemed that, as i noticed her diaper, she crawled her behind right into my lap as if to say "Ok, Mom, enough with the pics. Change my diaper already!" she may or may not have been thinking that, but it sure seemed like it at the time!

+ on G*DAY, she started the morning by slobbering me with kisses before we got out of the bed. baby kisses are one of the absolute sweetest (and slobberiest) things everrrrrrrrr...

can't say it enough: love that girl!

and now to catch up on my 30 Days of Lists, finally! here we go:

pics of lists 5, 6, and 7:

annnnnnd here are 8, 9, and 10. hopefully i'll FOR REAL get caught up tomorrow!

List#OCHO: What's in your bag/pocket/purse?

1} BOOK: "Vanishing Acts" by Jodi Picoult [LOVE her books!]

2} PAPERS: deposit slips, check stubs, and other random stuff...

3} COUPONS: mostly for Huggies :)

4} PENS, Pens, and MORE pens!

5} HAND SANITIZER: it's a must!

List#NUEVE: Fave Websites/Blogs :)

Facebook... of course.

The Young Mommy Life

My Brown Baby

Gee-mail :o)

Best School Ever!

List#DIEZ: i wish...

+ to love and be loved.

+ for my daughter and i to have good health and happiness.

+ for wisdom, strength and courage, no matter what situation i find myself in.

+ for success in whatever i set my mind to do.

+ an eReader. hehe.

and that's all, folks! look out for another "Day in the Life" soon; this time, Gee will be experimenting with telling her story with a series of pictures...such a creative baby, she is. ;o) until next time!

-love elle&gee-

G*DAY report!

we'll get back to the lists tomorrow (err, later today). this one is ALLLL for Baby Gee, who seems to be acting less and less like a baby these days! the only baby food she'll let me feed her is fruits and yogurt; no veggies unless she's eating them with her fingers, so it looks like i'm going to have to start microwaving & chopping up some green beans for that child of mine. she eats chicken, beef, bread (LOVES bread), bananas, watermelon... it's looking like it's almost time to say "bye-bye" to baby food (woot woot!). now, if only she'd start feeding herself with a spoon, there'd be one happy mama over here :D

as far as that hair of hers, she has her days when she still fights it, but mornings have been made SO much easier by my plaiting her hair at night:

shoot, now all she needs is a stocking cap! and believe me, i'm *this* close to making her one; she does have a few pairs of stockings that are a little snug... lol. anyway, the plaits make morning detangling a breeze. she still doesn't always want to stay still for styling, but brushing the plaits out makes a pretty cute baby 'fro (which i completely messed up this morning, but got it right a couple of days ago, as shown here:)

as if i haven't said it enough, that girl has A. Lot. Of. HAIR!!! but we're getting better with it, especially since i don't have to worry about my own hair anymore :D

and to wrap up this G*DAY update, we gotta talk about Gee's new nickname: "Thunder & Lightning". LOL! She has those thunder thighs fo' sho, and when she crawls, i promise she's fast as lightning. corny? yes. applicable? totally. i'll have to try to catch her on the iPhone cam and give ya'll a peek. it's crazy, i'm telling you!

i think that's it for the 10-month G*DAY report. i can't believe there are only TWO MORE MONTHS until her first birthday! which means that, if she's gonna have any type of party, i better get to work, huh? we'll see how that goes... :)

-love elle&gee-

PS: here's the G*DAY girl, in her full -grown- glory. :)

a day in the life: video exclusive :)

before we get started, let's have an "awww" moment at how precious Gee looked today:

rock that outfit, girl! and i promise, i won't make you wear that bow anymore this week...LOL!

tonight, Gee decided that, instead of doing all of that writing, she'd rather show you what she's been up to lately [with narration by me, of course]. the oldest Uncle C is the videographer, and all three of the uncles co-star in this video tid-bit which all five of us find quite hilarious!

and, in an effort to just do one list a day [instead of five], here's list number 4:

enjoy!

-love elle&gee-

you're not my mommy...

i got a pretty drastic hair cut today. i've been natural for 2.5 years now, but i've still been harboring an obsession with having long hair. however, i don't have the patience to comb through the hair jungle on top of my head, so i finally freed myself of the "long hair don't care" mentality and cut it all off. again. lol, here's before:

to think, i used to have a bigger 'fro than that! terrible. anyways, here's how it looks after a chop, wash, and a good eyebrow arching (first time since last March...wow, that sounds really bad. wait, that is really bad!):

not only low-maintenance, but NO maintenance. truly get up and go. sure, it's short...and?? i may let it grow out a little bit, but as i told my beautician when she got finished: "i could keep this hairstyle for the rest of my life!!" especially after i've been told that it slims my face. *high-five-ing myself* now, while i'm over here feeling all free and liberated, i'm sure you're wondering what Miss Gee's take on mommy's new 'do is...

...she barely recognized me when i picked her up from daycare today. i know, "OMGee!" right? she usually gives me a huge smile when i walk in the door, but today she looked at me like "who are YOU?" it wasn't until she heard my voice that she thought i *might* be her mommy. even then, she looked at my hair (or lack thereof), then at my face. then back at my hair, and back at my face. and finally, gave me a sliver of a smile. one perceptive baby, that girl of mine. :) but i was just in disbelief! i guess i shouldn't have been; it is a pretty drastic change, but after the daycare thing, i kind of felt bad just springing my new hairstyle on Gee without warning her first. yes, that is crazy talk, because how in the heck do you "warn" a 9-month-old that you're switching up your hairstyle? exactly... anywho, she got over it by the time we got home, and gave me her customary "hurry up and free me from this carseat!" grin when i opened her car door. i'm still amazed by the fact that she actually looked at my hair, then at my face. not once, but twice. they say babies don't understand a lot of things at this age, but i beg to differ. nothing gets by miss Gee!

- needing to go to bed, especially since Gee woke up from her sleep so her mommy could pick her up and put her in bed with her, but since mommy felt the need to post this "real quick", Gee is sleeping in her mommy's lap...at least she's sleep! ok, we're going to bed riiiiiight....NOW! - ELLE :D

just grown!

i'm feeding Gee a delicious (and nutritious!) dinner of apples&blueberries with oatmeal, and what does she do? she waits until i put the food on the spoon; refuses to let me put it in her mouth; grabs the spoon; puts the spoon (with the food) in her mouth; then gives me back the spoon to put more food on it!! true life story, people. you can ask my mama lol. and i really am laughing out loud just remembering this because i so often look at Gee and see a little grown up (who can't walk or talk yet), and that was such an adult thing to do... my 9-month-old little person. might have to change the name of the blog, because she obviously doesn't think she's a baby anymore. i don't know if i do, either. lol. :D

-amazed & amused elle