Alex has started protesting loudly when our dog steals her food - in the middle of her little dance she decided to put the dog in her place, saying "stop it doggie." Since Halloween we've discovered Facebook so i apologize that I haven't kept up with the website, as I've been wasting my time on that addicition instead! In other news, I broke my finger chasing Alex down the bleachers at Jess's basketball game, that was embarassing AND painful. We are tremendously excited about our new pick for President and think he will ignite the country in a way we've not seen or known since Kennedy. Michael has made huge progress at the house and we now have walls - yippee!!!!!! Happy Holidays everyone and may the New Year bring peace to all.

stop it doggie

Can't get this Barney song out of my head!

Halloween

Alex was a pumpkin princess for Halloween. She cried at the first few houses we visited for Trick or Treat. After a while though she figured out she was getting good stuff each time so she quickly adjusted and marched up to every house saying "more" - we have to work on her manners clearly! Grandma and Grandad visited from England and gave Alex her first pigtails - I remember my Mum pulling at my hair every day to make it look nice when i was a kid. How she found time while working I'll never know because I'm lucky if I even brush Alex's hair! So they had fun with that, and Alex pulled those darn pigtails out every day! She looked so grown up though, it makes me sad to see her becoming a real toddler, she talks non-stop!

Picking pumpkins is hard work!!!

Pumpkin Picking

Here are the sisters picking pumpkins. Alex adores her big sister and asks for her every day multiple times!!!

Got to love NYC

One of the highlights of our Avon Walk was this guy!! We came across a "bike polo" game on the Lower East Side, where many of the players were dressed like this in various forms of dress and undress! We actually stopped walking and stood mesmerized for about 30 mins before we remembered that we still had 10 more miles to walk! Quite the pitstop!

Love the tutu in the background!!

26 miles!!!!!!!!

Avon Walk for Breast Cancer

This past weekend my friend Peggy and I completed a 39 mile walk, the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer in New York City. Before we started at 5am Saturday morning I said to Peggy "how many miles is it from here" !!!! I actually meant how far from her apartment did we have to walk to the start line, but we got a lot of laughs from that statement over the weekend as we slogged, trudged, limped and laughed over the finish line Sunday afternoon. We completed 26.2 miles Saturday and 13.1 miles Sunday. We actually ended with no blisters but REALLY sore legs, feet and lower backs (strange that one!). The route took us all over Manhattan, Harlem and Brooklyn. We walked over the Brooklyn Bridge, the Manhattan Bridge and the Tribeca Bridge (I know, didn't even know about that one). We met mothers, sisters, friends, co-workers and even a few men who were all walking for one cause, to help find a cure to end breast cancer. We laughed along the way so much and shared a few tears too. Today is the "next day" and I can hardly walk, i'm in agony but it was worth every minute to have raised $1800 and shared in this experience with so many inspirational women who struggle every day to raise kids and families while fighting cancer.

Alex the baby model

I've been hesitant to brag on our website about Alex's modeling career because blah blah blah, most people may not want to hear it. However we're so excited to have seen pictures on the Internet of her very first job for a French clothing company called Kiabi. If you log onto Kiabi.com there is a picture of Alex on the opening page in her pajamas. If you then click on "Bebe Fille" there are about 5 pics of her. If you then click on "Voir le 27 articles" (this just means look at all the baby clothes) there are more pics - it's really fun to see them there even though the site is updated frequently and those pictures may be gone within days, weeks or months, so see them soon!!! The whole modeling experience has been a love hate process for me. The pictures when they appear in print are fantastic to have as memories, but the work involved is really a pain. We drive into NYC every week and at her age, her bahaviour is highly unpredictable, and she doesn't always cooperate when having her pictures taken. She still naps twice a day so most of the time at the shoots, she's tired and/or cranky. We may take a break for a while, haven't decided yet. Enjoy the pics and if anyone desperately wants a catalog from Kiabi with Alex's pictures, let me know and I'll mail one out!..............H. x

Grand Canyon

Bryce Canyon

That's my honey

I checked on the Life Insurance before we left!

Grand Canyon

Vegas

This would have been a nice Xmas card pic if Alex was there! Photoshop????

Trip to "the west"

If anyone read Michael's Blog, you will know that we just returned from a trip out west to the Grand Canyon, Bryce Canyon, Zion Nat'l Park and Vegas. It was an amazing trip and I am in awe of nature when I go there, we forget on the East Coast how vast that part of the country is and how we should respect and fear nature and it's elements. The scenery there left me, as we say in the UK, "gobsmacked" !!! My mouth hung open at the sight of Bryce Canyon, don't miss it if you get chance to go to that part of the country. Mike, Jess and her friend Jenna were less than thrilled at the "strenous" (as the guide book said) hike at Bryce but i loved it and wanted more! We really tried to balance out the trip though by going to Vegas at the end and doing absolutely nothing. I lay by the pool and ate, that was about it. Oh, Mike took us to Hoover Dam while we were there which none of us was really interested in but once we got there, wow that is amazing too. Again, - gobsmacked (just wanted to use that word again, isn't it great!?) Jenna learned on that trip to Vegas that those statues that stand with money in front of them are actually real people -she learned that the hard way after "it" moved, I thought I would pee my pants. Jess learned that the strenuous hike is not the most fun, and Mike learned that he's out of shape (his words, not mine). Oh , what did I learn - um, I hate being away from Alex for that long (she stayed with Grandma and Grandad in the UK). I learned that traveling with my Jess is hysterical and that she's mature beyond her years ( i kind of already knew these things but was reminded again) - I learned that we treated the Native Americans like crap (oh knew that too, but was reminded again), and that Vegas is it's own bizarre Disneyworld for grown-ups. Not really my scene (too many sad hookers), but loved Cirque du soleil and the water show at the Bellagio! Oh and about Alex........she LOVED her time over the pond, she was spoiled beyond belief and my parents loved being with her, it's very special to see their relationship develop and it makes me cry every time I think of how lucky Alex is to bond with my Mum the same way I did growing up. Enjoy these few videos and pics from our trip....xx

beaches and kisses

beaches and kisses

Alex is kissing all over the place now and sometimes uses her tongue! Hope she grows out of that one!........it's cute that she is interacting in return now and babbling non-stop, this girl can talk from the moment her eyes open in the morning! Her word of the week is "NO" - every child's favorite. Yesterday we spent the day at the beach with Sue,Tom, kids and Grandma who were all visiting from Virginia (when are you moving back to NJ??????). Christi and her kids were there too-I miss them so we had a great day together. Alex loves the beach and the ocean, she started out nervous and by the end of the day I couldn't keep up with her running all over. It was a perfect, breezy beach day. We just got back from a week with my family in England. Alex has a great time there and gets lots of attention from Grandma and Grandad, I love seeing them all together and Alex has spent enough time there that she is so comfortable with them and wants nothing to do with me when she's there!

Say Aghhhhh

This was on the boat with Jason & Sarah - Alex was exercising her lungs. She wasn't crazy about the life jacket and she hated not being able to jump overboard at her leisure so hopefully as she gets older she'll find her sea legs.

Watching TV

Here is a video of Alex watching TV in her new chair. It's the first time that she is really sitting still and focusing on something for longer than a few seconds - usually she's in constant motion. The way she's draped over the chair is hysterical, I don't know where she got the idea from to do that. Looks pretty comfy though.

ready for the beach

Wow a great picture!

We took advantage of the great weather Memorial Day weekend and took some pics of Alex. A few of them came out really beautiful.....hope everyone had a wonderful holiday weekend. H. x

walking at the zoo

I took Alex to the Zoo in England a few days before her birthday - she was more interested in walking than she was seeing the elephants! She loved the penguins though because they kind of walk like her so she probably thought she was from the penguin family!

Happy Birthday Alex

Alex turned 1 on May 16th and I was surprised that I felt a little bit sad that she has reached this milestone and now wants to walk and explore without my help! She pushes me out of the way and goes after what she wants. While this worries me that she will be headstrong like I was, I'm happy that she's also showing early signs of independence and a strong spirit - life is in many ways easier if you are a strong personality! We had a lovely BBQ for her birthday, more really for the grown ups to get together and celebrate that fact that I have survived the first year! This is a fun time at her age but also an exhausting one for me, some nights I'm asleep by 10pm after chasing her around all day. In other news, we are slowly (really sooo slowly) getting the plumbing and electricity finished at our house and the drywall will be next, at which point hopefully it might start actually looking like a house that we may live in again one day. This HUGE project on our house has been very difficult for us as a family, so we're looking forward to the day when we can spend a little more time together and actually be able to find paperwork, clothes, underwear and other important belongings!
For anyone that didn't receive an email, I am participating in the Avon Walk for breast cancer in October in New York and need to raise $1800 in donations. I would appreciate any amount in donations, please contact me for ways to contribute.

We're shopping at Target again?????

This is Alexandra sitting in the cart at Target, our favorite store!! She has now grown out of the infant seat that was so convenient to use, so now every time I go to the store I have to unstrap her from the car and set her up in the cart! As you can see though she's stylin'!!! For those of you who know Alex, you know that she immediately tried to climb out so I have her strapped in all kinds of ways so she can't move! In this picture she's trying to make contact with aliens using the antenna on her head. I told her she needs to attach aluminum foil for that to really work.

Our new house

This is the outside of our new house - I know it looks "finished" but the inside has no plumbing, electricity or walls, so we have a long way to go....hopefully by the time Alex starts college it will be finished.

The McCoys in 30 years

First Steps

Learning to eat and walk but not at the same time.

Alex is perfecting the art of eating all tastes and textures AND taking those first few steps. She's up to about 8 or 9 unassisted steps now but eventually plops herself down on the floor. She had another bout of stomach flu last week which only lasted a few days this time. Three days later I got it then Mike got it too, so another exhausting week for us! In other news, the saw slipped out of Mike's hand while he was working on the house and he ended up with 40 stitches in his hand - he was lucky! Jess made the AAU Extreme basketball team so she (we, actually!) has 9 weekends of tournaments in the following weeks - my head is spinning at the schedule but I'm proud of how hard she works on the court.

Brushing our teeth

The McCoys in Italy

Recent pics of Alex

Award for worst mother of the year award

And the award goes to........ME!!!! So I´m driving along the Washington Beltway at 70 miles an hour about 8pm with Alex in the car seat. We had been visiting my friend Sue who moved to Virginia, and needs to move back to New Jersey because I miss her! Anyway I was driving home late because I wanted Alex to sleep all the way home, so she´s drinking her bedtime bottle in the back and all goes quite. I settle in for the long drive home and out the corner of my eye I see movement in the back seat......then I see Alex´ little head pop over the top of the car seat and she´s laughing her head off! She´s now standing up and trying to crawl into the front....yep, Mom forgot to strap her in for a four hour car ride! She was so excited to be free and was jumping up and down while I´m hangin on to her for dear life until I could pull over and strap her in....quite traumatic and embarassing I might add.
Alex will be 10 mths old in a couple of weeks and is no longer content to crawl - she is already standing and trying to take steps to get where she needs to go (which is usually to reach the dog food for a snack)....she´ll be walking any day now. I´m in baby bliss every day with her but have to confess I´m completely exhausted....Sarah you are right, it´s tough! But you´re younger thatn me so you should be fine:-)

Alex' first trip to the hospital

Well we had a rough weekend - Alex got some type of stomach virus, so after 4 days of no food and vomiting the doctor admitted her to the emergency room, right back at the hospital in which she was born! I arrived there at 4.30pm Fri afternoon and she was attached to an IV about four hours later. It was pretty traumatic as they couldn't find a vein in one arm, so then had to start all over again in the other arm. Needless to say Alex was not too happy and I was trying to stay calm for her. We spent a long night sitting on plastic chairs, while Alex alternated between sleeping and screaming - she just couldn't get comfortable with the IV attached to her arm. I had just returned from Europe so I was battling jet lag and sleep deprivation and we think Michael might have been battling the stomach flu himself, all in all we were pretty miserable!! At 6am Saturday morning we were hoping she would be released, but unfortunately her sugar levels were still too low and she was put on another IV until 6pm that night when we finally went home. We had a sleepless night after we got home too, poor Alex was just miserable and I think a bit nervous as she clung to us all weekend and cried anytime we tried to leave the room! By Monday night we were insisting she sleep in her own crib, as she had slept with us for two nights, so we had another night of crying because she wanted to be with us - to all the parents out there - once they come into your bed they do NOT want to leave! I've attached two quite pathetic videos of us at the hospital, oh and did I mention it was my birthday in the Emergency Room too, not much of a celebration except to say the best present for any Mum is a healthy baby. She seems better now and has just started cereal again after a week of no food. Actually she is just shoving cheerios into her mouth and seems quite happy, so I'm keeping one eye on her for either vomiting or choking!

my favorite video

This video is i think my all time favourite - not since this day have I seen Alex laugh the way she does in this, it puts a smile on my face everytime I see it - my baby girl is happy and healthy, what do I have to complain about!!! (apart from that world peace problem and the Iraq War that I spoke about in my other post).

Climbing stairs

Alex is SO active and climbs stairs now like a pro - now I just have to teach her to go down backwards before she takes a tumble.