Jenski Family Updates

Accidentally on hiatus

2011-10-04T21:41:00.000-07:00

I must apologize for the lack of blogging lately. It's not that I don't have anything to say, it's that I just don't have the time to say it! I have been busy with life, loving on my hubby and girls, working, photographing, and just trying to stay sane. Life is good.

Alex and Kathryn are both doing great. We moved them back to the old daycare that is close to my work territory (but far from our house) and it was the right decision. Although it is inconveniently located, we feel completely at ease with the people caring for our children, and Alex is being challenged and enriched on a daily basis. She is so excited to go to "school" and she runs through the hallways to get to her classroom, happily screaming her teachers' names. When I pick her up at the end of the day, she yells to her friends, "BYE BUDDIES!" and to her teachers, "I LOVE YOU THIS MUCH!!!!" Even after eight weeks at the other daycare, she cried every single time I left her. We are so happy with the move.

Kathryn is really coming into her own lately. She is able to sit upright without support for a bit, she loves her exersaucer, and she is absolutely enamored with her big sister. Alex can make her bust into a fit of belly laughs just by looking at her and saying "Hi Baby Kat!!!!" It is hilarious and heart-warming.

Alex's favorite things lately are Snow White, Snow White, and more Snow White. Which is really funny, because I'm truly not a fan of the "princess culture." I don't want to raise my girls to be princesses. I hope they are intelligent, strong women who create their own destiny. The Disney Princess culture teaches girls that they should wait for Prince Charming, rely on their beauty, and simply exist in society as an object to gaze upon. So NOT what I want them to learn. Yet, here we are, at only 2+ years old, and Alex is OBSESSED with all things princess. Obviously I haven't gone out of my way to shield her from it, and I really don't worry that she will learn all of her life-lessons from the Disney movies, but isn't it odd how it has infiltrated our culture so much! But enough about that. I have a Snow White costume to purchase! *wink, wink*

Other things that Alex loves are Play Dough, cooking with me in the kitchen, and playing outside. She is definitely still her strong-willed self, and things have been very trying lately with tantrums and fits. She screamed bloody murder in the grocery store checkout line today for NO REASON! I have no idea what upset her, but there was no calming her down. I could not get out of there fast enough; it was pretty embarrassing. Let's just say the time-out corner has been visited frequently in our house lately.

I celebrated a birthday yesterday. I took the day off work and spent a wonderful day with my mom and the girls at the pool and Rich spoiled me with a fancy dinner out last night. He even arranged for the babysitter!

AliKat Photography is booming with business. I'm limiting my photoshoots to one a week so that I don't take away much time from my precious family, but I'm booked out for eight weeks! I'm even starting to get some paid gigs! Fun stuff! More than anything, I am just absolutely loving the creative fulfillment that it gives me. It is the perfect balance between my day job and my creative side. And I am learning so much with every single shoot. The more I do it, the more I realize how much of a novice I am, and how much I still need to learn! I am sure that I will be so embarrassed of these early images that I have taken in a few years, but how will I ever improve if I don't jump in and make my mistakes?!

Now introducing....

2011-09-08T21:14:00.000-07:00

Well, I don't mess around. One week ago, I decided to really do it. And I did!

I'm so excited! I have been so sick this week, with a cold turned sinus-infection, turned chest nastiness, but it doesn't even matter, I'm still on a high because I am doing something new and exciting and creative!

My new business is called.....drumroll please........... AliKat Photography! After I posted my offer to do free photoshoots, I quickly became completely booked for the month of September, and I'm filling up October too. I have a maternity shoot, 2 newborn shoots, an engagement shoot, a 1 year old shoot and a family shoot.......Woohoo! I am not sure how I am going to fit all of this into my schedule, but we will make it work. I'm planning photo shoots for Sundays, when Rich has off, and luckily it is football season now, so it's not like we would be spending time together anyhow, since I become a football widow from now until Super Bowl.

And though people are reluctant to do photosessions with me for completely free, it really is a win-win. I am going to build up a portfolio and gain invaluable experience while they sacrifice their time (and probably patience).

The name AliKat comes from the source of my photography inspiration, my two girls. I got my first DSLR over 5 years ago, and have loved photography for nearly all of my life. But my passion for photography really took off after the birth of Alex (Ali) and has continued to grow after the birth of Kathryn (Kat). AliKat is the perfect representation of why I love photography---it's about making those memorable life moments last forever.

Taking the Leap

2011-09-02T11:43:00.000-07:00

For quite some time now, I have been struggling with a decision about my photography hobby. I have loved photography for the better part of five years, but despite some encouragement from friends and family, I have been very resistant to developing it into a business.

There are a few reasons for this:

The first and biggest reason is lack of confidence. I recognize that I am still learning. I am a perfectionist at heart, and I cannot bear the idea of putting myself out there and not feeling like I am the very best at it. I can critique every single picture that I have ever taken. But when it is for my own personal enjoyment, and for the walls of our home, it doesn't matter that I have flaws. Charging people money for a talent that is still growing just doesn't feel right to me.

I am worried about turning something that I love into a chore. As it stands right now, photography is my outlet. It brings me joy and happiness, and I never dread taking photos. Never. But what happens if I have to take photos in order to pay the electric bill, buy groceries and clothe my children? Will I begin to dread it? Will I think of it as a JOB? It would be a great sadness to lose the joy that photography brings to me.

It's mine. Similar to my piano, I have a tendency to keep things that I cherish close to my heart. I took piano lessons for 12 years before I played in ONE piano recital. And the one recital that I did was for my 92-year-old Romanian classical piano teacher because it was my last year with him, and he begged me. (And he was the cutest man, my Mr. Grabow, I just couldn't say no to him!) I hated being the center of attention, sitting by myself at that piano, with all the eyes on me. It's not a stage-fright thing, it's a "I-don't-want-to-share-what's-mine-with-you-thing." Pretty selfish huh? :)

I'm scared. I am not a risk-taker. I like salaried jobs with 401Ks and benefits. I like guaranteed paychecks. I like to plan 6 months from now and know that I will be able to afford X dollars to spend at Christmas. Running a business is the opposite of this mentality.

But I was reading from one of my favorite books, Conversations with God, and I came across a quote that spoke to my heart. It is a quote that I have loved and come back to many times, but sometimes you can come across something that you see every day, and suddenly it speaks to you.

If you think your life is about doingness, you do not understand what you are about. Your soul doesn't care what you do for a living--and when your life is over, neither will you. Your soul cares only about what you are being while you're doing whatever you're doing. It is a state of beingness the soul is after, not a state of doingness.

And I realized that my soul is not pursuing this state of beingness. I have been pursuing a state of doingness for awhile now. So I am thinking about taking that leap and pursuing my photography as a business. Because even though photography is just a different thing to be "doing," I know how my heart feels while I am doing it. It is that state of "beingness" that I need.

And no, I'm not quitting my day job! I still need to pay the bills too. :)

So. I need experience! Lots and lots of experience. Before I take a single dollar, I want to have loads of photos of families and babies, and couples and kids (and not just my own!). Who wants free photos?

Peter Peter Pumpkin Eater

2011-08-30T00:18:00.000-07:00

I'm out of titles for the blog posts. But when I'm trying to come up with ways to make my girls smile (or even just give me a disparaging look, in Alex's case) for the camera, I come up with random phrases, usually uttered in a ridiculous sing-song voice that would make most adults cringe. "Peter Peter Pumpkin Eater" (in a British accent of course) is a great one. It worked once. My jokes are only funny to them one time. Sometimes I can make Kathryn giggle, so of course I try to repeat whatever nonsensical thing I was doing that tickled her funnybone, only to get the most deadpan expressions, and I just know she is already embarrassed by me.

In other news:

Kathryn has her first ear infection. Only three weeks in daycare and already on antibiotics. Lovely. (She's fine! In fact, I didn't even know she was sick, poor thing didn't get diagnosed until her well-baby visit. She is such a happy baby, she didn't even show any signs of fussiness!)

We will be trekking back to the old childcare place near my work. We have mixed feelings about the place they have been in for the last few weeks. The infant teachers have been great, but Alex's room is in a constant state of moving teachers back and forth between rooms (and children too) to keep the minimum State Child/Teacher Ratios. Instead of hiring teachers for each room according to the enrollment of that room, they just move kids and teachers around into other rooms when they exceed their minimum ratio. It doesn't sound that bad, but it ends up with Alex being shuttled into the one-year old room half the day and there just isn't any continuity of care. They also gave her foods that she can't eat (she's on this no-fruit diet right now due to a pretty unfortunate bout of Toddler's Diarrhea. ugh.) And a few other little things that have just added up to a general feeling of unease. So we are pretty excited to take Alex back to her old teachers and friends, and also to introduce Kathryn to some of Alex's former infant teachers who we all loved.

I didn't get laid off. I came back to work from maternity leave on August 1st, only to learn that my company was doing layoffs on August 18th. Not stressful at all! But luckily I'm still employed. This is the 3rd layoff in 7 years with my company and I have somehow managed to escape them all. This has nothing to do with my level of skill--I really do believe it is a matter of luck. Lucky us!

Alex is talking up a storm. She has a personality that makes us laugh (and pull out our hair!). She is in the full throes of the terrible twos. Lots of tantrums and stubbornness, followed by the sweetest periods of gentle loving. It is amazing how quickly she can go from happy to angry and back again!

We are all generally doing great. Rich has been working very hard, but we have been getting a babysitter sometimes so that we can enjoy date nights again (yay!) I'm really close to my pre-pregnancy weight. So close that I'm losing my willpower since most of my clothes fit me (though I wouldn't say they are all comfortable!) My goal is to stay focused on the diet until my birthday (in about a month) and then try to maintain from there. But my obsession with baking is not helping things. Ack!

Kathryn rolled over from her tummy to her back for the first time yesterday! She has been so close to doing it for awhile, and she was very pleased with herself!

That's about it!

And for your viewing pleasure...........

Kathryn at 3 months

2011-08-14T18:16:00.000-07:00

I'm not sure why I'm surprised, but time seems to be flying by even more quickly with our second baby than with our first. I guess it is the craziness of taking care of two children that keeps us even more distracted from the clock. Kathryn's personality is really starting to come out now. She is so much more interactive with smiles and coos. She reaches for toys and pulls them to her mouth. She takes her binky out of her mouth and puts it back, and then she looks at us with this proud expression, as if to say "Did you see what I just did?!" She giggles, especially when you rub noses with her. Rich's nickname for her is Muncher or Munch (due to her healthy appetite!) and Baby Kat. I tend to like her full name, but sometimes call her Kit Kat to go with my nick name for Alex, Ali-Kat!

She has been doing great in daycare since I have returned to work. The two ladies that take care of her are really sweet, and they can't stop saying what an amazing baby she is. They said that they could only wish that all their babies were as good as Kathryn. I have been having a much harder time returning to work though. I just have such an awareness of how fast this time goes and how much I am missing by being away from her and Alex.

I'm still part-time at work, so I took some time last week to do a fun photo-session with her. In order to get decent lighting in my house at certain times, I have to open up the front door and set up my "studio" right in the entryway. It must be funny if any of the neighbors are looking in at me laying on the floor, standing on chairs and generally making a fool of myself while trying to get the perfect shot!

I love this expression full of attitude while she is in the bucket!

Peachy Vacation

2011-08-04T10:12:00.000-07:00

We decided that Phoenix is too hot in the summertime, and what better way to escape the heat than heading to chilly Georgia! Huh? Yeah, not really. Let's just say we didn't go for the weather. But we had a great time visiting family despite the humidity and heat. And Alex is a BIG big fan of the country.

Highlights of this trip:

-Alex's walks....down the driveway, through the fields, through the woods, around the lake, repeat.

-Alex developed a new hobby on the trip: stick-collecting. There were so many sticks everywhere that needed to be harvested! We eventually had to get her a bag because her hands were overflowing.

-Riding in the golf cart.

-Three, yes, THREE trips to our favorite Georgia eatery, The Varsity. My arteries were hurting by the end of the week. But those who are from Athens or Atlanta know that you can't skip a deep-fried peach pie if the opportunity presents itself. Just sayin.

-Getting in some photography time (for me)

-Spending time with some very special people. Alex and Kathryn were in heaven with all the attention and love from everyone.

Goodbye for now, Georgia! We will see you again next year!

Look-Alikes

2011-07-25T22:09:00.000-07:00

The picture on the left is Alex at 3 months old, and the one on the right is Kathryn at 3 months old. It's safe to say that they are related, wouldn't you agree?! I can see some differences of course, but it is kind of amazing how similar they look! Kathryn is a bit cheekier (ha!) and I think her nose is a little different, but if you aren't comparing their photos next to each other, I bet you would have a tough time picking out which one is which! I'm pretty sure they will start to look quite different as they grow, but it's kind of fun seeing how similar they are right now! :)

Maternity Leave and Family Planning

2011-07-12T21:38:00.000-07:00

Life is moving so quickly right now. I have 3 more weeks of maternity leave, and I have to say that I am dreading my return to work. Once I get back into the groove of things, it will all be fine. But thinking about leaving Kathryn for a full work-day when I have not been apart from her for longer than a few hours is making me so anxious. She is so sweet and easy, and I just savor our days together. We spend our time snuggling, listening to her cooing and smiling when we talk to her. She loves to watch her big sister, and she is obsessed with the ceiling fan and lights.

I'm sad thinking that this might be our last baby. I wouldn't say that a third baby is an impossibility, but it's definitely not a probability. We like the idea of being a family of four. Two girls, two parents. It works. But then I snuggle with Kathryn and take in her sweet baby smell, and I think, are these the last snuggles I will have with a newborn? Are these the last few times I will marvel at my baby smiling at me and cooing when I say her name? It makes me want to stop time! But three children seems impossible to us. Especially as a working mom. And I think it would take a small miracle to convince Rich to try for a 3rd! He doesn't even miss not having a boy; he is completely happy with his two girls.

And why, you might wonder, are we even thinking or talking about this only 2 months after I had a baby? Because I'm a planner. And part of me needs to know if this is it. So that I can prepare my mental image of what our family looks like. So that I can tell myself to savor each and every milestone. Which is hilarious, because it's not like I wouldn't be savoring them even if we were planning on having another child one day. But I just want to know. And life is funny, because sometimes you just can't plan things and you just can't know what the future holds.

Do other people think about this so shortly after having a baby?

Alexandra is 2!

2011-07-12T20:55:00.000-07:00

Time to get some updates done! We celebrated Alex's 2nd birthday by going to San Diego with the family. It was nice not to plan a big party while I've been occupied with taking care of the new baby. Next year, the parties will recommence! :)

Alex and Kathryn were pretty good for the car ride because we left at 8 p.m. and they slept through most of it. I sat in between their two car seats so that I could calm down Kathryn if she got fussy for the long ride. It was beyond uncomfortable and totally unnecessary since she was completely asleep for the 6 hour drive. I won't be doing that again!

We got to the hotel around 2 a.m. and got in a few good hours of sleep to help us make it through the day. On her actual birthday, we went to the beach. Although we took her to the beach in Maui when she was 7 months old, of course she was too little to get it. But this time, she looked out at the ocean with huge eyes and she played in the sand like it was the coolest sandbox. It was adorable to watch.

The next day, we woke up early to get to Sea World at opening. It was a perfect day! Alex got to see all of her favorite animals (fishies, turtles, penguins, whales, OH MY!) and she was the center of attention. The best moment of the day was the Shamu show. Her mouth literally fell open when the show started, and she clapped and laughed through the whole thing. It was awesome to see the wonder on her face and to try to see the world through the eyes of a two-year-old.

We inaugurated the double stroller for the trip, and it worked out great. Kathryn slept in it for nearly the whole day, and she was pretty much an angel baby for the entire trip! We are so in love with this sweet mellow baby!

We had cupcakes and gifts with the rest of the family when we got back in town. I would say that Alexandra was one spoiled birthday girl!

Happy Birthday to my BIG GIRL! I cannot believe it was only 2 years ago (and already 2 years ago!) that she came into our lives and brought us such happiness. I can't even remember what our family was like before her. We can't wait to see what this next year holds for her!

Sister Photoshoot

2011-06-25T09:56:00.000-07:00

Photos

2011-06-10T22:02:00.000-07:00

I am having a wonderful time on maternity leave. I have been enjoying my photography hobby with my girls. Alex is not always willing anymore, but she tolerates me sometimes. And of course, Kathryn is too little to protest, so I have a captive subject at all times, although all this eating and sleeping that she does really can get in the way of her modeling time! :)

Alex updates

2011-06-09T14:33:00.000-07:00

Alexandra is growing up so fast. She will be turning 2 next week, and I am absolutely loving this age! I mean, yes, she is extremely difficult and willful and throws temper tantrums like any 2 year old out there. But maybe it is because she has always been a strong-willed child, it isn't much of a shock to have a little more of that behavior thrown into the mix. I think what I love about this age is seeing her personality come out more and more. We love all of the new words and expressions she uses. It is amazing how quickly she learns things. I have heard the expression, 'an explosion of words,' and it is so true! She says so many new words each and every day.

Some of our favorite things that she does or says lately:

She says "OKAY!" instead of saying yes to things. It's kind of strange. She will ask for something that she wants (like an M&M) and if we clarify, and ask, "Do you want an M&M?" she responds with "OK!" As if we are the ones who brought it up in the first place!! She uses different intonations and levels of enthusiasm depending on how she feels about the question. If we ask, "Do you need a nap?" she will say really slowly, "okkkaaaayyy" in a soft reluctant voice. If we ask, "Do you want to go play at the park?" she will say "O!!! K!!!!"

Her new obsession is climbing onto the barstools and sitting at the kitchen island. Of course I don't want her climbing on them unless I am sitting with her because I'm afraid she will kick off the island and fall off said barstool and break her neck. So as she was crawling onto one, I said, "No, get down from there. You don't need to be up on the barstool, you already finished your breakfast." She looked me straight in the face and said, "No! I DO need to be on it!" I couldn't stop laughing (to myself) at what a complex sentence she put together!

As we were leaving the house the other day, she looked over her shoulder at the dogs and said, "BYE BYE guys! See you in the morning!" We have no idea where she learned that expression. So funny, and such a long string of words for a 23 month old to put together!

We are going to skip the big fancy birthday party this year for Alex and instead we are taking her to Sea World next weekend. She is a bit obsessed with FISHIES!! lately. One of her favorite movies is Finding Nemo, so we are really excited to see her reaction to some real fishies (and whales, turtles and penguins)! It will be our first trip with Kathryn, and we also have both sets of grandparents coming along too, so it should be a great trip!

1 month

2011-05-25T07:38:00.000-07:00

Kathryn is 1 month old, and I sound like every other mom, but seriously, time is flying by!

We are adjusting to life as a family of four. I wouldn't say that it is easy yet (will it ever be?) but I'm managing the chaos with a bit more confidence every day. I even had my first evening parenting solo when Rich worked late one night---I made dinner, baths, books and bedtime for both girls--and I'm here to tell the story, so I guess that means we all survived!

Kathryn is an easy baby. I have been hesitant to really accept it, because I keep thinking that I will jinx it by saying it, but it's true. With all the days of endless crying, reflux and dairy allergies that Alex had, we were prepared for this crazy colicky newborn stage. We weren't looking forward to it, but we knew we survived before, and we could do it again. But Kathryn is just happy to nurse, sleep and be held. She doesn't cry much, and it's always for a "reason" (food, diaper, sleep, etc....). What a treat for us! I don't like the expression, "she's a good baby," because it implies that their temperament is their fault, and even with all of the screaming with Alex, we would never say she was a bad baby. Both of them are my good babies! But WOW, I will at least admit that Kathryn is easier. (Of course, who knows what is around the corner, I'm preaching from 1 month here!)

We are getting the sleep thing figured out, and I am hoping she will be a champion sleeper like her sister. She is doing great so far. She wakes up once or twice a night to feed, and goes back down once her belly is full. I'm having a harder time going back to sleep than she is! We moved her to her crib last week (from our room) and she adjusted right away!

Some pics at 1 month old:

Big Sister

2011-05-17T16:17:00.000-07:00

Alexandra has taken so well to her new role as a big sister. She comforts the baby when she is crying, tries to "share" her toys with her, helps us with diaper changes and even tries to hold a bottle for her. We are trying to spend extra quality time with her so that she still gets plenty of attention.

I took her outside last weekend and she enjoyed some time in the baby pool. She loved it!

Kathryn Newborn Photos

2011-05-07T12:28:00.000-07:00

My friend Sarah also shares my photography obsession and came over when Kathryn was 7 days old to take photos. She brought a ton of fun props and we both took a million photos. Here are a few favorites that I took:

And here are a few of Sarah's shots that I just love!

Stop by Sarah's website to see more of her gorgeous photography! It is such fun to have a friend who shares in one of my hobbies! Here's to more photoshoots together!!!

And Baby makes 4!

2011-05-06T13:08:00.000-07:00

It has been a busy 2 weeks since Kathryn came to us. I want to write down her birth story before I forget it, and considering how sleep-deprived I am, the brain is getting foggy by the minute! So there's no time like the present!

The night before our scheduled surgery, we took Alex to her grandparents and Rich and I went out to dinner for a 'Last Supper.' We wanted to indulge in something tasty, knowing that the pregnancy diet was coming to an end shortly....meaning it's salads and proteins for me now! We had a juicy burger and french fries, followed by our favorite dessert, Red Velvet Cake.

We arrived at the hospital at 7:30 a.m., 2 hours before the surgery time. They prepped me for surgery, and ran blood tests, which thankfully came back normal and allowed me to have the standard spinal anesthesia instead of general anesthesia, which we had worried about. At 9:45 a.m., they wheeled me to the O.R. and administered my epidural. They called Rich into the room, and asked us if we were ready. Within minutes, we heard her first cries, and it was music to our ears.

This delivery was easier in some ways than my first because of its planned nature, but so much harder in the recovery. Now that I'm on the other side, I am sort of shocked that women actually choose to have "elective" C-sections without medical reason. My reason was medically warranted, but it wasn't a mandatory decision. My doctor highly recommended the C-section due to my long 30 hour labor, vacuum delivery and some other complications that occurred with Alex's delivery, but it wasn't like I had to go with her recommendation. She was more than willing to give me the opportunity to labor and take my chances on future more serious complications. I didn't want to risk it, considering the worst-case scenario might be a future of incontinence. But even until the day before, I felt unsure of my choice.

When Kathryn arrived, she weighed a pound and a half MORE than her sister, and the first thing my doctor said as she held her up was, "You made the right decision! We would have ended up on this table no matter what, and it wouldn't have been nearly this easy!" So I guess I am happy that I chose well? But the pain and recovery of a C-section really took me by surprise. I don't do well with pain medication, and I had not anticipated how difficult it would be to recover from major surgery while trying to care for a newborn, breastfeed, pay attention to a toddler, and entertain visitors each day.

I'm happy to be past the 2 week mark, as I'm just starting to feel slightly normal and can function without too much pain.

But enough about me! Kathryn Grace is a beautiful, sweet, mellow baby. She resembles her older sister to an uncanny likeness physically, but I think she is quite different in personality and temperament. She is a much better eater, much quieter baby, and seems to be able to go with the flow of our family life without a problem. She is beautiful and all three of us are just in love with her already. Alex hasn't shown any jealousy yet, and has been really sweet and loving with her baby sister. We are praying that it stays that way!

2 Daughters!

2011-04-26T12:13:00.000-07:00

Hey, I have two daughters now! Just thought I would try typing that out to see how it looks! :)

Kathryn Grace was born 4/21/2011 at 10:05 a.m. She weighed 7 lbs 15 ounces, 20.5 inches long and she is just a healthy sweet little thing! We are getting into our new family groove, slowly but surely.

More to come later. Things are a little busy around here.

Here we go again!

2011-04-14T21:19:00.000-07:00

We are one week away from the big day and getting super excited! My blood pressure has gotten high this last week, and I have the very beginning signs of pre-eclampsia (sounds familiar, as this happened at the same point in my last pregnancy). I had protein in my urine, a low platelet count, and elevated blood pressure this week. Top that off with my very puffy fingers and feet, and my doctor was getting a tad worried. As things stand right now, I do not have pre-eclampsia, but apparently this condition can go from borderline to very bad in a short amount of time, so my doctor is being cautious.

I have another follow-up appointment on Monday, and the C-Section is scheduled for Thursday. So unless we get some very bad signs on Monday, everything still looks on track for April 21st. The only thing I am still worried about is my low platelet count could lead to some problems with clotting after the surgery. Also, if my count goes any lower, they will not be able to do a spinal epidural, and would have to put me under general anesthesia during the C-Section. That is so not what I want, as I really would like to be awake and aware of my baby's birth!!! So let's hope and pray for things to stabilize over the next week! Until then, I am on bedrest and trying to take it easy. So it will be a week of iPhone games, TV and books for me. Sounds fun!

Kathryn's Nursery!

2011-04-10T16:30:00.000-07:00

Well we have finally finished the new nursery! Only 11 days away from Kathryn's arrival and I just put the finishing touches on it. It's a little different than with Alex's nursery, which we finished about 4 months before she was born! Things are much more difficult to get finished when you are trying to watch after a busy and mischievous toddler at the same time!

I chose a Tiffany Blue and White color scheme, although it is difficult to see the color of it in these photos due to the lighting.

I couldn't find a side table (that was affordable) that I liked in a white or pink color, so I bought a black one from Target and Rich painted it.

I made a little craft project by adapting something I found on the web. I had planned to make the little hanging balls like the ones on her blog as well, but after I started to make the heart and saw how time-consuming it was, I sort of fizzled out. Maybe I will do it later. :)

Wall butterflies are from Target, we just spray-painted one of them pink to go with the theme.

Now we are just ready for the baby!

Square One

2011-04-08T10:33:00.000-07:00

Alex has been enrolled in the same daycare since she was about 4 months old. It was 2 minutes away from our old home, based out of a church, and is a non-profit organization. It is NAEYC-accredited (National Association for the Education of Young Children, a very difficult accreditation program that few daycares attain). It was the first and last daycare that I toured, because I knew right away that it was perfect. But I was really just going on gut-feeling, not because I knew much about the subject. Now that I have toured and researched so many other daycares, I realize how lucky we were to simply stumble into such a gem.

We moved to the opposite side of town about a year ago, but I still work a sales territory that is relatively close to the daycare, so I have been making the commute with her for what I thought was a short-term basis. It is extremely inconvenient, because half of my work territory isn't next to the daycare, so I drive 30-45 minutes to drop her off, then drive 30 more minutes out to a different part of town, work a full-day, drive to pick her up, and then drive 30-45 minutes back home. It would make things easier if Rich and I could split up the drop-off and pick-ups, but his work is actually in the opposite direction, and even though he offers, I just don't like adding any more hours to his already over-full 60-70 hour work-week.

While I'm on maternity leave, I knew that we still wanted Alex in something part-time, just to give her some consistency and make it easier on her when I go back to work. But the commute was going to be a problem, so I have been researching and touring many options close to our house. I thought I found the right one, so we said goodbye to our friends and teachers at the old daycare last week.

We tried out the new daycare/preschool option this past week. I planned to take her, stay for a little while, and then leave her for just a couple hours on the first day to get her used to it. When we got there, the director said she needed to see how many kids they had in the classroom and make sure they had room. What? I had already arranged to enroll her this week, but okay. She came back and said we were fine to start that day, so we went into the new classroom. We were greeted absentmindedly by one of the teachers, who was holding a screaming toddler and trying to shuttle 3 other toddlers into another classroom because they were now over their "ratio."

I sat down and just observed. Observed the chaos.

Just a few of my observations:

The screaming toddler never stopped crying in the hour that I was there. One of the teachers said, "Oh, he cries all day long." It was unsettling. Now I'm not saying my Alex doesn't show off her lungs every so often just like the next kid. But the fact that the teachers were completely fine that this poor boy had tears streaming down his face and could barely take a breath because he was crying so hard disturbed me.
They had a table with crayons scattered on it, which Alex immediately saw and wanted to play with. (Side note: What do 1-2 year olds do with crayons when unsupervised? EAT them! Which is why you don't just leave them out on a table for free-helping!) One teacher said to the other, "Where do you keep the paper in here? Do we have any art paper?" They scrambled and got some paper, and Alex sat down with her paper and about 20 crayons thrown on the table and proceeded to draw. She started drawing circles on her paper, and the teacher couldn't stop exclaiming about it! "Wow, she draws circles already?!" I thought, yeah, she is almost 2, but then I looked around at the other almost-2-year olds and they were barely able to hold a crayon, much less draw anything with conscious direction.
I asked the teacher if she was new to this classroom (since she didn't know if they had any paper) and she said "Yeah, I normally watch the after-school kids, but they have me in here today." The other teacher said, "Yeah, I keep getting shuffled around to a different class every day too, I hate it! I don't even know the kids' names!" I then remembered that I had met a different teacher on each of my prior 3 visits to this classroom.
Later, one of the kids came up to Alex and took away a toy she was playing with. She said, "MINE!" (typical for her age) and then said "Please, Please, Please???" to the little boy (which translated means, PLEASE give me back my toy NOW!) The teacher did a double take and said, "Did she just say please?!" I said yes, and she was so astonished that she could say please already. Then I realized that I hadn't heard any of the other children talking at all. In fact, they reminded me of Alex's classroom about a year ago, when the kids would play next to each other, but not with each other, and they had very few words or methods of communicating. This was totally normally for 1 year olds, but this classroom was all around the same age as Alex.

I think that was the point when I decided to leave (with Alex in tow). Now I know that Alex is a smart little child, but their astonishment at her 'advanced' vocabulary and coloring skills combined with the obvious level of the other children made me realize that they weren't teaching these kids anything! In her other daycare, she doesn't stick out as extremely advanced. They are all sharp kids and have varying levels of vocabulary and other developmental skills. I firmly believe that children live up to your expectations (to a point) and if you don't expect much from them, they will deliver very little.

The constant shuffling of teachers (who don't even know some of the children's names!) and the complete state of chaos and disorganization in the room made me sad. I was almost in tears when I left because I realized that this is what people picture when I tell them that I leave Alex in daycare. They get that 'look' in their eyes, and their nose wrinkles in disdain, and they try to stutter some sort of expression of pity for us. And I always reassure them that it is wonderful, I LOVE the people that take care of her, and she is learning so much by being in a social setting! But they are picturing this kind of daycare, where the teachers aren't really teachers--they are babysitters. And not even good babysitters.

So after all of this anxiety and stress, Rich and I have decided to take her back to the daycare she was in. He is willing to drive her and pick her up because he thinks it is best for her--what a great dad! We enrolled her for 3 days a week so that she can still be at home with me most of the time, but will get some time with her friends and give me some quality time with Kathryn as well. We will keep looking for something else that is closer to home, but if we can't find anything, we will take Kathryn and Alex there after I go back to work in August. We are back to square one, but honestly, if square one means having a place where you know your child is safe and happy, then it's not a bad place to be.

Alexandra, 21 months old

2011-04-02T18:39:00.000-07:00

It has been over 3 months since I've really gotten my camera out! Yikes! I am looking forward to using it a lot over the next few months. :)

I'm back!

2011-04-02T15:58:00.000-07:00

I have been on Maternity Leave for 2 whole days now, and I am really beginning to feel relaxed! Work has been stressful for me lately because I have not been physically feeling up to par, and I have been counting down the days to my leave. I am so thankful that I have made it this far without going into labor. There were a few times in the past month where I have had strong contractions and I was really worried about the baby coming a little too early! Now that I'm over 36 weeks, I am starting to breathe a sigh of relief.

At my last check-up, Kathryn was measuring between 5-6 lbs and is looking healthy and right about average in weight. I can't wait to meet her!

In the meantime, I have a couple weeks or so to spend relaxing and getting ready for this new family member. I am going to spend it by giving Alex a ton of quality time and (trying) to make her feel secure and ready to meet her sister.

We have been struggling with the decision of what to do with Alex while I am on maternity leave. On one hand, I would like to have her home with me for the next 4 months, but I know that I will be returning to work full-time later this year, and we don't want to get her adjusted to staying home with me for only a short-term basis. Also, she gets so much out of the daycare, and she is just a happier kid on the days when she has that social interaction and challenge of learning. So we are leaning toward having her enrolled part-time (a few hours a day, maybe a few days a week). But we decided to remove her from her current daycare because it was 45 minutes away from home (it is closer to my work) and it wouldn't make sense for us to commute over there for a part-time arrangement. This past week was her last week there, and I have to say it was very difficult for me to say goodbye to the teachers and little friends who have been a part of our lives for the past 20 months or so. I am so impressed by the quality of their care, and I know that they absolutely love our little girl and take amazing care of her in our absence. I am praying that the new daycare is going to be the same. I have visited over 5 other daycare options, and it has taken me a year to find one that I feel will even be acceptable. Rich keeps reassuring me that if we don't like it, we can just go back to the old one. But I am so nervous about it!

Saying goodbye to that daycare was emotional for me because it is like saying goodbye to Alex's "baby-hood." They gave us a packet of things that they saved for us over time, and it had photos of baby Alex learning to crawl, of her first scratchy crayon drawings. On one hand, I am excited at all of the changes that she is going through, but I also am feeling very reluctant to see her grow up. And being at the end of my pregnancy, I am keenly aware that things are about to change quite a bit for our little family.....which we are so thrilled for, but we can't help but have that feeling of wanting to freeze time for just a little longer!

Vocabulary Check

2011-02-21T08:26:00.001-08:00

A conversation between Alex and myself this morning:

Alex: Mama?

Me: yes, Alex?

Alex: Cookie!

Me: Are you hungry?

Alex: Eat! Eat! Eat! (while nodding head)

Me: Do you want an apple?

Alex: No!

Me: But you said you were hungry?

Alex: Cookie!!! Cookie!!! Cookie!!!

No problems with comprehension or vocabulary in this department!

7 month photo

2011-02-13T19:56:00.000-08:00

I am almost 30 weeks pregnant, but I forgot to take my photo at 28 weeks, so this is close enough.

6 months!

7 1/2 months!

I am really getting big and uncomfortable now. I cannot believe that I still have at least 2 months to go. Everything is swelling on me, my fingers, my feet.....I feel like a big puffy mess. Ahhh.....pregnancy. This baby is measuring much bigger than Alex did. I had an ultrasound at 25 weeks, and she was already measuring 2 lbs, which apparently got the attention of the doctor, because she had to reconfirm with me that I would not be delivering this baby, ahem, 'naturally.' Alex was 6 lbs 8 oz at 40 weeks pregnant, just for reference. Quite a difference!

This time around will be quite different from the first delivery because we are having a Cesarean Section. I had a lot of complications and "issues" with the first delivery, and I have been lucky enough not to have any long-term problems from them. But my doctor thinks if I go through another traumatic labor, I might not be so lucky the second time around. So a scheduled C-Section is in our future. I am not sure how I really feel about it. I would prefer not to be recovering from major surgery as I care for a newborn and a busy toddler, but I'm sure that we will cope (lots of people do, right?!). It is a difficult decision because it's not like C-sections are risk-free, so we have had to really weigh the risks of each and try to make an informed decision accordingly. But one positive of a scheduled section is....the fact that it's scheduled! We are officially on the hospital books for April 21st, so unless things change (like my blood pressure goes haywire again, which is very possible, or she decides to make an earlier appearance) we know when we will be having this baby. For a planner like myself, I must say that I enjoy that benefit!!!

Christmas Cookie Party

2011-02-03T19:00:00.000-08:00

I hosted a Cookie Exchange party with a few friends in December. We exchanged some yummy treats and spent the day decorating and playing with sugar cookies. What fun! I would like to make it an annual tradition!

Christmas 2010

2011-02-03T18:48:00.000-08:00

Well it's February 3rd and I still have not gotten caught up on my blogging. We had a wonderful Christmas, but I have not been any good at documenting our memories lately. Bad blogger!

Christmas Eve Pajama Gifts:

Christmas Day Family Time:

Cousins

Budding Mozarts!

The new Barbie ATV!

Kathryn's Photo!

2011-02-03T18:23:00.000-08:00

Here's a 3D ultrasound pic of baby Kathryn!

Now I'm sure that all babies look alike in these 3D ultrasound photos, but I swear that I can see some of her sister's facial characteristics in this photo! :)

Baby Lucas

2011-01-12T19:36:00.000-08:00

This past week has been one marked with such joy and tragedy. My dearest friend Katie gave birth to her beautiful boy Lucas last Friday.

I was honored that she let me be with her and her family during that special moment, and what an amazing moment it was! Katie had a long and difficult labor, not to mention that she went 8 days past her due date. But she endured the pain and was so strong as she brought her son into this world. He arrived with a beautiful cry and a head full of dark hair.

He looked just like his proud Daddy, true to his Hawaiian roots! He seemed to be the picture of health, to our eyes at least.

Although there were some minor health issues at first, (a fever that they thought might signal an infection) nothing could alert us to the tragedy that would unfold.

During the next day, the hospital kept Lucas in the nursery for observation and to administer IV antibiotics in case he did have an infection. Katie and Jeremy were worried about their baby, but mainly we were sad that he was not able to stay in their hospital room with them. They didn't let it stop them from enjoying their precious baby, though! Katie spent the majority of the night and day in the nursery with him, where she rocked, cuddled, nursed and loved him.

On Saturday evening, I got a call from Jeremy saying that the doctors were worried about a possible heart problem with Lucas. They had heard a murmur and were concerned his heart might be enlarged. They did not have the facilities to perform the needed testing, so they were going to transport him by helicopter to a nearby children's hospital. Katie and Jeremy were discharged from their hospital and drove to the nearby NICU, and I drove to be there for my friend, for what I thought was a serious but not urgent set of tests. When they arrived, the staff immediately pulled them into the double doors of the NICU and they arrived to their sweet baby taking his last breaths. He had coded during the Air Evac, and despite the team of 15 or more Neonatologists and specialists, they were unable to stabilize him.

It was with shock that I saw my sweet Katie being wheeled out of the NICU holding the body of her baby boy. Nothing could have prepared me for this, and I will never forget the vision and sound of that moment. There are no words to describe the pain that I felt. It is every parent's worst fear, the very thing that nightmares are made of, to see a child taken from us.

We came to find out that Lucas was born with a rare congenital heart defect called Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome. I have started a Memorial Blog that explains his condition in more detail; click here if you would like to read his story.

I am utterly heartbroken for Katie and Jeremy. And I am heartbroken for myself, which feels terribly selfish, but I also loved Lucas already. I had visions of our children growing up together, of Alex having little Lucas as a 'cousin' and having my next baby just 4 months after Lucas, to be his friend and playmate. I know time heals all wounds, but I don't know how we recover from this.

Despite this terrible loss, I do cling to the knowledge that Lucas brought Katie and Jeremy 31 hours of bliss. They didn't know that the future held tragedy for them, and they spent their time with him enjoying him, loving him, not grieving him. I am so thankful for this small thing, and can only hope it brings my friends happiness as they try to move past this pain.

1 and a half!

2010-12-26T20:55:00.000-08:00

Alexandra turned 18 months, which means she is officially a year and a half old!

Her vocabulary is developing a lot even though she doesn't pronounce all of her words very clearly, and she is improving every day.

Some of her most-used words are:
Daddy!
MaMa!
UP please!
Down!
Please
Thank you!
Hi Sadie!
Bye BYE
Bird
Socks
Shoes
Juice
Fish (pronounced Pisshhh, which is really funny sounding!)
Cat
Doggie
Ball
Uh Oh!
Good Girl (pronounced go-go)
Yes
No
Baby

She is 25 pounds (70th percentile for weight) and 33 inches tall (90th percentile for height). She has been fairly healthy lately (although she has had a few colds, it's nothing like the ear infections we battled last year!) She has 8 front teeth (4 on top, 4 on the bottom) and 4 molars.

Her favorite foods are waffles, milk, bananas, bean burritos, mandarin oranges, hot dogs, and turkey. She is not a great eater, and any of her favorite foods listed above can suddenly become the most vile things she has ever seen depending on her daily mood.

Alex is extremely temperamental and is already throwing temper tantrums pretty badly when she doesn't get her way. She throws herself on the ground, rolling around kicking and screaming, and will even bite herself if she gets really angry!!! But she can turn from angry to calm in a matter of minutes, and will make us laugh at her expressions or body language.

She loves her daycare/school, and runs to see her teachers and give them hugs every morning. Sometimes when I pick her up she even cries because she is having too much fun and doesn't want to leave! It sometimes makes me sad when she pitches a fit about going home, but I'm ultimately glad that she is being taken care of by wonderful people who love her. I drive 45 minutes to drop her off at this particular daycare, and it is extremely inconvenient for us, but I can't bear to transfer her elsewhere because I haven't found anything comparable.

At home, Alex's favorite activities are playing with her kitchen, her toys (like her dog Patch), and BOOKS BOOKS BOOKS! She cannot get enough of the books. I think she would be fine if we read to her for hours every night. Not to say that she has a wonderful attention span, because she likes to change out the book sometimes before you have even finished reading it. She loves the playground and the slide is her obsession. If I let her walk down the driveway and take my eye off of her for a second, she takes off running at full speed to the playground (which is about 30 yards away) and I have to chase her.

We are both so proud to be the parents of this little joy. She is brilliant and funny and thoughtful. She is also stubborn and willful and determined. We have our hands full every single day with her, and we are continuously amazed at how difficult yet awesome she is! We can't imagine what life was like before her, nor do we want to!

Merry Christmas!!!

2010-12-25T20:47:00.000-08:00

What a wonderful Christmas we have had!

We announced to our families what we will be naming baby #2, which we have kept under lock and key up until today! And her name is......

Kathryn Grace!

It was the name that we both loved when we first started coming up with name ideas. And even though we came up with many other ones that we loved, for some reason, we just kept going back to our first choice. It just felt right, and now we have already come to think of her as our Kathryn. So there it is! We can't wait to meet her and see how her name fits her! :)

Naming Baby #2

2010-12-22T20:38:00.000-08:00

Want to know what we are naming this little baby? We are going to be announcing her name on Christmas! Stay tuned! :)

Over halfway there now!

2010-12-15T19:03:00.000-08:00

This pregnancy is flying by so quickly! It helps that I have a busy toddler to chase after (which distracts me from the months of waiting for the new baby). I'm much bigger than I was at the same point in my pregnancy last time despite having gained less weight. I guess it's true what they say, that your body knows what to do and jumps into gear a lot faster the second time around! I haven't been as excited about taking photos this time, not because I'm not excited about the pregnancy, but because I'm just not that into my pregnant self. But here are my 2 photos, at 3 months and 5 months (oops, forgot to take one at 4 months!)

Katie's Jungle Baby Shower

2010-12-05T19:37:00.000-08:00

My best friend Katie is having a baby! I was given the privilege of throwing her a baby shower, and boy did I have fun with it!!! We chose to do a jungle theme to match the baby's nursery decor. As usual, once you give me a theme, I pretty much can't help myself from going crazy trying to plan and plan and plan around it. Her sister, Kelly, the amazing creative paper artiste, designed and made the invitations and the paper decorations for the shower.

They were gorgeous! This photo doesn't do it justice, because you can't really see the dimension of the animals coming off of the card, but you get the idea.

I had fun designing a menu around a jungle theme. We had Safari Salad (Spinach Salad with Cranberries, Walnuts and Bacon), Monkey Mushrooms (Mushrooms stuffed with Brie cheese), Wild Jungle Vines (Rosemary skewers of mozzarella, salami, olives, etc.), Critter Crunch Chips and Artichoke Dip, Grilled Vegetables (titled "Zoo you want some vegetables?"), Jungle Fruit Kabobs, Monkey Bread, and Chocolate-dipped Bananas.

Besides being pretty darn yummy, if I do say so myself, it was a great themed menu!

Katie and I stayed up until the wee hours of the morning on the night before the shower to finish the food preparations. We were most entertained by our cookie decorating, and maybe it was the sleep-deprivation, but we had some hysterical giggle moments. There were some definite flops (most notably the Giraffe with measles) but we kept at it and came up with some cute enough versions.

I'm not in love with them, but they fit the theme, and there definitely wasn't enough time to start over, so there you have it. Next time, I will START with the detailed cookie-decorating instead of trying to finish it at 3 a.m.!

I decorated the tables with palm fronds and jungle animals, simple and cute.

Kelly made the banner, and of course it was BEAUTIFUL!!! I keep saying that I will take some classes from her one day when I have time for another hobby! But I think with a full time job, a toddler, and photography, baking and book club, I'm pretty set on the schedule at the moment!

The most important thing was that Katie enjoyed her day and was showered with a ton of great gifts for her and baby Lucas.

Thank you!

2010-11-26T08:17:00.000-08:00

Just a very very small part of the things that I am thankful for on this day after Thanksgiving:

-Living close to most of our family members and being able to see them on Thanksgiving without having to brave the airports.

-Amazing food, along with the talented cooks who prepared it for us! :)

-A beautiful home over our heads, and our wonderful new neighborhood that we love.

-Employment for both of us, during this time when so many can't find work.

-A healthy daughter who is full of spit and vinegar, and a little sweetness thrown in for good measure.

-A loving husband who works so hard and doesn't get much time to take a break, but never complains about it.

-A healthy pregnancy and daughter along the way.

-Wonderful friends who listen, laugh and help me enjoy this crazy ride of a life.

I know that my blessings are numerous, some I have earned, some I haven't....and I can honestly say that I feel thankful for them on many days other than Thanksgiving too.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Visitors!

2010-11-23T18:03:00.000-08:00

A few weekends ago, Rich's aunt and uncle from Chicago came to visit. After 2 1/2 years of marriage and 1 child later, Rich finally felt comfortable enough to introduce me to the family. (kidding!) We had a great time eating lunch outdoors in the beautiful Arizona fall weather and Alex took an immediate liking to her Great Aunt and Uncle. They spoiled her with gifts and attention; what else could she ask for?!

Books books books!

2010-11-23T17:48:00.000-08:00

We got Alex a bookshelf for her room to contain the many dozens of books that were coming out of our ears. Above every other entertainment item in the house, books are definitely her favorite. So now, she will sometimes wander down the hallway into her room, and of course, I am trailing slowly behind to discover what mischief she is suddenly starting. And I find her at her bookshelf, pulling off the books and "reading" them, flinging each one to the side when she has finished with it, to be replaced by another 10 or 20 that eventually land on the bedroom floor.

Halloween 2010

2010-11-22T20:18:00.000-08:00

This was a fun year for us to celebrate Halloween. I wouldn't say that Alex necessarily knew what it was about, but she had fun nonetheless. And she dressed up as 3, yes 3, different things. Why? Well that is a good question. Her Grandma got her a Wizard of Oz Dorothy costume, which she wore for her school party, and I got her a cow costume for her to wear during Halloween night because I thought she might need something warm. We also had a neighborhood block party during the day, and when I tried to put her in the Dorothy costume, she pitched a fit for some unknown reason. Then I tried the cow costume, which she proceeded to sweat in after 2 seconds. So then came costume #3: a princess tutu from her closet, complete with silver sequined sneakers. Because isn't that what all the princesses wear?

My favorite hobby is...

2010-11-05T22:26:00.000-07:00

...photography! Well at least it is today. Sometimes it is baking. And sometimes it is playing my piano. But for today, it's photography.

I liked it a little when I was younger. I took a simple photography class in high school, and kind of enjoyed it, but I was impatient, and I didn't like the tedious process of developing the film, then the test strips to find the correct exposure, then developing the photograph at the precise exposure, just to find out that I had a mediocre photograph on my hands. Although the dark room was kind of neat. But in any case, I lost interest.

Then came digital photography. INSTANT gratification. INSTANT learning! And since I am a learner at heart, this was my thing. I could snap a shot, look at the photo on the camera, re-take it if I didn't like the first one and keep going, going, going. It's genius!

I was very lucky to get a gift from all of the family members for my birthday to help out with my favorite hobby.....they all pitched in for gift cards so that I could buy a new fancy lens for my camera. And I am so excited!

But I was very reluctant to spend my gift cards without knowing which lens was the RIGHT one. What if I chose the wrong one? I decided to rent the lens for a day before committing to an expensive purchase. And it was perfect timing that my best friend Katie is 8 months pregnant and had not gotten any Maternity Photos done yet.

It was fun. And a little more difficult than I thought it would be, in terms of posing people. (My current photography subject, Alex, doesn't exactly POSE for me, so I just run around trying to catch her doing things in live motion, making silly faces and such to get her to laugh.) Adults aren't really the same way. They are much better behaved and actually DO the poses that I ask for. Ha! And I don't have to make silly faces, although I'm sure that would make things more entertaining for them. I'll think about that for next time.

Without further ado......here are a few of my first Maternity Portraits of the gorgeous Katie and her handsome husband, Jeremy:

I love the photos. I can see some room for improvement, but that's okay, especially for a first try! And I'm buying that lens!

Pumpkin Patch

2010-10-24T07:52:00.000-07:00

Remember last year's trip to the Pumpkin Patch?

We plopped Alex down among the pumpkins, and she obliged us with a few glances, but mostly just looked around in a calm, mellow mood.

Well, what a difference a year makes!

She was on the run this year. Choosing a pumpkin was last on the priority list when there was so much RUNNING to be done!

Occasionally she stopped (not for our benefit, of course) and gave a quick glance at a pumpkin or two.

She had some good times with her cousins:

She had some giggles with Daddy:

And played some pumpkin bongos with Gamma:

She threw a few (or more) tantrums, but she had some laughs too:

And fun was had by all! Schnepf Farms is by far the BEST place to go for October fun. We will definitely be making it an annual trip.

Baby updates........pink or blue????

2010-10-22T22:05:00.000-07:00

And drum roll please..........PINK! Alexandra is going to have a little sister!

Well, for the record, I just KNEW it was a girl this time. I would have been shocked had they seen boy parts! Not that we wouldn't have been excited for a boy too, it's just that we knew we were going to have two girls. And we are so thrilled!

Two girls to laugh with each other, borrow each other's clothes, tell secrets, giggle, play dress-up....(and of course, argue, fight and terrorize too!) How exciting!

Words words words words!

2010-10-16T11:45:00.000-07:00

Alex has been expanding her vocabulary lately. Her favorite words are:
Hi! (she draws it out and says Hiiiiiiiiiiii!!)
BYE BYE!
Shoes
Tickle Tickle Tickle Tickle (while scrunching her fingers and trying to tickle you)
Sadie (She says Sa--ee, missing the "D")
Daddy!
Baby (while pointing to mom's tummy, though I'm sure she has no idea what that really means)
Patch (That's the name of her favorite stuffed dog from 101 Dalmations)
Doggie

There are plenty of others that she repeats when we say them, but she doesn't really have them integrated into her daily conversation yet.

Picture Day!

2010-09-19T19:02:00.000-07:00

Alex had her first Picture Day at school recently. Does anyone else think it's funny for a 1 year old to have a school picture? I'm picturing yearbooks, autographs and "Most Likely to Succeed" jokes coming soon.

Happy Happy News

2010-09-07T20:23:00.000-07:00

We are kind of thrilled, excited, ecstatic and over-the-top happy to announce that we will be expanding our family in April, 2011! We have known for a few weeks, and it is really difficult for me to keep ANYTHING this cool a surprise. Today we had our first ultrasound and saw the heartbeat, and everything is looking wonderful and healthy!

We knew we wanted to have our children close together (assuming it was what was meant to be?) so this is such a blessing for us and our family! I am just hoping for as great of a pregnancy as last time and of course, we are hoping for a healthy baby! I am feeling very sick and exhausted, but it's all part of the package I guess. I sure do miss those early evening naps that I could take so easily during the last pregnancy though! It definitely changes the game when you have a toddler to run around with.

Speaking of that toddler, we asked her how she felt about us bringing her a baby brother or sister, and here was her reaction:

I think she's excited.

Well, we are at least, and maybe it will be contagious?

Flagstaff

2010-08-31T19:35:00.000-07:00

You know what's great about living in Phoenix during the summer? Nothing. Well, except for being able to drive 2 hours north to Flagstaff to escape the heat. My mom and I took a small roadtrip a few weekends ago with Alexandra to Flagstaff. We had a blast!

We stopped on the side of the road for some photo opportunities. We saw a field of Black Eyed Susans and HAD to get some pictures.

We had lunch in downtown Flagstaff and walked around the little town for some shopping. Then we went to the local park for a children's art and music festival with a live band. Alex was in her own form of heaven with the music. I literally had to chase her to prevent her from climbing onto the stage because she was so enthralled with the musicians. Gulp. I hope this isn't a sign of the future!

She boogied down on the dance floor with the big kids and tried to hula hoop too.

On the drive back home, we had a return visit to the field of Black Eyed Susans to hunt for my mom's lost glasses and I found them!!! I had to convince her to go back and we searched for awhile before I finally found them. Persistence pays off! What a fun story we will remember from that trip though.

Must love dogs...

2010-08-12T21:28:00.000-07:00

Alex has two best friends who lavish her with more love than she deserves. Sorry, I need to clarify that statement. I do believe she deserves all the love in the world, but sometimes when she pesters them, I am amazed at their patience. She pulls on their ears, pokes her fingers into their eyes, pulls out tufts of fur by the handful, sits on them, jumps on them, and the worst......she likes to grab onto a certain male anatomical part of Thor's and pull it like taffy. Oh, poor Thor. Of course I am monitoring this to make sure that they don't lose their patience, but sometimes Alex is too fast for me and she just reaches out and BAM! comes the abuse. Sadie will lay there and take it forever. I think she is of the mentality that any attention is good attention, especially in the last year when she hasn't gotten as much time with us after Alex's arrival. So Sadie wags her tail as Alex continues to pound, punch and pummel. Thor is equally calm, although he doesn't stick around for long. He usually scurries away as soon as he sees Alex running to him Frankenstein-style, with two arms outreached and a crazy look in her eyes. So far so good when it comes to the dogs. We are always concerned, because you just can't ever be too comfortable about dogs and kids, but mostly we are just glad that they are bringing her some entertainment and love.

Alexandra Photo session--13 months old

2010-08-07T13:20:00.000-07:00

Dance baby dance!

2010-08-07T13:03:00.000-07:00

Alex is crazy about dancing! Anytime she hears a tune, even commercial jingles, she starts to bop her head and wiggle her bum. We didn't teach her this, and it makes us laugh so hard when she does it.

Georgia on my mind

2010-08-01T11:07:00.000-07:00

We went to Georgia for vacation about a month ago and I am still homesick. See, even though I have lived in Phoenix for longer than I ever lived in Georgia, I still think of Georgia as "home." I can't explain it, but when I get off the airplane and breathe in the humid air of the South, see the GREEN everywhere, and hear the southern drawl of passersby, something just feels right.

My Georgia family lives in a rural area and some of my best childhood memories come from there. I close my eyes and remember summers of climbing trees, scooping up tadpoles from the lake, catching fireflies in mayonnaise jars, eating watermelon as it dripped down my arm, and driving a golfcart through the woods. Was I lucky or what? I do love where we live now, but there is a part of me that is sad because Alex won't know that kind of childhood, of living in the "country." I can only hope to give her some of it by visiting.

I had just purchased my new camera before the trip, so I went a little photo-crazy. I am pretty pleased with some of my shots and I'm finally beginning to feel like I'm making some progress in the photography department. I bought my first manual camera 4 years ago, and I really think it has taken that long for me to feel comfortable with all of the settings and editing software.

We had a wonderful week and it was so relaxing! You know how you go on vacation sometimes, and you get back and feel exhausted because you did too much? This wasn't that type of trip. We talked and ate and swam and ate and ate and ate. And drank. And played. And ahhhhhh....I wish we were there again.

I'm alive!

2010-07-25T23:15:00.001-07:00

We made it through the craziest week of the year.

Here is a recap of the last seven days:

Day 1: Alex wakes up with liquid draining out of her ear (sorry for the visual) which turns out to be a double ear infection. I attempt to prepare for my semi-annual sales meeting (somewhere in between taking care of a sick Alex, who is really not too keen on me trying to get anything done when she isn't healthy.) Approximately 3 hours of sleep for me.

Day 2: I leave the house at 6 a.m. to take Alex to daycare by 7 a.m., to then drive in a different direction to my work meeting at 8 a.m. Lots of coffee. Lots and lots of coffee. Dinner out with my district. Home by 10 p.m.

Day 3: Rich was going to take off of work this day so that I wouldn't have to do the 2 hour daycare haul.....Then he got a phone call as I was leaving the house notifying him that the well on his golf course was no longer functioning. Apparently they get a little perturbed when the well doesn't work on a golf course. So he had to take Alex to daycare (45 minutes in the OPPOSITE direction of his work). Meanwhile, I'm in my sales meeting again. Rock climbing. Blindfolded. (No, really. You think I'm kidding?) Followed by dinner out with my district. Home by 8 p.m.

Day 4: Daycare, 6 a.m. Work meeting at 8 a.m. Finished at 5 p.m. It's an early day for me, I should be thankful right? I get a call from my realtor about our house that was supposed to close on August 2nd, asking if we could close on July 23 instead. As in, 2 days later. Which shouldn't have been a problem since we moved out of it some 3 months ago, but we still had some miscellaneous items there that we were planning on dealing with over the weekend...... So let's just say that the new homeowners are now also the proud new owners of our former washer and dryer. Thanks for buying our house! Here's something for your troubles! (FYI, craigslist is a wonderful little classified selling tool, but it helps to list items on there for longer than 12 hours. Something rings a bit desperate when you state in your ad that the item needs to be picked up in the next 15 minutes.)

Day 5: Daycare. My work meetings are over, so I head out to do my normal job. I breathe a sigh of relief and get ready for a less-hectic day. Then my phone rings and I answer it (Mistake #1) and get coerced into being in a TV shoot for a work training video (Mistake #2). I turn my car around about as fast as I possibly can to go home and grab a jacket because we were just lectured the DAY BEFORE about how we are to be wearing our suit jackets in the field (Um, yes, 115 degrees out there?) and of course I will be shooting the TV ad with the manager who actually gave us the presentation about the Dress Code. Wonderful. Later that day, we do the final escrow signing and stop by the old house for one last goodbye.

Day 6: Daycare. Then I drive to Flagstaff to work a booth at a healthcare convention. I spend the night in my hotel room, really missing my Alex and Rich because I haven't seen them nearly all week.

Day 7: I work the convention booth during the day, then drive back to Phoenix. So excited to spend some quality time with family. Rich gets food poisoning and is pretty much out of commission.

And I'm kind of abbreviating it, believe it or not. And I don't have any photos for this post, because HELLO, does it look like I had time for photography this week?! :) :)

I'm so behind on blogging, I still have to write about our wonderful vacation in Georgia, and lots of other things I'm sure. Maybe things will slow down here soon?

Alex Updates

2010-06-28T21:07:00.000-07:00

Watermelon...Yummmmy.

My favorite things about Alex lately are:

Hearing her say "Uh-OH!" But instead, she says DOE-DOE, (as in, stop acting like a silly dodo, Daddy?)
Watching her use baby sign language to communicate. Her favorite sign is "More!", as in "Give me MORE ice cream, Mommy!" And, "I want to stay in the bath MORE!" And just when I think she doesn't really understand what it means, she signs "ALL DONE!" Sometimes she signs "all done" when she hasn't even tried it. Like tonight at dinner, when I tried to feed her zucchini, she promptly spit out the 1st bite and signed "All done!" No confusion there! She also signs "milk" (which on a side note, does anyone else think the sign language for milk is hilarious? It looks like you are literally milking a cow, and something about it makes me giggle every time!) and she waves hello, goodbye, claps her hand (while saying YAYYYY!) and blows kisses. How amazing it is to see this smart little baby learn things!
Seeing her WALK! Oh yeah, I forgot to blog about that! She took her first steps to me on June 14, just a few days before her 1st birthday! She hasn't really taken off too much since then, but she is getting more and more confident lately. She walks for a little while, then switches to crawling so she can go faster.
Receiving kisses from her. Every now and then she decides that we need a kiss, so she will gently lean in and plant one right on us! She tries to make the "Muah" noise, but she can't get it quite right because she doesn't pucker her lips. So she keeps her mouth totally open and still sucks in....hard to describe, but it is so funny. And then after she kisses you, she will get the biggest smile on her face, like "Look what I just did!"
Rocking her at night. I was so proud of our little baby who would fall asleep every night when I would put her in her crib awake. And then about six months ago, I started rocking her a little each night before I put her in the crib, not because she needed it, but because I needed it! (Not that it would be bad if she did need it, I just liked that she was such a good sleeper!) She doesn't actually fall asleep when I rock her, but it is the sweetest part of the day for us; she just cuddles up and we rock in her dark room for a few minutes. When she has had her fill, she sits up in my lap and points to the crib, as if to say, "Ok, Mommy, it's time for bed, don't you know?!"
When we ask her "Where's Mommy?" she taps her own chest. Then we realized the reason is because after I say, "Where's Mommy?" I tap my chest, so of course she is just imitating me. Rich pointed this out the other day and we just died laughing about it, because it never occurred to us that was the reason. Then we started having Rich point to me (instead of me pointing to myself) and she finally realized it! So funny. Now she knows how to point to Daddy, Mommy and Alex!
Watching her figure out how things work. I saw her in my closet this morning trying to put on my high heels. It's not like they look anything like the shoes that she wears, and I haven't ever consciously put them on in front of her, but she obviously was watching at some point, because she put them on each foot, and then proceeded to try and STAND up in them. Pretty funny stuff.

1-Year photo session

2010-06-27T10:03:00.000-07:00

When I was pregnant, we signed up for a photography package with Jacquelyn Phillips that included photo sessions when I was pregnant, then when Alex was a newborn, 3 months, 6 months, 9 months and 1 year old. I am glad that we did this, because it forced us to take photos at each of these stages (as if I thought we might have a photo shortage on our hands?! I think Alex believes the camera is her 2nd mommy! ha!)

Here is the final set of photos:

It's hard to believe we went from this:

....to this:

...to this!

Happy Birthday!

2010-06-17T22:29:00.000-07:00

Our little Alexandra turns ONE today! We had her birthday party last weekend, and what a great celebration it was!

The invitation read:

Roses are red,

Violets are blue,

Alex is ONE,

and wants to party with YOU!

Come join us for a "flower" party

to celebrate how our Sweet Pea has grown!

So once I had my little flower theme, I went to town. I think I was an event planner in another life or something (okay, no I don't really believe in 'other' lives, but you get my drift) because I just LOVE doing these kind of things.

I decorated everything in pink and green, with flowers and gardening tools too. We put some of the food in flower pots, with little gardening stakes. I made all of the cupcakes and decorated the sugar cookies for the kids. I wrote each kid's name on a flower-shaped sugar cookie (using edible markers) and put them in a big pink tin, (like a flower pot). We cut up slices of watermelon into flowers using cookie cutters. We used a gardening shovel to scoop ice for beverages out of a big tin garden bucket. It was so much fun for me to do this, and I think Alex really enjoyed her day too.

I requested people not to bring gifts to the party and instead bring something to contribute to a Time Capsule for Alex that we will let her open on her 18th Birthday. We asked them to bring something related to the year 2009 or a personal item for Alex (like a letter) for her to read on her 18th birthday. We got some really creative things for it and I'm very pleased with how it is turning out!

Tonight, for her actual birthday, Rich and I took Alex to Peter Piper Pizza for the first time. She had a blast, and really liked checking out the other kids and all of the colorful games. She chowed down on some pizza and we topped off the night with a visit to Cold Stone! What a great year it has been!

When the cat is away.....

2010-05-30T22:52:00.000-07:00

...this mouse likes to play! Um, yeah. So I know that isn't all that funny, but I am trying to come up with titles other than "Sunday Update." Yeah.

Rich has been in Las Vegas for a bachelor party since Friday. And I have been having a nice weekend with Alex.

I stayed up until 2:30 a.m. on the first night because I got a little obsessed with some sugar-cookie decorating. And because once I had made about a dozen different bowls of colored icing, and I realized that it was 11 pm, I couldn't let the icing spoil, so I HAD to finish the project. (Yes, I realize that royal icing doesn't really spoil, per se, but you get my drift.)

And Alex did not really feel like sleeping in the next morning because she was actually smart (unlike her mommy) and went to bed at a decent hour, so 6:30 a.m. came just a bit too early for me! I tried to convince her that it would be fun to snuggle in bed with me and the pups, but she was really chipper (read: TOO chipper) and thought it would be a much better idea to practice her singing (yelling?).

After breakfast, I tried to clean up my cookie mess, but of course Alex had other plans. She has had her eye on a certain doggie watering bowl for quite some time now. And while I was otherwise occupied with royal-icing-gooeyness, she seized her opportunity. I saw her out of the corner of my eye, but had both hands full, and I thought to myself, "I'll get her in just ONE second." And by the time that I was there, we had a puddle of water everywhere! But she was absolutely so happy with herself, that I just grabbed my camera and started snapping away, because, what the heck, the mess was already made!

This kid is just a ball of mischief. And she is so proud of herself!

So I guess the fun has to come to an end...

2010-05-23T20:11:00.000-07:00

We have had a great weekend, packed FULL....a fancy dinner out for Rich and I with another couple, a rare Saturday that Rich took off of work (Yay!) that allowed us to make some major progress on various home projects (babyproofing, cleaning and unpacking, OH MY!), a girls' night out for me, followed by another day off together with some fabulous weather to boot. I wish this weekend didn't have to end!

We are finally feeling a little more settled in this new home, but we still haven't finished it all. It seems like the last of the unpacking is always the hardest. Just where do you put that painting that had its own special wall in the old house but doesn't seem to fit anywhere in the new one? And the same goes for all of the other miscellaneous decor items! But even though I haven't finished decorating and haven't found a spot for all of our "stuff," it is finally starting to feel like home. Both of us feel so happy about this move, and it is just perfect when you feel like you are where you're supposed to be.

Here are some photos I took today in our backyard! I have a notorious black thumb, so I needed to capture these flowers on film since it may be the last we see of them! Someone please say a little prayer for their poor flower souls, hoping they don't meet their maker too soon! :)

And Alex, my little Ham for the camera:

Mother's Day!

2010-05-11T21:51:00.000-07:00

Well.....What should I say about my first Mother's Day?

Hmmm...Maybe I shouldn't mention that my sweet baby had the WORST night of her life, crying and screaming bloody murder most of the night, even when we brought her into our bed, which is usually the instant solution to fussy-baby-syndrome!

Or I shouldn't mention that our fun outing to the zoo ended up being cut short because sunblock got into Alex's eye and she had an allergic reaction, swelling up and pretty much being miserable the whole time.

But I did get a day with my sweet husband and daughter! And Rich and I had some great morning time together because Alex slept in late (see the above section regarding lack of sleep during the night). We sat on our new patio in the wonderful morning weather, looking out at the pool, drinking coffee and eating some yummy coffee cake. And we did get to visit with some of our good friends at the zoo, even if Alex wasn't at her best.

I took Alex to the doctor on Monday, and she has a double ear infection, a sinus infection AND she is teething! And this is what being a mom is about, whether it is Mother's Day or Tuesday, it's about the wonderful times and the hard times, and the sad times and the joyful ones too. And I wouldn't trade it for the world.

Moved in

2010-05-06T20:38:00.000-07:00

We are here, almost all of our belongings are here (minus a piano) and I have decided that we are not allowed to move again until Alex is 25.

For future reference, I would not add moving to my list of possible entertainment choices for parents of small children. I think that I would go with the movie night or bowling date as an alternative, for those of you trying to decide on something to spice up your life.

But it was really not too bad, and now we are close to having all of our essentials unpacked. I LOVE our new home, and it was totally worth it!

Our window coverings were delayed for 12 days, so we have had to improvise. Let's just say that our neighbors might be raising their eyebrows and whispering about us because they may not be loving the Aluminum Foil Look. But when your kid won't sleep unless it's dark, you do what you gotta do. The sacrifices we make for our children. ha!

How many things can you fit into a week?

2010-04-28T21:54:00.000-07:00

I think I will break a record this week.

Because in the next few days I will be:

-working full time

-packing the last 3 rooms in our house

-getting carpet installed

-getting window-coverings installed

-waiting for delivery of a new washer/dryer

-cleaning

-getting locks changed

-moving

-unpacking

Whew! I'm tired already!!

New Photos

2010-04-27T00:09:00.000-07:00

Alex is 10 months old!

2010-04-27T00:00:00.000-07:00

A few things about Alexandra, as of late:

Ever since she started crawling, she is constantly on the move and into EVERYTHING! As I've been trying to pack up our house in preparation for the big move, Alex has been 'helping' me unpack the boxes before I can even seal them up! Her favorite thing is the How-fast-can-I-grab-something-and-crawl-away game?

She pulls herself up to stand all the time and generally prefers standing to anything else. She loves to stand at the coffee table and get the remote control (although I think she believes it is a hammer or a drum stick.)

When we play music, she dances. No, I promise I'm not making it up. If she is standing, she fully sways her entire body back and forth with the music.

She still loves bath time. We have to use rubber ear plugs now (after her ear tube surgery) and they are such a pain, but she tolerates us putting those huge things in her ears just so she can have a nightly reunion with Mr. Ducky.

She has started to get a small case of separation anxiety lately. In the past week, she has been a little teary and clingy when I drop her off at daycare. It is definitely my least favorite part of the day, but she is fine within a minute or two, and the daycare ladies say that she generally has a great disposition throughout the day.

Alex has been eating a few more solid foods, but she has quite a sensitive gag reflex and doesn't take well to certain things depending on their texture and size. She is a HUGE fan of shredded cheese, stuffing it into her mouth by the fistful. We are slowly re-introducing some dairy products into her diet, (such as cheese and yogurt) and she has been faring okay with them so far. She still eats a lot of pureed baby foods, but we are working on expanding her repertoire!

"Do I have something on my face?"

Alex is still a happy, joyous sweet baby. She definitely is a sharp little thing, and we already know that we will have our work cut out for us as she gets older. She has a stubborn, somewhat feisty personality. She doesn't hesitate to let us know when something isn't pleasing her, and she can make a whole range of comical, almost adult expressions. When I tell her no as she reaches for something she shouldn't (Oh, like into the toilet?) she looks me straight in the eyes and bobbles her head from side to side as if she is mocking me.

And I try so hard not to laugh, but sometimes it is just impossible.

Our 1st Weekend Away

2010-04-26T23:20:00.000-07:00

This past weekend, our good friends got married in California, so Rich and I decided to take the plunge and go on our first trip without Alex. We were more than a little anxious, not because we were worried about her care, (she stayed with my mom), but because we knew we would miss our little sweetie.

But we had a great time! We missed Alex, but it was also nice to have a little adult time and not worry about relieving a babysitter or having to wake up early after a long night out.

Coincidentally, their wedding also fell on our anniversary weekend. Two years ago, we were saying "I do" on a gorgeous Maui beach....we didn't know that in two years we would be the parents of a 10 month old and how much our lives could change in such a short amount of time. What a wonderful two years it has been for us; we are so very blessed!

Happy Easter!!

2010-04-03T16:40:00.000-07:00

Pregnant!

2010-04-01T13:00:00.001-07:00

Nope, I'm not. But wouldn't it be cool if I was?! Hee Hee!

Happy April Fools to anyone who I might have tricked with this title! :)

Alex Crawling

2010-03-27T08:31:00.001-07:00

Alex Crawling, originally uploaded by jenski33.

Well we knew that it was only a matter of time. Alex was almost there, teetering on her knees and hands, almost making the leap for the past few weeks. But this past week, she decided enough was enough, it was time to explore the world.

With a little encouragement from Dad, she was on the move! And ever since then (only 5 days ago) she has perfected her technique, getting faster and crawling to much further areas. She has roamed the living room, kitchen, dining room....and I can see her eyeing the backyard through the window!

March in Review

2010-03-27T08:20:00.000-07:00

This blog is intended for our family (and others, if they are interested) to keep a record of things going on in our lives so that we can look on it one day and perhaps refresh our memories. So it is ironic that when we have the most things going on, I don't get time to blog, and it might seem that nothing is happening since nothing is being recorded. But we have had quite the busy March, so for posterity sake, here are some highlights:

-We got the keys to our new home and have been getting some major projects done before we move in, like painting the whole house, drywall repairs, kitchen island renovations....and the list goes on. We can't wait to move in now that we have truly made it our own. I have yet to start the nursery painting, but my goal is to paint it exactly like Alex's current nursery. Yikes, that was a lot of work!

-Alex had her ear tubes surgery and recovered really well! The entire surgery lasted no longer than 10 minutes and she was such a tough little baby! She hasn't had an ear infection since the surgery, which I think might be the longest she's ever gone without one.

-After Alex was healthy, I got sick. Wouldn't you know it?! After a week of a really bad cold, I got laryngitis the next week and couldn't speak at all. For SIX DAYS! (And no funny comments from the peanut gallery about how lovely that must have been for Rich! :) ) So I went on "voice rest" (no whispering allowed either) which is surprisingly really difficult to do! Today I have a voice, finally, but now Rich is getting sick! Rich's birthday was yesterday, and he spent it in bed, dosed up on Nyquil and Mucinex. Poor thing. :(

-Alex turned 9 months old! And she started crawling! I will write another post on that one.

-My computer hard drive crashed, but luckily was still under warranty (Ahh, I love Apple.)

-Rich and I re-committed to a very healthy diet and have lost quite a bit of weight between the two of us! It is so nice to fit into some much smaller clothes that were hiding in the back of my closet for the last year or so! My goal is to be 10 pounds under my pre-pregnancy weight so that the next time I get pregnant I will have some leeway and maybe won't grow to the size of China in my 9th month. Unrealistic? Perhaps.

That's about all! More to come later.

Growing growing growing....

2010-03-07T09:48:00.000-08:00

Does anyone remember this photo, taken 5 months ago?

She used to sit comfortably in the bucket, legs crossed indian-style. And now, when I try to fit her in the same bucket, here is what she looks like:

She can't even sit down in it, and the look on her face is....well, not comfortable. :)

Week in review....

2010-03-05T19:06:00.000-08:00

I apologize for the lack of posts lately. I don't like to complain a lot, and usually when I don't have lots of positive things to talk about, I tend not to have a lot to say. But this has been a trying time lately, between Alex's ailments, working, and all of the other typical things everyone deals with. My friend Saundra came to visit for a couple days, and we had plans to fly to California for the weekend (leaving Alex with Rich). But Alex came down with another double ear infection, so I canceled the trip to stay home with her. She seems to be healed up from the ear infection but has now developed a very bad cold or a case of RSV. When it rains, it pours!

The pediatrician referred us to an ear/nose/throat physician, who recommended ear tubes. We are going to have the surgery in a week. I am not happy about the idea of Alex going under anesthesia, but I have heard from other parents who say it isn't as scary as it sounds, so I am hoping and praying for the best. We are hoping for an end to these infections!

Other than that, we are trying to plan our big move in a month. We have ZERO boxes packed! This is so unlike me. I guess we will make it happen though, and we are getting very excited to move into the new house, which happens to have a jetted tub in the master bathroom! I am going to need some relaxation time, and I already have imagined the bubble baths in my future!

Alex is SO close to crawling. She has started the rocking motion on her arms. We've seen her move by scooting on her bottom to get to a toy, but she hasn't figured out the full crawling motion yet. The daycare ladies let me know last week that they are moving her up to the next room and I was so sad that she is going into the crawling baby room! My baby isn't big enough for that room! Before we know it, she's going to be walking?

Alex's 8 month summary

2010-02-18T21:05:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was Alexandra's 8 month birthday.

She has really come into her own personality even more lately. Most of the time she is a happy baby who smiles and laughs. One of the daycare ladies said she thinks Alex is the happiest baby she has ever watched in her 9 years there! She has a long attention span (for a baby of course!) and will play with the same toy for up to an hour sometimes. She can be quite stubborn too, and if you take something away from her that she likes, she is already throwing temper tantrums! She growls and yells and gets really angry! (Isn't it too soon for this? Anyone?)

Lately, she has really been battling with ear infections. Just when we get past one, it seems like she gets another. We are hoping that she won't need to get tubes in her ears, so we just have to pray that she keeps responding to antibiotic treatment. She has had 7 different infections already. Her pediatrician said that it is normal for babies to sometimes get as many as 12 ear infections in their first year, especially since she is in daycare and is constantly exposed to germs.

She weighs 19.3 lbs (and they haven't measured her height recently, so I'm not sure how tall she is.) She hasn't started crawling yet, but she has done a couple little military lunges on her belly when she really wants something out of reach. She has started diving head-first from a seated position when she sees something that she wants.

She still sleeps well through the night, a 12 hour stretch, but only takes three little 45-minute catnaps during the day. She rolls over on her stomach to sleep now, and even though it makes me nervous, she is pretty stubborn about it. If I go and try to put her on her back again, she will roll over to her stomach within seconds after I leave the room.

She has started to enjoy solid foods a lot now. When we first started feeding her solids, her favorites were peas and green beans (amazing, right?), but in the past week, she isn't as excited about the veggies and prefers bananas or fruits. She has had one allergic reaction to hummus, but we don't know which ingredient caused the reaction. I had just finished reading an article that recommended feeding hummus to your baby to expose them to unusual flavors, so I dabbed a little onto her tongue and she practically crawled out of her highchair to get some more! So I fed her a few spoonfuls of it, which she loved! I was so excited that she liked it! Then within 10 minutes, her lips got swollen and she broke out in hives around her mouth. Thanks to a little oral Benadryl, it cleared up within a few minutes. I had started to get a little overconfident since we had not seen any food allergies yet, but I guess we are not totally in the clear.

Alex's favorite companions are still the dogs. Nothing can make her laugh and giggle like those pups.

"Hi Sadie! Whatcha got there? Is that toy for me?"

Sadie isn't too sure that she wants to share at this point.

"My prize is within reach!"

"I am victorious!" (Sadie looks a little miffed here, doesn't she?!)

My favorite time with her is when she is sleepy and cuddly, either early in the morning or right before bedtime. She is the sweetest little baby and just melts my heart!

Home is where your heart is

2010-02-17T19:46:00.000-08:00

We have been in the process of buying a new house, and today we signed our closing documents! So I guess we can say it's official, we are actually going to be moving! We are thrilled to move into the new house. It is in a wonderful neighborhood for Alex, with a great school district for the future, and is much closer to Rich's work. It is a beautiful home, with plenty of room as our family grows, and it makes sense for so many reasons for our family.

And even though I know that it is the best thing for us, I am still a little sad to think about leaving our current home. It is the house we bought as a new couple, got engaged in (I can remember the exact place I was standing when Rich proposed), returned to after getting married, and started our family in. And that nursery! Oh, the nursery that I taped and painted and touched-up and toiled over....and touched up again! And there are so many great times that we have had with friends and family in this home. It has truly been where "our heart is."

But it's time to move on, time to move our hearts and make the new house into our new home. It is a time of beginnings for our family, and I'm excited for the future and for making new memories in a new place.

Alex vs. Sadie: Tied

2010-02-10T19:01:00.001-08:00

VID 00020, originally uploaded by jenski33.

This frog is one of Sadie's favorite toys, and I think it is so funny to see how patient she is when Alex takes it away from her! (Sorry for the poor video quality, it is taken with my cell phone!)

Proof that I don't ONLY take photos of our baby!

2010-02-01T22:16:00.000-08:00

My favorite non-baby shot from Maui!

Maui Day 6

2010-01-29T10:52:00.000-08:00

We bought our vacation package through Costco travel and it was an amazing deal! It included our airfare, car rental, hotel AND breakfast every day. Breakfast is a really nice buffet with yummy things like Hawaiian french toast, eggs benedict, grilled fish, beautiful fresh fruit, an omelette bar and a lot more to choose from! If we were paying for it, it costs $35 per person! We've enjoyed eating there every morning, but yesterday Rich said he couldn't bear to eat the same buffet food 6 days in a row. (What a snob! haha!) I, being the frugal (cheap) person in the relationship, was a little miffed at the idea of skipping our free meal and going somewhere else where we would have to pay for one! But we packed up the car and headed out to get something different....and we landed at Longhi's, our favorite breakfast spot from the last time we were here. It was well worth paying for, I have to admit.

Rich ordered crab-cake-eggs-benedict.

I got the macadamia nut banana pancakes, served with coconut syrup!

Yummy!!! I am going to have some major exercising to do when we get back from this trip!

Even Alex enjoyed her breakfast here!

After breakfast, we headed over to Baby Beach, which one of my friends recommended to us. It isn't on any of the maps, and hardly anyone was there. It is nice for kids because it seems to be protected from the waves, and the water is about 3-4 feet deep for at least 100 yards. We waded out with Alex on her baby float and enjoyed the water with her. It was so nice to be able to relax in the ocean without being beat up by the waves!

She enjoyed sitting on the shoreline and feeling the water come up over her legs.

We would have been happy to stay on Baby Beach all day long, except we didn't bring an umbrella with us, and there weren't any shady spots. Even though we have Alex slathered in sunblock, I'm still nervous to have her in the sun for too long. So we went back to our hotel beach where we rented an umbrella and pretty much parked under it for the rest of the afternoon. What a relaxing day!

After we got cleaned up from the beach, we headed over to our very favorite restaurant in Maui, "Sansei!" It has the BEST sushi that we have ever had, anywhere, bar none. And we are quite the sushi consumers! It was just as good as we remembered. (Last time we were here on our honeymoon, we went there 3 times in a week! haha! We do like our sushi!)

Maui Day 5

2010-01-28T23:32:00.000-08:00

When we told people that we were taking our baby to Hawaii with us, we definitely got a few raised eyebrows and a few comments along with them. And I'm not saying that it has been the easiest thing to travel with her. But we went into it knowing that we would have to be prepared for a lot of flexibility and perhaps a little fussiness. But at the end of the day, even if we weren't able to do everything that we could do alone, we would still be in MAUI! I mean, even the most mundane things are better in Maui! Making a bottle? Changing a diaper? Definitely better in Maui!

It is a lot more work though. Packing our diaper bag is kind of comical. The list of things that we need to bring when we leave the hotel room: diapers, wipes, bottles, formula, bib, baby food, baby spoon, swim diapers, swimsuit, hat, sunscreen, toys, burp cloth, blanket, extra onesie...and that doesn't even include the things that we need for ourselves. I almost forgot to bring my own swimsuit during our chaos of getting all of Alex's things ready.

But once we have it all together, the payoff is so wonderful! She has been a great traveler, and this vacation has given us an opportunity to get in some awesome family bonding!

Yesterday, we headed to Lahaina town, which is a quaint street of shops next to the ocean. We did some shopping, had some lunch....Alex took a snooze under the famous Banyan Tree (a HUGE tree that grows in the center of town).

Then we took a Whale Watching boat tour. This sign made me laugh, except that I was a little scared actually!

The tour was amazing. We saw a ton of whales, and a few actually came right up to our boat and surfaced, or as they call it here, we were "mugged" by whales! Alex got a little fussy, mainly because of the weather. We chose a boat that had a lower deck because we didn't want her to be in direct sunlight. But the bottom deck was enclosed without any breeze or air conditioning. We were so hot! And so was Alex, and she made sure to let us know with her favorite method of communicating her displeasure. We took turns trying to entertain her (but I will credit Rich for really helping the most!) and let the other one go on the top deck to see the action. Poor thing, she did really great considering the conditions, and all in all, she still didn't fuss much.

We got a complimentary photography session at the hotel:

I love this one of Rich and Alex:

Maui Day 4

2010-01-26T23:36:00.000-08:00

This vacation is unique for us because I had absolutely nothing planned ahead of time. When we came here for our honeymoon, I was teased because I had an activity booked, planned, reserved and scheduled for every single day of the trip! I tend to be the planner in our family.... anyone who knows me is probably laughing at this because it is stating the obvious. But for this trip, my better judgement told me that we would need to be ultra-flexible since we have a 7-month old with us. And it's been great! But it also gets me into trouble since nothing is actually "booked," and then I have a hard time deciding what to do.

This morning, we decided to go down to Lahaina and do some window-shopping. But then it started raining. So we decided to turn around. But then I saw the Pacific Whale Foundation shop (where you book whale-watching tours) so I had Rich stop the car so I could run in and grab their brochure for tour times. Once I had the brochure, it stopped raining. So I thought we should take the whale-watching tour that starts in an hour! But we needed sunscreen and I had forgotten my sunglasses in the hotel, so we needed to turn around and go back to the hotel. Once we got close to the hotel, Alex had fallen asleep in her car seat, and she really needed a good nap, so I thought maybe we should wait till tomorrow to do the tour! And I remembered this place that one of my friends recommended we see, so I suggested we do that instead so that Alex could stay asleep while we drove to it. But then that tour might be really fun, and it did start in an hour???...... Finally Rich had to reign me in (thankfully) and take charge with the decision making! Whew!

So we drove up to Kapalua Bay and found the most beautiful beach cove. We spotted a nice patch of sand under a huge shade tree, spread our blanket under it, and took in the view, the breeze, the warmth. Joy. Pure joy is all I can use to describe it. I rented some snorkel gear and Rich stayed with Alex while I snorkeled over the coral reefs. They were gorgeous, with beautiful colored fish, coral and even an eel!

What an incredible day!

Maui Day 3

2010-01-26T22:54:00.000-08:00

We woke up early and went straight to the beach because I wanted to take some photos before the sun got really hot. We sat Alex down in the sand.....and she gave me a couple glances and started crying about 5 seconds later!

But after a few comforting hugs and reassurances, she got used to it and started to play with the sand. Of course the first thing she did was scoop up a big handful and try to eat it. We caught her hand just in time before she gulped down a nice bite! Here are some of my faves taken with my "big" camera:

After breakfast, we walked over to the little shopping mall close to our hotel and bought a few things. Alex got her very first bikini! It's called.....wait for it....The Teeny Weeny Wahini Bikini! Hysterical. It was entirely over-priced and my typically frugal (read: cheap) nature was overcast by the fact that it was SO CUTE!!!

She was a great little shopper, but it definitely tuckered her out. She snoozed through most of it.

We had lunch at one of our favorite little spots, The Hula Grill & Barefoot Bar, where there is sand on the ground and you eat at tables that overlook the ocean. There is truly nothing better than watching the ocean, eating yummy food, feeling the breeze on our faces......AHHHH.....

When we got back to the hotel, we got our swimsuits on and headed down to the pool.

We are officially ready to live here. No, seriously. How do we make this happen? Anyone?

Maui Day 2

2010-01-25T09:37:00.000-08:00

When we arrived in Maui, it was dark, so we were eager to wake up on Day 2 and take a look outside our hotel room at the beautiful view.

Here is what we saw:

Where was the "ocean-view" that we paid for? Well, if you squint your eyes and look toward the right of the photo, past the ugly rooftop, you can see a 10 foot stretch of water. Presto! Ocean view! I was so disappointed! So we called the front desk and *nicely* complained and asked if they had a different room available. They said it would be no problem to move us (it was almost like this must happen a lot, because they said, "Oh, you're in 503? We'll see what we can do for you.")

So here is the view from our new room:

Much better! This hotel is amazing. The property is just gorgeous, with plunging waterfalls, meandering paths through jungle-like gardens, four pools, grottos, a water slide, flamingoes, parrots.....we could stay on the hotel grounds the entire trip and be perfectly content! (Especially now that our hotel room got upgraded!)

After having breakfast, we sat down in the lobby to watch the waterfalls and wild birds. A couple of Samoan men came and demonstrated how to open a coconut (in case we ever get stranded on a deserted island, we should be prepared.)

Alex found it pretty interesting:

Then we headed over to the Maui Ocean Center Aquarium.

This was a big hit with Alex. She loved watching the fish! She would kick her legs and laugh and squeal excitedly when we put her in front of the glass windows.

Our favorite part of the Aquarium was this huge glass tunnel that you walked through and could see sharks, stingrays, and beautiful fish all around you. It was like being at the bottom of the ocean.

This picture is kind of blurry, but you get the idea:

When we got back to the hotel, we had some lunch and Alex got to taste her first pineapple! She LOVED it! She sucked all the juice out of the little piece that I handed her, and when I took it away she started screaming bloody murder! It was kind of hysterical, aside from the fact that she was so angry with us.

At sunset, we packed her up in the Baby Bjorn and headed to the beach. We dunked her feet into the water and watched her scrunch up her face when the sand stuck to them.

What a great day! As for the night.....well, Alex still didn't sleep well in the hotel crib. She fell asleep in it, but woke up crying about an hour later and wouldn't go back to sleep. So into the king-sized bed she went. It is so funny, because she has NEVER slept in bed with us, even when we were sleep deprived and we wanted her to, she was so independent and could not fall asleep with us so close. But for some reason, the hotel room or the strange crib makes her scared. Once we brought her into our bed, she slept all night long! Oh well, but I hope we don't have a hard time breaking this habit when we get home. In the meantime though, I love her sleeping next to us.....she reached out every now and then and stroked my face in the dark. So sweet.

Maui Day 1

2010-01-24T22:33:00.000-08:00

Right now I am sitting in my hotel room listening to the sound of waterfalls and ocean waves hitting the sand. Pretty rough, isn't it?

We arrived in Maui yesterday evening, and I have to say that Alex was an awesome traveling baby! She was an angel for the entire flight (7 hours, yes 7 hours!!). She slept, she ate, she played......What else could we dream of asking for? Perhaps a little reading time for me? Check, got that! Maybe a little in-flight movie watching? Check, got that too!

Looking out the window of the airplane....

A little afternoon siesta:

Playing with Daddy:

When we got to the hotel it was well past Alex's bedtime, but she was still awake and happy. We thought we had really gotten lucky with her pleasant personality throughout the long travel day, and were hoping it would last us into the night. Alas, it was not to meant to be. She cried and screamed and cried some more. When she was so exhausted and finally fell asleep, she woke up an hour later crying again! Here is the crib where she was supposed to have slept:

And here is where she actually ended up sleeping!

Photos!

2010-01-21T07:49:00.000-08:00

Without further ado......Alex's 7 month photo session!

This session was exhausting for me! (And I wasn't even in any of the pictures! ha!) She was in a particularly serious mood, not a smile in sight. So I proceeded to jump around like a fool making funny noises and trying to get her to crack a smile. It worked some of the time, but mostly she was stone-faced.

She looked me straight in the eyes a couple times, and I swear I could read her thoughts: "Mom, you're not funny. You're embarrassing yourself."

Countdown to Maui

2010-01-19T20:42:00.000-08:00

In four wonderful days, we will be arriving on the beautiful island of Maui! We are so excited and ready for this vacation!

It will be our first trip with Alex, and this traveling-with-a-baby thing is all new to us. We bought her a seat on the plane, so we are hoping that she sleeps and isn't too miserable on the flight.

In the meantime, just because we don't like to let things get too dull around here, we are shopping for a new home, Rich is working 12 hour days in his new work position, and we are generally over-booked and over-promised every day of the week! Alex had a little infection on her chest that the pediatrician was frightened could be MRSA, but thankfully it has responded to antibiotics very quickly, and she looks to be all healed up and ready for her bikini.

Psssttt........ You haven't seen a cuter beach bum than this baby!

Old School Memories

2010-01-12T19:27:00.000-08:00

We are our mothers, aren't we? Just a trip down memory lane, looking at some old photographs, and I see that there is an eery similarity with my mother's photography methods and mine......

Picture #1: "Cheese!"

Picture #2: Okay, I'm getting tired. I'm going to sit down now. Cheese.

Picture #3: That's it. Enough is enough with the photos. I'm done!

Anyone else see a pattern? Alex's torture (photography) sessions are not something that I can control obviously. My mom taught me everything I know! :)

Mirror, mirror on the wall....

2010-01-10T20:32:00.001-08:00

Mirror, mirror on the wall...., originally uploaded by jenski33.

Alex and Mrs. Ball

2010-01-10T20:24:00.000-08:00

Hello Mrs. Ball.

Hello Miss Alex.

Miss Alex spies Mrs. Ball.

Miss Alex leans toward Mrs. Ball........

......reaching, reaching, reaching.......

Ahhh, forget you Mrs. Ball. I have Mr. Bear to play with instead and he doesn't play nearly as hard to get.

Big Girl Updates

2010-01-04T20:15:00.000-08:00

Today I got a phone call from Alexandra's daycare. The woman who runs it said that Alex has been sitting up on her own, playing with toys and rolling around. They think it is time for our baby to 'transition' to the next classroom! What?! How is this possible, that our sweet little infant is now going into the Crawling baby classroom? I am excited, but at the same time a little sad that she is growing up so fast. It won't be long before she is crawling along with her new classmates.

Just this past week, she has cut her bottom 2 teeth (I can see the top of them, and feel them with my fingers!), she is sitting up without supporting herself, and has grown a lot more hair.

Happy New Year!

2010-01-04T20:03:00.000-08:00

Christmas photos

2009-12-27T14:17:00.000-08:00

A few photos from Christmas:

Saturday Guest-Blogger

2009-12-26T13:25:00.000-08:00

Mommy said that I can do a little guest-blogging when she gets busy, just to keep the family up to date on my progress and such. So I thought I'd share a few photos that she tortured me with took this morning while Daddy couldn't save me went to work.

I got a really cool chair for Christmas from my Grandma and Grandpa. It's just like the chairs that my Mommy and Daddy have.

I feel like such a big girl now that I'm 6 months old, so it's really the perfect new addition to our living room. I can pretty much do everything that Mommy and Daddy do.

Daddy likes to watch TV. Me too.

Mommy likes to hang out with her friends, like my Aunty Katie. I like to hang out with my friends too, especially my new Monkey Man.

Mommy likes to talk on the phone. So do I!

Daddy likes to have a drink when he hangs out in his chair, and so do I!

Mommy likes to kick back with a good book, and I think Dr. Seuss is her favorite author, just like me.

So I guess my next step is driving, right?

Peace out!

If at first you don't succeed.....

2009-12-19T09:17:00.000-08:00

....try, try again!

Alex's 2nd meal went a lot better! Somehow she realized that the strange substance we were putting in her mouth was actually food! It took about two bites before she was opening her mouth and asking for more. She finished off the entire bowl this time! GO Alex! :)

Happy Half-year!

2009-12-17T19:04:00.000-08:00

Is anyone else as shocked as we are that it has already been half a year since Alex blessed our lives? I'm just amazed at how fast time is flying!

Today Alex had her 6 month check-up with the pediatrician and she is doing great! She weighs 17 lbs and is 27 inches tall. She is in the 75th percentile for weight and 90th percentile for height. The doctor gave us the go-ahead for solid foods, so we decided to give Alex her first meal tonight.

How did it go? Well.....I'll let Alex tell you.

"Hi. I'm starving. Do you see my tummy? I look hungry, don't I?"

"What's that you say? Food?! Finally!"

"Give me that bowl. Enough pictures, let's get this show on the road, Mommy!"

"Wait a second. THIS is what I've been looking forward to? WHAT is this?"

"Where's the hamburger Daddy was eating earlier? I've never seen you guys eating this stuff. Did you give me Sadie's dinner?"

"Hunger strike. This is foul. I refuse to eat this."

Merry Christmas from our Santa Baby!!

2009-12-15T19:37:00.000-08:00

For Sarah Lou and Leon

2009-12-09T20:34:00.000-08:00

Alex received a Christmas gift in the mail from some of my family in Georgia. They suggested we open it early, so here is the video, for their viewing pleasure! (Thank you so much for her gift!!!)

Predictable Chaos

2009-12-09T20:13:00.000-08:00

I just went to New York for work training. I was gone for 4 days, the longest I had ever been away from Alex. It was hard! I was kept really busy during the day and we even had activities planned during the evening. So I was distracted from being homesick most of the time. But at the end of the long day, when I got into my hotel bed, I would look to my nightstand on my right, hoping to see the dim light of the video monitor, hoping to hear the soft sounds of Alex breathing in and out--and I really missed her. Rich took a couple days of vacation to stay home with her, and they had some wonderful time together. He sent me photo-texts of her throughout the day and it helped me to see that they were both doing great without me. I found it funny when I came back, he would say things like, "Alex likes it when you do this now...." Like she was a different baby in the 4 days since I left! :)

We have been busy on all kinds of levels lately. It seems like our life is in a constant state of predictable chaos. Our heater died, we had a problem with our shower, and both of our jobs are putting more stress and pressure on us than ever before. But we're dealing with it. We are trying to balance parenthood, marriage, careers, family, friends, house repairs, holiday shopping.....The list never ends. And I guess it's okay.

Happy Thanksgiving!

2009-11-27T19:32:00.000-08:00

We enjoyed a wonderful 1st Thanksgiving with Alex this year. We enjoyed a leisurely day (see the video below!) and I finished reading a book (The Art of Racing in the Rain, which was really good!) Then we headed over to Rich's parents house and had an awesome turkey dinner with all the fixings. We have a lot to be thankful for this year!

I tried to dress Alex up in a fancy little velvet dress, but she wasn't too thrilled with it. So we opted for comfort instead.

Happy Thanksgiving from our little Gobbler!!!

Alex cheers for FETCH!

2009-11-27T19:21:00.001-08:00

Thanksgiving 09, originally uploaded by jenski33.

All of a sudden, Alex thought it was hysterical to watch Sadie catch the ball. We love finding new things that crack her up!

Overdue Updates

2009-11-20T22:39:00.000-08:00

Well, let's see...I haven't had time to blog lately because I haven't even had time to do the things that are higher on the priority list.

Like laundry. I have 4 loads of laundry that need folding tonight. I dumped the clean clothes onto my bed so that I have no way of putting it off till tomorrow, because otherwise I won't have anywhere to sleep! Does anyone else do this little trick?

And some of my administrative duties for work are piling up, giving me a bit of anxiety as I try to think of when I will have time to do them. And my refrigerator is in dire need of a visit from the Organization Fairy. And the Grocery Fairy.

I wish, I wish, I wish......there were 48 hours in a day. Or that I only needed 2 hours of sleep. Where is the Wish Fairy when I need her?

Onto other topics....our baby girl turned 5 months this past week! She is growing up so fast before our eyes, coming into her own personality and interacting with us more than ever before.

Some recent Alex highlights:
-She is all healed up from her 2nd ear infection and 1st cold. I am still trying to recite the mantra given to me by our pediatrician--"You want her to get sick now, it's GOOD for her. Daycare is GOOD for her." Maybe I will believe it if I keep saying it?
-She is still doing wonderful on her Alimentum formula. Aside from the astronomical cost of this stuff, it has been the best thing ever!
-We aren't anywhere near starting solids yet. I'm in no hurry to open this chapter because of her tummy and allergy ailments. We will get there when we need to, but for now, she's doing just fine with her bottles.
-Alex weighs almost 16 pounds and is almost 26 inches long! She is in the 90th percentile for both height and weight! (See my previous point--we have no worries about her getting adequate nutrition!)

Here is a recent photo with her Nubby bear.

Remember the same photo taken when she was 7 days old?

-She is really learning how to make different facial expressions. She smiles and laughs and scowls and pretends to cry, only to burst into a smile the minute I reach for her. She is learning things so quickly that I can't believe it.
-Aside from rolling, she is trying to stand a lot too. She holds on with her fingers and will stand for a few minutes at a time, usually very proud of herself too!

-She plays a lot now. She loves her exersaucer, and her rattles, stuffed animals, and teethers. I love seeing the wonder in her face as she reaches for a toy and shakes it.

-She loves sucking her thumb, and her new habit is stroking the back of her head with one hand while she sucks her thumb on the other hand.

That's a pretty good summary. She's awesome! (Have I mentioned that before?)

Roly-Poly

2009-11-11T19:47:00.001-08:00

Roly-Poly, originally uploaded by jenski33.

Alex rolled over for the first time on Sunday! It's funny, because they say it's usually a 4-month milestone, but she hadn't done it yet at her 4-month mark. The doctor wasn't too worried, so we stopped being concerned too.
All of a sudden, she decided it was time. And ever since Sunday, she has been a little roly-poly baby. I think it's amazing how one day she learns a new skill, and then all of a sudden she is doing it all the time, like it's the easiest thing in the world.

My Best Friend's Wedding

2009-11-10T15:54:00.000-08:00

Tee hee. I thought that might be an appropriate title to this post. Love that movie. But seriously, my friend Katie was married this past weekend, and what an amazing wedding it was!

After many years (Oh, a decade or so) of dating, Jeremy and Katie finally made it official. It was a long time coming, but well-worth the wait. I was her Maid of Honor (notice I said 'Maid' of Honor even though technically I'm married and that makes me the 'Matron' of Honor, but I politely asked if I could ditch the elderly-sounding title and take the youthful 'maid' title instead. Katie obliged.) Is that weird that I wasn't really digging the Matron of Honor title?

Rich was the Best Man. (Anyone else find it ironic that they don't distinguish a married best man vs. a single one? They're always trying to emphasize women's age. And by 'they,' I'm not sure who I'm referring to, but you get my point.) Anyway, what was I saying? Right.

It was a really busy week leading up to the event, with me flying to Dallas for business for a couple days, having a business dinner meeting one night, and Katie & Jeremy's rehearsal dinner another night. Whew! I think I blinked and the big day was there! Friday was Baking Day for me--I baked two huge sheet cakes for the wedding, which probably seems like it should take all of a couple hours, but ended up being an all-day affair. I am a pretty experienced baker, but this was definitely the most baking I have ever done at once. I started in the kitchen at 9 am and finished them at 11 pm (with about a 2-hour break in there when I went to the salon for a nails-and-spray-tan-appointment). I made 6 layers in all, 3 red velvet and 3 german chocolate, and I think the final total was close to 5 lbs of butter, 5 lbs of sugar, 3 dozen eggs, 2 lbs of flour, 5 sticks of cream cheese, and a GALLON of heavy whipping cream. ha! They were very healthy cakes. I was proud of the final result--they tasted delicious and looked pretty. They were the cakes that no-one actually saw, but were sliced up in the back by the caterers and offered to guests as an additional choice to the standard white wedding cake. Katie's sister, Kelly, who is pretty much the most creative person I have ever met, made the beautiful display cake. She took a couple of cake-decorating classes and told Katie she thought she could do it, and lo and behold, she did. It was amazing. The top four layers were styrofoam, covered with fondant, and the bottom layer was real cake.

Here's a close-up of the gum-paste orchids that she made.

She only took a few classes. Seriously?!

Here is my german chocolate cake.

Almost as nice, right? HAHAHAHA! Well, as I said, my cakes weren't on display for the guests to see, but they were quite delicious for them to eat! :)

Katie came over to our house on Friday to spend the night, and we did last-minute wedding preparations and spent most of the night talking into the wee hours of the morning. Finally, at 2 a.m., Rich sent us a text message (from the bedroom) suggesting that it might be time to go to bed, and could we please turn off the lights for him?! Oops! It was like we were in high-school again, getting in trouble by mom! Ha!

So we finally did get about four hours of sleep and woke up just in time to get to the salon for our hair and makeup appointments.

Then we headed to the wedding location. When Katie put her dress on, I almost started crying at that very moment. But I remembered the make-up lady told me to do my best not to cry because as she said, "False eyelashes and water don't mix!" Ha! Of course, once the night progressed, I was a teary mess anyway.

Back to Katie. She was stunning! Seriously, look at this gorgeous bride:

The ceremony was perfect, everything was beautiful, and we had a blast! I danced 'till my feet ached.

After it was through, we came home and relieved Rich's parents from babysitting duty. They watched Alex all day and said they had a great time with her. All in all, it was an awesome wedding!

Sometimes my heart just melts....

2009-11-01T20:41:00.000-08:00

....when I see these two together.

This was completely candid, taken as Rich was dancing with Alex. She was smiling so much that I think those big cheeks of hers must have been aching! Ahhh....nothing like a daddy-daughter dance.

Happy Halloween

2009-11-01T16:54:00.000-08:00

We have had a great Halloween weekend. I think we are all healthy again (knock on wood!!), and really enjoyed some wonderful family time. I am not normally too enthusiastic about Halloween; I think it is a silly holiday and don't really go out of my way to do anything special for it. But this year, with Alex, of course we had a lot more fun with it!

Alex was a ladybug. She didn't cry when we put her costume on, but I definitely don't think it was her favorite outfit either. She seemed a little confused as to why we were giggling at her, but I think she was okay with it.

Then we went to the pumpkin patch with my parents. It was the first time I had ever been to one! We had a great time, wheeling Alex around in a wagon. We sat her down with the pumpkins, and she was fascinated, touching and kicking them!

When we got back, Rich and I carved up our pumpkins after Alex went to bed. We finished off the night with a game of Scrabble.

One sick family

2009-10-24T12:18:00.000-07:00

This has been just a wonderful week. I mean that with all the sarcasm I have.

I'm pretty sure I have the flu. Rich caught it too. And Alex has an ear infection. This family is a mess!

On top of it all, I have had such a busy work-week and could only stay home a couple days. I really should have been in bed all week, but what can you do when you already have appointments, lunches, breakfasts and work meetings to attend?

Rich has been swamped at work, leaving before Alex is awake and coming back home after she is asleep. So not only do I feel like a single mom (kind of, although I'm not even pretending I know what that is like), I feel like a SICK single mom. And poor Alex has been off her game with a fever, fussiness, and refusing to drink her bottles! Her antibiotics seem to be kicking in, so I am hoping she is turning the corner any minute now.

WAAAHH! Enough complaining already, right? I am sure things are going to get much better very soon. It can only go up from here!

Photography Sunday

2009-10-18T19:27:00.000-07:00

This morning I spent some time with the camera and Alex. I think the camera loves her. Is it just this mommy's biased opinion?

Giggling Baby Alex

2009-10-18T19:18:00.001-07:00

Giggling Baby Alex, originally uploaded by jenski33.

Today Alex started giggling for the first time! We've heard a couple little chuckles here and there in the past, but today she just started really laughing and cracking up for a few minutes! I think it might be the sweetest sound I have ever heard in my life. It started on the car ride to Grandma & Grandpa's after she had been fussing in her carseat for a few minutes. I started playing with her ball to distract her. All of a sudden, it's like I opened the floodgates, and out came her belly laughs!