Little & Big Loves

Most of our life revolves around our little love, Waverly and our big love, Cole so I figured I'd write a post on them.

Here's an update our BIG love...King Cole!

I have to admit...Cole has gotten the shaft in the past 5+ months.  He hasn't gotten the walks and exercise he deserves since Waverly has arrived. I had hoped that I would LOVE to walk Cole with Waverly in the stroller, but the reality is that it's not easy.  He's 120 lbs right now (hoping to reduce that) and I haven't taken the time to train him well to walk with the stroller...even though I did try a little before Waverly was born.  He's getting better, but will pull when another dog walks by and zig zags behind me so I'm constantly trying to keep him on one side.  He gets a couple walks a week from me....it really should be everyday.

I also always find him in the way these days...he's SO. BIG. He'll lay across the kitchen while I'm in it or in a walkway...I know he just wants to be where we are...but it's in the way.  He's also been begging like crazy...he used to stay away from our food, but not recently. We may not be feeding him enough either, but as I stated he's 120lbs!

On the positive side...Nick and I loooove our big lab and know that all he needs is exercise, attention, and some more training.  We're thinking about obedience school which would actually be fun for him because we'd have our attention 100% on him!  He loves Waverly though and kisses her lots!  She has started to reach out and touch him...can't wait for her to crawl after him!

Winter Walk

Checking each other out

Cole may seem interested but really he's sleeping.

Waverly watches Cole while Cole watches for food.

As for my little love, Waverly, she is now 5 months!  I can't believe it...she is so much fun. I kiss her soft chubby cheeks at least 1000 times a day.  She is growing great and hitting those developmental milestones like a champ!  She is rolling all around our house!  I feel like I need carpet or foam padding everywhere because I can't keep her from rolling off her play areas. She started rolling from front to back around 2.5 -3 months, but on Christmas at 4 months started rolling back to front and now does both sometimes multiple times in a row....often toward something she wants of course!

She's also soooo LOUD and vocal (we often wake up to her squealing and "ahh-goo" noises).  She blows raspberries, puts everything in her mouth, and has the best grin.  She's also starting to sit up a little more now and bounces like crazy on her legs.

Luckily for us she has always been a great sleeper...slept 8 hours at 2 months and 10 hours at 3 months. But 4 months threw us some major curve balls, so we have been tired in January!

All the 4-5 months changes were so rough on us. It also takes me a little while to adapt and figure out what kind of change she needs, so in the meantime we struggle with lack of sleep and a decent amount of crying at nap and bed times.  Changes included:

-rolling around like a crazy woman
-no swaddle
-not keeping pacifier in
-wanting mommy or daddy more
-starting to eat more...including rice cereal
-possible start of teething

So I have been doing process of elimination to find out what might be causing her sleep disruptions. This resulted in doing a couple things I didn't really want to do...

-no blanket/sleep sack so that she can roll over
-let her sleep on her tummy
-let her cry some to sleep to prevent us from replacing the pacifier constantly
-reducing naps from 4-3 a day so that she can get longer naps

This week starts the new schedule!  I'm a schedule mom while also keeping the schedule flexible if necessary...I think it helps life be more predictable and Waverly knows what to expect and falls into the schedule naturally.  I learned a lot of this by reading Becoming Babywise...and really attribute our early sleep success to applying some of the theories of this book.  I am now reading Becoming Babywise II and wish I had started it last month!

LOVES to bounce up and down in this thing

smiley rolling baby

diaper change for Waverly means time to chew on her toes.

messy!

yay!

love those chub cheeks.

So we are in constant "adapt" mode, haha.  Guess that's life with kids!

Love from Virginia!

New Toys for Everyone!

So Casey and Matt aren't the only ones with a new camera...we have upgraded over here in Jersey too!

Call it coincidence, great minds thinking alike, or being weirdly similar at times, but as Casey and Matt were looking at digital SLR cameras, so were we!  I'm happy to know that Matt and Nick both settled on very similar cameras because they are both researchers and make well thought out decisions on the big things in life. Deciding to marry me and Casey, ;) our beautiful engagement rings, honda cr-vs and yellow labs to name a few!

Nick and I have decent cannon point and shoot digital, but I know that it's not fast enough to catch the shots we want with our new little one. Plus I get frustrated with the quality and settings at times....take a look back at my Ireland blog pictures.

After getting recommendations, pricing out options online and in best buy...we went with the cannon rebel t3i. We are excited for better photos and to learn this new toy.  Nick actually seems to have a creative eye for photography, so I'm excited to see the pictures we get!

Check out this handsome pup....someday he and the lovely Sadie will meet and be bffs...can you believe they've never met?!

Vacation

While I've had a great summer and have traveled, and continue to travel (stay tuned for my 9 day Cali trip to visit Casey around labor day) there is nothing like a true vacation.

My family had our annual week at Sunset Beach, NC in July. It was a perfect hot summer week with no rain.  We didn't do a whole lot of activities, which is exactly how we like it.  We did however let two new members join in this year...King Cole and Little Miss C.  They both added a lot of fun to our vacation and seemed to really enjoy themselves as well.  Cole loved the beach and swimming in the ocean...Caroline also loved the beach, crawling in the sand, and her cheerios.

Nick played 5 rounds of golf and we played 9 holes together one evening...my family had our annual putt putt game and I beat Nick which I rubbed in quite a bit ;)  My Dad held the winning title for the 2nd year in a row.  We also went out to eat and tried something new...gas station pizza.  The pictures pretty much tell the rest...

we read...

we ate...or tried to sneak a bite...

we got some zzz's...

we caught some rays...



i must brag...he's a poster pup.

we played at the beach...

we visited with a friend...some of you may recognize this guy

and we took the annual family photos.

already wishing to go back!!

Swimming...Swimming...in the Swimming Pool

...when days are hot and days are cool...in the swimming pool! That's the start of a swimming song we used to sing to our campers at summer camp when it was their pool time. Oh the careless days of summer camp...life seemed so complicated then...little did I know it was the easiest life will ever be!

Recently we've been doing a bit of swimming or rather drowning when it comes to our work! Nick has been swamped, as have I. Selling beer is not a fun job when it involves walking blocks and blocks in this heat, sweating through your clothes and coming home with black feet since you're wearing sandals.

When I took a few days off to visit my family during their TWO WEEK vaca in sunset beach...I got lots of beach time, relaxation time, and swimming in the ocean time. Sunset Beach is where we go every year...Nick was sad to miss it this year, but it's the ultimate quaint, quiet beach town in southern NC. Just arriving in the teeny tiny myrtle beach airport was enough to slow down this city girl....all I could hear were the carolina twangs on everyone's voice around me. Sometimes I really miss the south. Here are a few pics:

Andy, Shan and I beachin' it


Annual Smith Putt Putt Tournament....I did not represent the Guptas very well, I came in last! :( Dad won this year...taking the spot that usually rotates between Andy and Shannon. Nick is usually up there in the ranks as well, but has yet to win the top spot.



Annual Sunset Beach family pic


Smith baby on the way!


A couple weekends ago nick and I were home with no plans and it was great! the weather was beautiful and when it's beautiful here, you really appreciate the city and get out and enjoy it. We went to a new restaurant, Mermaid Inn Oyster Bar...yummmm. the food in nyc never ceases to amaze me and a new bar, the collective....very cool. On Saturday afternoon, we headed to a state park about an hour north of the city, call Bear Mountain State Park. Very pretty and it had a lake, so guess what we did?! Taught Cole to swim!!! It was hilarious and he LOVED it! he was a real natural and was retrieving stick after stick in no time.

only 45 mins from downtown manhattan!


Cole's first try at swimming

Dog Days of Summer

I'm not sure where that phrase "dogs days" came from, because our dog doesn't love the summer.

sure....he likes the later evenings and longer walks, but one thing is for sure...he doesn't love the heat and humidity. His tongue starts to hang way out and he walks a little slower. In Richmond he liked to find nicely landscaped lawns to collapse in. In NYC he loves the dog park pool where he plays the role of "king cole" very well...take a look:



being social


For those of you who don't know...adjusting to life after Hawaii hasn't been an easy ride. For two weeks we had a battle with our landlord about our broken AC unit. We lost the battle and gained an expensive electricity bill for running 8 fans all the time...we also gained an expensive and rather large portable AC unit. Room is not something we have to spare, folks.

smart dog...sitting in front of the AC unit


But we have embraced this little R2D2 sized unit b/c it cools our apartment pretty well. The heat in NYC is unlike VA/DC....the sidewalks heat up, the subway is suffocatingly hot, and the buildings block the breeze...in essence, you bake and melt away, haha. We feel pretty lucky to live by the river where there is a nice breeze in the morning and evening...makes for some pleasant dog walks.

best friends...for those you who don't know...Cole is OBSESSED with Nick


Don't worry - we're surviving :) We were lucky to spend 4th of July in Boston with Andy, Shannon, and baby Smith on the way. We had a great bbq with their friends and got to join in on a great rooftop party for the 4th of July fireworks. (sorry for lack of pics of the actual PEOPLE we were spending time with...)

boston skyline - pre fireworks


We also had a great trip to DC where I got some quality time with my girlfriends and Nick and I both got to enjoy dinner and drinks with friends in DC. This trip also included a family wedding! We got to spend some time with my family and have lunch in DC on the old Hotel Washington (now the W) roof deck which has an incredible view of the monuments and white house. Then we had the wedding...my cousin, Anthony got married to his high school sweetheart, Cara. It was a beautiful backyard wedding and the details, food, drinks, and music were all perfect! The wedding was just right for the Colorado couple...no heels, lots of sandals and comfortable summer atire. It was a really fun summer wedding. (again, wish I had taken more pics of everyone we visited that weekend...!)

visiting with tina and joey's dog, gus...love him!


White house view from the W


My parents enjoying the view


Anthony and Cara getting married!


Nick, Dad, and Andy at the wedding


We came back just in time for the world cup finals in nyc...world cup has been a BIG DEAL in the city, because obviously people from all over the world live here. One of my customers had a big block party for the final game...we helped supply them with a beer truck, supplies and giveaways. It was an awesome experience being in one of the world's biggest cities during such a worldly event.

TV for world cup game


the crowd


This past weekend we had yet another family wedding....although it's the last for a couple years we think. My 2nd cousin, Paul got married to his high school sweetheart (apparently commitment is really in our blood), Jenn in Rochester, NY. Rochester is where my mom's side of the family originated and where she grew up....my family has made many trips here for holidays, summer trips to see the grandparents and for family events. Jenn was a stunning bride and it was great wedding.

beautiful bride



This weekend we're off to the beaches....although not together :( I'm headed to my family vacation in Sunset Beach from thursday-tuesday and since nick doesn't have any vacation days left, he is spending the weekend with his buddies in Dewey Beach. Wish we could do both! Cole is visiting Grandma Gupta in delaware :)

Nick & I last year at sunset beach....