Loves of my Life

I love these two.




and you can tell daddy loves his little girl...


ps. make sure to scroll down for another post about our weekend (videos and LOTS of pics included!)

Thanksgiving Weekend

After thanksgiving, we were able to spend a few days with Grandma and grandpa and aunt leslie. Friday morning tom was going to go to Walmart with his dad and leslie at 5 am, somehow he convinced me to go. I just wanted the $4 hand mixer and mini chopper.... wow. NEVER again> of course we got stuck behind this guy who would not stop talking ... (about the same thing over and over) who reaked of BO. It was funny because he mentioned something about mormons and 9 kids... and tom's dad asked what a mormon was, and that he was from oregon and didnt know. It was funny to hear what he thought and the person behind us too.. you would think people in rexburg would be more knowledgeable. oh well. I will never do that again.

we came home, and tom ahd to go to work but got off around 1. We went down to idaho falls to do some shopping and then headed down to pocatello just to go to golden corral, yum! we got so stuffed.. holy cow. We got home and then went hot tubing at the hotel. We quickly went home and put dulany to bed so grandma roseanne and leslie could babysit while we went on our FIRST date since having Dulany. we went to the actual movie theater(not the cheap theater) for the first time in a year..we went and saw The Blind Side... SOOOO GOOD, and pretty funny actually, and sad... so its good all around. Thank you grandma for babysitting even though she was asleep the whole time. It was nice to go out just the two of us.

They left this morning back to Oregon. We'll get to see them when we go to OR in February. It was really fun all in all. Dulany was exhausted today apparently. She took a nap from 11:30am-3pm... WHEW! good thing because i slept all day today too. (never again should i take tylenol pm at 1 am.)

When we went out to dinner.. we gave Dulany a lemon. It was pretty funny, like the snow. We got it on vid. here you go.



here is a video of her with her first christmas present (that we opened early). She LOVES it!




Here are pictures of the rest of their visit! Thanks for coming and we can't wait to see you guys again in February!

Dulany's First Turkey Day!

So it was Dulany's first thanksgiving! It was a pretty good one for the most part too. Tom's side of the family, grandma and grandpa and aunt leslie got in pretty late last night so we didnt see them till this morning when we met them for breakfast at the hotel. Lets just say Dulany didn't like being held by anyone for the first part but then was fine. Then her afternoon nap was a disaster! she did NOT want to be held by anyone but mom and dad, so she was already kinda worked up she was crying hysterically when trying to go to sleep and she wouldnt calm down and ended up throwing up a lot of spit/mucus whatever you want to call it. We FINALLY got her to sleep and when she woke up we let grandma give her a bottle and feed her. Lets just say she was happy from then on and took her last nap and went to sleep with no problem and let grandma and grandpa hold her. She loves playing with aunt leslie! thats for sure.

we made turkey (Tom did) and he claims its the best turkey... we needed to take a picture so it can compete with bonnies... haah too bad we can't compare taste. It was a pretty good tasting turkey though. We had everything else that belongs to a typical thanksgiving feist. So yummy and we have SO many leftovers and we were all SO full.


We even put up our christmas tree and i have lights i put up outside! Really makes me feel like christmas is around the corner, and sooner than later, it will be! so excited. Anywho, here are a few pics of todays events on the slide show.


here are pictures of dulany's latest obsession. REALLY grabbing at her feet. Its all she wants to do these days. I find her like it in her crib(as you can see) and everywhere. its hilarious when she finally gets them in her mouth.









here's even a video of it!





heres the slide show of todays events!

Dont eat the yellow snow.

Ok, so i gave Dulany a little piece of fresh snow (we got three inches or so the other day..) It's snowed before.. but not as much as this and its actually staying on the ground. It was hilarious... she didnt expect it to be so cold. I got it on video but with limited hands, the video is a little..all over theplace i guess i could say. SO here it is.

we also have been watching christmas movies. the other night The Santa Claus was on and then last night we watched ELF (which we FINALLY bought.. its one of our fav. christmas movies).. it was funny watching tom laugh hysterically through this movie. Hence why i put 'dont eat the yellow snow' (from elf). But yeah... i am so excited for christmas, i even spent some of my birthday money on christmas lights to put up outside. Tom is kinda a bu-hum-bug (is that how you say it!?) when it comes to decorating..but i love it! so i will just have to do it with out him, or make him do it and say we're starting family tradition. Either way.

Here is the video of dulany.

Birthday Wishes

So my birthday was yesterday and i wanted to thank my loverly family for all the birthday wishes. jody and bonnie for putting a blog post for my bday, my dad sending a little cash so we could go out to eat, yum red robin and their delish freckled lemonades, for my wonderful husband who gave me multiple wishes/presents.

He brought home flowers saturday night after work... which was quite nice because dulany didnt nap at all yesterday so i was quite tired. Sat night we went out to dinner and the one thing i wanted was a new diaper bag from Toys R Us which was right across red robin so we ran over real quick and got it. yesterday morning i felt sick and congested...I asked tom if he could get up with dulany to give her her bottle... she usually wakes up around 7.. she decided she wasnt going to wake up till 9! (maybe because she didnt go to sleep till way late the night before!) so he did that and then came back to bed with another surprise present! He got me scriptures with my name engraved in them. I kept saying i wanted them but i figured since i was getting my diaper bag i would get the scriptures at christmas. Ive never had scriptures with my name on them nor tabs that were actually right.. so it was nice!!

Funny little note: i was looking for our stockings from last year in the storage closet in dulany's room.. i was thinking to myself.. why is there a cleat over here?? so i moved it back to where it was supposed to be and saw scriptures, i figured my were my ones that were falling apart and i just threw them up there while i used my smaller scriptures.. i later found out those were the scriptures tom was hiding from me. Whoops!

yesterday we just stayed inside and didnt want to take dulany to church cause she was a little sick and i was sick and we all just hung out together. Oh it also snowed like CRAZY. we probably got 3-4 inches. I cooked meatloaf.veggies.mashed potatoes. we have some martinelli's sparkling cidar for thanksgiving but opened one for dinner. It was quite delish. then I baked myself a cake... you cant have a birthday with out birthday cake. haha. It was the good rainbow chip kind, which of course, i ate half the frosting so i ddint even eat any cake.



oh yes, and as a birthday present to myself, i got a wreath. I gave up on trying to make my own, it was ridiculous. I got this pretty one for only $15 at walmart. Ones at porters are WAY too expensive.




here is a video of my crazy girl.

she will not stop...

TALKING!

Dulany is just talking talking talking, its outrageous! haha. Right now she should be napping but she just would rather lay in her crib talking to herself... so I took her out and played for awhile, she started to get tired, put her back and what do i hear right now? her talking away.... i really do hope she takes a nap sometime today!

She also has a little cold. She's congested and so its sad to see her have a little cough and her having a runny nose and sneezing. Luckily she has no fever and doesnt have much trouble sleeping... she's still a happy baby (except when i use the bulb syringe to get her little buggies out).

other than that, not a whole lot going on here, just me wishing it was thanksgiving so we can have family here and i can put up more christmas decorations. I put lights around the window, stockings up and a wreath... i just want to set up the tree!!


Here is a vide of her chatting away as she usually does.



here are a few pictures of her "helping dad study for a test" and a cute pic of her little bum... (ok so she's already sporting the plumber's crack) and a picture of her playing with toys on her face (somehow they always end up on her face!) and another pic of her with her dad (sorry she's naked.. she soaked her outfit with drool and spit up and this was right before her bath. Besides, who wouldnt want to see her naked buddah belly? So glad she's gaining weight!

Miss. Chatterbox!

lets get this few things said real quick. exactly 1 week till tom's parents and sister get here for thanksigiving. exactly 5 weeks till we fly to DC (drive up to PA) to my house for christmas. I AM SO EXCITED!

Alright. Now here are a few pics/videos of Dulany. She has become quite the talker these past few days. All she does is coo... ALL the time when she's awake. IT cracks me up. Yesterday I laid her down for her nap, and i kept hearing her talking to herself. after awhile i finally went back in, she got out of her blankets, kicking her feet and going crazy talking away. It was hilarious. and i wish i had my camera then...

ps. finally.. for the most part, i can put dulany down for a nap or for bed at night wide awake (she now rubs her eyes which is so much easier for me to tell she's getting tired) when i first notice she's tired. Wrap her up, stick the binky in... and she falls asleep on her own. It is amazing!

I got this outfit at the 2nd hand store in salt lake. It is so dang cute. a little big but i couldnt help myself putting it on her... it says "ill always be daddy's little girl"





Her in her exersaucer. She's too cute. She does really well standing in it too. i just love her little short legs!






video of her in her exersaucer. She's started to finally fit in it and plays with it a lot better.




here is a video of her chatting away. Love it.

5 Months! *cont.

Alright, here is the video I was finally able to get off my camera i promised to get in the last post i wrote today. (so make sure to scroll down!)

sorry its sidewise. i need to remember NOT to take it like that and im not sure how to turn it or if its even possible. (if you know, let me know!)

5 Months!

so this morning i was thinking, i should probably update the blog... but i dont know what to write about..

then it just dawned on me. Dulany is 5 months old today! HOLY COW! can't believe it. She's gotten her buddah belly back, thank goodness and she has the fullest diapers everytime i change her so I def. know she's getting enough to eat which is def. nice.

Not much to say except that she's too cute and i always find myself wanting to hold her and cuddle her but she already doesnt like it! its so sad. She used to sleep with me in the mornings but now she doesnt like to because she only sleeps well in her crib swaddled in a blanket. I dont think tom likes it either because he doesnt get his sunday afternoon naps with ehr on the couch. She doesnt like to be smothered either... maybe because dad always wants to kiss and pinch those cheeks of hers. I dont know what is up with him and cheeks... haha

but her new thing has been grabbing your mouth and nose or reaching for anything on the face. Today she kept grabbing my nose.. and im not gonna lie, it hurt, as you can see in these pics.. so ignore my expression haha.

YAY FOR 5 MONTHS! and only 1 week and 2 days before grandma roseanne, grandpa tom and aunt leslie are coming for thanksgiving. We wish aunt kaylee could come : ( Dulany will miss you! (us too!)

here are pics of Dulany "helping" daddy with his homework... or becoming a distraction. Who knows. It just looked too cute. She loves looking at the computer screen. Picture of her standing, another of her "budddah belly" thats come back, and her grabbing my nose. it hurt.. as you can tell from the pictures. (dont know which order theyre in.. sorry!)










ps. i am so annoyed at my camera right now. I was taking a video of her talking away and what not and of course, 2 seconds in... the battery dies and now i have to charge it. Ill have to see if i got anything and post it later.

My Little Cupcake

Just here to show a few pictures. Ive been lacking at taking them because we'll, we dont do a whole lot around here. It seems like it consists of waking up, eating, up for just a little bit before her getting tired again, up again feeding, up for a little bit (not more than 2 hours) of playing, back to going to bed for a 2 hour nap, up again for a little bit and another nap for 2 hours around dinner time and then up for an hour enough to play with dad, take a bath, eat and go to bed. We don't have time to go anywhere because she can ONLY sleep in her crib.(ok i should say WILL only sleep in her crib). We went to the mall yesterday to find some jeans for me. cause i can't fit into anything. Why are jearns so expensive anyways, what happened to 20 dollar jeans!? anywho, we didnt get very far until she had a meltdown cause she was so tired. Its kinda a pain. Im not gonna lie.

But she's eating a ton better, she has had some NASTY formula diapers which reek, she sleeps really well and has long naps which means i can get things done around the house, although most days i just feel lazy.... its terrible. i feel like most of my energy comes at night when she's in bed for good (between 6-8). I bet my husband is like um, what DO you do all day!?

anywho enough of my babble. Here are a few pics. She finally fits into the newborn shoes that bonnie and leslie got her WAY back when! they are TOO cute on her.

ps. i know the first one looks like she's on drugs and i have no idea why she was having her mouth open the whole time i was taking these haha i kept trying to get her to smile.... but oh well, she's cute either way!

this and that.

So, who wouldve thought, Now dulany LOVES drinking formula out of a bottle and she sure drinks a lot (well compared to these past few weeks where she hasnt been eating enough. Thats probably why she was tired all the time). So thats nice but now she doesnt ever want to breastfeed. And im not gonna lie... its kinda easier doing formula. I always said i wanted to go about up to a year (or when she gets teeth and see from there) but im afraid my milk is all gone and she doesnt want to work for it coming from me. Im at a standstill. I think im gonna stick to formula... tom said in his class he learned that babies get most of the immunity or whatever from breastmilk from birth to 4 months so i made it to 4 1/2 months. So please, dont judge me for not sticking to 'breast is best' because i would like to continue but i can't even pump anymore. This may be tmi for the fathers who read this but today was the first time i wore a normal garment top and a normal bra and im not gonna lie, it feels amazing. I can also wear layers. I know it seems kinda selfish .... but i was getting a little depressed (not seriously..) but sad about wearing plain t-shirts that snug to my stomach and ick. Now i can wear layered shirts that cover up that bulge... anywho i need to work that off.

Here are a few pics and what not. I tried to take more this past week now that she's been a happier baby.

oh. and there is a picture in there that was our (more of tom's) christmas and birthday gift...for the next few years. We had a little extra money saved up and since we could get rid of our hunk of junk (HUGE) entertainment center and our other tv was beginning to be apiece of crap. My sis and bro in law have one too and we really liked it. So he wanted to show it off last night to bonnie but our skype was being weird. SO here it is. Not gonna lie. Dulany loves watching her baby einstein on it!




"the birthday-christmas present for next few years"

relieved.

so I've decided that I think im losing my milk. She's still so frustrated trying to nurse and when i tried to pump today so she could drink it out of a bottle. well i pumped forEVER and couldnt even get 2 ounces. So finally after that i decided maybe i would put some formula in really quick into the bottle and see if she would take it and WALA! she did! i was quite excited. So tonight she was getting frustrated again and so i just gave her straight up formula for the beginning and she downed it. Im really excited except formula = expensive. We're on wic, and i know you can get it with them but i think they only give enfamil... Maybe? one or the other. She wont take the enfamil we have but she will take the similac so i dont know. We will see. im jut glad she's eating something and now im not so stressed.

one good thing abotu formula = i can wear dresses/shirts that i dont have to worry about how im gonna nurse in. I really wanted to wait for as long as i could to nurse her so im gonna try to keep pumping and im taking some blessed thistle and some other thing thats supposed to help my supply. Lets hope it works!

for viewing pleasure, a picture of my child in total relaxation in her "bumbo" watching football with dad. I need to take more pictures!

stats

So today we went to the doctors to get shots for dulany and we got her stats. She's 24 inches long (she's starting to get longer which is nice!) but she was only 12 lbs 1 oz. 2 months ago she was 11 lbs 6 oz... soooo she hasnt gained much weight. These past 1-2 weeks its been rough, she doenst want to eat and I think its cause she's tired and what not. Its been getting really frustrating. (she will latch on but then not want to eat.. and she does it like 10 times before i give up) When the doctor told us he said that we needed to try to suppliment with formula. Its too hard to pump too. The problem is, we tried formula.. a while back and today with tom feeding her which ithought might help. Nothin. She will not take it what so ever! i dont know what to do. It freaked me out because he said she was in the 8th percentile for weight. I swear im not starving my baby, but when we look at it htat way it makes it seem like it.

So my question for you moms out there who have any clue on how to get your child to start taking formula PLEASE let me know. Its kinda stressing me out!

and ive rulled out the possiblities of eating something she didnt like, because i havent changed my diet at all... so i dont think thats it.So any advice would be great. Thanks!

Ticklish little Girl

here is a video of Dulany laughing. I just found out shes a little ticklish on her tummy when we kiss it and blow on it. It cracked me up> the only way i could get it on camera was if i put it on floor so it looks funny/not a good angle, but its too cute to hear her laugh! this is the first time she's really laughed. Its usually a HUGE smile with a squeek.



here are a few other vids that i got that were cute. She is getting too big!

Cereal

Sorry to say, we didnt have a very eventful halloween and therefor we didnt even dress dulany up> i know, we're boring. But Tom worked till 4, and she's usually super tired by 5:30-6 and in bed by 6:30... so thats how it worked. Even when she went to bed, the Oregon Ducks and the yankees were playing, so Tom dumped me and had a date with them, haha. So it was quite boring and i def. miss halloweens from back home where EVERYONE in our neighborhood went all out and decorated and there were TONS of kids EVERYWHERE! living in Student married housing doesnt really make it any better. We had about 3 groups of people come by and that was it.

Yesterday however we gave Dulany cereal for the first time. Im not sure if she knew what to do or if she liked it very much. She did like the spoon though trying to get it from me and she can even put it in her mouth by herself (after hitting her nose or eye a few times) I also think she likes being naked with just a bib on and as dad says, she can already wipe her own face (aka, her trying to eat it and it just so happens cleans her face) She is too cute when we do give it to her though. She smiles and what not.

Here are a few pictures, and i wish we got a video of her eating it for the first time but i wasnt really thinking. She is officially getting too big! i can't imagine when she starts eating real food...

Im also thinking about maybe making my own baby food (although i would need a food processor or something of that sort... maybe that should be my christmas present!?) So i was wondering if any of you have made it yourself and liked it better than buying the jars.