Feeling Very Thankful

So I know all those thankful posts are sooo Thanksgiving, but something about Christmas time makes me feel so incredibly grateful for everything I have. Had a great weekend with my husband's family and with all sorts of travel and holiday celebrations ahead, I'm feeling so very thankful that I have so much: a fabulous husband, an adorable baby, a loving family (even fantastic in-laws, who knew such a thing existed??), a great pair of pups, I could go on and on...
Find myself wanting to pinch...myself, I guess (feeling very Austin Power-ish there, sure there's a better way to say that) all the time--is this really my life? Seriously, it really is a wonderful life...

Ladies & Gentlemen, We Have a Crawler!

After what seems like years (and actually was probably about a month), Allie has finally figured out how to crawl forward! She did it last night for the first time for us and I confirmed with our daycare provider that she just started doing it there yesterday as well (I think out of respect for the parents wanting to witness all of a child's "firsts", she sometimes doesn't bring up new things they are doing, lest the parents feel bad about missing it). Our daycare provider actually said that Allie was breaking out of the baby area to go hang out with the bigger kids, which makes me laugh. I don't think she's quite ready for that level of play, but she must think she is!

Much improvement on the eating front as well--we moved to more table food types of eats and Allie really seems to like that better. So phew--I might not have to breastfeed this kid her whole life.

In other, REALLY exciting news, Allie is finally sleeping through the night! We started trying to let her cry a bit when she woke in the night as we were pretty sure she was getting up to eat out of habit more than hunger. First night she woke a couple of times, didn't cry for more than 10 minutes (in fact, the second time I was actually going to go feed her and stopped to go the bathroom first--she was asleep by the time I was done!). Second night, more of the same. Third night was a bit rougher--she woke and cried for 25 minutes before putting herself to sleep, which was SO hard for me. My husband slept through it, that f-er. Seriously, who sleeps through almost a half hour of their child crying just down the hall?? The man I married, that's who. Anyway, it was pretty much the longest 25 minutes of my life. But since then, she's slept through the night without a peep!

An unexpected bonus to that is that not only is she sleeping better during the night, she's going down easier too. Before this, I was never sure what I would get when I nursed her and put her into her crib at night. I would always try to put her down slightly awake so she could learn to put herself to sleep, and most nights she would do so with no problem, but every once in a while she would get upset and cry a bunch. Which was so hard. But since we started doing the night waking sleep training, she's been going to bed like a dream.

Now I just need to figure out to get ME to sleep through the night--after 8+ months of not getting to sleep through the night (even more when you add in the uncomfortable last months of pregnancy--God knows I wasn't sleeping through the night then), I am still waking up half a dozen times a night, just to peek at Allie on our video monitor. It's getting better though--some day soon, every member of our family will get a full night's sleep!

A Very Eventful Long Weekend

We had an incredible Thanksgiving--we hosted and had both my mother-in-law (who is fabulous, seriously) and my parents over for dinner. Food was great, as was the company. Allie even enjoyed some pumpkin to mark the occasion--no, not the pie, but just some canned 100% pumpkin (have you ever tried that stuff? it tastes just like a tin can--yum). Solids have been a struggle for her--we were really trying with her for a few weeks after she turned 7 months, both at home and daycare, but she got sick and we've taken some time off. Plus she hates it, so it's frustrating to do. But she really seemed to enjoy the pumpkin, so I'm thinking maybe she likes the thicker stuff, not the wimpy baby stage 1 foods we've been giving her. So I think we're going to try to beef up her remaining stage 1 stuff w/ cereal and start working on some stage 2 foods as well as some grown up foods like banana and avocado. I know, I've got big dreams but we've got to get this kid off the boob at some point. I am not going to be breastfeeding her at 8 like that YouTube video, thank you very much.

Besides the good eating, Allie also felt that Thanksgiving and all the attention was a good time to break out a couple of new moves. Both were awesome, but my fave was, if you asked her for a kiss, she would open her mouth a little bit and lean towards you to give you a kiss! It was so heart melting--she did it to me several times and once with my MIL.

The second thing was the debut of a new face--she kind of pulls her hands up under her chin, back of hands together and smooshes up her face into a pouty look. We call it the Grumpy Rapper, as it looks like she's doing one of those high up arm crosses popular amongst old school rappers. You know, like the guy on the left here:

It's pretty much the cutest thing ever and we were all crying with laughter over it. And on Saturday she went from her tummy to a seated position, which she hasn't done before.
She got another cold though (which makes 4 I think for the fall--it sucks) and hasn't done the kissing thing since and only randomly will pull the face. She's on the mend again now so hopefully we'll see the return of both soon!

'Tis the Season--Holiday Cards!

I can't believe it--it's the holiday season again! Seriously, where has the fall gone--how it possible that Thanksgiving is tomorrow?? And we all know that Thanksgiving signals the downhill slide into Christmas, whether we're ready or not.

Something I've been stressing about a lot this year is our annual holiday card. Each year that John and I have lived together, we've sent out progressively more humiliating cards of the dogs in some sort of holiday apparel. It's actually a lot of pressure--people always tell us how much they're looking forward to our card and that they can't wait to see what we're doing each year. Here's a sampling of some of the photos from past cards:

So there's pressure there regardless. But this year we added a new member to our family and I'm sure our friends and family are wondering (honestly, I'm sure they're not really sitting around thinking about our holiday card at all--I'm not that self-important. I have had a few people ask though, so it has crossed some people's minds) if the dogs will get ousted from the holiday card in order for Allison to shine, front and center. We of course wouldn't let that happen, so I started thinking months ago (I wish I was kidding) about how to incorporate all our "kids" onto the annual card.

Through some Googling, I found a few ideas that I thought would work but we recently got family pictures taken and they turned out awesome, so I wanted to include them as well...such a dilemma!! What to do, what to do....

Through some searching, I realized that thankfully photo card companies have wised up and realized that some of us need more options then just the simple, one photo card that we've utilized in year's past. I am in love with this option from Shutterfly:

http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/cards-stationery/starlight-ribbon-christmas-card-5x7-flat?sortType=1&fa=8&storeNode=93496&fe=1&fc=1
It's perfect--could put the dog/Allie pic as the big one and our family shots on top. Plus the colors are beautiful. However, it could look a bit strange since our family pictures are more, well, fancy I guess then our silly picture of the baby and dogs (yep, we've already got it taken, we're just waiting on the CD of images from our photographers). So maybe it would look weird?

No worries, there are other options then! Shutterfly also makes 5X7 folded cards, so we could put the big picture of the dogs and Allie front and center and put the family pictures, as well as a bit of a holiday update letter (we've yet to do one of those, but there's a first time for everything, especially with the big year we've had!!). Love the simplicity of this one...would really let the picture do the talking:

http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/cards-stationery/starlight-ribbon-christmas-card-5x7-flat?sortType=1&fa=8&storeNode=93496&fe=1&fc=1

Still not sure which way we'll go...stay tuned for an update on that! Speaking of our family pictures, we're totally going to do the easy way out this year with photo gifts for all the family--I know it's a bit of a cop out, but we're totally playing the new parents card. For John's side, it will be photo books and calendars, all of Allie. For my side, a photo book of Allie, but the calendar will also feature my nephew, so my parents can enjoy both of their grandkids. I've never done a personalized calendar before, and am just loving all the features of them--check it out, you can put in everyone's birthdays and anniversaries (with pictures if you want!!)!! Too cool:

http://www.shutterfly.com/calendars/wall-calendars

I know they'll be a big hit!

PS: Any other bloggers out there that are looking to send out holiday cards this year, check out Shutterfly's awesome promotion--50 free cards for bloggers!! You just can't beat that! Here's the link: http://blog.shutterfly.com/5358/holiday2010-blog-submission-form/

PPS: In case, you haven't guessed, this post is a part of said promotion, but my opinions about Shutterfly's products are true, swear!

Allie's First Halloween

Allie was a beautiful ballerina for her first Halloween--someone gave us this adorable onsie with a tutu attached so I thought it would make a perfect costume (plus where else would she wear such a thing? it's so cute but notso practical). She wore it on Friday to my office to show her off and to her daycare's Halloween party, then we put it on her on Sunday night so she could see all the trick-or-treaters coming by. I'm sure she had no clue what was going on, but it was fun for us!
While we're on the subject of trick or treating, I'm going to get a bit judgey--I just don't get people taking their babies trick or treating when the kids aren't even old enough to eat any of the candy. I understand wanting to show off your kid and I think the experience would be somewhat fun for a child as well, but you could do it and not take candy. Seriously, parents, buy your own damn candy. It's not that expensive--hell, you could even wait until today to buy some at deeply discounted prices. I think next year maybe we'll take Allie out around the neighborhood in her stroller or a wagon, but I'll be damned if I use her to troll for candy. That's actually one of my main reasons for writing this post--so if by next year I've changed my tune, I can go back and read this to get a reality check.
And now for some pictures of all that cuteness:

Things I Don't Want to Forget Thursday

-Your hair is finally start to grow in, although pretty much just in the back. I love the way just a random piece of it will stick out--it makes you look silly and even more adorable than usual.

-Your brother Biggie (our 8 year old long haired Chihuahua) is finally starting to warm up to you and will come within your sphere of influence several times a day now. I can't even imagine how much he is going to adore you once you start having food to give him!

-It's going to be your first Halloween this weekend and I'm so excited to show you off in your adorable ballerina outfit. You look so beautiful in it!

-You're finally getting the hang of this solids thing and seem to actually enjoy the sweet potatoes you've been trying. We need to be better about feeding them to you everyday so you can really get it mastered.

-We took you to the park this last weekend (see photo below) and you loved the swing, even though you were so small in it. Wish it wasn't getting so cold here so you could do it more, but think how much fun we'll have in the spring when you're so much bigger!!

Wordless Wednesday

Drama Queen

Allie's had a shorter temper since getting sick (seriously, I feel like she's had this cold for YEARS! It's really only been 2 weeks but I can't really remember life before this cold), although, as she's pretty much the most easy going baby ever, probably makes her like most children her age (I'm seriously not bragging [well, maybe a little bit]--this kid's just super chill). What this has manifested in is crazy crying and screaming when she tips over when she's sitting. I understand the tears when she bumps her head on something, but more often than not, she just slowly rolls onto the pillow or blankets we have around her and breaks into high pitched wails. It's hard not to just laugh at her when she does this--at worst, she might be slightly scared by the fall, so I know it's not a pain-based reaction. She's really exploring her voice and will go up several octaves when crying--she's a very talented lady. She's also learned to couple it with very dramatic facial expressions--full on down turned mouth and pouted lip. It's adorable. It's not going to be adorable for long, I realize, but for now I'm pretty amused by the whole thing. In case anyone is worried about poor Allie here, I do scoop her up and cuddle her, so she does get the response out of me that she wants--out of respect for her acting ability, I do try to hide my smiles.

Splish Splash!

Giving Allie her bath last night, she figured out how to smack her hands down on the water and make huge splashes! She always likes to splash around in the bath but this was the first time I think she really understood how to do it and what she was doing...and she loved it! We got it on video thankfully although our Flip video was in serious danger of getting water damage--she was really sending the water flying! There is something so completely adorable about a wet baby anyway, and a wet baby that's so proud of themselves...well, it just doesn't get much better than that!

Things I DO Want to Forget

Allie threw up in my mouth on Thursday night. Was picking her up off the floor, had my mouth slightly open, and whammo! Kid's got a good aim I guess. I handled it much better than I would have guessed--John saw it all happen so grabbed Allie from me, I went in the bathroom and rinsed my mouth, then went upstairs and gargled with mouth wash. I've never been so glad that John prefers the horrible tasting original Listerine before, but that stuff basically cauterized my mouth and I couldn't taste a thing. I have a really easy gag reflex so I considered it a huge victory that I didn't puke myself. Guess it's just another awesome part of being a mom!

Things I Don't Want to Forget Thursday

We've been having Allie practice sitting between our legs on the floor and yesterday she could sit up on her own more than she needed to lean back on my legs or tripod. Although I won't let her do it on her own unsupervised for a while yet, I think she can officially sit on her own now.

Also new this week--Allie lunges at the dogs in her eagerness to pet them! The pug doesn't mind as she then is close enough to the baby to try to lick her to death, but the Chihuahua is slightly more nervous about this, with good reason. Allie's double his size at this point and she could really take him out if she wanted to.

Even with all the fussiness that Allie has been going through trying to cut her second tooth, she is still a joy and so smiley and silly so much of the time. She gets really serious in her Jumperoo (or command center as my husband John calls it) and then bounces around like crazy over something. She gets happy feet--soo cute!

Teeth & Shopping Problems

Ok, so these things have nothing to do with each other, but it seemed silly to make separate posts about them.

First off, and more importantly, Allie is currently sprouting her second tooth. That's right, my child has teeth. We realized she was getting her first one over Labor Day when my mother in law said she felt one coming in. Talk about feeling like a parent that isn't paying enough attention to their child--we didn't even notice that she had a tooth coming in! She's been a pretty heavy drooler for months, but our pediatrician reminded us that babies can do that for months without getting teeth, so we shouldn't think it meant anything necessarily.
Not so in Allie's case, I guess. Anyway, that tooth came in with very little fuss but she's been a bit of a bear now with this second one (again, our daycare provider had to point out that she thought a second tooth was coming in--talk about some slacker parents!). She's still sleeping well at least and I know that her extreme fussiness is nothing compared to most kids', so we'll deal. She seemed a bet better this morning so hopefully the worst is over (also saw a corner of the tooth peeking out this morning so now that it's broken the skin, it should get better). I now need to figure out exactly how many teeth kids get so I know roughly how many more times we're going to have to go through this!!

The shopping problem I'm having isn't your usual shopaholic issues--well, it is, but in a different way. I'm currently super addicted to getting good deals on things. I check daily a bunch of mom bargain/deal blogs and websites and am constantly ordering things that are good deals. While this seems like a great thing, I know it's getting a bit out of hand. As of today, I have enough clothes for Allie until easily this time next year. I know, I know, that's terrible. I just can't seem to say no to a good deal. The thing with clothes is is that I may end up getting burned on them if she doesn't stay on her predicted growth curve and ends up in different sizes than I predicted. I really hope that doesn't happen, but the thought of that has me holding off on buying any more clothes in the near future. But I just channel that deal shopping mentality into other things--in the last two weeks, I've bought an outside swing, a furminator for our dogs and several wedding gifts for upcoming events we've got going on. I really need to get a handle on this!

Things I Don't Want to Forget Thursdays

A lot of blogs I follow do this and I love it, so why not?

How you put your sweet little hand on my chest when I'm breastfeeding you. It always makes me think about how much I hated BFing when we first started and how glad I am that I stuck it out. Love our time together.

How you smile and kick your legs when I go in to see you first thing in the morning. It's not as fun now that you've started sleeping on your tummy as I have to flip you over to see your face, but it's still pretty much the best part of my day.

The crazy noises you make now that you're "talking". I just can't wait to hear what sound might come out of your mouth next.

The way your dad looks at you when you're being particularly adorable--I can just see in his face that you're making his heart hurt with all the love he feels for you. I'm sure I get that same look on my face all the time.

This week you started petting the puppies for the first time--I love the way you look at them and are clearly fascinated with these other beings that are close to your own size. I can see great friendships brewing there.

New outlook, new blog

So I've tried the whole blogging thing before and enjoyed it, but I didn't stick with it. When I first started blogging, my husband and I were trying to get pregnant without much success (found out later I had endometriosis and had to have laproscopic surgery to get me cleared out--more on that later...maybe) and the blog was a place to vent those frustrations. As you can imagine, it was a fairly negative space.

Now, a couple of years later, I am pretty much constantly blissed out due to the four month old love o' my life, my daughter Allie, and a husband that I love more everyday (something so attractive about a man that loves his baby SO much).

Got the following email from him today that made me want to start blogging again--well, that and the fact that I'm all too aware of how fleeting these moments will be (I mean, how is it possible that my baby is already 4 months old???) and thinking that blog would be the perfect place to write down all these memories. Anyway, back to the email:

From: John
Sent: Monday, August 16, 2010 11:26 AM
To: Steph
Subject: My heart hurts...





Just looking at the photos... argh. Love her so much.


Which prompted me to respond:

-----Original Message-----
From: Steph
Sent: Monday, August 16, 2010 11:36 AM
To: John
Subject: RE: My heart hurts...


I agree--Allie's the best. Love her. Love you. Love my life.

Which pretty much brings us to where I am right now--wanting to remember exactly how happy we are in this moment, how much I love my baby, my husband and my life. What a great place to be in...