Author Archives: Julie

Roadtrip! (Part I)

A few weeks ago, the Little Miss and I ventured out on our very first roadtrip without Daddy.  Though we were sad to leave him and Teddy, we were excited to travel with my parents to Philadelphia to visit my sister’s family, and to meet Annabelle’s newest cousin,

the adorable Mr. Liam Patrick!

Born in February, Liam is the 4th Little Garecht to join Aunt Ashley and Uncle Joe’s family.  He is a cuddly little sweetheart who stole our hearts the minute we met him!

My Little Traveler also had a great time with her other cousins, Haley, Emily and Caleb.


Just like at Christmas, the cousins showered my Little Gal with love and taught her all sorts of new tricks, like…

how to play the guitar,

how to woo a crowd and command their attention,

how to have fun at the playground (and keep up appearances),

how to make silly faces (and sing, and dance, and be goofy…),

and how to eat lots of new yummy foods.

The Little Miss had a ball and was eager to express her gratitude for all of their super lessons!

We had such a fun time with the Garecht gang, so much so that my Little Party Animal decided (yet again) that nighttime was for playing…NOT sleeping!  Sleep deprived though we were (and by “we” I mean the Poor Mama), we loved every minute of the visit!

To be sure, the only sad part about the weekend was when we had to say “goodbye”!

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Winter Blues

Hey world it’s me, Annabelle. In honor of the 1,473,985th snow storm that just hit DC, Philly, Boston and New York, I thought I’d send a little shout-out to my peeps up north.

It may be sunny and warm here in Durham, but there was a time when Daddy’s thermometer outside dropped to a bone-chilling 40 degrees!  To which Mommy, who goes kinda crazy when she’s stuck indoors too long, would bundle me up like a Little 1980s Scandinavian Snow Bunny so that we could take a walk…

And yes, I am wearing adult women’s socks.  Don’t judge…I’m a magnet for grandmas, puppies and small children in this get-up!

So, northern friends, take heart and keep warm.  Spring weather is on its way!

OR…If the winter blues have really got you down, just say “to heck with this cold weather!” and come visit me in sunny North Carolina!!!

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Little Person, Big Personality!

Our Little Miss may be itty bitty, but she’s got personality out the wazoo!

It is hilarious to watch her test out her growing abilities…particularly the use of her vocal cords!

(Type in “belly” to watch this video of my Little Diva in the making)

Grammie and Grandpop got to experience Annabelle’s overflowing exuberance first-hand when they visited us a few weekends ago.  Saturday had been a fun and stimulation-filled day for the Little Lady, what with so many family members over at our house.  So when I put her down to bed that evening, she crashed hard.

…Or so we thought.

At about 9pm she started babbling and rolling around in her crib.  The babbles quickly turned into cries, as our Little Party Animal was not happy being left out of the fun that she knew was taking place downstairs.  I went up and tried to rock her back to sleep, but to no avail.  There were visitors downstairs and, by golly, she had hostess duties to attend to!

So I brought her downstairs and, for the next hour, Annabelle entertained us.  Arms a-flappin’, tushie a-wigglin’, voice a-squealin’ and lips a-kissin’…my happy Little Gal was a sight to see! 🙂

The video below was taken near the end of her performance, so it doesn’t do justice to the hilarity of the moment.  Nonetheless, here’s a little peak into our loud wild evening…

(Again, type in “belly” to watch the video)

Suffice it to say, she may be little in stature, but not in personality!

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