Feed this not that???

Ella is officially 9 months old and her eating habits are quickly changing. She can now pick up pieces of food and place them in her mouth. She loves puffs, carrot wagon wheels, rice sticks, etc. But I can-not get her to eat any veggies or fruit that she can pick up herself. She loves both in baby food form but she is now trying to take away the spoon and do it herself so it’s a messy mess!

Ive read some other blogs and a book or two of what foods are next. I've read to try first Fruits, Vegetables and Rice… is this right? i've also gotten some good advice from other moms, but Ella is not wanting the veggies just yet. I also just met another mom with twins same age and they are getting chicken fingers and fries – hahaha. She said the only way she could survive was to let them eat whatever she was eating.  We’re definitely not skipping to the chicken fingers just yet but I know Ella is ready to move on from baby food.  Little miss independent wants to feed herself!

What to feed that is the question????

Such a good little eater!

one of the faces she makes when you try to feed her new food!

Love where you work

Pay careful attention to your own work, for then you will get the satisfaction of a job well done, and you won’t need to compare yourself to anyone else. (Galatians 6:4)

I've been away at the beach and I happily came back to a job I was excited to return to. Now I am refreshed, re-energized and ready to conquer all ahead. 

I know how important it is to love where you work and the people you with with. I believe it is a major reflection on how you value what you produce.

Gotta get back to work:)

First Mother's day

I woke up on Sunday to the sweet smell of breakfast and of course John turning on the lights and saying "get up its mothers day!" It was not even 6:00 am yet:)

The outfit John got her:)

John had made orange rolls (my favorite and one of the reasons I haven't lost the baby weight), had my favorite flowers, had gotten Ella an outfit that said "mommy's little girl", tied a balloon to her hand that said I love mom, wrote the sweetest poem in Ella's words and got me a massage! Perfect first mothers day!

All day long I played the "mothers day" card... I can't clean its mothers day, oh lets eat here its mothers day, Ella needs a diaper change its mothers day.

I loved my first mothers day not for the gifts or the excuse to be lazy but for the amazing feeling of being a good mom to a wonderful baby. I am truly blessed to have a healthy, sweet, beautiful little girl. I love you Ella!

Go USA or SAD way to play

May 1, 2011 will go down in the history books as the day USA killed the master mind behind 9/11 terrorist attack, Bin Laden.

Bin Laden was shot by a US Navy Seal on Sunday, May 1 in Pakistan.

Should our county celebrate the death of another man? or should we celebrate because a man died who killed so many others?

Martin Luther King once said, "I mourn the loss of thousands of precious lives, but I will not rejoice in the death of one, not even an enemy."

I celebrate the USA for eliminating a major issue for our nation, but I'm not sure I can celebrate the death of someone else. It's just had for me to say I'm glad someone's dead. My mind is definitely contradicting my heart on this matter. On the flip side I say good ridden be gone.

What are your thoughts? Can you celebrate the death of someone that probably deserved to die?

Here is how the media covered the event....

Rookie parent move

I feel like the month of April has been doctor visit after doctor visit and a never ending cycle of antibiotic, diaper rash, ear aches, coughs, runny nose, gooey eye and lots of smiles. Yep smiles, I have realized that even when Ella has snot running down her nose and a cough that would kill a cat she acts like nothing is wrong. It is amazing how resilient children are. Adults can definitely learn a lesson or two from children.

Here are where the rookie moves come in...We have now experienced our first visit to the Emergency room. --Rookie Move number one. Unless, you really feel like the life of your child is at risk never go to the ER -- if your a new parent anything can seem life threatening.

On Monday night Ella wasn't feeling so good, we had already taken her to the doctor and knew she had double ear infections. That night she felt really hot around midnight and had a wet diaper. So I got up to change her and went ahead and took her temperature. The thermometer was ready 104.4 and still going up. I immediately said to John "were going to the hospital!" (Rookie Move)

Rookie parents react and don't think about giving Tylenol and waiting 30-45 min to see if the temp comes down. No we head to the ER so we can hear the words "everything is going to be okay" and "since your paying a heefy bill for being here, we'll go ahead and give her a shot" -- Oh really you would do that for us, thanks! This is what rookie parents say.

So they tell us her temp is now at 101.7 and it's the ears that have caused the high fever. Thankfully, nothing was wrong but all we could do was sit there and think about the money we just spent to hear what we already knew. But were Rookie Parents and we make expensive mistakes and really this can't be looked at like a mistake because something could have been wrong and we care about our little princess too much not make rookie mistakes.

Love you Ella, but the next time you actually need to go to the ER your dad may say no:)

What Was Your First

I love to reminisce about the good ole days and here recently I was talking with some co-workers and we were discussing our first CD purchase. It was hilarious the variety of musical genres.
What was your first CD purchase? I remember mine like it was yesterday. I talked my mom into purchasing Salt N'Pepper and TagTeam.

Here's to the future maybe I will go download the new Brittany Spears! Who buys CDs anymore anyways.

Happy Friday!

What I learned and what I didn't at 2011 SXSW

If  you are asking yourself "what is SXSW?" Here is a quick summary:

SXSW stands for South by South West, it is an interactive, film and music conference that happens in Austin, TX. Online social outlets have been know to make their big debut there, ever heard of Twitter? Yep, that Twitter-- launched while at SXSW in 2008.
This is definitely not like your typical conference you would venture with your co-workers with keynote speakers and on the topic information. It's much bigger, much broader and way cooler:)

I will try a visual:

Imagine, 20000 people at a 5 day party in the center of Austin, TX trying to get within a 2 mile radius while texting, typing or taking video. Oh, and there are a few hundred panels, discussions and speaker sessions dealing with new media, mobile apps, design, development, social media and the list could go on. 

Here I was introduced to new mediums, upcoming apps, new fashion trends, passionate people and a wealth of knowledge pertaining to interactive technology. 

Here are a couple of things I learned/ themes for SXSW 2011 - 

1. Group Messaging – Like chat in the 90’s connecting to others on a larger scale is attractive to consumers.

2. Tablets - A new medium, tablets will be the future of learning and how we think – will shape the way we design and develop our digital content.

3. Location based applications - seeing a major push on checking in to location, emotions, products, deals ect.

4. Branded Content - brands are now publishers. Consumers expect brands to create content in order to win their repeat attention.

5. Games – Adding a layer of fun and engagement to marketing plan can motivate customer to interact with your brand on a regular basis. Gaming mechanics is a whole new world

6. Social Sharing – base your shopping/purchasing experiences, searches and interaction online with your social outlets

7. Real-Time marketing – give customers a real message, be honest and respond quickly to a crisis

What I didnt necessarily learn?

1. The next best thing in online technology that will ensure sales -- yeah didn't learn any magical formulas for this. 

2. Where social shopping is headed - Too new to know

3. What makes someone buy more online - Would be nice:)

4. How to design the best website on the internet 

5. How a magazine subscription company could benefit from an app?

Lastly, I was hoping to get picked to be in a Flash Mob and this didnt happen. Total bummer!

The week was exhausting yet stimulating. It was nice to get out of my cube and channel new creative energy. Thank you to my employer Magazines.com (shout out) for sending the new gal to an amazing experience (no need to call it a conference). 

And, if you are wondering my boss is not reading, he, he:)

Photos of SXSW: 

Flash Mob I wasn't apart of -- still really upset.

 

 This was a bacon infused waffle cone with breakfast or lunch options.

 Everywhere you went people where on some type of device. This is what it looked like when you sat down for a session.

Geeks love legos. --- I guess:)

Have a great weekend!

Jesse

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