Happy Birthday Zadie May Jones!!
Beach Baby, Beach Baby
Zadie takes after her mom and dad and absolutely loves the beach. We took her to Rockaway Beach over the Fourth of July weekend. It’s so nice to have a great beach only 30 minutes from our apartment. 
There are lots of reasons why I haven’t been blogging lately. I won’t bore you with details. Instead, here’s an adorable photo of Zadie from the other day. That is all. Goodnight. XO, Joanne
Rest In Peace Grandad. I’m so glad Zadie had the chance to meet you.
11 Months Old
Oh Zadie, you are growing up too darn fast.
You’re as sweet as honey with a bit of sass, my little dove. You’ve had some big milestones this past month. You started clapping hands, waving goodbye, and even saying bye-bye, which comes out more like bah-bah. You also had your first visit to the beach. No surprises, you loved it. Happy 11 month birthday to you my sweet!! Love you! Love you! Love you!
Dear Nate, Happy Father’s Day to you, my love. Thank you for being so awesome. For letting me sleep for an extra few minutes while you get Zadie in the morning and bring her into bed. Thank you for rescuing me after I’ve had one of those long days when nothing seems to go right. Thank you for being so involved in Zadie’s life - for changing diapers, for cleaning up, for cooking, for reading to her, playing with her and showing her the world we love. Thank you for forcing me to go out with my friends and do things for myself from time to time. You are right, I need it, even when I say I don’t. You make being a stay-at-home mom easier for me. You couldn’t possibly know how much I appreciate every little thing you do to help. Seriously, I mean it. There’s nothing that doesn’t go unnoticed. Thank you, Darling. I couldn’t do it without you. This little video is for you. I love you, Joanne
Wedding Weekend
My cousin Jessica got married on June 4th near Princeton, NJ. It was a lovely weekend for a wedding and we had a great time visiting with family. 
Alex, Ingrid, Joanne and Zadie at the rehearsal dinner Friday evening.
My Mom and Dad at rehearsal dinner.
We got all gussied up for the wedding on Saturday afternoon and had to snap a few photos.
Zadie may not be a huge fan of grass, but she LOVES the beach. She headed straight into the water without any hesitation and didn’t mind getting splashed in the face one bit. She was the cutest. Here’s a quick video of her crawling into the ocean last week in Avalon, NJ. We spent a few days there with my parents. It turned out to be the perfect week to get away too. It was 99 in NYC. City + heat = no fun at all unless you have central air.
Zadie being completely adorable in her vintage dress we got for $1.00 at a yard sale.
Picnic Night at Brooklyn Botanical Garden
This year we decided to become members of the Brooklyn Botanical Garden. For starters, I love it there. It’s a little slice of heaven in the midst of the chaos of the city. Second, it’s important to us that we expose Zadie to nature as much as we can. We want her to have plenty of chances to chase butterflies and capture caterpillars. A week ago or so we went to our first members only night and had a picnic in the garden.
Zadie still doesn’t like to crawl on grass (I’m working on it, I swear!), but she was content to go through my tote and pull out all the food I brought for us to enjoy. She ended up eating half of the chickpea salad that was supposed to be for Nate, Doug and me. And that was after she ate her dinner and a ton of blueberries and strawberries. What a little piggy! 
It was a gorgeous evening and we really enjoyed ourselves. The music was terrific, the wine was delicious, and the atmosphere was unbeatable. So looking forward to the next event.
Mommy and Zadie
It’s not often I get to see photos of me and Zadie together, so I will cherish these two my friend Niabi took even more. These are from a backyard BBQ we went to on Saturday afternoon.
Family
We took a quick trip to the Baltimore/DC area last weekend to visit with some family. First stop was at my grandparent’s home in Towson. 
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We had a wonderful visit and Zadie was as sweet as can be and brought lots of smiles to my grandfather and grandmother. Mission accomplished!
We stayed with Louise and Doug, but forgot to take any photos this time. Here’s a good one I took on my iphone at our last visit in April.
On Sunday, we went to Reston to visit with Bob, Susan, Chris, Caroline, Hannah, Grace and Luna, the newest member to the Jones family.
Isn’t she pretty??
From our trip to the NY Aquarium in Coney Island.
Zadie turned 10 months old this past Saturday. How is this possible?!? I swear, these have been the fastest 10 months of my life. It’s hard to believe my little baby girl will be a toddler in two months.
Awesome stuff Zadie is doing:
She is sleeping through the night consistently. Hallelujah!! We are so happy we didn’t have to go through any regiment sleep training routines. Letting her cry for more than a few minutes seems unbearable! We’re such a bunch of pushovers.
She loves to eat and I am constantly pulling things out of my bag for her to snack on. I’ve learned to always bring food with me, even if she’s just had a meal. Lately she’s been loving blueberries, cantaloupe, tofu squares, chick peas and black beans. Honestly, she will eat anything you put in front of her.
Zadie perfected her baby war cry this month. She lets out a super loud yell (kind of like a pterodactyl) when she sees other babies. The other babies usually yell back. It’s the cutest thing ever.
Her favorite books this month are Olivia, The Baby Word Book, and The Very Hungry Caterpillar. She sits on the floor and flips through them by herself, letting out little giggles as she looks at the pictures. I could seriously die it’s so cute.
Zadie has her own bedtime routine. Here’s how it goes: She stands up, sits down, then does downward dog, then rolls over and plays with her toes, then pulls her binky out and puts it back in, then rolls over again and does downward dog again, then sits up and repeats the routine again.
Zadie May, my little dove, I love you to the moon and back kid. I do. I really really do.
Happy 10 Month Birthday to you!
Love,
Mama
Texas Fun
Texas was a blast. We spent a week in the Houston area over Mother’s Day Weekend and visited with my family. My sister had a cook-out at her house on Saturday thanks to Casey, my niece’s boyfriend. He has two smokers and made smoked pulled pork and chicken. It was to die for! We spent the rest of our time hanging out in Sugar Land. We took Zadie swimming, took her to the playgrounds, chased her around my parents’ house, and did some shopping for summery outfits. It was a perfect week. I felt so relaxed. It’s amazing how much easier it is to be a stay-at-home mom when you have someone to help you out every day. The best mother’s day gift I got was having my mother help me with Zadie all week long. You’re the best Mom!
Here are a few photos from our trip.
