The many faces of Britta Ann

These pictures were all taken within a sixty second span, and I am pretty sure I even deleted some of the crying ones:

Never a dull moment...but definitely a need for some photo lessons on my part. 

*On an unrelated note, the post before last is referring to the bakery in the show "Cake Boss." Chris didn't think I made that clear enough. If you have never seen it, you should check it out, seriously.

We shall be free...

She is planning to host an anti-swaddle rally soon. Let us know if any of your baby friends are interested. 

Cake Boss

Recognize this place?

Recognize these peeps?

Yes--we went, we saw, we conquered. I told Chris that if I was going to be spending the week in New Jersey on a business trip with him, there was no way I was passing up the golden opportunity to visit Buddy and gorge myself with his home-baked goods.

 

 Here are some of our spoils.

The real star of the show, though, was the Lobster Tail. It was inhaled so quickly that it never had time to be photographed.

We didn't see Buddy or any of the sisters, we did catch a glimpse of Frankie, however. He is the one with glasses who is basically always screwing things up. A few days after our visit, I had a dream that I was dating Frankie to get free baked goods. A little obsessed with food are we?

New York, New York

This is a long overdue post (I am sensing that this is the new theme of my blog...."things that happened a long time ago that I still feel compelled to write about"), but we spent two glorious weeks in April with the grandparents letting them spoil us and our baby while we explored this great state.

Here is photo-documentation of our time together.

I took my parents out to the Hamptons. Unfortunately, you have to know where to go go find the big mansions and of course, I didn't. So, we just hung out at this lighthouse and spent some time visiting antique stores. 

 We took some quality naps with Poppy. I have to agree with my mother that Baby B has inherited my father's head.

 Rockefeller Center with my beautiful parents.

 Top of the Rock. Great view of the city.

 St. Patrick's Cathedral was one of my favorite things we saw; it made me realize how much I miss cathedrals.

 This baby went to her first ballgame at Citi Field. The Mets lost...big surprise.

 We spent a whole day wandering around Central Park and I fell in love. It was a bit chilly, and as you can see, not in full bloom yet. We were there this last Saturday, though, and the place is a veritable forest.

 On our way to Battery Park, we stumbled upon Federal Hall where George Washington was sworn in as the first President of the United States, the New York Stock Exchange, and Trinity Church. 

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 Here are a few of the approximately one million pictures I took of Lady Liberty. I loved her. If not for the four hour wait to get on the ferry, I would totally visit her again.

 Ellis Island

 Coney Island...had to get a hot dog at Nathan's Famous. They have a huge sign counting the minutes until the next hot dog eating contest. Even though the boardwalk and carnival were fairly empty since it was freezing, this place was hopping. I bet they do incredible business in the summer months.

 And, most importantly, we spent lots of time hanging out with the grandparents and loving having family so close.

Not pictured are the copious amounts of food consumed. My dad was on a mission to eat the best of everything in New York and I think we did (thanks to Brittany for so many good suggestions). 

We hope everyone can come back again soon!

Two Months (plus some)

I wrote this post a few weeks ago when Britta was actually closer to two months, but never got around to adding pictures. So, for my own memory's sake, here is way more information than you care to know about her at two months.

She likes:

Her bath. She gets this very serious look on her face when she is in the water and tries to drink it if I am not looking.

Sleeping. Since she was a week and a half old, she would do a six hour stretch at night. At eight weeks, she upped the ante to eight+ hours and is holding strong there. This earned her a graduation out of the cradle and into her own room and crib. Heavens be praised that I can now sleep through the funny noises/snores she makes all night.

Eating. She's a very determined eater and we love it. Bottle, boob, she couldn't care less, just as long as it has milk in it. She is hungry exactly every three hours and then eats until she is what we call "milk drunk." After eating she has a dazed, satisfied look coupled with milk all over her face. It is really quite funny. She weighed in at 11 lbs 1 oz on her two month birthday.

Her changing table. She could hang out there all day and be happy.

Her binky. She is hooked, my friends. I resisted the binky for a long time, but have grown to love it. She is interesting because she doesn't need the binky to sleep (which was my biggest worry), but rather likes to have it when she is awake. If she has the choice to sit in her swing or bouncer with a pacifier or be cuddled by us, we lose out to the silicone nipple every time. She is bound to be one of those kids who tries to take it to kindergarten with her.

Her daddy. She will coo and smile at him until the cows come home.

Sitting up. She wants to be in on the action. If we are holding her, she wants to be sitting up. None of this cradling business. We have even introduced her to the Bumbo chair--big hit.

She dislikes:


Tummy time. Perhaps I waited too long to start it because she screams bloody murder every time I make her do it. Tevs, I still force it on her.

Getting out of the bath. If she had it her way, I would just leave her in there to rot.

Having her hair combed. Hence the crazy locks 95% of the time. Nothing a headband can't cover up (or distract  from), right?

Notice the right hand corner of her head, and this was her blessing day, so you know we made a concerted effort to tame that mane. Pretty sure she even had some styling product in her hair--to no avail.

Getting dressed. I think she must have issues with having her head touched. Maybe it is because of the hours of pressure on that region during labor.

Being swaddled is up in the air. Sometimes she likes it; sometimes she fights it. About 50% of the time she manages to wiggle at least one hand free during the night and shove it into her mouth.

When mom eats chocolate. Woe is me. Really the only time she fusses is when she has gas. And we have learned the hard way that chocolate and Britta don't mix. What kind of woman is she anyway? This has been a hard habit for me to break, but we are working on it, and hey, maybe it will help me lose that last ten pounds, right?

Gas attack; she was trying to find comfort in the arms of this stuffed monkey.

All in all, she is a wonderful, happy, healthy baby and we could not love her anymore than we do!

Swagger Wagon

B-Money and I have been taking a lot of road trips with Dad lately. This week we find ourselves in New Jersey. Which means, yes, that blow out below did happen in a hotel room. Lovely.

You can imagine my excitement when Chris returned from Enterprise with this bad boy to shuttle us across state lines.

Why, yes, that is the Swagger Wagon. It is normal to feel jealous.

Does this look "snug and dry" to you?

I didn't think so.

I was hoping a switch from Pampers to Huggies would alleviate our "blow out" problem. Not so. Definitely made it worse. Do they sell baby hazmat suits that I can just keep her in in the am hours?

This was definitely a baby straight in the tub and onesie straight in the trash situation. Not worth the effort of trying to salvage this one.

Where everybody knows your name.

I just discovered Cheers on Netflix and I am loving it. The theme song alone makes it worth watching. Welcome to 1982 , Erika.

Other old time favorites Netflix has re-introduced us to are the Cosby show and the Dick Van Dyke show.  Trust me, it's good stuff.

Look Who's Talking

Were you hoping John Travolta would be in this post? Sadly, no, it is just another post about our baby. Feel free to gag, we know--we're obsessed.

Lately this one has been very vocal. Every night when dad gets home from work, she carries on long conversations with him about her day. She doesn't talk as much to me; perhaps I don't have as sympathetic an ear as Chris. Or, maybe she is just annoyed with his constant poking and prodding...I can relate.

Untitled from Erika Herman on Vimeo.


But, it may just be that she is clearly a daddy's girl. Look at that adoring gaze.

A name and a blessing

Now, one in her "natural" habitat.

On April 17th, we were lucky to have Britta receive a name and a blessing--in the same blessing dress I wore as a babe--in church. The best part was that we were able to have both sets of grandparents in town for the event. We were all worried that Chris would pull a spur of the moment name change on us, in particular the nickname "Large Marge" had become one of his favorites. Thankfully my silent prayers were answered that "Large Marge Herman" did not become her name on the records of the Church.

It was a wonderful day and two wonderful weeks of sightseeing and family time. Chris and I have to admit that we are lonely now that everyone has gone home. More visitors are welcome at any time. :)