Don't Be Tardy for the Party

Henry had a wonderful time at his 1st birthday party!

We did a farm theme complete with his new Fisher Price Farm and pig, cow, and chick cupcakes. My mom and I stayed up till midnight making these. And I have to tell you, cake decorating is not my bag. I think it's because I have serious man hands. Or at least I felt like I did putting tiny mini m&m's and jellybeans into the frosting. My hands were just too big to perform this delicate task. Dang German genes! Big shoulders and man hands.

All of Henry's dear little friends came to the party. He had so much fun playing with them.

David playing with the ball pit. What a hit that was with the kids!

Little Madeleine in her leopard print skirt. She is so fancy.

Caroline falling in the balls! She's about to have a new baby brother any day now.

Cute little Aubrey! Thanks to Aubrey's mom, Amber, for taking all these great pictures.

Presents!!! Henry got so many gifts. What a lucky boy! A puzzle, lots of books, clothes, a dump truck and a tractor, a Cozy Coupe, and a Tickle Me Elmo that rolls all over the ground like a possessed creature. I'm just waiting for him to go off one night when I go downstairs to get a drink or something and scare the crap out of me.

Daddy reading him his fun Elmo card, while Henry pops open a cold one.

What a personality! He was a tad cranky before his guests arrived, so we didn't know how the party was going to go down. But as soon as the first guest got here, Mr. Social was ready to deliver the charm! He didn't know quite what to think about his 1st cake experience. He kept feeling it in between his fingers, tasting a little bit, and then dropping it on the floor for Betsy. Too bad dogs can't eat chocolate!

His real birthday is in 3 days, so it hasn't quite hit me yet.

What an incredible experience this first year has been! Love my little man to the moon & back!

Love,

Lyndsey, Marc, Henry, and Betsy

Soaking up the local color

Every year there are so many fun things to do once fall rolls around. Mind you, it's a little more challenging when it's still 95 degrees out, but we make it work.

A couple Saturdays ago, we decided to head up to Latta Plantation to walk around and check out the farm animals. We pull up and here this loud "boom" as soon as we get out of the car. Little did we know, it's the day of the Revolutionary War re-enactment! We had got there right as the British and American's had finished their battle.

So, Marc, being the epitome of cool (heehee) decided that he felt a little bit dorky, but me, being the complete opposite of cool, was pumped! I changed my major to History for a semester in college, so I consider myself somewhat of a history buff. History buff meaning I enjoy watching the History Channel occasionally when there is nothing on Food Network, Bravo, or HGTV.

Everybody was dressed up in period costume and acting the part. There was a blacksmith, knitters, soldiers, cooks, ax throwers (I didn't understand this one), slaves, farmers...the whole bit. I walked into the little kitchen building where the cook was watching over his fire. I felt like I was walking back in time, until I noticed the Harris Teeter brand jar of relish sitting at his table. C'mon man, you blew it!

Taking a picture by the Conestoga wagon. He wasn't really having it.
Whatever happened to the Oregon Trail game by the way? Loved the game, even though I always died of dysentery.


The next weekend, we decided to give the Cabarrus County Fair a try. It was actually a lot of fun! They had a huge petting zoo inside one of the warehouse buildings.

Inside animals=no bugs=awesome. Henry's still a little young to care about any of the animals. He just likes people the best. He liked flirting with all the little girls hanging around.


Lots of old school John Deere's hanging around.

The carousel went a little faster and the horse went a little higher than I thought.

Whoa! I'm such a wimp with rides.

Thank God we didn't get the scary carnie in the picture.

You know, the constant yelling and antagonizing as I walk by your booth isn't going to make me want to spend $30 on a huge, over-stuffed Scooby Doo. Lay off carnie. Keep your small hands where I can see them.

I entered Henry in a diaper derby. This is basically a race on a mat where they crawl from one end to the next. He started out strong, got in his crawling stance....and stayed there. My hopes were dashed. His first attempt at sports, ruined. Until the lady came up to me and said since there were a total of 3 babies in the race and he was the only baby in his age group, he won. Yay!
I knew it was time to go when I saw a shirtless man eating a corn dog. Can anything top that?

Love,

Lyndsey, Marc, Henry, & Betsy

Travelin' Man

How old was I when I had first flown on a plane, you ask? I believe I was 12.

How old was Henry? 2 months

How old was I when I had flown on a plane 5 times? Hmm...probably around 23.

How old was Henry? 11 months

The boy was born a globetrotter.

The past month has been busy with all kinds of travel and activities.

Marc and I participated in Lowe's annual Swing for Charity golf tournament in Orlando, which meant a trip to Nana & Gramps in Tampa for Henry. He was such a good boy! I just hated to leave him...especially to play golf & shmooze with Lowe's people. Can I at least get a spa trip in there people? Get with the times. My golf skills were few and far between this trip. I thought dressing the part in my new black skort like they wear on Big Break Hawaii and black & white plaid golf shoes might up my game. Oh, and a Titliest visor! Epic fail.

I got to at least partake in the delicious Ritz Carlton food while playing. Shrimp kabob in one hand, Corona in the other, golf club in the......ah, ran out of hands. Mostly hung out in the golf cart and got a tan on my legs. I can deal with that!

And then the week after, it was time for my fall NYC market trip. The weather was absolutely perfect and all my meetings went well. I was so sad to be leaving my baby....again...but once up there, I had a really fabulous time. It was the end of Fashion Week so all these fashionistas and model chicks were walking around. Those girls better watch out. Walking the streets in my jeggings and gladiator sandals, black frame glasses on due to itchy ragweed allergy affected eyes, carrying my stuff in a Dunkin' Donuts plastic bag because I forgot my purse; if that's not fierce, I don't know what is.

We ate at this really trendy place in the Meatpacking District called The Standard Grill.

I had the best burger ever! I was ready to spot some celebrities kanoodling, but alas, I never get the celeb spotting love. One of my colleagues just happened to run into Nick Lachey while eating in a restaurant, but me, nada. Hey, I wouldn't mind running into a c-list former boy bander!

In the whirlwind of all this travel, Henry has transformed into a little whirlwind himself! He is EVERYWHERE. Where he used to only crawl when there was a remote that he needed to get to, now he is doing laps around the living room & kitchen. He's fast too. I turn away for 5 seconds and all of a sudden he's at Betsy's food bowl about to partake in the deliciousness that is Iam's dog food. At least it's not Ol' Roy.

Case in point. I had picked up the bowl just in time.

He's also become a master escape artist during diaper changes.

Exhibit A, B, and C.

Thoughtful conversations are also a hobby as of lately. It doesn't really matter if I don't understand what the heck he's talking about, it is VERY important! He enjoys giving rousing speeches standing in his crib to his audience of his stuffed giraffe and ceiling fan. He's started to point at both of them while he's talking. "Listen to me, people!"

Here he goes again, spouting another one of his theories at the mall playground.

Seriously, his talking skills have improved so much. I can now understand "mama", "dada", "ossa" for "outside", and "baba" for "baby" or "bottle". He claps now too, but only while he's eating. He enjoys it that much! I've noticed lately that any time I turn the ipod player on, he's not dancing, but he's wiggling his feet and hands and sometimes clapping. Much like his daddy, he seems hesistant to bust a move.

I can't believe he's almost a year old. What a big hunk of love this boy is! Now that travel is done for a while, I'm having fun starting to plan his birthday party and getting ready for fall and decorating the house. Can't wait for cool temperatures!

Love,

Lyndsey, Marc, Henry, & Betsy

Baby mug shot

Have you seen this baby?

He was last seen not smiling and wanting to take a nap at Picture People.


He weighs 23lbs and measures 29 inches high at his last 9 month appointment.


He was last seen with his mother who was making a serious fool out of herself trying to get him to smile.

This was the result.


Adventures in picture taking:


"Mom, why do you have to document every friggin' moment of my life?! Waaahhhhh!"



This picture reminded me of this famous baby photo, well minus the spaghetti:

Staring off into the distance.....

Laughing at Betsy.

Porch swinging.

Not too much going on in the Maldoff household. I'm enjoying my first ever weekend alone without Marc & Henry. Of course, I will miss them both but I am going to take advantage of my alone time!

Henry is getting more and more mobile these days. His favorite thing is to pull himself up to standing position at his learning table. He can now stand alone with just one arm holding on to the table. He still has his standard army crawl, aka The Wounded Veteran/Lieutenant Dan, pulling his legs behind him. I think he's going to be one of those babies who walks before he really crawls because unless it's a remote, Betsy, or one of those wonderful baby friendly plastic bags (don't they just love anything that is NOT a toy?!), he ain't going nowhere!

He loves to eat finger food! No longer will he eat baby food at dinner table, only real food will do. Cut up bananas, green beans, watermelon, chicken, tomatoes, corn, noodles...anything & everything works. I'm not sure how long this will last, but it is so nice just to cut up little pieces of what we're eating and call it a day. One day, he won't want to eat his veggies, I'm sure.

As far as his little personality, he is becoming a total ham. Everyday when I pick him up from Miss Mary's house, he just laughs and laughs. Sometime I will catch him laughing at nothing at all...well, that I can tell anyway. Marc just told me on the flight down to Tampa, he was charming all the flight attendants and cracking up at the safety presentation. I'm surprised he wasn't smoking cigars and buying rounds of drinks. Life of the party!

Love,

Lyndsey, Marc, Henry, & Betsy

Visit with Geemaw & Grandpa

Here's some pics from our visit with Geemaw and Grandpa! We had so much fun!

Love,

Lyndsey, Marc, Henry, & Betsy

Mommy brain

So, Henry is now 5 years old and just starting kindergarten! See, he's thinking really hard about it!

Nah, that's just about how long it's been since I've updated this thing.

Between Fripp Island vacation, my sister's wedding in Texas, and 2 insane presentations at work...the past 2 months have been jam-packed! And they have taken their toll.

Here are events from the past week that have led me to believe Henry has stolen my brain for good.

- I lose my car keys at least a couple times a week. I used to get mad at my Dad for always losing his keys, but my behavior seems to be following a genetic family pattern.

- I throw away mail that according to Marc, is "important". These include bills, urgent notices, and the like. I have absolutely no memory of doing this. I just know that I don't like paper laying around.

- I left the lights on in my car and the battery went dead.

- I made one of my favorite pies, a banana and white chocolate pudding pie made with the jello mix. This pie consists of only 5 ingredients- banana, the jello mix, graham cracker crust, whipped cream, and milk. Somehow in my intense cooking session of mixing together these many ingredients, I somehow decided that water would be a good substitute for milk. Needless to say, it was a low-fat delicious treat (it was actually not bad, kind of runny though). Water pie, what a delight!!

- I've locked myself out of the house a couple times. We've got to be real good friends with our neighbors.

My question is this- will my brain ever come back? Is mommy brain a condition for life? Most of the time I feel like Elaine in that Seinfeld episode where she is clapping like an idiot at the tire going round and round. Hey, I might not be smart anymore, but at least I'm happy!

Henry is almost 9 months already! He looks like such a big boy now, especially when he's wearing his mesh shorts and tshirts like his daddy. His 9 month appointment is coming up so I don't know his exact stats yet, but he's fitting into 12 month size clothes and 18 month in some tshirts. He is just such a happy boy. He has never met a stranger and loves to charm everybody with his shiny two teeth grin when we're out in public.

Some funny things I always want to remember about this time....

- He loves to sit on the floor and rub his ankles together at a furious pace. He looks like he's starting a fire!

- He's not crawling yet, but he is starting to scoot. He likes to get to the hardwood floor and bang his rings on the floor and just bang on the floor with his hands.

- Betsy is constant entertainment for him. Seeing Betsy eat a treat usually makes him bust out laughing.

- Remote controls have become an obsession. We've even given him an old remote to play with, but he is not interested. Everytime he's in control of it, we either end up on Telemundo or the Adult Movies on Demand channel. I'm not going to start worrying yet.

- He is saying "Dada", "Mama", and "Neenee", but I'm not sure he knows what they mean. I also don't know who "Neenee" is. Maybe he's talking in the 3rd person and saying "Henry"? He's also learned how to scream and growl. Super talkative, this kid.

- If a toy or a person goes out of his viewpoint, he will peek around and try to find them. This is just so adorable to watch.

- He still enjoys "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star", but has graduated to "Itsy Bitsy Spider" and loves the Sound of Music song- especially the "Fa- a long, long way to run" part. Don't ask me why. As far as popular songs, he still enjoys a little Rihanna "So Hard" and all Black-Eyed Peas songs.

- Bathtime is so fun for him now. He loves playing with all his toys and cups, especially his blowfish.

All the latest pics have been uploaded to FB. Hope to have some more soon. Did I mention I lost the camera battery charger?

Love,

Lyndsey, Marc, Henry, and Betsy

Little moments

Sleeping.....

Playing.....

Swinging.....

Smiles.......

Puppies......

Sitting......

Getting dirty.......
I'm trying to cherish every single little moment of this scrumptious babe. It doesn't get any better than this.

Love,

Lynds, Marc, Henry, and Betsy